New preliminary data released this week from California State University paints a grim retrospective of 2023: it was a record year for hate crime, and 2024 is poised to be worse.
The number of hate crimes reported to police in the nation’s 10 largest cities rose again in 2023, according to preliminary data released Friday from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.
The annual study found at least 2,184 hate crimes were reported across New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, and Austin last year, an increase of nearly 13% from 2022 driven in part by upticks in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim attacks…
USA Today
Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Austin, Texas all broke hate crime records, surpassing records going back to the 90s.
And with elections coming later this year, the Center says, we could be poised to see an increase in hate crime from the already elevated levels of 2023. Indeed, the levels of hate-fueled crime don’t seem to be abating, whether it’s a cross burning in South Carolina or vandalism in Georgia or assault in suburban Chicago, American headlines are chock full of hate crime daily.
The imam recently shot to death in New Jersey as he was heading to morning prayers. Homophobia-driven homicide in Arizona. The punch in the face on the street in NYC, among other NYC hate crimes. Hate crime takes many forms, but one form it doesn’t take is “invisible”.
This is affecting all of our communities. Every major city is dealing with a spike in hate crime – whether racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic or Islamophobic, it’s going up. In every time zone. Americans who wish to see a reduction in hate crime and its associated bigotry have to be proactive at a time like this: this is the time for bridge-building initiatives.
This is a time when anti-racist voices should be expressing themselves most forcefully. When virtually every community is at risk of being victimized at any given moment, reassuring voices of reason and unity are of paramount importance. Now is the time for those interfaith rallies, those peaceful conversations, those prayer vigils – and not just about what’s going on in the Middle East.
No, now is a time that America should be in our “thoughts and prayers”, and a main focus of our minds and efforts. America is having problems right now. It’s up to those of us who desire a better future to come up with solutions.
