Clarence Page

About the author: Clarence Page is a nationally syndicated columnist and member of the editorial staff of the Chicago Tribune. He won the 1987 American Civil Liberties Union James P. McGuire Award for his columns on constitutional rights and a 1989 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

A common misperception is that only whites are guilty, yet whites are never victims, of race crimes. While most high profile hate crimes involve violence committed by whites against ethnic minorities, race crimes against whites generally go unnoticed. Also, hate crimes perpetuated by and against whites are often inaccurately reported. For instance, in the FBI's annual hate crime reports, a Hispanic victim is counted as a minority while a Hispanic offender is counted as "white." If hate-crime laws were applied equally to whites and nonwhites, opposition to such laws would diminish...