Hate Crimes Rose In 2016, Especially Against Muslims And Whites
(CNN) -- This week, the FBI released its hate crime stats for 2016 and they reveal some interesting trends: Hate crimes in the US saw a rise over the year -- especially incidents targeting Muslims and whites.
(Before we delve into details, it's important to mention that national hate crime statistics are flawed and incomplete. That's because bias and motivations for crimes aren't always clear, such crimes can be underreported by both victims and police, and even when the available data are compiled by the FBI, they still don't give a fully realized picture of where and how criminal hate is expressed in America.)
Anti-Muslim crime saw the biggest rise
Of the 6,121 hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2016, anti-Islamic (anti-Muslim) crimes accounted for 307. This was a more than 19% rise from the previous year.
When you consider sheer numbers, there were more reports of hate crimes against Jews than against any other religious group. In 2016, 684 anti-Jewish incidents were reported -- more than the rest of the religiously motivated hate crimes combined.
In addition to the above categories, the 2016 FBI report also included statis for crimes against:
- Eastern Orthodox Christians (28)
- Other Christians (36)
- Hindus (10)
- Sikhs (7)
- Mormons (7)
- Jehovah's Witnesses (2)
- Buddhists (1)
Anti-white crime saw the second-biggest rise
In 2016, anti-white hate crimes rose 17%, to a reported 720 incidents, accounting for about 20% of all racially motivated hate crimes.
When you consider sheer numbers, anti-black crime is overwhelmingly the most commonly reported type of racially motivated crime. There were 1,739 such reported incidents -- roughly half of the 3,489 racially motivated incidents in 2016.
Accounting for the number of incidents and national population demographics, that means black people are far more likely to be victims of hate crimes than white people.
In addition to the above categories, the 2016 FBI report also included statistics for crimes against:
- Arabs (51)
- Hispanics or Latinos (344)
- Other races/ethnicities/ancestries (223)
- There was an overall rise in hate crimes
The 6,121 hate crime incidents reported in 2016 mark an uptick in national hate crime numbers. That's an increase of more than 4% from 2015.
(Again, there are several flaws in the data -- including varying numbers of police departments reporting incidents every year. For more information on the context and limits of hate crime statistics, click here.)
(The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
