Created in late 2021 to address the surge in hate crimes in the Golden State, the commission reported that anti-Black hate crimes—at an increase of more than 27 percent—outpaced the 20 percent increase in incidents overall.
About 70 percent of the reported crimes are violent acts against individuals.
The report indicates that all categories of hate are at their highest ever peak, with race/ethnicity/national origin, gender and religion being the prime motivations. Crimes targeting Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian, Israeli, Latine and Arab communities have surged. Reported hate crimes against religious groups overall increased by almost 165 percent between 2013 and 2022. One Muslim civil rights group reported a record-high number of anti-Muslim incidents. Similarly, Jewish advocacy groups report an alarming increase in antisemitic hate crime.
National law enforcement data may only capture as little as 3 percent of the total number of hate crimes.
“The rise in antisemitism in our state is alarming,” said Commission Chair Russel Roybal. “Many government agencies, including the commission, are paying attention to that, trying to deploy resources around it.”
Along with outright crime targeting minority communities come the “lesser” outrages that are normalized by their frequency. One Muslim civil rights organization revealed that 46 percent of Muslim students surveyed said they were bullied at school because of their faith. Additionally, one-third of the students who wore religious head coverings had those coverings pulled, tugged or offensively touched by other students. About one-fourth reported that adults at their school, including teachers or administrators, acted or spoke in a derogatory manner toward Islam or Muslims.
Students from Jewish communities were likewise targets of bullying. These incidents included individuals grabbing religious head coverings off Jewish children, tagging swastikas on school lockers and taunting children with Nazi salutes.
Bigotry against race also manifests itself in the classroom, with Black students punished out of proportion to fellow students who commit the same offense. Black male students, specifically, are three times more likely to be suspended or expelled.
“The way [schools] respond to our children can kill their spirits and really affect them in the long run,” said Black Youth Leadership Project President Lorreen Pryor. Pryor, whose group provides support and advocacy to the Black community to combat racism, discrimination, harassment and bullying, doesn’t believe the Commission on the State of Hate went far enough in its data gathering and proposed solutions.
The report acknowledges its limits, pointing out that national law enforcement data may only capture as little as 3 percent of the total number of hate crimes. A primary reason is underreporting by victims who may fear or distrust law enforcement, encounter language barriers, or be apathetic about lack of past action when crimes were reported, as well as a culture of abuse that has become so common community members don’t feel it warrants reporting.
But, reported or not, hate incidents and crimes have consequences.
Nearly 300 studies examining the health effects of enduring racism on Asian American, Latine and Black populations concluded it can cause depression and anxiety, as well as poor physical health. Continuous exposure to bigotry, prejudice and exclusion can result in, among other things, poorer sleep, higher risk of obesity, elevated stress hormones, inflammation and high blood pressure—all before the age of 20.
After 78 pages of grim statistics, the commission’s report features a chapter on prevention and intervention in the interests of “creating a California free of hate.”
Focusing on the findings of over 100 studies indicating that prejudice and bias occur as early as age five, the commission offers guidelines for developing programs starting at the elementary school level.
The commission states that providing recommendations for preventing and reducing hate has “numerous challenges,” noting that “hate includes a diverse, broad range of acts and circumstances with complex, often systemic and unknown causes.”
Dealing 24/7 with a subject this grim is guaranteed to give the commission some sleepless nights and frustrating days. Attempting this solution, then that must be exhausting, leading one to the conclusion that, indeed, hate springs from “complex, often systemic and unknown causes” and that, yes, it stubbornly persists.
But a ray of hope may be filtering through the shadows. Thanks to new systems like LA County’s LAvsHATE.org website, which makes it safer for victims to speak out, more are emboldened to tell their stories.
Since its launch, more than 3,600 hate crimes were reported through the website and its hotline.
Another effective weapon is the Church of Scientology-sponsored United for Human Rights (UHR) and Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) programs, whose award-winning educational materials have empowered 2.7 million students. With hundreds of organizations and governments joining forces with UHR and YHRI, tens of millions across 190 countries have been educated on their human rights, which inevitably brings about greater tolerance, understanding and peace.
The more communities that demonstrate a zero tolerance stance against hate by reporting each and every instance, and the more people who are made aware of their rights and empowered to stand up for them, the less those who practice hate can do so with impunity.
As LA County Second District Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell said: “Each number captured in the County’s Report on Hate Crimes represents a fellow resident who has the right to live, love, worship and be their authentic self without experiencing rhetoric and violence that disregards their humanity.”
