California hotline and Oroville's cultural center offer assistance
by Yucheng Tang | Posted January 21, 2025
photo by Yucheng Tang
Seng Yang, director of Butte County’s Hmong Cultural Center.
Among more than a thousand reports received by the California vs Hate hotline in the first year, the most commonly cited form of hate was based on race and ethnicity.
Anti-Black bias was the most common, followed by anti-Latino and anti-Asian, said Kevin Kish, director of the California Civil Rights Department, during a Jan. 17 briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services (EMS).
The Civil Rights Department launched the hotline in May 2023, and connects victims and witnesses of hate incidents and hate crimes with the resources they may need, including legal services, counseling, mental health services and financial assistance. People can report online in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, Hmong, Filipino and Chinese, or by phone in 200 languages.read more
YUBA CITY — Sikh communities want more visibility and want their stories heard.
Not only should the religious stories be told, but also the stories about how Sikh farmers grow peaches and walnuts, how Sikh community members import food from Mexico or export into Canada, and how they contribute to California’s economy. That’s the view of Jasbir Singh Kang, co-founder of the Punjabi American Heritage Society in Sutter County.
The “Sikh Listening Session” held in Yuba City on Oct. 23 was organized by the California Racial Equity Commission and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA), and gave community members the opportunity to share their stories.read more
Some candidates rely on racist tropes or discriminatory language
by Natalie Hanson | Posted September 4, 2024
photo courtesy of Yee campaign
District 1 candidate Rose Yee attending the Democratic National Convention.
As racist and discriminatory speech become commonplace in electoral campaigns, candidates and campaign organizers are calling for a response. In Butte County and elsewhere, some would like elected officials to speak against discrimination and in favor of protecting marginalized Californians.
On a recent panel convened by Ethnic Media Services, organizers said that anti-immigrant rhetoric from the Republican Party is growing. Panelists said that many incumbents and GOP candidates use slurs against migrants, which fuels fear and anger against people who seek a better life in America.
Hateful speech has been on the rise since 2016, said David Welch, secretary of the Butte County Democratic Party and chairperson for the Democratic Action Club of Chico. Welch said that “free floating anger” came to the surface with Donald Trump’s rise to power and the presidency.
Welch said that offensive speech has spread to local politics in Butte County, including both discriminatory language and “othering” directed at vulnerable groups like the homeless.
Rose Yee, who is running against incumbent Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) for his District 1 congressional seat, said elected officials are tasked with challenging longstanding harm to their constituents.
“Only by naming harm can we start to undo it,” Yee said. “If elected officials care for everyone in our community — as they should — they are obligated to object when anyone in our community is subject to identity-based attacks.”
Anti-immigrant speech in the North State
Some elected officials say they continue to face anti-immigrant attitudes, despite their work to advocate for their constituents.
When Gridley City Councilmember Catalina Sanchez ran for office in 2020 alongside two other Latino candidates, ChicoSol reported on the discrimination the trio faced. For example, the Butte County Farm Bureau endorsed an ad telling voters to support “homegrown leadership” — a phrase that Sanchez said specifically targeted the immigrant community and implied that Latino candidates may not be citizens.
“I grew up here and I’m a citizen. Never did I think the bullying would be about race,” Sanchez said.
In addition, Sanchez said she found herself needing to be more assertive when first elected to the City Council as a woman and person of color in order to be taken seriously.
She said she finds it offensive to watch the region’s elected leadership call people “illegal” and advocate for “building the wall” in public statements. Their own communities benefit from employing migrants, she said.
“When local electeds speak to target border security and building a wall, they forget who they are talking about,” she said. “It’s their constituents they are talking negatively about. It’s also the undocumented immigrant community from Yuba City to the Oregon Border that is giving cheap, back-breaking labor to the ag industry with profits from the harvest of peaches, walnuts, grapes and rice in this region.”
As president in 2019, Trump referred to other countries as “totally broken and crime infested places” and erroneously suggested that some progressive women members of Congress were from those countries.
Building the enemy
Manuel Ortiz Escámez, a sociologist and journalist who co-founded the news organization Peninsula 360 in Redwood City, said anti-immigrant language relies on the concept of “building the enemy.” The concept names the use of propaganda to vilify a group of people as a political tool to sow division and organize power around oppressing that group, he said.
Politicians know the power of words, and could speak out against propaganda, Ortiz added. He pointed out that racist speech toward immigrants, most notably from former President Donald Trump, has been successful in galvanizing support within some voter groups.
“Politics needs an enemy, because the enemy creates the feeling or urgency, creates unity, and the need of a savior, a hero,” Ortiz said. He pointed out periods in California’s history when anti-immigrant speech hurt communities such as Chinese workers, including some who lived and worked in Chico.
There are different ways to respond to hateful speech, according to Gustavo Gasca Gomez. An immigration outreach specialist with the Education and Leadership Foundation, he serves immigrants and first-generation children in Fresno, including those who need help with reporting hate crimes to authorities. As a former immigrant farmworker, he said discriminatory campaign speech can perpetuate stereotypes that are “demeaning” to him and his community.
As someone with a long background in campaign-watching in the North State, Welch agrees, stating: “Varying degrees of racism and bigotry against the newcomer have been a pervasive part of American history. So it’s really important that we acknowledge that to not deny that reality, and be willing to call attention to that.”
Welch said that successful candidates must call out hateful speech rather than “normalize it.”
For example, he said, City Councilmember Addison Winslow has spoken against language that many find demeaning of homeless people. Council candidate Mike Johnson has said he hopes to reduce the “othering” of homeless people through verbal and physical attacks.
Welch said that other elected officials ought to do the same, noting that candidates for office could partner with local organizations to show their support for marginalized people.
Natalie Hanson is a contributing editor to ChicoSol. This story was supported by an Ethnic Media Services Stop the Hate fellowship.
Community organizations are relying heavily on partnerships with the Golden State’s government to aid LGBTQ people who face an increase in hate crimes across California.
There were 405 reported hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation bias (an increase of 3.6% from the previous year) in 2023, and 76 hate crime events motivated by anti-transgender bias (an increase of 7.04%). California’s attorney general Rob Bonta called those increased reports “alarming,” according to a report from Ethnic Media Services (EMS).
The state’s Department of Justice reports that despite the category increases cited above, there was a 7.1% decrease overall in hate crimes in 2023 from the previous year.
A recent LA Times/National Opinion Research Center poll on LGBTQ+ communities shows that most Americans accept same-sex marriage and laws to protect queer people from job discrimination. However, the same poll showed lower public approval on matters and legislation affecting trans and nonbinary people.
Representatives from the California Civil Rights Department, community-based organizations and LGBTQ+ advocates discussed the rise in some hate crimes in a panel convened by EMS last week. The speakers said that people may have different experiences with hate and discrimination depending on race, age, class, gender and other factors.
The state said that data collected within the latest year of operating the CA vs. Hate hotline demonstrates how the LGBTQ+ community’s input has shaped the services offered to people reporting hate crimes.
Toni Newman of the Black Leadership Council — a collection of leaders seeking to improve conditions for Black Californians and other vulnerable populations — said that 19 transgender people were killed in California in 2024. About 68% of the victims were people of color, and 32% were Black, they said.
Black transgender people are at particular risk of experiencing hate and violence, as well as employment and housing discrimination, Newman said.
Newman blamed religious institutions, and extremist groups for targeting transgender people, who are only 1.5% of the national population, with nearly 500 bills across the country.
However, “It is not all doom and gloom,” Newman said. The state legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 approved funding for the Intersex Heath and Equity unit, the first in the nation, to fund transgender-supporting organizations.
The governor also this month approved a law to protect public school children from being outed to their parents by school district employees.
Newman told the panel: “Transgender and nonconforming people are Americans. We are not asking for anything but fair treatment.”
Andy Ruiz, who provides legal support at the Transgender Health Clinic at St. John’s Community Health in Los Angeles, said that empowering the public and community organizations to report hate crimes is critical to protect LGBTQ people.
Ruiz said they often work with LGBTQ immigrants who are experiencing dangerous hate incidents. Latinos in San Diego and other cities are often reluctant to call police for help with hate — especially if that hate comes from family members, they said.
“I meet a lot of LGBTQ youth who are victims of hate incidents by their own relatives,” Ruiz said. “Restorative justice has been very helpful in Latino families in discussing the pain someone feels when they’re misgendered, or when they face (criticism) when they say they’re LGBTQ.”
Aries Rivers Yumul, a teacher and coordinator of LGBTQ+ District Resource and Support at the Santa Clara County Office of Education, said that LGBTQ students are still more likely to have higher absentee rates due to cyberbullying and other safety concerns.
Schools are the last bastions of public services for many students across the country, Yumul said, and public employees are often the first line of defense for the most vulnerable students.
“I think our youth are very much inundated with what’s happening in social media, what’s happening nationwide,” Yumul said. “They’re seeing and experiencing what it means to really be cared for, but they’re also seeing new ways that hate can spread.”
Becky Monroe, Deputy Director of Strategic Initiatives and External Affairs at the California Civil Rights Department, said that hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation have consistently increased statewide since 2014. However, she cautioned the panel that the state takes into account the fact that hate crimes are underreported.
Monroe said that people do not need to have legal experience to know if the harm they experience rises to the level of hate crimes, and the state can step in to help make that determination. The state also is working with agencies with culturally competent workers who can also help provide support for people affected by hate crimes.
“If you report, you will get support,” Monroe promised.
Natalie Hanson is a contributing editor at ChicoSol News.
by Karen Laslo and Leslie Layton | Posted June 19, 2024
photo by Karen Laslo
Juneteenth at DeGarmo Park in Chico.
A Juneteenth celebration, with food, music and speeches, drew a cross-section of the community to DeGarmo Park today to celebrate the federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery.
“We’re really going for a family-reunion type vibe,” said Christina Archie, an organizer with the group, Building Leaders, Advocates & Community Connections (BLACC) late in the afternoon. “We’re just wanting people to feel the love within the community. We’re working on that connection piece, community connection. It’s been really cool.”
BLACC organized the event because members felt it was important to “bring the community together” to celebrate a day that was “very important in American history, Black history,” Archie added.
“There’s still lots of work to do, but it’s very important to celebrate all the accomplishments that have happened thus far,” Archie told ChicoSol. “We want to encourage people to advocate for themselves, advocate for their people, their community.
“It’s an election year and there are a lot of important things on the ballot. so we’re encouraging people to register to vote. I know that with the climate of things, people sometimes feel their vote doesn’t matter. A lot of people fought for us to have this right to vote, so let’s utilize our voice.”
BLACC has members in Chico, Oroville and Paradise, and Archie said 34 vendors or groups signed up to host booths at today’s celebration. Sponsors included United Way, the California Health Collaborative, and the NAACP Butte County.
Juneteenth celebrations are a longstanding tradition in many Black communities, marking the day of June 19, 1865, when final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas was ordered. Many slaves, however, weren’t freed until the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in December 1865 or even much later.
Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the National Independence Day Act.
Karen Laslo is a photojournalist and occasional contributor to ChicoSol. Leslie Layton is editor.
Orellana's priorities: water, technology, community engagement
by Ken Smith | Posted April 5, 2024
photo by Ken Smith
Ricardo Orellana brings a global perspective to his role as the Chico State University farm director.
Ricardo Orellana grew up against the backdrop of a 12-year civil war in his native El Salvador, but his childhood memories are thankfully dominated by more peaceful recollections — namely, of working with the cows at his grandmother’s farm outside the small town of Usulutá.
“It wasn’t a large farm, just five or six acres with about 25 milking cows and a few other animals,” Orellana said during a recent interview. “She also grew cassavas, tomatoes, beans and corn. It was very rural, and how I fell in love with agriculture.”
In the ensuing decades, that passion has carried Orellana around the world, and most recently to Chico. Orellana was hired as the director of the Chico State University Farm last year, and this month will celebrate one year serving in that capacity. He is the first person of color and the first native Spanish speaker to hold that job, and brings a unique international perspective to the position.
Orellana was educated first at Zamarano University in Honduras, achieved his doctorate in plant and soil sciences from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and also holds degrees from universities in Chile and El Salvador. He has lived and worked all over Central and South America and in more far-flung locations, including a short stint in Egypt.
Much of his previous work was focused on helping under-served populations. He comes to Chico State from Cornell University, where he organized food safety training for Latino communities in North and South America. In Egypt, he sought better pay and working conditions for women, who provide the backbone of that country’s booming sun-dried tomato industry.
“Ricardo is quickly learning Northern California agriculture and already knows a lot about global agriculture,” said David Hassenzahl, dean of California State University Chico’s College of Natural Sciences, who is currently doing double duty as the interim dean of the school’s agriculture department.
“He’s very qualified and doing a great job, and comes with a lot of experience in ag extension, which is how universities share their agricultural knowledge with the community. He’s very experienced in working with communities and raising a variety of crops.”
Orellana maintains an office in the administrative building, where he outlined his duties as director of the 800-acre farm and shared his history and plans for the future with ChicoSol.
Tradition versus progress
One of the primary issues in agriculture for the last two decades, and one that certainly plays into ag education, is the use of traditional methods versus more progressive practices focused on organic, regenerative and sustainable farming. Orellana said in order to best prepare students, the farm offers instruction across the board.
“I understand the importance of both,” he said. “Conventional ag exists for so many reasons, and organic and regenerative ag exists because we have some problems managing resources. Our goal is to serve the industry so people can come here and see what’s going on.
“What is the best … I think that’s not my business,” he continued. “People do things for a reason, and we need to expose students to all different types of practices and management, so they can find what they want to do and the niche they want to work in.”
That said, Orellana said the best way to bolster emerging methods is with data and research, another of the farm’s endeavors. “This is not a specialized place doing only research, and I don’t see us competing with those big institutions that do that because we don’t have the resources or the specialization.
“But I do see us doing practical research for the people we serve. Then you can ask, ‘What is good and what is bad?’, you have the data, and then you can provide opinions on that.”
One such research project taking place at the farm, now in its first of five years, is a carbon sequestration project being conducted by Chico State’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems. Two fields of alfalfa have been planted side by side, one of which will be tended with traditional methods and the other with newer methods, and data will reflect how much carbon is deposited into the soil and other factors.
Another project promoting and teaching students more sustainable practices is the Organic Vegetable Project, a 3-acre piece of land producing more than four dozen varieties of organic-certified vegetables. It was founded in 2008, and Scott Grist has served as director of the project since summer 2019. Grist said the OVP is “where some of the most revolutionary things are happening at the farm,” and noted it is the only unit dedicated entirely to organic plant production. Vegetables grown there are distributed to students in need, for free, at the Hungry Wildcat Food Pantry, and served in campus dining halls.
“Ricardo has been super supportive of new, sustainable ideas, and of coming up with new and innovative ways of thinking about and managing the farm in general,” Grist said, explaining that he’s been working with Orellana to ensure funding to sustain the OVP into the future.
“He’s not boxed in by the past and he’s able to see how things can be rearranged to improve the efficiency of each unit without being afraid of the outcome. Politics and ideologies can sometimes get in the way of making changes, but he’s not afraid to take those risks.”
During the conversation, Orellana also touched on international agricultural issues ranging from labor and distribution of wealth (“In some instances, the people working to produce the food others enjoy do not even have the money to eat that food themselves”) to water issues. He shared his own experiences living and working in El Chaco in Paraguay, where people are rationed 65 liters of water a month — less than a gallon a day (“Climate change is real, and even places like the North State where water is plentiful now, people need to prepare”).
“Everything ties together, everything has an influence, and politics do as well, because sometimes politicians make decisions that are not well-informed. They need to ask questions so those decisions can better represent the interests of all people.
“All of the students we have in our classes, they will be the next ranchers, farmers, owners of companies, and representatives … and that’s why all of this is so important.”
A living laboratory
The University Farm, formally known as the Paul L. Byrne Memorial University Farm, is located off Hegan Lane, south of Chico. It was established in 1960 to provide hands-on experience for Chico State’s agriculture and natural science students. The farm includes an organic dairy; several fruit and nut orchards; row crops; separate animal units dedicated to sheep, beef and swine; a USDA-monitored Meats Laboratory; and the aforementioned Organic Vegetable Project. There are also classrooms, though much of the instruction takes place in the open air. The farm serves an estimated 250 students daily. Orellana’s predecessor, Dave Daley, served as the farm’s director for 13 years.
Orellana explained that managing a university farm is quite different than working at any other agricultural center.
“Most farms are strictly commercial, and for that reason they are driven by what the market wants,” he said. “This is a lot different, in that we need to produce what the students need and the community wants and bring them here. We have to plan, budget, and define key performance indicators for every activity, then monitor and report them. And what we do needs to relate to the curriculum and benefit the students.
“We have a lot of stakeholders that the farm serves and must answer to … students, the university authorities, and the local community. My challenge is to do this and keep the farm sustainable.”
It’s a delicate balancing act. Animal and crop units must be profitable, to some degree, in order to augment what is budgeted by the university for operating costs, improvements, student labor and other expenses.
“A few crops need to make money to survive,” he said. “And even if some lose money, we need to know we’re training students and doing research, keeping up with industry interest, and making sure that students learn what they need to get a job.
One of his most pressing tasks since taking the job has been creating a plan to upgrade the facilities using a one-time $18.75 million granted to each of the California State University system’s four farms in its 2022-23 budget (the others are located at Fresno State, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo). More than half of that funding will go toward a new, 10,000-square foot Agricultural Teaching and Resource Center building that will serve as a conference center and house new classrooms, a farm store, commercial kitchen and offices. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held later this summer, and Hassenzahl said the construction is scheduled to be completed in summer 2025.
The funding will be also be used to upgrade infrastructure and to replace some of the farm’s aging machinery; Orellana noted that some of the existing tractors and other equipment have been in use for decades and are badly in need of being replaced.
“Ideally, we could have the farm open from July to September with lots of crops that people can come pick” — Ricardo Orellana
Among Orellana’s top goals is ensuring that the farm attracts and engages the entire community, which he believes the new building will help accomplish by providing an attractive space for university — and even public — events. He mentioned the popularity of the farm’s “U-Pick Peaches” event held in August, when people can come pick that fruit for a nominal price, and said he’d like to expand on that to offer other fruits like plums, pears and mandarin oranges.
“Ideally, we could have the farm open from July to September with lots of crops that people can come pick,” he said. “It would increase the food production, and bringing the community in is important even if we don’t make a lot of money from it.”
“Professional development is important for people working and studying here. We want to make sure that when they open their eyes in the morning they want to come here, that it’s an environment that invites them to grow, to have friends and a good life here.”
Ken Smith is a freelance writer and editor based in Chico who produced this story and the video and photos.
After ChicoSol was informed of a change in the university’s plans, this story was corrected (on April 10) to state that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Agricultural Teaching and Resource Center will be held later this summer.
