Matthew Shepard's parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard, with President Obama
The laundry list of things to be upset about when it comes to this nation’s affairs has been growing exponentially over this last decade. Recently, people have become more vocal in expressing their unhappiness at the status quo, as evidenced by the growing “Occupy Wall Street” movement. It’s fairly easy to recognize what’s wrong in this country, but it’s a bit more difficult to find solutions for our problems. That is why the victories over these past few years are so much sweeter, particularly the strides we have made for human rights.
So this year, at a time when so many people mull over what they are thankful for, I will be thinking of some of the accomplishments of our current administration and, in particular, those that advance the status and treatment of minority citizens.
It’s been just over 13 years since Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered by two young men simply because he was gay. In October of 1998, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson allegedly feigned being gay to gain Shepard’s trust and then offered him a ride home. Rather than dropping him off at his house, however, they drove to a secluded area, robbed him, tied him to a fence and tortured him. When they finished, they drove away, leaving him for dead. Though alive, he was in a coma, and wasn’t discovered until eighteen hours later by a man passing by who originally believed him to be a scarecrow.
At the hands of McKinney and Henderson, Shepard received several skull fractures, as well as serious damage to his brainstem. He remained in a coma and on life support until he was pronounced dead five days after he was attacked. Both Mckinney and Henderson received two consecutive life sentences for their actions, though the death penalty was flirted with in each of their cases.
Earlier that same year, a 49-year-old black man by the name of James Byrd, Jr. accepted a ride home from three younger white men. These men (Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer and John King) drove Byrd to a remote location where they beat him, urinated on him and chained him to Berry’s truck. They then dragged Byrd for three miles before he came into contact with a culvert, which severed both his head and his right arm clean off his body. An autopsy revealed that it was likely that Byrd was alive for most, if not all of the time that he was pulled behind the pick-up. When the three decided they’d had enough “fun”, they dumped Byrd’s remains in front of an African American church and went to… wait for it… a barbecue.
As both Lawrence Brewer and John King were known white supremacists, it was easy to determine Byrd’s murder was indeed a hate crime. Both were given the death penalty while the driver, Shawn Berry, received a life sentence. Brewer was asked a day before his execution this past September if he regretted his actions and answered, “I have no regrets. No, I’d do it all over again, to tell you the truth.”
The savage murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. gained national attention and people began to call out strongly for more anti hate crime legislation. In 2001, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which sought to expand the 1969 Federal Hate Crimes Law, was introduced to the House of Representatives and referred to the Subcommittee on Crime. Previous to this bill, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability were not included as protected classes, and nonfederal activity was not considered protected either. The bill died and was reintroduced several times. In 2007, particularly, Democrats attempted to add the bill as an amendment to the Defense Reauthorization Bill, but dropped it when President Bush hinted he would veto it if it came with any anti hate crime legislation.
The bill finally passed the House in April 2009, with 231 Democratic votes and 18 Republican votes. And later, in July of the same year, it passed in the Senate with 55 Democratic votes and just 5 Republican votes. President Obama then signed it into law on October 28th, just as he had promised to do during his campaign. He had this to say, “After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we’ve passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are.”
Why am I grateful? And why are hate crime laws even necessary? These laws have been met with some heavy opposition, and quite often, the first thing anyone will say against hate crime legislation is that it makes it seem as though government is saying one person’s life or liberty is more important than another’s. But this viewpoint is seeing this issue from the wrong angle. The punishment for a hate crime is worse because the outcome is worse than that of a regular crime, at least psychologically. Those who are attacked on prejudicial grounds take far longer to recover from their experiences and many of them, particularly those of the LGBT community, feel as though they are being punished simply for who they are. LGBT youth are especially vulnerable. These attacks, coupled with the common attitude that such abuse is justified, lead to higher instances of mental health issues like depression and anxiety related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder. And it has far reaching effects that affect those who haven’t been targeted. Many LGBT individuals will stay in the closet, or scale back their progress since they came out, out of a genuine fear of violent retribution from bloodthirsty lunatics or perhaps even second thoughts about whether they might be in the wrong. Hate crimes are not committed against one person, they are committed against the entire community that person represented. When a black person is killed for his or her race, all black people are reminded that they have reason to fear for their lives because of their skin color. They are reminded that people absolutely loathe them for something entirely out of their control.
So, this Thanksgiving, I am thankful that we finally have a president who is willing to stand up and say that hate is NOT justifiable and no one gets to terrorize entire communities of minority citizens without having to answer for it. And I am proud to live in a country that believes that such acts are deplorable and those targeted for them are worthy of protection.
Ya know, it’s interesting. I voted for Barrack Obama in the last election. Even after the FISA vote where the telecoms were granted immunity for their involvement in the warrent-less wiretaps, which very nearly changed my mind about being able to vote for him, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he promised some really important things. I felt like there was no way it could possibly get worse after Bush. And Obama was promising to end some of the very worse policies of the Bush administration.
In particular. Closing Guantanamo Bay. Government Transparency. Not using federal resources to pursue medical marijuana where legalized at a state level. Letting the Patriot Act Expire. Our military out of Iraq. An end to the military commissions. No Indefinite detention. An end to the persecution of government whistle blowers. An end to the abuse of the State Secrets Privilege. End no-bid contracts above $25,000. Repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes. Sign the Employee Free Choice Act, making it easier for workers to unionize. Allow imported prescription drugs. Centralize ethics and lobbying information for voters. Allow five days of public comment before signing bills. Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials. Urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws. Limit term of director of national intelligence. Negotiate health care reform in public sessions televised on C-SPAN. Reign in the FBI, no more “national security letters”, no more investigation of citizens without any probable cause. No more torture. No extra-judicial killing of US citizens.
Every one of the things I have mentioned, is something that could be addressed with an executive order or with policy changes within the executive branch. Yet he has done exactly the opposite of what he promised. It is critically important to understand that we are not discussing promises he was just not able to get to, or was prevented from addressing because of the typical partisan foolishness that seems to define Washington. He made a conscious decision as President of the United States to not only, NOT fulfill the promise made, he actually decided to do the exact opposite of what he said he would do and proceeded to enact policies to that end. I simply can no longer accept this kind of behavior in the politicians I vote for.
The issues I am focusing on are ones that define the very nature of the United States as a free democracy. They speak to the very soul of the kind of country we want for ourselves and our children. Barrack Obama has engaged in the same behavior as his predecessor. For me, this is completely unacceptable. The Obama administration has largely been a continuation of the Bush administration with regards to human rights, civil liberties and this absurd “war on terror”.
His justice department vigorously pursed the expansion of the Patriot Act and sought to make it PERMANENT. His justice department sought an expansion of FBI authority, following the release of information that indicated there was an ongoing abuse of “national security letters, among other things. His DEA is vigorously pursuing medical marijuana. He has been far more aggressive in his persecution of government whistle-blowers than the Bush administration. He has continued to allow the use of the state secrets privilege as a tool to cover-up government wrong-doing. The use of torture goes on. Indefinite Detention goes on. And I could go on, but I will stop with the final comment that he has not fulfilled any of the promises I mentioned and has indeed gone on to do the opposite of what he promised.
I thought it could not get worse after Bush. I was wrong. He has not only continued some of the very worst of the Bush Administration policies, he has expanded on them. Anyway, the point of all of this, is that I will never vote for Barrack Obama again. I am sick of being lied to, and he has proven himself to be no better than the very worst of the republicans currently available. So, why on Earth would I vote for a man who has thus far completely screwed me.
For those who assume I am a Republican seeking to capitalize on the failures I mentioned above, I am not. I really could care less about “parties”. My only concern is how honest the politician is, whether they will do what they say and say what they do and that they respect the constitution. The question of which party the person is affiliated with is completely irrelevant, for the record . When politicians start calling for things like the use of US troops to arrest civilians on US soil and hold them indefinitely, it is time for them to go. Kelly Ayote of NH has actually sponsored the kind of legislation that would make this a reality, btw. It will be voted on by the Senate on November 28th, 2011.
Okay, if he protects from hate crimes then why are you all trying to not have another African American run against him for President?
That was why there was an supposed conspiracy about sexual misconduct or something(Sorry about my ignorance of that case, but I know it was some up in the air conspiracy the Democrats made).
You all discriminate everywhere, you all stereotype too. I didn’t really know what the tea party is exactly but they look like you and me, they have similar beliefs to anyone of Occupy, just about everyone. There are some good ones, its all in your heads of who they are. They are not as organized as you all have painted the picture as, I mean An0n is more organized. I don’t think they are in control as they think, you all have made them a giant, so is the people like Palin who are piggybacking. You all have an beef because they are “christian”, well whats wrong with being “christian”, when a few tea partiers spoke in a interview, they were peaceful, I didn’t see any racist intentions, you all way made them out to be is the equivalent of Westboro Baptist of Kansas.(When I go to Kansas, they are begging for anti-hate graffiti, the Godly kind).
The revulsion against Herman Cain isn’t about his race, it is about the fact that he is a total idiot that is not suitable to run this country. The allegations against him were not some conspiracy to take him down, they were the claims of MULTIPLE women, many of whom identified as right of center. Is it so unbelievable that a man could do such a thing, when it still happens in this country every day, particularly when a man is given a lot of power?
Nor is any of this even actually relevant as discrimination is not a hate crime. Hate crimes are violent acts. This is about not being able to murder someone because of a genetic factor, not some ridiculous attempt for the right to claim liberals are the ones who tend to be racist.
So why are we supposed to accept the premise that you hate Herman Cain but it is not about race but only his supposed inability to govern, but we on the right say we hate Obama it is only about race and has nothing to do with is incompetance.
Trust me, I’ve had a harmless teacher that can’t teach without a parent present because of some allegations a kid made that sounded like something out of a TV show. I know they were not true, this guy is an literature, movie and show tune fanatic with barely any sexuality. Now he doesn’t have his equipment that made it easy for his students practice at home.
Theres also false abuse cases that are putting innocent parents in jail.
Just because its an allegation doesn’t mean its right. The media just amplified it because people didn’t want him to be higher in the polls. Even when the Democrats were the conservatives, they have always been a bit racist, I don’t care how much the black population is Democrat. He may be an “idiot” but the intent is obvious, by cable news maybe, not you all. He may be smarter than you give him credit for. Even if he may be an Otaku, it doesn’t make him dumb.
I agree that there are cases where innocent people have been accused wrongfully of doing things. However, again, this has nothing to do with what I posted. Herman Cain is also still terribly unsuited to be this country’s president. And all the evidence points toward the idea that he did do it.