VivirLatino

I’ve said it once and I will say it a thousand times, the anti-immigrant rhetoric translates into anti-Latino rhetoric and actions and if you don’t believe me then believe a report put out by the Southern Poverty Law Center. They released a report titled “The Year in Hate” citing that 819 people were targets of anti-Latino crime in 2006, compared with 595 in 2003.

“If it were merely the groups in a corner by themselves it wouldn’t be worrying,” [Mark]Potok said. “But now the propaganda is being circulated by the mainstream media.”
Potok said conspiracy theories by the groups have been picked up and given validation by CNN and some national politicians.
Among the worst offenders, Potok said, are CNN’s Lou Dobbs and Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa).

And the sad reality is that the FBI’s number is likely lower than the real numbers for two reasons. One, many hate crimes are never reported out of fear. Two, to get a hate crime classified as a hate crime, each state has it’s own standards that are variable and often very stringent. For example most of the time even if there are 10 white guys beating a Latino to death, one of those white guys will have to have been heard using the word “spic” or the like in order for the crime to be labeled a hate crime.

Via / The Latin Americanist