Nocturnally foul one (I love Coach's nickname for you!), how 'bout this? This one is from my own experience yesterday. I'm walking up North Pearl Street in Albany on my break, with three of my co-workers. Lo! A big man in Bloods gang colors is coming the opposite way, strutting his way towards us. We're all white, he's black. We passed each other, but I figured that I'd acknowledge him, so as we passed, I said, "'Hey, Blood--how ya doin'?" He didn't look at me, so I figured that I would leave that one right there. My co-workers were silent, and one of them said to me, "What the Hell were you trying to do?" I answered, "I'm acknowledging his presence. It's a form of respect. Gang members hate being disrespected. Okay?" The silence from my three co-workers was deafening.
Now, let's change it up a tad. If he came towards us and pulled a weapon, saying, "Die, white scum" or something like that, and shot at us--but didn't hit us--would that be a hate crime, based on the obvious "Die, white scum" utterance? (Remember something--you're wanting to prosecute intent.) And, if you were David Soares (the Albany County DA), who has made a name for himself in going after steroid pushers, knowing that a big portion of your electorate were African Americans, would you prosecute?
