Halifax Hate Crimes: Big Yikes 😬 - What's Going On?

Spilling the Tea on Halifax Hate Crimes

Okay, fam, listen up. Halifax is seeing a gnarly spike in hate crimes. Like, from 72 reported incidents in 2022 to a whopping 121 in 2023. That's a lot, and Nova Scotia is straight-up leading Canada with the highest rate of reported hate crimes. Big yikes, right?

So, what's a hate crime? Basically, it's when someone commits a crime 'cause they're hating on someone else's race, religion, gender identity, who they're into – the whole shebang. And who's getting hit the hardest? Sadly, it's mostly Black, South Asian, Arab, and West Asian folks. Xenophobia, homophobia, and religious discrimination are also playing a role. It's a whole mess.

Here's the tea: a lot of hate crimes go unreported. People are feeling ashamed, embarrassed, or just don't trust the police. Some have even become desensitized to the hate, which is super sad. But the Halifax Regional Police are trying to step up. They opened a Hate Crime Unit (HCU) back in January 2022. They're sifting through hundreds of cases every year to get a handle on things.

Now, there's a difference between a hate crime and a hate incident. A hate incident is when someone says something messed up, like racial slurs, but it's not actually a crime. Still not cool, but the cops can't arrest someone for being a trash human. They do keep track of those incidents, though.

Word on the street is that polarized politics and the rise of alt-right groups might be fueling this hate. It's creating a vibe where people feel like they can be openly hateful, which is not the vibe we're going for, period.

All this hate is making people feel unsafe, vulnerable, and isolated. It's affecting the whole community, and we need to address it, no cap.