Friday, November 21, 2008
Hate Breeds Hate: The "Sport" of "Beaner Hopping"
The facts that continue to come out about the hate murder of Ecuadoran (legal) immigrant Marcello Lucero send chills up the spine of anyone with a conscience. It initially was reported that the defendants had begun their hate-filled escapades with the statement: "Let’s go find some Mexicans."" But it gets worse. Here is the latest from the N.Y. Times:
"Every now and then, perhaps once a week, seven young friends got together in their hamlet of Medford, on eastern Long Island, to hunt down, and hurt, Hispanic men. They made a sport of it, calling their victims “beaners,” a reference to the staple Hispanic dish of rice and beans, prosecutors said on Thursday."
And the story gets even worse. The teens apparently viewed their hate crimes as the "sport" of "beaner hopping."
We have previously reported on the FBI data documenting the increase in hate crimes against Latinos, As I have contended in talking with the press, the increase in hate crimes appears tied to the heated, at times hateful, public debate regarding immigration, which has included the "scapegoating" of immigrants and Latinos for various social ills. " It hardly seems mere coincidence that hate crimes against Latinos are on the rise at the same time there has been an (over)heated debate about immigration and immigrants at the local level.
Consider the context surrounding the hate murder of Marcello Lucero. In Long Island, the County Executive had been railing against undocumented immigrants for months. Tempers flared and a young man was killed. In Shenendoah, PA earlier this year, a young Mexican immigrant man (in public with a white woman) was killed. Recall that tempers flared with passage of the anti-immigrant ordinance (which a court enjoined) in Hazleton, PA, (for an example of the hate directed at "illegal aliens" in a speech in Hazleton, listen to William Gheen of ALIPAC), another rural PA town.
KJ
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2008/11/hate-breeds-hat.html
Comments
The Obama administration has not listed comprehensive immigration reform as a first-term priority. The best thing would be for all illegals to go home now, with out without removal orders.
Posted by: Thomas Lillich | Nov 21, 2008 9:38:18 AM
Stop the Hate!
Stop the Hate!
Don't Illegally Immigrate!
Posted by: Steve Emerson | Nov 21, 2008 9:43:17 AM
Totally agree, people talking about immigration has lead to all this hate. Correllation is causation. We need the fairness doctrine to tone down the right wing hatred and silence their intolerance.
Open the borders and give people amnesty. That's the only solution that will end crimes against latinos by racist white people.
Posted by: Bruce | Jan 26, 2009 12:00:38 AM
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Posted by: Compression Tights | Mar 23, 2010 4:37:16 PM
Guard the bloody border already, and illegals will become a thing of the past (visa overstays aren't really an issue, seeing how the US has really tough-to-get visas).
THAT'S ASSUMING THAT YOU ACTUALLY DON'T WANT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. Current policy suggests that you do. It's always nice to have a group of people who do the super-cheap labour, tend to the shadows, and don't have any budget-draining benefits.
As to angry and even violent rhetoric from politicians, that's just an act, a bid for the underclass, young male, and retired blue-collar votes. Their staff simply looked up the spreadsheets on their target jurisdiction and determined that there are more white trash, young punk, and angry old fart voters than Latino voters to cater to in the area.
Posted by: Fyl | Apr 26, 2010 4:06:35 PM
Illegal immigration is so often seen as a crime, the immigrants being considered unsavoury characters etc. Illegal immigration obviously occurs for many reasons, but on the whole, I believe it involves people looking to drag themselvs towards a better life, for themsleves, and the families they leave behind.
Relentless illegal entry is obviously undesired, but their needs to be more compassion and a desire to help raise the living standards of those that seek to flee.
Posted by: Linda @ Hair Growth Products | Jan 6, 2011 4:18:32 AM
Unfortunately, given the current economic climate and fear fueled by unemployment and declining economic opportunity, we should expect more of this type of violent behavior against immigrants. My hope is that President-elect Obama not only move forward with comprehensive and humane immigration reform, but also, begin setting a tone when he discusses immigration issues that public officials cannot use scapegoating tactics when addressing economic or political distress in their communities. I fear if Obama does not quickly frame the issue of immigrants for the American people within the proper context, tragedies like that, which occurred in Long Island, will continue.
Posted by: Adela de la Torre | Nov 21, 2008 7:42:51 AM