Fewest number of hate crimes since 1989, report finds
427 reported hate crimes countywide
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Reported hate crimes in Los Angeles County fell by 28 percent in 2010 to the lowest level in 21 years, according to the county Commission on Human Relations’ annual report released.
The commission defines a hate crime as one where hatred or prejudice toward a victim’s race or ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, or sexual orientation was a substantial factor in the crime.
According to the 2010 Hate Crime Report, there were 427 reported hate crimes countywide last year, a decline of 166 from the previous year.
Fifty-one percent of the crimes were race-based, with 53 percent of those targeting Blacks.
The report showed that 59 percent of racially motivated crimes against Blacks were committed by Latinos, and 68 percent of racially motivated crimes targeting Latinos were committed by Blacks.
Crimes based on sexual orientation remained at about the same level as the previous year—27 percent of all of the hate crimes—but were more likely to be violent than either racial- or religious-related hated crimes.
Religious crimes, which were primarily anti-Semitic in nature, fell 17 percent.
“The overall decline in hate crimes is a good trend, but it is still disturbing the the overwhelming majority of those motivated by religions in Los Angeles County, statewide and across the country are against Jews and Jewish institutions,” said Amanda Susskind, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights group with a focus on documenting and fighting anti-Semitism.
The report comes the day after Riverside County authorities announced they were investigating the carving of two swastikas discovered Wednesday in the lawn of a Palm Desert senior center.
The highest rate of hate crimes took place in the Antelope Valley, followed by the metro region stretching from West Hollywood to Boyle Heights.
The San Gabriel Valley and the southeastern portion of the county had the lowest rates.
The commission’s report was generated from data collected from sheriff and city police departments, school districts and community groups.
By Richie Duchon | City News Service
Patients seeking bone marrow donations to fight diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma will typically find a match within their family only 25 percent of the time; the other 75 percent of matches are made with compatible strangers.
That’s where Be the Match comes in. This national registry of 9 million donors is one way those seeking marrow can find it.
BERKELEY, Calif.—African American, Asian American and Latino senior citizens are economically vulnerable and getting more so, a new report from the Greenlining Institute has found. Because they have less access to pensions or other forms of retirement savings, these groups may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of cuts to Social Security and Medicare likely to be considered by the 12-member special congressional committee created by the budget deal signed this week by President Obama.
The report, available online at www. greenlining.org, concludes:
Economists say the recession is over. Recent national job reports illustrate an upward climb to the recovery. Yet these accomplishments have not effectively reached the urban communities of color—neither Black nor Hispanic.
This is according to the National Urban League’s 2011 “State of Black America” (SOBA) released recently. To combat this painful State of Black America in 2011, the NUL has declared a war on unemployment.
The official unemployment rate is 15.8 percent among Blacks and 13 percent among Latinos; Blacks earn only 57 cents for each dollar of White family income, Latinos earn 59 cents; and Blacks have only 10 cents of net wealth while Latinos have 12 cents to every dollar of net wealth that Whites have.
Bank of America’s agreement to pay the largest housing fair lending settlement in history to settle allegations that Countrywide Financial Corp., its recently acquired subsidiary, has proved to be another indictment of the mortgage banking industry.
The Department of Justice alleged in its case that Countrywide engaged in widespread discrimination against African American and Hispanic borrowers just before the near-collapse of the U.S. economy.
Bank of America has agreed to pay $335 million. The bank agreed to acquire Countrywide four years ago.
