Thread: Lawmakers Urged to 'Stem Wave of Hate Crimes'

TUESDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2008

Lawmakers Urged to Stem Wave of Hate Crimes
Monday 24 November 2008

by: Alison Raphael, Inter Press Service

Washington - Leading civil rights groups Monday denounced the rise in hate crimes taking place in the United States, especially against Hispanics, and called for passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act (LLEHCP) to 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 the Uniform Crime Reporting Programme.

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 President-elect 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 dehumanised," argued Janet MurguÃ*a, director of the National Council of La Raza, the oldest and largest Hispanic American civil rights organisation.

MurghÃ*a 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 Barack Obama as president and the deteriorating economic situation.

Speakers at the Washington 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 Act to expanding 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 last year in the House but was dropped during negotiations in the Senate. Civil rights leaders are "optimistic" that the LLEHCP Act will be taken on 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 as 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 Defence Fund, some leaders in Suffolk Country, where Lucero was killed, "have made a career of promoting hate".

Media hate-mongers such as Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and CNN's 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 Lutero to death, all under 18, had simply decided to "go beat up a Mexican", according to media reports.

"That hate has trickled down to a new generation is very disturbing," said La Raza's MurguÃ*a at the time, 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."

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This story was produced in collaboration with OneWorld (http://us.oneworld.net/).

http://www.truthout.org/112508L

Related:
"Murguia, Other 'Civil Rights Leaders', Attack Levy"
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-138954.html
»

I guess since I am white and a citizen that would like to see these illegal invaders tossed out of our country that makes me a racist?

Any one else tired of these people trying to force their open border views on us?

What a crock of crap.Will people ever wake up and put an end to this non sense?

Speakers at the Washington press conference included Mark Moriel of the National Urban League, who stressed the importance of enforcing laws currently on the books

Well isn't this exactly what we have been advocating for!!

and since we don't agree with you on open borders and amnesty you are going to start again with the name calling....

well how would you like some statistic's on how many Americans have been killed by ILLEGAL ALIENS....not immigrants....ILLEGAL ALIENS!!!

They imply that this is a "white" problem. Never is it mentioned about blacks against Hispanics and vice-versa.

FAIR did a thorough logical and statistical rebuttal of La Raza's spurious claims. It's available on their website.

And what about the following paragraph. Now they don't even want us to talk about how illegal immigrants impact American jobs, and they want "legislation"? Scary stuff:

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 as taking jobs or using or abusing services -a major argument in the ongoing debate over immigration.

"The bill passed last year in the House but was dropped during negotiations in the Senate."

In my opinion, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act must never, never be allowed to become law in our country! And why are these militant ethnic-special interest group terrorists being called "civil rights leaders"? Not only do they seek constantly to blur the line between "illegal alien" and legal "immigrant", but to merge in the public mind the legitimate Afro-American Civil Rights Movement with the illegitimate demands of people who entered our country unlawfully!

lets see, according to FBI reports. as mentioned on lou dobbs last nite

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... dt.01.html

Special interest groups at it again, they're making accusations about -- it's -- well, we'll tell you about it -- man oh man, when will they learn that honesty does pay? We'll have that report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Advocates of open borders and amnesty accusing border security advocates of fostering a wave of hate, but as usual, those groups led by La Raza and MALDEF were long on rhetoric and absolutely, absolutely devoid of facts or respect for them. Bill Tucker has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Being tough on illegal immigration is a bad thing in the eyes of La Raza, a Hispanic special interest group which says it represents the civil rights of all Latino immigrants. The group blames the murder of Marcello Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant on Long Island, New York, on a wave of immigrant hate sparked by local politicians who have called for enforcement of immigration law.

JANET MURGUIA, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA: Steve Levy has taken a notably hard line against immigrants in his county and has been lauded by cable hosts like Lou Dobbs as a folk hero.

TUCKER: The community has shown no tolerance for the crime. Seven teenagers were quickly arrested and charged with hate crimes ranging from assault to manslaughter in connection with that murder, the leader of the gang being held without bail. Lucero's murder though is being used by special interest groups like La Raza and MALDEF to call attention to what they call "a wave of hate crime in America."

However, just last month the FBI reported a slight decline in hate crimes nationally last year. The FBI saying there were just over 7,600 hate crimes versus just over 7,700 the year before. Groups calling for the enforcement of immigration law are furious that La Raza and MALDEF and others equate their position with hate.

DAN STEIN, F.A.I.R.: Their true agenda is to try to stop public discussion about the need to control the borders. And they are using isolated incidents, tragic incidents, to be sure, but isolated ones, and distorting statistics to try to muzzle important free-speech rights in this country.

TUCKER: Not once in the news conference was the phrase "illegal immigration" used or heard, instead the phrase "immigrant bashing" and "anti-immigrant" were the word choices of the day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER: And today's news conference was not without irony. While trying to make the argument that a new wave of hate is rising in America, the participants had to admit and acknowledge that the president-elect is a black man who was elected by a majority of Americans, Lou.

DOBBS: Well the other part of this is that in point of fact there's far greater incidents of hate crimes against gays and lesbians in this country. This is an absurd -- I mean it's just ridiculous on its face. They don't look at the FBI figures. They don't look at the fact that -- as Steve Levy himself pointed out. Hate crimes in Suffolk County have declined during his administration. I mean this is crazy what they are doing.

TUCKER: They did not seem to -- they did not seem to want to deal with facts at all, Lou. They had a case they wanted to present.

DOBBS: What in the world has happened to Janet Murguia? She has become...

(CROSSTALK)

DOBBS: ... some sort of radicalized -- I mean she has no -- Saul Alinsky, she looks like she's gone to a Saul Alinsky retraining school.

TUCKER: I don't know. She used to be a regular guest on this program, Lou.

DOBBS: Well she could come back any time if she wanted to make a little sense and maybe just stick to the truth for a change.

TUCKER: Right.

DOBBS: But, I mean, everybody better understand, this is a racially-charged issue in large measure because these ethnocentric interest groups have taken on the issue simply because of the race of the people that they seek to represent.

TUCKER: True.

DOBBS: And anti-immigrant and immigrant bashing, I'm the guy, by the way, who here says, every time, I'd much rather see enforcement against the illegal employers of illegal aliens.

TUCKER: Right.

DOBBS: I've said often that illegal aliens are the only rational actors in this entire mess. But why -- the only way you can not be a racist in the eyes of these absurd groups is to support illegal immigration and open borders.

(CROSSTALK)

DOBBS: Then you wouldn't be a racist.
TUCKER: And not talk about it.
DOBBS: Oh absolutely. All right, Bill Tucker, thank you sir.

Note to Lou Dobbs:

Glenn Spencer of American Patrol long time ago said: "You don't know your being invaded until you try to stop it".

Back before the immigration laws were being enforced Janet Murguia seemed normal. Now that they are barely being enforced you can see she is a raving reconquista. Which is what she was all along, you just never saw it before because she was getting her way.

The only hate I see is coming from LaRaza and the like. Dan Stein is my hero.

Originally Posted by ReggieMay

The only hate I see is coming from LaRaza and the like. Dan Stein is my hero.

I agree. Illegal aliens don't hide their hatred of Americans. Why are our elected officials not concentrating on the hate crimes against AMERICANS committed by illegal aliens?

DEPORT!