Blog #7: Theoretical Frames of Hate Crimes and Affirmative Action
I would actually like to talk about two theoretical frames, since both in my mind are equally important.
The first would be hate crime, the context around it, and the effects it has. Hate crimes have existed long before the term did, such as the lynching of African Americans that dates back centuries. That being said, they still persist today. The term hate crime was coined in the 70’s and 80’s, with California, Washington, and Oregon being the first states to create anti-hate crime statutes in the face of growing hate crimes against African Americans, Jews, and members of the LGBT community. The reason why hate crimes matter today and in my research is because they affect real people, causing very real problems both on a personal level and as a whole. Professors Baker and Briton, for example, found in their own research that there had been a 20% increase in hate crimes and that this then led to a 25% increase of first-time black student enrollment at HBCUs, or historically black colleges and universities (Baker & Briton, Pages 2 & 35). This is one of many cases and effects that can be noted, and clear sign that hate crimes are not to be ignored on this topic (though that seems a given seeing that this is a research paper about racism in higher education). There are other consequences on top of population shifts and changes, including the formation of local groups and social circles as a form of protection against aggressive and harmful actors, such as hate groups or individual perpetrators. There is also a psychological factor to consider with issues like depression and anxiety, let alone the physical dangers of hate crimes. All of these lend themselves to altering and affecting the academic careers and experiences of black students, both for good and ill.
There is also to be considered what yet needs to be done. The National Institute of Justice, for examples, lists some areas of concern to be addressed is further research into the effects of hate crimes on victims and the consequences thereof, the motivations of hate crimes, measuring the prevalence and extent of hate crimes, examining the impacts and effectiveness of hate crime legislation as well has programs which deal with hate crimes in various aspects, and more. It is telling that the researchers I’ve studied have said similar things, that there simply isn’t enough research into hate crimes and issues concerning black students in general. That being said, what’s already out there is helpful, useful, and a good place to start along the path to true change.
The second frame is that of affirmative action. While the true original implementation of affirmative action is disputed, though it generally began in the late 50’s through the 70’s with presidents such as Johnson, Kennedy, and Carter. Affirmative action itself can be a controversial thing. Some claim that it defies the myth of the American meritocracy, others say that it is reverse racism against white who would otherwise be considered worthy of whatever position or benefit is in question. In regard to higher education, one can find individual cases like this perhaps, but by and large the sentiment is false. Black people are disproportionally underrepresented and under enrolled in college compared to many other demographics in the United States, down by as much as half of the population of college age Black Americans (Ashkenas). This is different compared to white folk whose enrollment is up by the same percent and are generally overrepresented. Affirmative aids Black Americans by giving them a fairer playing field to get into colleges and universities, provide access to programs and the like that would otherwise be closed to them, and help set African Americans along the path of building up cultural capital and life chances. I haven’t done any research into hard numbers or specific cases just yet, but from what I have researched, affirmative action works and it’s helping people all the time. One main obstacle against affirmative action, however, is people. As previously stated, there are arguments speaking out against affirmative action, but there are also legal barriers. While the federal government’s statutes on the matter remain and have even been expanded upon, those of the states is another matter entirely. Many have instituted affirmative action since the 90’s or earlier, but many have also had both temporary and permanent bans on affirmative action. It should be noted that the black populations of these states suffered ill effects because of these bans, including education. I will be doing more research into the matter this week, namely focused on cases regarding affirmative action, but hopefully I can also find hard research into the matter.
Bibliography and Works Cited
“Hate
Crime.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2021,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_crime. Accessed 12 April 2021
Ashkenas,
Jeremy, et al. “Even With Affirmative Action, Blacks
and Hispanics Are More Underrepresented at Top Colleges Than 35 Years
Ago.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/24/us/affirmative-action.html.
Baker,
Dominique J; Britton, Britton. “Hate Crimes and Black
College Student Enrollment.” Center for Education Policy Analysis, 6
Jan. 2021, cepa.stanford.edu/content/hate-crimes-and-black-college-student-enrollment.
Jenness,
Valerie. "Hate crime". Encyclopedia Britannica,
10 Apr. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/hate-crime. Accessed 12 April
2021.
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