NPR Talks To Tony Asion And Kevin Johnson About Rise In Hate Crimes Against Latinos

So. We wrote an article earlier that, upon completion, prompted a little break from a writing. We need to clear our mind a bit after writing about a man being stabbed to death for this ethnicity before we can tackle other worthy post topics, like puppies or the fact that Adrienne Bailon farted.

Anyway. Eventually, we were made aware of an article stating that hate crimes aimed at Latinos rose 40% between 2003 and 2006. And again we had to step back, grit our teeth, and try to bite our tongue. Here’s the report, from NPR.

It includes audio of Tony Asion, of Latino advocacy group El Pueblo, and Dean Kevin Johnson of UC Davis’ law school and of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund who come together to discuss these troubling statistics on “Tell Me More.”

Mr. Asion credit politicians’ incendiary rhetoric regarding immigration as a factor in this country’s increased hatred towards Latinos and especially Latin American immigrants. He sees a correlation between an increase in hate crime and with politicians who campaign, at times successfully, with an “anti-immigrant” platform.

A possible (admittedly short-term) solution for the rise in hate speech and violence against Latinos and Latino activists that was presented during this interview was an increase in security and action on the part of law enforcement. Mr. Asion offered focusing on positive contributions by Latinos in this country as a salve of sorts.

Dean Johnson touched upon the fact that Latinos, especially immigrants, are often used as scapegoats for issues such as a faltering economy or lack of jobs, often ignoring the contributions they make to the American economy.

A fact neither gentleman touched upon, however, is the complacency of Latinos themselves — and non-Latinos too, sure — to speak out and take a public stance against these hate crimes in a show of solidarity and overall utterly-and-completely-pissed-offness.

Anyway. Listen to the interview and let us know your thoughts. We’ll be sitting here quietly trying not to explode. For now.

Latinos Increasingly Targeted For Hate Crimes [NPR]