New York Gov. Hochul Launches “Hate and Bias Prevention Unit”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she is a launching a special unit to prevent “hate and bias” as part of what her office is calling an “early warning detection system” in communities. This new task force comes in conjunction with over $100 million the state has allocated to hate crime prevention.

Effective immediately, the New York State Division of Human Rights will launch the “Hate and Bias Prevention Unit,” which will lead public outreach efforts and responses to communities where they determine hate has occurred.

The Hate and Bias Prevention Unit is tasked with organizing 10 regional councils in New York as community committees of sorts, to tackle any issues that may arise in the area. The councils will provide services such organizing educational programming, conflict-resolution training, and a method for filing complaints. Perhaps most glaringly, the bias unit will develop a “rapid response team” to respond to “hate incidents” in the community.

“New York State will use every tool at its disposal to eliminate hate and bias from our communities,” the governor said. “We will not let the rise in hate incidents that we see happening online, across the country, and across the world take root here at home.”

New York Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado also echoed the need to stand up against hate, saying that “we cannot allow ignorance, fear, and hatred to damage the enormous amount of work we’ve done to move our state forward,.”

With over $96M dedicated to organizations that are “at risk of hate crimes and attacks” and an additional $10M toward “securing reproductive health centers,” Gov. Hochul has created a wide-ranging, sweeping network of government initiatives that provide funding for the most pertinent ideological battle grounds that Democrats have.

In November 2022, the governor’s office announced $50M of available funding for community-based organizations to “strengthen safety measures and protect against hate crimes,” in addition to $361M already made available through state and federal grants. This legislation required mandatory hate crime prevention training for hate crime offenders, along with the development of an anti-hate campaign.

As such, the new hate and bias unit will be tasked with “promoting acceptance, inclusion, tolerance, and understanding of diversity” and, through consulting with school districts, community organizations, local governments, and more, will develop educational materials on those subjects.

In total, including state and federal grants, there is now over $500M of funding available to fight “hate and bias” in the state of New York, which sees approximately 5,000 complaints of discrimination per year, according to the New York State Division of Human Rights.

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