Last Tuesday, November 4, 2008, the United States elected its first African-American president: Barack Obama. While many people around the world celebrated the historic moment, other responses took the form of ugly race-related incidents, sending a reminder that this election does not mark the end of the fight against intolerance and hate.
TORRANCE, CA: This past Sunday morning, a few Obama supporters in Torrance awoke to an ugly message: their houses, cars, campaign signs, and trees where they had displayed Obama signs and stickers were defaced by hate graffiti. The vandalism included spray-painted swastikas, “Go Back to Africa,” “N****R,” and “Hitler.” Police are investigating the acts of vandalism as hate crimes. One resident, who found four swastikas painted on her car and her “Yes We Did!” banner torn down, said that many of her McCain-supporting neighbors had expressed their concern and support for her, saying, “This shouldn’t happen ever, and it was a hate crime.”
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November 12, 2008 - 9:00pm
In the wake of the killing of Marcello Lucero by a group of local teenagers, the Long Island Council of Churches released a statement condemning the apparent hate crime. In the release, they state:
“In assaulting these two unarmed men, this gang of cowards betrayed everything that America stands for and that the good people of Patchogue have worked so hard to build in their community. It is particularly tragic that this occurred just before our nation prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving. Imagine where we would be today if Massasoit and his people had hunted down the Pilgrims.”
The Working Group recently spoke to Rev. Thomas Goodhue, executive director of the LICC, about responding to Marcello’s murder.
“You need to come together publicly,” says Thomas. “This is a time when you need to cross traditions and barriers yourself. My word back to the political leaders is to urge them to be in a Latino church this weekend.”
November 12, 2008 - 9:00pm
Over a thousand people gathered for a candelight vigil in memory of Marcelo Lucero.
It is shocking and disheartening to report yet another killing of a young Latino immigrant by a group of teenagers, who admit they were “looking for a Mexican.” 37-year-old Marcello Lucero, who had come to the U.S. 16 years ago from Ecuador, was beaten and stabbed to death. Seven young men from Patchogue, NY were arrested in connection to his murder.
A thousand people gathered at the Patchogue train station on Friday to remember Lucero.
November 11, 2008 - 9:00pm
We’ve just released the latest Not In Our School video, Not In Our School: Mountain View/Los Altos, on our YouTube site!
This short video tells the story of last November’s Not In Our School event at Los Altos High, where over 300 students, parents, and school leaders from Mountain View, Los Altos, and St. Francis high schools gathered for a screening of NIOT: Northern California, an art show to promote acceptance, and a lively and meaningful discussion about inclusion and diversity.
October 28, 2008 - 9:00pm
Margaret MacDonald, a leader in the Not In Our Town Movement in Billings, Montana, wrote the following letter to people in Brattleboro, Vermont who are uniting in response to incidents of racism and violence.
I have been reading with a sinking heart about the activities in Brattleboro, and my sympathies go out to the community as it struggles with hate groups cropping up among the youth of the city. Billings was in a very similar state of consternation and dismay back in 1993, when we began to organize the community to confront this phenomenon in ways that were creative, but firm.
Here is a review of some of the guiding principles that helped shape the responses, which were later recognized by the Working Group documentary “Not In Our Town.”