13 Nov United Against Hate Week Kicked Off Sunday

San Francisco Police Department numbers on hate crimes from 2019 to 2021 (image courtesy of the San Francisco Police Department via Bay City News)

By Katy St. Clair
Bay City News

Sunday marked the first day of United Against Hate Week, a call for local action that began in the Bay Area in 2017 and has since branched out across the state and parts of the country.

According to unitedagainsthateweek.org, the event emerged after a poster campaign was started in the Bay Area in response to white supremacist rallies in Berkeley and San Francisco.

On Monday, a press conference to launch the week will be held on the site of past skirmishes between anti-fascists and white supremacists, the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park in Berkeley, with Mayor Jesse Arreguin and Assemblymember Phil Ting in attendance.

According to the California Civil Rights Department, hate crimes have been at their highest levels since 2001, with a 20% jump from 2021 to 2022.

Redwood City has multiple events planned for the week. On Monday, the City Council will make a proclamation against hate along with youth from the Sequoia High School Dream Club and the Redwood City Together Promotores Team. Union City’s Council will do something similar on Thursday.

Highlights of the week in Redwood City include Tuesday, when kids are encouraged to walk to school in honor of Ruby Bridges, who was a little girl in 1960 when she became the first Black student to integrate an elementary school in New Orleans.

On Nov. 20, a Transgender Day of Remembrance will take place in Redwood City for people who have been murdered for their gender expression, especially Black transgender women.

Redwood City will also hold several events at the library, from a Meet Your Neighbors mixer to drag queen story time for children.

For a full list of Redwood City activities, go to https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/library.

On Wednesday, Marin County will be offering a free screening of the documentary “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life,” which examines the community response to a hate crime.

The background of the film is based on when Robert Bowers entered the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2018, and opened fire in what has been so far the deadliest attack on the Jewish Community in the United States.

>>>Read: Third Annual Eradicate Hate Global Summit Takes Place

The Marin County District Attorney’s Office is taking part in the free screening along with other organizations, but online registration is required for tickets. To sign up, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/repairing-the-world-stories-from-the-tree-of-life-tickets-749568197657?aff=oddtdtcreator.

On Thursday in Mountain View, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, will host a Bystander Training, to discuss how to intervene if you think you are witnessing a hate crime.

Also on Thursday, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office and others will discuss how restorative justice is being implemented. There will be an examination of how restorative justice was used in sentencing for the defacement of the Black Lives Matter mural. The event is at 6:30 p.m. at 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz.

On Friday, San Carlos will host a 3rd Annual Poetry Slam, and on Saturday in Pleasant Hill there will be a Unity Walk.

There are dozens more events and activities. For more information about each event, to see virtual events, and to find events near you, go to https://www.unitedagainsthateweek.org./

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