Statistics gathered by the FBI show that hate crimes across the nation increased in 2006, while the state of Mississippi averaged the same number of hate crimes as in the previous year: zero.According to the statistics, Mississippi is the only state that did not report any hate crimes in 2005 or 2006.
Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government gave a definition of what a hate crime is.
“A hate crime is, in law, a crime directed to only one segment of the population because of race, religion, sexual orientation or other specific aspects of a person’s life,” he said.
According to a press release from the FBI, 51.8 percent were motivated by a racial bias, 18.9 percent were motivated by a religious bias, 15.5 percent were triggered by a sexual-orientation bias and 12.7 percent of the incidents were motivated by an ethnicity or national origin bias.
Hate crime offenses include vandalism, intimidation, simple assault and additional crimes against persons, property and society.
In 2006, 7,722 hate crimes were reported throughout the United States, while just 10 hate crimes have been reported in the state of Mississippi over the past six years.
Many, like Wiseman, see the statistical results as a sign of social progress in Mississippi and increasing awareness regarding diversity among residents.
“I think that there has been a significant effort by each generation to push the old approach that Mississippi took to doing things farther and farther into the past,” Wiseman said. “Because of the history Mississippi has regarding racism and the image that has given us, many residents are very sensitive to doing the best they can to tame that image in a tangible way.”
Stephen Middleton, professor and director of the new African-American Studies program at Mississippi State, said that though he was glad to hear about Mississippi’s low numbers, attention must be brought to how a hate crime is defined and whom it is defined by.
“If a government, and I’m not saying this is true for Mississippi, chooses not to identify a particular event as a hate crime, that means it still could have been a hate crime and just not reported that way,” he said.
Middleton also said another reason may be that victims are not reporting their experiences.
“There are two places that students and staff should go if a hate crime is committed against them: the campus police station and the Office of Equity and Diversity.”
Middleton believes that Mississippi’s efforts to diminish ignorance concerning other walks of life could be the ultimate source of these numbers.
“Mississippians are conscious of our past, especially on the subject of race, and we are making that effort to get beyond that,” he said. “That is a consideration that should be given attention, too.”
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood was unavailable to comment on the numbers.
Wiseman said it has become taboo in most corners of Mississippi to do or say anything negatively to single out a race or religion.
He said a perfect example of how far the state has come is Neshoba County.
“That county that had such an awful reputation after the murder of the three civil right workers, but it now has a large African-American population, as well as Indian and Caucasian,” Wiseman said. “That county has done a great deal to purposefully get past the horrible image that it created for itself, and you hear very little of a racist connotation spoken in Neshoba County.”
With the new African-American studies program at MSU, many students feel the university is an great example of the change that has occurred with such trends in Mississippi.
Eric Lister, a junior communication major, said he believes MSU is an open and diverse campus.
“Just walking around campus you can see all the different nationalities and religions,” he said. “When you go into the cafeteria you will see all the different flags that stand for a person at MSU from that country.