The Matrix of Hate

• In Event: Hate Crime Victimization Across Groups

Abstract

Hate crimes are a problem of increasing Western criminological relevance, which have undergone only modest theoretical examination. A seven-point theoretical construction explaining the reasons why people commit hate crimes is presented. Called, the ‘matrix of hate,’ it is argued that constructs of: historical tendentiousness, superficially convincing purveyors of hate; illegitimate territoriality; unconstrained ethnocentrism; ethnic jealousy and fear of inter-ethnic meritocratic competition; encouragement of victimhood; and sociopolitical panaceas, intersect and combine to produce a culture of bigotry that perpetuates bias, prejudice, and ultimately justifications for hate violence.

Authors

• Chidike Okeem, Sacramento State University

• Dan Okada, Sacramento State University