Last year, Hindu temples in Hayward and Newark were vandalized, and anti-Indian graffiti was found written on a public bathroom in Belmont. These incidents suggest that the Indian-American community is no stranger to hate crimes. No culprits have been nabbed yet, which suggests despite law enforcement’s best efforts, it can be difficult to apprehend the perpetrators of hate crimes.
Apart from investigations, it is important to note that victims of hate crime also need other services such as mental health assistance, financial aid, and in cases of physical assault, medical help. Additionally, witnessing or experiencing hate crimes can be a traumatic event that often necessitates specialized counseling.
With these services in mind, the California Department of Civil Rights launched the CA vs Hate Resource Line and Network in May 2023. It is the country’s first multilingual phone line and online portal dedicated to reporting hate crimes.
As its first anniversary rolls around, Ethnic Media Services organized a briefing on March 15, 2024, where representatives of the California Department of Civil Rights and other partner organizations spoke about the state of hate crimes in our state and shared insights from the data collected by the phone line and network.
How it works, and an overview of the data so far
According to Senior Manager Chantel Bermudez, the CA vs Hate Resource Line and Network has three main objectives: to provide a space for individuals to report a hate crime or hate incident; to connect individuals with culturally competent resources for legal, financial and mental health assistance; and to improve hate crime and incident reporting and enhance the prevention and response to acts of hate in California. One can report an incident on the online portal in one of 15 languages, or call the phone line to report in one of 200 languages. Importantly, individuals can report anonymously, regardless of their immigration status.
Next, CA vs Hate connects the individual with care coordinators who assist with their physical and mental well-being, and also guide them through the process of filing for legal action, and reporting the incident to law enforcement agencies should they wish. It is important to note that CA vs Hate does not investigate any reported incidents themselves.
Since launching in May, CA vs Hate has received a total of 823 reports, across 79% of the state’s counties. Bermudez said, “The protected statuses reported most often are race, ethnicity, and country of origin, which account for 42% of the reports made,” followed by religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Despite these numbers, Becky Monroe, Deputy Director of Strategic Initiatives and External Affairs said that the team behind CA vs Hate is aware of people feeling a reluctance to report a hate crime or incident on their own. “We are emphasizing that people can report directly, or they can report through a community-based organization, if they don’t feel safe coming to us,” said Monroe. To that end, CA vs Hate will be expanding its network of community-based organizations in the months to come.
Looking ahead, she believes that the data collected is valuable, even though CA vs Hate is not a law enforcement agency and does not investigate the reports it receives. “It is intended to give everyone in California, including policymakers and including people who are looking at different forms of public safety, a better understanding of the experience of Californians with respect to hate, including Californians who may not report directly to law enforcement,” she said.
The intersectional nature of hate
Since the Israel-Gaza conflict broke out in October 2023, the U.S. too has seen an increase in hate crimes. This trend was borne out in the CA vs Hate records, which show an uptick in reports of hate crimes and incidents in the months of October, November, and December.
However, it is interesting to note that instances of hate increased across the board, and not just among communities perceived to be directly connected to the war in Israel and Gaza. Monroe suggested that this points to a wider culture of hate that affects everyone.
Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, a partner organization with CA vs Hate agreed and emphasized on the intersectional nature of hate. “Hate can happen in the intersections between gender or sexual identity, race, ethnicity, faith, and a majority of which – according to our data – cannot be addressed solely through a police response.”
She echoed Monroe and Bermudez’ sentiments about hate begetting more hate and lauded CA vs Hate’s dedicated efforts to record all instances of hate, regardless of law enforcement’s involvement.
“We know also that it is traumatic, and to only treat, hate crimes that are criminal in nature, as serious, is actually a disservice to our community, and furthers this sense of distrust, and a sense of hopelessness,” said Choi.
Black and LGBTQ+ youth under attack
The two groups that are especially vulnerable to hate crimes are the Black and LGBTQ+ communities. A study shows that while Black communities report higher rates of hate crimes than any other ethnic or racial category, individuals from the LGBTQ+ community are nine times as likely to be victims of a hate crime.
Connie Alexander-Boaitey, President of the Santa Barbara NAACP drew attention to the erasure represented by an exodus of Black people out of California and the fact that Black students report the highest incidences of bullying and harassment despite accounting for only 6% of the public schools’ student body.
She spoke about the fracturing of community relationships and the power of clear inter-community communication as a healing force. Her non-profit Gateway Educational Services organizes anti-racist assemblies in schools to speak to students about hateful language and foster dialog between students from different communities.
“You can report and report [hate crimes],” she said, but “if communities are not talking to each other, we cannot get to where the hate is.”
Ariel Bustamante from the Los Angeles LGBT Center pointed to the fact that victims of anti-LBGTQ+ hate crimes are more likely to be under 35 years of age, and school students are often common targets. “Many times young people are not out as being LGBTQ+ to their caregivers, and so there’s an additional risk factor there for safety that we have to navigate,” she said.
Los Angeles LGBT Center works with schools and education agencies to ensure that they have the right infrastructure and resources to protect LGBTQ+ students. Still, Bustamante called for more substantial changes from policy-makers to prevent incidents like the recent death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old nonbinary student in Oklahoma.
“Incidents like the death of Nex highlight the urgent need for supportive and affirming laws and policies and programs like California vs Hate,” she said. “It’s the responsibility of our communities and elected officials to ensure the safety of LGBTQ plus people, rather than stoke hate-motivated incidents and crimes, like the hundreds of proposed restrictive laws across the country targeting the community.”
If you or someone you know have witnessed or experienced any incident of hate, call (833) 866-4283 or 833-8-NO-HATE, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or report online at any time here.
This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to CA vs Hate.