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The saddest day this great nation has endured in recent time was September 11, 2001. The day a tragedy, similar to that of the Pearl Harbor attack in which many, thousands of innocent victims were killed, surprisingly, due to hate crimes.

Hate crimes have been a tragic part of American history since the beginning of time. We wonder who would commit such crimes and for what purpose would they go to such extreme measures. The main reason in most cases is personal prejudice. It is through personal prejudice that one is blinded by their immortality of what they are doing.

Hate crimes are different than other crimes, in that the offender is sending a message to a certain group or person, as was the case in the Holocaust. Such hate crimes are often fueled because the perpetrator holds erroneous stereotypes. After the September 11th attack, some people threatened persons of Islamic and Muslim cultures for their particular race, religion or tradition. This was especially true of males as some assumed they were all followers of Osama Bin Laden. A number of Islamic and Muslim men were beaten up one after another throughout the nation, some killed. For example, there was one incident that occurred here in Mesa, when a Indian man wearing a turban was shot in a local Circle K by a Caucasian man who had been drinking and had taken his anger out on an innocent person. It is through these incidents of xenophobia that victims suffer emotional damages. Unfortunately, incidences of hate crimes are not uncommon. Statistics show that they occur more than one would like to believe.

Which leads to the next questions, "How do we cope with such crimes", and "Is there anything that can be done to stop hate crimes?"

"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them"

- President George W. Bush