So-called “Hate Crimes” – incidents of violence or intimidation that are reported to be motivated by some form of animus toward a race, ethnicity, religion, sexual identity, or gender – are statistically up. In fact, since President Trump was elected, reported Hate Crimes have risen by approximately 50% in the one year (2017) for which statistics are available. However, reported and actual Hate Crimes are two different subjects.
Actual Hate Crimes, meaning Crimes that the Department of Justice (DOJ) deems credible, have fallen across the board for every racial category since Trump took office except one – Hate Crimes perpetrated by White Hispanics. White Hispanic racial assaults on others have increased approximately 20% in the year after Trump was elected (read further for statistical citations). Thus, when the media reports that Hate Crimes rose 17% in the year for which we have statistics, they fail to report that the rise in Hate Crimes are directly attributed to Hate Crimes perpetrated by “White Hispanics.”
This piece will give you just the facts regarding Hate Crime statistics.
Before you read any further, please know that I fundamentally reject the notion that “Hate Crimes” exist. They do not. The idea that someone’s thoughts or naturally occurring prejudices can be weaponized against them by law enforcement is antithetical to a free society. The fact is, all crime is predicated on some form of “Hate” – whether a hatred that manifests as an assault or a hatred for one’s station that leads them to burglarize. Hate Crimes do not exist. That said, they are a legal distinction within the United States, so it is important to define what exactly constitutes a “Hate Crime.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) 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.”[1] The FBI further points out that “Hate is not a crime”[2] unto itself. Rather, a criminal offense motivated by Hate had to be carried out for a Hate Crime to exist.
Hate Crime statistics are tracked up to the close of 2017 and the DOJ is awaiting 2018 figures (due in the Fall of 2019), which have not yet been released. Consequently, the prevailing narrative that “Hate Crimes have risen” in the era of Donald Trump can only be accurately reviewed for one partial year (2017); the President was inaugurated on January 21st of that year. Still, have Hate Crimes really risen during that one year for which we have statistics? The answer is yes, they have. However, the prevailing belief in the media is that the rise of White Nationalism in the United States during the Trump presidency has contributed to this rise. The statistics seem to suggest otherwise.
First, it is important to note that the current demographics of the United States, based on the 2010 Census and 2019 Census Estimate, indicate the following breakdown of racial identity:[3]
Consequently, if the media is correct, and Hate Crimes are on the rise due to White Nationalism, not only should the Hate Crime statistics indicate an even level of Hate Crimes proportional to the demographic (e.g., 60.7% of Hate Crimes should be committed by White-Non Hispanics), but that White Nationalism would create a situation by which White-Non Hispanics exceeded their proportional value of Hate Crimes. The statistics, which I will show, do not bear this out.
In fact, not only are White-Non Hispanics underrepresented in the total number of Hate Crime perpetrators, other racial groups, especially Hispanics and Blacks, are nearly double their respective proportional demographic representation in Hate Crime incidents. Contrary to the media reports, the rise of White Nationalism – if such a rise exists – caused Whites to be less likely to commit Hate Crimes and Blacks or Hispanics more likely to commit Hate Crimes.
Second, the definition of Hate Crimes has changed. Due to the passage of the “Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009,” actions taken against individuals due to sexual orientation and “gender identity,” were recently added to the statistics. We did not have such statistics until 2013. Due to many states not having Hate Crime legislation recognizing “gender identity” as a protected class until the latter portion of the Barack Obama Administration, the federal government began receiving reports of such incidents in greater numbers. In 2012, the number of Hate Crimes related to “gender identity” was “unknown;” in 2013, the number was 33; in 2017, the number was 107. Hate Crime statistics reflect a change in reporting to accommodate the 2009 Act finally coming online.
Finally, it is also important to note that the number of Hate Crimes related to Anti-Jewish, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Muslim attacks are broken out from Anti-White attacks. It is interesting because that distinction is not made for “offenders,” but for “victims.” In other words, we do not know how many White Non-Hispanics were of Jewish, Muslim and/or Arab origin with regard to perpetrated Hate Crimes.
If a man of Arab Muslim extraction committed a Hate Crime against someone due to sexual orientation, his crime would be recorded as a Hate Crime perpetrated by a White Non-Hispanic Male. However, if a crime were committed against him, he would be a victim of a Hate Crime as a victim of Anti-Arab or Anti-Muslim animus. Consequently, despite the fact that the Pulse Nightclub shooter, Omar Mateen, indicated a clear hatred for homosexuals and an ideological adherence to the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS),[4]the FBI recorded the act as a Hate Crime as one committed by a White-Non Hispanic.[5] This may explain why some social justice entities claim that White Nationalist or White Supremacists are deadlier than Islamist attacks, because acts of terror are recorded as White-Non Hispanic Hate Crimes.
Here are the actual statistics for Hate Crimes in the past five years:[6]
NOTE: The category “White” accounts for all Whites, both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic. The FBI then breaks out Non-Hispanic Whites from the category. Thus, although 50.7% of Hate Crimes are perpetrated by Whites, the Non-Hispanic category subtracts 25% from that total number, leaving 25.7% of Hate Crimes attributed to White Hispanics – hardly a group that is represented by “White Nationalism.”
As you can see in the table above, overall White perpetrated Hate Crimes have remained largely stagnant, with decreases occurring incrementally until 2017, when there is an increase. However, that increase is not committed by White Non-Hispanics, which actually fell a percentage point during the first year of the Trump presidency.
The fact is, White Hispanics are the cause for the greatest jump in Hate Crimes. This is not a White Nationalist problem. It is certainly not a White Supremacist problem. It is hard to imagine a scenario by which Hispanics attack Jewish synagogues yelling, “¡Viva El Hitler! Los Hombres Blancos son Superiores!”
According to USA Today, the country’s ten largest cities have seen an increase in Hate Crimes.[7] That is not MAGA country. That is not White Nationalist territory. That is not White Supremacy soil. Those cities are the dominion of Hispanics, Blacks, Jews, homosexuals, and White Leftists. If Hate Crimes are rising in those ten largest cities, it is because they are attacking each other. No one is driving in from the countryside to launch attacks on homosexual Black men in Chicago.
For whatever the reason, the media is choosing to blame Whites for the rise in Hate Crimes. That blame is misplaced. It is a lie. Why would they choose to lie about an increase in White Hate Crimes?
I think you know the answer.
[1] FBI, ‘What we investigate: Hate Crimes,” https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes
[2] Same As Above
[3] US Census Bureau, “Quick Facts,” https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI125217#RHI125217
[4] Ralph Ellis, CNN, “Orlando shooting: 49 killed, shooter pledged ISIS allegiance,” 13 June 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/12/us/orlando-nightclub-shooting/index.html
[5] Fox35 Orlando, “FBI: Pulse nightclub shooting is both hate crime, terrorism,” 15 June 2016, https://www.fox13news.com/news/florida-news/fbi-pulse-shooting-is-both-hate-crime-terrorism
[6] Drawn from five years of FBI data found at https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes NOTE: in 2015 the FBI changed its “Non Hispanic” reporting. In 2013 and 2014, the Non Hispanic portion was a proportion of the populations covered. Thus, in 2013, 52% of hate crimes were perpetrated by Whites, but 54% were “Non-Hispanic Whites.” This required the reviewer to multiple the .52 x .54 to get an accurate percentage of White Non-Hispanics. The same was done for 2014. In 2015 and on, the FBI cleared this statistic up.
[7] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/07/17/hate-crimes-up-america-10-largest-cities/776721002/ e_page_mo
The son of a recent Irish immigrant and another with roots to Virginia since 1670. I love both my Irish and Southern Nations with a passion. Florida will always be my country. Dissident support here: Padraig Martin is Dixie on the Rocks (buymeacoffee.com)
