Is discrimination a crime??

Philippines
January 22, 2007 8:51am CST
Or is it only a crime when used towards american citizens? True, illegal entry into america is a crime. but, is it not also a crime to discriminate agaist those same illegal people? Illegal entry is equals to a crime. Discrimination also equals to a hate crime. Right? Regardless of where the person came from, in the United States discrimination is a crime same as illegal entry. So why shouldn't those that discriminate against illegal immigrants be charged? A crime is a crime,right? Or do they have biased laws too???
1 response
Ciniful
@Ciniful (1587)
• Canada
22 Jan 07
Actually, discrimination itself is NOT a crime, if you want to get technical. Discrimination is simply the act of discriminating against someone based on their race, gender, etc. Hypothetically, I could discriminate against people based on their race .... it would make me an ignorant individual, but it doesn't make me a criminal. You're mistaking thought with action. What a person thinks doesn't define what they do. For instance ... if I simply dislike everyone of caucausion descent, I'm not breaking any laws. However, if I refuse to hire someone for a position because I don't like their skin color, then I'm breaking discrimination laws. And no, that's not a hate crime. Now, as for your comparison .... it is NOT discrimination to dislike illegal immigrants. By their very definition, they are criminals. The second they crossed a border unlawfully they became criminals ... hence the title "illegal". It's not the person individually that is disliked, it's not their skin color, it's the fact that they broke laws to enter illegally. You can't make a comparison between discrimination and illegal entry .. it just doesn't work.