Posted on 07/16/2005 2:26:29 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
It started with the spray-painted, misspelled "Rapest" on the house of a Hispanic man accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old white girl. Then the house went up in flames in a suspected arson. Confrontations, name-calling and threats against Hispanics followed. Men roamed the streets wearing pillowcases with eye holes, and Ku Klux Klansmen in hoods and robes showed up to pass out pamphlets. There were rumors of assaults and beatings.
Now this small Ohio river city's booming Hispanic population is cowed, the streets in their neighborhoods nearly deserted.
Outside the office of the Living Water Ministry, which two months ago drew hundreds of people to its first Cinco de Mayo festival, there is still a smell of charred wood from the June 21 fire that gutted the house next door and caused damage to the outside of the ministry's office.
"Before, the street would be covered with people, people out all over the place," said Sasha Amen, community outreach coordinator for Living Water. "There's a lot of fear now. People are shutting themselves in their homes."
Hamilton has been a hotbed for Hispanic growth in a state that has lagged behind much of the nation in Hispanic population. The number of Hispanics here jumped fivefold in the 1990s, to 1,566, and is now estimated at 4,000 or more in a city of some 61,000.
For the most part, the immigrants had settled in without much controversy in Hamilton, whose mayor in the 1990s was of Cuban descent. But life here was transformed on June 19, when a 9-year-old Caucasian girl was raped, allegedly by a Hispanic man who has apparently fled the city.
"Yes, there is fear," said Ramona Ramirez, who owns a corner deli-supermarket where she says business is off and her bread delivery man is now afraid to come. "They are attacking all the Hispanics, and it is only one person. We don't know what will happen."
Lupe Galvan, a Mexican-born woman who has been here five years, said some neighbors are talking about moving away.
City and community leaders are trying to heal the wounds, beefing up patrols and trying to calm the community, Mayor Don Ryan said Friday. Ryan said authorities are stressing that the rape was "strictly a random act of violence" and not racially motivated.
"We're continuing to be a melting pot in this country," he said. "Assimilating into our culture is tough; I firmly believe that it will take time."
While the anti-Hispanic backlash has stunned many of the immigrants, some say they've felt racial prejudice here before. The Rev. Eustaquio Recalde, a native of Paraguay, says he was often harassed and ridiculed while working a factory job as the lone Hispanic employee.
"I think it's been around," Recalde said. "This was an opportunity for a few people to express it."
Ezra Escudero, executive director of the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs in Columbus, says Hamilton is not alone in feeling tension in a state where the Hispanic population has doubled to nearly 280,000 since 1990.
"The challenge for the community is whether the tragedy will bring out the best or the worst in people," he said.
Shelly Jarrett Bromberg, an assistant professor of Spanish and Latin American studies at Miami University in Oxford, has helped organize two community forums since the fire. She called the Hamilton unrest an important moment for local Hispanics, churches, police and public officials.
"I think everyone realizes that we need to have a dialogue ... to make the community feel safe and feel that they have a voice," Bromberg said. "I think there are a lot of people who want to make this work out."
What? Why is working for hispanics shameless!
At least that's what was pointed out to me :(
I LOVE your tagline. Last weekend when FR was down, I weeded the garden and even managed to help Mr. HR w/ supper.
I don't know.....my lack of housekeeping ability is probably shameless (at least I'm shameless about it). We tend to dirty LOTS of wine glasses, shamelessly.
You mistake me. I'm not a "papers please" sort. Hell, I was born and raised in the south and it took a black friend of mine to explain to me that there was racism between "dark-skinned" blacks and "light-skinned blacks." That blew me away. My wife and I, for years, have been in love with Spanish architecture and, especially, the food. But, in this illegal immigration hub we live in, we've obviously experienced many of the worst parts of the culture.
I don't know. I think part of it is that immigrants in this country have always been expected to "assimilate" into the culture of the US. But so many are coming in here so fast there is no assimilation. Therefore the two cultures are conflicting more than may have been the case with other immigrants.
But, please, believe me. I've never been a racist. It's just been my experience that many illegals coming into the country have their own anger, and I've seen it directly... "blatantly"... aimed at me and my family.
And people got mad? Can't imagine why.
Yep, I haven't 'created' anything since I discovered the computer, LOL. I used to sew, paint, etc....
Haven't talked to you in ages, remember we talked about my daughter in Harlingen and her Drug Rep job?
I'm a packrat. Lots of clutter and I throw my uniforms and underwear in a corner so working for me would definately be shameless and degrading.
YES!!! I remember! Wow, that HAS been a long time. You'll have FReepmail soon.
That's interesting. Where I live, the racism from black people towards anyone with light skin goes from nasty looks to outright hostility. Same with many hispanic people... the social dynamics are pretty fascinating where I live. Fascinating but getting pretty old. I can't wait to get out of here and live in a different,more slow paced setting.
Relax, paranoid. ;) I am not asking you to apologize for either word choice. Your point is clear- racism in your town is exhibit through organizations such as the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I agree, by excluding non-hispanics, such groups are racists.
As a wise friend once told me, "just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean everybody isn't out to get you."...:-)
LOL.
Would it blow you away to know (unless you've already been made aware) of the racism in Mexico? I've bought about 75% into the theory that this is what's driving Mexico's resistance to enforcing the border. There is a very complex racial classification system (with more than 20 official classification names) that many say is obsolete today but is still somewhat in place in the less urban areas of Mexico.
It may have blown me away once. Not anymore. I'm sure you know that most Americans think all Mexicans are just "Hispanic." But, no, I realize that -- as with any single nation on the planet -- there are different cultures within.
I've known something was at work with the Mexican government attempting to export entire peoples but... wow... is that what's behind this?
Father Mother Offspring Spaniard Indian mestizo mestizo Spaniard castizo Spaniard Negra mulato Spaniard mulata morisco Spaniard morisca chino or albino Spaniard albina salta pa' atrás Indian salta pa' atrás lobo lobo china jíbaro lobo india zambaigo zambaigo india cambujo zambaigo loba calpamulato cambujo mulata albarazado calpamulato cambuja tente en el aire tente en el aire mulata no te entiendo barnocino mulata coyote no te entiendo india torna atrás albarazado mestiza barnocino indio mestiza coyote coyote india chamizo chamizo mestiza ahi te estás negro india jaracho indio negra zambo negro zamba zambro prieto blanco mulata tercerón or cuarterón cuatralvo
Maybe not. Thanks for putting this together. Fascinating. I'll bet the data (if available) on the heritage of those classifications most entering the US would be equally intriguing.
I have more of a problem with people who don't read posts as carefully as they should and then make comments.
The mayor of the city, Ryan, was the one that made the comment about assimilation being tough. A typical guilty whitey making excuses for balkanization.
But while you have me, here's a problem I have with the "immigrants" if that is OK with everyone here to have one: Assimilated Americans have no need for Cinco de Mayo festivals. That's the old country's excuse to get drunk.
I also read a theory that liberals got scared when they saw increasing numbers of Hispanic Republicans and that allowing in non-patriotic illegals is the Democrat's way of making the Hispanic voting base in this country more liberal so that the voice of conservative, patriotic Hispanics is all but lost and/or so that conservative, patriotic Hispanics become so turned off by the increasingly vocal "far far right" anti-Hispanic (not just anti-illegal) voices such as FReeper Taquinas that they'll leave the party altogether.
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