Hate crime is almost nonexistent

According to the data from the most recent available year — 2014 — the most targeted group per capita is Jews. As several NRO writers have already pointed out, a Muslim — notwithstanding the president’s Islamophobia speech — is less than half as likely to suffer a hate crime as a Jew is. And this is not an especially anti-Semitic country. In fact, it’s just the opposite: According to the Anti-Defamation League, the United States is very nearly the least anti-Semitic country in the world. According to the FBI, 1 of every 8,372 Jews suffers a hate crime. Speaking as a Jew myself, I have to say those are admirably good odds.

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And though being Jewish is the statistical worst-case scenario, hate-wise, every demographic group endured some bigotry in 2014, including Protestants, Catholics, and atheists; whites, blacks, and Hispanics; gays, straights, and the mentally and physically disabled. All told, 1 in every 47,421 Americans suffered criminal discrimination. Which means that, in 2014, you were more than three times more likely to be admitted to an Ivy League school than you were to suffer a hate crime.

More concretely: According to The Economist’s actuarial tables, you were more than 40 times more likely to accidentally kill yourself than you were to suffer a hate crime. Even if — heaven forfend — you’re a Jew, you’re still five times more likely to inadvertently off yourself than you are to experience illegal hate.

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