As we have noted in prior postings, the anti-immigrant/nativist movement is animated as much, if not wholly, by hatred against Latinos (whether legal or undocumented) as any regard for the integrity of our borders. This is plainly evident in the racist rants of nativists such as Michelle Malkin, Lou Dobbs, Tom Tancredo and more respectable spokesmen such as Harvard’s Samuel Huntington. Now, the Southern Poverty Law Center which has a long and honorable tradition of exposing hate groups has documented the increase of hate crimes against Latinos masquerading as anti-immigrant cant. In a recently published article by Brentin Mock, entitled, “Immigration Backlash: Violence Engulfs Latinos,” SPLC documents this wave of hatred and violence:
The results are no less tragic for being predictable: Although hate crime statistics are highly unreliable, numbers that are available strongly suggest a marked upswing in racially motivated violence against all Latinos, regardless of immigration status. According to hate crime statistics published annually by the FBI, anti-Latino hate crimes rose by almost 35% between 2003 and 2006, the latest year for which statistics are available. In
What follows is a representative sampling of some of the more egregious examples of physical and psychological violence waged against Latinos over the past two-and-a-half years. The perpetrators range from racist skinheads to rogue Border Patrol agents to otherwise everyday citizens who took it upon themselves to repel an "invader," terrorize a "criminal alien," or exterminate a "cockroach."
The full article can be found at: http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?site_area=1&aid=292
It is time for principled Americans to step up and speak against this wave of anti-Latino violence.
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