In 2017, the FBI reported a 17% increase in all hate crimes, totaling over 7,100 instances and continuing a disturbing three-year rise in hate crime statistics. These attacks are varied and their victims often painfully unheard. Here is a very brief synopsis of recent hate crime statistics and high profile cases in the United States:

• Hate crimes against Jews in America rose by more than a third last year and accounted for 58% of all religion-based hate crimes, according to data released by the FBI. 2018 incidents included the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in October 2018, which left 11 people dead. The Department of Justice has long determined that
anti-Jewish attacks are the most frequent faith-based hate crime.

• 33% of LGBTQ children and teens report being bullied at school for their sexuality. 10% of those individuals admit to not attending classes after fearing for their safety. This is nearly double the rate of their heterosexual peers.

• Nine employees of General Motors are suing the company for its hostile work environment in which racial slurs, threats, hanging nooses, and marking bathrooms as “whites only” are commonplace occurrences.

• 128 transgender people have been murdered in the last 5 years, 26 of those in 2018. When these cases do receive media attention, victims are still frequently mis-gendered. This is to say nothing of the daily dangers and difficulties individuals face because of their gender identity.

• 58.1% of reported hate crimes are motivated by race or ethnicity bias, with the next highest percentile being religious bias at 22%.