Here are news accounts of two alleged “hate crimes” in Ithaca, the City of Evil. See if you can guess the difference between the two (no fair clicking on the links until you're done):

2002: A young woman was walking down the street when she heard racial slurs about her. Thereafter, a group of people of a another race attacked her, hitting her in the face and body, while continuing to make racial comments. She suffered physical injuries. Once arrested, the defendants were charged with third-degree assault as a hate crime (two counts), first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault, and second-degree aggravated harassment. Some of the crimes charged are felonies. The story received front page treatment in the local paper. The community was outraged, holding several meetings and marches to demand that justice be served. Eventually, the assailants went to trial and were sentenced for their parts in the attack.

2003: A young woman was walking out of a concert when she heard racial slurs about her. Thereafter, a group of people of a another race attacked her, hitting her in the face and body, while continuing to make racial comments. She suffered physical injuries. Once arrested, the defendants were charged with assault third degree, a misdemeanor, and harassment in the second degree, a violation. The police determined that no hate crime occurred.
The story received little attention from the local paper. The community barely reacted. It is unknown whether the assailants will ever go to trial and, in fact, were charged as juveniles.

Did you guess the difference between the two cases?

That’s right. In the first case, the victim was black and the assailants were white. In the second case, the victim was white and the assailants were black.

I think you can draw any other necessary conclusions for yourself.