Hate Crimes in the United States

Despite the fact that the United States has grown generally more tolerant and more accepting, hate crimes have been on the rise in many cities in the United States, particularly in California, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Massachusetts (Partners against Hate, 2003). This does not necessarily reflect an overall increase in crime. In fact, it may not even reflect an increase in actual hate crimes, but might reflect a greater awareness and reporting of crimes. This is because hate crimes are based upon regular crimes. In fact, a hate crime is a "traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias" (FBI, 2013). These crimes can include petty crimes like vandalism to violent crimes like rape and murder. Therefore, these crimes have long been being committed with bias as a motive, but only being reported as the underlying offense....
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