By Emily Kim Jenkins, Contributing Writer
California’s reputation precedes it. Ask anyone from a different region of the country and they’re likely to have an opinion about its government, its industries or its citizens, whether or not they have ever set foot in the Golden State. Even internally, split down an imaginary line, Southern and Northern Californians have lots of ideas about their neighbors on the opposite side.
One of the more discordant characteristics that comes alongside being the most populous state in the country– prejudice. Even with the flourishing diversity California is known for, hate continues to be a thorn in its side.
A rise in hate crimes across the country has been recorded, and San Diego is no exception. Although hate events certainly do fluctuate as culture evolves, one reason for this increase may be that more efforts are being made to reach protected classes that may be targeted to encourage them to report hate acts, such as the CA vs. Hate initiative.
This summer, Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office published the annual California Hate Crime report for 2023, documenting patterns the Department of Justice (DOJ) has seen in hate crimes. The Voice & Viewpoint analyzed the state report as well as data from San Diego County’s law enforcement agencies to see how San Diego compared. These comparisons, unless otherwise noted, are between 2022 and 2023.
Reports of anti-Black crimes in California decreased by 20.6 percent. In San Diego County, they decreased by 11.6 percent.
Anti-Black hate crimes continue to be the highest reported bias-motivated crime across the board in America. Making up roughly one quarter of all 2023 hate reports across the state and county, these are still the largest bias type represented. However, these numbers do represent a worthwhile change.
In the state, racially-motivated hate crimes decreased roughly 20 percent. They decreased in the county, too, but only by about twelve percent.
The biggest bias type increase across the state was anti-religious, with reports increasing by 30 percent. They jumped significantly in San Diego, too.
In a particularly tense year marked by the beginning of the war in Israel, hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim people increased. By quantity, Anti-Jewish reports were far more heavily reported. Across the state these nearly doubled, rising from 189 to 289. In San Diego County, there were 13 reports, a 116 percent increase from the year before.
“There is pre-October 7, and there is post-October 7,” Matt Goldberg of the Jewish Federation of San Diego said when describing how he tries to categorize and address antisemitic hate. The concerns for the safety of the Jewish community, he says, have changed significantly since then.
Although an anti-Protestant hate crime hasn’t been reported in San Diego County since 2018, the state’s report makes a special note that these events fell from 12 reports in 2022 to only one in 2023.
Sexual orientation crimes increased slightly in the state. They jumped dramatically in the county.
2023 was the first year that the FBI has directed law enforcement agencies to record sexual orientation-based hate crimes as “anti-LGBTQ” rather than the previously used “anti-homosexual.” This term is more inclusive of a spectrum of sexual orientation, but the crimes recorded under the new title are the same. It can also refer to crimes committed with a group bias against non-heterosexual people.
Previously, anti-gay (specifically referring to males) crimes were by far the most reported sexual orientation-based hate crime. At a Voice & Viewpoint Town Hall, Matt Brown of the Anti-Defamation League noted that of all the protected classes, Black gay men were the most likely to be the victims of a hate crime.
While the anti-gay crimes in California dipped 14.8 percent, they increased 44 percent in San Diego County, from nine to 15 reports last year. The most dramatic rise for both regions was in anti-LGBTQ+ crime reports– with 86.4 percent increase in the state, and a whopping 700 percent in the county.
Hate decreased across the state. In San Diego County, it saw a sharp upward trend.
In California, all reported hate crimes saw an 8.9 percent decrease. In San Diego County, hate crime reports increased 19 percent.
This pattern of increasing reports may make a repulsive trend public, but they also bring a silver lining. With more reports being made, the likelihood of both supporting a victim and holding a perpetrator accountable increases significantly.
San Diego is not alone – and neither are you. If you have experienced or witnessed anything that you think could even possibly be hate-motivated, you can report it. You can call 833-8-NO-HATE or visit CAvsHate.org to discuss what happened with a trained operator. Operators speak over 200 languages and you can report anonymously, if you would prefer.
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.
