Racial Hate Crimes Rise — Prosecutions Down

A federal report from the Justice Department notes that racial hate crimes have gone up by 85% since the start of Trump’s term, even while their prosecutions went down by 34%. “This reflects administration priorities,” says a spokesperson, who listed Trump talking points about stopping crime, even though experts say that overall, crime rates have flatlined.

Many point to Trump’s dismantling of “disparate-impact theory,” which allowed the government to stop policies that disproportionately affect a marginalized group. “This has allowed LGBTQ tenants to get kicked out on the flimsiest of pretexts and Black business owners to be denied bank loans that white business owners get,” said one expert. An independent report suggested within the first year of this change, hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost by Black businesses due to racial bias.

In response, the NAACP urged its members to “resist national policy that seeks to destroy our communities.” It has recently joined a national Strike Committee, which plans to organize various wildcat strikes unless its list of demands are met — which include a vow for President Trump to “affirm free and fair elections.” A Trump spokesperson calls these efforts “a joke.”

A national fundraising network has pledged to plow more money into local prosecutions “to make up for the lack of federal Justice Department spending.” They acknowledge it is very difficult to take up federal racial-bias cases without active support from the Justice Department. Instead, they primarily lean on local and state human rights commissions.