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Students
should be conscious of hate speech Hate. It’s a simple word that transcends barriers and turns emotion into action. It’s a state of mind that consumes lives and throws out all logic and reason. It’s sometimes even the murder weapon aimed at the hearts of the innocent and vulnerable. This four-letter word is widely present in our world today. We saw hate take the form of suicide bombers on Sept. 11 as they took innocent lives away within minutes. Hate reared its ugly head during World War II as millions of Jews, gypsies and homosexuals were put to death in work camps because they were considered inferior beings. Yet again, hate attacked our country when African Americans were brought over as slaves for our own selfish satisfaction. Hate is something with which people are very familiar. The most common form of this deadly emotion, however, is not in the physical acts of violence we see every day in newspapers, TV and the Internet. Hate is most commonly committed through our everyday speech between friends and family. Spread through mere word of mouth, it is something of which we are all quite aware, but it also seems we do little to control our everyday use of this deadly weapon. For example, when was the last time you or somebody you know said, “that is so gay” or “he is so gay”? That is hate speech. The problem with everyday hate speech is that it usually takes place because we are not conscious enough to stop it. This excuse of pleading ignorant of the crime or not caring enough to stop it is absolutely unacceptable. What got me thinking about all this was seeing the HBO special “The Laramie Project” during Spring Break. Not only was it about an extremely famous hate crime that took place when I was in my early teens, it was also something I had never heard about. At that time, I was more worried about my hair than what was going on in the state of Wyoming. In fact, I have found that generally young people our age are not very familiar with Matthew Shepard or this famous hate crime unless they have watched “The Laramie Project” or another TV special about the Shepards. Not knowing about this whole ordeal, in itself, is a crime, and I hope more people correct this ignorance as soon as possible. However, I am not writing this to preach about people being unaware citizens. I am talking about the main idea portrayed in this documentary: Hate kills. Hate in both thought and speech is as dangerous as any form of hate spread though discrimination and murder. One of the priests in “The Laramie Project” talked about how hate is not only beating a homosexual to death — hate is just as wrong when somebody calls that person a dike or a fag. Hate is sick, wrong, and there is no reason we can’t stomp it out starting today in our own dialogues. Whether or not a person agrees with homosexuality is not the issue. No matter if homosexuality is considered right or wrong, there is no doubt that discriminating and feeling hate toward homosexuals is a hate crime. This deadly offense is something worth fighting against, and if we don’t stop it now, we stand upon a slippery slope leaning toward the next Sept. 11 or another holocaust. We cannot afford another hate crime in this country or any anywhere else. Life is too short and precious to spend it feeling hate toward another person, no matter what the reason may be. If we expect to live in a world that promotes peace and not war, we must first begin by living in a world that expresses love and not hate. Emily Ward is a senior mathematics and news/editorial major from Springtown. She can be contacted at (e.e.ward@student.tcu.edu). |
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