Activism

Incidents of Hate Crimes Against Blacks Highest in California

Historically, hate crime data has been underreported. DOJ recognizes that the data presented in its report may not adequately reflect the actual number of hate crime events that have occurred in the state. Nevertheless, the total number of hate crime events reported in 2021 is the sixth-highest ever recorded, and the highest since 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, noted State Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Published

2 years ago

July 18, 2022

Oakland Post

There was a total of 1,763 bias events in California in 2021. Overall hate crimes increased 32.6% from 2020 to 2021, and they are at their highest reported level since 2001, the HCCR found.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, ‌California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

A report released by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) last month revealed that hate crimes targeting Black people in the state “remain the most prevalent” violations regarding a recent increase in violence motivated by race.

On June 28, State Attorney General Rob Bonta hosted a press conference announcing the DOJ’s release of the 2021 Hate Crime in California Report (HCCR). The report presents hate crime statistics such as the number of hate crime events, hate crime offenses, hate crimes victims, and hate crimes suspects.

California law defines a hate crime as a criminal act committed in whole or in part because of a victim’s actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with someone with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

Aggressions toward the Black community increased 12.5% from 456 incidents in 2020 to 513 in 2021.

“Today’s report undeniably shows that the epidemic of hate we saw spurred on during the pandemic remains a clear and present threat,” Bonta stated. “In fact, reported hate crime has reached a level we haven’t seen in California since the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11. As our state’s top law enforcement officer, I will continue to use the full authority of my office to fight back.”

A breakdown of victims by “bias motivation,” shows that 589 Black or African American persons or entities were victimized in 2021, and that 468 suspects perpetrated the crimes. There were 507 Black or African American individual victims of hate crimes while 42 business or financial institutions, 34 government agencies, and five religious organizations were affected.

At Bonta’s press conference, Jimmie Jackson, the Bay Area representative of the California-Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP and Vallejo branch president spoke in support of DOJ’s efforts to combat hate crimes statewide.

“We are all tired of seeing our brothers and sisters of color being targets of hatred, discrimination, and racism,” said Jackson. “We are working (with the DOJ) on a project to stop the hate and to move us all towards collective justice across communities of color through preventive services with funding awarded by the Department of Social Services.”

According to Jackson, the Vallejo NAACP has seen an increase in hate mail and hate-filled messages since the 2016 presidential election. In the Bay Area, the Black community is experiencing increased bullying tactics, physical assaults, and threats of deportation reports the Bay Area News Group.

In Los Angeles County, which is home to the largest population of Black people in the state, African Americans were disproportionately targeted in hate crimes (42%) involving race, according to a 2020 Los Angeles County Hate Crime Report. In 2020, the Black community in the county was 810,286 or 9% of the population.

There was a total of 1,763 bias events in California in 2021. Overall hate crimes increased 32.6% from 2020 to 2021, and they are at their highest reported level since 2001, the HCCR found.

Anti-Asian hate crime increased dramatically, rising 177.5% from 2020 to 2021, and reported hate crimes involving a sexual orientation bias also increased significantly, rising 47.8% from 2020 to 2021.

Amid the surge in documented hate crime events, Bonta urged local partners and law enforcement to review the statistics provided in the 42-page HCCR report and to recommit themselves to taking action against offenses motivated by racial or other biases.

At the press conference, Bonta announced the creation of a statewide hate crime coordinator position within the DOJ’s Criminal Law Division to support state and local law enforcement efforts to combat hate crime.

“We will keep working with our local law enforcement partners and community organizations to make sure every Californian is seen, heard, and protected,” Bonta stated. “Now, more than ever, it is critical that we stand united — there is no place for hate in California.”

Two days after DOJ released its report, U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman held a press briefing in San Diego that included an assessment of hate crime threats, an overview of pre-attack indicators, and the best ways to report and mitigate threats of hate.

Grossman gathered key law enforcement and community leaders as a response to recent violent shootings, online white supremacist rhetoric, and a significant increase in hate crimes.

“Violent remarks by online extremists have resulted in public ‘tip’ reports to law enforcement, followed by a gun violence restraining order and successful federal prosecution. To ensure this prevention strategy is repeated, it is essential to arm our community leaders with information,” Grossman stated. “It’s important that the community members know they are not alone in this battle against radical extremism, hateful threats and targeted gun violence.”

Hate crimes are distinct from hate incidents, which are actions or behaviors motivated by hate that may be protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Examples of hate incidents include name calling, insults, and distributing hate material in public places. If a hate incident starts to threaten a person or property, it may become a hate crime, according to DOJ officials.

Nevertheless, the total number of hate crime events reported in 2021 is the sixth-highest ever recorded, and the highest since 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Bonta noted.

Jackson said that the NAACP California-Hawaii State Conference will work with California Black radio, print, and online media outlets to educate ethnic populations to raise awareness of hate and bigotry in the state.

“These kinds of projects to combat hate are well overdue and the NAACP is proud to be taking a leadership position in the communities of color,” Jackson said. “We cannot continue to allow the forces of hate, racism, and discrimination to continue to run rampant without a fight.”

A copy of the 2021 Hate Crime in California Report is available here or at https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Hate%20Crime%20In%20CA%202021%20FINAL.pdf

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Activism

‘Respect Our Vote’ Mass Meeting Rejects Oakland, Alameda County Recalls

The mass meeting, attended mostly by members of local Asian American communities, was held in a large banquet room in a Chinese restaurant in Alameda. The Respect Our Vote (ROV) coalition, consisting of concerned community members and groups, is organizing meetings in Oakland and around Alameda County leading up to the November election.

Published

1 week ago

September 28, 2024

Oakland Post

Some of the leaders who spoke at the Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!” mass meeting were (left to right): Elaine Peng, Mariano Contreras, Pastor Servant B.K. Woodson, and Stewart Chen. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

A recently organized coalition, “Respect Our Vote – No Recalls!,” held a standing-room only mass meeting on Sept. 14, urging residents to vote ‘No’ on the two East Bay recalls funded by conservative billionaires and millionaires with the help of corporate media and instead to support the campaign to protect residents’ democratic right to choose their representatives.

The mass meeting, attended mostly by members of local Asian American communities, was held in a large banquet room in a Chinese restaurant in Alameda.

The Respect Our Vote (ROV) coalition, consisting of concerned community members and groups, is organizing meetings in Oakland and around Alameda County leading up to the November election.

Speaking at the meeting, prominent East Bay leader Stewart Chen said that local leaders, like Alameda County D.A. Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, worked hard to get elected, and our system says they get four years to carry out their policies and campaign promises. But rich people have “broken” that system.

Within two months after they took office, they were facing recalls paid for by billionaires, he said. “(Billionaires’) candidate did not get elected, so they want to change the system.”

“(Our elected leaders) were elected through the process, and the people spoke,” said Chen. “It’s the entire system that the billionaires are trying to (overturn).”

“If a candidate does something wrong or enacts a policy that we do not like, we let it play out, and in four years, we do not have to vote for them.

“The democratic system that we have had in place for a couple of hundred years, it needs our help,” said Chen.

Pastor Servant B.K. Woodson, a leader of the coalition, emphasized the diversity and solidarity needed to defend democracy. “We need each other’s wisdom to make our nation great, to make it safe. We are deliberately African American, English-speaking, Latino American, Spanish-speaking, and all the wonderful dialects in the Asian communities. We want to be together, grow together, and have a good world together.”

Mariano Contreras of the Latino Task Force said that people need to understand what is at stake now.

The recall leaders are connected to conservative forces that will undermine public education, and bilingual education, he said. “The people behind (the recalls) are being used by outside dark money,” he said. The spokespeople of these recalls are themselves conservatives “who are wearing a mask that says they are progressives.”

In 2017, Oakland passed an ordinance that gave teeth to its “Sanctuary City” policy, which was brought to the City Council and passed because it was supported by progressive members on the council.

“That would not be possible anymore if the progressive alliance – Sheng Thao, Nikki Fortunato Bas, and Carroll Fife – if they are pushed out,” he said.

Elaine Peng, president of Asian Americans for Progressive America, said, “I strongly oppose the recalls of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.”

Citing statistics, she said Alameda County’s murder rate was higher when Alameda County D.A. Nancy O’Malley was in office, before Pamela Price was elected to that position.

“The recall campaign has been misleading the public,” said Peng.

She said Oakland is making progress under Thao. “Crime rates are falling in Oakland,” and the City is building more affordable housing than ever before and is creating more jobs.

Attorney Victor Ochoa said, this recall is “not by accident in Oakland – it is a political strategy.”

“There is a strategy that has been launched nationwide. What we’re seeing is oligarchs, (such as Phillip Dreyfuss from Piedmont), right wingers, conservatives, who can write a check for $400,000 like some of us can write a check for $10.”

“They aligned themselves with so-called moderate forces, but they’re not moderates. They align themselves with the money, and that’s what we have seen in Oakland.”

Ochoa continued, “You got to put up signs, you’ve got to talk to your neighbors, volunteer whatever hours you can, have a house meeting. That’s the way progressives win.”

Pecolia Manigo of Oakland Rising Action spoke about what it will take to defeat the recalls. “This is the time when you are not only deputized to go out and do outreach, we need to make sure that people actually vote.

“We need everyone to vote not just for the president, but all the way down the ballot to where these questions will be. Remind people to fill out their ballot, and mail it back.”

Former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who had herself faced a recall attempt, said, “In this recall, they used a lot of money, had paid signature gatherers, and they moved very fast. I talked to many of the people gathering signatures. They didn’t know what was going on. Many of them didn’t live in Oakland. It was just money for them.”

“Sam Singer, the guy who is their spokesperson, is a paid PR guy. He has media ties, so they’ve swamped the media against Sheng,” Quan said.

‘Oakland is… a city that implemented some of the first rent control protections in the country. So, developers and big apartment owners would love to get rid of rent control,” said Quan.

“We also established ranked-choice voting, which allows people with less money to coalesce and win elections,” she said. “That’s too democratic for people with big money. They would rather have elections the way they were.”