Is racial and ethnic hatred on the rise?

Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service

Racial and ethnic hate both inter-personal expressions of hate and acts of violence — is on the rise, along with deepening political polarization, distrust of civic institutions, widening racial, ethnic and class divides.

In California the state legislature has just launched an initiative called “Stop the Hate” to support nonprofits and ethnic media working to address the issue. But what is hate, how do we measure it, when is hate a crime and can we stop it, even heal it? Speakers at the EMS Briefing on Aug19 addressed these issues on Stop the Hate.

Becky L Monro, Deputy Director of strategic approaches and external affairs at the California Department of Civil Rights, said the California Legislature recently launched an initiative called “Stop Hate Crimes” to support nonprofits and minority media in addressing the problem.

The California Department of Civil Rights is also currently establishing an agency that hopes to fight hate crimes and provide protections for potential victims. She explained that there are two types of hate cases, the first refers to violations and violations of civil rights laws, such as employment and housing discrimination, and the second refers to acts that do not violate the law but cause harm to communities and individuals, People need to know and pay attention.

Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, said there’s a surge in hate incidents since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past two years, the organization received a total of 10,905 reports of hate incidents, 48.7 percent of which occurred in parks and streets, and 26.9 percent in commercial and corporate settings.

In addition, female victims accounted for 61.8%, most incidents were verbal harassment (63%) and personal attacks (16.2%), and some were harassment from the Internet. She called on Asian Americans who have suffered hate incidents to report the incident to Stop AAPI Hate in a timely manner and seek help.