FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 12, 2022
Contact: Tom Corcoran, [email protected],
(212) 213-2113 #503
Bend the Arc CEO: “All Hate Crimes Are A Jewish Community Concern”
In response to the release of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual Hate Crimes Statistics Act (HCSA) report for 2021, the first time this data was collected through the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Bend the Arc: Jewish Action CEO Jamie Beran, issued the following statement:
The 2021 Hate Crime Statistics Act Report represents the first time that hate crime data was collected through the National Incident Based Reporting System, which we hope will be an important shift in the long run. But in the short term, with the transition to the new system still ongoing, we must resist the urge to make any comparisons to past data, knowing that underreporting by law enforcement is an even greater problem this year during the NIBRS transition. We know from our lived experiences that we’re living in a moment where white supremacist MAGA Republicans foment hate, fear, and violence as part of their strategy to maintain power and undermine the possibility of multiracial democracy. We unfortunately know that those politicians’ machinery of division and fear is working at full force, generating antisemitism, as well as racism and xenophobia against those of us who are Black, brown, Muslim, Arab, Asian, and LGBTQ, including Jews who hold multiple identities.
We believe that all hate crimes are a concern for our Jewish community, no matter the target. Jews — including the staff and board of our organization — are a multiracial, multiethnic family, and we exist in almost all of the categories by which this data is collected and reported. For some of us, the data may inspire a feeling of relief, for others it may contribute to fear and worry.
At Bend the Arc, we know that Jews, in the fullness of all our identities, can only be safe when we dismantle white supremacy and achieve safety for everyone. We know that attempts to stoke fear to drive us into isolation will not decrease violence motivated by hate in this country, or make us safer. We reject any attempt to divide us or to measure different types of bigotry against each other. We are committed to working together across racial and religious differences — with vision, solidarity, hope and joy — to transform policies, systems, and structures and create a country where every person can thrive.
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action is uniting a movement of tens of thousands of progressive Jews across the country who are fighting for justice and equality for all. We are the only national Jewish organization focused exclusively on social change in the United States.
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