Reported hate crimes at schools and colleges are on the rise, new FBI report says

Hate crimes at schools are on the rise, according to a new Federal Bureau of Investigation report released Monday.

The school-based offenses on elementary, secondary and university campuses accounted for 10% of all the hate crime offenses reported in 2022, the FBI report said.

School and college campuses were the third most common site of reported hate crimes between 2018 and 2022, after homes and roads or alleys, according to the FBI.

During the five-year period covered in the report, the most common demographic group victimized by reported hate crimes at school were African American or Black people. Hate crimes based on religion were the second-most frequently reported offense, with Jewish people targeted the most in that category. Those identifying as LGBTQ+ faced the third-highest number of reported hate crime offenses.

Elementary and secondary schools saw significantly more reported offenses than college campuses, but there was a spike in hate-fueled assaults across all school grounds from 700 offenses in 2018 to 1,336 in 2022. The most commonly reported offenses at school were intimidation, destruction, damage or vandalism, and assault. 

Hate crimes at school rose after pandemic-related drop

Incidents at schools accounted for 10% of the nation’s hate crime offenses reported in 2019, then plummeted to roughly 4% in 2020, which the FBI attributed to a shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, 2022 saw a spike back to pre-pandemic levels.

Last year, a 17-year-old Black student was suspended from his Texas high school after school officials claimed his dreadlocks violated the district’s dress and grooming code. In Florida, an elementary school principal and teacher were placed on leave after staff singled out Black fourth and fifth graders, pulling them into assemblies about low test scores. In May, a transgender teacher’s LGBTQ flag was set on fire at an elementary school in North Hollywood, California.

2023 could see another rise in reported hate crimes on campuses, as universities become a hotspot for tensions amid the ongoing war.

An alleged chemical spray assault on pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, death and rape threats against Jewish students at Cornell University, the shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont, and swastikas drawn on a Millersville University elevator and sidewalk are among several instances of alleged hate-fueled assaults since the war began nearly four months ago.

Hate crimes rising across U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice defines a hate crime as a "crime motivated by bias against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability."

Overall, hate crimes have been on the rise across the nation. The FBI reported a total of 13,346 hate crime offenses in 2022, up from 2018 by about 4,800 offenses.

In 1990, Congress mandated the collection of hate crime statistics. Federal law enforcement agencies are obligated to send in data, but most agencies across the nation are not, according to the FBI.