Despite the advances of the civil rights movement, the number of reported hate crimes in the U.S. is increasing, according to an annual report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The study said that in 2008, there were 7,780 incidents of reported hate crimes. This number is up from 7,621 during the previous year.
In 2008, the FBI's report said, there was one incident at Ball State University involving a hate crime against the victims' race. But Ball State reported no hate crimes from 2006 to 2008, according to the University Police Department's Web site.
Some students at Ball State said they still felt safe in their community despite the rising national statistics.
"I think Ball State has done a pretty good job about being non-discriminatory," Ryne Robinson said. "We have a good security system here, a good community and I feel like I can sleep safe at night."
While many students on campus agree with Robinson, others said they feel there are still instances that go unreported.
"I have some friends who are gay who have been beaten up at parties just for being gay," Ryan Allen said. "But normally if there is one guy that gets beat up, there are 10 others that get pissed and do something."
Ball State student Chris Engel said he thinks hate crimes around campus are not being reported because victims don't want to make the situation worse.
Indiana had 61 reported hate crime incidents in the 2008 FBI report. Seventeen of the 131 agencies in the state submitted reports of hate crimes, according to the study.
The report also said that nationally, 51 percent of the cases were against a victim's race, while 17 percent were targeted for their religion or sexual orientation.
Bryan Byers, professor of criminal justice, said this trend was a little higher than normal, but there had not been much change in the composition of hate crimes in more than a decade of reports.
"We saw a few blips of increased hate crimes during '98 after the murder of Matthew Shepard, a homosexual male, then later in the summer when James Byrd, an African-American male, was murdered in Texas," he said.
Byers also said in the eight to 10 day period after 9/11, there was a 1,500 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslims or people who appeared to be Muslim.
"Hate crimes against African-Americans have always been the highest statistic, as well as anti-Semitic incidents, which are around 10 to 20 percent of reported incidents," Byers said.
Freshman Chris Lohss said college atmospheres are distinct and can be at risk for hate crimes because of the high amount of student diversity.
"Since everyone comes from different parts of the state, they've had experiences in different cultures," he said.
By the numbers:
- 5,542 offenses were classified as crimes against persons. Intimidation accounted for 48.8 percent of those crimes, simple assaults for 32.1 percent and aggravated assaults for 18.5 percent. Seven murders were reported as hate crimes.
- 3,608 offenses were classified as crimes against property. The majority (82.3 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. The remaining 17.7 percent consisted mainly of robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.
- Of the 6,927 known offenders, 61.1 percent were white, 20.2 percent were black and 11.0 percent were of an unknown race.
- 31.9 percent of hate crimes took place in or near homes, while 17.4 percent took place on highways, roads, alleys or streets; 11.7 percent in schools and colleges; 6.1 percent in parking lots and garages; and 4.2 percent in churches, synagogues or temples.
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