November 12, 2008 11:32 AM
Newsday today has a hard-hitting editorial on the Marcello Lucero "execution".
The newspaper must continue its coverage of the murder, and also of the climate that facilitated it. It needs to also look closely at claims from County Executive Levy that hate crimes against Latinos have fallen 95% during his administration. Hate crimes are still the reality that they were in 2004, but fear of the police engendered by Levy has destroyed the trust needed if targetted Latinos are to come forward.
I am a graduate of Patchogue Medford from the Class of 1989 and I have recently returned to the area. I have started a family and considered raising my own in my home town of Patchogue. I thoroughly enjoyed Patchogue Medford High School and everything that it had to offer the educators, administrators, sports programs, theater, music and countless other great assets. I must tell you that I am now reconsidering raising a child in this neighborhood and school district in light of the recent beating, stabbing to death of an innocent Equadorian man. It reminds me that for these kinds of closed minded hateful behaviors, it is why myself and many of my high school acquaintances have relocated to cities of more understanding and opportunity.
There has always been racial tension in the high school. Ask anyone who graduated from at least 1987 on about the 123C hallway and they will tell you that there was always a racial tension as you passed through. Many students chose to walk the long way around to avoid problems with different groups. It saddens me that people in position such as administrators and board members have ignored and continue to ignore these issues for many years which in part has led to the escalating racial tones in the schools and now in the Patchogue and Medford towns. Now Gangs infest the schools and terrorize neighborhoods. Has nobody noticed this either?
Innocent people are always the victims when these behaviors are left “unnoticed” and “unmentioned”. As is in the recent horrifying act of 7 uneducated teens on a Equadorian man. These teens were so smart that they don’t even know the difference between the immigrant Mexican they were hunting and the other Latino cultures. I guess that these teens were never informed that Patchogue at one time was the home to many Italian immigrants that helped build the town. That Ellis Island was the welcome spot in NYC for many immigrants and Our Country is described as the “melting pot” for a reason.
It’s also amazing to me that when all the old money in the Village of Patchogue bailed out on the people (yes that would be Sweezey’s and elected officials with empty promises to revitalize Patchogue), it never occurred to them that other people would have to fill these homes, apartments and businesses. They didn’t seem to mind the immigrant when they filled their leases, shopped in their stores, maintained their lawns, worked in low paying jobs that wasn’t cool enough for our youth and even began operating businesses to keep the economy going in Patchogue. It saddens me that the youth of this community is so filled with anger, hatred, and ignorance that they are displacing these sentiments on the wrong people.
The lives of the Seven accused, their families lives and the life of the victim and his family will never be the same. A community will never be the same. People will live in fear of terrible attacks on innocent people for absolutely no reason. Sounds similar to the act of a terrorist, doesn’t it? This is what these seven cowards should be deemed terrorists, because of their acts I am honestly terrified to raise a child in a community where children are raised to hate others for the color of their skin, religious beliefs or origin and feel they are entitled to act out on these impulses without consequence or remorse.
I write this letter almost as a warning. When the real estate property value goes down of your home, the violence fears business owners to close shop, the Theatre goes black, shoppers and diners go elsewhere because it is unsafe to be on the streets at night, or worst of all it is one of your family members who get caught in the crossfire, don’t say How could this happen? or No one ever told me!!! Look we have even made CNN now. How much more attention do we need to bring to this issue?.
By Michele November 15, 2008 11:34 AM