Hate continues to rise among all marginalized groups in Los Angeles. That is the conclusion of the report entitled “The State of Hate in LA” that was conducted by the Stop the Hate Program. Kiran Bhalla is the Stop the Hate Project Director of the AAPI Equity Alliance. She broke down the report and the purpose of this initiative.
Kiran Bhalla: We felt strongly that it was important to lay a foundation by acknowledging the long history of hate in Los Angeles, discussing the causes of hate and how it manifests and proposing strategies to tackle that hate.
For Robin Toma who is the executive director of LA Versus Hate, he has seen the numbers that contribute to this problem.
Robin Toma: I think it’s very easy for me to point out that the data that we have been seeing over the years has been very much disturbing and is unlike the past, not having any downs. It is a continual rise.
His organization has a three part solution: uniting communities, implementing a county wide system for reporting these incidents, and educating the communities effectively on preventing these events. A panel of three project members spoke about their personal experiences with hate in their own communities. A common theme is there is hate everywhere. From public places like malls to schools to online spaces, the hate transcends across all areas and is not limited to one group. When jumping into the Q&A, the speakers were asked about the anti-Semitic and anti-Arab hate that has been going on in the world with the current situation in Palestine and Israel. All of the responses from the panelists were the same. Each expressed how their communities and their organizations are prepared for more of this hate to arise, as it has already. Manju encouraged the audience to take a stand with her sentiment on the question.
Manjusha Kulkarni: Please do encourage individuals to report to seek services from our organizations. If we don’t have the language skills or the cultural competency, we certainly can refer individuals to other groups.
The report has been renewed for another two years and the grantees have doubled. Now that there are more people involved, it is expected that next year’s report will be even more extensive than this one.