Over the past 10 years, there has been a stark increase in hate crime incidents in the United States, disproportionate to national population growth. The rise in antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime activity has been particularly notable. The main objective is to investigate in-depth factors which may be correlated with this rise in hate crimes as a whole, and more specifically with antisemitic and anti-LBGTQ+ incidents.
Understanding the factors which correlate with antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes is necessary for implementing effective preventative and protective measures. Without this understanding, the rate of these incidents will continue to rise.
Simple correlation analysis among 2024 data reveals correlations between a state’s number of hate crime incidents per 100,000 residents and its Political Voting Index (PVI), level of racial/ethnic diversity, and degree of hate crime protections. Considering each factor separately, states with a more Democratic-leaning PVI, states with higher racial/ethnic diversity, and states with stronger hate crime protections report higher numbers of hate crimes per 100,000 residents. This is likely because such states tend to have more robust hate crime reporting procedures than Republican-leaning states with low hate crime protections.
Regression models show that higher hate crime reports per 100,000 residents are generally associated with:
- Higher population density
- Higher median household income
- Higher percent in poverty
- Lower diversity index (less racial/ethnic diversity)
- Lower hate crime law bias coverage
This research suggests that preventative measures to reduce hate crime incidents may include:
- Improving reporting procedures and mandating reporting of hate crimes to the FBI
- Decreasing poverty rates
- Increasing the coverage of hate crime laws
- Building compassion by learning with and about people of different religions, races, sexualities, opinions, and more