In 2020, amidst the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, and a social justice movement against police violence and racism, the FBI observed a rise in hate crimes directed at African Americans. The majority of the 8,052 reported hate crime incidents were motivated by race, ethnicity, or ancestry bias, with Black Americans being the most targeted group. The number of reported hate crimes against African Americans in 2020 increased to 2,871 from 1,972 in 2019, resulting in an overall 9.1% rise in hate crimes. Experts caution that FBI data from the five years leading up to 2019 showed that African Americans were the victims in approximately half of all cases involving bias based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry. They acknowledge that these federal numbers may not be complete, and suggest that the increase in reported cases may be due to greater awareness and willingness to report such crimes. However, they also suggest that the focus on social justice issues may have led to a rise in violence targeting Black Americans. Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, noted that the events of 2020, including the protests following the murder of George Floyd, shifted the focus of prejudice towards African Americans. While national hate crime statistics for 2021 have not yet been released, experts in hate crime report that attacks on Black Americans and institutions have continued. For example, a significant number of historically Black colleges and universities, along with houses of worship and other faith-based and academic institutions, were targeted with bomb threats this year according to the FBI. In February, three white Georgia men were found guilty of federal hate crimes for killing Ahmaud Arbery because he was African American, highlighting racially motivated violence. The FBI releases an annual report on hate crimes, but the federal tracking system does not mandate police agencies to submit data, leading to underreporting. Despite this, the report provides a useful overview of general trends in hate crimes. The Justice Department has been urging victims to report bias incidents and prioritizing the prosecution of such crimes. The FBI released a report last year, based on data gathered in 2020 from over 15,000 law enforcement agencies, which revealed the highest increase in hate crimes in twelve years. This rise was largely attributed to a surge in incidents targeting Black and Asian Americans. A hate crime is defined by the FBI as a crime against a person or property driven by prejudice, ranging from bomb threats and vandalism to physical harm and murder. Federal data indicates that over the last decade, hate crimes against Black Americans, who make up 12.1% of the population, have been significantly higher than those reported against any other group, including those based on religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. The data shows that there were 20,084 reported instances of anti-Black crimes in the past decade. During that time period, the second largest category of crimes reported was anti-Jewish crimes, with 7,688 reports, even though Jews make up only 2.4% of the US adult population. The man responsible for the attack in Buffalo, an 18-year-old white supremacist armed with a semi-automatic rifle, targeted a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood, resulting in the deaths of 10 people and injuries to three others, mostly African American. His online posts revealed his hateful motives, including references to replacement theory, a belief that white people are in danger of being replaced by people of color and immigrants. This mass shooting, being investigated by the Justice Department as a potential hate crime, is just one example of racial violence stemming from white supremacy, similar to past massacres in Charleston, Pittsburgh, and El Paso. Experts studying hate crimes against African Americans note that these incidents are a mix of old and new forms of bigotry. The enduring fear of demographic shifts and "replacement" is present in certain corners of the internet and fueled by racist political rhetoric. According to Jeannine Bell, a professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law and an expert on hate crimes, this theme has been a concern for white supremacists for many decades. Bell believes that the recent increase in anti-Black hate crimes is partly due to a backlash against the protests that followed George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis, which brought out anger towards African Americans. "There was a significant amount of support, as well as a significant amount of anger," she stated. "The news was filled with stories of Black victimization, which particularly incenses white supremacists when African Americans are portrayed sympathetically." Bell noted that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the rise in hate crimes, but significant events such as the protests in the summer of 2020 can serve as a useful reference point. "It is likely that there has been a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes," Bell added. "What occurred? There was an incident, a pandemic, and a surge in anti-Asian hate crimes related to the pandemic began to occur." According to Bell, accurately counting hate crimes against African Americans is challenging due to a lack of organizations dedicated to tracking such crimes. A coalition of national civil rights and social justice groups has urged President Joe Biden to hold a summit this week to address hate crimes and right-wing extremism. The Rev. Al Sharpton took to Twitter to emphasize the importance of a national response to the increasing crimes.