Hate is defined as an intensely hostile aversion, composed of anger and fear (The New Webster's). A specific type of hate is discussed in Andrew Sullivan's essays: Hate crime is a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically involving violence many of these prejudicial terms, such as xenophobia, bigotry, and what he calls “isms.” By examining these terms, people can understand different types of prejudice, connect them to current events in society, and learn how to overcome hatred in our world. In Sullivan's essays he mentions many types of prejudice. New Webster's dictionary defines xenophobia as aloofness or dislike of strangers or foreigners, but the term is typically used for people from other countries. It also uses the term bigotry, which is a broader term that refers to someone who is stubborn and intolerantly devoted to his beliefs, creed, or party (The New Webster's). Sullivan also names a group of words as “isms.” These include sexism, racism and anti-Semitism. Sexism is a prejudice, stereotype or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex (Google). Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior (Google). Anti-Semitism is hostility or prejudice against Jews (Google). Sullivan also throws in homophobia; antipathy or prejudice towards homosexual people (Google). By understanding these words and their meanings, people can use them to understand the different types of hatred appearing in the world today. There is no doubt that hate crimes exist in the modern world. Congress defines hate crime law as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, or orientation sexual (FBI). Supporters of the Hate Crimes Act claim that hate crimes are an epidemic, however Sullivan, who is against the Hate Crimes Act, states that “there is no concrete evidence to support that statement." He supports this claim by showing that in 1992 there were 6,623 hate crime incidents in the United States and that in 1996 there were 8,734 hate crime incidents in the United States; however, in 1996 there were 11,355 FBI agencies covering 84 percent of hate crimes. of the population, but in 1992 there were only 6,181 agencies covering 51% of the population. The author admits that these numbers probably underestimate the number of hate crimes that occurred in the United States in those years, but says that they are the only reliable figures and clearly do not show an epidemic of hate crimes. They exist though, and Sullivan names some of them in his essays, such as John Williams King's killing of James Byrd Jr. in 1997, where King tied Byrd to the back of his truck and dragged Byrd for three miles until Byrd's body split in half. Sullivan makes an interesting point in one of his essays on the origin of hatred. He says that “those who are humiliated and objectified are likely to develop an aversion towards their tormentors more hateful than the prejudice to which they have been subjected.” The author, being gay, admits that he struggles with hatred, but says that most of it comes from other homosexuals. Another interesting point is what defines a hate crime. Does this mean that a racially motivated crime is more heinous than a crime that is not? Sullivan asks this question, talking about the