An Investigation of African American College Students' Beliefs About Anti-Middle Eastern Hate Crime and Victims in the Wake of September 11th‪.‬

As a nation, the U.S. has touted the fact of its diversity as an aspect of its strength and relative superiority in the global community (Parrillo, 1996). Although somewhat paradoxically, at the same time that the U.S. symbolically embraces the notion of diversity, there have always been Americans who vociferously denounce those they perceive to be different (Levin, 2002). In some extreme cases, these sentiments have not only given rise to outright expressions of bigotry, but have resulted in violence and aggression directed against those perceived to be different (e.g., Janowitz, 1969; Laub, 1997). Regardless of whether violence or physical assault is involved, illegal behaviors instigated by a perpetrators' bias constitute hate crime (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2002). Those who are targets of hate crime are members of minority groups who are perceived to be members of an out-group that is negatively stereotyped, disliked and hated (Levin & McDevitt, 1993). Definitions of hate crime vary, but existing definitions tend to focus on the motivation of the perpetrator, as