The FBI’s most recent hate crime report identified 10,840 hate crime incidents reported by the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies for 2021, the most since the bureau started collecting the data. While the FBI’s annual reports show only a small fraction of hate-fueled crimes, they mark a continuing increase.
To highlight this deeply disturbing, ongoing series of hate-fueled crimes, the Southern Poverty Law Center is designating October as Hate Crimes Awareness Month and will conduct an annual campaign to alert the public, advocates, policymakers and politicians to the problem of hate crimes and press for action to prevent them.
“More than ever, the mainstreaming of white supremacy and hate violence today underscores the need for all of us to reject hate wherever and whenever it occurs,” said SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang. “But to do that effectively, we must understand the extremist forces we’re up against and the scope of the crisis.
“The SPLC launched this campaign to encourage difficult but essential conversations about how we prevent hate from taking root in the first place, as well as the need for innovative solutions to promote inclusion across communities. We must stop this cycle of hate that too often ends with dire consequences for the Black community and other communities of color, Jewish people and the LGBTQ+ community.”
Throughout its more than 50-year history, the SPLC has been at the forefront of combating hate and the crime it spawns – winning multimillion-dollar court verdicts against hate groups to hold them accountable for promoting violence; tracking and exposing the activities of hard-right hate and extremist groups that propagate violence-inspiring lies and false conspiracy theories; providing free anti-bias resources that foster inclusive classrooms across the U.S.; and pushing for government policies to prevent bias incidents.
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