12 | APRIL 29 • 2021
PURELY COMMENTARY
guest column
Support the NO HATE Act
T
he eight Asian spa
murders in Atlanta.
A 65-year-old Asian
American woman kicked in
the stomach and face while
being verbally
attacked in New
York City. A
Jewish family
slashed with
a knife, also
in Manhattan.
Constant attacks
on African
Americans.
Sadly, today, many
Americans are in constant fear
for their safety simply because
of the color of their skin,
whom they love or how they
choose to pray.
Earlier this month, the
Khalid Jabara and Heather
Heyer National Opposition
to Hate, Assaults and Threats
to Equality (NO HATE) Act
was introduced into the U.S.
House of Representatives
as H.R. 2383., and into the
Senate a few days later. It
had been passed twice in the
116th Congress by the House
but was never passed by the
Senate. In the 117th Congress,
the Senate passed the bill on
April 22. In the House, leading
the bipartisan charge to get
it passed are four representa-
tives, two Democrats and two
Republicans, the latter which
includes Michigan’s own Fred
Upton of the 4th District.
To date, Rep. Peter Meijer,
a Republican from the 3rd
District (Grand Rapids), has
signed on as a co-sponsor and
several other Michigan repre-
sentatives are on the waitlist to
be included.
For some background,
Khalid and Heather, for whom
the bill was named, were real
people whose lives were cut
short because of hate.
Jabara, an Oklahoma
native of Lebanese
Christian descent,
was shot and killed by
his white neighbor in
2016. Heyer, who many
are familiar with, was killed
while counterprotesting at
the white-supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.
REPORTING OF HATE
The goal of this legislation is
to close the gaps in the report-
ing of hate crimes across the
nation, namely incentivizing
state and local law enforce-
ment to improve reporting
by making grants available
to provide resources such as
trainings, reporting hotlines,
public educational forums
and increased resources to
communicate with affected
communities.
One may ask: Why is
reporting such a large part of
this bill?
Each year, the FBI publishes
the previous year’s hate crimes
statistics. While it is shocking
to see how many and which
groups are targeted, it is per-
haps more upsetting when one
realizes that the numbers they
share are woefully inaccurate
and, in reality, much higher.
This is because not every
municipality reports hate
crimes accurately, or at all,
and many victims are afraid to
go to authorities. Today, only
13 percent of U.S. law enforce-
ment agencies submit any hate
crimes data to the FBI. In the
Jewish community, per the
American Jewish Committee’s
2020 State of Antisemitism in
America report, 76 percent of
Jews who were the target of a
hateful remark or attack did
not report it.
So, without proper report-
ing, what would incentivize
victims to go to the authorities?
How else will resources that
could possibly curb the rising
numbers be provided, such as
the forums and trainings?
To help make hate crimes a
terrible memory of the past,
we, as Jews, must remember
that we have been taught
to love our neighbor and
to make this a better world
through tikkun olam. Today,
there may be no better way to
show our love than supporting
the NO HATE Act, which will
inevitably help all Americans,
no matter their religion, skin
color or sexuality.
We can all make a concert-
ed effort to “see something,
say something,” whether
the verbal or physical attack
was on you, a friend, family
member or even a complete
stranger.
Lauren Garfield-Herrin is associate
director of the Jewish Community
Relations Council/AJC.
Lauren
Garfield-
Herrin
When President Biden signed
the American Rescue Plan Act
of 2021, countless Americans
breathed a sigh of relief,
knowing that some financial
relief would be on its way in the
form of a stimulus check.
But what some may not
know, is that the Act also calls
for major improvements in
access to and affordability of
health coverage through the
Marketplace by increasing
eligibility for financial
assistance.
In other words — more
financial relief.
The new law lowers health
insurance premiums for most
people who currently have a
Marketplace health plan and
expands access to financial
assistance for more consumers.
On average, premiums for a
single person will decrease by
$50 per month or $85 per policy
per month.
When a special enrollment
period was opened (originally
set for Feb. 15-May 15; it has
since been extended until Aug.
15), more than 200,000 people
signed up for Marketplace cov-
erage through healthcare.gov
in the first two weeks — some
of whom were assisted by the
health care navigators at Jewish
Family Service.
Community members who
are signing up for health insur-
ance for the first time, as well as
those who have already enrolled
through the Marketplace, may
be eligible for more savings and
are encouraged to contact Jewish
Family Service for assistance.
For more information or to
schedule an appointment, con-
tact Olga Semenova at (248)
592-2262 or osemenova@
jfsdetroit.org.
Marketplace Health
Enrollment Extended