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."
So if a white man raped a hispanic girl, that would be okay?
I'd like another source as well (and the folks at La Raza don't count).
The Left's favorite tactic to stifle debate on the borders is to charge racism. I'm suspicious of reports such as this one ("rumors" of beatings, etc.), especially now that the Minutemen are successfully bringing attention to the borders.
Are you offended by St. Patrick's day celebrations too ?
>"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..."
Please do try to remember that, the next time YOU slam those who wish to see our southern border protected as being "anti-Hispanic", "Uber-Conservatives", etc, etc.
In short; Please do try to follow your own good advice.
Regards
How many conservative writers are employed by the AP? These people worship a different moon in another universe, don't waste your time attempting to figure them out, they hate us, period.
In news articles, they seem to go out of their way to not mention legal status of individuals or suspects in high profile crimes.
It's interesting you brought this up.
Several days ago the largest radio station on the west coast broke a news story regarding the individual that used his baby as a shield in a shootout with the police in Los Angeles recently. The baby was killed in the incident.
It was finally determined, or the information was finally released that found the suspect was indeed in this country illegally. This had been a leading story on the west coast for days, and still is.
Many were asking if this individual who it was discovered to be from El Salvador was in the country legally. After breaking the story, they continued leading the story for two hours, on at least two of the largest west cost radio stations.
Long story short, I posted under breaking news, this story titled, "Father of Baby Killed in shoot out was an Illegal Alien".
Within 5 minutes, the thread was pulled and deleted. There was a note left on the deleted thread saying, "post this on an existing thread".
My point is, this was clearly breaking news in the west, that followed a story that was leading the news every day for the past week, yet is was disregarded. I would have thought, if they felt is was not breaking they would have just put it in "news current events". Instead, it was completely removed.
RE: the AP;
>" These people worship a different moon in another universe, don't waste your time attempting to figure them out, they hate us, period."<
good point, Tumbleweed.
But many conservative people continually get sucked in by articles like this. I'll wager there is some "anti-Hispanic" feelings in this community...but I seriously doubt it's a tenth as bad as this reporter is trying to make it sound.
>"...The America-Worsters...."<
Again:
Please do try to follow your own good advice, even for ohhh, say at least 5 minutes. Give it a try, it won't hurt.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1444429/replies?c=146
You nailed it!
Something special about being an American, loving freedom, respecting others, and embracing opportunities when they become available. Hell, almost half the population (Dems) hate those things I just mentioned. The other half (Repubs) can't even recognize a police-state in the making.
I'd be happy with a country full of people (regardless of race) who understand the value of pulling the wagon rather than riding in it, while solidly supporting the freedoms we, as individuals should posess, and a capacity to respect them.
Er, I don't generally buy into these "latin studies/womens studies/blah blah blah" types, but some of those local Hispanics ARE American citizen residents.
I am sure there are many blacks, jews, whites, asians, etc. that should be having this *important moment* too.
Why are only hispanics, cops and politicians having this *important moment*?
Hey, I didn't write the story, or I would have written that the person with the "most important moment" is the 9 yr old girl and her family.
I just wanted to be clear that "hispanic" doesn't always mean non-citizen.
Not true at all. They complain constantly about native-born non-melanin-challenged crime.
Their are criminals in all races. However, statistics bear out the fact that Hispanics committ a disproportionate number of violent crimes vs. that of caucasians when considering the percentages in population. Another troubling fact is that many of these violent criminals sneak back into Mexico and their government refuses to extradite them. Then after a period of time they cross back into the US illegally again to pillage our society.
Rumors do fly around in the Hispanic community. Another example of this is the recent Pena case in LA where even spanish tv stations are spreading lies to get their community to near riots.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.