Originally Posted by abaya

However, let's say for the sake of argument that something was said about you being of Asian descent. That most certainly gets said to the Thai immigrants here all the time, when people are sober even... moreso in the old days than now, but accusations of "How much did your husband pay for you?" or "Are you working tonight?" (the stereotype of all Asian women being prostitutes, basically) were commonplace. So let's assume something was said to you, something racially derogatory, as you were assaulted. If so, then no, I disagree with this:Yes, any assault affects others and scares the community. But when it happens to a particular demographic, especially a vulnerable one (and especially repeatedly--say, lynching of black people in the South), those people most definitely have a right to be more scared. That's the whole point of hate crimes--not to hit random targets, but to hit specific groups and make those groups feel unwelcome and unsafe, which changes the context of reception for those people drastically. And that has even greater consequences on the social fabric of a diverse society, in the long run.