When people talk of hate crimes, they are usually referring to crimes against a race, a religion, a gender, or a sexual orientation. Interestingly enough, the one minority group which is subjected to the most hate crimes- both individual physical hate crimes, and institutional hate crimes- is the one minority group yet to receive recognition for their strife. They are the least powerful voice in politics. They have less civil rights than any racial group, gender group, religious group, or sexual orientation group. They have a more difficult time finding jobs which pay above minimum wage than any racial group, gender group, religious group, or sexual orientation group. They are discriminated against in housing more than any racial group, gender group, religious group, or sexual orientation group. They're exploited more than any group, they're persecuted more than any group, and they are ignored more than any group. When they are physically attacked, their complaints are rarely even considered crimes- the attackers are usually subjected to minimal, non-legally-binding penalties. Rarely are their complaints taken seriously by the courts, and more often than not they are told they do not have the right to prosecute anyone who infringes upon their rights unless they can get written authorization to do so from a third party which hinges upon that third party's willingness to help. The wealthiest people in this minority group still have trouble obtaining legal counsel because their access to that counsel depends on permission from their parents. They're the only group in America which is still treated by law as if they are property of their 'owners', and they have endured disenfranchisement longer than any other group. All of the members of this group experience the above infringements of their rights regardless of their socio economic status. I am, of course, talking about the group known as kids. All members of this group experience the above listed forms of discrimination. The poorest frequently must fend for themselves, yet they cannot apply for individual aid. The richest cannot get money unless they allow their parents to step on their faces and treat them like slaves. No child in this country is privileged except in the eyes of everyone else. Wealthy and poor children alike get physically attacked by their peers, and when they complain, their complaints are dismissed because 'kids fight'. Nobody cares that one of the two kids probably did not want to fight. When a kid gets attacked and tries to seek grievance, usually both kids are punished instead of only the guilty one. When only one is punished, the attacker is at worst sent to their room for a week, and even that hinges upon their own parent's perception of their child's behavior. Some parents encourage their kids to victimize others, and those parents do nothing- and the victims have nowhere to turn for help. The worst part about this systematic discrimination is the fact that every adult was once a kid, so most adults views these atrocities as the status quo. 'If it was done to me, let it be done to another' seems to be the American motto, and this sickening philosophy is practiced throughout every sector of society. The left and right adults of the political spectrum are equally guilty. The rich and the poor adults are equally guilty. The adults of every racial, religious, gender and sexual orientation group are equally guilty. The children of the poor and wealthy alike regularly wind up getting thrown out of their houses, coerced into drug addiction, inducted into cults, abducted from their parents, and harassed by the police. They are frequently abused by teachers, camp counselors, priests, parents, or anyone in a position of authority over them. Child abuse laws would never have existed had it not been for the victims eventually running for office themselves: but they were unable to do so until years later in life and it took hundreds of years for any of them to realize they had the right to. Children were systematically abused by Priests for centuries, and even today as that abuse is finally brought to light, we see that the victims were unable to tell their stories or seek retribution until they had grown older and become adults. The main reason is because most children, upon becoming adults, usually decide it is no longer in their interest to care about the human rights of the young. They become the perpetrators of the same discrimination they were once victims of. They take advantage of newfound power and authority, rather than rejecting it as they should. When an adult wants war, they do not suggest sending adults to war, they send the kids who are in the military to die a gruesome death, regardless of what the kids in the military want. When an adult opposes war, they do not respond by suggesting the pro-war adults be held accountable, they respond by offering to send the kids who aren't in the military to die alongside those who are, regardless of what the kids want. I have not heard anyone on either side of the debate suggest that the adult world shoulder exclusive responsibility for a war. Why would they? Those on the left and right who have the privilege of making these decisions are adults themselves and would not dare to put the burdens of their own decisions upon themselves. Making the children suffer is much easier. That way, no matter which side of the debate emerges victorious, none of those who made the choices suffer any consequences. The single worst hate crime in the world is the adult world's ongoing insistence that the blood of the youth of America should be spilled when the adult world commands that such be done. The systematic trend on both sides of the political aisle toward placing all burdens of war and violence on the backs of the young who have no voice in such decisions is a hate crime stemming from an adult world which holds youth in sheer contempt, either for reasons of jealousy or for reasons of prejudice. There was once a time when soldiers would never ride into battle unless the decision makers joined them on the battlefield. They didn't say things like "why won't you send your children to battle with me?" They wanted the actual decision makers, the adult leaders, to fight with them. Today, the debate centers around who is willing to send whose children, in a barbaric fashion which portrays children as items, property to be bartered with- and it's unconscionable. The Bush's and Rangel's and Michael Moore's and Tom Delays are all wrong for thinking they have a right to tell people to send thier children to war. Adults are supposed to take resposibility for their own decisions, personally. Neither their own, nor anyone else's children should ever be jeapordized for decisions made by older generations. There are some wonderful adults in this world who truly do care about the young, but there are more adults who just pretend to care as a way of posturing in front of their friends and neighbors- in thier hearts, they do not care one bit about anyone but themselves, not even thier own children. The few adults in this world who truly do care about the young should speak up about this truth which has persisted since the first humans walked this Earth: Those who ask the young to suffer the consequences of decisions made by adults- decisions the young have no power over - truly do hate the young. They come from every socio economic group, political group, racial group, gender group, religious group, and sexual orientation group; and they are guilty as charged for perpetuating the world's most evil hate crime.