36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime Learning Handbook

🔺 Problem

36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime addresses urgent issue of hate crimes against Muslim Americans and the big problem of religious and racial bigotry in the U.S. It explores how a horrific act of violence - the murder of three young Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 2015 - was mischaracterized as a parking dispute rather than a hate crime.

The film reveals the ripple effects of hate crimes, showing how they impact not only the immediate victims and their families but entire communities and even millions of people worldwide. 

Systemic issues illuminated in this film includes:

1. The underreporting and misclassification of hate crimes.

2. The need for improved hate crime legislation and enforcement in the justice system.

3. The persistence of Islamophobia and other forms of religious and racial prejudice in American society.

4. The importance of community advocacy in pushing for justice and social change.

5. How media bias fails marginalized communities to benefit existing power structures, undermining democratic outcomes and failing to inform people with the information they need to make decisions around public policy.

This film challenges viewers to confront the reality of hate crimes and consider how society can better combat prejudice, bigotry, and bias-motivated violence.

"36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime" centers around the murder of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha in 2015.

🗞️ Important Facts

1. The FBI reported 11,634 hate crime incidents in 2022, an increase of 794 cases from 2021.

2. However, The Department of Justice's Bureau of Statistics estimates that about 54% of hate crimes were not reported to law enforcement from 2011 to 2015. In 2019, the BJS estimated there were approximately 305,390 hate crime victimizations in the United States.
The BJS uses the National Crime Victimization Survey to estimate hate crime victimizations, which captures both reported and unreported incidents

3. The discrepancy between the BJS estimates and FBI reports is due to several factors, including:
• Underreporting by law enforcement agencies to the FBI; the FBI data only includes incidents reported to and by law enforcement agencies, with only 77.6% of participating agencies submitting hate crime data in 2022.
• Victims not reporting incidents to the police; for example, some Indigenous communities have a deep-rooted distrust of public institutions, including law enforcement, which may lead to significant underreporting.
• Differences in how hate crimes are defined and classified (by different law enforcement agencies.)

4. Race-based crimes remain the most common type of hate crime, with 6,557 reported incidents in 2022.

5. Anti-Black or African American incidents numbered 3,421 in 2022, more than three times higher than the next highest racial or ethnic category.

6. Hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, rising from fewer than 300 to nearly 800 incidents.

7. Homes were the most common location for hate crimes in 2022, with 3,215 incidents.

8. In 2022, there were 158 reported anti-Muslim hate crime incidents.

📚 Other sources to learn more and build awareness

• Islamophobia is Pervasive, Systemic, and a Threat to All: Understanding the prevalence, manifestations, and consequences of anti-Muslim bigotry https://www.ispu.org/institutional-islamophobia/

• Countering and Dismantling Islamophobia A Comprehensive Guide for Individuals and Organization https://www.ispu.org/countering-islamophobia/

💬 Discussion Guide for friends & family

❓FAQ

About the Director

Tarek Albaba is a versatile filmmaker with 21+ years of experience working on television series, documentaries, narrative films and hour-long specials. His passion projects are focused on human rights, historical injustices and social issues. His dedication is vividly reflected in his feature documentary debut of "36 Seconds: Portrait Of A Hate Crime."

 

We hope this film illustrates how terrible hate crimes are, with all their ripple effects. They don’t just impact the victim’s families; they impact entire communities and, in this case, millions of people around the world.

This wasn’t just as simple as a parking dispute. It wasn’t as simple as an altercation between two neighbors.

It’s important for you all to be here for one another…this is where it starts, by sharing their story, understanding what these family members have gone through. That’s how we start to combat hate.

And we need to do more. - Tarek Albaba

 

The film celebrated its world premiere at the DOC NYC film festival in 2023 where it won the Subject Matter Award. Tarek was also selected for the DOC NYC 40 Under 40. He continues to develop and produce compelling stories that not only captivate audiences but also advocate for a more just and compassionate world.