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.   

From a jumble of statistics, a dramatic rise in hate and bigotry in NJ
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
Dec. 13, 2023

New Jersey has been a leader in bias and hate data collection and training since the late 1980s, said Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino. But the good intentions of a 2019 update are spiking the numbers, putting the statistics at greater odds with what federal authorities collect and clouding the issue of hate and bias.

"New Jersey, while the most advanced in many ways, is hitting a bit of a wall because of the anomalies and quirks that come with such a robust system," Levin said. "They're getting these reports, which is great, but they're not fully able to categorize and analyze them."

Does hate have a home here? Monmouth, Ocean towns see high number of bias incidents in 2022.
Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
Dec. 13, 2023

An article examining hate crimes in New Jersey coast communities included an interview with Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino.

“One of the disturbing things that we're seeing is a tilt with respect to targeting Orthodox Jews, and a more violent tilt to anti-Jewish hate crimes in general,” said Levin.

Levin calls the increased attacks against Jews a “contemporaneous warning sign” – a canary in a coal mine. Those attacks historically presage an increase in general hate crimes, he said. Attacks against Jewish communities routinely rise following problems in the Middle East, national political or social media rancor and local disputes directed at Jewish people. The center saw a sharp rise following the antisemitic remarks of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, he said.

CSUSB professor emeritus comments on rise in hate crimes in Los Angeles
KTLA Los Angeles
Dec. 12, 2023

Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at CSUSB, was interviewed for a segment about the assault in Beverly Hills on a Jewish man in his 70s on Dec. 9. Levin said hate crimes against Palestinians and Jews have increased in recent months, and pointed to Israel-Hamas war as the catalyst.

These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”