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Media Coverage of Staten Island Hate Crimes and Attacks Against Latinos

Posted August 11, 2010 by Ted Hesson
Categories: New York

In recent weeks, media outlets have flocked to Staten Island to investigate a series of hate crimes and attacks against Latinos.

In light of the media swarm, the NYC-based immigration blog Feet in 2 Worlds has put together a rundown of recent news stories on the attacks, highlighting a series by the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario/La Prensa.

Here’s an excerpt of the blog post. For the full post, click here.

The first installment in the El Diario series, “Se destapa el odio racial en Staten Island” or “Uncovering hate crimes on Staten Island,” looked at the many different theories about the reasons for the attacks: a belief that undocumented immigrants are stealing jobs; the fact that many undocumented Mexicans on Staten Island are easy targets because they are paid in cash and are reluctant to call the police; and racism towards Hispanics, possibly connected to the national controversy surrounding SB 1070 in Arizona and rising anti-immigrant sentiment across the nation.

In Avendaño’s second article, he looks at the changing demographics of Staten Island. Mexican immigrants are the largest immigrant group in the borough, with a population of 8,682 (9%) recorded in 2008. But they are newcomers–most have arrived over the past decade, attracted by the low cost of living and jobs in gardening, construction and restaurants. The immigrants tended to move into neighborhoods that were predominately African American, inciting racial tension.

Tags : el diario la prensa, feet in 2 worlds, hate crimes, staten island

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