During a recent minority media conference, Connie Alexander-Boaitey, the president of the NAACP Santa Barbara County chapter, shared alarming statistics about hate incidents targeting the Black community. She pointed out a staggering 27% increase in reported hate crimes against Black individuals from 2021 to 2022. A report from the Public Policy Institute of California also indicated a growing trend of Black residents leaving the state. Alexander-Boaitey highlighted that low-income Black families are leaving California at an increased rate of 7%, and middle-income families are departing at a rate of 6%. She emphasized that harassment, discrimination, and hate are driving forces behind this migration.
Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, spoke about the complex harm caused by hate, which manifests in various forms across intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, and faith. She argued that many of these issues cannot be resolved simply through police intervention. “This is a trauma,” Choi stated. “When we only consider violent hate crimes as serious, it deepens feelings of distrust and despair within our communities without offering any solutions. Distress often leads to conflict, especially in environments hostile to immigrants and people of color. Hate breeds more hate, and addressing these issues requires a collective effort.”
Alexander-Boaitey added that hate incidents disproportionately impact the Black community, noting a 29% increase in hate crimes against the Black LGBTQ community during the same period. She reiterated that harassment and discrimination significantly influence the community’s decision to leave California. “When hate and discrimination occur, and job opportunities are scarce—when you’re applying for jobs without success and the economy declines—that’s when people choose to leave. As a second-generation Californian, I’ve seen first-hand the lasting impact of relentless hate pushing individuals away. There used to be Black residents in South San Francisco; now there are none.”
Although Black students comprise only 6% of the public school population, they report the highest rates of bullying and harassment. The NAACP has documented a worrying number of reports regarding violence in schools, particularly against Black students. Choi expressed her concern about troubling dynamics within communities. “Regrettably, much of this hate and violence is driven by Latinx students targeting Black students. We’re failing to address the communication gap between communities; issues exist, but we aren’t talking about them, even though they occur daily.”
In response to these challenges, the NAACP is working with the state’s Department of Justice to host community dialogues aimed at fostering communication. “Without dialogue between communities, we can’t pinpoint where hate originates,” Alexander-Boaitey pointed out. Choi, who leads Gateway Educational Services—a nonprofit that has received funding from Stop AAPI Hate—facilitates anti-racist assemblies in schools, focusing on issues of linguistic discrimination. “Students often don’t understand why the N-word is unacceptable; they hear it in music and feel entitled to use it.”
