The Social Construction of a Hate Crime Epidemic

A HATE CRTME EPDEMIC 367 Klanwatch Project (Klanwatch) and the FBI; figures from these groups are widely used to confirm the existence of the hate crime epidemic.Third, we demonstrate the political and subjective nature of counting hate crimes.Fourth, we offer some contrarian observations on the status of hate crimes. II. CONSTRUCTION OF THE HATE CRIME EPIDEMIC HYPOTHESISMany commentators assert that the rates of all types of hate crimes taken individually and together have reached epidemic levels.In this section, we consider how the hate crime epidemic has been constructed.We first consider the epidemic metaphor.Then we show how some advocacy groups have used the metaphor to dramatize their groups' plight.Finally, we focus on the roles of the media, politicians, and scholars in fostering the belief that a hate crime epidemic exists. A."EPIDEMIC"?According to Webster's dictionary, an "epidemic" is a phenomenon "affecting or tending to affect many individuals within a population, community or region at the same time; excessive, prevalent; contagious." 3 The Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention says "an epidemic occurs when the incidence of a condition is higher than normal or higher than what health officials expect." 4 Proponents of social problems, believing that the more serious their problem, the more persuasive their demand for action, have appropriated the term "epidemic" to mobilize public attention and government resources.Calling a social problem an "epidemic" implies the existence of a crisis, a calamity that demands immediate political and social action. 5 Hate crime is so often referred to as an "epidemic" that one might well believe that there is a solid foundation of facts documenting that this social problem is out of control and getting worse.To take just a few examples: Steven Spielberg, the movie producer, told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that "hate crimes are an epidemic curable only through education"; 6 Leo McCarthy, Lieutenant Governor of California, declared that "[t]here is an epidemic of hate 3 WEB T R's NnrTH NEW COLLEGIATE DiarIoNARY (1989).