A hate crime, which is also known as a bias motivated crime, is when someone targets their victim based on a their social group, which is usually defined by religion, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, disability, gender, age, or political affiliation. Hate crimes take on many forms and may include, but are not limited to, property damage, physical assault, harassment, bullying, insults or verbal use, offensive letters, as well as graffiti.

In recent years, policymakers at every government level have become increasingly concerned about hate crimes; however, the phenomenon of hate crimes is nothing new. Some examples of past hate crimes are: the Nazi genocide of the Jews, Ottoman genocide of Armenians, and the Roman persecution of Christians. More recent hate crimes would be the Rwandan genocide and the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Bosnia. In a way, the hate crimes that have occurred have both defined and shaped world history as we know it.

In the United States it is religious biases and race background that have propelled hate crimes. The last two centuries in the US have seen hate crimes such as cross burnings in order to drive black families out of and away from neighborhoods that are predominantly white, African American lynching, assaults on gay and lesbians, as well as transgendered, and finally swastikas being painted on Jewish Synagogues.

Anti-Black bias is the most frequently reported motivation for hate crime in the United States. In 1995 there were close to 8 thousand hate crimes reported to the FBI. Of those, nearly 3 thousand were crimes driven with a bias against African Americans. The other frequently reported bias motivations were anti-Jewish, anti-white, anti-Hispanic, and anti-gay.

The laws regarding hate crimes fall into several categories: (1) criminal penalty-enhancement laws; (2) laws defining specific bias-motivated acts as distinct crimes; (3) laws requiring administrative agencies to collect hate crime statistics; and (4) laws creating a distinct civil cause of action for hate crimes. On occasion the laws focus on genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, as seen in Herzegovina and Bosnia, with a prohibition against discriminatory action limited to public officials.

In the United States federal prosecution is possible for those who commit hate crimes based on a person’s religion, race, color, or origin. Forty-five states, along with the District of Columbia have statues in place criminalizing various hate crimes. Twenty-seven states, along with the District of Columbia have statutes that require the state collects statistics on hate crimes. Thirty-one states, along with the District of Columbia have statues creating a civil cause of action in addition to the penalty for acts of a similar nature.

In 2006 according to the FBI hate crime statistics report, hate crimes increased almost 8 percent nationwide. A total of 7,722 incidents and 9,080 offences were reported by participating law enforcement agencies. Of the 9,652 victims that were identified, 52 percent were targeted because of race.