Hate Crimes On The Rise In The US

Newly released research shows hate crimes in major cities across the United States rose by more than 20% in 2016. The data released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, shows there were more than 1,000 hate-related crimes committed in 2016—a 23% increase over 2015.

Another report released in February 2017 by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) monitoring group showed that the total number of hate groups in the US in 2016 grew to 917 from 892 a year earlier.  There are now more anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, white nationalist, neo-Nazi, neo-Confederate and black separatist organizations.  The sharpest increase was among anti-Muslim groups, which grew from 37 in 2015 to 101 in 2016.  The number of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) chapters, racist skinhead groups and anti-government militias and political groupings has declined, according to the report.

The overall number of hate groups likely understates the real level of organized hatred in America as a growing number of extremists operate mainly online and are not formally affiliated with hate groups.  In the first 10 days after Trump’s election, the SPLC documented 867 bias-related incidents, including more than 300 that targeted immigrants or Muslims.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.”

Many major cities are reporting an increase in hate crimes since the start of 2017.  In New York City, there were 100 hate crimes from January 1 through March 5, compared with 47 during the same period last year.  In Chicago, the police department tallied 13 during the first five weeks of 2017 — more than triple the number recorded in the first five weeks of last year.

A coalition of civil and human rights organizations has created a national database and a hotline aimed at getting victims help — including lawyers.  The effort, led by the Leadership Conference Education Fund and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, is intended to build upon the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation’s leading watchdog against hate groups.

Eleven organizations have joined the effort, representing African Americans, Latinos, Muslims, Arabs, women and the LGBTQ community. Calling themselves Communities Against Hate, they will aggregate data in an effort to document hate crimes and provide victims with social services and pro-bono attorneys.  In addition, a new Muslim-Jewish coalition is pushing the government to provide more data on hate crimes and focus on punishing offenders. The group represents an effort to get advocates to stand up for people of other faiths and ethnic backgrounds.

In recent months, incidents of hate have been directed against transgender women, Jews, African Americans, Hispanics, Muslims, Hindu Americans, Sikh Americans and others. Recently, 156 civil and human rights groups urged Trump in writing to respond faster and more forcefully to hate-based incidents. In his recent address to a joint session of Congress, the president condemned “hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms,” but critics have said he had taken too long to issue that statement.