The amount of ugly rhetoric against undocumented Latinos on radio and television seems to be growing in direct proportion to the amount of fear and instability reflected in the media about the tenuous U.S. economy.  This may explain the verifiable increase in hate crimes against all Latinos and this is simply unacceptable.  The most recent report from the Anti-Defamation League on this issue “Immigrants Targeted: Extremist Rhetoric Moves into the Mainstream” addresses how the strategy of blaming immigrants for all of society’s ills is now spreading to mainstream America.  The FBI released a report this year showing that between 2004 and 2006 hate crimes against Latinos had increased by 25%.  Additionally, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) released a report on the most egregious of these hate crimes, noting that this is not a city, regional, or state occurrence, it is a national one. Moreover, the violence isn’t just against the undocumented; it is also against documented Latinos and citizens because no one can tell one from the other.

All Americans have a stake in an effective response to violence and bigotry, which is often precipitated by hate speech.  Therefore, hate speech demands a priority response as a means of mitigating the traumatic emotional and psychological impact on the victim and the victim's community. The damage done by hate crimes cannot be measured solely in terms of physical injury or dollars and cents. Hate crimes may effectively intimidate other members of the victim's community, leaving them feeling isolated, vulnerable and unprotected by the law. By making members of minority communities fearful, angry and suspicious of other groups -- and of the power structure that is supposed to protect them -- these incidents can damage the fabric of our society and fragment communities.

NHMC began its campaign against hate speech over a year ago by asking Congress to request an update of the 1993 National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Report to Congress: “The Role of Communications in Hate Crimes.”  We anticipate that the updated report will document that there is in fact a direct cause and effect to violence generated by what radio and television is broadcasting.  As a result of the NHMC efforts, members of Congress signed a joint letter addressed to the NTIA requesting an update to the 1993 report.  Although it will take a year to complete, an update of this study is imperative in order to produce verifiable data that shows the cause and effect of hate speech and its manifestation of hate crimes.

Some conservatives suggest that a conversation about hate speech is an attack on free speech, but hiding behind the banner of “free speech” should not and does not work in a democracy.  Hate speech against Latinos not only affects Latinos, it affects all Americans turning different groups against each other. It encourages bigotry, makes ignorance acceptable and emboldens extremists to take action against those who are least able to defend themselves.

Please join the NHMC in taking a stand against hate speech. Demand that owners of the radio and television stations that allow this kind of bigoted rhetoric immediately discontinue it from their programming.  Discussion on any subject and issue is important, but discussion should never deteriorate to one-sided bigoted attacks.  Let’s recall a basic American premise: We the people own the airwaves. We the people demand that broadcast licensees who profit from our airwaves use it responsibly and seek to provide varied points of view. Only then can Americans be part of meaningful dialogue and together reach consensus.  That is the American way.  #####