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Tuesday, March 06, 2007

The Hate Bias Crime Industry


Originally posted in Faultline USA


We all know about hate crimes. That’s where some victims of crime are more worthy of assistance than other crime victims because the crime was motivated by hate against a particular cultural group or class of protected individuals. But did you realize that bias is also a crime?

Bias became a crime in 1984 when the Federal Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA) ushered in a new era in crime victim assistance in America.

So what exactly is bias?


According to the dictionary, “bias is a particular tendency or inclination, esp. one that prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question; prejudice.”


—Synonyms 2. predisposition, preconception, predilection, partiality, proclivity; bent, leaning. Bias, prejudice mean a strong inclination of the mind or a preconceived opinion about something or someone. A bias may be favorable or unfavorable: bias in favor of or against an idea. Prejudice implies a preformed judgment even more unreasoning than bias, and usually implies an unfavorable opinion: prejudice against a race. 9. predispose, bend, incline, dispose.
—Antonyms 2. impartiality.


So, the opposite of bias is impartiality. Now from what I’ve learned from psychology and science it appears that no person on earth is free of bias. In other words, there is no such thing as a completely impartial person. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as a completely impartial decision. Our human predilections, bents, opinions, and inclinations limit our perceptions of the world. We are all biased in one way or another because we have not yet become gods. But hey, don’t tell that to the left.


See in the left’s drive towards Utopia, only certain people are capable of impartiality – (1) those who embrace a Utopian promise for a future of complete and impartial diversity, and/or (2) protected classes and groups. The rest are deemed to be prejudiced by virtue of their wing-nut stupidity, skin color, or cultural background. These unfortunate people are quite capable of committing hate or bias crimes but never, ever can they become victims of hate or bias.


There are five major protected cultural groups: African Americans, American Indians, Arab Americans, Asian Americans and Latino Americans. Additionally Jews and Muslims are considered minorities as well as the gay and lesbian community. About the only unprotected group are White Heterosexual Christian Americans, and it just so happens that these folks are the only people in America who are quite capable of committing hate and bias crimes!


Now a little article caught my attention. It was about the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, which is offering Diversity Training for the general public.


The “Building Cultural Competence” workshop is designed to enhance understanding of five major cultural groups: African Americans, American Indians, Arab Americans, Asian Americans and Latino Americans. . .


“Hate Crime 101” is a two-hour workshop designed to assist hate crime victim service providers with understanding how to define and respond to incidents of hate crime.


But wait a minute. Where is the money coming from to provide this training? According to the Michigan Crime Victim Services Commission (CVSC):


In response to findings and recommendations issued by the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime and the Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Crime, VOCA established the first significant national program in support of crime victim services. Under VOCA, federal funding is available to every state to support crime victim assistance and compensation programs. . . The Crime Victim Services Commission is empowered by statute to administer the annual formula based VOCA grant. . . . Agencies eligible to receive grant funding are public or private non-profit agencies that provide, or plan to provide, effective direct services to crime victims.


Well I decided to look into Michigan’s crime victim claims and crime victim grants.


During FY 03-04, the crime victims compensation program paid a record $3.27 million in direct financial assistance to crime victims in 977 claim awards.
Claims Awarded 977
Claims Denied 772
Total Compensation Awarded $3,268,534
Average Award $4,053

Direct service provision to victims of crime.
2004
Total Grants Awarded $10,047,576
Projects Funded 86
Victims Receiving Services 135,406
Total Services Provided 338,417


Does something about this picture look a little strange to you, or is it just my vision???

It appears that the entire state of Michigan had less than 1700 claims made in 04 and almost 80% of those claims were denied, yet there were 135,406 “victims” receiving services. Compensation awarded to victims was a little over $3 million, but there was over $10 million in grants awarded to agencies to perpetuate the myth the Hate/Bias crimes are the biggest crisis this nation faces.


Oh but it could get worse. Since Michigan is so very close to Canada, this might be the future for Michigan – and the entire USA. In Edmonton minorities are being trained to be hate-crime fighters. The Edmonton Police Service's hate and bias crimes section has turned “members of those minority groups -- the aboriginal, black, Jewish, Muslim, Indo-Canadian, and gay and lesbian communities -- into soldiers of his (Const. Dave Huggins) war effort.”


A key to launching the section was building partnerships with minority groups by inviting them to help set priorities.


"We were sharing files so there was no veil of mystery about what we do," Huggins says. . .


The victories have nothing to do with hate crimes solved. Instead, they reflect what could be a new frontier for community policing . . .


The section fielded about 65 files in 2005, 100 in '04 and 75 in '03.


Now why would you mount a major war effort (65 cases fielded in 05) unless you really wanted to up your hate/bias crime victim stats??? Follow the money folks! This is becoming big, big business.


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