Hate Crime on the Rise

Societies are more diverse today than ever before in history. With that diversity and greater gaps in economic standing come misunderstanding, bias, fear and hate.

Hate Crime is defined at the federal level and, while individual state laws may vary, in general, a hate crime is considered to be: a criminal act or attempted act, against a person, institution, or property, that is motivated in whole or in part by the offender's bias against a race, color, religion, gender, ethnic/national origin group, disability status, or sexual orientation group. Hate/bias crimes may be violence against individuals or groups or crimes against property, such as churches, temples or community centers. Types of bias motivation in hate crimes are:

Racial Bias - anti-white/anti-black/anti-American Indian or Alaska Native/Anti-Asian/Pacific Islander/Anti-multiracial group

Religious Bias - anti-Jewish/anti-Catholic/anti-Protestant/anti-Islamic (Moslem)/anti-other religion (Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc.)/anti-multi-religious group/anti-atheist or anti-agnostic

Ethnicity/National Origin Bias - anti-Arab/anti-Hispanic/anti-other ethnicity/national origin

Sexual Orientation Bias - anti-male homosexual (gay)/anti-female homosexual (lesbian)/anti-homosexual (gay and lesbian)/anti-heterosexual/anti-bisexual/anti-transgender

Congress enacted the federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act (HCSA) in 1990. There have been subsequent acts that amended the original act. The act requires the attorney general to establish guidelines and collect and publish data about hate/bias crimes. This responsibility was delegated to the FBI. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) section of the FBI was assigned to develop procedures and manage collection of bias/hate crime data. Bias/hate crime data reported to the FBI is added to the existing UCR database. Since the reporting of hate/bias crime data is voluntary, the data collected often comes into question. There may be issues of misunderstandings, under reporting, misrepresentations or out and out reporting of false information or failure to report from local agencies.

Monitoring, tracking, even acquiring specific knowledge regarding bias/hate crimes is problematic because of the nature of the crimes. In many cases people may be too afraid to report the crimes for fear of retaliation. In other cases, the crime may not be reported as a bias/hate crime because of bias in the local law enforcement or due to community pressure. There are groups and agencies, both government and non-government, that monitor hate groups such as:

·SPLC Report (formerly Klanwatch) and SPLC Intelligence Project

· Anti-Defamation League

· National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and NGLTF Policy Institute

· Center for Democratic Renewal

· Simon Wiesenthal Center

FBI 2004 statistics show that the number of hate crimes have increased. The increase may be actual or due to better reporting. Even so, numbers reported are likely to be less than actual. Better than 50% of reported hate crimes are race related, 18% religious bias.

Youth are often the target of groups and individuals that promote hate. Young people are vulnerable and often anxious to belong to someone or something. They make perfect targets for the purveyors of hate. According to the Partners Against Hate website, 29% of all known hate crime offenders are 18-24. Partners Against Hate, The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and The Safe And Drug Free School Program have issued a brief on Investigating Hate Crimes On The Internet. Partners Against Hate have taken the initiative to address bias motivated youth violence. Using a grant funded by the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Department of Education Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, Partners Against Hate has designed and started implementation of a three-year program to include outreach, public education, and training to address the cycle of bias, hatred, distrust, and violence. This program includes efforts to increase public awareness and provide hate crime prevention and intervention strategies, training and technical assistance for law enforcement and other community individuals and groups. One of its most youth oriented efforts involves helping those working with youth to use advanced communication technologies such as the Internet to break down barriers and address bias. The Partners Against Hate web site is a clearinghouse for hate crime related information including resources created using the grant.

The more economic pressure on, the more diversity of culture in and the more mis and disinformation circulated through a population, the more fertile the environment for hate and bias to grow and flourish. Hate crimes go beyond physical injury and property damage. They create emotional damage, instill fear and often cause ripples that reach far beyond the community in which they occur. Hate crimes are particularly offensive when they occur in a country where equal rights and the elimination of persecution based on belief are components of its foundation.