Year in Hate and Extremism report 2024 policy recommendations

The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has confirmed a number of unqualified Trump loyalists — including individuals who have expressed racist, misogynistic and bigoted ideas — to key civil rights enforcement and intelligence and counterterrorism positions. The American people deserve public servants who are qualified, principled, independent and committed to protecting the rights of all.

• Congress should reject legislative efforts and prohibit funding for any federal agency initiative designed to weaponize Executive Order 14188, Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism; to restrict campus free speech; to threaten punitive funding cuts at universities; or to disregard due process and constitutional protections to impose lower standards for deportation or visa cancellation for protesting legal permanent residents or foreign students exercising lawful First Amendment rights.

We cannot effectively dismantle white supremacy and build a multiracial democracy without promoting mutual respect and ensuring that every person can live in a community that is safe and welcoming. The current promotion and mainstreaming of extremist ideas and the normalization of bigotry — including by elected government officials — presents a significant challenge. Words matter. Federal and state officials and business and community leaders must use their public platforms to condemn and repudiate bigoted and conspiracy-haunted speech when it occurs and object to the inclusion of individuals or groups that promote dangerous anti-immigrant “invasion” language, the lie that transgender people pose a threat to society, or the false “replacement” conspiracy theory at hearings or other official business.  

• Congress and state officials must fund coordinated and holistic initiatives designed to prevent and respond to all forms of discrimination, hate and extremism, and provide support services for those directly targeted and impacted by bias-motivated harms.

The FBI documented the highest number of hate crimes ever reported in 2023. Crimes against Black people were most numerous — as they have been every year since the FBI began collecting this data in 1991. Unfortunately, reporting is voluntary, and, though thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country do not report accurate data, the FBI still tabulated record numbers of crimes directed against Latinx people, Jewish people, Arab people, gay and lesbian people, and trans people. The highest numbers ever recorded, coupled with disturbing levels of police nonparticipation, prompts questions about how to expand cross-community coalitions and increase interagency coordination against hate. We also must act to improve law enforcement hate crime reporting and response as well as federal, state and local response to white supremacy and dangerous movements rooted in conspiracy theories and theocratic beliefs. 

• After 30 years of incomplete data and underreporting under the federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act, Congress should enact bipartisan legislation to condition federal funding for large state and federal law enforcement agencies on their accurate reporting of credible hate crime data to the FBI. 
• Congress must ensure that the Department of Justice and the FBI continue to collect and report the full range of hate crime data and should restore terminated grants and increase funding for hate crime prevention and training initiatives, as authorized by the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act — including funds for state hate crime hotlines to expand victim reporting — and the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. 
• Federal and state officials must enforce existing federal and state hate crime laws, increase funding for community-based hate crime prevention initiatives and expand training for judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials on alternative sentencing and restorative justice initiatives.

Domestic intelligence agencies have documented that the most lethal domestic terrorist threat to our country are racially motivated violent extremists who advocate for the superiority of the white race and violent antigovernment extremists. However, Trump’s terrible decision to indiscriminately pardon over 1,500 people who had been charged with crimes associated with the deadly events of Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol could lead to an increase in political intimidation tactics and violence. Similarly, his pardon of 23 anti-abortion activists who were convicted of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act risks emboldening extremists.

• Federal and state officials should enact laws and regulations that prevent the hiring, promotion, or retention of federal and state law enforcement officials who actively promote or participate in unlawful violence, white supremacy, or other biased policing — and mandate an annual report on these actions.
• Congress must rigorously oversee the Department of Defense’s implementation of Section 1749 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which prohibits naming Army bases after Confederate leaders, and ensure continued training and education initiatives for the 2021 Department of Defense Instruction 1325.06 anti-extremist guidance.
• Congress must conduct oversight to ensure that the Department of Defense and the service branches are continuing to create tailored anti-extremism initiatives for veterans to transition to civilian life, including counseling, mental health and social welfare services.
• State officials must enforce laws against private militias and paramilitary training.
• State officials should enact laws to restrict firearms in state capitols, key government buildings and near polling places to protect election workers.
• Congress should exercise its oversight authority and include language in FY26 appropriations that restricts the Department of Homeland Security from using its resources to support violent vigilante action against migrants at the southern border and prohibits federal law enforcement officials from coordinating and associating with armed militia groups.

To maintain the essence of our community institutions, we must look beyond security measures and address the root causes of racism, antisemitism, extremism and hate violence.

• Congress and the administration must provide equitable access to funds for security infrastructure to houses of worship and community institutions targeted with vandalism and violence. This support must be complemented with a parallel commitment to fund research and primary prevention initiatives to address all forms of hate and extremism, as well as support services for communities targeted and impacted by bias-motivated harms.

We have seen deliberate, concerted efforts to delegitimize, misrepresent and dismantle diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programs and other lawful efforts to advance equal opportunity — especially in higher education. These attacks mask a broader agenda: weakening civil rights protections, ending anti-discrimination enforcement and limiting opportunities for millions — including women, Black and Brown people, LGBTQ+ people, Americans with disabilities and veterans.

• Congress must ensure that critical civil rights offices remain intact and are enforcing civil rights laws equally and collecting and publishing demographic data; reject any efforts to weaken or reverse these laws; and oppose attempts to dismantle DEIA initiatives, whether through legislation or the illegal weaponization of federal grants.

Several states, particularly in the South, are passing laws banning books, censoring inclusive education and tacitly endorsing hate and discrimination against Black and Brown people by restricting teaching about racism and other painful truths about our nation’s racialized history. This also involves creating hostile environments for minority students of all kinds, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. Concealing the truth about our history does not protect our youth; it makes them susceptible to misinformation.

• Congress must reject efforts to restrict or condition funding for colleges and universities unless the institution adopts restrictions on its academic freedom and a narrow, speech-limiting definition of antisemitism.
• Congress must reject efforts to eliminate diversity and equal opportunity programs and efforts to restrict the teaching of accurate history or banning select books in schools — initiatives which tacitly endorse discrimination and hate against Black and Brown communities.
• Congress must authorize funding for federal, state and local programs to promote democracy and civics education as well as digital, media and information literacy initiatives, with a focus on teaching truth through inclusive education.

Technology is infiltrating nearly every part of American life — influencing decisions about housing, hiring and benefits and driving the spread of misinformation and disinformation online. The rise of artificial intelligence, algorithms and automated decision-making systems has accelerated this shift and will only continue to do so. These technologies can offer real benefits, but without safeguards, they risk exacerbating discrimination and causing harm — costing people jobs, housing, benefits and even their freedom. This is increasingly important, as major platforms with global reach like Meta and X have moved away from meaningful content moderation, making it easier for racists and extremists to disseminate propaganda and misogynistic content, recruit followers, generate profits and spread intimidation through social media.

• Congress must conduct rigorous oversight to establish and enforce guardrails to ensure these technologies are used transparently, adhere to and protect civil rights laws, prevent discrimination — particularly against historically marginalized communities — and advance equity and opportunity for all.