A report released Thursday shows increases in hateful acts motivated by race, ethnicity and religion, according to the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission’s first annual report tracking non-criminal acts of hate.
Hate incidents are defined as acts motivated by prejudice against someone’s real or perceived identities and can include non-criminal verbal abuse, harassment or displays of offensive materials.
In 2023, nearly all hate incidents reported were acts of hate speech.
There were 821 hate incidents reported in 2023, compared to 609 reported in 2022. Half of the reported incidents were motivated by race, ethnicity or national origin, and African Americans were targeted at a higher rate than any other group, according to the report.
“Hate incidents can include situations where someone is being threatened with being reported to ICE, the distribution of White supremacist literature in front of a supermarket, and a gender non-conforming individual being told demeaning comments while on public transportation based on a perceived gender identity,” said Monica Lomeli, the primary author of the report, in a news release.
Anti-Black hate incidents increased from 211 in 2022 to 237 in 2023, and anti-Latino incidents increased from 60 in 2022 to 69 in 2023. The number of anti-Asian incidents decreased from 76 in 2022 to 66 in 2023.
Hate incidents targeting Middle Easterners increased 156%, from nine in 2022 to 23 in 2023.
Hate incidents motivated by religion comprised 21% of reported hate incidents in 2023, compared to 12% in 2022. Reports of religious incidents increased 131%, and 90% of religiously motivated hate incidents reported in 2023 targeted Jewish people, the report said.
Incidents targeting Jewish people went up 153%, from 66 in 2022 to 167 in 2023. Anti-Muslim incidents represented 8% of religious hate incidents in 2022 and 2023. Hate incidents targeting Muslims grew from six in 2022 to 14 in 2023, a 133% increase.
Hate incidents motivated by sexual orientation increased 24% between 2022 and 2023, and gender-motivated hate incidents increased 53%. Of the 55 gender-motivated hate incidents in 2023, 40 impacted transgender people, and 13 were against girls and women.
Eleven disability-motivated hate incidents were reported in 2023, compared to three incidents reported the year prior.
The report also noted an increase in white supremacist hate incidents, from 33 in 2022 to 74 in 2023, and incidents related to conflict in the Middle East increased 2,150%.
The majority of hate incidents occurred in public spaces, residences and schools, according to the report. Hate incidents at schools rose from 59 in 2022 to 197 in 2023.
The report comes several months after the commission released its 2023 hate crime report, which showed a 45% increase in reported hate crimes from the year before. There were 1,350 hate crimes reported in 2023, compared to 930 in 2022, according to the commission. More hate crimes were reported in 2023 than any other year since the commission began compiling its annual reports in 1980.
In Los Angeles County, people can report hate crimes by calling 211 or visiting LAvsHate.org. Community members can also report hate crimes to the police.
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