"Charity is commendable, everyone should be charitable. But Justice aims to create a social order in which, if individuals choose not to be charitable, people still don't go hungry, unschooled or sick without care. Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth, justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance.
Faith-based charity provides crumbs from the table; faith-based justice offers a place at the table"
~Bill Moyers

Showing posts with label hate crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hate crime. Show all posts

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Super Héroe de Univisión Jorge Ramos al rescate, finalmente... ?


Sabio Dicho dice 'que no se debe mirar los dientes a un caballo regalado'

No es eso lo que pretendo, pero se necesita decirlo 'porqué se tardó tanto?'

Latinoamericanos en general, hemos estado bajo la mira de pistolas, rifles y cañones verbales por años, continuamente acribillados con los proyectiles llenos de un lenguage de odio que sale de las lenguas viperinas de los que comúnmente se denominan 'shock jocks' en la radio y televisión en inglés, los exponentes actuales de tal arma letal son, entre la legión que los conforma, Michael Savage, Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Neil Boorts, Michele Malkin, et al, como dije son legión y desafortunadamente el espacio disponible es insuficiente para enumerarlos a todos.

Me estoy refiriendo, por supuesto, al lenguage de odio (Hate-Speech) en los Medios de Comunicación que han azusado tanto odio, intolerancia y violencia contra las comunidades tradicionalmente marginadas y excluídas, como lo han sido, entre otras, las de los Imigrantes, Mexicanos, Hispanos y LatinoAmericanos en general.

Espero que se haya deducido al mencionar los 'exponentes actuales del lenguage de odio', de que este problema y las tragedias que causan, no es nada nuevo, espero que todos estemos de acuerdo de que esta es una situación cíclicamente recurrente, basta recordar brevemente los programas 'Bracero', 'Wetback', 'Mexican Repatriation', 'Return to Sender', 'Endgame', las luchas sostenidas contra la exclusión, opresión y la violencia que se desató contra la comunidad México-Americana durante los llamados 'Zoot Suit Riots', 'The Chicano Movement' y la legendaria lucha, aún en vigencia, de los Trabajadores del Campo, iniciada por muchos valientes entre los que cabe mencionar Cesar Chávez, Dolores Huerta y educadores artísticos como Luis Valdez, con el afamado 'Teatro Campesino', levantando la conciencia de nuestro pueblo y otras etnias.

Las luchas, los tiempos, las caras y las voces cambian, pero la temática no, por ende, la pregunta, 'porqué se tardó tanto?', es imperativa.

Y una respuesta, en mi opinión, es mandatoria.

Mi atrevimiento al hacer la demanda, está basado en la realidad de que hasta ahora, nuestros esfuerzos para atraer la atención de nuestras comunidades hacia el problema y las consequentes tragedias, en el mejor de los casos, han recivido una cobertura en los medios en español que refleja a la que hemos recibido de los medios Anglo Sajones, los cuales reportan la noticia sin adentrarse en las causas y su conectión a las consequencias, ó en el peor de los casos, pasan desapersividas por falta de qué? Interés en cubrirlas?

Una notable excepción, fué la extraordinaria reacción a la propuesta para reforma migratoria de Sensenbrenner en el 2006, y vimos los resultados, el público informado, tomó cartas en el asunto como correspondía a la precaria situación en que se pretendía poner a nuestra comunidad.

En respuesta a las protestas, demostraciones y marchas del 2006, el lenguage de odio, la intolerancia y violencia contra nosotros, se incrementó y nuestros medios en español se replegaron y se especula que dócilmente se doblegaron ante la presión, de quién ó por donde vino esa presión, se lo dejo a su criterio, ó si lo prefieren, a su especulación.

Porque, si no hubo presión, como tal vez se declare por parte de los presentadores, entonces cabe preguntar, fué ignorancia de la agravante situation? Ó, Fué simple desinterés y falta de preocupación en nuestro dilema?

Cuando uno de de los mas virulentos mercaderes de odio, Michael Savage, en respuesta a la huelga de hambre de unos valientes estudiantes que trataba de llamar la atención a la necesidad de pasar el DREAM ACT, en su programa del 5 de Julio del 2007, Savage sugerió que sería mejor 'dejarlos morir de hambre, asi se acabaría el problema', con notables excepciones, esta ignominia fué ignorada por nuestros medios de comunicación, la respuesta de un grupo de la indignada comunidad Hispano / Latino del Área de la Bahía, que tomó forma en una protesta el 15 de Agosto del 2007 contra este tipo de lenguage, contra el locutor Michael Savage, contra la estación KNEW, que es desde donde transmite y contra Clear Channel, la Corporación Propietaria, también, en su mayor parte, fué ignorada por los medios en general, incluídos los que supuestamente deben informar a la comunidad hispano-parlante.

Los ataques verbales de este locutor y los demás, continuaron, el odio, la intolerancia y los asaltos físicos, no solamente continuaron, sino que hubo en incremento de ellos, la organización surgida durante la acción contra Savage en el 2007, La Hispano / Latino Anti-Defamation Coalition SF, se mobilizó de nuevo para una vez más, llamar la atención al creciente problema, aunque no fué inesperada, la ignorancia que aún existía sobre este individuo y sus dañinas actividades, aún en nuestros medios de comunicación, la encontramos tanto indignante, como significativa de una falla al cumplimiento del deber de los medios de comunicación, con énfasis en los Hispano Parlantes.

Una protesta / demostración planeada para el 23 de Septiembre del 2008, recibió la promesa de María Celeste, del programa "Al Rojo Vivo", de cubrirla, aparentemente ella despertó a la realidad del gran problema del discurso del odio, a consequencia de un ataque que hizo Michael Savage contra los niños autistas, siendo María Celeste miembro de la Mesa Directiva que aboga por el bienestar de los niños que padecen de autismo, su indignación y respuesta no se hicieron esperar y presentó un segmento sobre lo que Savage dijo, después de acceder a cubrir la action del 23 de Septiembre, se descubrió que había conflicto con la fecha a consequencia de sus vacaciones con anterioridad planeadas, se nos informó que no la podía cubrir en persona, pero que miembros de su equipo lo harían, nadie de su programa se presentó y pues no fué cubierta por ellos.

También Jorge Ramos nos falló, en una entrevista con el Dr. Marcos Gutierrez del Programa 'Hecho en California', en La Grande 1010AM tanto Marcos como Juanita Villegas, que como Marcos es también miembro del HLADC-SF y que llamó al programa, le preguntaron a Jorge si podía de alguna forma cubrir la acción, Jorge dijo que sí lo iba a hacer; el decir que aun estamos esperando su presencia es incorrecto, porque desde el principio hubo dudas de que cumpliera lo prometido, aunque resulta superfluo, lo voy a decir, nunco lo hizo.

Y ahora, después de dos casos con las más extremas consequencias del 'lenguage de odio', finalmente Jorge tiene un segmento sobre estas horrorosos ejemplos de lo pervasivo que es este tipo de discurso en los medios, aunque veo lo positivo del segmento, el mayor enfoque fué sobre los acontecimientos criminales y casi nada sobre los 'shock jocks' que, a mi entender, tienen una relación muy directa de causa y efecto sobre estos incidentes, y la pregunta final que Jorge hizo a sus dos invitadas, sobre lo que se podría hacer para contrarrestar esto, a mi me pareció de lo mas disengenua por parte de Jorge, por la sencilla razón de que aunque se puede trazar la retórica de odio a los grupos anti-imigrantes, no se abordó la indoctrinación y el reclutamiento a las filas de los grupos de odio y a la validación de sus representantes que se hace a travez de los medios de comunicación en Inglés y que presentadores como Jorge Ramos, están en una posición super óptima para contrarrestarlos al simplemente cubrirlos en forma regular y consistente.

Jorge Ramos es considerado uno de "los 25 hispanos más influyentes de Estados Unidos" (revista Time). La revista Latino Leaders dice que es uno de "los 10 Latinos más admirados en Estados Unidos" y "uno de los 100 más poderosos de América Latina". People en Español lo incluyó en su lista de los 100 latinos de mayor influencia en norteamérica.


Jorge Ramos, Super Héroe en acción al rescate, finalmente? Ya veremos, porque hasta ahora, Rick Sánchez de CNN y Geraldo Rivera de FOX News, FOX News? WOW!, hasta ahora han hecho un mejor trabajo que Jorge para desenmascarar y exponer al aire libre el racismo, nativismo y la xenofobia de los que nos odian y atacan en los medios de comunicación.

Si no vieron el programa 'Al Punto', en el video que incluyo immediatemente abajo, pueden ver el segmento al cual me he estado refiriendo, para que juzguen por ustedes mismos si creen que Jorge está en realidad luchando a nuestro lado.

Yo creo que ha hecho muy poco y con lo poco que ha hecho hasta ahora, me instó a hacer la pregunta 'porqué se tardó tanto?'

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Hate Speech Has Consequences - It happened again, another Hispanic / Latino Murdered, , Lynched?

We, at the HLADC-SF, firmly believe that 'Hate Speech In the Media", is directly responsible for the hate, intolerance and violence toward Hispanic / Latinos / Immigrants and other minorities such as the LGBTI community, which fosters acts of violence against their members.
We also see similarities to the beginning of Germany's Nazi horror of the 30s, then, as today, entire groups were demonized, hence dehumanized; thus creating a climate of hate and intolerance which permitted the enacting of harsh and inhuman legislation against the targeted groups that, as history tells us, had horrific consequences.
For the ones who say that no ovens have been constructed and that millions have not been killed, we say: One dead is too many, one family separated is one too many, one child or a parent terrorized or separated from each other, is one too many.
It is true, ovens have not been built, but how far are from the Nazi Concentration Camps, the ICE Detention Centers? Detainees have and are dying due to mistreatment and lack of medical attention, children are being incarcerated and many dropped at the border without caregivers, left to fend for themselves and usually falling pray to exploiters / abusers - Isn't this harsh enough?
In Nazi's Germany, it started with a propaganda of hate, we see the same thing happening in the USA - it was all legal then, as it is legal now - It was the Democratically elected German Government committing these crimes against humanity, now it is the Democratically elected US Government committing atrocities, sanctioned by a misinformed and whipped into an anti-immigrant-frenzy electorate, who wraps itself in Patriotism and Religious fervor, aided, abeted and incited into hate and intolerance by media entities and personalities.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that people raised under the traditional climate of racism, xenophobia, nationalism, nativism, dominionism, et al, existing in this country, feel inclined to take matters into their own hands.
So, another 'Mexican' who was actually an Ecuadorean, was murdered in a New York suburb by 7 teenagers, 6 white and, sadly, 1 hispanic and according to a Suffolk prosecutor Monday said the group was "determined" to find a victim of Hispanic descent." In their own words, 'Let's go find some Mexicans to -- -- up,' ", -- "Prosecutors described a planned attack in which the group drove around in an attempt to go "Beaner jumping," as the suspects called it under police questioning. They were seeking out a Hispanic victim after one or more of the suspects days earlier knocked another man down, only to have him escape, prosecutors said."
From whence comes this hate? This desire to 'hunt' a Hispanic to attack?
We know the answer, don't we?
Aurora Grajeda
HLADC-SF

"HATE SPEECH AND MISINFORMATION IN THE MEDIA – A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY"

Prosecutor: Teens targeted Hispanics - 7 arraigned in fatal 'hate crime'

"The county executive, Steve Levy, quickly issued a news release denouncing this latest apparent hate crime in Suffolk County. That should be the first and least of the actions he and other leaders take.

A possible lynching in a New York suburb should be more than enough to force this country to acknowledge the bitter chill that has overcome Latinos in these days of rage against illegal immigration.

The atmosphere began to darken when Republican politicians decided a few years ago to exploit immigration as a wedge issue. They drafted harsh legislation to criminalize the undocumented. They cheered as vigilantes streamed to the border to confront the concocted crisis of Spanish-speaking workers sneaking in to steal jobs and spread diseases. Cable personalities and radio talk-show hosts latched on to the issue. Years of effort in Congress to assemble a responsible overhaul of the immigration system failed repeatedly. Its opponents wanted only to demonize and punish the Latino workers on which the country had come to depend.

A campaign of raids and deportations, led by federal agents with help from state and local posses, has become so pervasive that nearly 1 in 10 Latinos, including citizens and legal immigrants, have told of being stopped and asked about their immigration status, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Now that the economy is in free fall, the possibility of scapegoating is deepening Hispanic anxiety.

It is not yet clear how closely connected Mr. Lucero’s murder is to this broad wave of xenophobia. But there is both a message and opportunity here for officials like Mr. Levy, an immigration hard-liner whose relations with his rapidly growing Latino immigrant constituency have been strained by past crises and confrontations.

Deadly violence represents the worst fear that immigrants deal with every day, but it is not the only one. It must be every leader’s task to move beyond easy outrage and take on the difficult job of understanding and defending a community so vulnerable to sudden outbreaks of hostility and terror."


In front of a courtroom at times crowded with family members of seven teens accused in a fatal hate crime stabbing, a Suffolk prosecutor Monday said the group was "determined" to find a victim of Hispanic descent.

"In their own words, 'Let's go find some Mexicans to -- -- up,' " said Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford at First District Court in Central Islip.

Paterson decries killing of Ecuadorean man in Patchogue



Gov. David A. Paterson yesterday decried the killing of a Patchogue man from Ecuador as a disgraceful act that "should serve as a source of outrage for all of us," and directed state law enforcement agencies to assist Suffolk Police in its investigation.

"We must remain vigilant and continue our fight to eradicate prejudice in our words and in our actions," the governor said.

His statements came in the wake of a killing that again has put Suffolk at the center of the national spotlight in the debate over immigration reform.

The head of a national Hispanic organization said anti-immigrant rhetoric incites incidents such as Saturday night's fatal stabbing of Marcello Lucero, 38.

A Death in Patchogue



OPINION
Editorial

Published: November 10, 2008

Marcello Lucero was killed late Saturday night near the commuter railroad station in Patchogue, N.Y., a middle-class village in central Long Island. He was beaten and stabbed. The friend who crouched beside him in a parking lot as he lay dying, soaked in blood, said Mr. Lucero, who was 37, had come to the United States 16 years ago from Ecuador.


The police arrested seven teenage boys, who they said had driven into the village from out of town looking for Latinos to beat up. The police said the mob cornered Mr. Lucero and another man, who escaped and later identified the suspects to the police. A prosecutor at the arraignment on Monday quoted the young men as having said: “Let’s go find some Mexicans.” They have pleaded not guilty.

The county executive, Steve Levy, quickly issued a news release denouncing this latest apparent hate crime in Suffolk County. That should be the first and least of the actions he and other leaders take.

A possible lynching in a New York suburb should be more than enough to force this country to acknowledge the bitter chill that has overcome Latinos in these days of rage against illegal immigration.

The atmosphere began to darken when Republican politicians decided a few years ago to exploit immigration as a wedge issue. They drafted harsh legislation to criminalize the undocumented. They cheered as vigilantes streamed to the border to confront the concocted crisis of Spanish-speaking workers sneaking in to steal jobs and spread diseases. Cable personalities and radio talk-show hosts latched on to the issue. Years of effort in Congress to assemble a responsible overhaul of the immigration system failed repeatedly. Its opponents wanted only to demonize and punish the Latino workers on which the country had come to depend.

A campaign of raids and deportations, led by federal agents with help from state and local posses, has become so pervasive that nearly 1 in 10 Latinos, including citizens and legal immigrants, have told of being stopped and asked about their immigration status, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Now that the economy is in free fall, the possibility of scapegoating is deepening Hispanic anxiety.

It is not yet clear how closely connected Mr. Lucero’s murder is to this broad wave of xenophobia. But there is both a message and opportunity here for officials like Mr. Levy, an immigration hard-liner whose relations with his rapidly growing Latino immigrant constituency have been strained by past crises and confrontations.

Deadly violence represents the worst fear that immigrants deal with every day, but it is not the only one. It must be every leader’s task to move beyond easy outrage and take on the difficult job of understanding and defending a community so vulnerable to sudden outbreaks of hostility and terror.


"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities."

"Fifty-one percent of a nation can establish a totalitarian regime, suppress minorities and still remain democratic."

The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.
-- Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
Any law which violates the indefeasible rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all.
Maximilien Robespierre
In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.
Mahatma Gandhi
It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.
Lord Acton
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