Were either charged with a hate crime?
No -but do a search - and what you read will seem too awful to be true - it is. It was determined that the couple (white) wasn't brutalized (for DAYS) before being tortured/murdered because of their race but because the people (all black) wanted her Four Runner. It was a simple carjacking.
Dawn - my husband loves blue crabs - traditonally a "black" menu item - when we go to the places we have to go to get them, we are eyed suspiciously.
What about the N.O. mayor who vowed the city would become "chocolate" again after the hurricane.
When you hear of a "bad" white person - you hear about them being a bad seed, but often when you hear about a "bad" black person, you hear about their broken home, abuse, etc. In fact, both of the people convicted of the murders mentioned above so far had that as testimony in their sentencing phase - one of them was spared a death penalty because of that testimony.
I really think it's not necessarily racism, but somewhat of a curiosity when you see a black person where white people frequent, or vice-versa (see my blue crab story above). If a white person is in a "crack neighborhood" it's assumed they're there to buy crack. A black person could be there just to visit someone.
Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and their ilk are the epitome of racism, IMO.