A/HRC/56/68/Add.1 concerned and disappointed that similar efforts to add caste to the list of protected grounds in California’s anti-discrimination legislation were vetoed by the Governor, despite being passed by both houses of the state legislator. Nor was the Special Rapporteur convinced by the California Governor’s rationale that existing provisions provide protection from caste-based discrimination. To the contrary, precision in specifying all forms of racial discrimination is vital. O. Hate speech and hate crime 58. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned by the high and growing levels of racist hate speech, including online and offline hate speech, and hate crime. Data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2022 recorded 11,634 hate crime incidents involving 13,337 offences.28 Such figures, despite being very high, are likely an underestimate, due to gaps and weaknesses in hate crime reporting, including the fact that the reporting of hate crimes by law enforcement agencies to the Federal Bureau of Investigation is voluntary, as well as fear and mistrust in reporting among the communities affected. The Special Rapporteur perceives hatred, othering and stereotyping to be key features of systemic racism and white supremacy and is concerned about the growing prevalence and mainstream acceptance of racial hatred, including the use of hate speech among political figures. She commends measures to address hatred, including the Attorney General’s Memorandum on Improving the Department’s Efforts to Combat Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. P. Anti-Black racism and hatred against those of African descent 59. The Special Rapporteur is alarmed by information indicating that hate crime against people of African descent continues to be the most common form of such hatred. 29 Extremism, accelerationist ideologies, white supremist ideas, and the glorification of terrorist activities targeting those of African descent have become significantly more integrated in mainstream society and politics. They are also more widely disseminated, including through the sharing and amplification of such hateful materials on mainstream social media platforms. These forms of racist hatred have motivated many horrifying race-based hate crimes, including mass shootings in El Paso, Texas; Buffalo, New York; and Jacksonville, Florida. 60. While welcoming broad government initiatives on hate incidents, the Special Rapporteur was concerned by the absence of information she received during her visit about specific, targeted measures to address pervasive hatred against people of African descent. Q. Anti-Asian hate 61. The Special Rapporteur received concerning information about high levels of anti-Asian hatred, including verbal harassment, bullying, microaggressions, and discriminatory treatment in shops and on public transport. It was described to her how Asians experienced cyclical patterns of hate, which often involved scapegoating Asians for adverse events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The Special Rapporteur was deeply concerned by reports of violent hate crimes, including fatal incidents, believed to potentially be motivated by racial scapegoating of Asians for the COVID-19 pandemic. 62. The Special Rapporteur welcomes steps taken at the federal level to address anti-Asian hate, including the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and the Presidential Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. She also welcomes federal legislation, such as 28 29 14 Federal Bureau of Investigation, “FBI releases 2022 hate crime statistics”, available at https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/hate-crime-statistics. FBI, “Crime Data Explorer”, available at https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/hate-crime. GE.24-08027