WATCH: Find out why Black people are still targets of hate in America

Hate crimes in America continue to be an ongoing issue. People have been attacked due to their religion, sexuality, and race.

“According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the number of reported hate crime incidents in 2017 was up 17 percent over 2016 totals, representing the first consecutive three-year annual increase and the largest single-year increase since 2001,” reports CNN.

READ MORE: TOP DEMOCRATS TO START PROBE OF HATE CRIMES, SURVEILLANCE OF MINORITIES

The numbers don’t lie. Unfortunately, those most often victimized are Black. According to the FBI, in 2017, law enforcement agencies reported that 4,832 single-bias hate crime offenses were motivated by race/ethnicity/ancestry. Of these offenses:48.8 percent were motivated by anti-Black or African American bias.

Black people continue to make headlines due to the hatred imposed upon us. From the senseless #livingwhileblack 911 calls to stories of Black people such as Ann Marie Washington— a Black woman who was punched and stabbed in the chest in Brooklyn, by a white man who also hurled hateful racial slurs; Lahtifa Wilson and Nia Wilson, two sisters stabbed by John Lee Cowell (a white man), at Oakland BART station –which resulted in the death of Nia; or the white teen in Louisiana who wrapped a noose around the neck of a Black student; Glenn Eugene Halfin, the retired firefighter in Grapevine, Texas who hung a noose in the front area of his Black neighbors apartment, and the list goes on.

And although tis’ the season to be jolly, people still find a way to show their ignorance.  Recently, two police officers in Minneapolis, Minn. created a racist display and decorated their precinct’s Christmas tree with a box of Newport cigarettes, a can of Steel Reserve malt liquor, police tape, a bag of Takis and a cup from Popeyes Chicken.

READ MORE: NEWPORTS, TAKIS, POPEYES, MALT LIQUOR: MINNESOTA COPS PLACED ON LEAVE FOR RACIALLY-TINGED CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENTS

Many express that President Donald Trump polarizing politics and vitriolic communication continues to encourage the racial tension in America, so the question is: is a post-racial America even possible? And with the history of this country, are we surprised that we seem to be regressing rather than progressing? 

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