At the City Council meeting on August 16, 2024, the council voted in favor of designating September 21st to 27th, 2024 as “Culver City United Against Hate Week.”
The recent hate crime at El Marino Language School – racist and homophobic slurs were spray painted on campus, along with windows being shattered – has highlighted the fact that hate crimes are the only category of crime still at historically high levels. Most types of crime have decreased in the last four years.
Data from the Los Angles County Sheriff’s Department notes that from 2017 to 2022, the robbery rate decreased 14.6 %. But hate crimes have remained stubbornly high; in Los Angeles County hate crimes grew 23% from 641 to 786 in 2021, according to the report. This is the largest number recorded since 2002.
“United Against Hate” was created by civic leaders in direct response to the sharp rise in expressions of hate nationwide. Since 2017, state and local leaders, community members, and many others have come together to stand United Against Hate by empowering local residents in every community to reject the hate and implicit biases that infringe upon the safety and civility of our neighborhoods, towns, and cities.
The belief, according the “United Against Hate” organization, is that building a safer and more equitable world starts by working together.
The City of Culver City will conduct two community-based trainings sessions facilitated by Right to Be on “Mitigating Implicit Bias” and “Conflict De-Escalation” to further build upon the City’s Bystander Intervention training that was held on June 25th.
It will also invite local advocacy groups and a member of the City’s Racial Equity Action Plan Consultant team to be physically available at reserved tables and booths at the community trainings listed above to educate and impart valuable information on resources, programs, and opportunities available throughout our community.
A promotional campaign will be established to educate the community as well. City Council approved $17,000 to help fund the campaign, which will come from the General Fund Unassigned Fund.
