One of the country’s most liberal states is under fire for a worrisome trend. A recently released report from the state’s Justice Department finds that hate crimes against Black people have risen by as much as 11.2 percent in California.

It was found that there were 251 hate-related events and 333 offenses against Black people in 2016 alone. The next closest group in the state was the Latino population, which experienced 83 events and 114 offenses.

“We’re out there encouraging people to report crimes they normally wouldn’t be willing to report,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Det. Christopher Keeling, a hate crimes investigator. “The vast majority of what we’re seeing is vandalism, like a swastika here or there, or people making a blanket statement about hating a certain group of people, but we can’t directly link that to the election. If there is nothing saying this is related to the election, how can you attribute it to that?”

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This study offers even more evidence of a return – or exposure – of open racism in the United States that’s present no matter the region. This reasoning is part of why black millennials have been moving South in droves in recent years.

Many of us clearly see that the election of Donald Trump is connected to this growing culture of racism. It’s debatable, however, where it’s a cause or a symptom of a larger issue. Regardless, it should be noted that despite the president’s numerous racist charges against Latinos and Muslims, Black people are somehow still being targeted on a more regular basis.