Cause for Concern 2024: The State of Hate (Updated May 2024)

Fighting Hate & Bias Resources 05.13.24

The Leadership Conference Education Fund report — “Cause for Concern 2024: The State of Hate (Updated May 2024)“ — outlines the serious threat of an alarming rise in hate crimes since 2014. Each of the last four presidential election periods have shown an unmistakable pattern: Hate crimes increase during elections. The report, the most recent publication in The Leadership Conference Education Fund’s “Cause for Concern” series first published in 1997, covers this trend. And while not all hate crimes and hate incidents are committed by white supremacists, white supremacists have been particularly active during the last four national elections. From the mainstreaming of hate and the failure of social media platforms to adequately address disinformation, the current climate is rife with opportunities for the trend of increased hate to continue into the 2024 election — unless action is taken.

Executive Summary

Each of the last four presidential campaign cycles has shown an unmistakable pattern: Reported hate crimes increase during elections. And while not all hate crimes and hate incidents are committed by white supremacists, as this paper outlines, white supremacists have been particularly active during the last four presidential elections. From the mainstreaming of hate and the failure of social media platforms to adequately address disinformation, the current climate is rife with opportunities for the trend of increased hate to continue into the 2024 election — unless action is taken.

In October 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released the most recent statistics on hate crimes. These data showed that 2022 was the highest year on record for reported hate crimes since the FBI began publishing the data in 1991. This marks the third consecutive year of record-high reports of hate crimes. But because law enforcement agencies do not have to report any data on hate crimes to the FBI, this is not the full picture. In fact, 2022 had the lowest amount of participation from law enforcement agencies since 2012. Even though the most recent data show the highest number of reported hate crimes on record, we know the reality is far worse.

Tragically, since 2015, reported hate crimes have nearly doubled. The Trump candidacy empowered white nationalists and provided them with a platform — one they had been seeking with renewed intensity since the historic election of America’s first Black president in 2008. Since 2015, communities across the country have experienced some of the most violent and deadliest years for hate in modern history.

Today’s political climate is highly charged. From white supremacist and anti-government movements coalescing and moving more into the political mainstream, to conspiracy theories circulating online, to the amplification of hate by public officials, there are few — if any — signs that tensions will lessen. Movements grounded in attempts to whitewash history and deny the rights of the LGBTQ+ community have turned hate into campaign platforms. Furthermore, the most recent outbreak of violence in the Middle East has created a climate of increased hate targeting Arab, Jewish, and Muslim Americans. This is a climate that has been exploited by white supremacists seeking to further their hateful agendas.

Contributing to the increase in hate are social media companies that have not internalized the lessons of the past and have set the stage for a 2024 election year that is at least as toxic online as past elections. Platforms have policies in place that curb and prevent the spread of hate and voting disinformation, but they do not consistently enforce them. In the last year, platforms have further cut back on enforcing disinformation, reduced or eliminated their trust and safety staff, and hollowed out protections against hate incitements on their platforms.

Recommendations

In this paper — the most recent publication in The Leadership Conference Education Fund’s “Cause for Concern” series first published in 1997 — we provide the following recommendations for how to address the current state of hate ahead of a deeply concerning 2024 election cycle:

  • There is a critical need to improve hate crime data reporting. The Improving Reporting to Prevent Hate Act is legislation designed to address chronic underreporting of hate crime data by conditioning funding to large city police departments on their credible hate crime reporting to the FBI. 
  • The federal government should confront white supremacist violence in a manner consistent with civil and human rights.
  • The federal government should promptly implement and provide regular status updates on the implementation and enforcement of President Biden’s May 2022 executive order mandate to address white supremacy and invidious discrimination in the hiring and retention of federal law enforcement officials.
  • Social media platforms must invest in de-platforming hate for the upcoming local, state, and national elections.
  • Public officials should speak out against hate and refrain from appeals to bigotry in election campaigns. 

View the full report “Cause for Concern 2024: The State of Hate” ›