Why There’s Not Much Data on Anti-Asian Violence
· The FBI has detailed definitions of what constitutes regular offenses like aggravated assault and theft, but hate crimes are largely up to the states to define as they see best.And not all states require law enforcement to collect data on hate crimes.
The issue of the definition of hate crime is central to the fact that we do not have a handle on the scope of the problem.
Nationally, 10 percent of hate crimes reported to the FBI have been deemed “anti-White” over the past 20 years—but anti-White hate crimes made up 33 percent of hate crimes reported in Arkansas over that time span, including 45 percent of the state’s hate crimes reported between 2003 and 2006. Just in 2003, anti-White hate crimes made up 55 percent of all hate crimes reported in Arkansas, compared to 11.5 percent nationwide. The tiny city of Waldron (population 3,618 in 2010) reported 38 anti-White hate crimes in 2003—which accounted for 4.5 percent of all anti-White hate crimes reported nationwide that year and nearly as many as the 41 reported by Los Angeles and New York City combined. Presumably, this is not because Waldron—a town that, as of 2010, was 90 percent white—is a national capital of anti-White racial hatred. It probably speaks more to the reporting practices of local Waldron law enforcement.
The problem of nonstandardized reporting practices persists with respect to sexual orientation hate crimes, too.
Out of reported hate crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation since 2000, less than 2 percent have been “anti-heterosexual.” But 16.3 percent of sexual orientation hate crimes in Arkansas over that span were anti-heterosexual. Nearly 40 percent of all anti-heterosexual hate crimes reported nationally in 2008 came from either Craighead County, Arkansas (population 96,744 in 2010) or the city of Flint, Michigan (population 102,266 in 2010). It seems unlikely that two regions of the country with a relatively low population are responsible for such a disproportionate number of hate crimes against straight people.
There are other problems. Hate crimes data must also contend with the fact that communities victimized by hate crimes may be less likely to report to the police. Hate crimes are also underreported because the types of crimes that tend to be hate crimes are generally less likely to be reported to the police.
Asher concludes:
Whether you are building a baseball team, combating a pandemic, or responding to a surge in hate crimes, a prerequisite to effective problem-solving is accurate, comprehensive and timely data…
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence showing increasing hate crimes in the United States targeting the Asian community. Better and faster reporting of hate crimes data, including standardized reporting practices, could be an important tool in combating this terrible trend. Unfortunately, the nation’s hate crimes data collection system is not set up to rapidly and accurately identify the when, where, and why of rising hate crimes to better help the U.S. solve this problem.
