THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN CONFRONTING HATE CRIMES THROUGH THE LAW

Abstract

This article aims to point out the role of the state in dealing with hate crimes through the law. In
this regard hate crimes are being understood not so much as a product of individual psychology,
but primarily as part of the process of "making a difference", based on the social conceptions of
the "other." From this perspective hate crimes are rooted in ideological structures of social
oppression and marked by deeply embedded negative representations of difference in terms of
race, ethnicity and the like. This in turn implies that the extent to which the difference is socially
constructed, it can also be socially deconstructed or reconstructed. And hate crime laws are an
explicit attack on the backend infrastructure that provides the context for acts of hatred with
ultimate purpose to create (more) moral social fabric. The paper also addresses the dilemmas
related to identity politics or the question on whether special treatment can be more helpful or
hurtful, again leading to the conclusion that ignoring social differences is rarely enough to
produce equality, especially in the criminal justice system. Additionally, although hate crime
laws may seem at first glance to identify, limit and promote concern for the social differences,
the way they are written and applied aims to promote equality and to overcome the differences.