The B.C. government has announced it is beefing up the RCMP Hate Crimes Unit, increasing it from just two officers to seven, and adding an intelligence analyst.
It's a welcome addition, since we now live in an era where hate can be more easily distributed and monetized than ever before.
According to the recent announcement from the B.C. government, police-reported hate crimes rose 23 per cent between 2022 and 2023. Racial and ethnic hate crimes rose by 12 per cent, those linked to religion were up more than 50 per cent, and those tied to sexual orientation were up 43 per cent.
We've seen incidents of hate here in the Lower Mainland and in 黑马磁力, from swastika graffiti to anti-semitic pamphlets being distributed, from threats aimed at a local mosque to a gathering of far-right podcasters, some of whose members have tried to cast doubt on the Holocaust. The history of intolerance in British Columbia is already very long, including anti-Asian riots, the Chinese head tax, plus residential schools and other attacks on Indigenous peoples.
Many of the hate crimes we see here in B.C. are the variety that, unfortunately, has been around for centuries. Physical attacks on people perceived as different, vandalism, and threats have always taken place.
But we live in an era of the internet, smartphones, and social media.
We've seen during the past few years how conspiracy theorists and hatemongers have managed to grow their audiences and turn racism and homophobia into a cottage industry. Hate has become profitable like never before.
With podcasts, online video platforms, and fundraising tools, it's never been more profitable to be a hatemonger.
Clamping down on hate crimes won't happen just with more investigators looking for the worst of the worst.
A society-wide rejection of hate has to be a top-to-bottom endeavour in our society.
That means condemnations of hateful activity and views by political, community, and faith leaders. It means parents teaching their children tolerance, inoculating them, as best we can, against hateful messages they will encounter growing up.
The merchants of hate got a lot of new tools in the last 30 years. But so did those who are trying to ensure we have a better world, where everyone has the same opportunities and chances to make a good life.
