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KPBS Midday Edition

Hate Crime Victims Share Their Stories In New Book

Cover of American Hate: Survivors Speak Out by Arjun Sethi on Oct, 24,2018
Jade Hindmon
Cover of American Hate: Survivors Speak Out by Arjun Sethi on Oct, 24,2018
Hate Crime Victims Share Their Stories In New Book
Hate Crime Victims Share Their Stories In New Book GUEST: Arjun Sethi, author, "American Hate: Survivors Speak Out"

This is KPBS midday edition. I'm Maureen Cavanaugh. Victims of hate crimes sometimes describe feeling powerless humiliated afraid they are left with medical bills mental health challenges and no safety net. While the number of hate crimes in California and across the country have steadily increased over recent years advocates say they are still underreported. For many victims that means the public never hears their stories. Civil rights attorney Arjun Sethi is bringing 14 first person accounts of hate crimes to light in a new book. It's called American hate. Survivors Speak OUT. CBS's Jade Heineman recently spoke with Sethi. Here's that interview. Well Arjin thanks for joining us today. You're a civil rights lawyer and a law professor what compelled you to write a book about the experiences of hate crime victims. What I was hearing in the run up to the 2016 presidential election was that hate was spiking in every facet of American life in the workplace classroom and public life. And so I thought it was important to travel the country and meet with survivors on their own terms in their own hometown and really chronicle and document their stories for this book. In one of the chapters in the book is the story of a woman named Osama Abu K.A.. Will you share a little bit about her story. Sure. Osma OBU Kanye is the first Syrian refugee to ever be resettled in Boise Idaho. And she talks about how in the runup to the 2016 presidential election as a refugee as a Syrian woman as a Muslim woman with a job she experienced all kinds of hateful incidents micro aggressions people making comments about her job people calling her things like ISIS telling her to go home. She also talks about how her son a young Muslim boy was the target of a vicious hate crime in downtown Boise. One day the boy was just walking in the street and another person came up to him and said Are you Muslim. And when the kid said yes the man violently punched him to the ground. All because he was Muslim. So it's an extraordinary example of how hate has spiked in Donald Trump's America. But an example also of how survivors are survivors are reconciling and moving forward despite losing so much. And you mentioned Asmas son there in the experience that they had. He was beaten up bullied and then he asked whether he should lie about being Muslim. Tell me about that and what impact that had that experience had on their family and establishing new lives in the U.S.. You know it's really painful. And you're right to recount that. You know some talks about how her son came home and said next time somebody asked me if I'm Muslim should I lie should I lie about my identity to protect myself. And so Asma told him he should never lie about his identity. He should be proud of being who he is and in her mind that's what America is about. But I will tell you that there are survivors across the country who have made a difficult and different decision to actually lie about their identity or to even change their identity. So one of the other stories in the book is the story of destiny Mangham and Walia Muhammed. They were the two young black women. One of them Muslim who were aboard the Mac's train in Portland Oregon in the summer of 2017 when a white supremacist came on the train started bullying them menacing them and when three upstander intervened. Two of them ultimately losing their lives. That day on the train because the White Supremacist stabbed them to death one of the girls on the train. Walia Mohamed who again is profiled in my book along with Destiny no longer wears a job and Walia talks in really painful detail about how after that experience she feels that in America her job makes her a target. And so survivors are approaching this moment very in some cases differently. There are some who have made the decision that they don't want to change their identity that they want to stay completely faithful and true to their values and there are others who feel out of the literally pure fear and concerns about their safety that they have no choice but to modify their identity in some cases and so that brings me back to what current data shows you know the FBI data shows an increase in hate crimes in the U.S. since the beginning of the 2016 presidential campaign. But correlation doesn't imply causation. So is it fair to connect crimes individuals commit to the Trump administration. It is absolutely for two reasons in particular. One there have literally been incidents of bullying cyber trolling and hate violence where the suspects have specifically mentioned Donald Trump. His rhetoric or his policies. That's a fact. No one can dispute that. And second I would ask folks to think about it intuitively. If Donald Trump is going to ban Muslims and refugees. If Donald Trump is going to Cajun separate immigrant families roll back protections for gender violence survivors rollback protections for transgender students it puts a target on our collective backs right. If the government is going to stigmatize us if the government is going to target us so will everyday Americans and that's why I think there is a fundamental relationship between state violence and hate violence. And let me give you another very concrete example. In December 2015 Donald Trump on the campaign trail said he was going to ban Muslims from entering the United States. That very same day a pig's head was found outside the Al Aqsa Islamic society mosque in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. That story is profiled in my book American hate. Survivors Speak OUT. Fast forward January 2017 in his very first week in office Donald Trump signed an executive order banning Muslims and refugees from entering the United States. That night a mosque was burned to the ground in Victoria Texas. So the fact of the matter is its politics matter. Rhetoric matters and all of it collectively has put a target on the back of vulnerable communities in this moment. And you in the book with a message of hope you say in the book so many survivors are willing to reconcile and talk even in the wake of unimaginable grief. They want accountability not retribution. They are living and practicing restorative justice. What did you find out in researching this book that left you optimistic. You know when I took to the road last year I anticipated finding lots of pain grief and suffering. And I did. And there are a lot of communities who are experiencing pain and hurt in this moment and truthfully have experienced it for a long time. Donald Trump in many ways is a symptom of broader deeper forces that have been at play in this country for a long time. However I also found that impacted communities and survivors in particular are resilient optimistic and are finding ways to push back every single story in the book. Every single testimonial in American hate includes at least one example of how survivors are rebuilding how survivors are organizing and advocating for a better world both for themselves and their communities. Arjun Sethi a very eye opening book. Thank you so much for taking time to talk to us today. My pleasure. Thank you so much. That was PBS as Jade Hyneman speaking with Arjun Sethi author of the book American hate Sethi will be discussing his book tonight at 730 at Warwick's in La Jolla.

Victims of hate crimes sometimes describe feeling powerless, humiliated, afraid. They’re left with medical bills, mental health challenges and no safety net.

While the number of hate crimes in California and across the country have steadily increased, advocates it's often underreported because hate crime reporting is not mandatory.

Report: California Hate Crimes Jumped In 2017, Though Rare

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For many victims that means the public never hears their stories.

In a new book, "American Hate: Survivors Speak Out," written by civil rights attorney Arjun Sethi stories from 14 survivors or hate crimes are told in first person accounts.

In the book, Sethi attributes the rise in hate crime across the country to the Trump Administration.

"There have been incidents of bullying, cyber trolling and violence where the suspects have specifically mentioned Donald Trump, his rhetoric or his policies," said Sethi.

Sethi spoke with Midday Edition about how survivors of hate crime are using their resilience to advocate for change.

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Sethi will be discussing his book Wednesday at 7:30 at Warwicks in La Jolla.