Silence only encourages criminals

Richard Mahoney—My Vision

Despite all efforts to encourage acceptance, tolerance and understanding, the incidence of hate crimes draws attention to the fact that many bigots cannot be changed.

Human rights laws, diversity, equity and inclusion policies, anti-racism departments and good intentions cannot force all haters to “see the light”. We should be “politically correct” and be careful not to offend anyone. We must condemn all forms of marginalization. Obviously, sermons will not erase discrimination.

The latest hate crime figures are worrying. There are several hate crimes in Canada and in Cornwall. And a high percentage of crime in Cornwall is committed by young people in schools.

People of a certain age may associate the stereotypical bigot with the character Archie Bunker from the old TV show All In The Family, a sitcom that appeared in the 1970s. White, grumpy, middle-aged, he unleashed slurs against minorities and criticized hippies, in while he ordered his poor wife, Edith, to “smother herself”.

Yet in many ways, “Archie” lives on.

The number of hate crimes reported by police in Canada increased from 3,355 incidents in 2021 to 3,576 in 2022, a seven per cent increase, according to Statistics Canada. This followed two strong annual increases, leading to a cumulative increase of 83% from 2019 to 2022. The higher number of hate crimes targeting a race or ethnicity and sexual orientation accounted for most of increase in 2022. In 2022, hate crimes targeting a religion decreased by 15% from 2021, but remained above the annual figures recorded from 2018 to 2020.

Nationally, 61% of all hate crime incidents were directed against racial minorities, 23% against religious minorities, 11% against gays or lesbians and 5% against ethnic minorities.

After a peak of 886 incidents in 2021, hate crimes targeting a religion fell by 15% in 2022 to 750 incidents. This decline was largely the result of fewer police-reported hate crimes targeting Catholics and Muslims. Hate crimes targeting the Jewish population rose slightly in 2022 by two percent. Hate crimes targeting the Jewish population accounted for 67% of hate crimes targeting a religion in 2022, while those targeting the Muslim population accounted for 14%.

Like other types of crime, the number of police-reported hate crimes can be affected by major social events, police initiatives or awareness campaigns. Stats Canada’s information reflects data reported for 2022. It does not include information from 2023 and therefore does not reflect hate crimes that were committed after the October 7 attack by Hamas against Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. Information for 2023 will be released in the summer of 2024. Expect to see some even scarier statistics.

While everyone is a potential target, haters tend to be boys and young men, accounting for 86% of those accused from 2018 to 2022. Of all hate crimes reported in 2022, less than a third were solved.

Launching its ‘Stop the Hate’ campaign, Cornwall Police Service, which has set up an online hate crime reporting portal, has reported that hate crime in Cornwall is on the rise and in the first quarter of this year , 56 percent of all reported crimes occurred in schools and involved youth. No, the kids are not okay.

And these numbers only scratch the surface. A large proportion of incidents are never reported to the police. Victims remain silent because they fear further victimization, assume the justice system will not take their reports seriously, or worry they will be stigmatized.

Dealing with hate is never comfortable, whether it’s directly challenging a racist or calling the police.

But silence is not golden; it only encourages criminals.