However, a professor of hate crime lies cautioned against reading too much into the research.
According to a study by the University of California Los Angeles and the state, about 2.6 million Californians were subjects of “hate situations” in one month.
In its quarterly study, conducted by UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research and the position Civil Rights Department, the California Health Interview Survey asked 20, 000 people about “hate works.” 83 percent of the incidents were “verbal misuse,” or “verbal abuse.”
According to a UCLA information release,” an estimated 2.6 million Californians instantly experienced at least one act of hate over the course of a month between 2022 and 2023.”
However, a review on hate crimes is required by the country’s Department of Justice each year. According to the most recent report, hate acts were over 7.1 percent from the previous month.
The study, according to the director of the civil rights department, supports the state’s funding of anti-hate initiatives.
Director Kevin Kish stated in the news release,” We’re using every tool available, from direct investments to cutting edge programs.” ” Through our labor with CHIS, we’re also helping to show the impact of hate.”
According to him,” These estimates make it abundantly clear that people in our position continue to experience love and discrimination well beyond what is reported to law police.”
The California Civil Rights Department claims that the survey is a part of a larger effort to create a” detailed accounting of love action” throughout the condition.
A representative for California’s Civil Rights Department stated via email that” the ministry sponsored the study mainly to support further the function of the Commission on the State of Hate.”
The California Legislature has assigned the committee to create a detailed analysis of love activity across the state and make recommendations to politicians and the public regarding how to combat hate, according to the Civil Rights Department.
According to records provided to The Fix by the office, the study defined a love event as being targeted “because of prejudice against people with certain features or spiritual ideas.”
A preface was included with the issues, which stated that a love work “is different from one targeting you for various reasons, such as being unhappy or wanting to get something from you.”
According to the review,” Hate situations may include physical abuse, verbal abuse, abuse, home damage, or something else.”
According to the study, 80 % of incidents happened at school for youth.
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When asked how hate was distinguished from typical unpleasant school interactions, Todd Hughes, the director of the California Health Interview Survey at UCLA, made reference to the definition’s emphasis on characteristics and religious beliefs.
Hughes told The Fix via email that “it emphasizes the linkage to prejudice against people with certain characteristics or religious beliefs, and not just being targeted because someone was’angry or wanted to get something from you.”
According to Hughes,” some schoolyard bullying would, therefore, meet our definition of hate incidents, if the bullying is based on a person’s characteristics or religious beliefs, but others wouldn’t,”
However, a hate crime hoax expert questioned the study’s design and purpose.
These surveys are used, according to Professor Wilfred Reilly, to persuade people that there is” a great deal of a problem” that needs “government resolution.” He is a skilled social scientist, and he is the author of the book” Hate Crime Hoax.”
In a phone interview with The Fix , Reilly, a professor at Kentucky State University, said,” I think the goal of this kind of research is very frequently to give the impression that there is a lot of a problem out there and we may need some sort of government resolution.”
You should always unpack a big, scary number, according to Reilly. The more you go through that, the more you realize you’re not really looking at anything.
Reilly emphasized the value of keeping in mind that the survey was a representative of the entire sample.
It’s what a sample of 20, 000 people reported, not what was discovered throughout the state, Reilly said.
One of California’s numerous initiatives aimed at reducing hate is the survey.
The Commission on the State of Hate was established by the California state legislature in 2021 to promote “mutual respect among California’s diverse population.”
Bamby Salcedo, a transgender Latino activist, and Andrea Beth Damsky, an environmental activist, make up the board.
The commission must hold community gatherings, conduct research on hate crimes, and prepare an annual report outlining hate activity in California.
MORE: Brown University journalist blames “elitism” for the staff’s “bloat” report backlash
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A woman is harmed by Keira Burton and Pexels, an image captured on camera.
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