Do white people commit hate crimes at the highest rate of any race?

According to Justice Department statistics, while white people commit the most hate crimes in raw numbers, Black people commit hate crimes at a higher rate relative to their population size.

In 2020, the FBI reported that white people accounted for 55% of 6,780 known hate-crime offenders while making up 61.6% of the U.S. population. In contrast, Black people accounted for 21.2% of the offenses while making up 12.4% of the population.

The Hate Crime Victimization Survey found that between 2015 and 2019, 45% of hate crimes were "perceived by the victim" to be committed by white people while 33% were perceived by the victim to be committed by Black people.

Caveats to the data include that:

• The race of many offenders is unknown.
• Black people are less likely to report hate crimes than white people.
• Law enforcement isn't required to report incidents.
• Incidents later determined by prosecutors to be hate crimes are not included.
• Black people are more likely to be falsely accused of crimes.

Black people were the most likely to experience a hate crime in 2020, comprising 56% of victims. White people committed 73% of these anti-Black hate crimes.