Excuse me if I have little sympathy for parents at a meeting at Patchogue-Medford High School, where the accused in the racist hate driven murder in the death of Marcelo Lucero, especially one who yelled :

“What are we doing to make sure the media doesn’t grab our kids to be interviewed?” and then many parents screamed and confronted the Newsday reporter–who was escorted out even though she was given permission to attend.

I have little sympathy because these parents and so many others like them were not and still are not screaming the way I and other Latinos have been screaming for years: “What are we doing to make sure that my neighbor, lover, father of my child, tio, hijo, familia and comunidad are not grabbed to be killed.”

Marcelo Lucero’s story, sadly is not a new one. It is one of many instances of hate fueled by anti-immigrant policy and rhetoric coming from both ends of the political spectrum. The fact that Marcelo is another Mannuel Mayi is the reason why I take no issue with calling Marcelo an immigrant, while some Latino blogs have taken issue with that labeling. When Marcelo was targeted for death, the killers didn’t ask to see his papers or engage in conversation to hear if he spoke with an accent. He was tagged a Latino which has been made to equal immigrant which has been made to equal not having the right to exist. It didn’t matter what Latin American country Marcelo came from. It mattered that he was “other”, the way my own children can be othered by the color of their skins and their names.

There is some positive movement in Marcelo Lucero’s specific case:

Jeffrey Conroy, the teen who allegedly stabbed immigrant Marcelo Lucero to death, will now face the charge of murder as a hate crimes charge, upgraded from manslaughter as a hate crime.

Conroy and six other teens involved in the attack on Lucero (prosecutors say they were specifically looking to “f— up Mexicans”) were also charged with conspiracy in Lucero’s death and second-degree attempted assault related to another attack.

Experience working on hate crimes against Latinos has taught me that in order for any change to happen, in order for justice to be served, a three pronged strategic approach needs to be taken: Community Action, Legal Action, and Media action. All three work together. Rarely does the “justice” system work unless it knows that people are watching and willing to hit the streets and take action if the system doesn’t do what it so proudly claims to do, protect all people. Sadly, when the community does step up, and we do, the mainstream media insists on compartmentalizing the individual instances of death and abuse as isolated incidents instead of a continuation of racist colonial history. This is why the role of independent media and bloggers is so important. Without these three pieces working together, without co-opting the needs of those closest to the epicenter of hate, we are doomed for failure.

11/21 FRI, 4-6 pm – Vigil: for Marcelo Lucero, murder victim in Suffolk Co hate crime. Demand that anti-immigrant Suffolk Co exec
Steve Levy resign. Bring candles. At NY Gov David Patterson’s office, 633 3rd Ave (btw 40 & 41st St, 4/5/6/7 to Grand Central-
42nd St). Info: 212-561-1744 & 516-582-2720,

Via / Gothamist, Immigration Talk With a Mexican American