According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups has been on the rise, and so have violent, race based crimes. Particularly evident is the rise in crimes and groups that are dedicated to stopping immigration from Latin America. For the most part the public image of groups like the Federation for American Immigration Reform is quite professional but the ugliness lies below the surface. Take for instance the debate between the two aforementioned groups.
From The Houston Chronicle:
The Southern Poverty Law Center, in a report titled The Year in Hate, said it counted 888 hate groups in its latest tally, up from 844 in 2006 and 602 in 2000.
The most prominent of the organizations newly added to the list, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, vehemently rejected the "hate group" label, and questioned the law center's motives. FAIR said the center was using smear tactics to boost donations and stifle legitimate debate on immigration.
"Their banner may be 'Stop the hate' but it's really 'Stop the debate,'" said FAIR's president, Dan Stein. "Apparently you can't even articulate an argument for immigration reform without being smeared."
The law center's report contends there is a link between anti-immigrant activism and the significant rise in hate crimes against Latinos in recent years. According to the latest FBI statistics, 819 people were victimized by anti-Latino hate crimes in 2006, compared with 595 in 2003.
"The immigration debate has turned ugly and the result has been a growth in white supremacist hate groups and anti-Latino hate crime," said Mark Potok, director of the law center's Intelligence Project. "The majority of anti-Latino hate crimes are carried out by people who think they're attacking immigrants, and very likely undocumented immigrants."
People who fear immigrants is nothing new in this country. It has been going on since immigrants arrived at the shores in the early 17th century, particularly worsening in the 19th century. Regardless of what year it is, as long as people are taught to fear someone based on their country of origin or skin color, that fear is more than likely able to translate itself into anger and possibly violence. So as long as leaders put the fear out there, we will continue to see groups with misleading names like FAIR.
|