In this article, we will look at the 25 most racist cities in America ranked by hate crimes per capita.
A hate crime is defined as any criminal offense that is motivated by hostility towards victims’ race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation among other things. In hate crimes, the identity of the victim appears to motivate the offender. Hate crimes can range from verbal harassment to physical violence.
Recently, the United States has seen a rise in hate crimes among college students. According to the data from the National Center for Education Statistics in 2020, the three most prevalent types of on-campus hate crimes were reported. These were intimidation, vandalism, and assault. The leading categories of bias motivating these crimes were race, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. However, the major bias for hate crimes reported was race, which served as a motivating bias in 55% of incidents.
Hate crimes are commonly used to measure racism. The fact that racism served as a bias in the majority of hate crimes in colleges shows that it is a useful tool to gauge racist attitudes in society. Otherwise, measuring racism presents quite a challenge as conventional survey methods fall short. Most people are not likely to report their racial bias, no matter how anonymous the survey promises them to be. In addition, racism in today’s world operates at a subconscious level.
Looking at hate crime data from 2020, it is clear that hate crimes in the United States were primarily motivated by racist biases. 15% of the hate crimes occurring in 2020 were characterized as Afrophobic and 37% fell into the broad categories of xenophobic and racist. Racist and Xenophobic hate crimes occurred in various forms, including but not limited to harassment, threats, and acts of violence. These crimes occurred both physically and digitally over various social media platforms.
Racism not only affects society but is also quite costly for governments. A study conducted by Citibank found that in the two decades following 2000, the US economy lost a total of $16 trillion. For perspective, the GDP of the United States for the year 2022 was $25.5 trillion. The amount of money lost by the United States in the twenty years makes an average of $0.8 trillion, a little less than half of Canada’s GDP of $1.8894 trillion. These losses came in both tangible and intangible assets. According to the study, America lost $13 trillion in potential business revenue and $2.7 trillion because of the disparity in wages between Whites and African Americans. In addition, discrimination in providing housing credit caused a loss of $218 billion from the economy.
The business community of the United States, it seems, realizes the negative effect of systemic racism and is directing resources to counter racial injustice. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: APPL), the most valuable company in the world, recently announced its plans to commit $100 million to its new racial justice initiative. In addition, Paypal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYPL) will invest $530 million to advance racial equity.
With this backdrop, let’s look at the most racist cities in America ranked by hate crimes per capita.
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Methodology
To curate our list of the most racist cities in America, we utilized data compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). It published data on incidences of hate crimes in major US cities from 20001 to 2021. For each city, we looked at the most recent data available, which was not earlier than 2020. Finally, we divided the hate crime instances by the total population of the city and multiplied it by 100,000 to calculate hate crimes per 100,000.
25 – Tucson, AZ
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 16
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 2.9
Tuscon is the 25th most racist city when ranked by hate crimes per capita. Although, it should be noted that 16 incidences in a year are low compared to other cities. However, because of the limited population of a little over 5,40000 people, it has a high number of hate crimes per capita.
24 – Mesa, AZ
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 16
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 3.1
With a 3.1 hate crime per capita, Mesa takes a slight lead over Tucson when it comes to hate crimes per capita. However, the hate crime instances in both cities are the same, the lower population of Mesa gives it a lead in our rankings.
23 – New York, NY
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 270
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 3.2
New York has the highest number of hate crimes in our list. It is a large and diverse city, which also results in quite alot of reported hate crimes. However, since it is the most populous city in the United States, its hate crime per capita is marginally above Mesa, which reported less than 10% of hate crimes reported in New York City.
22 – Colorado Springs, CO
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 16
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 3.3
Colorado Springs reported the same number of hate crimes as Mesa. However, because of its lower population, the city ranks much higher on the list of most racist states in the United States.
21 – Louisville, KY
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 26
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 3.8
Louiseville is the 21st most racist city when ranked according to hate crimes per capita. The city is fairly diverse with 67.1% non-Hispanic white and 23.8% African American population.
20 – Long Beach, CA
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 18
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 3.9
Long Beach California is among the top 20 most racist cities in America, ranked by hate crimes per capita. A popular game at the Pike named “Drowning the (N-word)” was played in the city up until 1950. In addition. The notorious Klu Klux Klan emerged as a powerful force in the country in the 1920s.
19 – San Antonio, TX
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 64
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 4.0
Racism has become a major issue in San Antonio to the point that the city council declared it a public health crisis. According to the representative of the council, racism affects individual health, and when you look at it collectively, it becomes a public health issue.
18 – Oakland, CA
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 19
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 4.4
Oakland is one of the most diverse cities in America. The city’s population comprises of only 33% non-Hispanic Whites and 22% African Americans. The city also has a 15% Asian alone population. The city’s 19 hate crimes are lower than most in our list, but its comparatively lower population has landed it on 18th position in our list.
17 – Albuquerque, NM
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 31
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 5.5
Albuquerque has seen a slight increase in hate crimes recently. Last year, a resident of the city was charged with killing two Muslim men based on their race and religion.
16 – San Francisco, CA
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 54
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 6.6
The cultural, commercial, and financial center of California, San Francisco is the 16th most racist city in America, ranked by hate crimes per capita. The city also has considerable anti-Asian racism that haunts its society.
15 – Raleigh, NC
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 32
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 6.6
Raleigh is amongst the 15 most racist cities in America, ranked according to hate crimes. It is worth noting that it is the only city in North Carolina to end up on our list.
14 – Detroit, MI
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 45
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 6.7
With 45 hate crime instances, Detroit is the 14th most racist city ranked by hate crimes per capita. The Detroit segregation wall, which still stands, is a stark reminder of its racist past.
13 – Portland, OR
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 47
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 7.1
Portland is one of the whitest cities in America. The city has a history of racial discrimination against African-American minorities. Although 47 hate crimes is lower than some other cities in our list, such as San Fransisco and San Antonio, its lower population gives it a lead on a per capita basis.
12 – Columbus, OH
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 67
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 7.3
Columbus is the only city of Ohio to end up in our list of the most racist cities in America ranked by hate crimes. Minority groups in the city face societal, health, and legal challenges.
11 – Minneapolis, MN
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 33
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 7.5
With 33 hate crimes, Minneapolis is one of the most racist cities in America, ranked by hate crimes per capita. The city has 60% non-Hispanic whites and 19.2% non-Hispanic African Americans, whereas Asians make up 5.6% of the population.
10 – Kansas City, MO
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 39
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 7.8
Racial segregation and racial practices were introduced in Kansas City in the early twentieth century. These practices included racist housing and segregation. Today, although these are not practiced, their remains are often seen.
9 – Philadelphia, PA
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 139
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 8.7
With 139 instances, Philadelphia has one of the highest hate crime incidences among the cities on our list. It is one of the top 10 most racist cities in America, ranked by hate crimes per capita.
8 – Las Vegas, NV
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 155
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 9.2
Las Vegas also has one of the highest hate crime incidences on our list. Its 9.2 hate crimes per 100,000 people makes it one of the most racist cities in America.
7 – San Jose, CA
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 94
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 9.6
Racism has become a problem in San Hose. More recently, the city has seen an exodus of its Black population.
6 – Los Angeles, CA
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 368
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 9.6
Los Angeles has the second highest number of hate crimes among the cities in our list, second only to New York City. However since its population is much less than New York, it is far ahead in terms of hate crimes per capita.
5 – Denver, CO
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 77
Hate Crimes Per 100,000- 10.4
Denver is the most racist city in Colorado when ranked by hate crimes per capita. Although it has lower instances of hate crimes compared to the other cities, much lower on our list, its comparatively lower population lands it in the top 5.
4 – Phoenix, AZ
Latest Report of Hate Crime Instances – 187
Hate Crimes Per 100,000 – 11.5
With 11.5 hate crimes per 100,000 people, Phoenix is the fourth most racist city It is the number 1 most racist city in Arizona, ranked by hate crimes per capita.
