By Magaly Muñoz

Los Angeles County hosted its seventh annual United Against Hate Week with community partners to rally against the growing hate incidents that are occurring across the country.

United Against Hate Week (UAHW) is used as a call for local civic action to stop hate, discrimination, and implicit biases that negatively impact our diverse communities across the state.

Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission Executive Director Robin Toma said the event is usually held in November, but they decided to move the event up to September because of the fall election and the negative rhetoric it has brought to certain groups.

“We knew that with this special election year there would be a lot of things said that would foment hate, foment division, foment hostility and scapegoating of others,” Toma said.

Following the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, where Trump spread misinformation about Haitian immigrants eating animals, hate crimes against Haitians grew in Springfield, Ohio.

Although the group will not publicly endorse a candidate, Toma encouraged everyone to “vote against hate” because who and what people vote for can contribute to whether hate continues to rise or not.

While hate crime reporting is still very underreported, mainly due to fear from victims, Toma said the LA vs Hate reporting line has changed the way people view reporting crimes because victims are now given the option to receive resources, such as counseling, to help get them through their trauma. Before the reporting line existed, victims felt ignored by police because often no action was taken from the report.

LA County District Attorney George Gascón, who has served as San Francisco District Attorney and Police Chief, said the DA’s office is taking two major actions against hate crimes.

The first action is prosecution where the case calls for it, but Gascón said this is not the sole approach he wants to rely on.

The DA’s office also prioritizes education and restorative justice programs for hate crimes to offenders who qualify. This could involve offenders visiting the communities where they committed their crime so that they may learn the severity of committing these hateful acts.

“In a county as diverse as Los Angeles, my office is extremely proud of our partnership with this important community coalition to take strong action against hate crimes, and to encourage acceptance and understanding among Angelenos,” Gascón said.

LA County recently had a reported spike in hate crimes by 18% from 790 to 929 reported crimes in 2022. Gascón said the county has the highest prosecution rate for hate crimes in all counties across California.

Hate crime victim Frankie Aguirre also spoke at the United Against Hate event, sharing his experience as a gay man in Los Angeles.

Aguirre was the victim of harassment by his neighbors for six years because of his sexuality. He often felt he could not invite family and friends to his home for fear that residents in his building would bully them too.

Aguirre said he decided to call the 211 LA Hate hotline number to report the harassment he’d been receiving. After calling, he was connected to a care coordinator that connected him to services and resources, which he said he wouldn’t be here without.

The team at LA vs Hate helped him get out of his toxic living situation and he urged others in a similar place to contact the team to receive help.

LA vs Hate has received more than 2,700 reports of hate, over 800 during the last year, according to the organization. Nearly 90% of callers have requested personal assistance through case management.

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 the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. To report a hate incident or hate crime and get support, go to https://www.cavshate.org/

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