Originally Posted by Spexxvet

It seems to me that hate crime is used to denote when the reason for the crime is solely because of "hatred", and is often used to protect a minority, since the minority doesn't always have the same protection that the majority enjoys.

A black man mugs only whute people. His reason is to get money. It's very different than some white guys choosing a random black guy to drag behind their pick-uo truck. Black people in the south in 1930 were not publically lynching white people. Ask yourself why.

IMHO, minorities should be charged with hate crime, when appropriate.