Recent reports show a significant increase in hate crimes in America’s biggest state and biggest city. The California DOJ says hate crimes against Blacks nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020, while anti-Asian crimes increased by 107 percent during that time. And the NYPD reports hate crimes are up 139 percent in New York City in 2021 compared to this time last year.

Why aren’t hate crime laws working? It’s a question we asked following a wave of Asian-American hate crimes across the country. Here’s what we found out.