Anti-Black Crime and Bias – The Number One Form of Hate | WATCH

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*The Black community is living through concerning times. White supremacist groups, such as the Patriot Front are coming into prominence and the spectrum of hate, causing division in our country, often manifested by misguided politicians, is often directed at communities and people of color.

On July 9, 2024, a community briefing on the recently released 2023 Annual Hate Crime Report was presented by California Department of Justice (DOJ) experts, who presented statistics on bias and hate crimes, including Anti-Black bias and crimes.

The attendees included Cat Nou, Director of the Office of Community Awareness, Response and Engagement (CARE) at the California Department of Justice; Alyson Lunetta, Program Manager, California DOJ Criminal Justice Statistics Center; Special Assistant Attorneys General Damon Brown and Michael Redding and Britton Lacy, California DOJ Hate Crime Coordinator.  Joining them was the California Civil Rights Department, which included Becky L. Monroe, Deputy Director, of the California Civil Rights Department.

“We know that hate crimes are often underreported and this Hate Crimes report may not capture the full scope of what our communities are facing,” said Cat Nou, of the report, which emphasized the importance of reporting hate crimes as they occur.

The Black community faces hate from groups like Patriot Front - GettyImages
Members of the far-right group Patriot Front gather at the Boston Public Library as they march through the city July 2 – GettyImages

But what is a hate crime?

“A hate crime (as defined by Penal Code Section 422.55) is a criminal act that is motivated in part because one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics of the victim- a disability, race or ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics,” said Alyson Lunetta.

Alyson continued, spelling out the elements of a hate crime that should be reported to the DOJ:

A criminal act or attempted criminal act which includes:

  • Murder
  • Rape
  • Robbery
  • Aggravated assault
  • Burglary
  • Larceny/Theft
  • Motor Vehicle Theft
  • Arson
  • Simple Assault
  • Intimidation
  • Destruction/Damage/Vandalism
  • Human Trafficking Commercial Sex Acts
  • Human Trafficking/Involuntary Servitude

Bias, Alyson stated is “A preformed (existing) negative opinion or attitude towards a person, group or entity based on a protected characteristic. An attitude, in that context, is “hatred, animosity, resentment, revulsion, contempt, unreasonable fear, paranoia, callousness, thrill-seeking, desire for social dominance, or desire for social bonding with those of one’s ‘own kind.’”

Damon Brown - California Special Assistant Attorney General
Damon Brown – California Special Assistant Attorney General

“We want to reaffirm the Attorney General’s commitment to combat hate,” said Damon Brown, California’s Special Assistant Attorney General. “The California Department of Justice has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to hate and will continue to work with law enforcement, elected leaders and community organizations across the state to keep our communities safe, through education, prevention, and enforcement.” Damon explained his involvement with the Racial Justice Bureau “a bureau in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Enforcement Section” and “is tasked with the civil enforcement of hate crimes in the statutes that have been passed by the legislature to fight and combat hate.”

“Anti-Black or African-American” bias “is still the largest bias type represented in all reported hate crimes,” according to the California Department of Justice, out of all bias and hate crimes. Furthermore, “reported hate crime events have increased by 159.9%,” per the same survey. Underreporting of bias and hate crimes is still a major concern, despite the report that “Anti-Black or African American bias events fell from 652 in 2022 to 518 in 2023, a decrease of 20.6%.”

No one agency or entity can single-handedly fix the problem of Anti-Black or African American bias. However, CA vs. Hate is actively engaged in addressing this vital issue for the Black community. And what is CA vs. Hate and the California Department of Justice doing to address Anti-Black hate and bias?

“I think that question is one that every government official needs to answer,” said Becky L. Monroe. “Anti-Black bias is a priority for CA vs. Hate. It’s a priority for many reasons. We continue to see that Anti-Black bias is the number one form of hate that is perpetuated against people in our state, even in our country- in fact- if you look at data at the national level as well as the state level, Anti-Black bias is the number one form of bias.”

Becky emphasizes the value of CA vs. Hate’s collaboration with California Black Media, which, according to their website, is “a convener and trusted advocate for more than 30 independent Black-owned and operated new publishers, multimedia platforms, and broadcasters across California.”

California vs Hate
California vs Hate

They offer their media partners “impartial, fact-based, and data-focused news coverage, covering California politics, governmental affairs, and policies that impact the overall health and quality of life of Black Californians.” Through CA vs. Hate’s successful application for federal funds, designated for hotlines for states across the country to combat hate, they are among the pioneers of facilitating resources and helping victims of hate.

“We, in California, were one of the first states to get this funding and when we applied for the funding, we specifically highlighted two priorities,” said Becky L. Monroe. “One was making sure we were effectively engaged with community-based organizations. One of the things that we have to address is that many of the communities targeted for hate are the same communities that don’t trust government and maybe don’t trust law enforcement, so part of what we need to do to serve people who are most likely to be targeted by hate is to make sure we’re serving the community-based organizations that have earned their trust. So, part of our funding was to hire someone to specifically focus on engagements and service to community-based organizations so they in turn can serve folks that are targeted for hate.”

“The second piece that we did, was that we specifically wanted to combat Anti-Blackness,” Becky explained. “We applied to work with California Black Media specifically to reach Black Californians across our state to make sure that we were effectively sharing information on how people can report and how people can get support. We’re very intentional about addressing Anti-Blackness in our state.”

Hate Crime reports are still underreported. “Law enforcement and the DOJ can only report on what we receive,” said Alyson Lunetta.

If you are the victim of bias or a hate crime, you can report it online at any time in 15 languages. If more people report Anti-Black crime and biases, the government can allocate more resources to combat the scourge of hate. You may also report an incident by calling (833) 866-4283 or 833-8-NO-HATE, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and talking to a trained civil rights agent in over 200 languages. Outside of those hours, people can leave a voicemail or call 211 to report a hate incident and seek support from a professional trained in culturally competent communication and trauma-informed practices.

CAvsHate (California is For Everyone) banner for social media
CAvsHate (California is For Everyone) banner for social media

Visit CAvsHate.org for more information. Additionally, visit the website https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/.

For the entire report, 2023 Hate Crime in California, visit https://data-openjustice.doj.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/Hate%20Crime%20In%20CA%202023f_0.pdf

MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Roland Martin and Others Call Out Tyrese Gibson for Misleading Claims on Hate Crimes Bill | WATCH

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