About Those Hate Crime Numbers…
by James A Bacon
The officially reported tally of hate crimes against Jews spiked to 84 in 2024, while the number against Blacks increased slightly from an already high level to 136, according to data from the Virginia State Police Crime in Virginia 2024 report.
As the report itself notes, however, these numbers should be viewed with caution. “Because of the difficulty of ascertaining the offender’s subjective motivation, bias is reported only if the investigation reveals sufficient information to lead a reasonable and prudent person to conclude that the offender’s actions were motivated, in whole or in part, by bias against race, religion, disability, ethnicity or sexual orientation. “
In other words, what constitutes a “hate crime” is in the eyes of the beholder. Take the City of Charlottesville, for example. While the University of Virginia was in the throes of highly agitated pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli agitations in the first half of 2024, UVA Jews cited numerous antisemitic incidents. For purposes of compiling data, however, the City of Charlottesville reported only one anti-Jewish hate crime.
Another example: Fairfax County. In 2019, county police reported 14 anti-Black and 2 anti-Hispanic hate crimes. In 2024, the numbers had surged to 73 anti-Black hate crimes and 21 anti-Hispanic crimes. Without the 59-crime increase in anti-Black incidents and 19-crime increase in anti-Hispanic incidents over those five years, the statewide numbers would have shown declines in such crimes.
Did Fairfax County turn into a cesspool of anti-Black, anti-Hispanic prejudice over that period of time — even as there was no such increase in Virginia as a whole? Or did the election of a progressive commonwealth attorney and appointment of a progressive police chief lead to different interpretations of what constituted hate crimes?
Reaching an authoritative judgment would require an examination of individual hate-crime cases, including those that were reviewed and dismissed, which I have not done. But I would suggest to readers the hypothesis that ideological biases of those compiling the data can skew the reported numbers.
Repuvlished with permission from Bacon’s Rebellion.
