Please note, the following has already been delivered to the downstate New York Congressional delegation.
Call to Action: New Yorkers Support the No Hate Act
With the present rise in anti–Asian hate, we as New Yorkers stand together in support of the newly reintroduced bipartisan Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act (H.R. 2383; S. 1086) and the COVID-19 HATE CRIMES Act (H.R. 1824; S. 728). We, the undersigned, urge our elected leaders to swiftly pass these crucial bills through the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
Hate, and the crimes associated with it, have precipitously increased in our nation. According to the 2019 Hate Crime Statistics released by the FBI, hate crimes have risen to the highest levels in a decade. The Stop AAPI Hate reporting center fielded approximately 3,800 incidents of anti-Asian hate from March 2020 to February 2021. Yet this number is most likely only a fraction of what the community actually experienced.
The annual FBI report consistently underestimates the number of hate crimes, as participation in the FBI’s hate crime data collection system by local law enforcement agencies is not mandatory. There are many reasons why an incident might not be reported to the FBI, i.e. victims might be afraid to report, law enforcement officers might lack the training to identify hate crimes, or law enforcement agencies might be using outdated reporting systems, all of which pose a significant obstacle in addressing this crisis. Incomplete data reporting undermines minority communities’ protection by misrepresenting the extent of the problem, thus hindering a commensurate national effort to address rising hate in the United States.
Now, more than ever, we must provide better tools and resources to track and analyze hate crimes. This effort is only the start of our road to recovery and healing. Congress can and must take this constructive first step in providing the resources and tools law enforcement needs to collect state and local hate crimes data. In turn, this will facilitate more accurate and applicable guidelines for the protection of communities facing such assaults. That is why we support passage of the bipartisan, bicameral Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act and urge its adoption.
The following are the first signers to this Call for Action:
- Jewish Community Relations Council of New York
- Asian American Federation
- Council of Peoples Organization
- Hispanic Federation
- The Korean-American Association of Greater New York
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People New York State Conference
- UJA-Federation of New York
Additional Signatories:
- American Jewish Committee
- Asian Americans for Equality
- Association of Jewish Employees
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Church
- Be’chol Lashon
- Bronx Christian Fellowship Church
- Bronx Clergy Task Force
- Brooklyn Heights Interfaith Clergy Association
- Brooklyn Meeting, Religious Society of Friends
- Central Synagogue
- Christ Church Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
- Christian Cultural Center
- Church of God’s Children
- City Harvest
- COJO of Staten Island
- Congregation Beit Aharon, Riverdale, Bronx, NY
- Congregation Mount Sinai
- Congregation Sons of Israel, Woodmere, NY
- Congregation Tehillah
- Danish Seamen’s Church
- Department of Intercultural Engagement and Inclusion at Hofstra University
- Ecclesia Ministries of New York
- Educational Alliance
- Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island
- Family & Children’s Association (FCA)
- Federation of Korean American Associations of North Eastern USA
- First Unitarian Congregational Society, Brooklyn
- Grace Church Brooklyn Heights
- Grand St. Settlement
- Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
- Hadassah
- Hebrew Educational Society
- Hewlett-East Rockaway Jewish Centre
- Hillels at Baruch, City, John Jay, SVA, Pace University, FIT, New School and Fordham University
- Hispanic Health Network
- Hollaback!
- Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center
- Human Services Council of New York
- Jamaica Muslim Center
- Jewish Community Center of Staten Island
- Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island
- Jewish Community Relations Council of Long Island
- Jewish Labor Committee
- JLC
- L.I. Center for Independent Living, Inc
- Latino Pastoral Action Center, Inc.
- Long Island Board of Rabbis
- Malverne Jewish Center
- Meaningful Communications Matter, LLC
- Merrick Jewish Centre
- Metro North Region, B’nai B’rith International
- Mid Island Y JCC
- Midway Jewish Center, Syosset Long Island, NY
- Museum at Eldridge Street
- National Council of Jewish Women New York
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, Inc.
- New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS)
- New York Metro Joint Board Workers United
- North American Board of Rabbis
- North Country Reform Temple
- Nusantara Foundation
- Office of the Manhattan Borough President
- Office of Bronx County District Attorney
- Oratory Church of St. Boniface
- Plymouth Church
- Presbytery of New York City
- Repair the World NY
- Riverdale YM-YWHA
- Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton-Manhattan Beach, Inc.
- Sid Jacobson JCC
- Simon Wiesenthal Center
- South Asian American Voice- SAAVOICE
- St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church
- Suffolk YJCC
- Telugu Literary And Cultural Association
- Temple Beth Torah, Melville, NY
- Temple Chaverim
- The Bridge Multicultural Project
- The Community Synagogue of Port Washington
- The First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn
- The Harold & Elaine Shames JCC on the Hudson
- The Health & Housing Consortium, Inc.
- The Hindu Temple Society of North America
- The Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center, Manhattan College
- The Interfaith Center of New York
- The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC
- The Micah Institute
- The New York Board of Rabbis
- UA3, Inc.
- UFT Retired Teachers Chapter
- Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America
- United Hebrew Trades – New York Jewish Labor Committee
- UNITED SIKHS
- Westchester Jewish Council
- YAFFED
- YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood
- YouthBridge-NY