California’s anti-hate hotline continues to support rural communities facing rising hate crimes, with leaders emphasizing trust-building and education to combat underreporting.
California’s pioneering initiative, “CA vs Hate,” which launched in May 2023, was established to combat the rising number of hate crimes in the state. During a recent Ethnic Media Services briefing, civil rights leaders, activists, and community representatives discussed the initiative’s impact on rural areas, where ethnic minorities face unique challenges with discrimination, isolation, and underreporting of incidents.
California Civil Rights Department Director Kevin Kish opened the discussion by emphasizing the hotline’s role as a first-of-its-kind resource to provide direct support to victims of hate.
“For the first time in California history, we have a statewide hotline to help individuals and communities targeted for hate report it and identify options for next steps,” Kish said.
The hotline, which is available in over 200 spoken languages and 15 written languages, was designed to overcome barriers that often prevent minorities and immigrants from reporting incidents, including language obstacles and distrust of law enforcement. “So something we know is that hate crimes are significantly underreported, both at the state and the national level,” Kish explained.
He noted that between 2019 and 2023, reported hate crimes in California nearly doubled. Of the more than 1,000 reports received in the first year of the hotline, approximately two-thirds of callers requested follow-up care coordination services. Still, many rural areas, including counties such as Del Norte and Sutter, remain underrepresented in reports.
“All of the counties where we heard from no one are rural counties,” Kish said, pointing out that isolation and fear create additional barriers to reporting. He stressed the importance of partnerships with trusted community organizations and ethnic media to help spread awareness. “People aren’t necessarily spending their day looking for information about what to do if they experience hate… When it does happen, they need to access it where they are.”
Kim Stoll, a communications director for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians who represented Chairwoman Regina Cuellar, spoke about the deep-rooted historical tensions in El Dorado County, a predominantly white region with a history of racial violence. Stoll highlighted the importance of education in combatting prejudice.
“Education that we are still teaching our children in school—that Columbus saved the Indians for Thanksgiving—these stories that aren’t true really made us realize that so much of it is about education,” she explained, adding that there is now “a lot more interest in what the truth really is.”
Stoll also noted that Native American community members continue to face discrimination and fear of identification. She recalled when members of the tribe refused to display parking tags identifying them as tribal members due to concerns about potential harassment.
Despite these challenges, Stoll expressed optimism about the impact of initiatives like the anti-hate hotline. “The longer that it’s established, the more it will be used,” she said.
Gaonou Vang, Communications and Narrative Manager at Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP), provided insight into the experiences of California’s Hmong population, which is concentrated in rural regions such as Siskiyou and Fresno counties. Vang described the longstanding xenophobia faced by Hmong and other Southeast Asian communities, much of which intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Due to the fact that it simply has not existed long enough, [the hotline] has not built that intimate trust that is critical in our community,” Vang said. She emphasized the importance of community-led engagement and educating youth to combat underreporting and build long-term trust. “We at HIP strongly center our youth and young adults, recognizing that change is not possible without their leadership,” she added.
Vang also expressed hope that the hotline would continue to be a resource for marginalized communities. “My main takeaway is definitely building on genuine trust and care that will take us very far, especially with advancing the usage of the California versus Hate hotline,” she said.
Marlene Thomas, Executive Director of the Imperial Valley Social Justice Committee, spoke about the challenges faced by multi-ethnic communities in Imperial County, which borders Mexico. Despite being predominantly Latino, the region remains conservative, and Thomas noted that many hate crimes go unreported due to fear and distrust of law enforcement.
“There was a lot of police harassment in our county, particularly with the African-American community,” Thomas said, adding that local officials frequently downplay incidents. “We had a Stop the Hate conference, and the chief of police and the sheriff… went through the whole reporting process… But here you go, they had only two complaints. I feel, and I know, that they have to have more than that.”
Thomas emphasized that education and collaboration with schools, local institutions, and organizations like the ACLU are essential to breaking the cycle of underreporting. “We have to put together a strategic plan to get the information to the people. And that’s the most important thing to me,” she said.
As the discussion concluded, Kish underscored the need for a sustained effort to ensure that communities remain informed about the resources available to them. “The hotline is being used when people know about it, and we have to redouble our efforts to make sure that people know about it when they need to know about it,” he said.
The CA vs Hate hotline operates Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and can be reached at 833-866-4283 (833-8-NO-HATE). Reports can also be submitted online at CAVsHate.org.
As Thomas powerfully put it, the key to combating hate lies in persistence and resilience: “Just keep hope alive.”
