Hate Crime Hits Highest Level In 12 Years, Asians And Blacks Are Primary Targets

The FBI on Monday reported that the national level of hate crime in 2020 rose to the highest rate in over a decade, with over 7,700 crime reports.

The report found that the rise in hate crime is attributed to the stark increase in attacks against Asian and Black people. Attacks against Blacks rose by 70%, while crimes against Asians rose almost 60% compared to the previous year.

Crimes against Blacks make up the majority of the reported hate crime cases, with ​​2,755 reported cases in 2020. Meanwhile, 274 incidents are against Asians.

In comparison, attacks against whites rose about 16%.

“These hate crimes and other bias-related incidents instill fear across entire communities and undermine the principles upon which our democracy stands,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Garland noted in his statement that the FBI data does “not account for the many hate crimes that go unreported.”

The majority of hate crimes were intimidation based but vandalism and simple assault also make a large portion of the types of offense. Most offenses occurred in residential homes.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, told the Washington Post that “increasingly racist and xenophobic rhetoric from political leaders” is contributing to the increase in hate crimes.

He added that the report “must be a wake-up call to all who irresponsibly spread fear and anger in our communities that they are putting lives at risk.”

About 64% of reported hate crimes are against people’s race, ethnicity and ancestry. The following two most reported categories are religion (15%) and sexual orientation (14%).