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Inside the forum on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of the California Civil Rights Department. Photo courtesy of California Civil Rights Department

The State of California hosted the first-ever community forum on discrimination, hate and crime against adults and children with disabilities on Thursday, September 27, in Oakland with statewide access via livestream. 

The evening’s event, which was organized by the California Commission on the State of Hate and the California Civil Rights Council, had one clear message: asking the community to continue reporting acts of hate and bigotry, especially attacks that are perpetrated against people with disabilities. 

Participants in the open-to-the-public event shared insights related to disability, hate and civil rights. It is the seventh in a series of community events aimed at helping the state better understand and address the myriad ways in which hate can harm people across California. 

The forum was part of United Against Hate Week (UAHW), which is a call for local civic action to stop hate, discrimination and implicit biases that negatively impact communities, neighborhoods and cities. 

“United Against Hate Week is a powerful reminder that everyone can do something to stand up to hate, and it starts with making a daily commitment to not allowing or perpetuating racism, homophobia, antisemitism, islamophobia, anti-Asian, anti-Black or any form of hate that only serves to divide us,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell at the seventh annual UAHW launch in Los Angeles. “Our work to end hate is a shared responsibility that we must take seriously. I encourage all residents to participate in their local United Against Hate Week events and visit LAvsHate.org to learn how to join L.A. County in standing up to hate every day.”

The California Department of Justice defines disability bias as “a preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental impairments, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age or illness.” 

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Eric Harris, Associate Executive Director of External Affairs for Disability Rights California.  Photo courtesy of the California Civil Rights Department

 

The forum featured remarks from disability rights leaders, one of them being Eric Harris, Associate Executive Director of External Affairs for Disability Rights California, who talked about how people with disabilities are all around us, even if we might not know it. He also highlighted that although many physical disabilities can be seen, Californians have to protect and stand up against mental, health, intellectual, developmental, sensory and learning disabilities that are not immediately obvious.

“Disability is going to be a part of your work, whether you think it might be or not. A lot of people throughout the country or around the world and in California, particularly, have some form of disability and if they don't have a disability now, they're likely going to develop one at some point in their lives. As we age, you obtain different types of disabilities, maybe hearing loss, vision loss or physical disabilities,” Harris said. “It's super important to think about disabilities [in] every space that you're in and include disability in any conversations that you're having, especially as it relates to how we put together policies and how we put together statewide or citywide agendas for vulnerable populations.”

Hate crimes, including those attacking people with disabilities, have been on the rise in the last few years. Across California, reported hate crimes have nearly doubled from 1,015 in 2019 to 1,970 in 2023, according to research from the California Department of Justice.

In L.A. County, these numbers are similar. Reported hate crimes in L.A. County rose to their highest level in 21 years in 2022, jumping 18% from the previous year, according to the latest data published last November by the L.A. County’s Commission on Human Relations Hate Crime Report. The 2023 hate incidents and crimes are currently being accounted for and are expected to be published in the fall of 2024. 

According to the 2023 Hate Crime Report by the California Department of Justice, during that year, 18 disability-motivated hate crimes were reported throughout the state. Twelve of those 18 crimes were an attack on a person with a physical disability and the rest were anti-mental disability crimes.

Also present at Thursday’s forum was Denny Chan, a council member of the California Civil Rights Council. In the council, Chan serves as Justice in Aging’s Managing Director of Equity Advocacy, where he is responsible for leading implementations with a primary focus on race equity for older adults of color.

Chan talked about the large underreporting of hate crimes, especially those pertaining to a disability. “There's under-reporting, under-categorization for sure,” he said on Thursday. “We need to really encourage the reporting of hate crimes, as well as the things that sort of just fly slightly under the screen.”

Chan also called for police and other law enforcement agencies to receive more training when it comes to dealing with and encountering people with disabilities. “Police interactions are very deadly to people with psychiatric disabilities in the U.S.,” he said. “One-quarter of people who are shot by police have a serious mental illness. We need to work with our police and other law enforcement agencies and this is really hard. There's so little trust between many communities of color and law enforcement but we need to work with them to increase their understanding of our communities.”

Hate crime survivors living in a part of the Golden State can anonymously call 1- 833-866-4283 (1-833-8-NO-HATE) and receive support services from CA vs Hate care coordinators, who are on duty Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Another local resource is LA vs Hate, a community-centered system designed to support all residents and communities targeted for hate acts in LA County. Anyone may report anonymously and receive access to additional community-based and crisis care resources. In addition, information about hate crime incidents or crimes may be submitted anonymously online or by calling 2-1-1. Visit the L.A. Civil, Human Rights and Equity Department’s resource page HERE for additional state and legal resources.

This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the 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.

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