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."
The liberals are playing the minorities against each other. The left has been unable to prevent economic success in each so they have attempted an alternate route. In the end there is no desire on the liberals side to see achievement.
I'm not certain I understand the comment.
Tribal justice is the antithesis of conservatism, which seeks to judge people as individuals, not as members of some large group. Anyone who tries to blame whole groups of people for the actions of one, and who tries to excuse the actions of the KKK, should consider doing so elsewhere.
Sorry, I should have said intent of the comment.
"Mexican" is not a race. It is a nationality.
All these people seem to care about is that the people involved aren't white. For many, the "immigrant" status is used to justify their racism because they can clothe it in the name of protecting our borders. Those that do that do great damage to the legitimate arguments regarding securing our borders.
In English and with legal residents only.
Is that meant to be an endorsement of the KKK's activities or just an observation?
The KKK is just angry/evil to begin with. They are just exploiting this effort to promote their racist / white supremicist agenda.
A lot of people around here think "Mexican" is a language.
Now that is a stupid thing to say.
Over here. It's another one.
" I support better control of our borders and stronger immigration laws, but I can't support racism."
What race are Mexicans?
I wonder how much of this story is liberal hyperbole, by reporter Dan Sewell?
I don't know that we should swallow this story in it's entirety, hook, line, and sinker. It may be all true, but what other reporters are backing this up?
I'd like to see another source.
I'm sorry to say that most of Ohio, except for columbus is doing very badly. Akron, Canton, Youngstown, Cleveland were all devastated by the steel, auto and tire plants closing down. Dayton is a disaster too.
Columbus has insurance, state govt. Ohio State U. and retail to keep it going.
Ohio had great old industries, but has not made the commitment, investment and/or desire to develope new ones.
Further none of this has to do with hispanics, pro or con. You don't invest in the future, the future leaves you behind.
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