Mark and Kevin's Story

Mark, who identifies as Black, and Kevin, who identifies as white, are dating. One day, Kevin was driving them home after a visit to a grocery store. Kevin and a driver in the far lane merged their car into the middle lane at the same time and the cars collided. The driver of the other car started yelling at Kevin. When Mark got out of the car, the other driver became even more hostile. He made a disgusted face and asked, “Are you two together?” When Mark tried to calm the other driver down, the other driver took a rock from the ground and smashed the driver’s side window of Kevin and Mark’s car, saying “No ‘n-word’ is going to tell me what to do.” Although the police came and took a statement, they seemed more concerned about the accident than the comments the other driver made to Kevin and Mark. The officer said that it seemed like a typical case of road rage. Mark isn’t sure if the police wrote down the racial slur in the police report and they didn’t think to mention to the police that the other driver made comments about their relationship. Mark and Kevin’s insurance paid for the repair costs resulting from the accident and for the smashed window that was caused by the other driver. Mark and Kevin wonder if it was a hate crime motivated by anti-gay or anti-Black bias. A friend convinces them to ask these questions through the Victims' Rights Advice website. The lawyer writes that although the crime may have been motivated in part by the other driver’s frustration regarding the accident, the racially-based slur may indicate that the action was at least partially motivated by bias against Mark because of race and the other comment about their relationship status may indicate a bias against their sexual orientation. The attorney also tells them that they can request information from law enforcement about the status of the investigation.