Unfortunately this case cascaded into a gay rights issue and culminated in nothing more than a revenge verdict. Homosexuals are targeted in many horrible ways, and this case outwardly appears to be this way,
but if you look deeper into it, it isn't.
To establish a few facts....
- The premise of the court case was that Dharun Ravi's actions DID NOT result in Tyler Clementi's death.
- Dharun Ravi is an a$$hole
- Dharun Ravi isn't a committed homophobe (as in his solidified beliefs of hating all gays)
- Dharun Ravi is guilty of evidence tampering
- Dharun Ravi is guilty of invasion of privacy
Let's first start with the issue of hate crimes. Legislation against hate crime were instituted in response to spates of horrible crimes perpetrated by people targeting victims with malicious intent, many of which resulted in murder. Merely brushing everything under the auspices of hate crimes actually diminishes the seriousness of hate crimes.
Texts from the new yorker article show that Dharun Ravi wasn't a committed homophobe who was out to get his roommate on account of his derision of homosexuality. The primary reason of Ravi's negative outlook was because Clementi was awkward and because Ravi mistakenly thought he was poor (and because Dharun Ravi is an a$$hole). Also part of his boasting had to do with his need to show off his technical prowess, his ability to rig the camera so that it could be accessed from outside.
As far as the actual bias against homosexuality which created the brouhaha... suddenly nobody seems to remember that virtually all incoming freshmen come pre programmed with biases... outward displays of homophobia among young hetrosexual males is ubiquitous. The prosecutors, the judge, the jurors and men in the general public all had similar attitudes when they were freshman (probably worse in their day). However this is what college is meant for... for kids to be exposed to an open environment (which they weren't before) so that they can learn tolerance and acceptance and individuality. Even Clementi who was obviously more open minded in his approach due to his own experience as a homosexual who had come out of the closet had made stereotypical comments (about Ravi being a FOB and parents owning a Dunkin Donuts etc). Again, not because he was a racist, but because kids do and say these things as part of popular culture. This is where there's a difference between immature juvenile behavior and what we consider "real" homophobia. IM exchanges between Dharun and his friends show that they were all involved in homophobic banter (his friends particularly Tan are clearly way more homophobic in their comments than Ravi). However this isn't because these kids are classically homophobes it is because that is what 18 year old immature kids do. Personally I feel that the nature and the intent of this crime would have been a lot different if Dharun were a senior as opposed to a freshman who hadn't even completed one semester of college.
As I said earlier, in the end this turned into a revenge case fueled by the liberal agenda (we are often outraged by insidious propaganda from the right, but overlook similar behavior from the left). Testimony from all his peers leaves no doubt that Dharun Ravi is an insufferable ass, however that does not mean he is a criminal of the highest order who perpetrated a hate crime.
*** As a side note, I am extremely concerned by the phenomenon of the increasing isolationist and elitist outlook of the upper middle class Asian and South Asian families. These kids have parents who make a lot of money and send them to great schools and give them fancy cars as teenagers and enforce this exclusivity/ class biased outlook. This is bad and should be addressed ASAP
