Anti-Latino hate crimes on the rise
Anyone who regularly reads the Daily Breeze's user comments would not be surprised to hear about the amount of anger and hatred that is targeted at Latinos. Experts say a lot of the negative feelings come from the increasingly hot immigration debate.
Here's this from the Associated Press today:
Advocates say rhetoric fuels anti-Hispanic crime
By DEEPTI HAJELA and FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writers
NEW YORK (AP) _ It was meant to be a short jaunt to a friend's home to watch a movie.
Marcello Lucero never made it. His walk, and his life, came to a brutal end when the Ecuadorean native was allegedly beaten and stabbed by a group of teenagers who police said wanted "to beat up some Mexicans."
Lucero's death Saturday night on Long Island was quickly labeled a hate crime by authorities, and it's not an anomaly. Figures recently released by the FBI show hate crimes motivated by anti-Hispanic bias have been on the upswing since 2003.
Observers and Hispanic advocates blame a climate of harsh rhetoric surrounding the national immigration debate.
"I don't think it's merely coincidence that these hate crimes are going up at the same time there's a violent at times debate over immigration," said Kevin Brown, dean of the law school at the University of California-Davis.
"We talk about immigration, we're not particularly careful in the terminology," he said. "Inflammatory terminology is frequently used, that helps to sort of rile people up."
The whole story is available by clicking here.
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About the Blogger
Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
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Look at the papers, yours included. Why should we care about a hanging in mexico? Why dont we look at our own internal problems? Every Generation in America has hated a different culture and now they hate one that has been here before it was the United States?
It just shows the ignorance of most.