Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiHate Crimes on Rise, Warn US Groups
WASHINGTON - Leading civil rights groups today denounced the rise in hate crimes taking place in the United States, especially against Hispanics, and called for passage of a proposal that would ensure federal jurisdiction when local officials fail to act.
Hate crimes against Hispanics have risen steadily for the last four years, and crimes against African-American, Asian-American, and Jewish people, as well as gays and lesbians, all increased last year, according to FBI statistics gathered for its Uniform Crime Reporting Program.
In recent weeks alone several incidents have taken place, including the murder of 37-year-old Ecuadorian citizen Marcello Lucero by a group of Long Island teenagers, cross-burnings in New Jersey, and the timely arrest of skinheads planning to assassinate Barack Obama in Tennessee.
"The wave of hate that is seeping through our communities threatens the fabric of our nation and is costing lives. Americans will not be cowed by those trying to advance intolerance -- we must stand up to the presence of hate groups and extremists in our communities and speak with one voice to say we will not be dehumanized," argued Janet Murguía, director of the National Council of La Raza, the oldest and largest Hispanic-American civil rights organization.
MurguÃa was joined by representatives of African-American, Asian-American, and Jewish groups concerned about the rise in hate crimes, especially in the context of the election of Obama as president and the deteriorating economic situation.
Speakers at the Washington, DC press conference included Mark Moriel of the National Urban League, who stressed the importance of enforcing laws currently on the books.
"We fought long and hard" for these laws; they are not "ornaments" but rather "tools to be used" to prosecute those responsible for hate crimes, said Moriel, adding: "We will not remain silent" in the face of attacks on people due to their ethnic origin, religion, or gender.
Wade Henderson, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, urged passage, "early on," of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention (LLEHCP) Act to expand the federal reach in the case of hate crimes, strengthen enforcement, and improve reporting of such crimes.
At present, local officials have wide latitude in defining what constitutes a hate crime, and depending on the local environment, may ignore many crimes meant to be covered under existing legislation.
The bill passed the House of Representatives last year but was dropped during negotiations in the Senate. Civil rights leaders are "optimistic" that the LLEHCP Act will be taken up early by the incoming Congress and administration, according to Henderson.
Need for new legislation, the panelists agreed, stems in part from the fact that local officials may be the very figures encouraging hate crimes; for example, speaking out against those perceived to be taking jobs or using or abusing services -- a major argument in the ongoing debate over immigration.
According to Peter Zamora of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, some leaders in Suffolk Country, where Lucero was killed, "have made a career of promoting hate."
Controversial media pundits such as Bill O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs and a rise in Internet-based sites promoting hate also play a key role in spurring individuals to commit racially or ethnically motivated crimes, according to the speakers.
The boys arrested for stabbing Marcelo Lucero to death, all under 18, had simply decided to "go beat up a Mexican," according to media reports.
"That hate that has trickled down to a new generation is very disturbing," said the National Council of La Raza's MurguÃa after Lucero's death, noting that the growing climate of hate surrounding the immigration debate was partly responsible.
"Words have consequences," she said, "and hateful words have hateful consequences."
28 Comments so far
Show AllAre leading civil rights groups going to denounce Bush’s hate crimes?
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
__________________
Here is something profoundly interesting in my blog: George W. Bush is a hate-crime criminal (indicated at http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-did-you-think-of-that-naacp-anti.html “George W. Bush had better stop committing hate crimes”).
The American people should know that George W. Bush is not only a war criminal: he is also a hate-crime criminal.
George W. Bush had better stop committing hate crimes.
“What did you think of that NAACP anti-Bush race-baiting ad in 2000? You know, the one that practically said Bush was responsible for the dragging-to-death-behind-a-truck murder of a black man just because he didn’t sign a hate crimes bill several years after the man’s death” (Posted by Aaron. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from metafilter.com).
ON THE TOPIC OF HATE CRIME(S):
“Sean Penn accuses Bush of ‘criminal negligence’” (Retrieved December 11, 2008, from deadlykatrina.com). Thus, Sean Penn believes that George W. Bush was at fault, criminally, relative to his response to Hurricane Katrina.
“Had the residents of New Orleans been white Republicans in a state that mattered politically, instead of poor blacks in city that didn’t, Bush’s response surely would have been different. Compare what happened when hurricanes Charley and Frances hit Florida in 2004. Though the damage from those storms was negligible in relation to Katrina’s, the reaction from the White House was instinctive, rapid, and generous to the point of profligacy. Bush visited hurricane victims four times in six weeks and delivered relief checks personally. Michael Brown of FEMA, now widely regarded as an incompetent political hack, was so responsive that local officials praised the agency’s performance.”
Jacob Weisberg. (2005, September 7). An Imperfect Storm . . . How race shaped Bush’s response to Katrina. Slate. Retrieved December 7, 2008, from slate.com
Assuming that George W. Bush had in fact been criminally negligent relative to his response to Hurricane Katrina, would Bush be responsible for hate crime?
“One of those very least were George Bush’s personal complicity in the death (murder to be precise) of my friend Margie Schoedinger[,] [an African-American woman,] in September of 2003. Determining the exact whereabouts and contacts of [then] president-elect George Bush on September 21 thru 22, 2003, should be entirely lacking in difficulty” (Leola McConnell (Nevada Progressive Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010). Retrieved November 29, 2008, from leolaforussenate.blogspot.com).
Does George W. Bush’s murder of Margie Schoedinger constitute a hate crime?
“A woman in Texas who filed a lawsuit against the president for rape and torture[,] [Margie Schoedinger,] was found shot to death. It was ruled a suicide. No one is investigating. Bush reportedly dated the woman in high school and speculation is that he was using the woman as his sex slave because he is above the law” (John Kaminski (author of “America’s Autopsy Report,” a collection of his Internet essays published on hundreds of websites around the world). (No date listed). Why We Need Martial Law . . . Criminal government is destroying America; military must step in to restore Constitution. serendipity.li. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from serendipity.li).
Do George W. Bush’s rape and torture of Margie Schoedinger constitute hate crimes?
“I believe that George W. Bush hates black people. Through secret government machinations, he caused Hurricane Katrina to form and aimed it at New Orleans on purpose, just so he could wipe out lots of poor blacks. I also believe that before the hurricane hit, he snuck into New Orleans and stole the keys to every school bus in the city to make evacuation of poor people impossible” (Janet M. Stroble. (2006, April 12). Now I Believe. military.com. Retrieved November 26, 2008, from military.com).
If George W. Bush intentionally did what Janet M. Stroble indicated, would Bush have committed hate crimes against countless black people?
“I believe that George W. Bush hates Moslems. All that garbage about freedom, democracy, and the right to vote is a pollution of their culture. I believe that George W. Bush hates immigrants. There were a lot of immigrants working in the World Trade Center and George W. Bush didn’t warn them ahead of time” (Janet M. Stroble. (2006, April 12). Now I Believe. military.com. Retrieved November 26, 2008, from military.com).
In that George W. Bush hates immigrants and deliberately failed to warn them ahead of time as indicated by Janet M. Stroble: would Bush accordingly be responsible for hate crimes relative to racial minorities who were harmed?
“Did Kanye West[’]s [comment], [‘]George Bush Hates Black People[’][,] get his mother killed?” (Retrieved October 18, 2008, from abovetopsecret.com).
There is a discussion at abovetopsecret.com relating to whether President George W. Bush murdered Kanye West’s mother—Ms. Donda West.
Did President George W. Bush, who hates black people, murder Kanye West’s mother in the heat of raging racism? Somebody indicated that although the president of the United States is monitored by the Secret Service, he certainly can meet with one or more persons where his conversations are not intercepted and secretly “order a hit” on someone or order the murder of someone.
If George W. Bush did murder Kanye West’s mother, would it constitute a hate crime?
GEORGE W. BUSH MURDERED A JEW!
“George W. Bush murdered the Jewish former Senator—Paul Wellstone” (Retrieved December 10, 2008, from andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com). This Internet site has a lot of information indicating that George W. Bush murdered Wellstone.
“Bush’s visit to Israel is under the guise of Middle East peace. You gotta be kidding me! Bush is THE MASTER ARCHITECT of Middle East war, not peace. . . . Bush didn’t go to Israel because he likes Israelis or like Jews, nope, he went there because he hates them. He went there to spread his message of doom, war, pain and death” (Storm Bear. (2008, January 10). PROOF: George W Bush Is An Anti-Semite! bitsofnews.com. Retrieved November 23, 2008, from bitsofnews.com).
Assuming that George W. Bush did in fact murder the Jewish former Senator—Paul Wellstone, would Bush have committed a hate crime? Bush would have “purposefully” (criminal-law terminology) murdered Wellstone. Wellstone’s Jewish wife and Jewish daughter also died in the plane crash. Bush would have “knowingly” (criminal-law terminology) murdered Wellstone’s wife and daughter. However, would Bush’s murders of Wellstone’s Jewish wife and Jewish daughter also have constituted hate crimes?
Retrieved December 12, 2008, from http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/12/what-did-you-think-of-that-naacp-anti.html
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
Monday, November 10, 2008
Andrew Yu-Jen Wang for months had strongly rooted for Barack Obama over John McCain. However, in the end, Andrew Yu-Jen Wang voted for Ralph Nader only as a symbolic gesture because Andrew Yu-Jen Wang expects to be immensely disappointed by Barack Obama who Andrew Yu-Jen Wang assumes will not rigorously make arrangements or seek to have George W. Bush prosecuted—the most horrifying omission of action imaginable.
However, Andrew Yu-Jen Wang acknowledges that it is a hell of a lot better to have Barack Obama as President of the United States than John McCain.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
Posted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang at 6:56 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Retrieved November 29, 2008, from http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/andrew-yu-jen-wang-for-months-had.html
And so Andrew Yu-Jen Wang did not vote for Barack Obama where Wang strongly suspected that Obama would not really go all out to cause George W. Bush to be incarcerated for his heinous crimes. This omission of action of Obama would be shocking to the conscience. It would be the saddest thing. It would demoralize the American people. It would break the heart of the American people. And so Wang just did not want to make a fool of himself by investing himself in Obama through casting a vote for Obama only then to be mortified and let down by Obama not embarking on a mission to incarcerate the absolutely evil career criminal—George W. Bush.
After George W. Bush leaves office, one of the most important things is for his incarceration to be sought by the American people. If Obama were not prepared to fight diligently for such a thing, then Obama would, in a way, have wasted his time as the President of the United States. Moreover, Obama must be aware of George W. Bush’s various onslaughts against black people. Please read all about it in the blog of Wang (http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/). Thus, if Obama does not have the indignation and rage to seek Bush’s incarceration, one must conclude only that Obama lacks the courage to do it. In failing to seek Bush’s incarceration, Obama—a black person—inevitably shames and humiliates and embarrasses himself.
Obama—a black person (a racial minority himself)—should be profoundly sensitive to the racial prejudice and widespread suffering Bush has inflicted against black people.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
Retrieved November 30, 2008, from http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/11/electing-barack-obama-president-was.html
All criminal acts are "Hate Crimes", you do not commit a crime against some one you truly Love, do you?
Get real. Which group has the "track record" of collectively or as individuals, of exploiting, enslaving, dispossing, lynching, placing in concentration camps, etc. etc. etc. the other groups?
I do not know, you tell me. I cannot think of any Americans alive today, of whatever race, who enslaved others, can you?
In the most recent case to be brought to court, a federal grand jury indicted six people in Immokalee on January 17th, 2008, for their part in what US Attorney Doug Molloy called "slavery, plain and simple" (Ft. Myers News-Press, “Group accused of keeping, beating, stealing from Immokalee laborers,” 1/18/08). The employers were charged with beating workers who were unwilling to work or who attempted to leave their employ picking tomatoes, holding their workers in debt, and chaining and locking workers inside u-haul trucks as punishment ("How about a side order of human rights," Miami Herald, 12/16/07).
http://www.ciw-online.org/slavery.html
for one...
Appearing "real" and getting "real" aren't the same thing. You too are falling for the propaganda of main stream media.
Try googling "most slaves were white" for a perspective.
Then think long enough to look back over history to see the plain fact that bloody empires have arisen from many different, er... "groups".
It isn't the colour of your skin that determines whether you are prone to "exploiting, enslaving, dispossing, [sic] lynching, placing in concentration camps, etc.". It is the "love of money" [and therefore power] which is "the root of all evil"
Certain "groups" (I think that must be the politically correct word we have to use these days) have of course, through history demonstrated a fanatical "religious" bent to persuading others through violence. Look a little perceptively behind the obvious though and you'll find in the leaders who foment such violence the same lust for power and wealth.
-------------------------------------------------
Fellow victim of the Hegelian Dialectic
I find it all too convenient that no one mentions the rise in hate crimes against whites. Our government and most ethnic groups seem to be okay with any hate crime directed at a caucasian target.
FYI - Being born white doesn't automatically make you a racist. However, continually excluding caucasians from lists of specific targets in hate-crime legislation might produce vastly different results.
Well said, MrSensible! You have expressed more concisely some of my thoughts in my previous 2 posts, just down the page.
There is an agenda here: Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis!
The synthesis, as always is "loss of freedom".
---------------------------------------------------
Fellow victim of the Hegelian Dialectic
A law was passed in the Soviet Union soon after the Bolshevik revolution making "anti-semitism" a crime against the state. The Cheka (secret police) were 90% jews, indeed had been the main group pushing such a law. They used this law to arbitrarily arrest, torture and murder thousands upon thousands of mostly Christian peasants, sometimes burning them alive in groups inside their churches. The aim this time is to shut up people who are opposed to the Zionist Jew agenda of undermining our repubhlic through any and every means possible. A Zionist Jew owns/controls the company which publishes Websster's Dictionary, and in his publication has defined anti-semitism as opposition to Israel. If they get the right law passed, an American who doesn't think the Jew State is all that wonderful night be prosecuted under hate crime legislation. These Israelis are the very people who murdered our boys on the USS Liberty, and who stab America in the back on an ongoing basis. We should not reward their treachery by handing them another sword to stab us further.
What's next in your rant; "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" is a blue print for Jewish domination of the planet? Save your spewing for the Resistance Records message boards, they would appreciate your bile. You conveniently omit the fact that Stalin was rabid anti-Semite who's pathological paranoia towards Jews you want to emulate. The time of the dominance of your Sturmabteilung way of thinking is passing from the scene, and the only emotion I have towards you is schadenfreude.
www.wunderman-comics.com
"Hate crimes against Hispanics have risen steadily for the last four years, and crimes against [...]"
OK, so how exactly does a reporting and statistical mechanism differentiate between a so-called "hate crime" and an act of violence that engenders no hatred? Can someone "in the know" enlighten us?
If a black person, or a hispanic person, or a homosexual, or an Asian, or a Jew, or a muslim is assaulted, is that assumed to be a "hate crime" because they happen to be a member of that minority group?
Does anyone happen to have the figures on whether acts of violence against white heterosexual atheists have increased or remained static during the last year? One assumes, from the article that they have remained static, since it is only (by inference) the "hate crimes" that have increased.
--------------------------------------------------
Fellow victim of the Hegelian Dialectic
"Hate" is an emotion. You can't legislate to change emotions any more than "Big Brother" of George Orwell's "1984" could change people's thinking by commissioning "Thought Police".
You can, of course legislate against the violence that arises out of hatred, and most countries (if not all) have long since done that. You can't fix the problem of laws that aren't being adequately policed simply by making new laws. But what you CAN do by creating so-called "hate laws" is hand a weapon to the extremist minority groups to use against the majority, so that anyone speaking against their actions - no matter how genuine, how well-reasoned and researched their case - can be accused of speaking "hate". Its a farce, serving only to provide a protective cover for those who want to manipulate society to their own ends to work under and to have their own actions and manipulations removed from scrutiny.
When, oh WHEN will the general public wake up to this con? to wake up to the powers they are handing these people on a plate? Power to remove topics from legitimate public debate FOR EVER on the blatantly stupid, unreasonble and even treasonous smokescreen that to publicly debate issues that concern every member of the community is somehow synonimous with "hatred"!
We don't NEED more law! We need proper policing of the ones we've got! We need magistrates that do more than slap someone over the wrist and say, "naughty, naughty". And we need to realise that if someone is attacked, beaten and left for dead in a dark alley, its just as serious if it results from hooliganism or gang behaviour as it is if its because the perpetrator doesn't like the victim's skin colour. ALL deserve the same protection at law from violence, not by virtue of being a member of a minbority group but simply by virtue of being human!
----------------------------------------------------
Fellow victim of the Hegelian Dialectic
Could it be a lot of people are tired of paying taxes so minorities can have more rights than others?
In Philadelphia the parents of hispanics expect the taxpayer to provide them with translators so they can help their kids in schools. Is this evening the playing field or giving the hispanics more services than others in the community?
Since the usa is regressing into a 3rd world status you can expect more hate crimes-just like the arabs and such who fight against different tribes and religions.
Crimes against the homeless are also increasing-what ethnic minority does that fit under?
OK i know the people here will hate me for this, but there's also an increase of hate crimes against whites from other races as well. When this happens, the perpetrator's race is not disclosed in the news. In Seattle, we lost the Tuba man to a roving set of black thugs. Folks that prey on their own in their own community. If it was the other way around, it's splashed on the news.
I despise racists of every race, whether white, black, hispanic, etc. There are racists of every skin color out there. Let's be fair and honest and report them all. I won't tolerate hatred against whites any more than i would tolerate racism from whites against others.
This depends on your definition of racism. From a sociological perspective, racism is about power:
"In my class and place, I did not see myself as a racist because I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth."
-Peggy McIntosh, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"
I don't hate you for saying.
The news here in Texas seems to always be a Black person did this wrong, an Illegal immigrant did this sin, way too much disproportionate focus on certain groups when it seems to suit the media's purpose. Ie ..when the ranch and farm owners were scared about Illegals crossing the border..then all of a sudden its a new Mexican crime wave has hit..when actually nothing has changed but the amount of attention.
I couldn't understand how in some of these places where whites and hispanics outnumber blacks that blacks still wound up the focus ..or even Asians...for that matter...post 9/11?
Crime is crime..it all deserves punishment...
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hatecm.htm
BTW the crimes are published and broken down n 2 demographics ...Wasn't surprised because of how the media tends to slant things...I know that most majority for one reason or another don't make it into the media unless they stole money-Enron or did something heinous like the dragging death in Jasper......thanks to online reporting ..I can get the slant in the opposite direction or I can get equally weighted slants.. or just straight up social science... After viewing this..I still feel no better off than I started....The only thing that surprised me after going to the link was how much of crime was happening to each group and which two states had the biggest incidents!
Grappa
Maukwa, "You all act as though racism is a new thing"."This is the most racist country there is". I know this racism you refer to is potent, but by no means can you support your statement with facts. I go back quit a few years and know the racism of the pre- civil/rights act. I have traveled the world and there are many , many countries that appear to be as racially intolerant if not more, as this country.
The truth as I perceive the world, this nation has a race problem, but it has a class issue every bit as troublesome as race,
You all act as though racism is a new thing. This is the most racist country there is. It was founded on racism, and ethnocentrism...what else did you expect 230 years later? Americans are so blind to all of it because they have been living in a world of denial because we have all been taught that this is the land of "equality" and the land of the "free"...tell that to my ancestors. You have all been walking around in the dark, protecting the "ideals", and not acknowleging the facts. Now it is time to face the facts, and the facts are; that you are all racists in some way....white, black, yellow, red, brown, Chrisitan, Jew, Muslim, etc...doesn't matter the skin tones...you are all racist in some way, so what are you all going to do about it? That is the question....O'Riley, Hannity, Limbaugh, and the like are just the canaries in the coal mine...
Hmm, care to name some countries that are less racist? France, maybe? (Burning Banlieus, half the prison population Muslim.) Japan? (World War II was basically a race war against the west.) Russia? (Chechyna, Dagestan, etc.) China? (Tibet, the Uighurs) Mexico? (Minim Pinguin, treatment of Indians.) Zimbabwe?
Ya, the US is so racist that we elect blacks to be president. Oh, the humanity...
That's an interesting comment. So.......my question is, what's the solution? Is there a solution? My personal solution is the USA in the rear view mirror. But that only solves the problem where I'm concerned. For those "left behind" what's the solution?
This is again vastly overstated. And its being used by rascist groups to promote their agenda.
O'rilley and Limbaugh are no brainers as stated above, I have heard them deneigrate most everbody but I have yet to see or hear Lou Dobbs one time say anything hateful or xenophobic about illegal aliens or anyone else. Every time I've monotiered his show, I have heard nothing like what he is being accused of. Is there anyone here that knows of a specific show that I can see or broadcast I can listen to containing this stuff? I haven't seen that many of his shows so maybe I've missed it.
Some communities do not want to enforce "hate crimes" laws/prosecutions. Not sure why. Then there's the factor of police brutality and excessive force, which comes out of the same nonregard for people of color and others who are deeemed "different", including the disabled.
It's the anniversary of the murder by NYPD of Sean Bell. www.justiceforsean.net is the family's website.
The adverse reaction of the SA portion of the population is truly not surprising, as they have come to the slow realization that demographics and culture are now against them as they slowly slide towards irrelevance. Of course, their death throes will not be pretty, and despite the obvious schadenfreude at play here, due diligence is highly advised.
www.wunderman-comics.com
The O Reilly's, Limbaugh's, Dobbs and the rest of the xenophobic's that foment hate need to be taken to task for what they are. They are domestic, terrorists that hate black and brown America but hide behind either the flag or the church and have sold out for filthy lucre.
Perhaps we should censor their programs, and send them to Guantanamo until they are re-educated?
You took my comment. May I just add that the human limbic brain is eager to seize upon this us-versus-them mentality, and our STILL decider has branded THEM as being evil. What is the obvious course of action for a not-too-bright racist?
Free speech has limits. It may not be pleasant but I suggest you listen to some of this talk radio if you think they are merely harmless windbags.