Tuesday, November 15, 2011

FBI: Hate Crimes Target Blacks In 70 Percent Of Race-Based Cases

FBI: Hate Crimes Target Blacks In 70 Percent Of Race-Based Cases: Blacks were the group most likely to be the targets of race-based hate crimes, according to a new federal report.

The report, compiled by the FBI's civil rights division, found that the large majority of racial bias crimes were "motivated by anti-black bias." Latinos were the targets of 66 percent of all hate crimes motivated by ethnicity or national origin. Jews were the targets of most crimes against religious groups, and most crimes against a particular sexual orientation or gender were motivated by "anti-homosexual male bias."

The number of hate crimes remained essentially flat between 2009 and 2010. There were 6,628 hate crimes reported in 2010, up very slightly from 6,604 in 2009. About 47 percent of all the reported hate crimes were racially motivated, with 20 percent motivated by religion, 19.3 percent motivated by sexual orientation, and 12.8 percent motivated by nationality.