To come up with the list of the least racist states in America ranked by hate crimes in 2017, we first need to research the history of racism. Racism in America has always been prevalent and can be dated back to the colonial era which was in the 16th century. The notion that a particular group is superior to others based on their color, ethnicity, culture or religion is the cusp of racism. It started quite early on when the Europeans mistreated the Native Americans based on their color and identity leading to mass murders and genocide. It went on to the African Americans, who were considered to be slaves for the whites. They were beaten, tortured and discriminated. And this lasted for centuries. In certain ways, it’s still quite widespread in the country.
Moving on to religious intolerance – racism against Muslims and Jews have also been a huge part of the history of America. The term “Islamophobia” came into existence after the debacle of 9/11 and is still quite relevant. Muslims in the USA have been through a lot of trouble since the terror attacks, with rampant security checks, scrutinizing interviews and racial profiling. Hate crimes against these groups have occurred more frequently than one would like to mention. According to the FBI, hate crimes are defined as “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”
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It’s sad also to say that most of the hate crimes committed go unreported, and hence no data could be found on them online, or otherwise. Ever since 9/11, there has been a surge in hate crimes especially those connected to ethnicity and religion, specifically towards Islam. Muslims are facing hate crimes on a daily basis, on their commutes, in public spaces, in restaurants, even at schools. A slogan “Go back to your country” has become notorious, harassing individuals who just want to live their lives peacefully. Nowadays, it seems that America is full of racist people with the power to express their hate in ways that might seem preposterous to the general audience.
In fact, it is not quite unreasonable or far-fetched to believe that racism played an integral part in the election of a certain Donald Trump to the “highest office” not just in the country, but in the world. Trump used racism as a not so subtle attack towards those he believed were to blame for the problems country is facing. The fact that he still managed to win shows us that the US is maybe not quite the perfect country it longs to be or at least to portray itself as.e US is maybe not quite the perfect country it longs to portray itself as.
For this list of least racist states in America ranked by hate crimes in 2017, we took the statistics measured by the FBI. The latest reliable data are from 2015. However, we strongly believe that during the two years, not much has changed. We have taken into consideration the total number of hate crimes and hate-related incidents for each state as well as the number of incidents per capita which is calculated by dividing the total number of crimes with the total number of population in each state. This gave us the final ranking for the list. If you want to make a comparison with 2011, you should head on over to the article on least racist states in America. If you want to know the places where racism thrives, head on over to our piece on most racist states ranked by hate crimes.
In ways, there has also been a decline in the rate of hate crimes committed, as people are growing to become more tolerant and supportive. Which is why this article will be focusing on the least racist states in America ranked by hate crimes in 2017.
