It seems like in 2019 hate crimes would be nonexistent in the United States of America. Unfortunately, they still occur at an alarming rate.

The United States Department of Justice defines a hate crime as “a crime motivated by bias against race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

One of the most recent hate crimes committed in America is the attack against ‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett. He told Chicago police that two individuals “hit him in the face while yelling racist and homophobic slurs, poured an ‘unknown substance’ on him, and wrapped a rope around his neck.” Smollett also reported that the phrase “MAGA country” was being shouted by the attackers. Senator Cory Booker and Kamala Harris both called this attack an “attempted modern-day lynching.”  This violent and hateful attack put Jussie Smollett in the hospital with severe injuries.

On top of that, Smollett reported receiving a threatening letter just a week before his attack. He received the letter at the Fox production studios. Inside it was a paper with cut-out letters making a racist and homophobic threat. There was also white powder in the envelope that was later identified as acetaminophen by the police. “MAGA” was written in the upper-left corner of the envelope. You can read more about the story here.

This obviously has people wondering if the letter and attack are correlated. Police have not revealed whether they believe the two incidents are related. They are currently being investigated separately.

The Human Rights Campaign stated that “hate crimes targeting black people made up 28 percent of all such offenses” and in 2017, “that amounded to 2,358 offenses-the highest number out of any type of reported hate crime that year.” According to the United States Department of Justice, almost 60% of single-bias incidents in 2017 were racially or ethnically motivated. The majority of these incidents were committed by white offenders. These statistics are deeply concerning and proves that hate crimes are still a major problem in the United States.

Only 18 states have a “hate crimes law that covers both sexual orientation and gender identity.” Smollett’s attack occurred in Illinois, which is one of the states with this law, so the attackers, once arrested, can be charged properly. Unfortunately, this still leaves over half of the states without this law in place.

After the attack, skepticism began to spread across social media. There is a lack of video evidence, after the police allegedly reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance footage. This has left some people, and many “MAGA” social media accounts, calling the incident “fake news” and “staged.”

This criticism was immediately met with backlash. People voiced that Smollett would have no reason to do such a horrid thing to himself.

In reality, the criticism represents the ignorance in America in which people believe hate crimes aren’t a problem anymore. The FBI reported that in the last year, hate crimes in America have spiked 17 percent. Last year was also “the third consecutive year the numbers have increased.” This should not come as a surprise to anyone. The news has been filled with Neo Nazis, Alt-Right, and White Supremacists marching through the streets of America, chanting their racist and homophobic views. This is deeply concerning for the state of our country.

It can be argued that the fact that because these people with such dangerous views are allowed to march freely through the streets, without consequences of their alarming actions, hate crimes have consistently risen in the past few years.

Many are aware of the Charlottesville riots that occured in 2017 when white nationalists and supremacists took to the streets of the University of Virginia, resulting in “a day of rage, hate, violence and death.” How is this still happening? These people walked with torches in hand shouting: “White lives matter!” “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!” Members of the Black Lives Matter movement met the protesters with a counter-protest.

One of the most violent moments of the protests was when a car struck a crowd, killing one and injuring 19.

Jussie Smollett’s attack, the Charlottesville riots, and other tragic events that consistently occur in America prove that hate crimes are still very much prevalent. Hate has become a normality in America, and this has to change.

The Human Rights Campaign President, Chad Griffin said in a statement, “There is an alarming epidemic of hate violence in our country that disproportionately targets Black people, LGBTQ people, and religious minorities—and particularly those living at the intersections of multiple identities.” Almost three out of five hate crimes are motivated by race and ethnicity.

There are obviously many groups, like the Black Lives Matter group, trying to fight against the prejudice that leads to hate crimes. Protests and demonstrations are always active, especially in universities. Unfortunately, all of this work is far from being finished.