In Moises Kaufman’s play The Laramie Project , a group of people travel to Laramie, Wyoming to conduct interviews about Matthew Shepard’s horrendous death. These people go into Laramie with the pre-determined notion that it was motivated by Shepards sexual orientation. , therefore they are very biased in this way. The media immediatly jumped on this case and made it a hate crime, and ignored all other evidence in the case. By doing this they stayed away from the problems that Shepard had, such as prostitution and Methamphetamine.
Loffreda's essay title "Losing Matt Shepard" itself speaks great volumes. Her emphasis on "Losing" perhaps shows us a great amount of sorrow felt in the "loss" of Matt. Furthermore, in regard to her emphasis on "losing" she quite clearly shows us how we are losing to value life, which is why these hate crimes occur. Matt had not done any crime, his only crime was being gay. A crime which itself isn't even a crime.
In the Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman, the author uses the Laramie townspeople's direct quotes to portray the theme of Violence, punishment, and justice. “ I ‘d say I hit him two or three times probably three times with my fist and about six times with the pistol.’’(Kaufman 82) this quote helps explain that Matthew was beaten badly and it was not just with their fist but also with a pistol as well. Another helpful quote is “ Our focus is to turn to Laramie, Wyoming and the Albany county courthouse, where Aaron James McKinney and Russell Arther Henderson are being charged for the brutal beating of Matthew Shepard, a gay university of Wyoming student. (Kaufman 49) This quote states that two people who are responsible for the attack on Matthew
In “What You Eat Is Your Business,” Radley Balko tackles the issue of who is responsible for fighting obesity. Balko argues that the controversy of obesity should make the individual consumers culpable for their own health and not the government (467). As health insurers refrain from increasing premiums for obese and overweight patients, there is a decrease in motivation to keep a healthy lifestyle (Balko 467). As a result, Balko claims these manipulations make the public accountable for everyone else 's health rather than their own (467). Balko continues to discuss the ways to fix the issue such as insurance companies penalizing consumers who make unhealthy food choices and rewarding good ones (468).
Hordes of flesh eating murderers move slowly towards a defenseless white girl, she has nowhere to run, seemingly out of nowhere, a black man comes to the rescue as a white family ignores the obvious screams for help from the other side of a door. This exact situation occurs in the film Night of the Living Dead, and although he does everything he can, the main character, Ben, still ends up shot by the people that are supposed to protect him. Throughout the movie there is a prevalence of rebellion and aggression towards Ben due to nothing other than the color of his skin. Through the actions of Ben and those around him in their struggle for survival, racism is shown as an extremely prevalent issue. Mr. Cooper feels threatened by Ben which causes
The U.S. later legalized it in 2009. This act augmented penalties for crimes perpetrated against one’s ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, age, disability, sexual identity, or sexual preference. Today, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act is “effectively recognizing the importance of prosecuting violence motivated by racism or other bias-related crimes” (2). The act serves as evidence of progress towards equality. The government is saying that all men are created equal and should be treated in the same manner, and if one chooses to oppose this proposition, they will encounter strict
Mexican American studies is a class offered to many students around the world so that they can learn about their ethnicity and culture backgrounds. In the documentary Precious Knowledge, there had been about 48% of Mexican American students from Tucson High that would drop out of school or not graduate. Then they decided to get an ethnic studies class. The class was a huge success and since then Tucson High had close to 100% of students graduating every year, and 85% going on to college.
With all the publicity around the Matthew Shepard case it is hard to avoid stereotypes, even more so because of the controversy of this crime. Laramie was not a well known part of Wyoming but after the Shepard case it is stained with the remembrance of a young gay man being brutally murdered. Newsperson1 says ;"Laramie, Wyoming--often called the 'Gem City of the Plains '-- is now at the eye of the storm"(pg44). A place usually known for its beauty is now and forever known for this repulsive crime. Because Shepard was gay, it brought to light what it may be like living in Wyoming as a gay man or woman.
The people of Laramie, Wyoming have many different opinions about homosexuality. Many people do not care about whether someone is gay or not while others believe it is morally wrong. Some people strongly believe that the straight people or Laramie and Wyoming are also to blame for this tragedy just as the Germans were to blame for the Holocaust. Whether one cares or not the murder of Matthew Shepard was a tragic event that sparked outrage for equal rights for the LGBT+ community and everyone who supported
It Bites Back In The End In the novel, The Hate U Give, a memorable quote states,“Listen!, The Hate U--the letter U--Give Little Infants F*** Everybody. T-H-U-G L-I-F -E. Meaning what society gives us as youth, it bites them in the a** when we wild out,”(Thomas, 32).
Why should the color of someone’s skin effect a crime that was committed? In the vignette of “Twelve Angry Men” the author, Reginald Rose addresses racism. According to act three on page 27 the Jurors are coming to a vote on whether or not the boy was guilty or not. The boy claimed that he wasn’t guilty of committing a premeditated murder
A suiting definition for hate crimes is an adaptation from Gerstenfeld chapter 1: The Whys and Hows of Hate Crime Laws: crimes that are committed based on the race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation of the victim. Another definition of hate crimes that was considered was the Massachusetts legal definition of hate crimes that was discussed in Englander’s article Is Bullying a Junior Hate Crime? Which included disability, color, and national origin on top of the protected groups that have been
Hate Crime is a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.” If an African American commits the same crime as an Caucasian it is more likely for the black person to be charged and arrested due to the racial issues we have today. There are many pros and cons towards the issue of racial crime, but hate crime is still a very difficult issue for our country to overcome. In order to overcome the issue of hate crime it would require changing legislation, public and police attitudes.
Racial Prejudice in WICKED: How is the theme of racial prejudice explored in Act One of the musical WICKED? The musical Wicked: The Untold Stories of the Witches of Oz was first performed on 10th June 2003 in New York City on Broadway. It was adapted, by Winnie Holzman and Steven Schwartz, from the 1995 book by Gregory Maguire (WICKED: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West), and follows the story of Elphaba a green-skinned girl who eventually becomes better known as the Wicked Witch of the West.
In the recent news, everyone’s heard of the rise in hate crime. Most hate crime is “motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence,” (Dictionary.com). Hate crimes have spanned across the country and impact thousands of lives each year. The FBI started investigating hate crimes at the turn of the 20th century. The FBI define hate crime as, “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity,” (FBI).
