Visualizing hate crime incidents
By Uyen Nguyen
Using data gathered by the FBI on reported incidents of hate crime in the US in the last 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, this project aims to investigate the state of hate crime in the US. There are certain limitations in interpreting the data, as the incidents in the data are those that were reported by the victims to the authorities, and were most likely underestimation of the real number of incidents. However, looking at changes in hate crime reports overtime as well as the comparison across categories of reported incidents can still nonetheless prove to be fruitful and edifying.
Breakdowns of hate crime incidents in 2019
The motives behind hate crime
In the bar chart above, hate crime incidents in 2019 are distinguished by their bias motivations. Hate crime motivated by race and ethnicity took up the majority of the hate crimes reported, almost more than half. Hate crimes fueled by religion and sexual orientation are the two next major categories of bias in reported hate crime incidents.
The forms of hate crime
The forms of the hate crime incidents can be divided into two main categories: crime against persons and crime against property. Of these two main categories of hate crime, hate crime is slightly more likely to be crime against persons than against property. Overall, the most common types of hate crime are Intimidation, Simple Assault, and Aggravated Assault, and Vandalism. Hate crimes, therefore, generally take the form of assaults and aggression against the victims, which fits into the common sense understanding of hate crime incidents.
The map of hate crime
This map depicts reported incidents of hate crime per 1 million residents in each state. The data from District of Columbia is excluded because at 315 incidents, it is significantly higher than the average of 24 incidents per 1 million residents. However, care must be taken in interpreting this map, since a higher number does not necessarily mean the state in question in reality has more hate crimes, but that more hate crimes are reported.
Change in reports of hate crime across the years
Racially motivated hate crimes across the years
Total racially motivated hate crimes dipped from 2010 to 2014 and picked up from 2015. A possible explanation is that this rise in 2015 and steep rise in 2016 coincided with the campaign of 45th President Trump and hence might be partly driven by Trump’s racially-charged, xenophobic rhetoric and the symbolic significance of his presidency that gave certain bigoted individuals the confidence to commit hate crimes.
Of these hate crimes, hate crime incidents directed against black and African American made of the majority of all reported incidents. Moreover, note that the increase in total hate crime incidents in 2016 was driven by the increase in hate crimes directed against black and Hispanic individuals, who were the main marginalized groups which Trump directed attacks and blames against in his political rhetoric.
Religion-based hate crimes from 2009 to 2019
As discussed above, the same pattern is seen regarding religious-based hate crimes, as the slow decrease from 2009 to 2014 is overtaken by the sharp increase in 2015 onwards. The rise is driven by the increase in crimes against Jewish and Muslim people, but especially Jewish people. This is not surprising, since anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have been the most salient forms of bias in the US for decades, and worryingly, it only grew stronger as time passes.
Again, this trend coincides with the Trump campaign and presidency, so some may be tempted to make the connection. Another possible explanation is the rise of neo-Nazi and Alt-right extremists that further encouraged their members to commit acts of violence, as well as engendered a general cultural climate being hostile and xenophobic, which Trump only captured with his public persona and rhetoric. The question is what come first, the chicken or the egg, and it might be that both explanations are correct and work together in a symbiotic manner.
Anti-LGBTQ hate crimes from 2009 to 2019
Again, just as with racially motivated hate crimes, there was a dip from 2009 to 2014 and then rise again from 2015 onwards. The increase is largely driven by the increase in incidents against gay men and transgender people. This worrying trend can be linked to the Trump presidency as well as the efforts of the republican-majority government to push back certain laws protecting LGBTQ individuals. Particularly relevant and high-profile examples are the “bathroom bills” targeting the rights of transgender persons during this period.