Gay-Male, Jewish, And Black: Most Targeted For New York Hate Crimes
- Kelly Guidry
- Nov 28, 2018
- 2 min read
Hate crimes can happen anywhere, but for those in New York who identify as Gay-male, Jewish, or Black, your chance of experiencing one increases exponentially. According to a 2016 study done by New York’s Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), these three categories of individuals experienced the highest number of hate crimes compared to the other biases.
In 2016, New York had a total of 280 hate crimes against persons, with the study breaking down these crimes into 38 biases, covering different races, religions, and sexual orientations.
“Anti-Gay Male” hate crimes had the highest number of accounts, with 73 reports. Just in New York County (Manhattan), there were 35 crimes reported, including one in Chelsea, which left two men injured. The other two counties, which reported high numbers of similar offenses, included Kings County (Brooklyn) with 16 crimes and Bronx County with eight.
“Anti-Jewish” hate crimes ranked second with a total of 49 crimes. Kings County accounted for a majority of those crimes with 29 offenses. New York County experienced nine, with Westchester County at five reports. Two years later, anti-semitism is still a prevalent issue in New York, according to a New York Times article.
“Anti-Black” hate crimes were in third place, with 32 hate crimes recorded in 16 counties, making it the most prevalent bias of all. Of these 16, New York County reported the most crimes (6) with Erie County (5) and Kings County (5) close behind.
Although not in the top three, the number of “Anti-Islamic (Muslim)” hate crimes still had a relatively high number of accounts with a total of 29, including one against a female transit worker wearing a hijab. Kings County reported the greatest amount (9) with Bronx and Queens Counties both reporting six hate crimes in that same year.
In today’s society where it seems there is
no escape from hate, these numbers may not came as a surprise. Yet, when you stop to think of the number of unreported crimes that are out there, we will never truly know the level of hate these groups experience on a day-to-day basis.
Opening Image by Christopher Burns
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