Res. No. 838
Resolution calling on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, A.2146/S.4502 to establish an educational program related to the prevention of antisemitism, Islamophobia bias, and discrimination based on religion, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.
By Council Members Menin, Powers, Gutiérrez, Brewer, Louis, Hanif, Farías and Ung
Whereas, According to a 2022 Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) national survey, about 62 percent of American Muslims and 50 percent of American Jews reported facing religious discrimination in the previous year; and
Whereas, According to the ISPU national survey, about 48 percent of Muslim families and 13 percent of Jewish families reported having a school-age child face religious-based bullying in the previous year, with about 20 percent of Muslim families reporting almost daily bullying; and
Whereas, A 2014 study by the Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group, reported that about 54 percent of all American Sikh school-age children have been bullied at school; and
Whereas, The Coalition of Hindus of North America noted the rising number of hate crimes against Hindus worldwide; and
Whereas, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 2020 data documented a 500 percent increase in hate crimes against Indian Americans; and
Whereas, According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of the oldest and largest international Jewish nongovernmental organizations, antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in the United States (U.S.) in 2021, with a total of 2,717 reported incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism; and
Whereas, According to the FBI’s 2020 Uniform Crime Reporting Program, about 44 percent of the 463 hate crimes reported in New York State (NYS) were religious-based bias incidents, with about 89 percent of those being anti-Jewish incidents, and these numbers might reflect an underreporting of incidents; and
Whereas, According to the ADL, NYS leads the U.S. in antisemitic incidents, with the number of reported criminal and noncriminal incidents targeting Jews seeing an increase of 24 percent, from 336 in 2020 to 416 in 2021; and
Whereas, According to New York Police Department (NYPD) data, anti-Jewish crimes in New York City (NYC) increased 62 percent, from 121 in 2020 to 196 in 2021; and
Whereas, The 2021 National School Climate Survey, conducted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), found that about 68 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) students between the ages of 13 and 21 felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression and about 79 percent avoided school functions or extracurricular activities because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable; and
Whereas, The GLSEN survey found that about 85 to 95 percent of LGBTQ+ students heard homophobic remarks or negative remarks in school about gender expression or transgender individuals and that about 76 percent experienced in-person verbal harassment and 31 percent physical harassment; and
Whereas, The GLSEN survey also found that the majority of LGBTQ+ students who were harassed or actually assaulted in school did not report the incident to school staff, but that the majority of those who did report the incident noted that school staff did little or nothing in response; and
Whereas, The GLSEN survey further found that almost 60 percent of LGBTQ+ students experienced discriminatory policies or practices at school, including being prevented from using their chosen name or pronouns, using their preferred restroom or locker room, wearing their preferred style of clothes, or playing on sports teams consistent with their gender; and
Whereas, A.2146, introduced on January 23, 2023, by State Assembly Member Steve Stern, would amend the NYS education law to require the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to establish an educational program to help prevent antisemitism, Islamophobia bias, and discrimination based on religion, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression; and
Whereas, Companion bill S.4502, introduced on February 9, 2023, by State Senator John Liu, would also provide for the development of that educational program, which would involve students, parents, and school faculty in teaching acceptance and inclusion and which would encourage “fight[ing] back against those who practice hate”; and
Whereas, According to the memorandum in support of A.2146/S.4502, “Hate has no place here” in NYS; and
Whereas, According to the memorandum in support of A.2146/S.4502, “With a disturbing increase in the number of [antisemitic] attacks and assaults occurring in New York we must work on multiple fronts to combat the scourge of hate, intolerance, [antisemitism,] and Islamophobia”; and
Whereas, A.2146/S.4502 would require the NYSED to contract with an outside organization, with expertise in these types of discrimination, to create the prevention and education program called for, which would then be overseen by the NYSED; and
Whereas, A.2146/S.4502 would require that the prevention and education program consist of “age-appropriate model curriculum including lesson plans [and] best practice instructional resources for students, parents, and school personnel” as well as “indicators and warning signs” of discriminatory thinking and behavior; and
Whereas, A.2146/S.4502 would require that the prevention and education program include up-to-date information on how to report complaints about incidents of discrimination; and
Whereas, A.2146/S.4502 would require that the model curriculum be available for voluntary use in social studies classes; and
Whereas, A.2146/S.4502 would require that materials be updated periodically; and
Whereas, A.2146/S.4502 would require that the materials be available on the NYSED’s website in Spanish, Creole, Mandarin, Korean, Bengali, and other languages spoken by a substantial portion of the population in NYS; and
Whereas, According to the Public Religion Research Institute, NYC has the largest number of Jewish and Muslim residents of any municipality in the U.S., making the creation of the prevention and education program called for by A.2146/S.4502 particularly appropriate for use in NYC Department of Education (DOE) public schools; and
Whereas, A.2146/S.4502 would go into effect on the next July 1 after passage of the bills; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, A.2146/S.4502 to establish an educational program related to the prevention of antisemitism, Islamophobia bias, and discrimination based on religion, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.
LS #14299
10/16/23
RHP