Nate Pierski

SPW 267

Professor Jeffries

April 19, 2015

Hate Crime

For years, Latinos have immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of a new

home, a new job and a new life. For that same amount of time however, Americans have felt a

sense of urgency to do anything they could to remove the Latinos, either by asking or by forcing.

The notions of Latinos take jobs away from Americans and the spread of a new culture has put a

bad image on Latinos. The newly declared Mexican-Americans have been discriminated against

and have been the scapegoat in many situations. Over this past decade, hate crimes against the

Mexican-American population has started to become a real problem in todays society.

According to the FBI Database, there has been an increase of hate crimes against Mexican-

Americans from 426 crimes in 2003 to 595 crimes in 2007. Most of these crimes have come

from influences of Anti-Immigrant groups and from the media. Overall, hate crime against

Mexican-Americans has become a head turner from other Americans and Latinos wondering

whether it is still worth it to cross the border into the U.S.

In order to keep Mexicans from illegally crossing the border, some Americans decided to

take matters into their own hands and form these Anti-Immigrant groups. These groups are the

epitome of hate crimes. Their plans were to both guard the border and stop anyone who looked

like a Latino and stop to check for their papers or lobby Congress to consider some of the

immigrant issues. The Minuteman Project formed in April of 2005 is considered to be a group

with every intention to cause hate crimes. A group that monitors the U.S. Mexico borders in
search of any illegals and either arrest them or harass them. A fairly large group of 200 men with

their as being do the job our government refuses to do" and "protect America" from the "tens of

millions of invading illegal aliens who are devouring and plundering our nation." (splcenter)

Even though their intentions at first werent to cause any hate crime, there were some cases that

disproved this. Back in 2007, a member of a chapter in Virginia was arrested and charged with

assault of an immigrant attempting to cross. The Minutemen became a group that everyone

including the president at the time did not approve of and eventually ended their reign at the

border.

Three Washington, D.C.-based immigration-restriction organizations, FAIR, CIS, and

NumbersUSA, have been called out by some as hate groups. These organizations dont

necessarily commit hate crimes physically like the Minutemen; they use verbal abuse or insults.

FAIR, for example, hired many white supremacists and has many board members who write for

hate publications that promotes racist conspiracy theories about Latinos. Another reason why

FAIR is a hate group is because, its acceptance of $1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund, a group

founded to promote the genes of white colonials that funds studies of race, intelligence and

genetics. A group that has intentions of promoting white genes and not the genes of any other

race causes some concerns towards the Mexican-Americans. These organizations have intentions

to promote hate crime within by writing and talking about the negativity of the Mexican-

Americans of this country.

The media in America has changed over the years and has influenced people to do this or

do that, buy this and eat that and even to have an opinion that may have a form of negativity.

With the increased amount of news coverage and expert opinions of immigration, many

Americans have been influenced to go against the support of immigration. Some highly known
and respected people on television have an opinion and have followers to give it to, even if its

wrong. David Savage is a man that has made some controversial comments on television

regarding the Mexicans coming over the border. His comments may not have promoted hate

crime towards Mexican-Americans, but the people who listen to him will take action because

they feel it is necessary to follow his words, literal or not. An example would be back in 2007

when he commented on a story about a group of Mexican-American college students going on a

hunger strike in order to receive green cards. They're illegal aliens and they want green cards

simply because they're students. I would say, let them fast until they starve to death, then that

solves the problem. They broke into the country; they're criminals. This last comment is the

very definition of a hate crime, verbal abuse towards a certain race. If this is what he believes

then many people in the country will certainly believe it to, resulting in the same kind of hate

crimes.

Lou Dobbs is another man who has said some controversial comments towards

immigrants on his show. Like Savage, Dobbs claims that immigrants are criminals which is

obviously not true but because he is a well-known man, a lot people will be influenced by what

he has to say, and take action. In 2007, Dobbs held a special "Broken Borders" town hall meeting

edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight in Hazleton, Pennsylvania to talk about an Act. Dobbs exclaimed,

Hazleton, the community, is leading the battle against illegal immigration. Fourteen months

later, a Mexican man was killed by a group of white teenagers simply because he was Mexican.

The media has a major influence on todays battle with hate crime and it all starts with one man

on T.V. explaining his so called beliefs.

The Mexican-Americans of this country have been taking a lot of heat over the decades

because they are not considered to be white or even American. It does not matter what
gender they are, what age, or even if they have citizenship or not, some people in America feel as

if they dont belong here and will commit hate crime to prove it.

On February 17th, 2005, Osvaldo Aldrete-Dvila was running from two Border Patrol

officers was shot 15 times. He was unarmed and the officers realized this and took advantage

because he was also Mexican. They tried covering it up by getting rid of the shell casings and

refusing to put that use of firearms on the report. In the end they were charged and one officer

was asked why he shot the man. His response was he got what he deserved.

On April 22nd, 2006, a 16 year old by the name of David Ritcheson was attacked by racist

skinheads while screaming, "White power!" and calling Ritcheson a "spic" and "wetback." They

kicked him and beat until he was within inches of death all because they thought he say David

kissing a girl. The two teenagers were sent to prison with life sentences for hate crimes and all

because David was Mexican and they thought of him as some sort of target.

On June 12th, 2006 in New York, two Mexican men were fishing when they were asked

for their green cards by these teenagers pretending to be federal agents. The teenagers them beat

and robbed the two men and accused them of stealing jobs away from Americans. The four

teenagers were then charged with hate crimes and sentenced to prison all because they felt as if

the Mexican men were illegal and easy targets.

Even though hate crime is everywhere, one must look to see where exactly the majority

of the hate crimes are committed and where do they rarely happen. Since Mexican-Americans

immigrated to the United States from Mexico, the communities that have the highest percentage

of Mexican-American ancestry are mostly in Texas. In fact, 13 of the top 25 communities are in

Texas. Others states included Arizona, California, Colorado, and Nevada. The west/southwest
region of America has a major percentage of Mexican-Americans inhabitants, but also has a

fairly large amount of hate groups. With the Minutemen bordering the border and the new

Immigration Laws being passed in Arizona, the amount of hate crimes has increased significantly

in these states. The Midwest region has had it shares of hate crimes with Chicago being the state

with the most hate crimes in the Midwest. Washington D.C. has had an increase over the years

with hate crimes especially with the hate groups, CIS, FAIR, and NumbersUSA and some Anti-

Immigrant laws being passed. New York has the larger percentage of Mexican-Americans living

in the East region. Overall, the vast majority of Mexican-Americans has traveled across the

border and stayed in the southwest, with a small percentage traveling to further destinations.

The rate of hate crime against Mexican-Americans has increased every year since the

start of the 21st century and there seems to be no end to it. However, there are organizations and

acts that have and will continue to help decrease or even stop hate crime. One organization is the

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, for short. They are

considered to be the law firm of the Latino community. Their mission is to help Mexican-

Americans find a place in this country through job searches and education. Their plan is to help

Mexican-Americans receive their rights and help them become equal in a country that doesnt

seem to want equality. They also have been promoting many projects of theirs such as Truth In

Immigration. Its a project that teaches everyone in America the wrong stereotypes about

Mexican-Americans and also tells those ways Americans can change their opinions and stop the

spread of stereotypes that lead to hate crimes.

MALDEF has also done a good job in lobbying Congress to consider and pass bills and

also be in support of current acts such as the Hate Crimes Prevention Act Of 1999. What this act

is supposed to follow is to prosecute anyone who has been charged with a hate crime. This act
has made somewhat of an improvement towards the prevention of hate crime and preventing

citizens from getting away with a hate crime because hate crimes monitoring and enforcement

consists of a patchwork of laws that offer citizens varying levels of legal protection depending on

where they live. (civilrights) So with this act and MALDEF continuing to work towards

equality, the number of hate crimes towards Mexican-Americans has a chance to decrease in the

upcoming years to come.

By looking through the data and testimonies, one can see that hate crimes against

Mexican-Americans has become an issue in the United States. The increasing amount of Anti-

Immigrant groups and the influence the media has over America has made Mexicans-Americans

look like the bad guy. Although many issues have become evident, there are many solutions

being thought of. In the world one lives in today, one must think ahead into the future to

determine whether or not this trend of nativism will increase or go on a decline.

Works Citied
Kortava, David. "An Autopsy of the Minuteman Movement: An Interview with Investigative

Journalist David Neiwert." An Autopsy of the Minuteman Movement: An Interview with

Investigative Journalist David Neiwert. The Mantle, 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2015

"The State of Hate: Escalating Hate Violence Against Immigrants - Confronting the New Faces

of Hate." The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. The Leadership Conference,

n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

"Hate Crimes." MALDEF:. MALDEF, 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Holthouse, David. "Southern Poverty Law Center." Minutemen, Other Anti-Immigrant Militia

Groups Stake Out Arizona Border. SPLC, 2005. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.

Kortava, David. "An Autopsy of the Minuteman Movement: An Interview with Investigative

Journalist David Neiwert." An Autopsy of the Minuteman Movement: An Interview with

Investigative Journalist David Neiwert. N.p., 03 Sept. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.