Crimes motivated by hate increased 28 percent in the Los Angeles area last year, compared with the previous year, according to statistics released on Thursday.
There were 763 hate crimes in 2007, the highest number in five years. Of those crimes, 39 percent were against blacks, the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations said in a report.
Gays and lesbians were the second most-targeted group with 102 crimes, followed by Jews, who were victims in 78 hate-based crimes, said the report.
Hate crimes increased even as Los Angeles County experienced a six-percent drop in crime, according to the report.
The state of California defines a hate crime as one where evidence shows "bias, hatred or prejudice based on the victim's real or perceived race/ethnicity, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation," said the report.
Other groups targeted in hate crimes include:
-- Mexicans, with 71 crimes;
-- Latinos, with 50 crimes;
-- Whites, with 31 crimes; and
-- Asian/Pacific Islanders, with 18 crimes.
The report also identified incidents of violence between blacks and Latinos. Of the crimes against blacks, Latinos were identified as suspects 71 percent of the time. In incidents of hate against Latinos, blacks were the suspects in 56 percent of the cases.
The number of Moslems victimized by hate crimes dropped from 11 in 2006 to 3 in 2007.
Salam Al-Marayait, executive director of the Moslem Public Affairs Council, said that decrease may be a reflection of a similar drop in international incidents of terrorism.
"Any time there is an incident of terrorism overseas, we see the backlash here in the United States," Al-Marayait said.
Unlike the Moslem population, Jews in Los Angeles County saw hate crimes increase from 65 in 2006 to 78 in 2007. The commission's report cited high-profile cases of anti-Semitism.
Source:Xinhua
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