By Janice Hayes Kyser
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Supporting anti-hate education and grassroots efforts to promote cross cultural interaction are vital to curbing the hate that continues to plague Black Californians, say community leaders.
“What we’ve found out over the past 60 years, during the civil right and post-civil rights eras, is that you can’t legislate social change.” said Anthony Samad, executive director of the Mervyn Dymally African American Political Institute at Cal State Dominguez Hills. “While protest and activism has been the predominate vehicles to address social injustice, it doesn’t change the hearts of people. Education is the key. We must unlearn what we’ve learned from previous generations and be willing to relearn to eradicate ignorance and fear.”
Karen Mack, founder of LA Commons, a nonprofit dedicated to creating unity through the arts, agrees that programs that bring people together and break down fear and ignorance are vitally important.
“Connections happen on the ground in a community,” said Mack, whose organization was created almost 25 years ago to bridge the gap created by the city’s far-flung geography, diverse neighborhoods and car culture.
“People coming together, listening and sharing builds empathy and understanding,” Mack added. “We believe that by tapping into the artist in all of us, we’re all creators and story tellers, that we can begin to break down hate and fear.”
LA Commons convenes multi-racial community conversations and translates the stories that come out of those dialogues into public works of art, murals and campaigns designed to promote acceptance and understanding.
According to a recent report issued by the California Attorney General, while hate crimes overall decreased in the state, African Americans continue to be the primary target of hate statewide, with most of those crimes occurring in Los Angeles County.
Under California law, a hate crime is 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 those characteristics.
Some of the key findings from the report include:
• Reported hate crime events decreased 7.1% from 2,120 in 2022 to 1,970 in 2023.
• Reported hate crime events involving a racial bias decreased 21.6% from 1,298 in 2022 to 1,017 in 2023.
• And anti-Black bias events remained the most prevalent, despite a 20.6% decrease from 652 in 2022 to 518 in 2023.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, says he’s not surprised Blacks continue to be the most targeted group in the state.
“Blacks are the most targeted group because Black oppression and its resultant anti-Black hate has been and remains foundational within American society,” Hutchinson said. He added that the impact of hate is far reaching, affecting the psychological, emotional, social and economic well-being of African Americans making it hard for Blacks to let their guard down.
“We as Blacks have been endlessly under the racial looking glass in America,” Hutchinson said. “So, the instilled reaction has always been to be on guard. … Perennial vigilance is the external universal ingrained reaction of Blacks to hate and that vigilance takes a toll on us in many ways.”
Because of its devastating impact, Rev. William Smart, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Los Angeles, says more needs to be done to stop the hate.
“It’s time to stop playing,” Smart said. “We need to put action behind our words and not just take a surface level approach to this problem. We need to have city-wide and state-wide convenings to educate and elevate the importance of this topic.”
Smart says SCLC is working to build what he calls a “beloved community” by bringing diverse groups together and fostering respect.
Further, Snart says perpetrators of hate crimes need to be dealt with in a manner that not only penalizes, but educates them.
“Without education, we will never break the cycle of hate,” Smart said.
Jasmyne Cannick, Democratic political strategist and an elected member of the L.A. County Democratic Party, says while many leaders in the community and beyond have been vocal about issues of racial injustice, systemic inequality and hate crimes, it’s time for consistent advocacy.
“Many leaders speak out during high-profile incidents, but there’s a need for consistent advocacy and action, even when the media spotlight fades,” Cannick said. “Drive-by activism does more harm than good.
“We need more intersectional approaches to address oppression, for instance, policies designed to combat gender discrimination won’t be successful unless they also take into account how race, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation impact individuals’ experiences,” Cannick added. “Without this intersectional perspective, solutions may only address part of the problem, leaving far too many vulnerable.”
This resource was supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library via California Black Media as part of the Stop the Hate Program. The program is supported by partnership with 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.
