Battles with Integrity

I don't deny that that's pretty twisted. I've stated that I think it's best to treat people for who they are, and not infer their characteristics and define your treatment of them from some perceived or believed "group" that they belong to, of any kind (except maybe stupid people).

That said, the stupid, angry, ignorant, and prejudiced dwell among us, and probably always will, and while I don't think that's an ideal situation, I also don't support attempting to forcibly change their beliefs, nor restrain their behavior before they inflict harm on the person or property of others. It seems to me that doing so will only harden those prejudices.

This is why, for example, I think "hate crimes" laws are a bad idea. An assault is an assault, battery is battery, and murder is murder, regardless of who the attacker and who the victim. Murder victims aren't any more dead because their attacker was prejudiced against them. Treating crimes against some people as somehow worse than others sets them aside as a "special" class, which is just going to piss off those who already hate them even more, and perhaps even create some resentment among those who otherwise would be favorably or neutrally inclined.

But, I digress. What do you propose should be done?