Criminal justice students at Fayetteville State University (FSU) in North Carolina recently launched a website designed to raise awareness about the different forms of bias and discrimination that exist in the United States. Created as a capstone project for a special topics course on hate crimes, the student-produced site provides information and links on subjects such as the history, language and symbolism, and modern trends of bias and racism in the U.S.
The site, titled “Breaking the Hate in the United States,” includes a wide range of student-selected materials, from news articles and government resources to songs and videos, each revealing some aspect of how hate originates, oppresses, and can be overcome. It also explores how various populations, including religious minorities and women, become targets of prejudice and hatred.
Professor Emily Lenning, PhD, led the project and says her students were blown away by the quality of the finished product. “They gained insight into things they hadn’t thought about before, such as how ideology, policy, and behavior interact to reproduce or challenge systems of oppression,” Lenning says.
A majority of students at the historically black institution are African American, but the class also included “Hispanic and white students, LGBTQ students, and students representing a broad range of ages and religious and political beliefs,” Lenning says.
To access this database, visit breakthehateinthestates.weebly.com.
