California becomes a hate-crime state

We now learn that California has had an 11 percent increase in hate crimes from 2015 to 2016 (story, July 9). I was struck to see the profound profile of hate crimes being committed against whites, the Jews, the Hispanics or Latinos, gay men and the blacks.

I was not surprised, as these are the populations of people who reside in highly dense living communities, generally in an urban and downtown area of a city. Research for over 60 years has demonstrated that crime increases as people live in more densely populated communities..

Research also clearly indicates that people who carry hate are more likely to act on those emotions if they observe it in others and are pushed by some stressful event. In this case, it would be the recently held political conventions, rallies and riots. It is not hate crimes, but it is crimes committed in areas of dense living populations.

What can hated people do to reduce the anger toward them? It is a matter of personal responsibility to act in a manner that would cause people to like you, be empathetic toward you, care about you, and respect you.

This story was originally published July 15, 2017 at 4:02 PM with the headline "California becomes a hate-crime state."