Suffolk County NY Anti-Immigrant Leader Margaret Bianculli-Dyber Lashes Out at Lucero’s Mom

LIWins: Margaret Bianculli-Dyber, one of Long Island’s best known anti-immigrant activists, lashed out at the mother of Marcelo Lucero in an interview with the LIPress after the guilty verdict in the Jeffrey Conroy murder trial.

Photo: Margaret Bianculli-Dyber, Sending Back the Mexicans, VillageVoice

Help fight the attacks on Sotomayor

A message from Presente Action...

When it comes to Judge Sonia Sotomayor, some Republican leaders have been talking out of both sides of their mouth: playing nice in public while privately encouraging racist attacks from the likes of Rush Limbaugh.

ActBlue: Rush Limbaugh Doesn't Like This Ad -- Help Keep It On The Air!

That's why Presente Action is running radio ads calling out those members of Congress who refuse to condemn Rush's rhetoric.

The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right

The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right by David Neiwert, an award-winning journalist and blogger at Orcinus and of late, at Crooks and Liars, ties today's hate radio directly to the eliminationist impulse of American facists. The terrorism of the KKK, Japanese internment during WWII, the establishment of Sundown towns, the lynching of African Americans, etc., as well as today's anti-Latino violence and Islamophobia, writes Neiwert, are the vile products of this phenomenon. Here's an excerpt from Publishers Weekly:

"Eliminationism--including the rhetoric that precedes it and fuels it--expresses a kind of self-hatred," Neiwert claims. "In an American culture that advertises itself as predicated on inclusiveness, eliminationism runs precisely counter to those ideals. Eliminationists, at heart, hate the very idea of America."

The sub-textual paradox that the second half of the book balances against such anti-American ideation is ... that such tendencies have been part of America from the start. This latter portion of the book is at times nearly too much to bear as the history of white European domination and eradication of Native Americans is detailed, as well as the lynchings of African Americans, the backlash against Chinese immigrants and the round-up of Japanese Americans for internment bears witness. Indeed, as Neiwert points out, nearly identical language is unleashed today against Latino immigrants as there have been against different waves of "others" in our collectively shameful past; even such modern "heroes" as the Minutemen can trace their lineage back to the lynching mobs and vigilantism of the early 20th century.

Tendencies toward fascism, both in our historical past and in our current political climate, can be triggered by what the author calls "the mobilizing passions." As a checklist, it's probably one of the most useful I've run across:

1. A sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solutions.

2. The primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, both universal and personal, and the subordination of the individual to it.

3. The belief that the group one belongs to is victimized, which justifies any action without legal or moral limits against the group's enemies, both internal and external.

4. Dread of the group's decline under the corrosive effect of individualistic liberalism, class conflict, and alien influences.

5. The need for closer integration of a purer community, by consent if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary.

6. The need for authority by natural leaders (always male), culminating in a national chief who alone is capable of incarnating the group's destiny.

7. The superiority of the leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason.

8. The beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group's success.

9. The right of the "chosen people" to dominate others without restraint from any human or divine law, "right" being decided solely by the group's prowess in a Darwinian struggle.

Link: Full Review

Who Really Killed Luis Ramirez?

A few days ago two teens, accused in the fatal beating of Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania were acquitted of all serious charges by an all white jury. But who really killed Luis Ramirez?

A few days ago two teens, accused in the fatal beating of Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania were acquitted of all serious charges by an all white jury. Shortly after Ramirez was brutally murdered, his grieving fiancée had a premonition about the outcome of justice in the case saying, "I know they're going to try to make him look like nothing, and try to justify what the kids did, even though there's no way they could justify this. I know I'm not gonna get the justice I deserve, 10-1 these kids are going to get probation or a slap on the hand. Because he's an illegal Mexican they don't care, right away he's less important."

"With the death of Luis Ramirez, immigration is no longer a question of economic and political struggle. It is now a struggle for the soul of America. One we must win."

When I heard the verdict, I was taken back to a conversation from a couple of years ago when I stood aghast with all Americans as pictures rolled out from Abu Ghraib. I remember vividly talking with a friend of mine about it. He shook his head and said what we were all thinking, “Why did they do this?” It hit me hard, because I knew the answer. I shook my head with him and said quietly, “Because they could.”

When people mistreat others, when it happens systematically on a massive scale, like in Soviet Russia, or Pol Pot’s Cambodia, or Abu Ghraib, the questions are never how, but why. Why is it that people harm others like this? What is it that takes ordinary people and turns them to monsters?

Historians wrestle with it. Psychologists talk about national psychosis. Ordinary people construct millions of reasons. Always, we wrestle with why.

The answer never changes. It has been documented time and again. When we see others as less than human – killing them becomes less than a crime. When the attacked stop being seen as brothers, sons, fathers, mothers and sisters – torturing them becomes acceptable. When people are robbed of their humanity, turned into images, or beasts, they can be raped, robbed, enslaved.

When the other is not human, you can put prisoners on a box with electrodes taped to their hands. You can burn churches full of women and children. You can fill trains and lead them to gas chambers.

Again, our country must learn this lesson. The memory of Abu Ghraib is fresh in our mind, and James Byrd still mourned. Our history of anti-Semitism, anti-Irish, anti-Asian, anti-Black, anti-NOT ME still scars this country. We must examine these scars, if we are to learn from our darkest moments.

On July 14, Luis Ramirez was murdered. Not solely because he was Mexican, or undocumented, or even something so trite as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luis Ramirez was murdered because those who killed him could. And they could because, to them, he was not American, not human.

We as a country have to stop creating demons in our midst. We have to stop identifying one or another as less than human. The sentiment that killed Luis Ramirez was the same that killed James Byrd. “You don’t matter. You are less than human.”

The talk radio hosts and FOX news pundits who daily scream “illegal” are equally as guilty as the ones who threw the punches. Reporters who quote and therefore legitimize hate groups like FAIR have blood on their hands. When Lou Dobbs says that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce favor the export of American capital and production to Mexico and Mexico's export of drugs and illegal aliens to the United States – he’s contributing to an intolerance that makes violence possible. With the constant bombardment of vitriol, the hate mongers create an atmosphere in which people are no longer workers, children or sisters – they are illegals, beaners or spics. In the words of Robert F. Kennedy, when we learn to “look at our bothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community, men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear – only a common desire to retreat from each other – only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force.”

We are one country, not fifty states. We are one people, not a thousand ethnicities. We worship one God. And we are all human. The rhetoric that permitted Luis Ramirez’s murder must stop. Our common destiny as human beings must prevail. With the death of Luis Ramirez, immigration is no longer a question of economic and political struggle. It is now a struggle for the soul of America. One we must win.

Be sure to sign MALDEF's petition to the Department of Justice demanding justice for the murder of Luis Ramirez.

Gabe Gonzalez is Director of the Campaign for Community Values at the Center for Community Change.

Latino Workers Awarded $4.3MM in Discrimination Case

B&H electronics retailer in New York City has settled a job discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 149 Latino warehouse workers for $4.3 million.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that a federal judge in Manhattan approved the settlement.

The federal agency had accused B&H of paying the Manhattan and Brooklyn workers less than other workers, and denying them promotions and health benefits because they were Latino.

FYI: In Fiscal Year 2008, the EEOC received a record 10,601 national origin discrimination charge filings nationwide, an increase of 13% from the prior year and up 50% from about 7,000 charge filings a decade ago.

Joe Arpaio & Nazi friendship exposed!

Injustice in Shenandoah

It's a gross miscarriage of justice!

An all-white jury in Pennsylvania has acquitted two of the killers of Luis Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant murdered by a wolf pack of White thugs in the town of Shenandoah. MALDEF is asking for a federal inquiry.

Here's CNN's report on the verdict:



Here are link to news reports on the verdict:

Justice Not Served: Pennsylvania Hate Crime Assailants Found Not Guilty
Justice reviewing immigrant's beating death in Pa.
Teenagers Not Guilty in Fatal Beating

Racists Use Flu to Foment Anti-Latino Hate

Hate Rising: 926 Groups

Hate group activity in the U.S. was disturbing and widespread throughout 2008, as the number of hate groups operating in America continued to rise. Last year, 926 hate groups were active in the U.S., up more than 4% from 888 in 2007.

That's more than a 50% increase since 2000, when there were 602 groups.

As in recent years, hate groups were animated by the national immigration debate. But two new forces also drove them in 2008: the worsening recession, and Barack Obama's successful campaign to become the nation's first black president.

Links:
The Year in Hate: Number of Hate Groups Tops 900
The Impending Perfect Wingnut Hate Storm

Pat Buchanan Spews Anti-Latino Bigotry: 'Hispanics America's Biggest Threat

No joke!

'Hispanics' says racist baiter extraordinaire Patrick Buchanan are the biggest threat to the survival of the United States of America. We're a bigger threat, he warns, than even those dastardly Muslims in the Iraq and Kabul.

Question: We know why FOX keeps a stable of racists pontificators, but what's MSNBC's deal? Why possible good does it do MSNBC and its parent company GE to provide this very sick and harmful man on pay and airtime?

I will say though that at least Buchanan is an 'honest' racist. Unlike his brothers-in-hate, Lou Dobbs, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rushbo, Buchanan doesn't pretend that his deep anti-Latino animus is really just concern about "illegal" immigration.

But again, doesn't MSNBC have professional journalistic standards regarding who they put on the air? If not, I hear that David Dukes would love a slot.

Sidebar: Buchanan was a pr flack for disgraced President 'Tricky' Dick Nixon--a documented racist as well--who's administration is credited with originating the label Hispanic.
As Bill Santiago says about Hispanic, "It has that word 'panic in it". He adds, "It's more of a warning label than an ethnic category. It sounds too much like Titanic, Satanic, Mechanic!"

Estadounidenses of Latin American heritage, how about a more authentic descriptor? I prefer Latino -- although Americano is intriguing. No? ;)

Brockton Racist on Killing Spree

Prosecutors allege that Keith Luke, 22, hatched his plan of racial vengeance months ago with the goal of slaughtering as many “Jews, blacks and Hispanics” as he could.

Cops piece together chilling details of tragedy (Jessica Fargen, Boston Herald)

• Luke knocks on the door at 103 Clinton St. at 12:20 p.m., armed with a 9 mm gun and a backpack containing a hammer, two pairs of handcuffs, a mouth gag and blindfold. He is allegedly intent on killing 20-year-old Selma Goncalves, his former neighbor.


• Selma’s older sister answers the door. Luke allegedly pulls the 9 mm from his sweatshirt pocket and forces his way inside. He handcuffs the woman and allegedly rapes her for 20 to 25 minutes.


• Selma returns home and bangs on the door.


• Luke gets dressed, grabs his gun and answers the door. He tries to pull Selma inside, but she resists and runs away.


• He allegedly shoots her several times in the back as she flees.


• Selma’s sister is kneeling on the floor, holding a large, stuffed white teddy bear. Luke allegedly fires several times and bullets rip through the teddy bear and into the woman’s chest.


• Selma runs outside and collapses.


• Luke retreats to his black van, parked outside, and reloads.


• He leans out the window and allegedly fires three to four shots at a “non-white” man who is tending to Selma before he speeds off.


• Luke sees a 72-year-old homeless man pushing a carriage on Clinton Street and pulls over. He walks up to the man and allegedly shoots him point-blank in the face as the man holds up his hand to protect himself. He allegedly shoots the man again in the back as he flees.


• Luke continues to drive down the street, allegedly looking for other non-whites to kill as a police chase ensues. He allegedly shoots at two police officers before crashing into several cars. He flees on foot.


• He tries to cock the gun as he runs before lying down on East Ashland Street and surrendering.

Links:
Photo series - BostonHerald

Video: Murder Scene 1 - 1/23/09

Video: Capture Scene - 1/23/09

Video of DA Timonthy Cruz' press conference 1/23/09

Video: Arraignment - 1/24/09

Brockton woman killed by gunman remembered for warmth, sense of humor

Cape Verdean mother of shooting victim to attend funeral

Slain man, 72, 'never bothered a soul'

Cops piece together chilling details of tragedy

‘I can still see her dancing’ says friend of Brockton victim

Suspect in Brockton slayings intent on carnage, police say

Prosecutor: Brockton suspect planned ‘mass murder’

Keith Luke Tried to Save the White Race

Accused Gunman Targeted 'Non-Whites,' Jews In Spree

Accused killer's father threatens cops, committed for treatment

City leaders decry hate crime at Brockton peace rally

Video: Brockton's Rabbi Joshua Cohen Speaks Out Against Hate

Robb Pearson: Confessions of a Former Anti-Latino Immigrant Activist

After a well-publicized change of heart, Robb Pearson, former anti-Latino immigration activist and blogger, is working to promote compassion and common humanity as a framework for the immigration issue and other issues.

Recently, Pearson sat down with 9500Liberty to discuss his conversion. Here' the interview in two parts:

Part 1: The seduction of intolerance - "We don't like "illegal" immigrants. Most "illegals" are Hispanic. Therefore, we don't like Hispanics."


Part 2: "Racism is an issue with the anti-immigrant lobby...I finally got to see the human face of the issue I had been against...I came to the realization that this isn't about politics. This isn't even about immigration. It's about our common humanity."


Links:
Robb Pearson's Opening Speech
Hate Society Claims Morristown

Another Brutal Attack on a Latino Immigrant in NJ

Colombian immigrant Wilter Sanchez, 33, was brutally attacked in Wednesday afternoon by a gang of hate-filled thugs in the town of North Plainfield, New Jersey.

Doctors at the Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick say that Sanchez is lucky to be alive given his injuries. They are set to perform reconstructive surgery on Sanchez' face as soon as the swelling eases.

Five African American men between the ages of 17 and 19 young years of age were arrested for the hate crime.

Links: Otro brutal ataque racial
Operarán a víctima de ataque racial

The Social Contract Press Loves Bigotry

At a recent press conference the Social Contract Press received a cake and balloons congratulating them on their new report which blames immigrants for infrastructure problems in the United States. The Social Contract Press is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and has strong ties to racist white nationalist organizations.

Related: Social Contract Press Lies to Voters

Holiday Attacks on Mt. Kisco Latinos

The Journal News reports that four masked thugs assaulted two Latinos and attempted to rob a Latino business in Mt. Kisco over the Christmas holiday.

Mt. Kisco is an affluent town one hour north of mid-town Manhattan in upper Westchester County, New York. While an estimated 25% of the population is Latino, none of the town's elected or appointed officials is Latino.

While we don't yet have any information on the thugs, what we do know is that Mt. Kisco area Latinos are in the crosshairs of racists. Read some of the comments at the end of the article to glimpse what Latino immigrants in Lower Hudson area are up against.

Mt. Kisco police are 'investigating'. Of course, they have thus far failed to find any of the criminals responsible for the brutal slayings of 6 Latino immigrants over the past few years. Protecting immigrants and bringing anti-Latino criminals to justice just does not seem to be a priority for Mt. Kisco Police.

Photo: Fernando Mateo of Hispanics Across America and Westchester DA Janet DiFiore at a vigil for slain Latino immigrant Rene Perez.

U.S. Justice Meets LatinoJustice re: Suffolk County Injustice

Investigators from the U.S. Justice Department met in New York with LatinoJustice regarding allegations of anti-Latino bias in Suffolk County.

LatinoJustice's complaint charges Suffolk County government officials with violating the equal protection clause in its treatment of Latino residents; stirring up anti-Latino resentment, indulging bigots and promoting hate speech through its anti-Latino immigrant proposals -- culminating in the hate killing of Marcelo Lucero in Patchogue.

While the DOJ has not yet launched a formal investigation, their presence last week in New York is reassuring.

As for the response from Suffolk officials, the usually ultra chatty Steve Levy has gone silent--as have his co-conspirators in the legislature. However, the county police are said to welcome any investigation--although spokesman Tim Motz claims that Suffolk's "hate crime statistics are essentially the same" as in other jurisdictions.

In addition to insulting the intelligence of county residents, the Long Island Latino community, the memory of Marcelo Lucero, as well as most U.S. counties without official campaigns against Latino immigrants, Mr. Motz misses an essential point: that the county's numbers are totally out-of-whack with reality -- reflecting the possibility of a systemic failure to protect Latinos residents.

Recommendation for Mr. Motz: Read the LatinoJustice complaint to learn about what's really happening in Suffolk County.

Moreover, the concern is not that hate crimes only happen in Suffolk County. No one is saying that. The concern for Latinos in Suffolk is that authorities are actively fomenting anti-Latino hostility. And it's not just the county. DOJ should also look at the embedded biases in the code enforcement, provision of services, staffing, and policing practices of a number of towns and villages--often in coordination with the county.

So, Mr. Motz and Mr. Levy should also welcome more 'sanctuary' sessions of the sort held at the church in Patchogue in which residents can step forward and tell the truth without fear, right? At least 20 hate victims came forward in Patchogue. How many more are out there that the bright lights of Suffolk County don't know about?

And while they're at it, perhaps DOJ should look closely at the embedded practices and attitudes which systematically undermine the rights of racial "minorities". For example, why are at-large election districts which ensure African American and Latino political under representation allowed? Why are racially segregated and unequal public schools condoned? How is it that Long Island manages to remain one of the most segregated places in the country even though people of color are a significant portion of the overall population?

A Climate of Hate

The hate killing of Jose Sucozhanay shortly after the similar murders of Marcelo Lucero and Luis Ramirez, prompted Elbor Ruiz (DailyNews) to declare that "it is open season" on Latinos.

Q: How is it that in today's America a person's ethnicity can be the reason for their murder?

Ruiz' answer:

The climate created by paramilitary raids that treat workers and families like criminals; the unconscionable spreading of lies and distortions by some politicians and media personalities that dehumanize immigrants, and the growing climate of hate surrounding the immigration debate have proven to be an ideal breeding ground for racism.

I couldn't agree more!

Stop dehumanizing immigrants (including referring to people as illegal and alien). Stop treating Latino immigrants like criminals. Cut the anti-Latino hate talk by politicians and rightwing commentators by fining their employers for inciting hate. And prosecute all small and large hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law. Only then will we begin to see the crimes and abuse begin to diminish.

Link:
A climate of hate ends innocent life

The War on Latino Immigrants Escalates: Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhañay Slain in Bushwick

Another Latino has been murdered in the glacial moraine known as Long Island.

Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhañay and his brother Romel were savagely attacked early Monday morning by a gang wielding beer bottles and bats. Jose was pronounced brain dead yesterday. The attack occurred in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn (Southwestern Long Island).

As in the killing of Marcelo Lucero a month earlier in Patchogue, Long Island, and the earlier slaying of Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, PA, the attackers were a hate-filled pack of thugs prowling the night in search of victims. In all three cases, the gangs zeroed in on Latino immigrants walking home.

Unlike the other murders, the attackers in Bushwick were Black and they escaped in an SUV. In addition to using anti-Latino slurs, the attackers used anti-gay slurs in the mistaken belief that the brothers were a gay couple.

The domestic war against Latinos escalates with Jose and the Sucuzhañay family as its latest victims. But while nativists focus like a laser beam in waging their ugly war, the larger community of decent Americans are asleep at the switch. The result is that it's lietrally open season on Latinos--especially on the most vulnerable working late hours and travelling on foot or bicycle.

Photo: Diego Sucuzhañay, brother of Jose, addressing the media

Related:
Attack on Ecuadorean Brothers Investigated as Hate Crime
Brooklyn victim of bias attack Jose Sucuzhanay taken off life support
Task force hunting Brooklyn thugs in hate attack on immigrant

Nation's Civil Rights Groups Condemn Hate Killing of Marcelo Lucero

The Hate Killing of Marcelo Lucero Should be a "Wake Up Call for America"

“Words have consequences, and hateful words have hateful consequences." Janet Murguía

Washington, DC—The brutal murder of Marcelo Lucero, a Suffolk County, Long Island man of Ecuadoran descent, brought seven national civil rights organizations together today to denounce the recent wave of brutal hate crimes against communities of color.

Representatives from the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the National Urban League,the NAACP and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) decried the recent spike in hate crimes both during and after the election.

“In the wake of an election that sends a message to the world about freedom, it seems incongruous to raise the specter of hate in America,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “Hate did not win the election, but it has certainly reared its head in local communities across the country.”

The group cited FBI statistics that show hate crimes against Latinos and Asian Americans rising steadily over the past four years and a Southern Poverty Law Center report that details hundreds of incidents of hate crimes, vandalism, and threats committed since Election Day. This includes the election-night assault of Alie Kamara on Staten Island by two teenagers who shouted racial epithets and “Obama!” as they beat him.

“Hate crimes such as these must be investigated and prosecuted fully at the local and federal levels,” stated John Trasviña, MALDEF President and General Counsel.

The civil rights groups faulted a “climate of hate” surrounding the immigration debate of recent years and the national election which has been fostered over the airwaves and echoed in political discourse.

“For two years we have urged politicians and members of the media to show some restraint in perpetuating the damaging rhetoric that demonizes our communities,” said Murguía. “Suffolk County mirrors the experience of many communities where hate, fostered on a national scale, has found a new home.”

“Certainly, President-elect Obama’s election speaks volumes about how far we’ve come as a nation; but, make no mistake, it signifies hope, not a final victory over prejudice and racial hostility, ” said Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

“Words have consequences, and hateful words have hateful consequences. Mr. Lucero's death is a direct consequence of the anger and hate spurred on by media outlets that mischaracterize all Latinos and the institutions that serve them as a threat to our country,” said Murguía.

"There is a direct connection between the tenor of the political debate and the daily lives of immigrants in our communities. It is no accident that, as the immigration debate has demonized immigrants as "invaders" who poison our communities with disease and criminality, haters have taken matters into their own hands and hate crimes against Latinos are on the rise for the fourth consecutive," said Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel, Anti-Defamation League.

These seven organizations are committed to working together to monitor incidents of hate crimes and hate rhetoric, to urge Congress to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act and the media to cease resorting to bias and bigotry, and to increase tolerance and understanding among all communities.

To learn more about the code words of hate and what your community can do to combat hate speech, visit www.WeCanStopTheHate.org.

Hate and Death: The Federation for American Immigration Reform Harvest in Suffolk

By Reverend David L. Ostendorf

When I first journeyed to Suffolk Country eight years ago to work with religious, civic, and immigrant rights groups facing growing anti-immigrant activity stoked by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, I was stunned to witness the depth of anger and hostility that the group’s organizer had helped unleash. It all started “respectably” enough. But the attempt in 2000 by neo-Nazis to kill two Mexican workers was a harbinger of where growing, unchecked anti-immigrant fever and fervor could go; other violence followed. Now, an Ecuadoran immigrant, is dead at the hands of area youth who reportedly set out to beat up “some Mexicans,” bringing the tragedy of Suffolk County to its inevitable end.

In those early days Newsday tagged Suffolk County “ground zero” of a growing anti-immigrant movement. It was indeed. And now the harvest is in.

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