Since the early 1900s, Latinos in the United States have endured hate-based violence. From the Ludlow Massacre to the murder of Luis Ramirez, hate crimes are, unfortunately, nothing new to our community. Alarmingly, they seem to be on the rise in recent years. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center there are currently 888 active hate groups operating in the United States, a 48% increase since 2000. Many have been formed due to increasing hostility towards immigrants specifically of Hispanic descent and the FBI recently released a report detailing a 35% rise in hate crimes against Latinos between 2003 and 2006. In 2007, the Bureau reported 9,006 hate crimes motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or religious beliefs and a staggering 61.7 percent of those were aimed at Latinos.
If you’d like to get involved you can contact and join any of the following organizations:
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation’s leading non-profit Latino legal organization. Often described as the “law firm of the Latino community,” MALDEF promotes equality and justice through litigation, advocacy, public policy, and community education in the areas of employment, immigrants’ rights, voting rights, education, and language rights.
The Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded in 1971 as a small civil rights law firm. Today, SPLC is internationally known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacists and it’s tracking of hate groups.
Hate crimes against minority groups have plagued our country since it’s founding. Here’s an abbreviated timeline of hate against Latinos, with a focus on the most recent cases:
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