BZ

There were three racially motivated murder cases during 2006. If we eliminated racially motivated murders, we could reduce the number of Americans murdered each year from 17,034 to 17,031 a year. That’s a 0.02 percent drop.

There were four racially motivated forcible rapes during 2006. If we eliminated racially motivated forcible rapes, we could reduce the number of forcible rapes a year from 92,455 to 92,451. That’s a 0.004 percent drop.

There were 607 racially motivated aggravated assaults during 2006. If we eliminated racially motivated aggravated assaults, we could reduce the number of racially motivated aggravated assaults per year from 855,088 to 854,481. That’s a 0.07 drop.

It would be more effective to enact laws to attach harsher sentences to interracial crimes, regardless of motivation. For example, 573 of the 3,709 whites murdered in 2006 were murdered by blacks, while 208 of the 3,304 blacks murdered during the same year were murdered by whites. Eliminating these interracial murders would have a significant statistical impact.

Adding the Jena Six beating to the list of aggravated assaults would increase the number of aggavated assults by one and would’t have any statistical impact. According to witnesses, the members of the Jena Six did use racial slurs during the attack, but the prosecution doesn’t think they singled out the victim merely because he was white. The Justice Department has pointed out that a successful prosecution of the three white students who hung the nooses would result in a “finding of deliquency” rather than a criminal conviction. Besides, Justice Department investigators and local authorities are on record as saying the believe the three students didn’t mean the nooses as a racial threat. The three students say they hung the nooses to poke fun at friends on the school rodeo team, a idea they say they got from the lynching scene in the move Lonesome Dove.

Hate is an emotion…how can anyone believe that we can ever control another’s emotions ?