Spokane County, WA is in the news again for their hate crimes. What is it about Spokane County that they have so many race hate crimes?
A 19 year old man, Deven James-Allen Hood is accused of smashing car windows and beating people on what police allege as a hate fueled drive through in Spokane County on January 20, 2012.
Police say Hood through something at a truck driving through the intersection and then punched the driver. When the victim got out to confront the driver, Martinez said his assailant repeatedly called him a derogatory term for Hispanic people.
Then later that night, a woman, Jaylean Tayloe, went outside her home on Cedar Street and she saw three men attempting to steel her truck. The three men who were later identified and Hood, his 15 year old brother and his half brother attacked her. Two men followed Hood and his brothers and while they were headed back to a home on Cedar, Hood and his brothers shouted racial slurs out the window about black people.
Hood and his brothers were arrested for the charges, but were later released because no charges were filed.
According to a piece done by Bill Morlin, for the Spokesman Review, there has been in increase in hate crimes and racist activity in Spokane County and pacific northwest communities, even throughout the United States. Morlin reports, there has been a spike in hate crimes since the election of President Obama. According to Morlin, not only is there a spike in hate crimes since the 2008 election, there is a rise in secret anti-government militia.
“This trend is on the rise,” Spokane-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl A. Hicks said of recent hate crimes in the region. “What I would tell you is, it’s a bunch of thugs, and they’re dangerous individuals.
“The difference today is this activity is domestic terrorism,” Hicks said, “and the FBI pays attention to this kind of thing more than it did in the late 1970s, early ’80s.”
Some contribute the rise in hate crimes to the change in the classifications of crimes and some contribute the rise in hate crimes to the election of a black president in 2008. But, what we do know is there is a major war going on between the two top Arian Nation leaders in Idaho, Gerald O’Brien and Paul Mullet and there is a war between the two top competing Arian websites.
Whatever, the reason may be for the rise in hate crimes, the truth of the matter is the problem still does exist and it's not going away any time soon until our government figures out how to crack down on them. One factor I have noticed is there seems to be a rise in the number of young adults and teens who commit hate crimes.
The government and police can do there job at cracking down on these types of offenders, but it is also our job as parents to guide our children and teach them compassion and understanding. Some parents are fully aware of the racist attitude they are passing on to there children and some parents don't even realize they are passing a racism on to their children with the comments they make towards other races.
The United States is a melting pot of different races. The scary part about it is you may think you won't fall into the non-white category by the Arian Nation. But, when they look at you they see tan skin, olive skin, or they are looking at the shape of your eyes and see you as being non-white or you may have a name that doesn't sound white enough for them and may fall victim to a hate crime.
I think a lot of people just have the attitude of "What can I do about it?" Well, there is something you can do about it as a parent. You can be aware of what you say around your children and how you raise your children. Your children are key members of the next generation. You have to look at the big picture of things and raise your child to be compassionate and empathetic individuals. Teach your children racism is wrong. By not teaching them racism is wrong, your not taking a stand against racism with your children. You are leaving the topic of racism open to them to form their own opinions, which may become tainted by other factors in society.
Children are born with a blank slate. They are born with the ability to love unconditionally until adults taint their thinking and mold them into images of ourselves. We as parents play a bigger role in the future of racism than we think we do.
