Defining Hate

Andy Gregory
Nov 7 · 4 min read

A Defence of the Definition

‘Have you heard? Apparently as soon as someone says something is a hate crime, by law it is one! Stop laughing I think that’s a hate crime, which means it is one!’

At this point the room is usually filled with easy laughter from the other straight, white, cis (etc.) men in the room and maybe one or two nervous chuckles. But on the whole people tend to find this a valid joke and an entertaining punch line.

While on the inside I’m squirming, outwardly the best retort I’ve managed so far is contributing one of those nervous chuckles. It disappoints me that I’m not brave enough to challenge this openly and I hope one day I feel empowered enough to say what I actually think to that statement, which is this:

“Yes, if someone says a crime is a hate crime, it is one. But only if they are part of a protected minority. This is because if people with your views, who see minority as an amusing adjective, decided what was and what was not a hate crime, then only the most serious of discrimination would ever have a chance of being considered as motivated by hate. The reason the victim is allowed to define what is motivated by hate is because straight, white, cis (etc.) men, have never and will never experience discrimination and also happen to make up the majority of our legal authority.

“As well as this, while your first statement is correct and valid, your second one is wrong; when you say something is a hate crime, it does not mean it is one. Because you aren’t one of the protected groups, so when you say something is a hate crime it carries about as much weight as the collective discrimination faced by straight, white, cis (etc.) males, which is to say, none at all.”

That’s what I aim to reply with, and I like to think some of it is conveyed through my uneasy laughter and I think if someone heard my reply, they would say something along the lines of ‘it’s political correctness gone mad! You can’t say anything these days.’ to which I would probably just roll my eyes and again, squirm inside. But what I would like to say is this:

“No, no it hasn’t gone mad, if anything it’s not mad enough and I would like it to go madder. And no, it’s not that you can’t say anything these days, it’s just that you can’t say anything racist. (to give one example). If anything, political correctness has not gone far enough, there are still things people say that they should not feel comfortable saying. So-called political correctness is a guidebook and opportunity for you to challenge your unconscious bias and I wish you would do that instead of challenging those who are victim to it.”

That’s as far as my imagined argument has ever gone in my head and any development beyond that would stretch into deep unpredictability and I know it sounds quite angry, but it makes me angry. I just wish that this argument wasn’t imaginary and that I felt empowered and brave enough to openly challenge these sayings and I’m certain other people feel the same way. It’s a shame that it’s those with the most questionable viewpoints that feel the most empowered to speak their mind while the lack of challenges to their viewpoints often makes it seem like everyone else in the room agrees with them or doesn’t care, but I’m certain that’s not the case. It’s important to challenge these viewpoints and the more we do this the more other people will feel able to. The key to this is empowerment.

This is why, as part of the LUU Health & Wellbeing Project, I’m running an event focusing on encouraging people to feel empowered, on this occasion focused through self-defence.

For students at the school of medicine we have dedicated a one-off class to boost your confidence. Join us in Function at 6–8pm on Thursday 14 November.

https://www.luu.org.uk/union-events/2019/october/free-self-defence-class-for-school-of-medicine-141119/

If you want to speak out about any hate crime or hate incident you’ve observed (a hate incident is when what happened isn’t illegal e.g. homophobic language) you can report it here https://www.luu.org.uk/student-help-support/hate-crime-reporting-project/ or visit the Student Advice team in the union foyer.

Leeds University Union

We're your students' union, here to make sure you love your time at Leeds.

Andy Gregory

Written by

Health and Wellbeing Ambassador for Leeds University Union

Leeds University Union

We're your students' union, here to make sure you love your time at Leeds.

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