Hispanics in New York and New Jersey, and across the nation victims of race crimes.
Lets put this in persective. Let's get the ugly out first. Let me frame it as democratically as I can. When an immigrant arrives in America, in this day and age he has already been exposed to negative issues about African Americans or Blacks as the case my be.
As I presented this scenario to my students in 2003--you come from Poland , you move to the Bronx, you are so happy to be here, you see some Black brothers, some Latino brothers and they are cool and you want to be friends. The American whites,began to inform them of the negative image and actions that are attributed to Blacks. When I peeped the hole card,some students sensing that I had tapped into a mindset that they thought was a secret tried to deny it only to have a chorus of their classmates, state that in fact it's true.
Hispanics, are subjected to these misstatements, but what they don't realize is that they themselves are relegated to the bottom rung of the ladder. It is in this position that white America sees them. As such, when you have a band of 7 youths in Long Island kill a South American immigrant solely because he is Hispanic,it shocks Black Americans.
As I presented this scenario to my students in 2003--you come from Poland , you move to the Bronx, you are so happy to be here, you see some Black brothers, some Latino brothers and they are cool and you want to be friends. The American whites,began to inform them of the negative image and actions that are attributed to Blacks. When I peeped the hole card,some students sensing that I had tapped into a mindset that they thought was a secret tried to deny it only to have a chorus of their classmates, state that in fact it's true.
Hispanics, are subjected to these misstatements, but what they don't realize is that they themselves are relegated to the bottom rung of the ladder. It is in this position that white America sees them. As such, when you have a band of 7 youths in Long Island kill a South American immigrant solely because he is Hispanic,it shocks Black Americans.
Latinos are routinely targeted for harassment and attacks, both by law enforcement and civilians. Unlike other minorities, they are less likely to report the crimes to authorities.
The law enforcement agencies in NY were aware of the attacks, and this wasn't the first one that took place. The 7 teens were part of a gang that was well-known in their community for "hunting" Hispanics for fun.
Ironically enough, two of the defendants are Black. It makes you wonder, thinking that we ourselves were subjected to the same kind of arbitrary attacks not too long ago.