Now Reading
Hate Crimes Spike After Trump’s Election

Hate Crimes Spike After Trump’s Election

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a national organization well-known for their monitoring of domestic hate groups and extremists, has catalogued 201 hate-motivated incidents since the election on Tuesday.

The SPLC gathered the data from news outlets, social media, and a direct submission form on their website. They added the caveat that every submission could not be independently verified, and there have been false abuse reports made by both Trump supporters and opponents.

The SPLC data shows that the majority of the incidents have been targeted at Black people, with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim harassment following close behind. The incidents, described as “harassment and intimidation,” range from racist graffiti like swastikas to verbal abuse and physical assault.

Reports of anti-Latinx and anti-Muslim violence have increased steadily since Trump began to gain real support for his campaign this year. His promises to “build a wall” to keep out Mexican “rapists” and “bad hombres” as well as all Muslims has encouraged alt-right supporters to make their vitriol public.

A study conducted by the SPLC in March and April in this year found a concerning trend in increased bullying targeted at minority students during the presidential campaign. This “Trump effect” is recorded in the new data as well.

“Disturbingly, the most commonly reported location where incidents of harassment occurred were K-12 schools,” the SPLC Hatewatch staff said in the report.

Many U.S. citizens and lawmakers have been concerned that Trump’s election will have a similar result as Brexit did for the U.K. in June. London saw a 167 percent increase in hate crimes in the month after the Brexit vote, and while the numbers have since decreased they are still well above what they were prior to the vote.

What's Your Reaction?
Excited
0
Happy
0
In Love
0
Not Sure
0
Silly
0
Scroll To Top