Over the last 15 years, the United States has enjoyed steady decline in nearly every category of violent crime.

The last few years, however, has seen rising trend in incidence of particular kinds of violent criminal activity. One area has seen a particularly steep increase: Hate Crime.

Please investigate the possible causes for these increases.

Identify 1 or 2 possible causes, or contributing factors, behind these negative trends in hate crimes.

In a couple of short sentences, briefly describe the information you found that supports this claim, and where specifically you located the evidence (e.g., the UCG web resources, etc.)