Against the backdrop of a colorful mural outside of the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center in Van Nuys, a coalition of diverse community partners kicked off United Against Hate Week by announcing a new way to report hate incidents and encouraging people to vote.
“It’s such an important time,” said Robin Toma, executive director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, which launched the LA vs. Hate initiative in 2020. One of their slogans is, “End hate – vote,” because “there’s no question that who we elect, [and] what we vote on, does have a direct connection to hate in our communities,” Toma explained.
When those in power take specific actions against a targeted group of people – like the Trump administration’s increasingly combative efforts to expand detentions and mass deportations of undocumented immigrants – Toma said it empowers some individuals “to feel like it’s okay to act in certain ways because they’ve [seen] or heard it from people who are duly elected.”
Earlier this month, the Trump administration launched a 45-day surge in immigration enforcement raids across California, dubbed Operation Safe California. Community leaders and immigration rights advocates statewide believe a primary goal of the operation is to intimidate people from voting.
“Of course, [voters] are citizens, but they may have family [members] who are noncitizens who end up being arrested,” said Toma. In those cases, agents may start questioning everyone in the family and, inevitably, some U.S. citizens end up getting swept up in raids and detained as well.
“We want the community to recognize that [this] is a deliberate tactic to discourage people from voting,” said Toma, who encouraged those eligible to vote to “exercise your [voting] rights.”
Reporting Hate Via Text
To help combat hate on a day-to-day basis, LA County residents can now report incidents involving hate, bias or discrimination by texting “Hate” to 52-211. Incidents can be written and submitted anonymously in 15 different languages, with the option of including photos or videos.
Texting is the newest reporting option launched by LA vs. Hate, a county-wide initiative that was created in response to rising hate incidents and crimes, said Toma.
“We had noticed the trend of hate crimes changing,” recounted Toma. But instead of fluctuating up and and down over time, the numbers were “just going up, and that phenomenon caused us to reexamine what we could do to stop the growth of hate in our communities.”
Residents can report a broad range of incidents they have witnessed or experienced – including slurs, threats, bullying or bias-related harassment – by calling 2-1-1, going online and now via text. People can also report hate crimes involving physical assault, but are urged to contact law enforcement immediately if they are witnessing an active crime or they are in physical danger.
Maribel Marin, executive director of 211 LA, the phone hotline for LA vs. Hate, said no matter who calls or the incident reported, the people answering the calls “will treat you with respect and dignity.”
“We stand together as a network of service providers, government agencies and community advocates to make a difference, to say that Los Angeles does not tolerate any hate or any discrimination or bullying, and the buck stops here,” said Marin. “We’re always going to be a network that can be relied on by the community.”
Poets Against Hate
Poet Luis J. Rodriguez emphasized the importance of getting “the work done” to help diminish violence and support peace. He shared a timely poem related to hate – specifically the ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids nationwide – which reads, in part:
“This is the time for poems like this, when U.S. immigration authorities invade city after city to detain and deport not the worst, but the best. … This is the time when Black and Brown history is being erased, our stories pushed aside, our faces and voices dismissed. … And they won’t stop with immigrants or the dark skin. Their aim is anyone who opposes them.”
Vanessa Tahay, a member of Get Lit: Words Ignite, which promotes teen literacy through spoken word poetry, said, “Now more than ever, it is so important that we create platforms for our community to get our voices out there.”
To report a hate incident by phone, dial 2-1-1. For the texting option, text “Hate” to 52-211. To submit a report online or to learn more about LA vs. Hate, go to: www.lavshate.org.
