NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.
CSUSB professor interviewed about latest conflict between Palestinians and Israelis (in Arabic)
Alaraby Television
May 12, 2021
Ahlam Muhtaseb, CSUSB professor of communication studies and director of the Center for the Study of Muslim & Arab Worlds, was interviewed in Arabic about the latest developments in Palestine, and the Israeli attacks on Jerusalem and Gaza.
Politifact turns to CSUSB professor to help debunk politician’s statement about Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot
Politifact
May 13, 2021
The Poynter Institute’s website that fact checks statements made by politicians called on Brian Levin, director of Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, after some Republicans downplayed the violent acts that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, with one lawmaker comparing the breach to a "normal tourist visit."
Levin said the criminals who rioted were at the Capitol for purposes far from tourism.
"A tourist is someone who travels for pleasure seeking, cultural interchange or advancement of knowledge about different places and its inhabitants and does not have a political or criminal purpose," Levin said. "The people who rioted included insurrectionists and others who committed federal crimes for a political purpose to obstruct the legal operations of government. I hope people now don't just apply that logic to recast John Wilkes Booth as a theatergoer."
Read the complete article at “The ridiculous claim that those at the Capitol Jan. 6 resembled a 'normal tourist visit.'”
CSUSB professor recommends that Maine establish a commission to fight hate crimes
WMTW TV Portland, Maine
May 14, 2021
Brian Levin, who directs the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University San Bernardino, was one of the experts interviewed for a segment about hate crimes in Maine, and what can be done to combat it.
Levin points to the demonizing of China during the coronavirus pandemic.
"Political leaders don't necessarily start the invective, but they often help either fan it or help finish it. They're either a firehose or gasoline can,” Levin said.
His studies showed a 146% increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans in 2020 and a 169% increase this year in 15 of the nation’s largest cities, including Boston.
"It's my contention that statements by the president helped fuel an existing set of prejudices that existed in the ether of society but helped amplify them and direct where the aggression would go,” Levin said.
Levin recommends that Maine form a hate crime commission to establish model policies, data collection, outreach and coordination of responses by law enforcement and groups working with vulnerable communities.
Read the complete article and watch the related video report at “Preventing hate: What needs to be done to deter hate crimes in Maine.”
The CSUSB Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism’s latest research on hate crimes against Asian Americans was cited in the following:
In Philly, anti-Asian hate is not new
The Philadelphia Inquirer
May 13, 2021
Today many Americans are awakening to the ugly reality of “anti-Asian hate” as they’re confronted by horrifying security-camera images of assaults from New York to California. But violence against Asian Americans is not a sudden phenomenon, born of a once-in-a-century pandemic. In Philadelphia, it’s a cycle that goes back decades, one that’s left men, women, and children traumatized, hospitalized, and dead, and attended by a second cycle, of forgetting, in which many see each eruption of violence and harassment as shocking and new.
In 2019, police in America’s 16 largest cities recorded 49 hate crimes against Asians, according to the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. In 2020, that jumped to 122 — a 149% increase, even as overall hate crimes dropped 7%.
NYPD Asian Hate Crimes Task Force chief: Attacks are 'not new'
The Hill
May 13, 2021
The commander of the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Asian Hate Crimes Task Force said anti-Asian hate crimes in the state are “absolutely not new,” despite the recent spike in the number of offenses. Inspector Tommy Ng said Asian Americans are “more vocal” today because newer generations are being born in the U.S.
Anti-Asian hate crimes surged in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, with sharp increases observed in 15 major cities, according to hate crime data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.
In cities that were reviewed in the report, hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 169 percent when comparing the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021.
The highest increase observed by the study was in New York, where hate crimes spiked by 223 percent.
Essential California: Asian American life in a time of hate
Los Angeles Times
May 13, 2021
In a news round-up column: “We’ve seen video after video of unprovoked attacks on Asian Americans and reports that show an alarming uptick in anti-Asian violence. One set of data, from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, found a 164% increase in Asian-related hate crimes in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period last year.”
Over 75 Asian, LGBTQ groups oppose anti-Asian hate crimes bill
Axios
May 13, 2021
More than 75 Asian and LGBTQ organizations issued a statement Wednesday rejecting the anti-Asian hate crime bill that recently soared through the Senate.
Why it matters: The groups say the bill will bolster law enforcement and further harm marginalized people. Their opposition reflects a fracture among Asian Americans as the community looks to address a yearlong spike in anti-Asian hate.
The big picture: In 16 of the country's largest cities and counties, reports of anti-Asian hate crimes have surged 164% since this time last year, according to a recent study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernardino.
More than 75 Asian, LGBTQ groups oppose anti-Asian crime bill
The Hill
May 12, 2021
More than 75 Asian and LGBTQ groups are opposing an anti-Asian crime bill that recently passed through the Senate.
In a statement posted to the blog “Reappropriate,” the groups said they opposed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act because it “relies on anti-Black, law enforcement responses to the recent rise in anti-Asian bias incidents across the US.”
A study from California State University, San Bernardino released in April found that anti-Asian hate crimes spiked 169 percent between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.
Anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S. continue to rise at alarming rates
Daily Kos
May 12, 2021
New data on anti-Asian hate incidents reveals an even more alarming increase than before. According to a national report by Stop AAPI Hate, the total number of anti-Asian incidents reported during the pandemic year last year has doubled by March alone. Meaning within the first three months of 2021, the number of anti-Asian hate crimes reported increased by 50% from 3,795 cases reported in March to December 2020, to 6,603 reported between January to March 2021.
The report follows multiple others that have indicated an alarming rise in AAPI targeting crimes. Hate crime data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino found that hate crimes against Asian Americans surged in 2020 in at least 15 cities, Daily Kos reported. As the cities were further reviewed, a new report indicated that crimes against Asian Americans rose by 169% when comparing the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021.
These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”