Where’s the outrage over the FBI’s report on the rise in anti-Black hate in America?
A first of its kind longitudinal report on hate crimes in America from 2018 to 2022 was recently released and there were a few disturbing takeaways. Hate crimes are on the rise the United States. One in ten hate crimes occurred in American educational institutions, from primary schools to universities. That’s statistically significant and scary.
Many may be surprised that the most common victims weren’t Jewish, Hispanic, Asian, Native-American or LGBTQ children. Conservative dilettantes will take umbrage at the fact that white children, who are supposedly continuously and permanently traumatized by critical race theory and diversity efforts, weren’t the most targeted either. No, the report found the largest number of hate-fueled offenses across the board, including in schools, were “motivated by anti-Black bias.”
Hate crimes mostly against Black people
Before launching into the normal insane arguments that this is more Black “excuse-making” and “race-baiting,” please know this report didn’t come from scholars at Morehouse, Spelman, Howard or Simmons College. It didn’t come from a Black think tank, the NAACP, Urban League or the National Action Network. It came from the FBI and Department of Justice.
The damning study states, “From 2018 through 2022, the most common bias type of reported hate crime offenses at schools was Anti-Black or African American, with 1,690 reported hate crime offenses involving this bias type during the observed five years, followed by Anti-Jewish (745 offenses), and Anti-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (Mixed Group) (342 offenses).”
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The level of anti-Black animus in America is high
Those are staggering numbers that show the level of anti-Black animus in America is high. Predictably, this hasn’t been talked about very much. You probably haven’t even heard of the report. Why? Why wasn’t it a bigger story and where’s the outrage?
Where are the television commercials with little black boxes telling you about the disproportionate amount of anti-Black hate crimes in America? Why aren’t you being encouraged to show Black people your support and stand up against anti-Black hate?
Where is the outrage?
Why aren’t penny-ante, backwoods politicians like Max Wise down in good old Kentucky who pushed a bill that proclaimed blaming racial inequities on America’s history of racism is “destructive to the unification of our nation” apologizing? Why isn’t he admitting anti-Black racism wasn’t just a part of the country’s past, but is alive and well in its present?
Where are the mea culpas from Wise’s small-time and small-minded Kentucky confederates like Reps. Matt Lockett and Jennifer Decker who masked their anti-Blackness in an ill-conceived legislative war to kill CRT and all its progeny? They and others falsely claimed CRT was pervasively taught in schools. They lied and said it was destroying the minds of children, and engendering divisiveness and hate.
If they had an ounce of decency they’d say, “We were wrong. We lied. We can’t continue to push for white supremacy in American education anymore. It’s dangerous. Black children are under attack in this country’s schools simply because they’re Black and it’s getting worse. We need to teach more about how racism got us here, not less. We must protect these kids.”
Laws are attacking diversity efforts: Maybe it’s time for Black people to just leave.
Where are the congressional hearings in D.C.? Why aren’t school system superintendents from around the country being called on the carpet before incensed politicians? Whey aren’t college presidents from the Ivy League on down being roasted by lovers of children like the honorable Elise Stefanik (R-New York) and told, “We will not stand for this hate!”?
Why isn’t Ms. Stefanik asking college presidents yes-or-no questions about their failure to protect Black students or sufficiently address this issue? Why isn’t she calling for their jobs and affirming that their “forced resignations are the bare minimum of what is required.”?
Where are the rich donors threatening to pull their money from universities if they don’t do something to address all the anti-Blackness at their schools? Why isn’t Congresswoman Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana) so bothered by this pervasive and escalating anti-Black hate that she’s proclaiming, “I have always defended higher education, but today I am embarrassed.”?
Alas, there’s no outrage from them or others. Politicians continue their racist attacks cloaked in anti-DEI legislation. Many predominantly white university presidents either agree with the politicians or fear them, for they are largely silent. From sea to shining sea, all of these people, through their callousness or cowardice, are making it more and more acceptable to attack Black men, women and children educationally, politically, psychically and physically.
So yes — anti-Black hate is the most common hate in America, even in its schools. It is real, on the rise . . . and very few people seem to care.
Dr. Ricky L. Jones is the Baldwin-King Scholar-in-Residence at the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute and Professor of Pan-African Studies, University of Louisville. His column appears bi-weekly in the Courier-Journal. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads, and X.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Anti-Black hate is on the rise according to FBI report. Nobody cares.
