Death on the Fourth of July

the long version

"Death on the Fourth of July examines the phenomenon of hate crime in America through the lens of a singular case in a small beach town in Washington State, when the would-be victims of a racist assault turned the confrontation's expected outcome on its head. One young Asian American man fought off his white skinhead tormentor with a shoplifted paring knife, fatally wounding him. Detailing the criminal trial that followed the incident, the book expands into a broader discussion of hate crimes in America: their history from the era of lynching to the present, the patchwork nature of state and federal laws against them, and the inconsistent enforcement of such laws. David A. Nelwert, an expert on white supremacist movements, has crafted a comprehensive treatment of this subject, shedding light on how hate crimes impact the nation's fragile cultural and racial climate."--BOOK JACKET.