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CSUSB professor comments in report about Hindu right-wing groups in US receiving $833,000 of federal COVID fund
Al Jazeera
April 2, 2021
Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed for an article about five organisations with ties to Hindu supremacist and religious groups receiving COVID-19 relief funding amounting to $833,000, according to data released by the United States’ Small Business Administration (SBA), a federal agency that helps small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Levin raised concerns about COVID relief funds and loans being extended to organisations with ties to hardline groups.
“Americans should be highly concerned that taxpayer-funded stimulus relief is being used by organisations and affiliates that have disturbing ties to those allegedly engaging in religious violence and bigotry overseas,” Levin told Al Jazeera. “Even more disturbing is that these funds could be replacing decking donation revenues caused by the pandemic.”
SBA gave the funds as part of its Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance (EIDLA), Disaster Assistance Loan (DAL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Read the complete article at “Hindu right-wing groups in US got $833,000 of federal COVID fund.”
Lack of police training and underreporting of hate crimes remains an issue, CSUSB professor says
PBS News Hour
April 1, 2021
In the wake of a shooting rampage in Atlanta that left eight dead, including six Asian women, and after a year of hate speech and attacks on Asian people tied to the pandemic, public officials are facing mounting pressure to prevent and address the roots of racist violence.
The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino determined that hate crimes against Asian people in 16 large cities increased 149 percent in 2020.
The FBI started collecting national hate crime data from police agencies in the 1990s, but underreporting is a significant issue, said Brian Levin, a professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
Part of this is due to lack of police training on how to identify and report hate crimes, Levin said, but victims can also be fearful of reporting crimes to law enforcement.
Read the complete article at “What advocates and lawmakers are doing to address growing anti-Asian hate crimes.”
The center's latest report on anti-Asian American hate crimes was also cited in the following:
Chicago Tribune
April 2, 2021
From 2019 to 2020, police reports of anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 145% in the country’s 16 largest cities while the total number of reported hate crimes fell by 6%, according to data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino.
The first spike in anti-Asian hate crimes occurred in March and April “amidst a rise in COVID cases and negative stereotyping of Asians relating to the pandemic,” according to the center. Former President Donald Trump’s frequent references to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” or the “Kung Flu” also stoked racial tensions, critics have said.
How Def Jam’s Marisa Pizarro found a new ‘healing’ purpose in supporting the AAPI Community (CSUSB center cited)
Billboard Magazine
April 2, 2021
Marisa Pizarro, Def Jam’s senior vice president of A&R, found herself working on ways to support the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community during a time she could’ve never predicted would be incredibly essential.
Pizarro, who recently helped launch Def Jam Philippines, is an executive board member of Universal Music Group’s Team of Pacific Islanders & Asian Americans (UTOPIAA). The employee resource group began in September 2019 with goals of increasing mentorship opportunities and career development for AAPI employees at the company. UTOPIAA’s formation came just four months shy of the year hate crimes against Asians in 16 major U.S. cities rose 150%, according to a recent analysis from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernardino.
These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”