It depends on what the defintion of a #HateCrime IS in Sweet Home Alabama

Racism alive and well in Limestone County, Alabama http://t.co/siEv8Gzpne pic.twitter.com/9qCNf7uBTf
— Mic (@micnews) January 5, 2015

"We can't change what we refuse to acknowledge."

Poor Alabama Media Group. they can't decide if they are for Hate Crimes or against Hate Crimes.  *Sigh* Yesterday they reported the FBI is now assisting the  Limestone County Sheriffs Office in the case, and said  This is 2015, not 1965, and hate crimes shouldn't be tolerated by the community or law enforcement:

"In the short term, the Limestone County Sheriff's Office should make it a priority to find out who committed this crime and prosecute them to the fullest extent the law allows."

Yes, this from the group who allows anonymous commenter's to spew all manner of hate speech on a daily basis.

 If you want to take the pulse of Huntsville, and find out what's really going on, who the people in positions of power and influence cater and pander to, and how they really feel about an issue, look no further than the comment section of Al.com.

Well, not only have they deleted the offensive comments from the comment section, today they ran a story asking if the incident is a hate crime  reporting the DA says "It depends". 

Jones said charges can be elevated to a hate crime after the suspect is caught but the use of the slur doesn't automatically make it a hate crime. "It'll come down to, 'Why did you do this?'" he said. "We have to catch the person first to determine why somebody would do this."

Huh?  It will come down to why did you do this? Uh, why does someone spray the N-word on someones door Mr. Jones?  Because they can?  Because rappers and rap music?  Because it's a term of endearment?  Because Obama?  I mean, really?

Jones said, for example, if someone spray-painted the word "honky" on his home, would it be considered a hate crime if a white person was charged?

Now if this isn't a classic example of false narrative and a straw man argument I don't know what is.   Of course it wouldn't be a hate crime if a white person spay-painted the word "honky" on his home, but it would it an African American did it. A better example would be if someone of either race spray painted the F-word on your home.

But then.... this is Sweet Home Alabama.....

Case in point: Artur Davis’ recent vote AGAINST the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The purpose of the bill is to provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes. Considering that Davis represents Alabama’s blackbelt, the ancestral home of hate crimes, you would think he would support such a bill. Well, actually, he did support it two years ago when he voted FOR hate crimes legislation. But I guess that was before he was trying to run for Governor and before he realized he could use some of those KKK votes.

In a recent statement released after his vote against the current bill, Davis “explains” what influenced his decision. He says:

Some of my constituents ask why our federal laws should pick out some Americans for more protections than others. Some wonder why, in a culture that rejects violence against any human being, we should say that an attack on a black, or a woman, or a gay individual should be punished more severely than an attack on someone who happens to be a senior citizen, or a soldier, or a teacher. Others ask why some motives based on certain ideas should be punished by our criminal laws more aggressively than others.

 Racism won't end until it's confronted.  We can't confront racism until it is defined. 

 What can you do to end racism?  Nothing.  You can't control peoples thoughts and feelings, but you can stop electing and giving power to the the people who have those thoughts and feelings. You can speak up and speak out. Silence equals consent.