Race and Crime

America has long prided itself as a country where people of different races and cultures came together to form a new nationality. "Races didn't bother the Americans," U.S. poet Archibald MacLeish wrote. "They were the first self-constituted, self-created people in the history of the world." Unfortunately, the idea of the harmonious "melting pot" has not always matched the reality in this country. Race crimes, like other forms of criminal behavior, have always existed in the United States and other countries. America's greatest racial problem was handed down from the institution of slavery during a terrible period in our nation's history. Although African Americans have made giant strides in all fields, they and other minorities still encounter prejudice. This book explains the notion of race, the types of crimes that result from racial hatred, and the methods used to fight and eliminate this worldwide problem.