Racists Target Latinos

Saturday, December 09, 2006

The Anti-Defamation League carried a three-part series, Extremists Declare 'Open Season' on Immigrants: Hispanics Target of Incitement and Violence., on the rising levels of violence directed by racists against Latinos.

Originally published last spring, the series is even more relevant today as racists find growing support in the anti-Latino and anti-immigrant writings and rhetoric of prominent "journalists" and politicians, such as: CNN's Lou Dobbs, Manhattan Institute's Heather McDonald, Congressman Tom Tancredo and television commentator Patrick Buchanan.

Below is the overview followed by links to the series articles?

Overview

As the public debate over immigration reform has taken center-stage in American politics and public life, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other racists have declared "open season" on immigrants and attempted to co-opt and exploit the controversy by focusing their efforts -- and their anger -- on the minority group at the center of the controversy: Hispanics.

As a result, to a level unprecedented in recent years, America's Latino immigrant population has become the primary focus of hateful and racist rhetoric and extreme violence -- aided, abetted and encouraged by America's white supremacist and racist haters.

Spurred in recent weeks by the debate on Capitol Hill and the groundswell of grassroots activism in support of America's immigrant community, extremists have become increasingly emboldened by, and fixated on, the controversy over immigration policy, encouraging their supporters to capitalize on the issue by encouraging anti-immigrant activism, and even violence against all Hispanics.

While white supremacists have for many years attempted to exploit rising anti-immigration sentiments in the U.S., the level and intensity of their attacks against Hispanics has reached dangerous new highs, with right-wing extremists joining anti-immigration groups, distributing anti-immigrant propaganda and holding frequent anti-immigration rallies and protests.

As a result, Hispanics, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, increasingly are becoming the targets of hatred and violence from hardcore white supremacists.

Racists ranging from neo-Nazis to Klansmen to racist skinheads are among the most active anti-immigration activists in the country. Motivating their actions is the core conviction of modern white supremacist ideology: That the white race itself is threatened with extinction by a "rising tide of color" controlled and manipulated by Jews.

This following report examines the recent record of extreme rhetoric and violence from white supremacist groups and their followers that has played out against the backdrop of the immigration debate in America.

White Supremacists Ratchet Up Anti-Hispanic Action As U.S. Immigration Debate Rages

The Rhetoric: Declaring "Open Season" on Immigrants

The Violence: Growing Number of Assaults Anti-Immigration Activists and White Supremacists

Internet Video Games Target Hispanics

Posted by USTaino at 1:39 PM