Bias incidents and hate crimes continue to rise in New Jersey. And the place they’re most likely to be reported is in the state’s elementary and secondary schools.
The office of the state attorney general on Thursday released a report detailing bias incidents and hate crime trends in New Jersey for 2021 and 2022. Reported incidents for both years were higher than the year prior.
The office also released preliminary data for 2023, which shows bias incidents jumped 22% last year compared to 2022. That would make 2023 the eighth year in a row that reported incidents of bias in New Jersey have increased against individuals because of their race, religion, gender expression or sexuality.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin joined NJ Spotlight News to discuss the findings and to discuss what state officials are trying to do to combat the hate.
“So we’ve seen a whole range of bias incidents come in from scho0ols, everything from slurs or bullying, certainly social media, to potentially more serious or violent acts. And we take each and every one of those seriously, but we also need our schools to take it seriously. We’ve issued guidance to our K through 12 and institutions of higher education and I’ve advised them while this isn’t something I’m looking to do, if they fail to create a safe environment for our kids, if kids can’t go to school safely and learn safely and not be targeted because of who they are, then that school has potentially violated both state and federal law. So they have a legal obligation to provide that safe environment.”
Platkin said, “I think it’s important for everyone to understand, right now in New Jersey the place that’s the most likely location for a bias crime or a bias incident to be reported is our schools.”
Leadership support for Exploring Hate is provided by the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Antisemitism, with additional major funding from Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Charlotte and David Ackert, The Peter G. Peterson and Joan Ganz Cooney Fund and Patti Askwith Kenner. Additional support is provided by the Tiger Baron Foundation, Nancy and Morris W. Offit and Josh Weston.
