Under-Counting Anti-White Hate Crimes

by Thomas M. Sipos

[June 15, 2024] On April 28, 2023, the Santa Monica Daily Press ran this headline on page one: "Metro Rider Violently Beaten by Eight Teenagers at Santa Monica Station." The article, written by Magnolia Lafleur, reported the incident (which occurred on April 19) as a case of simple assault. But buried on page eight was this: "the teens jumped on him screaming insults and racial slurs".

Now, when violent thugs shout "racial slurs" during an attack, is that not a hate crime? Yet LaFleur's long article -- 30 paragraphs -- never mentions "hate." Nor are we told the races of the "teenagers" or of their victim, Eric Lewis. The issue of race is never again broached.

Lewis's attackers were caught. "All suspects were identified as juveniles from Los Angeles but only two have been charged with assault at this time. Per County rules regarding juveniles accused of committing crimes, all suspects were issued citations and released to their parents."

Lewis was treated at Saint John's Hospital for a laceration of the scalp requiring eight staples, a cracked rib, and lesser injuries. A photo of his injured scalp appears to be of a white man. Because his attackers hurled "racial slurs" at him, it's a safe assumption that these attackers were nonwhite.

It's also a safe assumption that, had the races been reversed, we would still be hearing about it. Yet in the past year, the story has fallen off the radar. Nothing on search engines. Memory holed.

Every year the FBI and ADL release hate crime statistics on which groups are most victimized, which the least, which suffered an increase in attacks, which enjoyed a decrease, etc. I question the accuracy of those reports. Hate crimes against "protected classes" are more aggressively reported and tabulated by the authorities and advocacy groups than hate crimes against, say, whites or Christians.

Had eight white "teenagers" brutally assaulted a black man while screaming racial slurs, it's a safe bet they would face hate crime charges. Headlines would shout "Hate Crime" even without such charges being filed.

Of course, I'm guessing that if Eric Lewis were publicly asked about his attackers, he would say, "This had nothing to do with race." It's what white people are taught (or pressured?) to say in such instances. Even when racial slurs are hurled at us, we don't regard it as a hate crime.

I too was the victim of an anti-white hate crime. Yet that didn't even occur to me at the time.

Back in the 1990s, on a Saturday night after 11 p.m., a friend and I left a 24/7 donut shop on Queens Blvd in Forest Hills, NY. We were walking south on Union Turnpike, a dark stretch, the only pedestrians in sight. An older car came up beside us, carrying three black male youths. They drove slowly beside us, eying us, saying nothing. My friend and I continued walking, tense, pretending not to notice. Naturally, we feared we might be robbed or even killed.

After what felt like a very long time (but probably wasn't), one of the youths shouted, "White trash!" and the car drove off.

Strange thing to say. New York is not the deep south. Yet that's what one of them shouted.

My friend and I breathed happy relief, thrilled we hadn't been beaten or murdered. Only years later did it occur to me that I'd been the victim of a hate crime.

Had some white youths shouted the N-word to black pedestrians in similar circumstances, would that not be treated as a hate crime? Or if blacks had shouted anti-Semitic or homophobic slurs, would that not be regarded as a hate crime despite the victims' whiteness? In these instances, I believe the victims would more likely have reported it, the police and district attorney would more likely have treated it as a hate crime, and it would more likely have been tabulated in the FBI and ADL's hate crime statistics.

But if my friend and I had gone to the police, they would likely be annoyed that we were wasting their time, requiring them to fill out a report over what they'd regard as a minor incident.

We live in a culture that rewards victim status. Political power, preferences, protection, and money are distributed according to one's victim narrative. That's not how it should be, but so long as it is, the same standards of reporting and tabulation should be applied to all hate crimes. Otherwise, official hate crime stats cannot be regarded as fair or accurate.