When Rabbi Benjamin Adler this past spring approached Rachel Wainer Apter to speak at Adath Israel Congregation, neither she nor the rabbi anticipated a spike in hate crimes.
But since the time that she and Rabbi Adler spoke, the number of reported bias incidents – especially anti-Semitic hate crimes – has soared, Apter said. She is the director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights in the Office of the Attorney General.
“It is startling,” said Apter, who spoke at Adath Israel Congregation in Lawrence Township on Jan. 16.
In the past four years, the number of reported bias incidents has more than doubled. There were 417 reported incidents in 2016; 549 incidents in 2017; 569 incidents in 2018; and 944 incidents in 2019.
There are likely many incidents that were not reported, Apter said.
Of the 569 incidents reported in 2018, which is the most recent year for which data has been analyzed, 54% of the incidents were motivated by race, ethnicity or ancestry, Apter said. Many of the reported bias incidents were anti-Semitic, she said.
New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination defines a hate crime or bias incident as one that occurs when a victim is subjected to harassment, assault or terroristic threats because of race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ethnicity.
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General takes bias crimes “very seriously,” Apter said. The incidents are reported to the New Jersey State Police, which in turn files its reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI compiles reports from across the country.
Social media is one of the culprits in the rise in hate crimes and bias incidents, Apter said. The popular social media sites for hate groups are Tiktok, Instagram and Snapchat – not Facebook.
Social media depends on advertising, and advertising depends on “clicks,” “likes” and “shares.” Hate crimes “sell,” Apter said. Social media posts that tap into fear, anger and primal emotions do best, Apter said.
Another factor is social media’s “disinhibition effect,” she said. People are less inhibited in making hateful comments online because they can be anonymous. It is harder to make a hateful statement in a face-to-face encounter than it is to do so electronically, she said.
It is becoming easier to become self-radicalized by reading posts online, Apter said. The internet is the most effective incubators of conspiracy theories, which helps to fuel anti-Semitism.
Apter also pointed to political rhetoric as another factor in the rise of hate crimes since 2015.
“I don’t think President Trump caused it, but he has emboldened others,” Apter said.
Hate and bias have been simmering below the surface for many years, and it is good that it has come out because “the more we know, the more we can address it,” she said.
Apter said she is “inspired” by the number of signs that proclaim “hate has no home here” and related messages in opposition to hate crimes and bias incidents. She said she speaks to groups around the state, and people from different backgrounds are reaching out to one another.
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has made tackling hate crimes and bias incidents one of its priorities. Police departments are required to report suspected bias incidents and to investigate them. There has been a significant increase in reporting such incidents.
“We can’t do anything about it unless we know about it. Nothing is too minor to report,” Apter said.
Given the rising number of hate crimes and bias incidents involving juveniles, the Office of the Attorney General created the Interagency Task Force to Combat Youth Bias, she said. It has conducted “listening sessions” across the state.
The task force is studying the root causes of hate, bias and intolerance in schools and colleges among young people. It will review existing laws, programs and curricula to come up with strategies that aim to address hate, bias and intolerance, she said.
In the meantime, the Jewish community should not let fear cause it to create a fortress, Apter said. There has been an overall rise in hate crimes, not just anti-Semitism, she said. Jews must be vigilant to anti-Semitism, but they should not allow it to overpower them, she said.
“That’s how hate wins. It controls our conversations and closes us off from others. We can all stand up to hate and bias when we see it,” Apter said.
Apter also advised attendees to become aware of their own biases. Everyone engages in stereotyping, she said. It is an implicit bias that happens unconsciously, and it is inaccurate.
Apter said she wanted to leave the event with two parting messages.
Quoting Sheikh Moussa Drammeh, an Islamic leader in The Bronx, if cigarettes can be made unacceptable, so can racism and anti-Semitism be made unacceptable, Apter said.
Apter also quoted Nelson Mandela, who said that “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”