Hate Crimes and 'Incidents' Against Blacks and Muslims Up in Orange County

Photo by ccharmon via the LAist Featured Photos pool

Something is rotten in the state of Orange County, because as hate crimes and incidents overall are going down, they are on the rise against blacks and Muslims. According to a report released today by the OC Human Relations Commission, 56 hate crimes took place last year, and nearly a third of them targeted blacks.

According to an analysis within the report, the overall number of hate crimes in Orange County has been cut almost in half since 2006. But the number of such attacks against blacks -- which can include assault, robbery, vandalism or murder -- rose from 16 to 18 between 2009 and 2010.

The report also notes that while hate crimes against Muslims were down in 2010, hate "incidents" -- a hateful action that isn't illegal, like hateful emails, signs, graffiti, or use of racist epithets -- more than tripled, with 31 incidents reported last year.

The news is being reported from a variety of angles, with the OC Register championing the overall drop in an article entitled "Hate crimes decline, but some groups targeted," and the OC Weekly focusing on the disturbing uptick in crimes against blacks with a post called "African-Americans Were Victims of One-Third of Orange County's 2010 Hate Crimes: Report." (As you can see, we also chose to focus on the increase in incidents against blacks and Muslims. Make of that what you will.)

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By Jessica Pauline Ogilvie in News on August 18, 2011 12:20 PM

Comments [rss]

Juno-Jupiter

The racism in the comments is proof of the overall racism against blacks in the US.

Jessica Pauline Ogilvie

I'll have to disagree with you here, Boston. Hate crimes and incidents against blacks and Muslims did in fact rise in the OC last year, so my headline represents a fact, plain and simple. You're welcome to read the report, which you can access via the link I provided.

And while you might feel like the increase is just a small number, I imagine that for those people who were on the receiving end of these crimes and incidents, it's very significant.

Also, just to be clear, I didn't say anything at all in this post about the OC being racist.

Rock Tot

Oh, yea, I'm sure blacks in Asian countries would not have any 'racism' experiences. Oh, thats right, Multi-culturalism only exists in stupid white countries, you would kill anyone not in your ethnic clan in non-white countries. How smart we are.

mallhonitor

I can't say I've ever been a victim of racism in Orange County but I have been a victim of boredom.

lauren

i grew up in south oc (san clemente/san juan capistrano) and i dont think people are necessarily racist--just really fucking ignorant.
it was interesting being the ONLY filipino in an (almost) all-white school. People just assumed I was mexican or native hawaiian until the 4th grade because if you have a tan, DONT have really narrow eyes and arent wearing a rice-picker hat, you CANT POSSIBLY be from an asian country.
And the people who assumed i was mexican would say really fucked up things about what they thought about mexicans or what their parents thought and I reluctantly had to deal with a few racist rants; even though i am not mexican.

it has gotten much better, though. I do think the south part of the county is still much more sheltered than the northern part. Even though I did have a few racist encounters growing up I still do not believe you can call the whole county racist. so picking on the whole of orange county is unnecessary.

but if the whole dividing of california into "coastal (liberal) california" and "other (conservative) california" actually occurs, I could see orange county being the powerhouse of the conservative part.

Philip

but people are very racist in o.c... i never get harrassed about my race unless i am there.

Robert Nguyen

cool story bro, tell it again.

hN9S9

Hate crime blog entries up 50% on LAist... Articles of interest down 50%.

Boston Suckstoo

How is it responsible journalism to have your headline imply that hate crimes are on the rise in orange county when they are in fact down by 50% since 2006? Oh that's right.. there were two more crimes against blacks since the year prior. Obviously a significant rise. Maybe we should gather as a community and hold a candlelight vigil to help stop this rampant crime wave.

We get it. You hate orange county and love to promote the stereotype that everyone from the OC is a racist. Congrats. Well done. I'm sure your friends at the Troub will buy you a round for this one.