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A white man shot and killed two black people in Kentucky after trying to break into a Black church minutes before the shooting took place on Oct. 28.

The victims of the shooting, Vickie Lee Jones and Maurice Stallard, were shot by Gregory A. Bush. Bush was investigated and was charged with two counts of of murder. This news has outraged some as they believe Bush intended to only kill black individuals, making the shooting a race hate crime.

Dilan Nair, junior, expressed his viewpoint on the controversy,  “It was a very unfortunate event and I’m deeply saddened that two innocent people were killed. I do think this is a race hate crime as the shooter tried to enter a black church before he shot the two victims.”

Race hate crimes have risen in number over the past couple of years. Since 2014 hate crime rates have risen 11.7 percent and the number continues to rise. Many major cities in the United States have doubled their race hate crime numbers and this has lead to significant concern.     

Gavin Sears, junior, stated, “Race hate crimes haven’t been addressed properly. I feel like race hate crimes are severely downplayed and should receive more awareness by the public and the government.”

Many students at Pleasant Valley are concerned about these rising numbers, and they want the government to take more action. They point out that if government doesn’t intervene, the situation will only get worse.

Rece Vining, junior, said, “The frequency of hate crimes occurring is appalling, and I think we as a society should be doing more to prevent these horrible acts.”

 The debate on the shooting and race crime as a whole continues on. The classification of a “hate crime” is still unclear and many individuals don’t know what to think. The attitude on race hate has started to turn from disinterested to worry as more and more of these crimes are popping up all over the country. Those who want complete racial equality are worried that race hate could spiral out of control if proper action is not taken.  

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