By Kevin Vo Over the past few years, white supremacists have increased in numbers in the United States. In fact, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the amount of active white nationalist groups grew by nearly 50 percent last year alone, expanding from 100 chapters in 2017 to 148 in 2018. White supremacists and white nationalists bring with them a surge of hate crimes, with federal data indicating that the annual number of police-reported hate crimes increased each year from 2014 to 2017. Many
On June 5th, Chairman Thompson introduced H.R. 3106, the Domestic Terrorism Documentation and Analysis of Threats in America Act, or Domestic Terrorism DATA Act. This legislation that would provide transparency surrounding domestic terrorism investigations. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law supports efforts to improve data collection around hate crimes and domestic terrorism investigations. Read more here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 22, 2019 Washington, DC – According to government data, hate crimes on college campuses have increased 25% from 2015 – 2016. Hate groups have taken to recruiting members on college campuses – spreading messages of hate intended to provoke fear and division. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Fund for Leadership, Equity, Access and Diversity (LEAD) Fund partnered to conduct a study to better understand what is unfolding on college and university campuses. Through a survey of higher education equal opportunity professionals,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 12, 2019 Washington, D.C. – Today, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law sent a letter to Roosevelt Union Free School District responding to a recent incident in which pictures of nooses were displayed on school property. The letter called for a swift response and clarified the school district’s obligations under federal civil rights law to provide an environment that allows for equal educational opportunities for all students. Late last week, the public learned that a collage showing a set of nooses was
By: Rebecca Amadi After a friend was sexual assaulted, Liam Neeson admitted that he spent a week looking for any Black man to provoke him into a fight to justify killing him. Many can understand the desire for revenge in honor of a loved one. Indeed, Neeson has built a career on such stories, thrilling audiences as they cheer on his character’s righteous rage. However, this real-to-life story is seeded in a more insidious thought process that captures a
The past two weeks have been devastating. From Kentucky to Pennsylvania, we saw a tremendous loss of life fueled by hate-motivated violence that demonstrates what we know all too well — hate hurts. From a grandfather shopping with his grandson to worshipers spending their Saturday morning at their neighborhood Synagogue — lives were tragically and violently cut short, all because of the color of their skin or the religion they practice. These violent acts of racism and anti-Semitism come at a time when we
The Stop Hate Project partnered with UBUNTU Research & Evaluation, LLC to host workshops in three cities. The workshops were designed to support participants in the co-development of a dignity-based framework for policy and/or practice. The framework was used to assess organizational progress toward creating and sustaining equitable communities internally and externally. The framework as a whole is aimed at uncovering implicit bias, hate, and prejudice in a way that allows for personal and organizational change leading
Although the internet has connected people and created new communities, it has also given new tools to those who want to hatefully threaten, defame, or attack people different from themselves. White supremacists and other organizations engaged in these sorts of hateful activities use social media and other major tech platforms to mobilize, fundraise, and normalize racism, sexism, bigotry, and xenophobia. In the past few years, hate activity online has grown significantly as the “alt-right” emerged from the shadows. While most tech
