Overview

Hate incidents across the United States are surging, devastating individuals and entire communities. Hundreds of organizations in communities across the country work to combat hate every day. To help combat this trend and support those organizations, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law launched the Stop Hate Project in March 2017.

The James Byrd Jr. Center to Stop Hate supports communities and individuals targeted for hate and challenges white supremacy by using creative legal advocacy, disrupting systems that enable hate, and educating the general public and policy makers.

The Lawyers’ Committee has run an Election Protection Hotline for over a decade, providing resources and assistance to callers ahead of and on Election Day. Building on this expertise, the Lawyers’ Committee launched a resource and reporting hotline for hate incidents: 1-844-9-NO-HATE (1-844-966-4283).

Individuals and organizations that call the hotline receive resources they need as we leverage our national network of pro bono attorneys, connect callers and individuals targeted by hate to community organizations, mental health services, and in appropriate cases, provide access to counsel.

Examples of resources provided have included template letters to make sure undocumented students are admitted to school, support for reaching out to and training law enforcement, and connecting callers with local and national civil rights and service organizations.

The Byrd Center works with a broad range of community organizations and seeks to engage organizations to ensure that (1) the resource and reporting hotline is accessible to a diverse range of community members, and (2) that we are developing resources that are most useful to communities on the ground.