Hate crimes occur all over campuses on the U.S. and Trinity College is not the exception. Even though, on many campuses, measures have been taken to try to prevent these incidents from happening, they are not always successful. Trinity has had several incidents regarding hate crimes regardless of the attempts in trying to stop them. In 2005, minority students were targeted and discriminated, when derogatory terms where written on their dorms doors. After this incident took place, Trinity held open sessions to discuss this issue and held conversations regarding discrimination, however a few weeks after the incident took place everything was back to normal as if nothing had happened. In 2011, another hate crime took place at Trinity. On April 22nd, 2011 “a white male threw a cup of beer at a student of color’s vehicle and yelled racially charged statements to that same person” (Protesting Hate at Trinity College, 2011). After this incident took place, Trinity once again stood up for what they believed, by holding conversations and holding a race rally. Even though it is important and relieving to see that Trinity will try to do something when these acts take place, it is extremely sad to see that we wait for these incidents to happen in order for us to do something about them. It is important for Trinity to continue to take steps toward stopping these incidents from happening and to support and make minorities feel like they are part of the community. It is also vital that Trinity implements a zero-tolerance policy regarding hate crimes.
One of the things that hate groups do in order to show their negative feelings toward minorities are hate speeches. A hate speech is defined by Kaplin as “verbal and written word, and symbolic acts, that convey grossly negative assessment of particular persons or groups based on their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. It is limited to face-to-face confrontations or shouts from a crowd. It may appear on shirts, on posters, on classroom blackboards, on students bulletin boards” (pg. 3). Allowing hate speeches to occur on campuses “may lead perpetrators to more aggressive tactics, as they perceive an environment accepting of bigotry” (Downey & Stage 3).Even though hate speeches should not be allowed on campuses, laws exist that protect offenders from being punished in a way that minorities feel is fair. For instance, the First Amendment which states that “Congress shall make no law restricting the freedom of the press, freedom of speech, or the freedom of religion” protects these offenders from being punished. “Institutions must continually balance the rights of all individuals to be free from racial and other forms of harassment and the rights of members of the academic community to express themselves freely, regardless of the content of their expressions” (Downey & Stage, 6). This issue is a conflict between the First and Fourteenth amendments. While the first amendment gives everyone the freedom of speech, the Fourteenth Amendment states that “the states shall provide equal protection of all citizens under the law”. Because of this controversy, groups on campus may think it is okay for them to commit hate crimes, and they will continue to believe this as long as this is allowed.
Another possible reason why hate crimes continue to occur is because those who are targeted do not speak up. The most common reason why groups that are being targeted will not speak up is because they feel that the incident “was not serious or important” (Downey & Stage, 5). They also feel like they are not part of the community in the college/university they attend. When the incident in the Spring of 2011, regarding the minority that had a cup of beer thrown at him took place, many minorities spoke about their true feeling regarding these incidents. “Many women on campus and many gay and lesbian students on campus, feel that acts of sexual violence, misogyny and homophobia/heterosexism are routinely dismissed” ((Protesting Hate at Trinity College, 2011). The fact that targeted groups do not feel like a part of the community says something about the colleges/universities where these incidents are taking place. In order to try to stop these hate crimes from happening, it is important for targeted students to demand respect and actions from the administration when these events take place. If the targeted groups want to see change regarding hate crimes and the way they are treated, they must do their share in this issue.
Even though the issue of hate crimes is a complex one, it is really important that the institution where this issue is taking place does everything that is in their power to try to get rid of it. The most important factor in solving these issues are the community standards. If the institution made it clear from the beginning to all applicants that those types of acts would not be tolerated, then maybe they would not occur. If the college upheld the standard of respect for everyone in the community to its highest, then these issues would be less likely to occur. In the student handbook for Trinity College, there is a section regarding sexual harassment and discrimination, but nowhere in that section does it say that discrimination is something that will not be tolerated. If Trinity wants everybody in the community to understand that hate crimes is something they are serious about, then they should talk about zero-tolerance towards these incidents somewhere in the student handbook.
Even though some measures have tried to be taken at Trinity, it has obviously not been enough. Alfonso Bui’s film Someplace I call Home documents the state of the Trinity community in 2005, when some students had derogatory terms written on their dorm room doors. Although the college did not tolerate the incidents that occurred in 2005 and in the Spring of 2011, it is sad to see that the only time when these issues were talked about were when these incidents took place. Trinity must make the time to talk about these kinds of issues and the ignorance that exists on our campus in order to make it a better place for everyone. Even though we have come a long way, there is still a long road ahead regarding discrimination in our campus.
Bibliography:
Downey, John P. “Hate Crimes and Violence on College and University Campuses.” 1999 40.1 (1999): 3-9. Print.
Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.), and Kingsbridge Productions. Some Place I Call Home. Trinity College, 2007. Film.
Trinity Student Handbook
“Protesting Hate at Trinity College, April 2011.” College Archives – Documents (2011): n. pag.