FBI Releases Updated 2020 Hate Crime Statistics | Hacker News Reader

FBI Releases Updated 2020 Hate Crime Statistics

fbi.gov

12 pointsinfodocket14 comments

Not much new AFAIK. Of the "big three" racial/ethnic groups, Whites and Hispanics are underrepresented and Blacks are overrepresented, which has been the norm for a long time.

I don't know why they don't release the same data for convictions though. Hate crime hoaxes are more than common enough to distort the results.

> Two hundred thirty-two (232) additional offenses were classified as crimes against society. This crime category represents society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity such as gambling, prostitution, and drug violations. These are typically victimless crimes in which property is not the object.

I have to admit I'm curious. How exactly does one commit drug trafficking or illegal betting with a hate bias motive? To frame a third party?

This is probably a reach, but if you wanted to eradicate the homeless, you might accomplish that by mixing fentanyl into other drugs. There's a long-standing theory that crack was introduced to black communities by the CIA as a means to undermine activists such as the Black Panthers.

I do not understand the purpose of hate crime statistics.

If a person goes around murdering people for instance - it kind of stands to reason that this person has a some form of hate going around in his mind. What does it matter if he hates only black people or people that wear orange hats? What matters is that he is a murderer. Murder has always been against the law around here so lets focus on getting rid of murderers instead of trying to divine what is in their hearts. What additional benefit does it gain us in attempting such divination?

When you take into account the history of BIPOC oppression and hate it makes some sense. They're perpetuating a type of hate that's already rampant and even normalized. It's on a spectrum between crimes of passion and organized crime.

Also it's generally recognized as a social good to penalize those who take advantage of the weak and less fortunate.

devils advocate here: assuming the data was 100% reliable, we could use that data to determine if there are patterns that lead certain individuals down that path. of course if that data is not reliable we made see patterns where there are none. I prefer not to speculate on the reliability of the data, just giving my perspective

It helps the powers that be, living sheltered lives of little want, get away with ignoring what they do not feel threatened by: the crime and murder suffocating American cities. It enables them to target certain groups (of all colours) they do feel threatened by.

We're facing a supply shortage and you want to eliminate the laws that are keeping tiki torches in stock?!

8200 hate crimes in a country of over 300 million. I'm sure not everything goes reported but overall not bad.

If the media were inclined to, they could report on a new hate crime nearly every hour. As population grows, anecdotes become increasingly meaningless, yet the general public still treats them as meaningful.

Very useful if you own the press.

Agreed. The media has always known to cherry pick instances that dont indicate a widespread problem and then run with the fear mongering to boost ratings.

I would trust the FBI more if it stood to its original mission statement and stopped scope-creeping.

"Protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States".

Seems like fighting hate crime falls pretty squarely inside of that mission.

Seems like a lot of activity would fall squarely inside a mission statement that broad.

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