Government studies show that the actual number of hate crimes may be as high as 250,000 – more than 40 times the 6,121 incidents that the FBI reports for 2016. But the FBI figures do serve as a rough barometer for what’s occurring in our country.
The significant increase over the last two years coincides with Donald Trump’s racist, xenophobic campaign and its immediate aftermath. We reported a surge in hate crimes and other bias-related incidents – many of them carried out in Trump’s name – in the days after the election. The new FBI report confirms our findings, showing a 25 percent rise during the final three months of 2016.
The FBI report also shows that hate crimes targeting Muslims have doubled in the past two years. This is a group, of course, that was repeatedly demonized by Trump, who during the campaign promised a “complete and total shutdown” of Muslims entering the country.
We’ve also documented two straight years of increases in hate groups after several years of declines – including a near-tripling of anti-Muslim hate groups in 2016.
The words of our political leaders have consequences. President Trump has energized the radical right with his xenophobic rhetoric and has given bigots a license to act on their worst instincts. The most vulnerable people in our country are paying the price.
This article was published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights organization.
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