What a hate crime looks like

Here's how you know a hate crime.

The act leaves a stain, a wretched taint that festers and ferments through generations. It's a toxicity born from the hate. And no amount of criminal prosecution, spiritual cleansing or dramatic gestures of forgiveness by the victims ever completely resolves it. Because those attempts, no matter how valiant, can't erase the original crime.

Hate crimes don't resemble publicity stunts.

This much I know, after spending years writing about hate