Forget Trump, black people are the main targets of heightened hate crimes in America

There have been increased cases of hate crimes across America in 2017, according to a new report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

According to the report, in 2017 alone, more than 7,175 hate crime incidents involving 8,437 offences were reported to the FBI. And out of these,  4,131 incidents involving 4,832 offences were based on race and ethnicity alone.

Further, the report shows that out of the over 4,000 cases, almost half were hate crimes committed against black people.

In 2017 alone, 2,458 black people were victims of 2013 hate crimes involving 2,358 offences. Of all these crimes, only 1,742 cases have known offenders.

For white people, only 741 hate crimes involving 844 offences were reported against 864 victims.

The number is even lower for other ethnicities as shown below:

Other minorities have also topped lists as victims of hate crimes, with gay men leading the sexual orientation victims list at 774 and lesbians coming in second at 164 victims.  One hundred and nineteen transgender people were also victims of gender-based hate crimes.

Acting Attorney General,  Matthew A. G. Whitaker, released a statement in connection to the released report, stating that the Department of Justice will work to reduce violent crime in the country.

“This report is a call to action—and we will heed that call. The Department of Justice’s top priority is to reduce violent crime in America, and hate crimes are violent crimes. They are also despicable violations of our core values as Americans,” he said.

The report comes at a time when African Americans have been making headlines for being victims of various crimes including shooting and random attacks for being black. Worse, some of the perpetrators have received no or very lenient punishment.