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 

