We're No. 1! We're No. 1!
But it's not time to celebrate. The FBI's annual hate crimes report is out and, although hate crimes have dropped across the country, Tampa has earned the dubious honor of having the highest amount of cases in Florida for 2007. The second year in a row.
According the FBI, Tampa had 13 hate crimes in 2007: eight of those involved race, four involved religion and one was based on sexual orientation.
Now, 13 is just a small slice of the 166 incidents reported in Florida last year. But pinning Tampa's No. 1 status its size or population would be a mistake. I don't think it's a coincidence that the man behind Amendment 2 and the architect of the gigantic Confederate Flag at I-4 and I-75 both live in or around Tampa
And if past studies are right, we might be No. 1 next year too, based on the homophobic rhetoric coming out of the Amendment 2 debate.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2008.