The FBI reported Tuesday the number of Sikhs victimized by a hate crime tripled to 60 in 2018 over the year before.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation released the information as part of its annual report on hate crimes.
The data is even more alarming given that most hate crimes still go unreported, according to the Sikh Coalition and other civil rights groups.
As documented hate incidents against Sikhs continue to increase, we are acutely aware of how our community continues to bear the brunt of hate in America,” said Sim J. Singh, Sikh Coalition Senior Manager of Policy and Advocacy, to the Voice Online. “Unfortunately, the FBI’s incomplete collection efforts do not give our government sufficiently-accurate information to effectively assess and counteract hate. It’s past time for Congress to pass the next generation of common-sense, anti-hate crime legislation: the bipartisan Khalid Jabara-Heather Heyer NO HATE Act.”
In all there were a total of 188 anti-Muslim hate crimes reported, the fifth highest total on record, but slightly down from last year.
There were also 14 anti-Hindu hate crimes, down from 15 in 2018. The FBI also recorded 82 anti-Arab related hate crimes, the second highest total since the FBI began documenting them in 2015.
“White supremacist violence, fanned by the flames of racist rhetoric and policies at the federal level like the Muslim Ban and family separation, continues to devastate Black and brown communities,” said South Asians Leading Together in a statement to AsAmNews. “Anti-Black hate crimes accounted for more than 25% of violent hate crimes reported in 2018 and the majority of incidents motivated by race.”
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