“Bias Motivation Information” section of the FBI’s Hate Crime Incident Report 1-699. This form is voluntarily submitted by local law enforcement agencies to the FBI for Hate Crimes Statistics reporting but excludes indication of crimes against Sikhs. (source: FBI)
After yet another hate crime against a Sikh American — this time on an 82-year-old man in Fresno, California — Simran Kaur of the Sikh Coalition raises the issue of the absence of tracking by the FBI of hate crimes against Sikhs:
You read that right. Although Sikhs continue to experience hate crimes because of their distinct religious identity, the FBI has no distinct category to track such crimes.
While hate crimes against other racial and religious groups are tracked, hate crimes suffered by Sikhs are not. Thus, under current federal policy, the magnitude of hate crimes against the Sikh community is not being recorded.
Despite the disproportionately large number of hate crimes against Sikhs in this country, one would never know this using the FBI’s hate crimes reporting (which also suffers from other issues) designed to track such crimes in the United States. Often cited when reporting about hate crimes, the absence of identifying those against Sikhs means that Sikh victims remain invisible.
Read more in the Fresno Bee.
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