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Anti-Latino Hate Crime is Spreading, Says Report
On the heels of a horrific anti-Muslim attack in New York City on Tuesday night, there’s new disturbing evidence that hate crimes are on the rise across the country for Latinos.
Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert who warned the world of “terrorist babies.” From Latinos facing ire along the border to New York cab drivers attacked for their stated religious beliefs, hate crimes find fertile ground amid widespread intolerance. (Photo: Creative Commons) The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
is reporting an upward tick in anti-Latino hate crimes, and apparently
it’s a general trend that’s been in the works for years. Hate crimes
against Latinos had already increased in each of the four years between
2003 to 2007, according to FBI statistics.
After taking a slight dip last year, the trend seems to be picking up
just as the national debate over immigration reform rages on.
SPLC cited some pretty startling examples. There’s the case in Maricopa County, Ariz., (home to Sheriff Joe Arpaio) where Juan Varela was killed and his brother was shot in the neck by Gary Thomas Kelley. According to the U.S. attorney’s office in Phoenix, Kelley pointed a gun at Valera and said, “Hurry up and go back to Mexico or you’re gonna die.” The dead man was a third-generation, native-born American, reports SPLC.
There’s also news that since April, there have been 11 assaults on Mexicans in the Staten Island City of Port Richmond. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that there have been 26 suspected hate crimes in the city this year, and of the 11 proven assaults, all but one is considered a bias-related crime carried out by the city’s black residents against Mexicans.
The report also takes great aims to place blame for the uptick squarely on the shoulders of politicians’ whose hefty anti-immigrant talk has severely driven anti-Latino sentiment. In one notorious, Texas Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert and Debbie Riddle warned the world of “terrorist babies.” Both men claimed pregnant terrorists were hatching a plan to sneak across the border and give birth to future terrorists who’d finish off a plan to “destroy our way of life.” FBI Director Tom Fuentes eventually took to CNN to debunk the rumor.
“There was never a credible report—or any report, for that matter … to indicate that there was such a plan for these ‘terror babies’ to be born,” Fuentes said.
It’s clear that when it comes to the “Ground Zero mosque” debate and the furor over immigration reform, hot-headed political rhetoric has very real life and death consequences.
50 Comments so far
Show AllHATE CRIMES... in UMurka?
I'm SHOCKED!
"...hot-headed political rhetoric has very real life and death consequences."
Of course it does. It always has.
Newt Gingrich's anti-government rhetoric in the 1990s was responsible for the 168 deaths from the bombing of a U.S. government building in Oklahoma City.
I think the Austin Lounge Lizards said it best, "Teenage, immigrant, welfare mothers on drugs!"
And the upper class wives of the men on the biggest teats of the government hand-outs are the biggest welfare queens, along with the Ken Mehlmans and Larry Craigs.
Yes, the SPLC claims "a 40% increase in hate crimes against Latinos between 2003 and 2007," but if you actually look at the FBI hate crime statistics you'll see that the "40% increase" brought the number of crimes from 595 to 830. Not exactly a crime wave against a population that grew by 5.4 million people over those same four years to a total of 44 million.
Granted, nobody should ever have to be the victim of a crime, especially a hate crime, but what the SPLC does not bother to mention in its fund-raising propaganda is that during the same time span hate crimes against blacks rose from 3,150 in 2003 to 3,434 in 2007. That's FOUR times as many hate crimes against a smaller segment of the population. http://wp.me/pCLYZ-5v
The SPLC makes no mention of that fact because donor fatigue has set in when it comes to black crime victims. Hispanics are the new Hate Industry goldmine. "Fighting hate" is all well and good, until it affects the bottom line.
One other interesting SPLC factoid: NOT ONE of the SPLC's top ten, highest paid executives is a minority, much less an immigrant. http://wp.me/pCLYZ-67
If these are your race experts, I can think of some better ones.
"Granted, nobody should ever have to be the victim of a crime, especially a hate crime, but what the SPLC does not bother to mention in its fund-raising propaganda is that during the same time span hate crimes against blacks rose from 3,150 in 2003 to 3,434 in 2007. That's FOUR times as many hate crimes against a smaller segment of the population. http://wp.me/pCLYZ-5v"
A hilariously stupid statement. The SPLC points out racism against black people very often.
"The SPLC makes no mention of that fact because donor fatigue has set in when it comes to black crime victims. Hispanics are the new Hate Industry goldmine. "Fighting hate" is all well and good, until it affects the bottom line."
Bollocks.
"One other interesting SPLC factoid: NOT ONE of the SPLC's top ten, highest paid executives is a minority, much less an immigrant. http://wp.me/pCLYZ-67"
Irrelevant, unless you can demonstrate why it matters, and how it affects their policies.
"If these are your race experts, I can think of some better ones."
You mean the Tea Party?
"Irrelevant, unless you can demonstrate why it matters, and how it affects their policies."
Irrelevant? For a group that bills itself as one of America's "foremost civil rights groups" in all of its public relations press releases and yet consistently refuses to hire blacks to positions of power??
For a group headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, cradle of the American Civil Rights Movement, home to Rosa Parks AND a city where more than half the population is black?
And, for an organization located LITERALLY in the back yard of Dr. Martin Luther King's own church??
No, you're absolutely right, the SPLC has no reason whatsoever to hire blacks to positions of power. I have no idea what I was thinking. It must be nothing more than pure "coincidence."
No doubt this situation was "bollocks," too, back in 1994, when the Montgomery Advertiser, the SPLC's home newspaper reported the exact same situation.
Dan Morse, “Equal Treatment? No blacks in center’s leadership,” Montgomery Advertiser, February 16, 1994.
"Bollocks" is a British term. So is "twit"
I dont know enough to comment either way on the main thrust of your post. But I hear what you are sayings. I hope that they can lift their game a little more.
So why does it matter where the term "bollocks" originated? Anyway, I thought "bollocks" and "twit" were universally understood. They are in Australia.
I don't agree entirely with rkeefe's points, but he is correct that most social activists consider the the SPLC to be of questionable effectveness relative to the amount of money thay take in at best, and a corrupt mass-mailing donor-scam, when they feel les charitable. I alway toss my SPLc "teach tolerance" apeals - return address labels and all - right in the trash.
Debbie "The Riddler" is a man?
Perhaps before the operation she was Tom.
From Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific."
"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"
"You've got to be taught to hate and fear
You've got to be taught from year to year
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught
"You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught
"You've got to be taught before it's too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught
You've got to be carefully taught"
-------------------------------------
And so, it seems, we have. What a tragedy, what a waste.
You'd think that after a few thousand years of experience, we would choose another path, but the peacemakers, those filled with love for humanity, those that want to change things, to promote the virtues of empathy, compassion, brotherly love, charity. Usually they are the ones who get martyred. MLK, JFK, RFK, Gandhi, so many more, assassinated by the hatred they fought to change.
Now, apparently, here we go again.
Just go onto most any blog site and state you're for peace. Defend the poor, the muslims, the immigrants, whoever and get ready for the attack. You'll be called every name in the book. I especially like "terrorist sympathizer." You'll be told youre uneducated, anti-American, a "sheeple," a moron, an idiot. Your parents will be demonized for not teaching you better. And all this because you advocate for peace, because you think there should be an end to the fear and hate mongering, because you're sick and tired of watching your fellow countrymen being led by the nose, because you know there's a better way. (sigh)
Nice post..........and right on. For my anti-war/non-conformist actions, i have been jailed, tasered and taken down @ gunpoint.........they're just waiting to pull the trigger. This country is more phucked up than I ever imagined. Haven't been this embarrassed to be Amerikan, since Vietnam. And I was just coming of age.
Headed for Mexico. Too old and tired to continue to resist. :(
Bye.
P E A C E and L O V E, T R U T H and D H A R M A: Hard for demonic humans.
The Capitalist Media (no connection with ‘our’ government) works tirelessly in their continuing efforts to divide and conquer.
"Look here. No, don't look over there! We'll have an update momentarily on this hour’s latest screwed-up airhead . . . This just in . . . “ !!!
Highly recommended reading at this moment in our history:
Sara Robinson's articles on our seeming movement toward fascism, her study of America using a theory of the development of fascism in various countries during the 20th century written by historian William O. Paxton.
We are in, or entering, Paxton's Third Stage (of five), by which time a conservative elite uses the same rhetoric as brownshirts like Timothy McVeigh or abortion doctor murderers to inflame hatred of minority groups.
Our "elite" would include a lot of Republican politicians, among them Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, and others who egged on the hate-screamers at health care forums last year. This year, there are those "elite" who push the fiction that all Muslims are guilty of the 9/11 attacks and deaths and that their "mosque" shows insensitivity to Americans' feelings.
Google Sara R.'s name for articles on this and other topics.
bernice -"Sara Robinson's articles on our seeming movement toward fascism"
Seeming... Seeming... movement towards fascism???
How deep into the shit does one need to be before reality becomes obvious?
The corporate duopoly has, infact, ruled since 1948. No other 3rd Party candidates have ever been a threat, including the lil Texan in 92 & 96, to Corporate Rule (read:MIC)
American politics is perhaps the worst Kabuki theater which has ever existed... purely a distraction for the "comfortably numb" masses prior to NFL Playoffs every four years.
I admit I am not familiar with Ms Robinson's works, but she seems to be a tad late coming to the realization many have known for decades.
This is exactly what the corporate bad actors and their parasites who are funding and fomenting these culture wars want.
They want us at each others throats. They want us to fear each other. They want us to be confused.
It's much easier for them to keep picking our pockets and running things their way when we are divided and fearful.
If we ever begin to work together, they know we can end their dominance.
I concur, cadawa. I believe it was Henry Clay Frick who said he could make half of the working class kill the other half. Many organized religions operate this way too.
Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake 17 Feb 1600 for, among other things, advocating unity among all the planet's peoples.
Thanks all for the good comments,
Jack
"In one notorious [sic], Texas Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert and Debbie Riddle warned the world of 'terrorist babies.' Both men [sic (Debbie?)] claimed pregnant terrorists were hatching a plan to sneak across the border and give birth to future terrorists who’d finish off a plan to 'destroy our way of life.'”
Got news, Louie & Debbie. Our way of life—if you mean our Republic,democratic process, economy, and traits such as decency, honesty, honor,justice, compassion—is all but destroyed. We're also very busy working on destruction of our planet if you haven't been paying attention.
If the majority of us keep mindlessly choosing life-destroying attitudes and behavior rather than life-affirming ones, we will suffer and die en masse all across the globe.
Our planet is a mere speck in the cosmic sea, and our species is even less than that, but how absolutely important we think we are.
At this point in time, despite great goodness in a great many hearts, that may not be enough to turn the tide. Instead we seem to be on a cruise ship to hell with Captains from Hell at the helm, and perhaps given the over-all history of homo sapiens and with our current and on-the-drawing-board weapons of mass destruction and unbridled and corrupt capitalistic system, we will arrive at that unpleasant destination in the not-too-distant future.
Light years away in some great tome somewhere there will be a column list of species with HOMO SAPIENS among them but with a red line drawn through those two Latin words, with EXTINCT written in the column space next to it.
The mindful choices every minute right now of thoughts, actions, words, behavior must be life-promoting/life-affirming. The mindless, knee-jerk "choices" characteristically are life-destroying/life-denying ways of being.
"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates
It seems we may find those words to be all too true if we don't take them very, very seriously in all that we do, think, say, and are.
********* There is no heartbeat on earth that is not somehow our own. *********
/cm
Cee - beautiful observations.
Unfortunately, the large majority of those whom I live among, are completely unexamined.
True. We live in a "what, me worry?" country.
They strive mightily to keep us apart because they fear what might happen should we all join together.
Bingo
Yeah Doubledee: That is the Tea party that scares the hell out of them!
I truly see the Tea Party as a disjointed ,unfocused and unaware group being used as tools by those in power. You know, kind of like the democratic loyalists. ;-)
And what should we expect? How could anyone wonder why people all over the globe hate America...perceived as rich, fat, greedy White supremacists. They see a group of radical protesters born out of ignorance and racism or watch or hear Glenn Beck. To them that is America.
Since the Europeans came, they saw, and conquered the land of the natives, they have prefered an all white race. Jump over to the previous president who seemed to use tactics of the once leader of Germany in 1932 who thought the same, and started the ball rolling. Enter Palin, Beck and such, making up the Tea Party with the likes of KKK members to give it a push. My understanding is The Tea Party movement backed by the Koch family, being the same who supported Stalin and the Bolsheviks. In 2012 I suppose they wish an all white race in their Global Empire. Does this exclude Israel???
You wrote: "My understanding is The Tea Party movement backed by the Koch family, being the same who supported Stalin and the Bolsheviks"
Whoa Amigo. Your understanding is deeply confused. Stalin was a minor operative in 1917, rose to power through stealth and legerdemain and by 1937 had murdered all the old revolutionary Bolsheivks. Also, many of the most outstanding leaders were killed in the civil war, so perhaps it was doomed from the start. The only survivor of the original Central Committee was Trotsky, and he was murdered by a Stalin operative in 1940.
And you respond: well look how it turned out. The Bolshevicks must bear some responsibility.
Yes, it certainly could have turned out differently with a little luck just as the US might have turned out NOT to be a monster corporate homicidal mass murderer with a little luck and a few courageous statesmand and a decent Supreme court. Do we blame it on Washington, Jefferson, and Madison? I don't see why not. Blame the Bolsheviks; blame the founding fathers.
Koch Sr. built oil refineries for Stalin. It was Josef's purges, taking Kochs' managers and friends as well that turned him into a rabid Bircher ( a founding member in fact).
the day after9/11 the corporate rulers saw an opportunity to keep the people in a perpetual state of fear and anger so they could wage endless wars. scapegoating Muslims became state policy. what was too grossly excessive to be sent out from the white house Fox news would leap on like angry vultures and get the crowd riled up. A huge gulag was built to incarcerate innocent people without charges.
they did not need to be terrorists. they only needed to be Muslims.
one would tink after 9 years it would start to calm down a little. who could have guessed it would be intensified? the corporatocracy has been heaping fresh coals on that rage and anger, and so now it is flaring up worse than ever. They are driving us off a cliff.
"4thefuture August 26th, 2010 2:25 pm
I think the Austin Lounge Lizards said it best, "Teenage, immigrant, welfare mothers on drugs!"
"stringbean August 26th, 2010 3:36 pm
And the upper class wives of the men on the biggest teats of the government hand-outs are the biggest welfare queens, along with the Ken Mehlmans and Larry Craigs."
Good response~!
Just another reason this country is falling apart from the inside out: prejudice, stupidity, self-righteousness, etc.
After reading the title of this article and looking at the associated photo, I immediately pictured all the middle aged white men in that picture wearing NAZI SS uniforms as the good Sargent Gohmert spews his hateful scapegoating rhetoric.
How sad it is that small men of such little mental depth as Comrade Gohmert become our "leaders".
gomer the pile a leader? that dick is from somewhere in north tx and sounds like a typical red neck right wing asshole. now he is in congress and is respectable.
what a load of crap. i live in galveston, tx but am orginally from nyc. there are no shortage of these clowns down here with their pea brains pushing their hate mongering crap.
matt
the u.s. is moving from inverted fascism to full fascism..
Only in this country would these people be considered politicians. In the rest of the world they are called terrorists.
I hope I am wrong, but one has to wonder if our fascist leaders won't stage a false flag attack and blame it on Muslims or Hispanics as this would give them the right to declare martial law and open up internment camps like they did for the Japanese Americans in WW11 and again say it is for their own protection. And if you protest, then you will be called unpatriotic and put on a watch list or worse. This would give our so called leaders plenary powers. Oderint Dum Mutant. Let them hate provided they fear. It works with most people most of the time