Hate crimes

You probably have to be a numbers geek to enjoy this but since this is my blog and I am a numbers geek you get the “benefits”.  Clayton Cramer computes how hated you are based on the number of crimes committed against various groups (racial, sexual orientation, and religious belief) as compared to what is to be expected from your representation in the population.  So for example, if the group you belong to composes 10% of the U.S. population yet suffers 20% of the hate crimes you are hated more than a group that composes 80% of the population and suffers 40% of the hate crimes. 

What group do you think is the most hated?  Blacks maybe?  They used to get lynched for looking at white women “the wrong way”.  Nope, not the most hated anymore.

What about Jews?  They were considered the “spawn of the devil”, “controlled the banks”, and “vermin that spread disease.”  Nazi Germany was implementing the “Final Solution” just 65 years ago.  There still must be a lot of residual hate for them, right?  Not all that much in this country anyway.  In the Mideast I’m sure it’s tough to top their score.

Maybe it’s the Muslims.  It was Muslim extremists that perpetrated 9-11, the first World Trade Center bombing, the Beslan school hostage crisis, and nearly all the casualties of our armed forces in the last few years.  Surely they are the most hated.  Nope.

What about homosexuals?  The Pink Pistols haven’t really caught on enough to prevent gay bashing, right?  I’m not sure about the effect of the Pink Pistols on hate crimes against gays but homosexuals only come in at number two.

The most hated group is not identified by religion or sexual orientation.  This group is identified by “race” (the definition of “race” is a topic for another time) and I’m a member.  Read the Clayton’s post for details.  This runs counter to the Seattle School Districts definition of racist however.

Update: I fixed the example in the first paragraph.  I was in a hurry and made a major error in my haste which defeated my attempt at clarification.

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