Legislators at all levels tend to think they were elected to legislate. Actually, they were elected to do the opposite, to slow, even halt the grinding of the gears of big government. They were elected to do that by sane, normal Americans, people who understand big government is the problem, not the solution. We have no shortage of laws and regulations, so legislators should only write and pass absolutely necessary laws, laws that don’t duplicate what’s already on the books, laws that do not infringe on liberty and that provide a clear, necessary public benefit.

Hate crime laws are not among them.

Such laws are always thought crime laws. They assume because of the race or gender of the supposed criminal or victim, regardless of any of the facts surrounding the alleged crime, hate must have been involved. They are a part and parcel of identity politics which establishes favored victim groups who by their identities are more important, moral and valuable to society than Normal Americans, therefore transgressing against them requires greater punishment. The presumption of “hate” places the burden of proof on the accused, who is, by virtue of transgressing against a member of a protected identity group, guilty until they prove themselves innocent.

Graphic: X Screenshot

What experience teaches, particularly over the last decade or so, is the demand for hate crimes greatly exceeds the supply. Who can forget the Bubba Wallace NASCAR hoax   where no less than 15 FBI agents were sent to a racetrack where a “noose” was found in a garage assigned to Wallace. Those crack agents discovered the noose was merely a piece of rope, a pull down for a garage door, which was in place months before Wallace was randomly assigned that garage.

“Hate crime” incidents are common on college campuses, and virtually always turn out to be innocuous or outright frauds, such as a “noose” hanging from a nearby construction crane that turned out to be nothing more than a standard steel cable fixture, or a noose hanging on a dormitory doorknob that turned out to be a shoelace left in the hallway and hung on the door by a student hoping whoever lost it would find it. In another shocking case, Klansmen in hoods rampaging through a campus were discovered to be a couple students wrapped in blankets against the cold.

Often, the fraudsters claiming racial hate turn out to be black students. When caught, they confess and claim they were only trying to “start a conversation” about hate or race or something. 

According to The College Fix, there were 21 such hoaxes on American campuses in 2024, which might indicate the number is declining. Here are a few:

Missouri noose is not ‘racially motivated’ school district says  

A “kid in crisis” left the noose. “After extensive conversations and investigation, we do not believe this to be a racially-motivated incident,” the Francis Howell School school district said. A black parent had jumped to the conclusion that the noose was racially motivated while the local NAACP connected it to conservative school board members pushing for a right-leaning agenda.

The article doesn’t identify the race of the “kid in crisis,” which if media trends hold, likely indicates they were black.

‘N-word’ notes at Rhodes College were a hoax  

University investigates, finds “F n-word” and “Trump rules” notes near plaza dedicated to black sororities and fraternities were “fabricated.”

As is common, the college declined to identify the perpetrator in any way.

Blackface’ banner at Colorado State was just due to ink bleeding, lighting 

Remember a good rule in life is to assume the most charitable reason first before accusing a fraternity of being racist.

In this case, even though there was no hate crime, the fraternity was compelled to state they recognized “unintended harms” caused by their non-actions.

LGBT ‘hate crime’ victim at Illinois State U. is not even gay, university omits key reasons why case was closed 

The alleged victim of an anti-gay “hate crime” is not even homosexual – and he changed his story multiple times.

Campus police were “unable to establish the elements of the offense.” Translation: it didn’t happen.

University of Virginia settles with white student accused of racism for ‘speed bumps’ comment 

A white student, Morgan Bettinger, received an undisclosed settlement from the school after a black student, now a “fat liberation advocate” for Dove, accused her of joking about running over black activists. UVA punished her, as The College Fix previously reported.

In this case, the supposed racist happened on a anti-police roadblocking protest and said to a truck driver who was blocking the road: “Well, it’s a good thing you’re here because otherwise they could be made speed bumps.” 

And the lack of an adequate supply of hate crimes to meet activist demand continues.

On a different subject, if you are not already a subscriber, you may not know that we’ve implemented something new: A weekly newsletter with unique content from our editors for subscribers only. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription. 

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.