Matthew Shephard, Billy Jack Gaither, Columbine, Jonesboro. This laundry list of hate is a frightening reminder that such crimes are a sad fact of life in the world today. In the Name of Hate is the first book to offer a comprehensive theory of hate crimes, arguing for an expansion of the legal definitions that most states in the United States hold. Barbara Perry provides a historical understanding of hate crimes and provocatively argues that hate crimes are not an aberration of current society, but rather a by-product of a society still grappling with inequality, difference, fear, and hate.