Hate Crimes Down in 2011, but Anti-Gay Violence Is Up
Hate Crimes Down in 2011, but Anti-Gay Violence Is Up, FBI Says
The zealots and demagogues are beginning to have an effect, it’s past time to reverse this ugly trend.
More than 6,000 hate crimes were reported to U.S. law enforcement agencies in 2011 — a 6% decrease from 2010, the FBI said Monday. But crimes based on the victim’s sexual orientation increased slightly.
Nearly half of the 6,222 hate crimes reported in 2011 were racially motivated, the FBI said, with nearly three-fourths directed at African Americans. More than 16% were motivated by anti-white bias.
About 59% of the known offenders for all reported hate crimes were white, and 21% were black, the agency said.
The Anti-Defamation League, which monitors and seeks to combat bigotry, welcomed the overall decrease in hate crimes but highlighted those motivated by sexual orientation.
“The increase in the number of reported hate crimes directed against gays and lesbians, now the second most frequent category of crime, is especially disturbing,” the ADL said in a statement.