Adults, educators, and Students
Hate Crimes: Talking Points For Davis Adults, Educators, and Students, 2010.
Prepared by Jann Murray-García, M.D., M.P.H. (President, Davis Blacks for Effective Community Action)
What Is A Hate Crime?
"Any Unlawful action against the person or
property of another committed substantially
because of the victim's actual or perceived
race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
disability, gender or sexual orientation".
(California State Law/City of Davis Website)
How Many Hate Crimes Per Year?
~7,000 per year in U.S. (U.S. Dept. of Justice)
Better Term: Bias-Related Crime
It is the perpetrator’s bias as a motivation
for committing the crime that must be
proven. The perpetrator can even be wrong
about a victim’s group membership.
How Do Hate Crimes Differ From Non-Bias Related Crimes?
1) Victims, even if unintentionally, are entire groups of people who share the same characteristic.
2) Hate crimes are typically more violent, when physical violence is involved. Gay victims suffer
the most violent physical injury.
3) Hate crimes leave victims more chronically traumatized.
What Is a Hate INCIDENT?
“This is a non-criminal act, including words directed against another person, based on the
person’s actual or perceived group membership. They include…epithets, distribution of hate
material in a public place, posting of hate material that does not result in property damage, and
the display of offensive material on one’s own property.
Who Commits Hate Crimes?
1) “Life mission” offenders (i.e. card-carrying KKK members)
2) Those acting out of a sense of geographic or economic threat
(i.e. post 9/11 anti-Muslim incidents)
******3) Young, thrill seekers* (most common and most easily prevented !!!)*******
What Do You Mean By “Young Thrill Seekers”?
“The reality is that…’local kids’ are in fact the most common
perpetrators of bias crimes.
Numerous studies have
demonstrated that only a small percentage of hate crimes are
committed by people with any connection to or background
involving organized “hate groups”…What these studies have found
instead is that the majority of bias crimes are committed by
seemingly normal, mostly law-abiding young people who often see
nothing wrong with their behavior. Bias crime offenders are
predominantly young white males, typically from workingclass or middle class backgrounds. And though ties to hate
groups are rare, the perpetrators are clearly inspired by these
groups’ rhetoric, shouting their well known slogans, parroting their
political rhetoric, and displaying such symbols of white
supremacism as the swastika or the Confederate flag.” (p.46)
What Happens When We Ignore or
Don’t Take Hate Crimes Seriously?
 Youths graduate to more serious crimes,
from property damage to physical injury.
 “A slap on the wrist of hate crime offender is
a slap in the face to the community of victims.”
(Neiwert)
 You miss the clue that this might be the tip of
the iceberg of youths’ suboptimal race and other
relations with one another.
 You pass up a teachable moment for the
community and for its young people.
Have We Created “Protected” Groups With Higher Victim Status Than Others?
No, In fact, the most significant test case for hate crimes laws - Wisconsin v. Mitchell, a unanimous 1993 Supreme Court
ruling - involved a white victim and a black perpetrator….” (p. 131). According to U.S. Department of Justice
statistics, nationwide approximately 20% of hate crimes victims are White.
Words To Help Save A Youth’s Future, Community Trauma, and/or A Horrible Family
Nightmare
“[T]he hatred behind thrill-seeking violence is for most perpetrators superficial…Consequently, offenders are usually not
profoundly convinced of the legitimacy of their criminal acts and can be dissuaded from repeating them. In many crimes, the
threat of sanctions may not deter criminal behavior (e.g. serious drug use), but in thrill hate crimes the threat of criminal
sanctions may be just enough to convince a group of bored young men to stay home rather than go out looking for someone to
beat. It is important, therefore, to apprehend hate crime perpetrators at this point, especially in light of the possibility that at
least some property offenders who go undetected later graduate to hate crimes directed at people.
Because what the perpetrators derive from committing such crimes is minimal, they may be strongly influenced by a strong
statement from society at large which demonstrates that this type of behavior won’t be tolerated.” (p. 70)
REFERENCES:

Death On The Fourth of July: The Story Of A Killing, A Trial, and Hate Crime in America. By David Neiwert.
Palgrave MacMillian (New York), 2004.

Hate Crimes Revisited: America’s War On Those Who Are Different. By Jack Levin and Jack McDevitt. Westview
Press (Boulder, Colorado), 2002.

Addressing Hate Crimes and Incidents. A Resource Guide for Yolo County . City of Davis Human relations
Commission, 2001. http://www.city.davis.ca.us/meetings/human/addressing-hate-crimes.pdf
Hate Crimes (That We Know About)
Committed By Davis (Yes, DAVIS) Young People, 2002-2007
Winter 2002: A white Davis High (DHS) student serially harassed an African American DHS student, ultimately featuring the Black
student on a sophisticated web site, frequented by several DHS students, graphically detailing the physical harm he would like to do to this
student (whom he named). The website, seen by BECA members, included stereotyped caricatures of Black people, as well as sham links
to militia, pornography, and hate web sites. The White student was self-proclaimed and known as “KKK man.”
February 2003: A White and a Latino DHS student spray-painted the N-word in red on the cul-de-sac where a high school party had
been held the evening before. The next morning, a young African American couple walked out of their front door on their way to the
Farmer’s Market, and the graffiti was the first thing they saw. The couple had recently bought a home in Davis and had planned to raise a
family here, one a UC Davis graduate. Traumatized by the community’s response of denial and “boys will be boys” and “these are basically
good kids on their way to college,” the African American family moved to another city.
October 2003: Four young people, including at least one DHS student, tagged with graffiti and threw several dozen eggs on the car of
an openly gay Davis man who lived in Central Davis. The victim had a gay pride flag hanging on the door of his townhouse. His car was
parked in its designated place, although the number, as is custom, was different from the apartment number. (This fact led to the dropping
of hate crime enhancements in charging the youth.) Liquid from the eggs seeped into the engine, causing extensive damage. W itnesses,
who reportedly heard the youngsters shouting racist and homophobic slurs, got a portion of the license plate, leading Davis police to a 16
year old DHS student, the car’s driver. The victim, no doubt in sheer terror, watched this from his front window and later picked the student
out of a police line-up. Initially charged with felony vandalism with a hate crime enhancement, this youngster refused to identify the others.
December 2004: The newest constructed building of DHS (the P-building) was vandalized with racist and sexually explicit graffiti,
targeting an African American staff member by name (with the N-word) and a White female vice principal.
February 2005: During the night, two Davis students vandalized Fairfield Elementary School and Holmes Junior High School (both in
Davis) and two Davis churches. They went from rural West Davis to East Davis, causing almost $30,000 worth of damage. They used
swastikas, satanist language, and phrases including, “Kill the Jews! Kill the N_g_ers!” The two Davis juveniles spent several weeks in
Juvenile Hall, awaiting their trials. Following this hate crime, about 150 Davis residents gathered in the rain to publicly renounce the acts,
with elected officials interrupting a City Council meeting to join the public gathering. In what was a truly proud moment for Davis, over 500
students walked out of their DHS classes in completely student-planned unison, also renouncing the hate crimes as not characteristic of
whom they wanted to be known as. They gathered on the DHS quad for a rally, with shouts and signs to “End apathy!” 200 of the students
then marched to Central Park to continue their rally.
December 2007: The garages of two East Davis homes were vandalized with horribly vulgar hate graffiti. In the house least affected,
the writing read, “KKK. F__k N_g_ers.” Two DHS students were arrested. Though the incident was allegedly sparked by a conflict
between longstanding friends, the intensity, sophistication and volume of the hate graffiti were particularly disturbing.
December 2007: Five days following the incident above in east Davis, a “large” amount of racist graffiti targeting African Americans and
Asians was found on the Holmes Junior High School buildings. Five students were involved and were arrested for felony vandalism. The
“ring leader” was allegedly angry with one of the school’s administrators.
For questions or comments, contact Jann Murray-García at
jmurgar@comcast.net.