April 1990

President George H.W. Bush signed the Hate Crime Statistics Act, requiring the FBI to collect data on crimes motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. The first full year of data in 1992 showed race-motivated incidents accounted for 60% of all hate crimes, with Black Americans the most targeted racial group. The law created the first systematic federal documentation of racial terror.

President George H.W. Bush signed the Hate Crime Statistics Act, requiring FBI collection of data on race-, religion-, and ethnicity-motivated crimes. The first full year of data in 1992 showed race-motivated incidents were 60% of all hate crimes, with Black Americans the most targeted racial group.