Los Angeles County, often celebrated for its diversity, is grappling with a grim reality: hate crimes against Black residents have reached unprecedented levels.
The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) released on Dec. 11 its annual analysis of hate crimes reported throughout Los Angeles County in 2023.
The 2024 Ethnic Media Conference, Expo, and Awards, held from August 27-28 in Sacramento, was a testament to the vital role of ethnic media in shaping narratives and fostering community connections across California.
In addition to Ruth Whitfield, 86, the other victims were Roberta Drury, 32; retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter Jr., 55; Heyward Patterson, 67; Pearl Young, 77; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Black Press journalist Katherine “Kat” Massey, 72; Margus Morrison, 52; and Andre Mackniel, 53.
In addition to the investments, Garland unveiled plans to deploy federal resources and prosecutors to cities disproportionately affected by violent crime, including St. Louis, Missouri; Jackson, Mississippi; and Hartford, Connecticut. He said the targeted deployments aim to support local law enforcement agencies and enhance collaboration in tackling crime hotspots.
Suzanne Brown, a name synonymous with advocacy and social change, has roots deeply embedded in vibrant and diverse South Los Angeles.
The California vs. Hate Resource Line, established to assist victims of hate crimes and hate incidents in the Golden State, received 823 calls from 79% of California’s 58 counties during its first nine months of operation. The telephone line’s first anniversary is in May.
On Feb. 16, 2022, a Black student in the Santa Barbara Unified School District was assaulted by Latino students. His attackers called him the n-word and kneeled on his neck while repeatedly, chanting the name “George Floyd.” A district-wide acknowledgment of the hate crime was not sent out until Feb. 22, of that year.
The Skirball Cultural Center’s Exhibit “This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers from the Civil Rights Movement presents the visions of nine photographers whose work shined a light on the nation’s major movement that ended Jim Crow laws.
According to state data released in August, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that hate crimes involving racism against Black people surged last year compared with 2021 data, including instances of violence motivated by bias.
When hip hop icon and fashion designer Kanye West wore a black, long-sleeved shirt with “WHITE LIVES MATTER” emblazoned on the backside in white block letters at his Yeezy fashion show in Paris on Oct. 3, it started a national conversation on racism that intensified four days later when West broadcast on Twitter that he was going to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” in a since deleted tweet.
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.
Miya Ponsetto, the Piru, California woman who falsely accused a Black teenager of stealing her phone at a New York City Hotel in December 2020, has been charged with a hate crime.
Two Californian men have been charged with a hate crime in Oregon for allegedly assaulting a Black gas station attendant.
A Berkeley woman was charged with a hate crime after she allegedly harassed a Black Amazon delivery driver, shouting racial slurs at him and physically stopping his attempts to escape the confrontation.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) today voted to pass H.R.1843, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which aims to combat the rise in Anti-Asian hate crimes since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer today announced that his office has created a new unit that will focus on hate crimes.