Monday, November 21, 2016

Rise in hate crimes across America post-Trump election

Krupa Shah & Lauren Walinski
Staff Writers

Ever since Donald Trump’s election a few days ago, hate crimes have been cropping up across the country. These crimes range anywhere from swastikas and hateful messages being graffitied in bathroom stalls or store or home walls. These messages include phrases as “make America white again,” “black lives don’t matter,” “gay families = burn in hell,” “go back to where you came from” and others.
  People are also reporting being harassed in the street. Women all over the country are reporting sexual harassment, including men using phrases such as “grab them by the p*ssy” as said by our current president-elect. People of color have reported being called racial slurs and being told to return to Africa, Mexico, or other countries, sometimes even being told to go “back” to the wrong country. Many people who have been told this are American born citizens. Members of the LGBTQ community have reported being called slurs as well, and being told their marriages would be overturned. Threats on people’s lives have also been made, such as an incident that took place at the University of Pennsylvania where black freshman were all added to a GroupMe chat called “N***er Lynching.” Racial slurs and images of lynching were shared. Threats of lynching and a “Daily Lynching” event were also shared with the group. At Royal Oak Middle School, white students were caught on film chanting “build the wall” in their cafeteria during lunch. Another Pennsylvania principal has also reported many white students chanting “Cotton picker,” “You’re a N***er,” and “Heil Hitler” at the students of color.
  Physical assaults have also been reported by many. Muslim women wearing hijabs have reported had them ripped off their heads, forcing some women to remove their hijabs for their own safety. Many Muslim people and people of color have reported being robbed, assaulted, and even people attempting to run them over in crosswalks. Women have reported being grabbed and groped without their consent in public. Kids have been bullied and beat up for their race, religion, or sexuality. One teenager had a bottle broken over his head at a bar on a date with another guy. Many people of color are being presumed to be an ethnicity that they are not. For example, one woman who was sitting in a restaurant when an older white man began to harass her. Presuming, that she was of Mexican descent he said, “I can’t wait until Trump asks us to rape your people and send you back over the biggest d*nm wall we’re ever going to build. Go back to hell, w*tback”. After this was said he threw her drink in her face and gave her the middle finger before walking away.
  The reason Trump’s election has caused hate crimes to spike is because Trump ran a platform of hate. He ran on racism, sexism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, and homophobia and when he won it validated these views to every other American who held them. If the President-elect could say and do bigoted things, then any average American could, too, if he won Presidency. It also shows that if a person in a position of authority does something inappropriate it is acceptable for one of their followers to follow suit. Trump fostered a campaign playing into the hatred of this country. Now hatred has won, and this is the result.
  The following reporters and sources were consulted:
CNN: http://tinyurl.com/h7r8gjt
USA Today:
http://tinyurl.com/gvb26k5
http://tinyurl.com/zyofydj
http://tinyurl.com/jh56xyb
https://t.co/oxOA1AOFD6
https://t.co/cQFUbN1JHK
https://t.co/6k5TyDKTDP
https://t.co/EAxggYm42j
https://t.co/wFJWWGnoyI
NYTimes:
http://tinyurl.com/h46yb3h
Dallas Morning News:
http://tinyurl.com/hgukgea
NBC:
http://tinyurl.com/jbgt6cu
http://tinyurl.com/jrvvs5e
Time: http://tinyurl.com/zjhpo2z
Southern Poverty Law Center:
http://tinyurl.com/hhecm9w