Southern Poverty Law Center: Anti-Latino Hate Crimes Are Spreading

[Bluebear]

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.

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....

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.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/08/26-7

[NMMNG]

1. I've been anticipating this

Now that it's becoming slightly less acceptable to demonize LGBT people, the RRRW needs another target. They need someone to rail against to maintain their identity. "The Illegals" were a natural choice because they have no real rights, no voice and no protections. Stupid fucking bullies.

[pinboy3niner]

2. SPLC does great work identifying and monitoring hate groups...

...and others classified as 'extremist' groups. Their info on Pam Geller has been cited a lot lately in connection with the Park51 manufactured controversy (which was largely her doing).

Surprisingly, Common Dreams left out an attack on a Hispanic man that occurred only a few days before their story. Here's the DU thread:

Man Accused Of Racially Charged Bus Attack
http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9002213

Thanks or posting this, Bluebear! :thumbsup:

[Bluebear]

3. one lil kick

[pampango]

4. "The Sufi Islamic sect is tolerant and peace-loving, often a target of Islamic fundamentalists."

These groups are largely moved by the impulse of xenophobia. They have a profound fear and dislike of those they regard as ‘others’. ‘Others’ (in their mindset) are usually identified by some cultural badge or symbol of identity. Often, 'others' tend to be vulnerable minorities. This makes them an attractive target for social and cultural aggression. As targets, such ‘others’ may be victimized by random acts of ethnic violence. Targeting the vulnerable would seem to be an important step in the encouragement of lethal social behavior.

The xenophobic impulse is often indicated in the perspective of the individual and, in particular, the individual’s private motives. Individuals with such perspectives associate with others who are driven by similar impulses and feelings. In such associations, the private motives of these personality types are reinforced so that an opportunity is presented for people to overtly act on their private feelings and motives. Such groups would tend to encourage the displacement of such private feelings, which touch on xenophobia or racism, on public objects. This converts the purely private motives into the domain of political concern.

In New York City, groups have targeted plans to build or refurbish a mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center tragedy. The Islamic group involved in this initiative is associated with the Sufi Islamic sect. The Sufis are widely regarded as tolerant and peace-loving in creed. Indeed, they have been a special target of extreme Islamic fundamentalists. This issue has now sidelined critical policy issues of central importance to the nation (i.e., the deficit, education reform, environment, etc.). Indeed, there seems to be a spinoff, in that mosques elsewhere in the country are now subject to acute xenophobic attention as well.

More recently, the Conservative elite in Arizona passed a controversial immigration bill. At the back of this issue was the exploitation of the fear of a different ‘other’; the Hispanics. This has created a visceral electoral issue.

A significant number of politicians have jumped into the sectarian bandwagon. Are they racist and xenophobic? I do not think so. I do think that they are opportunistic. They know that sectarian fears and insecurities have electoral traction. Politicians are in politics to win. If they join the bandwagon, it is not that they are privately racist; rather, it is that they calculate electoral advantages. Once they win, sectarianism seems to vanish.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100826/NEWS/100829619/-1/news?p=3&tc=pg