Washington: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published its most recent annual data on hate crimes and bias incidents, covering the calendar year of 2021.
The trends in the recent data continue to confirm what the Sikh Coalition has determined for more than 20 years: our community remains uniquely vulnerable to the risk of targeted hate. Anti-Sikh hate crimes soared by 140% between 2020 and 2021, from 89 instances to 214. Since the FBI began tracking anti-Sikh hate crimes in 2015, 214 instances represent the highest single total of hate crimes ever recorded. According to the FBI’s data, Sikhs were among the top two most targeted faith groups for hate crimes across the country in 2021, behind the Jewish American community.
Between 2020 and 2021, there was a nationwide 12 per cent drop in hate crime reports. But for the fourth year running, fewer law enforcement organisations are contributing to the FBI's collection of data on hate crimes. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), a new reporting system that law enforcement agencies were forced to switch to by January 1, 2022, is probably to blame for at least some of this large decline.
Unfortunately, many large agencies – including those in high population areas like New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Jose – did not make the transition in time to be included in the 2020-2021 FBI dataset. Whether due to the NIBRS transition or other factors, there was an approximately 22 per cent decrease in voluntary reporting by law enforcement agencies compared to the previous dataset.
Despite the slight national decrease in hate crimes, Sikhs were not the only community with increased reports of hate crime. Despite the transition to NIBRS not taking place in counties with sizable Asian American and Pacific Islander constituents, there was a 9 per cent increase in anti-Asian hate events and a 73 per cent increase in anti-Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander hate incidents. This particular data point likely demonstrates the effects of racist and xenophobic public discourse around the Covid-19 pandemic.