Oregonians in 2022 reported to a confidential state hotline about more than 2,500 incidents of bias crimes or non-criminal incidents that made people from protected classes feel unwelcome. It’s an increase of 178% since the hotline launched in 2020.
The report said Oregonians likely still underreport bias incidents, both to police and to the state-run hotline. A 2021 survey cited in the report found that 18% of people of color in Oregon were victims of race-motivated assaults or witnessed family members being assaulted, and 25% of all Oregonians have experienced or witnessed race-based harassment.
And another 2021 survey cited in the report estimated that more than 1.2 million bias incidents occurred in Oregon in 2019, with nearly 8% of Oregonians being victims of bias incidents each year.
New data comes from the state-run bias response hotline, which since 2020 has logged more than 6,000 reports of hate crimes and non-criminal bias incidents.
They included grocery stores refusing to serve customers, school boards banning LGBTQ Pride flags, people painting swastikas or other hate symbols on structures, schools forcing transgender students to use unwanted names in their yearbooks and even a report of race-based murder.
“Hate is a stain on our state,” Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement. “Our bias response hotline is an essential resource for supporting victims of bias and hate incidents, as well as a critical tool for monitoring trends in bias and hate in Oregon. Everyone should feel like they belong in Oregon.”
The hotline, established by a 2019 state law, is meant to collect quantitative data on hate crimes, which are often undercharged. Advocates who answer calls can help callers connect with law enforcement to report crimes, but they don’t open investigations on their own.
Bias crimes can be charged as a misdemeanor or class C felony. The latter case, punishable by up to five years in prison, involves causing physical injury or fear of imminent physical injury because of the perpetrator’s perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or nationality.
Race-based incidents made up more than half the reports the hotline received in 2022, with anti-Black incidents responsible for a quarter of the total reports. Anti-Hispanic reports more than tripled in the past three years, reaching 15% of total reports in 2022.
Anti-Asian reports decreased from 2021 to 2022, from making up about 13% of total reports to 6%. Researchers attributed this drop in part to the COVID pandemic, as reports nationwide of anti-Asian harassment soared in 2020 and 2021.
Anti-LGBTQ incidents increased over the past few years, with reports about incidents targeting people over their sexual orientation making up 11% of reports in 2020 and 20% in 2022. Incidents targeting people for their gender identity made up 6% of reports in 2020 and 15% in 2022.
Callers are free to share as much or little identifying information with the hotline staff as they choose, meaning hotline staff have some leeway in how they classify incidents. For instance, an anonymous report that a student was flying a Confederate flag from their car in a school parking lot would be classified as anti-Black, even if the race of the person who felt targeted by the flag was unknown.
Swastikas are always classified as an anti-Jewish symbol at the request of the Anti-Defamation League, though a swastika could also be classified as an anti-LGBTQ or anti-disability symbol if the person targeted perceives it that way.
If you’ve experienced or witnessed a hate crime or other bias incident, call the state’s bias response hotline at 1-844-924-2427 or make an online report at StandAgainstHate.Oregon.gov.
The Oregon Capital Chronicle is a professional, nonprofit news organization. We are an affiliate of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers. The Capital Chronicle retains full editorial independence, meaning decisions about news and coverage are made by Oregonians for Oregonians.
