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Black vs. brown hate crimes may be spurred by bad economy

8:21 AM on 09/02/2010

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In this Aug. 4, 2010 photo, posters for Crime Stoppers and the Guardian Angels are hung in front of an Hispanic grocery story in the Port Richmond section of Staten Island, New York (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A 15-year-old Mexican youth stands on the corner talking to two friends. A 17-year-old black teen spots the trio and quickly approaches. He pulls out a knife, demanding the Mexican youth's iPod while shouting anti-Latino slurs. The 17-year-old flees with the stolen items. The victim's two companions, who are African-American, are unharmed.

This is one of the latest examples of what authorities say is an apparent uptick nationally in bias crimes against Latinos, and immigrant advocates and community leaders say they are particularly concerned about a spate of alleged hate crimes where African-Americans were the perpetrators.

"We saw, in the months of June and July, a tremendous increase --attacks at such a pace that it caused alarm," said Mexican Consul General Ruben Beltran, whose office is supporting victims of a rash of violence against Mexicans on Staten Island, New York, that police say were bias crimes. "Hopefully, the worst is over."

Although the FBI doesn't maintain specific data on hate crimes committed by blacks against Latinos, hate crimes against Latinos rose by 40 percent from 2003 to 2007 before dropping slightly in 2008, according to FBI hate crime statistics. And the number of hate crimes committed by African-Americans also rose from 11.8 percent in 2004 to 20.2 percent in 2008, FBI data shows. 2009 data is not yet available.

Although evidence is anecdotal, some civil rights campaigners say cases of violent crime involving African-Americans and Latinos in the last few months illustrate an alarming trend. In Staten Island, there have been at least 11 suspected racially motivated attacks in the last five months, with 10 of the incidents involved African-Americans targeting Mexicans, police said.

Most recently, on Aug. 21, 17-year-old Yashua Plair allegedly robbed the 15-year-old Mexican victim at knifepoint while yelling racial epithets. Police charged Plair with robbery and menacing as a hate crime.

"I'm sorry what is happening is happening," said Ed Josey, president of the Staten Island NAACP. "Mexicans, or anyone else, should not have to be walking around on the streets and worry about being beaten."

Police responded by ramping up their presence on Staten Island -- on horseback, in patrol cars and manning police towers -- but Josey said the patrol increase has had an unintended effect: police stopping and searching innocent residents and people too scared to shop or do business there because of the perception that Staten Island is a hotbed of racial violence.

"There's a lot of things blowing over from this incident," he said. Josey cautioned against a blanket condemnation of the roughly 48,000 African-American Staten Island residents, noting that only a fraction of that number were actually targeting Latinos. He said those carrying out bias crimes may already be criminally-minded or display other dysfunctional behavior.

"It's not a widespread issue," he said. "It's a few. But a few is too many." Beltran said many Mexicans were surprised by the spate of attacks in the city, which is considered immigrant-friendly. He said most have returned to their daily lives, but are taking more safety measures, like not walking home alone.

"They are resilient," Beltran said. "In some areas, they're on guard, but they don't live in fear, they don't live under siege."

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A "15-year-old Mexican youth":http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/08/02/2010-08-02_15yearold_boy_arrested_in_attack_on_mexican_immigrant_on_staten_island.html stands on the corner talking to two friends. A 17-year-old black teen spots the trio and quickly approaches. He pulls out a knife, demanding the Mexican youth's iPod while shouting anti-Latino slurs. The 17-year-old flees with the stolen items. The victim's two companions, who are African-American, are unharmed. This is one of the latest examples of what authorities say is an apparent uptick nationally in bias crimes against Latinos, and immigrant advocates and community leaders say they are particularly concerned about a spate of alleged hate crimes where African-Americans were the perpetrators. "We saw, in the months of June and July, a tremendous increase --attacks at such a pace that it caused alarm," said Mexican Consul General Ruben Beltran, whose office is supporting victims of a rash of violence against Mexicans on Staten Island, New York, that police say were bias crimes. "Hopefully, the worst is over." Although the "FBI":http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm doesn't maintain specific data on hate crimes committed by blacks against Latinos, hate crimes against Latinos rose by 40 percent from "2003":http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/03hc.pdf to "2007":http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2007/table_01.htm before dropping slightly in "2008":http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2008/data/table_01.html, according to FBI hate crime statistics. And the number of hate crimes committed by African-Americans also rose from 11.8 percent in "2004":http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2004/hctable1.htm to 20.2 percent in 2008, FBI data shows. 2009 data is not yet available. Although evidence is anecdotal, some civil rights campaigners say cases of violent crime involving African-Americans and Latinos in the last few months illustrate an alarming trend. In Staten Island, there have been at least 11 suspected racially motivated attacks in the last five months, with 10 of the incidents involved African-Americans targeting Mexicans, police said. Most recently, on Aug. 21, 17-year-old Yashua Plair allegedly robbed the 15-year-old Mexican victim at knifepoint while yelling racial epithets. Police charged Plair with robbery and menacing as a hate crime. "I'm sorry what is happening is happening," said Ed Josey, president of the Staten Island NAACP. "Mexicans, or anyone else, should not have to be walking around on the streets and worry about being beaten." Police responded by ramping up their presence on Staten Island -- on horseback, in patrol cars and manning police towers -- but Josey said the patrol increase has had an unintended effect: police stopping and searching innocent residents and people too scared to shop or do business there because of the perception that Staten Island is a hotbed of racial violence. "There's a lot of things blowing over from this incident," he said. Josey cautioned against a blanket condemnation of the roughly 48,000 African-American Staten Island residents, noting that only a fraction of that number were actually targeting Latinos. He said those carrying out bias crimes may already be criminally-minded or display other dysfunctional behavior. "It's not a widespread issue," he said. "It's a few. But a few is too many." Beltran said many Mexicans were surprised by the spate of attacks in the city, which is considered immigrant-friendly. He said most have returned to their daily lives, but are taking more safety measures, like not walking home alone. "They are resilient," Beltran said. "In some areas, they're on guard, but they don't live in fear, they don't live under siege."