October 12, 2002
Is 'Hate' A Crime?
Lowndes County High School officials suspended three high school students for the mock hanging of a black-painted Barbie doll on campus and have summoned the FBI to investigate. Although Principal Ann Rodgers believes the students' actions reflected their immaturity and were not intended to intimidate or frighten black students, Superintendent Steve Smith said summoned the FBI because "we're trying to follow the proper procedure for handling the incident." Sabrina Bradley, mother of a freshman who witnessed the mock lynching complains, "She came home and told me a white boy had a Barbie doll painted black with a rope around its neck like he was hanging the doll. It scared her. This is her first year in high school." She and several other black parents feel the boys punishment should be more severe, "If our black boys did something like this, they'd be put in jail."Should the FBI be called to investigate? Does this incident qualify as a "hate crime," since no real crime seems to have been committed? Or does the intimidation suffered by black students classify this act as a "hate crime?"
--via Plastic
Posted at October 12, 2002 03:21 PM | Perspective
