Bias incidents in New Jersey hit another record high last year and reports made this year show that the state is on track to surpass that once again.
Preliminary data released by the Attorney General’s Office on Friday shows that reported bias incidents in 2021 reached a new high of 1,871. That’s up from 2020, which saw 1,447 reported incidents. The total in 2019 was 994, a 75% increase from the 569 reported in 2018.
In the first two months this year, 333 bias incidents were reported, according to an NJ Spotlight News review, a pace that puts the state on track for another record number.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise in reports of bias incidents nationwide, and the Garden State is no exception. That’s why the work being done in the Attorney General’s Office to encourage people to feel comfortable reporting bias incidents to law enforcement and to address the root causes of hate is so important,” said Gov. Phil Murphy in a news release.
State and national law enforcement believe that bias incidents tend to be underreported. But the Attorney General’s Office says that incidents reported to police and other authorities might have increased due to greater awareness of hate crimes and improvements to its bias reporting system. Former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced a new web portal to file complaints about bias incidents in November 2020, for example. The state also overhauled its guidelines for handling bias incidents in 2019.
‘Racialized rhetoric’
However, the Attorney General’s Office says that a better reporting system may be only one reason, citing anti-Black Lives Matter sentiments, the COVID-19 pandemic and “racialized rhetoric” as other instigators of bias incidents and hate crimes.
Anti-Black and anti-Jewish bias were the most common race- and religion-based motivating factors through 2020 and 2021 for reported incidents. Anti-Black bias represented 39% of incidents in both years, while anti-Jewish bias represented 17% of incidents in 2020 and 15% in 2021.
Anti-LGBTQ+ bias was another significant motivator for bias incidents, increasing from 227 incidents in 2020 to 373 in 2021. The Attorney General’s Office highlighted anti-transgender bias as a significant part of this category, increasing 171% from 17 incidents in 2020 to 46 in 2021.
‘So while we address individual incidents — which we must — we must also invest robustly in systemic change to make our state more equitable and inclusive for all.’
While Anti-Asian bias represented only 4% of incidents in 2020 and 6% of incidents in 2021, there was a notable increase between 2020 and 2021 — from 69 reported incidents to 129 incidents within the year.
Additions to K-12 curriculum
The state has taken steps to address hate crimes and bias incidents, according to the Attorney General’s Office, which noted the passage of laws to teach LGTBQ+ and Asian American and Pacific Islander contributions as part of the K-12 curriculum as an important step. It also noted that the Office received grants from the U.S. Department of Justice in December to create public awareness campaigns about the “rising tide of hate” as well as upgrade recording systems that allow law enforcement to send reports to the National Incident-Based Reporting System.
“Any rise in bias crimes is disturbing and we must continue to increase reporting mechanisms and support and invest in communities that are targets in these incidents,” said Brooke Lewis, associate counsel in the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, in a statement to NJ Spotlight News.
“At the same time we must remember that NJ remains a state with some of the highest racial disparities in the nation. So while we address individual incidents — which we must — we must also invest robustly in systemic change to make our state more equitable and inclusive for all,” Lewis said.
If you have been the victim of discrimination, a bias incident or a hate crime, you can report it to the state Attorney General’s hotline by calling 800-277-2427. You can also send your complaint via email to NJBIAS@NJDCJ.org, or file a report online here.
