posted by Sam Richards
Back to hate crimes. At issue is finding ways to predict who is and is not likely to attack other people because of who they are or what they (the victims) believe. If we know this, then we can more readily protect people who might be attacked.
Hey, shouldn’t people who incite others to violence be somehow subject to scrutiny for their indirect participation in the attack(s)? So all of the anti-immigrant vitriol directed mostly towards Mexicans is whipping people into a frenzy. We know this and we can see a link (notg causal, of course). Let’s talk about it at the very least.
I think as far as trying to pinpoint who are committing these attacks is about mannerisms more than anything else. It does not really have anything to do with race. Sure statistics are shown and there is a pretty big distinction from minorities to whites, but ultimately it depends on specific people. I was talking to my friends about how Blacks are portrayed as being violent just because a minority of the population has exhibited this behavior. We all came to the conclusion that peoples’ backgrounds are a large factor so I really am interested in what others say about how environments affect these hate crimes. Society absolutely plays a role in these acts of violence against illegal immigrants. Many of these attacks are made by a younger generation that is still soaking in the arguments of those on top and all that is around them. I know that I, personally, pull a lot of my opinions from the media and my friends and my family. So, by the time whatever information that I am obtaining has reached me, it has already been touched and warped by the perspectives of others. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but as is shown in this news story, it can turn into something ugly. The boys in that white gang who killed the young Latino gentleman are getting their information from somewhere and clearly perceive it in a negative light. Okay, obviously there are going to be many different views and opinions about illegal immigration, but someone or some people or some event caused these boys to have this mindset that Mexicans are bad. In turn, they want to solve the “problem” by committing acts of violence. Because that is what makes sense to them. I feel as though whatever puts these extremities into their heads should be taken care of in addition to those who actually committed the hate crimes.
In class today, Sam’s point of everyone being illegal immigrants is completely valid I think. I cannot think of one possible argument about people just coming to what is now the U.S. and how it was fair and justifiable. Sure, populations have drastically changed since then, but so what? That doesn’t mean taking the land from the native peoples was by any means acceptable. But I feel like most of us are pretty much all on the same page from the first time we heard it in lecture and it is a very applicable point to include in this argument, I believe. They said that they can’t gauge a real number of violent crimes because a lot of people don’t come forward. That’s a huge aspect of the difficulty of seeking out those who are participating in hostile behavior towards Latinos.
I need to stop letting myself get physically worked up from all of this stuff. It’s great to talk about, but we’re all going to die anyway right?
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This is pretty sad; this poor man can’t even complain about being attacked to anybody who would readily understand him and instead needs a translator to have his voice heard. It makes me wonder how many people don’t take the time to make their voice heard. How many people don’t say anything at all because they are scared? It really frightens me also because I feel very ignorant to Mexicans based off of my own personal experiences. After learning about this kind of violence and just taking this whole class, it makes me really question my openness and kind of makes me disappointed that I still don’t always “know better” like how I say other people who are being racist should. Ok so to go into my experience- I can’t lie, my Dad has hired Mexican workers to do our lawn or fix up the yard or the pool. We have Spanish cleaning ladies. Hell, I even think my mom used to have our old cleaning lady Irma help me with my Spanish homework when I was little! I know I have directly benefitted from the exploitation of these people and that sucks. I want to fix that and I think we have fixed that so far… So we still have the cleaning ladies but as far as I know that is their business, their livelihood, and they are legal. We pay them well, they are always very nice, we sometimes eat with them and I think it is a friendly employer to employee relationship, not exploitation. So that’s my own home, my own individual experience.
Now, my town is a small, quaint suburb of New York. We’re about 45-minutes away from the city, and although we have access to a lot of diversity I’d still say most of the people are very white or very narrow-minded. We have had an influx of illegal immigrants come into our town and populate the downtown area. I hate going downtown now! Everyone jokes and calls it “Brewsterico” (town’s name is Brewster) and all the girls from my high school would say we didn’t like going there without at least 5 guy friends or a boyfriend with us at all times. Now, is this racist? I need to explain this further because I can openly say yes, I dislike all of the Mexicans in my town, but I can also say, I do not dislike them there because they are Mexican, I dislike them there because they creep me out! If a white, black brown, whatever-race man was whistling at me and ogling me as I went to the train or wanted to walk around downtown on the street, I’d be pissed regardless. So it just really annoys me that people say, oh that’s racist, why do you hate Mexicans, what are they doing to do- I don’t hate them because they’re Mexican, I hate them because they make me feel uncomfortable. If anything it’s one form of oppression to another because someone can say I hate Mexicans & I can say well in my personal experience, Mexicans are sexist and subjugate women. No one likes being stared and gawked at like that. Granted, the Mexicans my dad has brought home to work for us or the ones who have actually talked to me are nice and are not going to do anything or try to hit on me- but wtf why do they have to be so creepy and think it’s ok to make inappropriate gestures in public the way they do? Is that an acceptable part of their culture? Do women like it when they harass them like that in Mexico? I don’t know what that deal is, but I don’t hate them because they’re Mexican, I don’t even hate them really, that’s a strong word- I just really don’t like being talked to or approached like how they have done so to me. So all I’m saying is I would never beat a Mexican or ever endorse anyone committing a hate crime against ANYONE- but if you want me to help you and if you want me to want you in my towns, then stop being a creeper to me please and maybe I’d like you to be around more often.
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Beyond crimes that are done out of hatred for a particular race. I never understood or could fathom why people try to kill or hurt others because they do not like them. No matter how much I do not like a person I could never hurt them or cause them to lose their life. I don’t think people realize that when you take a life, that this person will never come back again. You are not only hurting the person you killed/injured but you are hurting the family, the friends, children, and so many more. This is just my feelings towards people and the lack of care they have towards other individuals.
Hate crimes as far as race and ethnicities are very disheartening to me. I believe in God and I know that he made us all equally. So I do not understand why some people believe their race is superior to others. Do these people feel that they are so much better than others, that they have to injury or kill them. If anything, now you are looking like the scum of the earth now, because you just took someone’s family member away.
In the video they showed a group of boys who were apart of a “white gang” who went around killing Mexicans. Gangs are not appropriate anywhere, but a gang that goes around specifically targeting Mexicans is ridiculous to me. I guess it’s similar to the KKK targeting Black people. This hatred people have for others that are not like them is crazy. I think people who are like this need to re-humanized the people they have hatred for. They need to realize that this person they are harming is also a human like them. This person has a family who loves them, this person deserves to live, and this person is just like them just a different race/ethnicity.
For a second I wanted to try to look through the eyes of the person who hates other because they are different. It was very hard, and I still have no clue why they would hurt others because of differences. The only conclusion I came up with is pure ignorance. If people would take the time to get to know others who were different they would see a different side of what they stereotype the “other” to be. I would like people to begin to look at them selves before hating others, and doing hateful things towards them.
Also I think these people maybe should look through the lenses of the people they hate. When they look through their lenses they should think about their family, their lives, things they love to do, how proud there are to be whatever race/ethnicity they are, and just how much they love living. If people did that they would value their life and the lives of others.
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The “Latinos and Hate Crimes” blog entry directly relates to one of the topics Sam discussed in class today. With the subject of immigration policy, a lot of other aspects come into play, such as hypocrisy, ignorance, and underlying racism. I believe a lot of people, regardless of which side they stand on with immigration, would modify their attitudes if they were presented with arguments similar to some that Sam makes on a regular basis. I think a lot of people in the United States, especially white people, have some underlying racism or biased views on people of other races or nationality, which affects their stance on immigration. It’s no secret that Latinos/Hispanics are victims of racist attitudes in this country. You hear racial slurs all the time towards this large and increasing group of people, especially towards Mexicans; terms like wetbacks, beaners, or the ironic and hypocritical demands of certain people, such as statements like “this is America, speak English”. As Sam has reinforced on several occasions this semester, all immigrants from the past have always hung on to their cultures, which includes native languages, customs, religions, etc. Today, Sam presented a statistic on varying percentages of Hispanic immigrants which say they speak English very well, with which generation being the varying factor. 88 percent of 2nd generation immigrants and 94 percent of 3rd generation Hispanic immigrants said they speak English very well. So, after considering these figures, anyone who claims that Hispanic people refuse to give up their culture (by the way, why would keeping certain cultural values ever be considered a bad thing in the first place? I think it takes a racist to believe this) and assimilate to the United States is either uninformed, too lazy to seek the truth, or too caught up in his or her racist beliefs. The reality behind much of our country’s ignorance is that Hispanics in fact are very quick to adapt and do learn to speak English.
To reinforce, I think a lot of people conveniently support very strict immigration policies because a large portion of those immigrating into the United States are people that some US citizens already dislike. This is not to say that a lot of people have zero bias when it comes to their opinions on immigration. There are definitely very valid reasons to support strict immigration laws, especially illegal immigration. But it’s simply undeniable that some people’s biased and ignorant opinions affect their stances. In this case, it would be underlying racism towards Hispanics that contributes to what they advocate. This phenomenon can be applied to an array of different subjects. People will always disregard, or better put, conveniently not seek the truth behind what they believe, because they simply don’t want to accept it.
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Today in class, the most appealing sentence that Sam said was that all of us are illegal immigrants. If you seriously think about it, I think the statement is completely valid. In this blog entry “Latinos and hate crime,” we can see that people are doing the same thing that happened in the past history; using violence and force. Again, as I said numerously in my past journals, the victims of racial act or whatever they are classified as are mostly against the minorities. People will have different perspectives towards illegal immigrants. Generally, Latinos, or to be even more specific, “Mexican-looking” people are stereotyped as illegal immigrants. The case of the murder of the “legal” young man is a great example that supports my perspective here. Since the young man was “Mexican-looking,” he was murdered and probably the goal of the white gang was to cleanse the country from illegally non-documented people, and show the others that it the same thing will happen to them. Their message that they wanted to express through such actions is most likely this in my opinion: “Stop coming if you do not want to die.”
Why though? The real question here is why we need to use violence and even murder in order to send out this message. People of hate that are engaged in such crimes need to remember that even though they are illegal, they are “human.” This is not a racial issue, but I think it needs to be clear to all the people that may read my entry. If you have hatred feelings towards the illegal immigrants, they have to think twice before they act. They are living, walking, eating, laughing, crying, and emotional human beings like everyone else. The sad fact is that the statistics that are shown do not contain all the crimes committed since they are afraid to get kicked out of the country. I remember the clip that we saw in class how the good old Starbucks Espresso guy stated that eventually, whatever they are, they are “ILLEGAL.” Guess what pal. Before they are illegal, before we talk about rights or whatever it may be, they are “PEOPLE.” I figure that it will be extremely difficult for the government to deal with this situation since they would be on the verge to whether deciding to help these poor people or just leave it as it is since they are not supposed to be there. I would like to make this statement about this issue. They are doing it for a living just as the senators and the congressmen are; they are risking their lives and status in order to live, have shelter, to have food, and to attain whatever they need to preserve their lives. One last statement before I stop writing. Respect “people.”
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I agree totally that the media has taken their responsibility lightly in properly informing the public about the issues of the day. In nearly all topics of conversation, the media will spin it to make money, or blindly pursue their own agenda. This behavior shows itself when the right wing compares health reform to terrorism, or when the left wing compares the republicans to war lords. In this case, the media portrays Hispanics as the enemy. Not to justify illegal immigration but to approach the conversation with such a blind commitment that Hispanics are evil criminals is ignorant. It’s because of this constant portrayal of this race that Americans have a hard time stepping back and recognizing that they’re mothers and fathers trying to make a buck for their family. They will also not recognize how critical this labor is toward American business. Everyone loves to bitch about China becoming more powerful but we won’t admit that we need cheap labor to catch up in the game. I know it’s pretty naïve but I wish someone could invest money in a media outlet that was devoted to give the most honest news possible. Maybe one day when I get enough money, but for now I’ll hate on Glenn Beck.
Another part of this that annoys me with the immigration debate is the hypocrisy. It is very similar to the hypocrisy we discussed last week about casual Christians. So many people against immigration lean on the argument that these Mexicans are breaking the law and that takes away any right granted to them in the Constitution. So lets follow this line of thinking: Mexicans come into this country undocumented= breaking the law= illegal = all rights taken away. Okay lets apply this logic to the rest of the population: American drives home drunk, smokes weed, or cheats on taxes= breaking the law= illegal= all rights taken away. BULLSHIT. Even after we’ve been caught breaking the law we get more rights: The right to remain silent, the right to a lawyer, and the right to a trial. There just seems to be a hell of a double standard when it comes to breaking the law. When Mexicans do it we can justify murder, but when we do it, we are going to scream to hell for our right to shut up until we talk to our lawyer.
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I think this is dumb that people bring race into this. It’s one thing if you’re illegal, and your race is another. Race and legalization have nothing to do with each other. First of all, people shouldn’t be violent, but we are naturally violent so what are we going to do? Second, people shouldn’t attack people because of their race, that’s just stupid. The person attacking is more stupid. But even if the person is illegal I don’t see why they need to be attacked? No physical violence needs to be placed upon them. None whatsoever. People just amaze me on how dumb and ignorant they are. Just because someone is Latino or Hispanic does not mean they are illegal immigrants and I think the media has a lot to do with people thinking that. If showing something over and over again in the media is going to create a negative stereotype towards an ethnic group or race, it shouldn’t be played over the air. If this happened we would have to find different ways to discriminate against others, because I know we would find other ways. Another thing that bothers me to no end is if illegal immigrants are okay in the United States. First of all, they are called ILLEGAL immigrants. Second, if it is okay for them to be here, or we need them like Sam was talking about yesterday in class, then we shouldn’t bring up the argument that they aren’t supposed to be here. And, if we do bring up the argument that they shouldn’t be here, then do something about it to make it happen. Just don’t bring up that they shouldn’t be here and keep saying that over and over so more people catch on and then it becomes a problem. If everyone wants them here, because apparently we need them, then NOBODY should ever complain that they are here. I don’t know how else to explain it but it is very frustrating. If we need them here, then let them here and shut up. If we don’t need them here, get rid of them. Someone needs to pick one and do it. People in general piss me off. I know that I said that in previous journals but that’s how I think. People are dumb and some people shouldn’t be able to make decisions for the rest of us. I think all of people’s stupidity is the lack of common sense. If someone had some common sense, wouldn’t they see that race doesn’t matter when it comes to people? It doesn’t matter what skin color we are or what we believe. We are all people; we are all different, get over it. There needs to be some mandatory class about common sense for every citizen or non citizen of the U.S.
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This is an interesting topic for myself as I am Mexican American if you want the politically correct terminology. I by no means look the part, but my upbringing was that of the Mexican and Spanish culture. Most of my family looks hispanic and speaks spanish for the most part. It is hard knowing how people treat other members of my family and myself differently. I can pass by as white and can understand some spanish and speak a little, whereas my brother looks chicano, but can’t speak a word of Spanish much less understand anything other than enchiladas and frijoles around dinner time. It is hard knowing that people think less of him because he looks Mexican. Any time he makes a mistake he is a dirty spic who should go back to his country, but this is his country. Both my parents were born in the states and so was he.
It is impossible to tell the difference between a Spanish person and an American who is Spanish. They share the same ancestry and some point so look similar so the connection is that all who even appear Spanish must be an immigrant. In New Mexico, so many people have a Spanish background so it is very difficult to distinguish whose family has been in America for numerous generations and whose family just crossed the border yesterday. This is partially why there are so many hate crimes against latinos. Many people who are ignorant and/or racist make the assumption that anyone who looks Hispanic must have just came yesterday, and many crimes occur for that reason. People are threatened by something that didn’t even threaten them just because it looks similar to what is threatening their resources.
By being Spanish and looking white, I can see both sides of the story. Many Spanish people would never guess I’m Spanish and start talking about me in Spanish calling me “gringa” and saying other things. I can understand some of what they are saying. Sometimes it’s nothing, other times it’s something, which is why I understand why white people can be uncomfortable. On the other side, since I look white, white people assume I’m not Spanish either and will start saying things about Mexicans and how we need this country is worse off by Mexicans, we need bigger fence and more border control (we really don’t need anymore border control in New Mexico by the way, there is already more border patrol officers than police). Really it is both sides do not understand one another. Both sides have their extremists, but by large that does not represent the majority of either one of their races. It is a cycle. White racists bring harm to a Latino or Latino racists bring harm to someone white, more misunderstanding occurs, and then is followed by more violence. Both sides are at fault and sometimes innocent people get caught in the mixup.This is an interesting topic for myself as I am Mexican American if you want the politically correct terminology. I by no means look the part, but my upbringing was that of the Mexican and Spanish culture. Most of my family looks hispanic and speaks spanish for the most part. It is hard knowing how people treat other members of my family and myself differently. I can pass by as white and can understand some spanish and speak a little, whereas my brother looks chicano, but can’t speak a word of Spanish much less understand anything other than enchiladas and frijoles around dinner time. It is hard knowing that people think less of him because he looks Mexican. Any time he makes a mistake he is a dirty spic who should go back to his country, but this is his country. Both my parents were born in the states and so was he.
It is impossible to tell the difference between a Spanish person and an American who is Spanish. They share the same ancestry and some point so look similar so the connection is that all who even appear Spanish must be an immigrant. In New Mexico, so many people have a Spanish background so it is very difficult to distinguish whose family has been in America for numerous generations and whose family just crossed the border yesterday. This is partially why there are so many hate crimes against latinos. Many people who are ignorant and/or racist make the assumption that anyone who looks Hispanic must have just came yesterday, and many crimes occur for that reason. People are threatened by something that didn’t even threaten them just because it looks similar to what is threatening their resources.
By being Spanish and looking white, I can see both sides of the story. Many Spanish people would never guess I’m Spanish and start talking about me in Spanish calling me “gringa” and saying other things. I can understand some of what they are saying. Sometimes it’s nothing, other times it’s something, which is why I understand why white people can be uncomfortable. On the other side, since I look white, white people assume I’m not Spanish either and will start saying things about Mexicans and how we need this country is worse off by Mexicans, we need bigger fence and more border control (we really don’t need anymore border control in New Mexico by the way, there is already more border patrol officers than police). Really it is both sides do not understand one another. Both sides have their extremists, but by large that does not represent the majority of either one of their races. It is a cycle. White racists bring harm to a Latino or Latino racists bring harm to someone white, more misunderstanding occurs, and then is followed by more violence. Both sides are at fault and sometimes innocent people get caught in the mixup.
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The talk about hate crimes seems to be a very big subject, not only in Sam Richard’s Soc 119 class, but in America as well. These blog posts on the race relations website never cease to amaze me. This particular blog post about the hate crimes against latinos was so sad. I find it appalling that other people think that they can treat people this way. The CNN video report starts off by telling us that these particular latinos stand on the street corners hoping to find some work for the day. For starters, this struck me me as such a sad situation, not knowing whether or not they would get work for the day, but one could hope that people who are better off than them would not discriminate against these people just trying to make a living. The old man in the video who said that he had to get nine staples in his head because he got jumped and beat down in a parking lot.. why?..just for the plain fact that he was from a latin descent? It does not make any sense to me why people could ever think that something like this was okay, or what the reasoning would be to beat up an old man, or a man of any age. When the one white man was being interviewed it appeared that he was asked this very question of why these people are hated so much. His response was that he was calling it a sin because “they are going against the law of land”. The only thing that came to my mind after I heard this man say this, first that he is truly ignorant and needs a reality check, it made me very angry. I just do not see how some people could be so cold hearted. Another thing that struck me was when the pastor in the video told the story of the letters left on the alter that said “hispanics do not rule here, whites do”. In my opinion, religion and sacred places, such as an alter, should never be tampered with. I do not see how the person who broke into the church and put such notes on the alter could go to their church on Sunday morning and worship the same God that those latinos worship. I guess this is if these people even go to church on Sunday.
Hate crime incidents do not just occur against latinos, I hear about stories everyday of hate crimes towards every kind of race or culture. Just the other week or so one of my friends who is Jewish had to come in contact with a guy who, consciously knew she was Jewish, blatantly told her a racial joke about the Holocaust. The CNN video stated that there is a statistic that says 7624 hate crime incidents occurred in 2007 and 595 of them were anti-hispanic. This is an issue that should not be taken lightly.
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The blog posted by Professor Richard’s titled “Latinos and Hate Crimes” particularly interested me to comment on. In our last lecture, Professor Richards brought up some extremely good points as to why immigration continues to take place in the vicious cycle that it does. First of all, I never really looked at immigration in the light that Professor Richards presented, as I’m sure most people have not. I have always had an opinion about illegal immigration that I assumed everyone agreed with. It is called “illegal” immigration for a reason. The fact that people come to America without following the necessary requirements angers me. I can’t fathom why anyone would defend illegal immigrants when they are in fact breaking the law. However, Professor Richards shared a new perspective as to why illegal immigration continues to happen, and his thoughts hit home to me. I am marketing major and a strong believer in big business in America. In other words, I am a strong advocate of free market capitalism. With that being said, the reason why illegal immigration continues to take place makes more sense. Corporate America and companies in business obviously want to pay out the smallest amounts of money possible for the required labor their respective companies need to properly operate. Therefore, these companies hire illegal immigrants who are much more likely to take certain jobs at lower rates than legalized citizens in the United States would. Also, these major companies in America have enough money to help fund politicians campaigns that are better fit to keep the number of illegal immigrants in America the same. They have the power to have a significant impact on the political schemes surrounding America’s current immigration processes. As Professor Richards stated in class, “If these companies wanted to prevent illegal immigration then they would.”
As far as the article concerning the amount of hate crimes against Latinos for being illegal immigrants, I can understand both sides of the argument. I understand that no one should be attacked, or killed for that matter like the man in the CNN story. There are natural laws that protect any beings against such acts in our country. However, it is easy to understand the frustration of legal citizens when illegal immigrants are taking their jobs and residing in their territory. I believe that in general, illegal immigrants are willing to offer labor at lower rates than legal citizens are. However, there are those few legal citizens that are willing to take any jobs at any pay as a means to survive. It is probably one of the most complex issues our country faces today, but illegal immigration will always being a problem in this country whether the amount of illegal immigrants eventually decrease or increase.
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The guy being interviewed in the news report said that the people who are angry are not angry at one specific individual but at the fact that they are not following the “laws of the land.” I am sure this guy has broken the law on numerous occasions as well as the people that he is speaking for. What makes living in America without the proper paper work any more illegal than drinking and driving or speeding? The Mexicans are not doing any one any harm, they are just trying to make a living. There is nothing wrong with wanting a better life and working hard to get it.
At one point everyone in America was an immigrant with the exception of the Native American’s because they were here first. People move to places where they think their lives will be better. It is human nature. There is no sense in getting upset over it. I can understand being upset if the immigrants do not speak the same language as you. It makes it difficult to work with them, so why not make it easier by providing education. This way they have the opportunity to learn the same language, in this case English, making it easier to work and live with them.
In any case, hate crimes are unnecessary. It is not okay to hurt someone of your own culture so it should not be okay to hurt someone of another culture. I am glad to see the people who killed that one guy in hand cuffs. Hopefully our legal system will not discriminate. I say hopefully because the justice system has a bad track record. I think these crimes are being committed and these groups are formed because of the white population feeling threatened. White people are afraid that another minority group will come in, take their jobs and take over their communities. In which case, people need to get over their egos. There are other people in this world too and I think it is stupid to suppress another group of people just because you are afraid. The people who are committing these crimes are just lazy in my opinion. They do not want to work for what they have. They want it handed to them so what do they do? They suppress others; make them feel worthless even though they are working harder.
I think this publicity was good. The more people know about what is going on, hopefully the more people will do to stop it and the less likely people will be to continue committing crimes. I personally like to work hard for what I have. The better the competition, the better I feel about myself when I succeed. If I do not succeed, then the other guy was better and they deserve to be at the top.
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The whole immigration rights subject for me is a ambiguous situation for me. I feel like the situation is really a double edged sword. On one hand, I feel that, why should we care what is happening to them or why should we care about them getting equal rights, they are ILLEGAL immigrants who do not pay our taxes. They are not suppose to be here in the first place. So why should they get all the benefits of being American and not have to pay the same consequences we do. Because I live in California, I see the affects of having many Illegal immigrants everyday. I learned in high school that at the rate they are entering the country, like ten years from now they will be I think it was like 80 percent of the population in California. And from what I have written I seem like a complete ass, but I do have a flip side to the argument. I want to start off the other argument by saying that I hate the whole idea of claimed territory like who said we get to the make our borders below canada and above Mexico, then how did we get Alaska and Hawaii, thats just my first argument. Then my second point is that who is to decide who can be a citizen and who can’t. A large majority of the American citizens here were all immigrants or descendants of immigrants. With the exemption to Native Americans, who were well Native to America, and blacks, who were brought here and did not decide to come, everybody is an immigrant. So why is it okay to shut the door now? You like I see the safety issue though for our country like if we let everyone into the country we might let the wrong people in like terrorist or poor people who will bring down the value of our country. Then my third point is that these human beings have a lot of affect on our economy.When they work for a lot less money than an American would, that allows the employer to sell his or her products for a lot less money making it much more affordable for the American people. Now while that sounds good, the problem with that is that these undocumented workers are taking jobs away from Americans because these illegal immigrants take the jobs at much lower prices. from their stand point they are much more okay with working for minimum wage, more so than an American. I know an illegal immigrant that has worked with my uncle for minimum wage since 1996. My uncle Owns a pizza parlor, she has been making pizzas since 1996, I know the majority of my uncle’s employees have only worked their maximum of two years, most of those being high school students who quit for another job, or get fired.
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Seeing this makes me extremely annoyed that I have to share the title of being an American with people who would beat up a defenseless person just because they are they outcast and the minority, they embarrass me. Seriously why do you have to make someone’s life hell, everyone carries their own burden why make it worse. I feel that Americans do not realize how strong and courageous these “illegal aliens” have to be to leave everything they know, everyone they love, and risk walking for hours and poor hot and cold conditions to reach America the land of “opportunity.” People need to shut up and get over the fact that immigrants exist; it’s nothing new so why hate? We all are immigrants and illegal, honestly Mexicans own this land more than a person of European descent. The native tribes probably mixed like the Aztecs and the Mohawks. Coming from a Hispanic heritage I know why these people travel here because the sad truth is that Latino countries are in such poor conditions. Look the average income of a Honduran is $4,000 US dollars how can anyone be happy living like that? I understand money is not everything but if you’re struggling to live who doesn’t want a chance for change. The funny thing is that many Americans are anti immigrants but why not ask why is there country still a third nation even though we are all in the Americas. The United States exploits these nations. They exploit them expecting the people not to realize and accept whatever happens but the people are getting tired. Next time you buy a banana think about why it’s so inexpensive because one of America’s favorite Chiquita has not heard the word of fair trade. They barely pay the workers well. The US has too much influence in the Latin American countries. If they try to sell to Europe these American countries say that they signed a contract which keeps these Latin economies trapped to cater to the US. That’s way so many Latino countries avoid commerce with the US because they economy begin to fail and conditions deteriorate. So think about it maybe allowing a flow of immigrants to come in as a small payment for our exploitation. Everyone wants low “roll back” prices like Wal-Mart right?
What also annoys me is that we are building a wall costing millions to protect an invisible border, why not put that money in our education, why not make my education cheaper at Penn State. Seriously keeping people out and others in are we creating another Berlin Wall? Honestly if you hate immigration move to Sweden I read that their nationalization rate is literally non-existent.
Also responding to people who say this is not a racist issue it is! Let’s think about how many illegal Irishmen or eastern Europeans are beaten up because they are illegal, I never heard of any before and I’m not saying it can’t happen; but why don’t the racist teens beat them up? Probably because these illegal immigrants look like them and Latinos don’t.
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It seems as if people are always afraid of change. These hate crimes against Latinos are nothing new, nor does it seem like anything is going to change in the immediate future. Just remember back to the early days of the United States when, instead of Hispanics being discriminated against, it was people of Irish descent who were looked down upon. It was common that when a help wanted sign was posted it would also say “No Irish Need Apply.” So how has anything changed since those days back in the late nineteenth century? Well the answer is not really much has changed, except for the fact that there are now laws that say you cannot discriminate based on race.
I can see so many people are hostile towards new Hispanic immigrants, and I have first-hand experience of these conflicts. The county I am from, in Southeastern Pennsylvania, is 92 percent white. However, the largest city in the county is now has a population that is over 40 percent Hispanic. Not only did so many people of Hispanic origin move into the city over such a quick period of time, it also coincided with a huge spike in violent crimes. Without looking to see if any other factors were involved, the people who had already been living there decided to quickly blame the large influx of Hispanics for the increase in crime that had never before been seen. Most likely those people are wrong in their thinking, but it is just human nature to relate a cause and effect that are very easy to see with the naked eye, without taking into consideration any underlying causes that are not so obvious.
On another separate, but semi-related note, I remember reading a column in the New York Times about Hispanic gangs out in Los Angeles who were literally going through neighborhoods and targeting blacks in an almost “ethnic cleansing” of the neighborhood. Obviously, people reading these stories are going to become angry that such behavior is going on, especially at a time when immigration is such a large issue. When they read about roving gangs of Mexican mobsters killing random people just because of their race, do you think they are going to say “Maybe we should tighten the border a little bit?” Here is a quote from a 2007 article in the Los Angeles Times:
”…the murder was a manifestation of an increasingly common trend: Latino ethnic cleansing of African Americans from multiracial neighborhoods. Just last August, federal prosecutors convicted four Latino gang members of engaging in a six-year conspiracy to assault and murder African Americans in Highland Park. During the trial, prosecutors demonstrated that African American residents (with no gang ties at all) were being terrorized in an effort to force them out of a neighborhood now perceived as Latino.”
Both these stories by the NY Times and the LA Times, may give anti-immigration supporters enough anger to go out and beat up a random Hispanic person. And that makes them no better, as the Latino gang members doing almost the same. But should we hold these newspapers responsible for the actions of those people? My answer is “No.” People must be held accountable for their own actions.
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Hate crimes are just a manifestation of ignorance. The only way to make progress I the race relations arena is through education. As mentioned in class, the immigration policies of this country accommodate the economic needs of the system, and the system is what makes us feel safe, proud and comfortable. If only the people committing these hate crimes new that immigration policy is the same as opening or closing the running water in the sink they would realize that they are taking action against the wrong group of people. Once people are aware of what immigration policy really is they would see that they are being betrayed by the institution of government. We would see a massive angry reaction similar in nature to that of the ranting white guy form the videos in class. This is why it is important to have classes like this, it is important to build bridges of dialogue, tolerance and understanding between races. We are really good at forgetting what the starting line is, we forget that this is really a country of immigrants. The hypocrisy that we display would prevent us from engaging in these acts of ignorance and hate. The problem is that all of us feel righteous and legitimate in our own position, “we were here first” or something similar. Humans are condemned by the same gift that makes them the most beautiful thing in all creation. Their intelligence and capacity to rationalize will separate them in the way they think and their ideologies, which is the same reason they are willing to kill each other. You do not think like I do, and therefore, my instinctual reaction of self preservation will lead me to strike you down before you do it to me.
It is clear that the only solution to all of mankind’s problems with himself is tolerance. How do you generate tolerance? The only way to do it if not by education is by building bridges of friendship, meaningful enough to make a person realize that everyone is different and valuable in his own right. These sorts of issues make me lose a lot of faith in men (humans in general), it makes me feel that maybe what we need is a wall, not to separate ourselves but to protect ourselves from each other. But what we need to recognize is the need and the desire of people to loom for a better life and better opportunities. It pains me to see that the people who are being beat up are the hard working people with a desire to grow and better themselves. Our adversity to change is rooted in fear, we are afraid of other people, people different form us. until we learn to step back and try to understand each other we will continue to destroy each other and we will be stuck in this status quo of hate and separation.
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This is disgusting. How can people commit such viscious crimes. What has this world come to?
Have we forgotten what happened over the last hundred of years. UNless you are a native american there is no reason that anyone can hate those who come to this country to survive. These people are from a country where making a living means owning a juice stand on the street, barely enough money to survive.
We are all people.
I don’t care if your from China, INdonesia, Madagascar, or Argentina, we are all just trying to survive. How are you, white people? to discriminate against other. My father came to this country with nothing, he came here to try and make a better life for himself because in his country there were not a lot of opurunities. So, look back more then two generations
and you will see that you are not alone in the immigration pool.
My father lives in Mexico, and I have been there. I love the food, culture, and people. Americanshate what they dont know, and refuse to be more cultured because they think that their culture is the best.
Well, reality check, its not!
This country is a mix of cultures bleneded into big cities.
Ever been to south florida, its like its own hispanic country, with so nationalities.In high school, all I heard was spanish. I love latin culutre, music, dance, and especially people,I lived in New York too, I heard all the mexican jokes in New York, I saw them line up in the morning
to find work. But I didnt judge them. Why, because they are just trying to make a better life for themselves. Americans, open your eyes, in fact all people from all over the worldd, we are all just trying to survive. Hatred and misunderstanding will always be there, but how far we take it
is the question. Are we going to hurt people because they are Mexican or Arab? What kind of world is this? Everything is already hard enough, why do we have to add this. Is it enough that these people have to leave everything they know, their families cultures, language, and come to a place and then on top of that have people all around you look down on you and dispise you. What kind of world are we living in ?
Have you ever been to a foreign country, alone, and not know a language? I have, and its not easy. Now, add the fact that everyone hates you and feel like you are beneath them, well that cant be easy. So let me ask all those people who go around everyday self-centered, not worried
about the suffering of others, or how hard it must have been for these people to come to this country. Imagine if you were them! Imagine living a day in their shoes, then think about whether someone deserves to die because he was well just trying to survive.
It is unjust. We are all people. Just people.
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As you already know from my many previous rants, I absolutely hate these wretched blogs; however, I think I did fairly well on my Accounting 211 exam so I am in a good mood.
Hate crimes are horrible acts. Crimes invade people’s human rights: their right to comfort, their right to security, their right to peace of mind, their right to exist without interference. Hate crimes not only invade all the same rights but they also degrade, psychologically (and most often physically) harm, dehumanize, and traumatize the victim because they base the crime on someone’s race or preferences.
On the topic of hate crimes, President Obama recently signed a more open, or rather more inclusive hate crime prevention act entitled the Matthew Shepard and James Boyd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act. This act incorporates hate crimes directed towards people due to their gender, sexual preference, or disabilities. It also strengthens previous established and now current hate crime laws. President Obama was quoted saying “No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love.” The President also went on to say that “[n]o one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are, or because they live with a disability.” I think our current leader, the awesome President Obama, sums it up pretty clearly.
Now I will move on to the perpetrators of these acts, and the instigators as well. All of these hate talks about immigrants, illegal or else wise, is just asinine. As free-market capitalist, we need cheap labor. The well-off American public will not work for the wages needed to produce the products at the prices which they request. So I think everyone should just shut the f*** up. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am a staunch capitalist who happens to realize the flaws that inherently come with the system with which we use. Workers rights, child labor, etc. in terms of civility and the fair treatment of human beings are bad things just a rung above slavery on the later of equitability. The hate pushers should be held to the same liability as the perpetrators of the hate crimes themselves. The ignorant assholes in America today who hate everyone and everything are the only ones who are excused because they are too stupid to realize their flaws, and hopefully they will rid the world of their existence by leaving the stove on one night.
I, myself, do not discriminate; I just hate everyone. I hate people who do not realize that skin color is such a infinitesimally small factor to use as a basis for the discrimination of another human being that they themselves shouldn’t have been born for simply thinking that way. Yet, I may be a little too critical.
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To answer the first question about thinking you “know” when someone is in LGBT, I think it is impossible to know unless the person being talked about comes out. There could be men or women that seem flamboyantly gay but are actually straight, and there could be macho men and girly-girl women that are gay. Thinking you know someone is gay or straight is playing strictly into stereotypes. Even when the question was posed in class about knowing someone was gay from a young age that bothered me. The “evidence” of knowing someone was gay at a young age was something like a little boy always playing with Barbies. I don’t think that necessarily means a boy is going to be gay when he grows up, and thinking that is what leads fathers and mothers to raise their children in the stereotypical gender role rather than let them explore both sides and become more rounded people.
Being the youngest of seven, with five older brothers and one older sister, there were definitely no stereotypical gender roles. I played sports with my brothers, and my brothers would sit down and play tea parties with me or dress up with me. Once when I was four years old, my family went on a vacation in the Grand Canyon. My brothers were all hot and took off their shirts, so I followed their lead. Rather than my parents telling me that girls weren’t supposed to take off their shirts like the boys could, they laughed and let me imitate my older brothers. I think stereotypes when it comes to LGBT are one of the most dangerous things. The reason I raised my hand in class about knowing someone was gay at a young age, was because he knew. In first grade he would talk with me about the boys that we thought were cute, and neither of us thought anything of it.
When it comes to the article, I got extremely frustrated. It still dumbfounds me that there is a law that literally forbids gays from participating in the army. Whether they are gay, straight, bisexual, lesbian, transgender or transsexual, if they want to fight for our country, then they should have every right to do so. There are many straight people that want nothing to do with fighting in a war, and yet they might be forced to go just because the military is too stubborn to take the LGBT members that would love to defend their country. In my mind, it just shows that we haven’t come quite as far as everyone might think. One of the most disturbing parts of the entire thing is the name of the policy. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” seems so degrading to me. Straight people are allowed to go into the army and hang pictures of their families and be reminded of what they have waiting at home for them. What are gay, lesbian and bisexual people supposed to hang as a motivator? I think we still have a long way to go.
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Initially, I was having trouble deciding which blog to write about for this week’s assignment. However, once I took a look at the blog about Latinos and hate crimes, it really caught my interest. I do not have any personal experience with immigrants or with hate crimes so I wanted to learn more about what is going on in my country in regards to this matter. I am slightly conflicted as to how I feel about this issue. Part of me thinks that illegal immigrants should not be allowed in the United States. They are taking jobs from American citizens who may be in desperate need of jobs themselves. The Latinos should stay in their own country and try to get jobs there. However, another part of me has sympathy for people like the Latinos discussed in the blog video. Just like our ancestors, these Latinos are people who have come to the United States in search of a better life with greater opportunities. It is hard to justify sending people like the Latinos away when they are just trying to do the same thing that our ancestors did many years ago. If someone had prevented my great-great-grandparents from making a new future for themselves in the United States, then I would not be blessed with the wonderful American life that I have today. As a result of this, it seems like a crime to deny people that same right today.
Even though some people may be completely against illegal immigrants, it does not give them the right to harm these immigrants. It is definitely wrong when an individual who has a problem with immigration believes that he or she needs to handle the situation with violence. When I watched the CNN video clip, I was shocked to hear the graphic details regarding the manner in which some people have treated Latinos looking for work in America. When I heard that someone actually got his face smashed in, I thought it was crazy. Sadly, not only have terrible things like the face smashing occurred, there was even a tragic incident where a man died! It is ironic because the people who killed this man most likely have ancestors who came to America for the same reasons and with the same dreams as did the man whom they killed. People really need to think before they act.
America is a great country in part because of the ideas, hard work, determination and courage of the many immigrants who came here to live. Yet now, there are Americans who want to turn new immigrants away, and some of these Americans have resorted to violence in order to achieve what they want. People need to learn how to deal with conflict. Even if I really hated someone, I can never imagine going as far as to kill that person. Hate crimes are a very serious issue that must be addressed so that ways can be found to prevent them. The immigrants of the past learned to work together for the betterment of themselves and ultimately their country. We need to find a way to do the same today.
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The idea of keeping gay men and women out of the military is ridiculous. So many straight people don’t have the balls to fight for their country, me included. And these people are willing to put themselves out there and the army won’t let them? I just think that’s messed up. I don’t know if this is because soldiers are scared of being hit on by other men or something, but just like Sam said in class. Women don’t hit on you…so I really doubt you are going to get hit on by a man. Don’t flatter yourselves. I think the don’t ask, don’t tell policy is just perpetuating the problem. I don’t really understand what the point of it is. So they can stay in the army and hide who they are? If I understand correctly this isn’t necessarily an army regulation it’s just something that they have to follow so don’t ask, don’t tell keeps the army from having to discharge homosexuals. But who really wants to be away from home and have to hide who they are from their friends and superiors? I think this is really sad. I feel like we should have moved past these issues by now. I would not have known that Darren Manzella was gay. But he needed to be true to himself and come out to the army. According to don’t ask, don’t tell he should have kept his mouth shut. But I just don’t think that is right. I think this policy should be done away with. If they want to fight let them. Being gay does not affect their ability to fight. This is discrimination and I think it is very sad that Manzella spoke out about the issue and was sent home for it. This relates to what we talked about in our discussion group about gay marriage. Why do we need to separate gay people from the norm? Why does their relationship have to be called a civil union and only straight couples can have a legal marriage. If it is essentially the same thing, why call it something different? Why are we dividing society based on sexual orientation? I understand that it is against some religious beliefs to be gay. That is fine and I respect that. But, who are you to say that gay people have to follow their religion. If a gay couple is Christian that is their problem to deal with not yours. You have no right to decide for them that they can’t make the choice to be married in a church because it is against YOUR beliefs. I think in 25-50 years from now we will look back on this discrimination and see how crazy it really was to keep gays from getting married or fighting for our military. Just like how we look back on slavery and see how barbaric it was.
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I honestly think this is just a very sad story. It hurts me so much to hear that my own race is going through a lot of stuff like this. I know it is not being done to me but it still hurts me since they are my own race. I really wish I could do something about this, because I feel like no one else is. I really feel like authorities don’t really care about Mexicans. Even though the authorities sometimes do investigate a crime, I still think that there is not very much attention put into the minority investigation. But imagine if it was a crime committed by a Mexican to a white person, obviously authorities go crazy on the investigation. It is also all over the news, they make us seem like we are the real bad ones. But whenever there is a Mexican murdered or beaten there is really not much on the news, why because they want to make whites look like they are the nicest people out there.
I just honestly feel that the voice of Latinos/Mexicans is not being heard. I truly don’t think that the reason that Latinos are not being heard is not because some of them don’t speak the language, I just know there is something stronger behind it.
I just wish we all had the same rights, because we really need some justice. There have been so many hate crimes against Mexicans and there has not been anything done to make a change. I think that everyone who commits a crime should be punished, just like when there is a crime committed to a white person. We are all the same, we all deserve to be protected, we all deserve justice.
I have read a couple of things that some of my classmates commented on this post. I remember reading that Mexicans should just stay in their home country. Also, that illegal immigrants should not be allowed in the United States because they have no right to be here in the first place. I also read something saying that those illegal immigrants are here just to take jobs away from Americans who are desperate in finding a job. To be honest, they are not taking anybody’s job. They just take the jobs that are left out there, the “dirty” and low paid jobs that Americans are not willing to take.
The purpose of those illegal immigrants or whatever you guys want to call them is not to take any body’s job. They just work hard, they try their best to have a better life and obviously if there are dirty and low paid jobs, they are not going to let them go just like that. They really don’t care if their job is dirty, hard, low paid, etc., all they want is to have a job so they can have money to support their family.
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Finally something I can relate to! Living in New York I remember when I was younger, walking to school I would always see Latinos line Ft. Hamilton Pkwy. No one seemed to do anything about them and many people went to the extent of ignoring them. I would sometimes see white trucks pull up and a few rush to get in and then they would quickly drive away. I asked my parents why they were there, why they would wait standing for hours on end with their backpacks and look at the cars drive by. They simply answered, “They are trying to live the American dream.” I was to young to fully understand the concept but now I realize and I guarantee that they are standing on that street right now.
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I was very disappointed but not shocked when I saw this video. I don’t understand why some whites target some latinos. All they do is come over here to find work and send money for their families. They are not bothering anyone. Why would you go out of your way to beat someone up because of their heritage and last time I checked white was not a race, it is just a color. What makes them feel superior and as sam mentioned in class whites are immigrants to this country. The only people that I would say originated here are the native americans. I don’t know why and how people can do some of the things they do. People can be so fucking mean. I don’t know why people never think about things on the other foot. What if that was your family member being beaten because of there race, religon, or background. How would you feel. I hope that those seven teenagers are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I want them to be put through the system as if they were black. Those dumbass white boys were just probably bored and commited an act of violence against a minority. If it were possibly I would want them to have the same fate that they gave to marcelo. They should be beaten just as bad as he was and be left to die. Lets see how they like it when its on the other foot. I feel very sorry for marcelo’s family and hopefully these boys are used to show other wanna be ganster white gangs what happens when you commit hate crimes. There actions almost make you wonder what the fuck where they taught by their parents. It is your right to hate someone but when you act on it, It is a problem. I hope this is a lesson learned for the boys and I hope they rot in jail. As for the family I will pray for them. It is hard enough losing someone due to natural cause, but when you lose someone just based on hate then thats even worse. I can not imagine the pain that they went through. I hate how minorites are treated over here. White people always want to take things into their own hands and then when the shit comes out and tommy or jenn have to go to trial or jail they say they are menatlly ill tommy didn’t mean it shit like that. I also know a lot of people who cames from Africa it is easier for the girls to transition but for guys they get beat up on the way home. They say they smell like fish and shit. It is horrible. I am not sure what other miniorites go through but it is all difficult. I hope that as time goes that peole become more excepting of minorites. This country actually would not be what it is today without minorites. We forget that it was the slaves who helped build this country. The minorities.
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The exploration of immigration issues during lecture this week has been very thought-provoking. The fact that such a large proportion of the American population is comprised of immigrant families makes me consider this a very important issue. Americans are very passionate about their view of illegal immigration, and immigration remains an argument in which ignorance, exaggeration, misinformation, and emotion are too often involved. This CNN clip about hate crimes against Latino immigrants demonstrates the consequences that can result when passionate arguments are put into violent action.
I am reminded of the You Tube video from class in which a white man screams his unbelievably angry, immature, and misinformed argument against illegal immigration. His discriminatory attitudes are supported by the comments of many You Tube viewers. Similarly, on his My Space page, an ignorant visitor of Sweden curses Mexicans who do not learn to speak English while he himself has not embraced the Swedish language.
It is misinformed, published attitudes such as these that can be so widely distributed with today’s technology. The seven young men who killed a Latino immigrant last year likely had their minds filled with messages such as those from the angry You Tube rant or the hypocritical My Space comment. Their young minds had been filled with passionate anti-immigration ideas. Without the resources or maturity to seek the truth, they channeled these angry messages into actions that resulted in gang violence and murder. I can certainly picture the frightening You Tube screamer acting upon his words, and his message encourages others to do the same.
As I watched CNN’s report, I pictured various images of hate from our lecture, such as violent KKK rallies and the angry elderly woman with the anti-Hispanic yard sign. These people are directing their hatred toward the idea of immigrants invading their homeland without considering the human side of their victims. Crossed with these images of discrimination in my mind were clips of Mr. Munoz.
Munoz exemplifies the individual, human side of the victimized immigrants. For me, his story may be one of the most moving that we have heard thus far this semester. I have utmost admiration for Munoz’s genuine selflessness in feeding homeless immigrants. I wish I could say I would willfully wake up at dawn to begin preparations, spend my own money to purchase food, take over my house with cooking supplies, and come home from hard work each and every night finish and distribute meals late into the evening. In addition to inspiring my admiration for Munoz’s selfless heart, his story shows the extreme poverty of immigrants, their driven work ethic, and how successful they can become.
I must admit that before seeing Munoz’s story today, I had never even heard the words “day laborers.” I cannot even begin to imagine the life of a day laborer, waiting each day on the streets, uncertain whether I would receive work or whether I would fall asleep starving for another night. Upon hearing a second reference to “day laborers” in this CNN clip, I felt my compassion for these immigrants that I learned about from Munoz’s story. However, this time, CNN was reporting the violence crimes against these individuals. As in any form of discrimination, I find myself considering the violent criminals as they act upon misinformed ideas without considering the fact that their victims are humans with emotions, goals, and families just like themselves.
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wheel; effects gh nolvadex; tamoxifen tablets; female version viagra; acomplia is worthless; zithromax tri-pak;
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Following up with the “Latinos and Hate Crimes” article, I want to touch on a few points that Sam made in our class discussion of illegal immigration the other day. Sam had some very interesting ideals about free-market capitalism and how illegal immigrants help make it thrive. I have heard that illegal immigrants do much of the hard-labor work that “lazy” Americans typically would not do; this ultimately results in a better economy. It also wasn’t news to me that large fortune 500 corporations have ridiculous amounts of influence over government policy. The pressure big business puts on congressman, especially through lobbying and backroom deals, is extremely influential in the policy that is made and passed. Sam said how amazing it was that this entire immigration issue is controlled simply by the whims of big business. If they need the labor now, they call in the waves of jobless immigrants to America. If the American economy is stable, immigration hype quiets down. I thought it was interesting that they have so much vested in “disposable” immigrants and can shape the publics image to appear as something completely different. After thinking about this new idea, I went back to analyze my own feelings about immigration from the little that I have learned about it.
Now, my problem is not that immigrants come to America from many different countries seeking a better life and opportunity for themselves. Would I like them to speak a little English so that they could perhaps communicate with the general population of America? Yes, it would be nice. However, that is not even the main issue. What I find wrong with Sam’s statement is that he implied that we should be totally and completely comfortable with allowing ILLEGAL immigrants to cross our borders, and therefore live undetected by government records. I have a huge problem with that. It is in the country’s best interest for purposes of national security to be able to regulate and identify people who live permanently or temporarily in America. Sam didn’t even mention the fact that illegal immigrants who never even try to apply for government citizenship often live their entire lives as unregistered illegal immigrants. I personally have not done my research on how difficult or long it takes to apply for citizenship, but I think that the government needs to make some sort of compromise so these people can obtain citizenry faster. Does it bother anyone else besides me that they don’t have to pay any taxes? Think of how much taxes the American people get sucked from their paycheck every year. I don’t understand why even some smaller level of taxation can’t be put on the immigrants who illegally are working in many of the labor intensive jobs in our country. It doesn’t make sense to me how these people can even go undetected by the government. How do they have a social security number to obtain credit cards, purchase homes, or get insurance? It amazes me that this is such a huge and ongoing problem for the government. I am totally open to allowing immigrants to come to our country, but if big business is the one who is pulling the immigration strings, then they should also be the ones to press harder on some amendments which would help to legalize new immigrants faster to better ensure national security.
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Hate crime is a big issue now day, every states I went to there are always a group that being hate. Asian, Latino, and people from the Middle East, these groups are on the top of the list. Therefore, I agree with what Dr. Sam Richard is said, “At issue is finding ways to predict who is and is not likely to attack other people because of who they are or what they (the victims) believe.” I think it is easy to predict who they are going to attack next base on the result of hate crime. Many victims were afraid to stand up for this unpleasant incident, because they don’t want to be the next one to get beat up. I have many of Latino friends and most of them are working hard. Some work in the restaurant until one to two late night, and the next day they have to get up early in the morning around six o’clock to go to school. If I were one of the hate crime crew, I would convince them to pick on some other group instead of people who work hard to survive. I would pick on people who always stand at the corner of a grocery store. Those people deserve to be punishing because they drop out of school to sell drugs. Hate them instead of Latino people, beat them up until they move back to school or get a job. Why would hate on innocent people such Latino people who are working hard everyday? The leader of these terrible crime should be punish in a tricky way, make them work for Latino community such as clean up the street, car wash, and etceteras. So this way Latino people have their revenge without weapon involve. And I strongly think our government needs a new system to prevent crime from happening, because if the hate crime keeps on happening many people will migrate to another country such as Canada. This is not might be a good thing to happen because we are now in the economic crises, so we don’t want to lose people who work hard. However, we do want to hate those people drop out of school and those who just stay home for the next welfare, because they are the one who should be blame for the economic crises. Moreover, hate crime crew always go after people who are weak. And it’s easy to protect hate crime from happening, because we know who they going after. As a solution, people should teach their kids life and how much education is value in their life in the future. Therefore, I think hate crime will no longer exist in the future world.
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When I saw this video I felt very upset and angry, I am a Latino and I support minorities in this country, these poor and humble people just want to progress and get a better life, and the majority of them want to help their families. Believe me if their economic situation was better, immigrants would not leave their lovely country to come to a place where people look at you like a Martian and assimilation and acceptance are the challenges. I am an example of those people, and I feel much related to them, in a way or another. I came to this country to continue with my education, because in my country, which it is full of violence, to expand your education you have to have money or be rich, there are no loans, or student aid, those are privileges that this governments offers. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to come to the country, which has helped me a lot, we beneficiate from each other, because one day I will be working for the government and contribute to the country by paying taxes, for now I am getting a good education by assisting to college and studying hard and taking advantages of the opportunities because not everybody has them. I am very privileged for being here that is why I want to demonstrate my gratitude by being a proactive member of society. I do not harm anybody if I would want to do that, I would have stayed in my country, I think negligence is the main factor to discrimination, without forgetting the knowledge of the real history, because people often tend to judge because of what they see, but they are not really informed. If I were those Latinos, in the same situation, I would buy a gun or a bat just in case somebody wants to attack me, I have something to defend myself, I do not understanding the United States is made of immigrants, but as Sam said, some immigrants were selfish and closed the door not allowing the rest to come in, the pure truth is that we are all invaders, we took this land from the Native Americans, they are the ones who can claim that this is their land, they are the real native, it is ironic that Native American never asked the Europeans for documents and they let them stay here, but now these days, you have to have some kind of document that identifies you. The law should protect these undocumented immigrants, they are humans too, no matter if they do not have that piece of paper, they can feel, the government should put themselves in the shoes of these hard working people.
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The hate crimes committed against these Latino immigrants has really pissed me off. Many people come to America to try and achieve the American Dream. Many of our ancestors came to America with the same mentality as these Latino immigrants. Our ancestors migrated to obtain a better life. My mother and father both immigrated to the United States from the West Indies to obtain a better life. When they came to Brooklyn they started with very little but worked their up into the middle class. The people that migrate to United States are not lazy people they are pioneers and they want a better chance for their families to be successful.
I really don’t see a problem with illegal immigrants in the United States. They come to America to raise money and help support their families back home. Why would people beat Latin American immigrants? I really felt bad when I saw the correspondent interview one of the immigrants that was beaten. He couldn’t even complain to authorities because he did not speak English. People complain that they come to America and take our jobs. Most of these immigrants come to America and takes jobs that most American people don’t want to do. Most of these immigrants come to America and will cut grass and will do manual labor for as little as $2 an hour. I guarantee that most Americans will not want to work as garbage disposers or construction workers and be underpaid.
Today in class I was touched when I heard the story about the man who helped feed homeless people in Queens, New York. He used to be an immigrant about 20 years earlier and when he saw the homeless people standing outside while leaving a bar he saw himself. Every day he drives in to Queens and provides homeless people with food. What really struck me is that he prepares these meals himself and starts preparing them at about 5 o’clock in the morning. As he goes to work his mother who has arthritic fingers helps prepare the food for these immigrants. His family can help prepare about 40 meals per day for immigrants. This man and his family will not let these immigrants go to sleep hungry.
Other people get mad at these Latino immigrants for coming to America and not knowing how to speak English. I don’t see why people are mad at them for this. When the Polish immigrated to the United States they didn’t know how to speak English but they learned. Their children learned to speak English better than their parents and they were able to hold onto their culture. I think we should give these immigrants as chance they pay taxes and help lower wages for businesses.
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Well I guess it goes like the saying, for every step we take forward, we take two steps backwards. Supposedly we are supposed to be advancing from the racial discrimination that has plagued this country for hundreds of years. But with actions like the ones displayed on the illegal immigrants I have a hard time believing that we are advancing as far as the country believes we have. I understand that people are angry for losing their jobs during the recession and I guess they feel like they might have to compete with the illegal immigrants to obtain work currently. But there is never any accuses to promote violence on any other human beings, especially when they’re trying to provide for their family just like the rest of the country. These people came into the country with nothing to try and benefit their families and stop them from having to struggle so much. So if you look past the fact that they are undocumented they are just like the majority of the rest of us that reside in this country. Most Americans came to this country with the same hopes that the Hispanic immigrants are coming into the country now with. I mean this land is supposed to be the land of opportunity but it seems like no one wants to provide opportunities for anyone else nowadays. I guess people need to reflect on history and understand that just a short time ago they were the ones in the position that the Hispanic immigrants are in now.
Another point I want to address is the system of immigration along Mexican borders in this country. I just feel like the current system makes it extremely difficult to obtain citizenship nowadays. I also feel like they need to develop some type of strategic plan which allows those immigrants who are coming for work to get documentation and filter out the ones who are just coming to cause crime and other things like that. I starting to believe this is no one else’s fault but ours, for one all the corporations are outsourcing jobs so that leaves the rest of the country with a shortage of jobs. So after that occurs than the citizens get angry that illegal immigrants are getting jobs over them. So we really have to stare ourselves in the mirror and say”damn we fucked this up” how do we fix it? But instead mostly everyone is just pointing fingers instead of problem solving.
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Latino’s and Hate Crimes
I absolutely hate the fact that immigrants are treated in this way. First and foremost I HATE the hypocrisy that comes out of some peoples mouths. The ONLY people that have the right to call anyone immigrants in the United States of America are the Indians, who are so oppressed the majority have not even a clue how to begin a war against Americans. It’s incredibly upsetting to know that these Mexicans are risking their lives here everyday trying to come here and work shitty jobs for horrible pay (which ultimately puts more money in the US economy). Of course the immigrants that commit crimes and robbery are the only ones shown to the public to give them a horrible image yet the ones who are honest and innocent have no say in anything and instead are worried day in and day out of getting deported and arrested but to have some crazy American gang beat them horribly.
What is also upsetting is that some of these immigrants are old, so not only is it wrong on all types of levels to beat someone senseless but to do it to someone much older than you, an even MORE un-fare fight is disgusting. Yesterday when Sam showed the video on you tube of the older woman who put a sign up of no Hispanics allowed, gave me a real inside look of how stupid people could be. When the reporter kept asking her questions the woman was not discrete about anything she said, in fact some of her reasons were invalid, all that woman knew was that she hated Hispanics because they were all immigrants and they need to go back where they came from. Interestingly enough she refused to take down her sign because Hispanics were the only people she did not want to know anything of. What shocked me at one point of the clip was when one woman stated “its wrong, but its her property so she can do whatever she wants” people like this upset me because they remind me of the guy who constantly makes offensive racist jokes about black people (or any other people) and comments BUT they are not racist because they have friends that are black.
The hate crimes shown in this clip are incredibly sad because not only are these helpless immigrants getting tortured and beaten but the majority of the time they are not reported for fear of getting in trouble. The thought boggles my mind, these immigrants are scared of getting in trouble when a crime has just been committed to them. For those who stick to their opinion that they are not suppose to be here in the first place, fine, but does it mean that they are not entitled to be treated like human beings, who are the real monsters now?
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Having issues and not liking Latinos, Mexicans, or whoever, is fine. But taking it a step further and injuring, damaging, and even killing these people are unnecessary and have no place in our society. Everyone knows that illegal immigrants from Mexico, mainly, are coming to the United States to make a living. Most of these immigrants aren’t bothering any of us. They move into their respective towns, with other Latinos and go about their business. Yeah, they may be taking up jobs, but that’s life. I understand that for us, college students, we may not understand fully how they are affecting us because we aren’t in the job market quite yet but it’s the same thing in other aspects of life. The fittest will survive.
In sports, in school, in almost anything, people have to overcome obstacles and make the best of what they got. These Latinos are helping out businesses and helping our economy too probably. What they want is a life, and nothing else. They aren’t coming here to bother us or to purposely take jobs away from Americans to hurt the economy. Simply, they are trying to survive and make it through life.
All of these hate crimes that are continuing are ridiculous. These people need some serious help and I believe there should be no place for this. I’m curious to know what was going through the minds of those teenagers, who are in some sort of clan, when they killed a LEGAL immigrant. What happened to Latinos who they go to school with? Or what about when they are playing interscholastic sports, what would be going through their heads when one of their opponents was Latino? In one way or another, these teenagers had to have crossed paths with other Latinos. And to just think that at any point one or more of these kids could have turned around and just badly injured one of them. I hope justice is served when they are taken to trial, just as it would be if the victim were a white male or female.
Being from New York, and having lived in Brooklyn for a number of years, I have pretty much lived with Latinos and all different races around me. People who think people of different races are different are just dumb. It blows me away when people think they can just treat Latinos and other people so badly. I know that as a country, we have come so far from where we were when we became independent in 1776, but to think we treat everyone somewhat equally is still unfortunately false. I hope in the very near future, things turn around and people do not have to worry about what Latinos are doing.
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I certainly I feel that since these issues about hate crimes towards minorities, and other biased crimes, in this case Latinos, are being publicized it should make it a little bit easier to help those in need. However, unfortunately this is not always the case. Many people see that these unlawful and unethical crimes are occurring. However, they still choose to do nothing. I feel that in this situation it is harder for many to take action because of the debate of “illegal immigrants.” Many people have strong anti illegal immigrant beliefs and will not defend these individuals. However, many do not realize that these immigrants that come here from places such as Mexico are coming to the United States for a shot at a better life and that they are not lazy as they are accused of being. Much of the discrimination that leads to violence is from ignorance and these people should pay for their hate crimes. If they were to go to another country and went to go get work there people would treat them in the same manner. They would not necessarily want to forget their past cultures and assimilate into this new one. Thus they should show people the same gratitude that they would want others show them.
I feel that talking about the issue of immigration on the mainstream is very pointless. It should be done in a calm manner. When it is discusses in the mainstream in heat and passion people’s anger comes out. In the mainstream people tend to think with their hearts rather than their minds and this can be very dangerous. Bringing too much emotion into the topic of immigration is what leads to these hate crimes. Instead people should look at the reality of the situation. These immigrants are coming into this country because we as a nation are allowing it. We as a nation are allowing it because we need them in this country for our economy. Immigrants provide this nation with cheap labor and without this labor many of our businesses would not be as successful. Our country needs this jobs to remain prosperous. However, they do not realize that we are using these immigrants for money however they are also providing us with money in return. Why should they be harmed and harassed from negotiations that we are also benefiting from?
Since these issues are being publicized in the news I believe that more actions should be taken to prevent these hate crimes. Even though people may continue to deny these hate crimes they can not be ignored. As a country we must be more open to others and if we are truly the land of the free we would not tolerate these actions.
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Alright. I know immigration has been around for a very long time, but now people are hating the Mexicans? What have they done to you? Some people are racist and want them gone because they are not from here and they don’t belong here. They are here illegally and what not. They are taking our jobs, blah blah like that guy on youtube yelling on his blogs like he has a problem. First of all, the immigrants come to the United States because they want to make something of themselves instead of being lazy. They want to have money, resources, and be somebody. Mexico does not have a good working force compared to America and they want to work in order to save themselves and their family from poverty if that be the case. So they come over the border and work. The jobs that they do are not the normal waged jobs that Americans have, but it is something. They want to work for whatever money they can make. Some of the jobs may be easy and simple, but they want to make money and send it back to their homes and their families. In a discussion or “Sankofa” from Black Caucus where the topic was immigration, one point brought up was that the immigrants just want to work. Eventually, they would like to go back to Mexico and live prosperous lives with what they have earned. They don’t want to live here.
Now some people are complaining that they are taking our jobs. Some of them do yard work, and some do bigger things. Do you do yard work? Are you doing their jobs other than your own? And if you are going to complain about how they are taking “your” jobs when you have your own, then what are you complaining about? If someone is arguing that they are unemployed and they think they are stealing jobs, then that is your fault for being lazy and not being quick enough to get a job. So don’t complain when it was your fault. The immigrants want to make better of themselves, so should you. I guess they want it better than you do.
And some even pay taxes when they are not citizens. The ones that become citizens will work here. The illegal ones will either gain it, or go back to their country. So isn’t that a good thing? Undocumented workers paying some taxes for us? So why are people hating? I think it is racism all the way. They are being discriminated against because of their skin tone and race. Many people don’t like the idea. There was a old lady from class yesterday that had a sign saying “Hispanics Keep Out” and the group of teens that made a gang to beat on Hispanics. So why not like immigrants? They want theirs too like everyone else. And technically, everyone that came to The United States of America are immigrants because this land is Native American land. So you are being phony since you yourselves are immigrants.
They should be treated fair in the community and let the government deal with the issues concerning themselves. And I like the fact that the gut from NYC makes food for the immigrants and the homeless because they have no food and they are hungry. They at least care for them, especially because the man was an immigrant himself staying on his grind. So he gives back to his community the best way he can. Big Shoutouts to that man, and I forgot his name, Jorge I think.
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Watching this video I feel very sad and concern about those immigrants who are suffering violence, hungry, homeless, etc. The reason that they are illegal immigrant does not show that they are criminal. Nobody knows the reasons why those people move to the United States. They are looking for jobs and r new opportunities for the future. I do not know why they treat they like nothing. I know that been illegal is not good for many reasons. But in this case, those people are suffering racism and discrimination. It is not their fault, they just want to find a job and make money to live better. Many of those illegal immigrants who come to the United States come with the idea of make money and return back to his or her native country. As a Latina immigrant I feel very sad. Nobody deserves to be treated like animals. I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. Since I was a child, I can remember many times how the Police treat Haitians immigrants. I remember one time when the police was looking for illegal Haitians in my community. All the illegal Haitians were running because they do not want to be catch by the police and send back to Haiti. That impression was melancholy to me because as the Latinos in the United States they are looking for jobs and money. Most of them work as farmer because if they do not have an education they cannot work on something else. They do almost all the jobs that Dominicans have been refused to do. Haitians are smart they can easily learn. I remember a Haitian man who was working with my father in rice plantation. The first time that he moved to the Dominican Republic he does not speak a word of Spanish and in a few time he was speaking Spanish. I can remember on class when Sam was talking about Mexicans who supposedly refused to speak English. I believe and understand that if they move to the United States they need to learn English because it is going to be a requirement for their everyday life. Also, if they want more opportunities they should learn English. I believe that the only person that maybe does not speak English is the first generation because the other generations can speak fluent English. When immigrants move to another country most of them have a lot of challenges in everything. Learn a new language is one of the difficult barriers they can have. It is hard to believe how those people treat the illegal immigrants. Hitting their face with a baseball bat and use pepper spray in their face is something very melancholy. Nobody wants to be treated like that. Find the American dream for those illegal immigrants is a big challenge.
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Being a black person in the United States I can relate to the story that I just heard on the video. The video tells stories of Latino men falling victim to violent and sometimes fatal hate crimes just because they are a different race than the perpetrators. This very thought and these actions make me upset because I don’t see national and world figures like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton calling for mutiny or a call to arms to protect these people. The only crime these men have committed is trying to do a hard days work so they can make enough money to send back home to their families in their home country.
This issue stems from the immigration issue. Some people completely and 100% hate the fact that people from other countries are crossing our borders, taking our work, trying to earn a living, and ultimately trying to get their piece of the American Dream. Why is this such a problem for everyone? Like Sam said in class, there is a very, very, very small percentage of this very country who are not a direct product of a very similar migration. Why can’t Mexicans, Cubans, and the like do the very same thing their ancestors did? Why should they get tortured for what in your mind is poor timing? The reason, is like Sam said, because we don’t need the work they provide right at the second. But when the time comes for the harvest, or there’s a high demand for a certain product these people who were once hated and despised are all of a sudden a hot commodity. No one cares if they are in the country illegally, if they don’t speak English, or if they pay taxes. All any one cares about is that they will do the same work that an American will for a lot less. This my friends is hypocrisy at its ugliest, but yet its finest.
My opinion of this who immigration issue is one of as long as they are not physically hurting anyone or breaking any laws let them go and try to find the same kind of living and dream that we all as Americans have a chance at. As soon as they start breaking laws then there is justification for shipping them back. Hate crimes are absolutely not acceptable and every time one occurs it should be national news and there should be protests and arrest made. Americans need to take a step back and take a look at how this whole immigration issue is truly affecting our everyday lives and also are we upholding the values that our constitution has instilled specifically the “pursuit of happiness” bit.
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People are always going to hate other people. There will always be crime in society, it is just part of the American culture. Crimes, however, that are aimed at a specific group of people simply because of their race or ethnicity have no place here. Just because there is a person, or group of people, whom you deem your “enemies”, does not give you the right to impede on their rights and their lives. These crimes are so hard to predict and the likeliness of them stopping are slim to none. Hate crimes will never be a thing of the past, they simply evolve and adapt to the group that these crazy people currently see as their enemies. Why though are these people considered enemies? Have they ever done anything to you? Have you had experiences with a specific person that somehow justifies hating their entire background and anyone like them? I doubt that. I think Sam Richards is right when he says that the indirect cause of these crimes should be held somewhat accountable for their actions that cause these crimes. Rallying the troops with slander and propaganda the people that end up committing the actual crimes don’t always have the facts. Just as people who consider themselves hard core Christians, and condemn the condemners for their sins, but leave out sins that they may have committed in the past, the information is not always correctly expressed about immigrants. The groups that front these attacks only give a biased insight on the topic, only looking at the cons, but never the pros. In class Sam Richards tried to explain how illegal immigration has both the pros and the cons which in turn basically balance out. I bet the groups that front the attacks have never heard, or spread, this type of information. There is no room in our world for hate. There are plenty of other negative things happening in our society that people should band together to fight, and this is not one of them. How about some of the hate-crime gangs and anti-hispanics or anti-african American groups spend their time fighting something that will actually have a positive effect, rather than fighting something that will get you nowhere, except your own jail cell.
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I am writing about the article on Latinos and hate crimes. I think that it is messed up this dumb white kids are doing these messed up things and are giving a bad name to the rest of us normal not crazy white people. These stupid kids do not even realize that they are doing the wrong thing and I guess that is maybe not even their fault. Bad parenting also plays a part in this stupidity and behavior. I believe that if the parents of kids are racist and ignorant then that is going to rub off on to the kids and they are going to act the same way as the parents. The people that commit crimes like this probably do not even really know why they are doing what they are doing. They attack people they know nothing about and for reasons that make no sense. The Mexican people are here just to get enough money to support their families and nothing else. They stand on corners for hours waiting to someone to ask them to do some work for them so they can make a few bucks. Most of the time they do not even get to eat each day and then they have nowhere to sleep when nighttime comes. They sleep on corners, back ally ways, and benches without any pillows or blankets. If the people that are killing these Latinos really wanted to help the world they could give them a job or at least something to eat or something to used for bedtime or extra clothing. This is a problem that is all over the country and not just in one city or state. I think that the government should higher the punishment of the people that commit these hate crimes for no reason. I in no way agree with the crimes that are being committed but I do not think that illegal immigrants should be able to work and live in our country. If they want jobs they should go through the proper paper work and do all the necessary things to get a visa and a real job. This probably seems messed up but I think that if people need work they should enter a draft and as employers need more workers they randomly select from the list of workers that signed up to for the jobs. It is not fair to people that are legal residents of the USA that they cannot find jobs but then these people run across the boarder and take a job someone else could have had. I know that most of the jobs they do Americans would not want to do or would want to do for more money but if Americans would do the job they should get first choice and if no one wants it then it can go to an illegal person.
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I get extremely upset when I hear about hate crimes that occur in this country, especially hate crimes against Mexicans and other Latinos. Don’t get me wrong any hate crime angers me, but because I’m Mexican the hate crimes against people of the same race as me irritate me the most. It seems like hate crimes against Latinos are the most common and obvious ones. These people leave everything that they have, possessions and family, in their countries of origin and come to the United States to earn money to send back to their destitute families. They come here in pursuit of the American Dream. I do not understand why so many people in this country get angry when people, especially Mexicans and other Latinos, come here to try and achieve that dream. I for one am honored to have people who leave absolutely everything that they have and come here to work for almost nothing and send what money they do get to their families. My great-grandparents came to this country illegally, back before illegal immigration was much of an issue. They loved this country so much that they did become citizens. My great-grandparents did not just forget about their culture and adopt American culture. They only spoke Spanish inside their house, but they also learned to speak English very well. Also like Sam said, while their children did speak Spanish, they also spoke English very well. The only reason the kids also spoke Spanish was because their parents wanted to keep their Mexican culture. So I understand the immigrants who come to this country. Like Sam I love when communities of a certain group of people spring up in a town or city, like Chinatown, little Korea, and other ethnic communities. I liked that report about Mr. Muñoz, the guy who came to this country illegally who feeds the homeless immigrant workers. I feel for these immigrants who come here with the hopes of bettering themselves and then when they get here they face racism and discrimination. I bet my great-grandparents experienced racism and discrimination and because of that I am not going to be racist or discriminatory toward other ethnic groups. These people deserve an opportunity. This is the Land of Opportunity, isn’t it? It’s outrageous how hypocritical people can be. White people were the first illegal immigrants. They came here with a piece of paper signed by the king of a distant country and felt entitled to land that belonged to other people who already were living here. Then after the Native Americans helped these illegal immigrants survive here the illegal immigrants decide to kill all of the native people who lived here. White people committed the longest and most vicious genocide in history. Oh and one thing that people might not know, part of this country that we call the United States did belong to Mexico, our neighbor to the south. So Mexicans were also native to the land that is now the United States.
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So as we all know that Latinos are not the only raical group that migrate to the United States illegally. What frustrates me is that not only are they here illegally, but they do not even speak English. They are here trying to get jobs when they aren’t citizens and can’t speak our language. I mean let’s say I buy some type of electronical device, the directions are written in English and Spanish. Do we have to remind these people that we’re in America? This is an English-speaking country. As far as getting severely beaten up, I don’t think that is necessary at all for just being here illegally. If they are here illegally and attacking or killing people, that would be a different story, of course. I just feel that there shouldn’t be any illegal immigrants here at all, or at least not as many. They should be strictly monitored, say for when they are looking for a place to live or for a job. By doing so, it will be revealed whether they are here illegally or not, and if they are they should be shipped out of our country and not come back until they have a green card. I think people who provoke others to act towards violence should be investigated and what not, but there is not much more than that you can do if they didn’t committ and acts of violence. The people who listened to them and attacked should be the ones in danger of serious punishment because they couldn’t think for themselves and realize that what they’re doing is going to cause them a lot of problems. The gang, accused of allegedly killing the guy from Ecuador, is for sure going to stick together. People join gangs for a sense of family and to feel like they belong. None of them are going to rat each other out. I’d say it is sort of hard to predict who is going to be attacked unless you know of a racial group who despises another racial group because of what they believe in, where they’re coming from and whatever they’re involved in. Tension and anger by verbal, mental, or physical abuse can strike really fast to the extent where it causes people to engage in hate crimes. I think American borns have every right to speak out and fight against illegal immigrants. It is a way of protecting our country and our people. America is a free country; it’s no wonder why others would want to migrate here. It’s just when you think about it, the illegal immigrants here could have left their country and snuck into ours because of major crimes they’ve caused and are trying to escape from it.
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This is ridiculous. Is there really a point to these attacks? None of this makes sense to me. It really, really pains me to see these harmless people just standing on the side of the road, living their lives in fear. The looks on their faces really upset me, as they know they are the focal point of attacks from angry white supremacist groups. To me, it makes sense that a lot of outsiders that have just arrived in this country have the stereotypes that they do about white people.
In our discussion class, a Korean kid named Chang often explains to us what some of the natives of his country think of white people. Chang explains that it is not so much hate, but it is more fear. To most white people, especially in our discussion group, the consensus is that most Asians are very quiet, and keep to themselves for the most part. Chang’s explanation would then make sense, as it seems that a lot of Asians are scared of white people, and it seems for good reason. It is clear how there are many acts that show how white people commit acts of hate on minorities, and also there is another major point that I took from that story. The people in power, who happen to be white, are expressing their concern. However, you and I both know that nothing will be done to stop this. This is happening way too much, and the people who may have the power to change this are not using it one bit.
This is another case of the poor getting poorer. These people already are homeless, living with the bare necessities, surely going days without eating a single thing. And here, white people are acting as the most disgusting people on earth. Although white people may be “at the top of the mountain”, there is plenty of evidence that the mountain is just solely based on power, not overall qualities of a human being. While there are plenty racist and hate crimes going around, it seems that these “groups” are usually white people getting together and attacking minorities. As white people, the fact that we have the power to change race relations in such a positive way should hit home, but instead is taking an adverse effect on people. White people are using this power to assert themselves as dominant, thus killing off efforts of many others to help rebuild race relations. Acts like this are what prevent us from progressing, and personally it is hard to believe we are making any of that progress. I really wish that these people would be treated more fairly, but I doubt that anything will change in the near future.
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It’s amazing how hate crimes are still around in this day and age. I guess some things really won’t ever go away. I was hit once again with this realization upon reading Sam Richards’s post on hate crimes against Hispanics. I, myself, am half Hispanic, so this issue is of some relevance to me. It’s really shocking how violent these hate crimes can really be.
The victims that were described in the embedded CNN video on Sam’s post mainly seemed to be of Mexican descent, some of which are actually legal United States citizens. All they are really trying to do is get by. Instead, they get harassed and assaulted by individuals or hate groups. It makes me sad, really. These people are trying to do get some work, and some idiots just won’t let them. I have said it once before, maybe twice, but I will say it again – racism is a waste of hate and hate is a waste of an emotion.
Sadly, the more I think about it, the more troubling the issue seems. Hate is everywhere, sadly. It’s going to be very hard for these immigrants, whether they are legal or not, to escape the hate against Hispanics. This is somewhat awkward for me, though. Being half Hispanic, I actually haven’t been a target for hate because of that. If anything, I was targeted for prejudice because of my long hair and heavy metal attributes, but none of that is anywhere close to what these guys have been put through. I feel very fortunate.
What really got to me was when the CNN video mentioned a violent hate crime involving a group of white people described as a gang that murdered a legal immigrant. This was really shocking, to me. I couldn’t believe that such a heinous act could be committed. When I think about it, though, it really isn’t all that surprising. Stuff like this has been happening throughout the history of our country. I don’t think any country in the world can be 100% tolerant of everything and everyone. I thought that this country was better than this by now, though.
Another thing that bothered me from the video was when a plumber was asked about the situation. He apparently doesn’t like the whole immigration thing because it violates the ‘law of the land’, or some crap. What is this ‘law of the land’ that he spoke of? I have never heard of such a thing, before. If anything, we should all be grateful for immigration and accepting of it because, believe it or not, this country was established by immigrants. If anything, this ‘law of the land’ should state how we should treat immigrants like gods, since our forefathers were immigrants, too.
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After watching the CNN video and reading “Latinos and Hate Crimes” posted by Sam, I was once again angered by the hypocrisy of our country. As a country founded by immigrants, I do not understand how some of us have the right to decide that our country will no longer tolerate immigrants. Most of the people living in the United States declare that they are “American”. What does it mean to be American? If I find an immigrant hating white male off the streets, I can promise you that his ancestors were once immigrants to this country. In the early 1900s, Italians and the Irish were subjected to hate from white Protestants. Immigrants of our generation face the same hate that was endured by early 20th century immigrants.
Being a Korean American, I feel strongly against the hatred towards immigrants. What is the difference between a poor Latino man trying pursue a better life in the United States and a poor Irishman in the early 20th century? You have to respect an individual’s courage and determination to enter a new country without knowing the language and the culture and trying to earn a living.
All this talk about immigration hits close to home because my family immigrated to the United States from Korea. Looking back on the hardships and struggles my mom and dad had to endure, I am proud as hell of both of them. My dad worked hard so that he could put my sister and I through school and live a successful life full of opportunities. In the process he never had time to learn English, but that was not his priority. I could careless that my dad cannot speak English, and he feels the same way. What gives the right to certain people to ridicule immigrants who do not learn the language? It blows my mind that certain individuals could be so ignorant, and these are the same individuals who would not be able to survive if they were forced to immigrate to another country.
It was sad to hear the story about the Latino man who was beaten by two individuals. I became angrier after hearing the plumber speak out. He tells the reporter that he hates the “sin”. Then he goes on to say the sin is “Going against the laws of the land”. Earlier on in the video, there is story about a Latino man who was murdered by a gang of white teenagers. Is physical assault and battery not going against the laws of the land? Is murder not going against the laws of the land? I am sick and tired of the hypocrisy and the ignorance. I could never tolerate a hate crime because it sickens me to think that a human being could torment another human being because he is different.
Why do we put certain characteristics on a pedastool? Most Americans believe that everyone living in the United States should look a certain way and act a certain way. Why can we not tolerate our differences?
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In today’s world, with so many different types of personalities, it’s inevitable that people butt heads and turn on each other. There will always be people who believe that they are better than others just because of their background. There will always be people who will go out of their way in order to make someone else feel worse about them self, and there will always be someone who is willing to go out of their way to make someone else’s life more difficult. It is a tough and shameful reality, but we are a long way from having everyone break away from their ignorant and narrow-minded beliefs. This just seems to be the fact of the matter even though we have made great progress over the years from how bad the situation of discrimination has been in the past. Some people are just so stubborn and set in their ways that they are unwilling to even spend the time to hear the other side of the story. I never saw myself as someone who discriminated against others very often, but this course has given me an even greater opportunity to hear the stories, struggles, and realities of many different groups of people who came from different backgrounds.
Hate crimes are one thing, but the stories that they speak of in this news report seem to be taken to the next level because of the fact that these people relate the Latinos of their town to illegal immigration. Not only do these people find reason to act against the Latinos because of their background, but I’m sure they are also protective of their jobs and families. Because of the mass of illegal immigrants that people saw in this town, they knew that there was new completion when it came to finding jobs. I’m sure the residents of this town feel as if these people don’t belong in the U.S. All of this combines to just enhance the discrimination that these Latinos face. Because the residents of this town may feel threatened, they are willing to take matters into their own hands and made their voices heard through violence.
Now it’s obviously something that I do not support, but this just seems to be the way things are today in some towns. On top of that, it’s human nature to be protective of your family and property. I know I’m protective and sometimes I find myself picking out people that I feel just don’t belong. The residents of this town probably came across similar feelings and just chose to do something about it.
These are definitely acts of discrimination, but with twists that just take matters to an extreme. It’s a sad thing to hear that our progress against discrimination is not better than it actually seems to be.
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Hate crimes are the most aggressive form of racism for our generation. There is never an excuse for these types of actions, and saying that you don’t hate the individual but the group is just as bad as committing the crime yourself. If a community comes together through hatred and ignores happenings like those in Suffix it becomes a nursery for racially charged crime and intolerance. People that foster this kind of attitude in a community deserve as much blame as the attackers. The police force that does little or nothing about the racism in a community deserves to be in jail for their participation in an environment of hate.
There should be a public outcry in a situation like this, where a whole community knows what is going on and knows there is hatred directed toward a group of people. If these victims were white, and the assailants were a community of predominantly Hispanic people this story would be broadcast all over the country non-stop. We simply do not care when it comes to the idea of immigrants. In many ways things have not changed since the times of Ellis Island where names were changed, and boats were packed with human animals.
There seems to be an irrational fear of immigrants in the country these days. Like they are going to come and bring this culture that will ruin the American way of life. But, this country was built on a combination of cultures and an openness to anyone wanting a fresh start. Or, at least that is what we were led to believe. Maybe this kind of hatred has always been around, and all the bring your tired and hungry and poor was all nonsense thought up to make it seem like we are tolerant when in reality we are not. I say let anyone who wants come here as long as they are documented. This country thrives on mixing cultures and is why we have such a unique way of life. If we shut that door, we may loose our identity completely and be left with a country of entirely white people racist through and through. We need immigrants to help us grow and help us experience cultures we would otherwise be blind to. They help us be unique, help us be innovative and creative. When we lose that creativity we become boring. A nation of like minded ignorant fools.
People need to speak out against this racism. And until we are really tolerant, we will never achieve our full potential as a people and that would be a shame. It would be ignorance that keeps us from progressing, and I do not want to live in a place where ignorance is accepted.
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Wow I was really surprised seeing this video about violence against Latinos. Being a Latina, seeing videos like these really upsets me, because I can’t see why people are so racists against other groups. I had never heard about the term “Beaner Hopping”, I would of never imagine how anyone would just waste their times tracking down and making other people’s life impossible. I think the “white” gang who was doing all these things should get a severe punishment because if nothing is done about these discrimination problems the situation is just going to get worse. I know discrimination is always going to exist in the world but if the authorities don’t know how to control these acts this could get out of control. If the police, government or whoever is in charge of punishing these people punish these criminals with severe consequences, this will be a warning to anyone else that plans to do some kind of discriminating act against other people. Criminals will be well aware that there actions will have consequences, and maybe by doing this it will be an sign to stop discriminating acts. I am well aware that these Mexicans that were attacked were illegally here, but this is not an excuse for other people to start beating them for no reason. This is a free country and there is no reason why people should think they dominate in this country if in reality where are all immigrants to this country. It’s bad enough that Mexicans or any other illegal immigrant is treated like trash, but getting beat or killed by other people is ridicules. These people are the ones that are suffering the most, they get paid the bare minimum, they have the crappiest jobs and they don’t even get any benefits, and many of them work all day and still don’t get paid enough. I think people should just forget about being racists and actually live a life with no violence and discrimination. And this will only be solved by learning to respect one another and also learning to respect each other’s culture. Being a Latina I have gone through many situations of discrimination either verbally or physically, and it’s not the greatest experience to go through. I fell we as Latinas are always look at, if we were inferior then for example the white race. And in reality this is not true we have many Latinos that are very smart and that are better off than any white person! So it gets me mad that people are so cocky and they think they are the best just because they come from a certain race or just because they might be better off economically. I think people should stop being this way and actually be thankful for what they have, and not be discriminating other people that don’t have the possibility to be at the level they are at.
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After reading the article entitled, “Latinos and Hate Crimes” it was clear to me that the U.S. is involves in a very heated immigration problem right now. People in the us especially with the economy in the shape it is are losing jobs left and right and seeing there jobs being replaced my migrant workers coming over here illegally. It does not go over too well when this happens and usually involves some form of violence taking place. In my opinion it is only fair for them to try and make a fresh start over hear. After all it’s the smart people from Mexico and different countries coming over trying to make money for work. The ones who have inspirations, and most of them work pretty darn hard when the do get employment. It’s terrible too think that all the whites’ supremacist groups still exist today and are now cracking down on immigrants. I was in California last year and I had my first experience with the hurdling of immigrants looking for jobs outside of businesses. Especially hardware and outside directed business for example Lowes and Home Depot. My uncle told me it was a regular thing and that many people actually hire them to help get things done cheaper and faster. People have to get over the fact of trying to stop them from coming in, and realize that there going to keep coming in and we should try to educate or help them out in someway. Otherwise there will just be more and more fighting and the poverty level will reach new highs which no one wants to see. The government has to work together and come up with new ideas focused on immigration issues and how to clean up our country. They should set up some sort of education program focused on immigrant students this way; it will cut down on the fights at school and get them associated with normal life here one day at a time. The school system we have now is not good enough. People from different backgrounds all going to the same high school especially is just asking for trouble. Gangs are forming up all over the place recently and this is so they feel protected from other racial groups. People have to start realizing that the world is become globalized and countries are relying on each other more and more lately. Interacting with people from different nations is becoming a huge issue, and if Americans are too snobby to learn new things about other countries than the immigrants are taking the jobs and having the better life style. It’s just the way things are going to be, people have to get off there ignorance wagon and open their mind up to new things.
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When I see videos about recent hate crimes, I ask myself if have really progressed as much as we think we have. In this day and age there is so much ignorance and hate in the world that I seriously doubt that it will ever disappear. As long as there is a place where someone can improve his or her conditions, there will always be immigration. Why is it that people cannot get that through their heads already? Why is it that they live their lives so blindly? I see videos in class that scare me to death. Videos like the White Supremacist sisters that play “dance around the swastika” for fun on the news; or like the old lady in Texas that has a sign in front of saying “Hispanics Keep Out”. What these ignorant individuals, and I, do not understand is that hate produces more hate. Hate does not produce progress. I include myself because, once I see these videos all I fear is anger and hate towards them. I do not know how I would react if I witnessed actual hate directed towards me just because of my race, color, sexual orientation or creed. I see these videos and I see myself harming all these ignorant individuals. If I do that though, how does that make me any better than them? Is there such a thing as being racist towards racists, or is that just hate; plain and simple? When I see people like Glen Beck and all the other “yelling shows” as Sam calls them, I feel like there are so many more thousands and thousands of people that believe all the lies that these shows distribute. I understand that there is freedom of speech and freedom of press, but is there not a point where someone with power can say enough is enough? In addition, to this day people, mostly whites, believe that as soon their ancestors came here, they shed their native skins from other countries and lost their culture in order to become Americans. Is that even logical thought??? I do not find it embarrassing to say that when my father came to America in the 1980s to get his masters degree here in Penn State, that he did not know a word of English. In addition, he did not have a dime in his pocket. He came directly from Puerto Rico a rural family with seven children that had only one source of income. While in grad school here in Penn State, my father learned English by working at a gas station because people would go up to him asking for directions and was forced to learn the language. The does not embarrass me, that HUMBLES me. Once this country stops running on ignorance and greed, will people realize that it is important to know you came from and accept immigrants in this country.
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If there is one thing that I find overly obnoxious about our military is that don’t ask, don’t tell policy! So, here are men or women in uniform, fighting for all Americans at home and or abroad so that they can lead their lives in freedom and liberty, however, given the fact that these brave soldiers would readily give their own lives as a sacrifice for the greater good of all Americans, it is still impossible for them to lead their lives in that freedom and liberty they spend their career fighting for! Am I the only one realizing how selfish this is? Why would we ask someone, to fight on our behalf, for our freedom rights, then turn around and deny similar rights to the same person who is fighting for our freedom and safety! Whatever pretexts used to support the don’t ask, don’t tell policy need to be reviewed and changed to reflect the diversity of this country.
Despite all the civil rights struggles that minorities went through and are still going through, this country is still the most diverse on the face of the earth. It is indeed, the true melting pot in which any individuals from any kind of race, religion, sexual orientation,…ought to find acceptance and should celebrate their uniqueness rather than brushing what make them different under the rags. Diversity is after all what makes the social fabric of this country stronger and beautiful! It is one of the most attractive aspects of our country in that we are all Americans and we are all our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers despite our differences! It is vehemently appalling that one of the most respectful institutions of our country, the US Military, is the one that upholds discriminatory policy such as don’t ask don’t tell policy! I say, the US Military should lead the way in uprooting any kind of discriminatory policies! I actually acknowledge that, the US Military has done a fantastic job in making its personnel exemplarily diverse but they have to make that final push and rid of discriminatory acts against homosexual individuals.
What would have gone wrong if Darren Manzella, a proud veteran of Iraq war, had not been discharged from the army just because he was practicing his homosexuality openly! Has his sexual orientation, in any way, hampered his ability to execute his mission? This is brave American wanting to serve his country in the time of war that was thrown out of his service based on his sexual orientation! Whatever reasons that are always used to justify this discriminatory action are unacceptable to millions of Americans who would like to see the Military Institution allow homosexual individuals to serve their country just like anyone else!
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