On Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 06:13:23AM -0500, Karen Thomas wrote: > http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2006/table12.html I would expect there to be some > diversity across the country in how these are reported, but interestingly > enough, the top 15 states with the HIGHEST per capita reporting of hate > crimes for 2006 are (in order): South Dakota, District of Columbia, New > Jersey, Michigan, Massachusetts, Delaware, Kansas, Nevada, Virginia, Maine, > Arkansas, Oregon. Nebraska, Maryland, Connecticut and California.
note that these are "reported". i've lived in four of these states (massachusetts, new jersey, maryland, and briefly oregon) and all of them are ACTIVE in getting the "don't tolerate hate" message out. behaviors that get ignored in other places (i was shocked, my first time in georgia, at the racist graffiti in public rest rooms) get reported around here, though i'm not sure all that much is *done*. (not to say that racism is non-existant here -- it's here and it sucks. a colleague of mine is moving to france because he's sick of being picked on by cops, because obviously black neuroscientists pose such a severe danger to society :/ ) anyway, i suspect that the statistics are biased by reporting, i.e. what do the victims or witnesses of hate crimes think that reporting will *do* or *not do*? in some cases people i've known who were victims were reluctant to report because they thought it would do nothing or even increase their chances of future harrassment. having once reported an act of violence against myself, i have to say that the cops were less than supportive (*coughs*) and the court experience pretty ghastly too. > Go figure... Interesting that three states with > the highest incidents per capita of hate crimes are Maine, Connecticut and > Massachusetts, since much of the country perceives New England as liberal... > but I guess that just shows that no part of the country is immune from hate. i like to think that it's that new englanders are more aware of hate as socially unacceptable, and thus more likely to pursue action against it. > Mary, I don't think I'd be any more worried living in KY than in > California...but it only takes one nutcase to endanger any of us, no matter > where we are. absolutely, in terms of outright endangerment. but there's another component, of how comfortable one feels in one's daily life, before the level of the incidents rises to "crime". i was severely uncomfortable in the racist-graffiti-filled georgia restrooms, although no violence was occuring against me at the time. --vicka
