Hate Crimes

1. The population covered in the state of Alabama was 2,285,487 and the incidents of hate crimes reported was 83.

2. Alabama's state law on hate crimes covers bias-motivated violence and intimidation, race, religion and ethnicity, disability, and institutional vandalism. On the other end, Alabama doesn't cover civil action, sexual orientation, gender, date collection, training for law enforcement personnel and other.

3. In Alabama they impose more penalties for hate crimes where the defendant knows what they are doing and performs the hate crime towards someone because of their race, color, sex, national origin, mental and physical disability. Also, they impose more when it comes to burning an American flag or cross on someone's property, a highway or other public place. The definition of hate crimes I found says that the person participating in the offense was motivated because of the victim's perceived or actual race, color, religion, national origin, physical and/or mental disability and ethnicity.

5. In Mobile, Alabama a white man named Matthew Owens was beaten into critical condition by a mob of 20 black youths and adults. Owens complained about a basketball game in the evening when he was playing with some of the youths and the infuriated players ended the game. Later that night, the players came back with a group of adults holding weapons and attacked Owens on his front porch. A witness said that one of the attackers said "Justice for Trayvon," which makes this out to be a hate crime against Owens' skin color and outside factors. As of right now, only one person has been arrested for this offense and Owens has not made a full recovery.

6. This is the "We Give A Damn" PSA made by Cyndi Lauper and it targets hate crimes against the LGBT community. It's assuring that there are people out there that care about you. Also, they talk about wanting to put an end to senseless acts of violence and intimidation.
http://www.wegiveadamn.org/2010/10/new-video-hate-crimes-we-give-a-damn/

There is a book called Hate Crimes: Causes, Controls and Controversies. The book goes over the whole idea of hate crimes and exams the problem of hate crimes. It also talks about the history of hate crimes, how they happen and the activities of extremist hate groups. One real interesting part of this book is the author gives a guide on how to start an anti-hate campaign and talks about hate on campus.