Inland Empire leaders see ‘buffet of hate’ as discriminatory attacks and bias increase

Stay up-to-date with free briefings on topics that matter to all Californians. Subscribe to CalMatters today for nonprofit news in your inbox.

Hate crimes have risen in recent years, but the scapegoats vary with the political winds, several experts said Tuesday at a panel discussion about combating hate in the Inland Empire.

“Hate crimes have gone up in every presidential election year,” said Brian Levin, cofounder of the Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

U.S. hate crimes rose 20% from 2020-21 and climbed again in 2022. Black, Jewish, Latino and LGBTQ people were the most frequent targets, a UC San Bernardino center study found.

Levin said hate crimes grew by double digits in major American cities last year.

The numbers formed a backdrop for the discussion on discrimination and inequality in Inland Empire communities, sponsored by Zocalo Public Square and California Humanities in Riverside.

“We are all on the menu; it depends on what the dish of the day is,” said Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Moreno Valley Democrat. “As a matter of fact it’s starting to become a buffet when it comes to hate.”

Hate crimes shift

News events tend to drive aggression against various groups in turns, Levin said; anti-Black violence rose after George Floyd’s death led to Black Lives Matter protests, and anti-Asian violence spiked during the pandemic after some politicians blamed China.

Learn more about legislators mentioned in this story.

“A catastrophic event, and the spin around it, labels who’s a legitimate target,” Levin said later in an interview with CalMatters.

California last year dedicated $90 million to combat hate crimes , funding a hotline, a state commission and a new round of grants to community organizations.

Besides violent incidents, there were subtler experiences of discrimination and poverty that played out in Inland Empire communities, sometimes with devastating consequences, speakers said.

Many Black workers held frontline jobs where they were more likely to catch COVID-19 during the pandemic, said Candice Mays, project director for Mapping Black California for  Riverside-based Black Voice News . About half of Black and Latino workers filled essential jobs that required in-person labor, compared to about a third of white and Asian workers, according to a report by the Black Equity Fund.

Many Black workers lived in multi-generational housing, which increased their chances of passing COVID along to older family members at greater risk from the virus, Mays said. As a result, the COVID death rate for Black people was 19% higher than all other Californians, the report stated.

The report also found puzzling discrepancies among residents of color in the Inland Empire region, she said. Black people have higher educational attainment than Latino people, yet  Latino people have higher home ownership rates than Black people.

About two-thirds of Black Inland Empire adults graduated from high school, and 16-18% earned bachelor’s degrees. Less than 60% of Latino adults finished high school, and less than 10%  earned bachelor’s degrees.

Those educational results didn’t translate into home ownership; 45% of Black Inland Empire residents owned homes and 55% rented, while nearly 60% of Latinos owned homes and 40% rented.

“So there’s a conundrum there,” Mays said. “If I have a higher education attainment, I should have better jobs and be able to afford a home. That’s the logic that capitalism tells us.”

Instead, education and law enforcement systems sometimes work to the disadvantage of Black and Latino students, the panelists said.

“We’re challenging the way that law enforcement and schools were punishing Black and brown children,” said Luis Nolasco, policy advocate and organizer with ACLU Southern California. “A lot of our Black and brown children don’t have the support they need to fully perform in school.”

A school-to-prison pipeline

Jackson described a 2018 class action lawsuit his mentoring nonprofit, the ACLU and other organizations filed on behalf of thousands of “at risk” students enrolled in a controversial disciplinary program, often for minor behavioral issues. The Youth Accountability Team program , sold to school districts in Riverside County as a kind of voluntary mentorship and guidance program, instead “treated thousands of youths — especially those of color — like hardened criminals for minor adolescent misbehaviors,” said the National Center for Youth Law, an organization that represented the students.

“These were not really voluntary probation programs providing mentoring,” Jackson explained. “This was another onramp to the school-to-prison pipeline.”

A 2019 settlement expunged some students’ probation files, added legal protections for future participants, and provided community-based services to students accused of non-criminal offenses, the ACLU said in a statement.

The Inland Empire’s sprawling geography poses unique challenges for social justice efforts, Mays said, adding, “We are big enough to be our own state.”  Covering that much physical and political territory can lead to burnout for those battling hate and discrimination, the panelists acknowledged.

Jackson cautioned audience members to be watchful of their own biases and resentment.

“In our fight against hate, we cannot become the devils we are trying to fight,” Jackson said. “First, hold onto your own humanity. Speak up when other people are being targeted, because you might be on the menu tomorrow.”

Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation.