What the Latest FBI Data Do and Do Not Tell Us About Hate Crimes in the US
NOVANEWS
By Sophie Bjork-James
The Conversation
This November, the FBI released its annual report of hate crimes for 2016, showing that in Trump's America, Muslims experience a greater risk of violence.
The FBI defines hate crimes as "a traditional offense like murder, arson or vandalism with an added element of bias." Overall, the FBI data show that the rates of reported hate crimes in the US have gone up slightly. But other evidence suggests that the actual number of hate crime incidents is likely even higher.
As a researcher who has studied the white nationalist movement for over a decade, I'm not surprised to see that hate crimes are up. But there's still far too much we don't know about hate crimes in the US -- and that affects how we study and enforce these crimes.
Increas...