Recently, hate crimes have risen to their highest levels since 2001. 2001, you might recall, was notable in the annals of hate crimes for all the anti-Islamic violence that followed 9/11. In 2008, hate crimes grew 2% over the previous year.

Racial violence and ant-LGBT violence rose along with virtually every other category. Notably, anti-Islamic violence actually dropped. That being said, the highest jump among major categories was violence based on the religion of the victim, a rise of 9 percent in 2008 over the previous year.

Following close behind religiously motivated hate crimes were racially motivated attacks against African-American targets, which rose more that 8 percent in 2008 -- the year that saw the first African-American in history secure a major party nomination, and then win the general election to become the first black president. The rise in anti-black crimes -- from 2,658 in 2007 to 2,876 in 2008 -- contrasts with a decline in attacks against whites, from 749 in 2007 down to 716 in 2008.

As has been the case for several years, racially motivated attacks account for about half of all bias crimes (51.3 percent) and religiously motivated attacks were next at 19.5 percent, followed by crimes linked to sexual orientation, at 16.7 percent of all attacks. The FBI said 11.5 percent of hate crimes (894) were motivated by ethnicity or national origin, with about two-thirds of those against Hispanic targets. That overall number was down significantly from 2007, when 1,007 such crimes were investigated.

Unfortunately, the perpetrators aren't just ignorant adults. Last week, an incident in a Florida middle school hearkens back to an uglier time in history.

District Spokesman Joe Landon said a student told the dean of students at dismissal that she was kicked because it was “kick a Jew day.”

The next day the principal addressed the entire student body about the incident. The principal asked anyone with information to come forward and report what they knew.

As a result, the district determined that 10 students should be punished. The students received a one day, in-school suspension.

This ugly and abhorrent trend has been growing for some time.

Back in January I noted the rise of racism as Obama neared the presidency and more recently the vicious attacks against the Obama family.

But it goes deeper than that. For some time, those of us on the left have warned that right wing hate rhetoric has consequences. Unfortunately, we are seeing that hate take root and culminate in almost across the board rises in hate crimes.

This isn't how Americans are supposed to act. Let us not allow America to denigrate to a rabidly hate-filled country filled with groups that would rather do each other harm than sit in the same room together. America is supposed to be about diversity and progress. Not hate and violence.