Verb
strike at the heart of (third-person singular simple present strikes at the heart of, present participle striking at the heart of, simple past and past participle struck at the heart of)
To attack the central or most important part of (something).
Hate crimes are different from other crimes. They strike at the heart of one's identity - they strike at our sense of self, our sense of belonging. The end result is loss - loss of trust, loss of dignity, and in the worst case, loss of life. James Comey