Report: White extremism continues to gain support

Symbols of hate were prominent at the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

OPINION

Our country is in a rough patch right now as it struggles to redefine itself and what it means to be an "American." Unfortunately, it might mean it is going to get worse before it gets any better, according to several reports.

The "worse" part lies at the feet of whites. as people of color tippy-toe around the  fears of whites who see their privileges and status being whittled away. 

Several years ago, when asked about the future of race relations in this country -- my country -- my response was: Don't ask me. Ask white people to give an honest answer.

White people don't like to talk about race. It's a topic of great discomfort for them because -- try as they might -- they have no idea what it is like to be a person of color in a culture that has been painted, written, taught and lauded from a white perspective.

Intellectually, they can perhaps understand the trials and tribulations of a POC, but they can't feel the pain and angst of always being slightly out of place, of being that square peg trying to fit in that round hole designed and created by white people.

More recently, with the massive demographic changes that is occurring in the next few decades, a defense mechanism kicks in for white people, often taking the form of white supremacy.

There is a direct link between white supremacists and the insurrectionists who forced their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6. It was not coincidence that the Confederate flag and references to Nazism were on display during that failed coup attempt.

As white supremacists became bolder, violence towards Asian Americans is rising. Connecting the dots is not difficult.

The question law enforcement agencies should be asking themselves is not what AAPI could be doing to protect themselves, but how do you shove white extremism back into a dark chest, lock it and then throw away the key.

The administration of President Joe Biden has made fighting domestic terrorism a top priority for the Department of Justice. 

Make no mistake, the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 was led by white supremacists who easily absorbed the anti-government rhetoric into their value system. Stopping Biden from taking office was stopping in line with stopping the loss of white power, privilege and status.

The extremist armed militias, which the government allows to exist, the racist sympathizers who we have allowed to seep into our armed forces and law enforcement are a clear and present danger to our country. 

An internal FBI report that was written before Jan. 6 and was published days after the attack at the Capitol predicted the violence to come, saying the events in 2020 were “likely to embolden US domestic violent extremists in 2021.”

The right-wing extremists view tje Capitol coup attempt as a success -- white supremacists are stepping up their propaganda campaign attempting to lure in more recruits among the disaffected whites who see their privileged position in this society in danger.

Between public displays of propaganda like banners and graffiti, in-person events and incidents of anti-Semitic language, the growth of white supremacy hit an all-time high in 2020, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.

The group, which has worked to record incidents of racist, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ propaganda for years, has reported 5,125 instances of white supremacy propaganda in 2020 — nearly twice the number recorded in 2019.

“Hate propaganda is a tried-and-true tactic for white supremacists, and this on the ground activity is now higher than we’ve ever previously recorded,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “White supremacists appear to be more emboldened than ever, and the election year, the pandemic and other factors may have provided these extremists with additional encouragement.”

“As if a pandemic, social justice protests and a polarizing election were not enough, one of the other things we’ve been dealing with is a significant increase in efforts by white supremacists to spread their messages around the country,” Segal said in an interview with Carless. “What the numbers suggest is a doubling down on what they view as a successful tactic.”

“Three organizations were responsible for more than 90% of the propaganda incidents,” Carless reported. “The most active group by far was Texas-based Patriot Front, headed by white supremacist Thomas Rousseau, which was behind 4,105 of the incidents. Patriot Front masks its racism in vague phrases like ‘America First’ and ‘Reclaim America,’ but the group’s official manifesto makes its white supremacist goals clear.”

The racist signs and symbols and graffiti on temples and Asian-owned businesses and houses of worship can impact both POC and whites.

Sarah Vinson, a forensic psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Morehouse School of Medicine told USA Today: “When you see these signs up, it can make you less trusting of the white people you’re around, because you don’t know who it is that put it up, and you don’t know who is tolerating that,” she said. “White people who harbor those beliefs may also find those signs validating and reassuring.”

“Propaganda gives white supremacists the ability to maximize media and online attention while limiting their risk of exposure or arrest,” said Oren Segal, vice president of ADL’s Center on Extremism. “The literature helps to bolster recruitment efforts and spreads fear by targeting specific groups, including the Jewish, Black, Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities, as well as non-white immigrants.”

The "Unclassified Summary of Assessment on Domestic Violent Extremism" a joint report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned of the growing threat in the 2021.

The report assesses that "domestic violent extremists (DVEs) who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the Homeland in 2021. Enduring DVE motivations pertaining to biases against minority populations and perceived government overreach will almost certainly continue to drive DVE radicalization and mobilization to violence. Newer sociopolitical developments—such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the US Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence—will almost certainly spur some DVEs to try to engage in violence this year." 

The report came out the day after a deadly shooting spree at three spas in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent. Although the shooting might not meet the legal requirements to be classified as a hate crime, it's impact and the way it is perceived by AAPI communities, especially the Sikh community, is as it was an attack motivated by hate. Crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been on the rise at an alarming rate.

Almost daily, new acts of violence continue to assault AAPI, including the shooting rampage that occurred at an Indianapolis FedEx facility Wednesday where four of the eight victims were Sikhs.

“Whatever the motivation here,” said Biden in the aftermath, “I know that Asian Americans are very concerned. Because as you know I have been speaking about the brutality against Asian-Americans for the last couple months, and I think it’s very, very troublesome.”

Biden has endorsed legislation addressing the rise in hate crimes against AAPI. The US Senate is expected to vote on the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act Wednesday, April 21.

The bill co-authored by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., would instruct the Justice Department to speed up the review of Covid-19 related hate crimes. It also aims to give local law enforcement more support to respond to violence against Asian Americans and curb the use of discriminatory language on the rise since the pandemic started last year and assign a point person in the Justice Dept. to keep tabs on hate incidents.

“We will vote on the bill on Wednesday. And I dare any senator to vote against this legislation,” the Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said during a rally in  New York. “If they do, shame on them, shame on them. Because this is what America is all about. We will pass this legislation, and the bill will address the rise in hate crime.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution. This post is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to peruse other sources of news to form their own opinion.

Committee of 100 and Anti-Defamation League issue joint statement against 'hate, xenophobia and violence'

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Demonstrations against anti-Asian violence and hate are being staged across the U.S. 

The rising tide of hate and violence directed at Asian Americans can't be fought by AAPI alone. It needs to be fought by all Americans.

In response to historic increases in anti-Chinese and anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander incidents and assaults, the Anti-Defamation League, the world’s leading anti-hate organization and Committee of 100, a nonprofit U.S. leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans, issued the following joint statement:

“We are united with all of our Asian American brothers and sisters in standing up against hate, xenophobia and violence,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. 

“Violence towards any minority group is not the answer. The anxiety and fear in the Asian American community is palpable, and we grieve with and support the millions of Chinese Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the U.S. who feel targeted. We commend Committee of 100 for their work in bringing this issue of anti-Asian hate to the forefront and we very much look forward to working with them hand in hand to help solve a crisis that many communities are facing.”

“We at the Committee of 100 are extremely saddened by the increased attacks against Chinese Americans and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community overall. Chinese Americans are Americans. Period. The violence and rhetoric that is happening now in these communities across the U.S. is horrific, sad, and unacceptable,” said Zheng Yu Huang, President of Committee of 100. 

“These acts of hate have no place in America, whether directed against Asian Americans or anyone else. We are extremely thankful to the Anti-Defamation League for standing with us as we collectively work towards concrete actions that will address the roots of the violence and xenophobia directed at the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Hate has no place in our society.”

The ADL and the Committee of 100 are calling on all elected officials and law enforcement to urgently address racism, discrimination and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with actionable, concrete results.

With additional funding, education, and action, there is a chance to put these horrific incidents in the past and move forward as a nation. 

Earlier this month, Committee of 100 outlined seven calls to action that look to hold elected officials and law enforcement accountable for producing change for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. 

The Committee of 100 is calling on these seven initiatives to be enacted immediately:

• We call on all elected officials – including governors, mayors, and members of Congress—to forcefully denounce all acts of anti-Asian racism and bigotry.
• We call on the new U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice to set up a task force to specifically investigate and combat increased violence directed towards the AAPI community.
• We call on the Department of Justice to revamp its China Initiative, which has involved the racial profiling of Chinese scientists and researchers.
• We call for the federal government to provide funding to state and local law enforcement agencies for education, training, and community outreach.
• We call on all law enforcement agencies to adopt a zero-tolerance stance towards acts of bigotry, racism and hate inflicted on Asian Americans, whether verbal, physical or psychological.
• We call on all elected officials and lawmakers to ensure survivors of hate crimes have access to support services in languages used by their local communities.
• We call for the expulsion of any public official, government employee, or law enforcement officer found to be stoking hate or discriminating against people of Asian descent.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  A word of caution -- this post is news laced witih opinion. Readers are encouraged to read multiple news sources to form their own opinion.

FBI Report: A record number of hate crimes

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Hate crime murders surged to a record high in 2019 and overall hate crime incidents also rose, according to annual data released last week by the FBI.

Hate crimes in the United States rose to the highest level in more than a decade last year. Hate crimes have been increasing almost every year since 2014. Community groups warn this comes amid rising bigotry and racist rhetoric.

Of the 6,406 known hate crimes committed in the U.S. in 2019, 52.5% of them were committed by white people, according to the FBI's Hate Crime Statistics, 2019, the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s latest compilation about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. 

The annual report said that Blacks committed 23.9%. Other races accounted for the remaining known offenders: 1.1% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.9% were Asian, 0.3% were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 6.6% were of a group of multiple races. The race was unknown for 14.6%.

"Yet another year with alarming levels of bias-motivated crimes underscores just how urgent it is to address this hate crimes epidemic," Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David said in a statement.

Hate acts against Asians made up 4.4% of the incidents. The FBI data does not contain the reports being compiled this year by Asian American community groups since Donald Trump began blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic. His use of the racist terms "Chinese virus" "Wuhan virus" or "Kung flu" while blaming China was a strong factor in the sharp rise of anti-Asian incidents.

On a parallel track, the Trump's administration's continuing use of racist rhetoric to rile up his base and apparent reluctance to strongly condemn white extremists has emboldened white supremacists and vigilantism.

The proliferation of white supremacist ideology online combined with a culture of gun violence in the U.S. has resulted in some perpetrators of mass shootings targeting victims for their race, religion, or other protected characteristic, said Kami Chavis, professor of law and director of the criminal justice program at Wake Forest University.

Chavis said there's been a lack of urgency to stem a growing threat of domestic terrorism in the U.S., including the threat from white supremacists, many of whom are radicalized through social media.

Earlier this year when the spike in anti-Asian acts began, the FBI warned that a surge of hate Asians and Asian Americans is likely to occur. Various websites collecting incidents against AAPI have recorded thousands of reports.

The FBI had elevated its assessment of the threat posed by racially-motivated violent extremists in the U.S. to a "national threat priority" for the 2020 fiscal year.

"There is an inextricable link between armed white supremacists and the increase in hate crimes, particularly deadly ones," Chavis said.

In one of the better known incidents, James Alex Fields, Jr., who participated in a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to hate crimes charges that resulted in the death of a victim, caused bodily injury, and involved an attempt to kill other people after he drove into a group of counter-protestors.

The FBI data, submitted by 15,588 law enforcement agencies, provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

Law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports involving 7,314 criminal incidents and 8,559 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. Please note the UCR Program does not estimate offenses for the jurisdictions of agencies that do not submit reports. Highlights of Hate Crime Statistics, 2019 follow.

The actual number of hate crimes is most likely higher than reported because law enforcement agencies are not mandated to report hate crimes and agencies have different definitions and criteria of what constitutes a hate crime. 

Victims of Hate Crime Incidents

• There were 7,103 single-bias incidents involving 8,552 victims. A percent distribution of victims by bias type shows that 57.6% of victims were targeted because of the offenders’ race/ethnicity/ancestry bias; 20.1% were targeted because of the offenders’ religious bias; 16.7% were victimized because of the offenders’ sexual-orientation bias; 2.7% were targeted because of the offenders’ gender identity bias; 2.0% were victimized because of the offenders’ disability bias; and 0.9% were victimized because of the offenders’ gender bias.
• There were 211 multiple-bias hate crime incidents, which involved 260 victims.

Offenses by Crime Category

• Of the 5,512 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against persons in 2019, 40% were for intimidation, 36.7% were for simple assault, and 21% were for aggravated assault. Fifty-one murders; 30 rapes; and three offenses of human trafficking (commercial sex acts) were reported as hate crimes. The remaining 41 hate crime offenses were reported in the category of other.
• There were 2,811 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against property. The majority of these, 76.6% were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. Robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses accounted for the remaining 23.4% of crimes against property.
• Two hundred thirty-six additional offenses were classified as crimes against society. This crime category represents society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity such as gambling, prostitution, and drug violations. These are typically victimless crimes in which property is not the object.

Known Offenders

• In the UCR Program, the term known offender does not imply that the suspect’s identity is known; rather, the term indicates that some aspect of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of offenders and, when possible, the race of the offender or offenders as a group. Beginning in 2013, law enforcement began reporting whether suspects were juveniles or adults, as well as the suspect’s ethnicity when possible.
• Of the 6,406 known offenders, 52.5% were white, and 23.9% were Black or African American. Other races accounted for the remaining known offenders: 1.1% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.9% were Asian, 0.3% were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 6.6% were of a group of multiple races. The race was unknown for 14.6%.
• Of the 5,443 known offenders for whom ethnicity was reported, 33.1% were Not Hispanic or Latino, 10% were Hispanic or Latino, and 1.9% were in a group of multiple ethnicities. Ethnicity was unknown for 55.0% of these offenders.
• Of the 5,599 known offenders for whom ages were known, 84.6% were 18 years of age or older.

The data revealed "a harrowing trend of increasing hate crimes being reported in the United States, even as fewer law enforcement agencies provided data to the FBI," the anti-Defamation League responded in a press release.

"The total severity of the impact and damage caused by hate crimes cannot be fully measured without complete participation in the FBI's data collection process," ADL director Jonathan Greenblatt said.

ADL REPORT; When Trump caught COVID-19, attacks against AAPI increase

In the 12 hours after the president’s initial tweet about his and the first lady’s COVID-19 diagnosis, there was an 85 percent increase in anti-Asian language and conspiracy theories tracked on the social media platform. according to a new study.

The Anti-Defamation League study of Twitter conversations and activity, conducted by ADL’s Center for Technology and Society, found From October 2-5, the percentage of anti-Asian language on Twitter remained higher than usual. Besides the spike of anti-Asian tweets, similarly, the rate of discussions about various conspiracy theories increased 41 percent, with some of those conversations also taking on antisemitic overtones.

The ADL unveiled the new findings Oct. 9 in a virtual press conference hosted by Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Also joining were Reps. Grace Meng (NY-06) and Brad Schneider (IL-10), and John Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC).

“As this report shows, when confronted with news that reflects poorly on the president, like his COVID-19 diagnosis, his supporters respond with attacks that Asians or Jews are to blame – rhetoric that we know leads to violence," said Chu.

"That is why, since the very beginning of this crisis, we have urged leaders to avoid misinformation and xenophobia," said Chu. "But at every turn, Republicans not only doubled down on the use of slurs like ‘China virus’ and ‘Kung flu,’ they also denied the impact their own words were having on innocent Asian Americans who have been terrified by the anti-Asian hate we have witnessed throughout this pandemic." 

“The level of hatred and vitriol that was aimed at Asian Americans and Chinese people on social media is simply staggering,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “The hate speech and stereotyping are irresponsible and can spillover into real world violence. With the alarming increase in physical attacks and hate crimes against Asian Americans in recent months, it is clear that all leaders, including our president, need to stop blaming others for spreading the virus.”

ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today issued a new study showing a dramatic spike in anti-Asian sentiment and conspiracy theories about the spread of coronavirus in conversations on Twitter in the days immediately following the president’s first tweet about his positive diagnosis on October 2.

ADL unveiled the new findings this morning in a virtual press conference hosted by Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27), Chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Also joining were Reps. Grace Meng (NY-06) and Brad Schneider (IL-10), and John Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC).

The data was gathered with the ADL Online Hate Index (OHI), a new tool that uses state of the art technologies such as machine learning to investigate the prevalence of hate speech on social media platforms. This language was also analyzed with help from tools developed by The Alan Turing Institute.

ADL also found that one of the most common beliefs expressed by conspiracy theories was that a “New World Order” or “NWO” would be implemented – supposedly run by secretive actors who either gave President Trump the virus or plan to assassinate him under cover of his illness. Other common online conspiracy theories suggest the virus is a bioweapon created by the Chinese government, that Bill Gates caused the virus, and that the virus was “engineered” by humans.

These Twitter discussions also mention elements of the QAnon conspiracy theories, calling on “patriqts” deliberately misspelled to signal fellow believers in Q, to rescue the president. Some tweets made antisemitic claims such as President Trump is a “crypto Jew” or a “Zionist agent,” or that he is a pawn caught up in the machinations of Jewish interests.

“Misinformation and xenophobia are dangerous. That is why the CDC and WHO have both warned not to associate COVID-19 with a specific people or country because of the stigma it causes. And now, thanks to the ADL’s report, we are able to see that harmful impact in real time,” said Chu. “As the ADL’s report shows, the alarming anti-Asian hate incidents we have witnessed in recent months are not an accident. They are the result of an atmosphere of xenophobia and bigotry that is thriving on Twitter and other online platforms.”

The findings are based on an analysis of more than 2.7 million tweets between 8 p.m. UTC on Oct. 2 through 9 p.m. UTC on Oct. 5. Some of the tweets analyzed harkened back to remarks made by the president on September 29 in the first presidential debate, when he suggested that the pandemic was “China’s fault,” and referred to the virus as the “China plague,” the latest in a pattern of inflammatory remarks over many months.

Global anxiety about the outbreak of the coronavirus has spawned misinformation and scapegoating. Since the spread of the virus in the U.S., there has been a surge of incidents of bias, harassment, and violence against Asian Americans, immigrants, and Orthodox Jewish communities.

Building on ADL’s century of experience working toward a world without hate, the Center for Technology and Society (CTS) serves as a resource to tech platforms and develops proactive solutions to fight hate both online and offline. CTS works at the intersection of technology and civil rights through education, research and advocacy.

“This new ADL report showing a rise in anti-Asian bigotry on Twitter is sad and extremely disturbing. But unfortunately, it comes as no surprise," said Meng. "It is just a continuation of the ugliness we have seen; ugliness that has been fueled by the discriminatory and disparaging rhetoric that continues to come from President Trump and others."