Apparently there is enough bias or perceived bias in Osceola County for someone to have requested the U.S. Justice Department hold a forum on hate crimes and cultural diversity at the Robert Guevara Community Center in Buenaventura Lakes June 30.

There was a very good panel discussion at the sparsely attended forum, with good explanations from federal and state officials about how hate crimes are investigated, what makes a hate crime and how we all harbor biases of some sort or another and how those biases can affect our behavior.

Forum panelists shared some interesting stories about how bias has been directed toward them, manifesting itself in different ways, from job discrimination to hate speech. One of the panelists even told a story about his earlier years when he expressed a bias toward someone who turned out to be quite different from initial impressions.

The representative of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office reported that there had been several crimes investigated so far this year deemed hate crimes because there was some evidence of bias involved. That’s distressing.

There was a time not so long ago when here at the News-Gazette we were getting a fair number of comments either by means of letters or phone messages where biases were expressed, with some of this “hate speech” pretty despicable. However, those kinds of comments have tapered off in the last year or two. Maybe it’s because everyone has more important things to worry about – like the economy and our jobs – than one’s race or ethnic origin.

It was suggested by someone attending the forum that hate speech should be made a crime. While we don’t disagree that hate speech can be despicable and that actual hate crimes need to be punished, the former is still protected by the First Amendment.

It was also suggested by the same person that the media should be “held more accountable” for how it reports hate crimes. That’s a scary idea in a free society. Yes, news organizations should strive to get to the truth of a matter and to keep facts separate from opinions, but to punish people for mistakes or just reporting what happens would be unacceptable.

Overall, it is encouraging that the total number of reported hate crimes in Florida has fallen significantly since 1990. There were 306 crimes reported that year compared to 182 in 2008, the latest year state statistics are available.