Hate crimesWhat the latest FBI data do and do not tell us about hate crimes in the U.S.
This November, the FBI released its annual report of hate crimes for 2016. Overall, the FBI data show that the rates of reported hate crimes in the U.S. have gone up slightly. But other evidence suggests that the actual number of hate crime incidents is likely even higher. Although the FBI’s data are likely inconclusive on the actual number of hate crimes, they do point to a troubling trend that hate crimes appear to be on the rise and remain vastly undocumented and unenforced. Without accurate federal data on hate crimes, we cannot know if federal and local law enforcement agencies are addressing the needs of all of their constituents. This is crucial, particularly given that the DOJ study shows that law enforcement agencies often fail to adequately prosecute perpetrators of hate crimes. Failure to record hate crimes leaves us guessing at the causes of the rise in anti-Muslim violence we’ve seen in the past year.
This November, the FBI released its annual report of hate crimes for 2016, showing that in Trump’s America, Muslims experience a greater risk of violence.
The FBI defines hate crimes as “a traditional offense like murder, arson or vandalism with an added element of bias.” Overall, the FBI data show that the rates of reported hate crimes in the U.S. have gone up slightly. But other evidence suggests that the actual number of hate crime incidents is likely even higher.
As a researcher who has studied the white nationalist movement for over a decade, I’m not surprised to see that hate crimes are up. But there’s still far too much we don’t know about hate crimes in the U.S.– and that affects how we study and enforce these crimes.
Increased rates
So what do the new FBI crime stats tell us? Rates of reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation have remained fairly stable, while rates of race-based crimes have gone up slightly.
The most significant increases in reported hate crimes targeted individuals based on their religion. Religiously biased hate crimes increased by almost 20 percent since 2012.
Since 2013, there has been more than a 10 percent increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes, and the rates of reported hate crimes against Muslims has more than doubled.
Other studies point to an increasingly hostile climate for religious and racial minorities. The Anti-Defamation League’s annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents found a significant spike in anti-Jewish incidents in 2016, a 34 percent increase since 2015. Almost a third of all incidents occurred in November and December. The audit found an 86 percent surge in anti-Jewish incidents in the first quarter of 2017.
Similarly, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and ProPublica documented 1,372 incidents of bias in the first three months after the presidential election.
