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hate crime
any criminal or attempted act which is motivated by the victims race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or disability status. Examples of hate crimes include: racist graffiti on anothers property, burning a cross on some ones lawn, beating some one, or using force or threatening to use force to injure, intimidate or interfere with a person because of his/her race, ethnic group, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability status.
hate incident
actions or behaviors that are motivated by hate, but are protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Examples of hate incidents include: distributing non-threatening racist flyers at a public place, displaying non-threatening anti-gay or lesbian placards at a parade or march, and mailing non-threatening letters ridiculing people with disabilities. The freedoms we enjoy in the United States, such as the freedom of speech, allow hateful rhetoric as long as it does not interfere with the civil rights of others.
-victims of hate are often very traumatized after the incident and feel that reporting to law enforcement will further victimize them.
-people are often fearful the perpetrator will return and harass them further if they make a report.
-people may also believe making a report only serves to stigmatize themselves and/or family.
-people often have little faith the perpetrator will be caught and successfully prosecuted.
what you can do:
-learn to identify hate crimes.
-report hate crimes to your local police.
-report hate-related incidents to the OC Human Relations Commission.
-assist and support hate crime victims.
-work to prevent hate by building intergroup understanding and tolerance.
-speak out against acts of hate.
Orange County Human Relations
www.oc.ca.gov/csa/hrc
Lambda GLBT Community Services
www.lambda.org