By Rachel Glickhouse, ProPublica
After a spate of hate incidents in the wake of the 2016 election, we wanted to better understand why the government does such a bad job tracking hate crimes. So ProPublica launched Documenting Hate, working to uncover as much as we could about hate in America. It’s an enormous task, and we knew from the beginning we’d need lots of help. That’s where you, our partner newsrooms, came in.
Now that the collaboration is coming to an end, we wanted to share with you the impact that we’ve been able to achieve together and to thank you for working with us for these three years.
Over the course of the project, we worked with more than 180 professional newsrooms [including FlaglerLive], around 20 college papers and many journalism schools. All told, we collected more than 6,000 reporting tips and thousands of pages of police records on hate crimes, and together we produced more than 230 stories. In addition to stories we produced directly, our journalism had a ripple effect; the project and its reporting were cited in hundreds more stories, and ProPublica stories about hate were reprinted by several hundred other outlets.
The reporting ProPublica and our partners did varied widely. We dug into how law enforcement agencies investigate and trackhate crimes, looking at themanyreasons hate crimes are falling through the cracks. We looked into how police are trained (or not) to deal with bias crimes, and why hate crimes are so difficultto prosecute. And we reported extensively on white supremacist groups, investigating members in the military and those who engaged in violence and even murder. Our two–part documentary with Frontline on those groups led to arrests and won an Emmy.
We found a number of patterns in the tips we received and the police records we gathered. “Go back to your country” or “go back to X country” was one of the most common phrases we encountered in both hate crimes and bias incidents. We saw a large number of hate incidents in schools, particularly after the 2016 election. Latinos have been targeted based on the (often erroneous) belief that they are immigrants or for speaking Spanish. People of color reported being victimized by people who referred to the president or his border and immigration policies. We found people of colorharassed by their neighbors and targeted in hate incidents at superstores. We heard from Muslims and people of Arab descent targeted in roadrageincidents.
Our journalism has had major impact, resulting in arrests, government reports, letters from members of Congress and more. At ProPublica, impact is at the core of what we do, so we keep pretty careful track of it. Here are some highlights of the impact we’ve had together:
- As a result of ProPublica’s reporting, four members or associates of the white supremacist group Rise Above Movement were arrested in connection with violence committed at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. U.S. Attorney Thomas T. Cullen cited our stories in a press conference announcing the indictments, saying we did a “fantastic job.” The RAM members pleaded guilty.
- Four other members of RAM were arrested for their roles in violent rallies in California in 2017, though a judge dismissed the charges.
- A U.S. Marine was court-martialed and ousted from the service after ProPublica revealed that he was a neo-Nazi involved in violence at Charlottesville.
- Following our reporting, then-Rep. Keith Ellison sent a letter to the secretary of defense requesting information on white supremacists in the military.
- A member of RAM lost his job with defense contractor Northrop Grumman in the wake of our reporting.
- A group of nine senators led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos asking what the administration would do in response to racist harassment in schools and universities, citing BuzzFeed’s reporting for the project.
- Following The Baltimore Sun’s reporting, Maryland state police held several trainings with local police, and the governor signed three new bills into law on hate crimes.
- Following the Los Angeles Times’ reporting on hate incidents in a southern California school district, the community held a forum in response.
- A Texas mayor issued an open letter following a hate incident reported by HuffPost.
- After a Jewish family’s property was vandalized in Arizona, the community came together to cover the graffiti.
- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a nearly 300-page report on hate crimes, widely citing ProPublica’s reporting and that of our partners.
- A research paper from the University of Chicago Law School on hate crime data tracking widely cited our project.
- The official Virginia state after-action report on the Charlottesville rally cited ProPublica’s reporting and made recommendations for better police practices based on our journalism.
- A Virginia state lawmaker urged his colleagues to watch our two-part documentary with Frontline.
- Numerous police departments began sending hate crime data, updated their hate crime reporting process or fixed hate crime database problems because of our reporting.
- Several police departments corrected or reviewed their hate crimes data after we found errors in records we received from them.
- After we reported that police were misreporting anti-heterosexual hate crimes as anti-LGBTQ and other types of crimes, the number of these bias crimes reported to the FBI fell by half from 2017 to 2018.
- Cloudflare changed its complaint policies following a ProPublica story on how the company helps support neo-Nazi sites. The company cited our reporting when it later shut down The Daily Stormer, a major neo-Nazi site.
- The Matthew Shepard Foundation said it would increase resources dedicated to training police officers to identify and investigate hate crimes, citing our project.
- The South Asian Americans Leading Together organization, which tracks hate crimes, cited our reporting in its annual commentary on the FBI’s 2017 hate crime data.
- The Daily Stormer in Spanish removed the name of a popular Spanish forum from its site after legal action was threatened following a Univision story.
- Data from our news index app was turned into an art installation displayed in Brooklyn in March 2019.
This project would be nothing without the tireless efforts of the journalists at dozens of partner newsrooms. Here are just a few highlights, from both our partners and from ProPublica:
- After Hate Crimes, Victims Stuck With the Bill, The New York Times Opinion, April 2017
- Kids Are Quoting Trump To Bully Their Classmates And Teachers Don’t Know What To Do About It, BuzzFeed News, June 2017
- This Columbus woman went to a Bon Jovi concert for her birthday. An act of discrimination made her leave, Cincinnati Enquirer, June 2017
- Hate Crime Training for Police Is Often Inadequate, Sometimes Nonexistent, ProPublica, November 2017
- This Is Where Hate Crimes Don’t Get Reported, ProPublica, November 2017
- Why America Fails at Gathering Hate Crime Statistics, ProPublica, December 2017
- What We Discovered During a Year of Documenting Hate, ProPublica, December 2017
- Dozens of hate-fueled attacks reported at Walmart stores nationwide, Univision News, March 2018
- They spewed hate. Then they punctuated it with the president’s name, Reveal, April 2018
- A Killing at Donkey Creek, ProPublica, April 2018
- Police Are Mislabeling Crimes as “Anti-Heterosexual” Hate Crimes, ProPublica, May 2018
- Documenting Hate Documentary, Part 1 and Part 2, ProPublica and Frontline, August 2018
- Hate in America, News 21, August 2018
- Hate in schools, Education Week, August 2018
- Using the Power of the Crowd to Document Hate, ProPublica, August 2018
- Hate in Maryland: From racist taunts to swastikas to a campus stabbing, bias reports up sharply in state, The Baltimore Sun, October 2018
- In The Name Of Hate, Muslim Women Face Road Rage Behind The Wheel, HuffPost, October 2018
- Jewish Professor Finds Swastikas Outside Her Office At Columbia Teachers College, WNYC/Gothamist, November 2018
- The Cities Where The Cops See No Hate, BuzzFeed News, December 2018
- City Human Rights Official Says NYPD ’Discouraged’ Her From Reporting Racist Subway Attack, WNYC/Gothamist, December 2018
- Documenting Hate in America: What We Found in 2018, ProPublica, December 2018
- Ojai parents receive letter after students form into a swastika on campus, Los Angeles Times, January 2019
- Denver police have investigated 27 reports of racist crimes against black people since 2016. None resulted in hate crime convictions, The Denver Post, January 2019
- 5 Things You Need to Know About Hate Crimes in America, ProPublica, March 2019
- Hate at Home, News12, September 2019
- Go Back To Your Country, They Said, HuffPost, November 2019
We’re grateful to all of our partners for working on this project, and we’re proud of our collective body of work and of all the reporters who chased leads. We also couldn’t have done it without the thousands of people who submitted tips to us and whose stories we tried to tell. We’re glad we were able to get so many police records on hate crimes, and we’re grateful to jurisdictions that were responsive to our record requests. This type of reporting isn’t easy, and there are still many stories that remain untold. Although the project is coming to an end, many newsrooms — including ProPublica — are continuing to prioritize this issue. Unfortunately, much work remains to be done.
FlaglerLive relies on a strong core of donors. But they’re just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who daily depend on FlaglerLive for reliable, fearless reporting and analysis you cannot get anywhere else. If you’re still on the sidelines, we need you to join the Friends of FlaglerLive today. Elections, storms, the latest catastrophe - when dependable and factual local reporting will be more essential than ever, take a stand for integrity and have a direct voice in fostering serious journalism in your community. As little as $10 makes a difference, or better still, become a monthly donor: Become a "Friend of" FlaglerLive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible. Think of it as buying a "scoop", in every sense of the term!
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palmcoaster says
Thank you so much Pierre and Flagler Live for bringing this issue into the open. No use to hide the ugly head of the evil bigots!
To be Fair says
Great article, but it fails to mention some hate groups that also qualify.
For example it fails to mention Louis Farrakan’s “Nation of Islam” which is virulently antisemitic. Also the group called “Antifa”, which violently suppresses free speech. Let’s not forget to mention the “New Black Panther Party” as well. Yes there are “Hate Groups” of all stripes.
Dave says
It’s so weird that the groups you named are actually the exact opposite!? These are anti hate groups, so why would you make an obviously false statement?
Unless you are trying to control the narrative with false info
K. says
Yeah right….They are not anti-hate groups as you say. The statement is spot on, and most of us see and understand that…Has nothing to do with controlling a narrative..Its recognizing the obvious, and ignoring it is just burying ones head in the sand and pretending it does not exist.
Sherry says
An excellent article that everyone should read. YES! We should ALL focus our attention on the rippling effect and degradation of our society by hating one another. Our country is becoming much weaker with such divisions. . . much to the delight of the leaders of Russia, North Korea, the Middle East and China.
The old adage “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” is happening now, right before our eyes!
THINK! Do you really believe that our country is somehow going to deport/kill/denigrate every single person here who is not a lily white, heterosexual Christian? Or, how about those that are Catholic instead of Protestant? Should we “get rid” of them too? What about those over 65 or sick, or smokers, or overweight, or unemployed . . . aren’t they a drain on YOU personally?
Then there is your cousin who doesn’t laugh at your jokes, and what about those that don’t return your texts quickly? There’s plenty of HATE to go around. . . just keep up your daily dose of believing in the fear and hate mongering “talking heads” at the most popular TV (NOT FACTUAL) news= FOX.
Here’s a great New Year’s resolution. . . find and restore your “Moral Compass”! May 2020 be filled with a new HONESTY, KINDNESS, CARING, JOY, PEACE and LOVE!
BlueJammers says
Fantastic words, Sherrie! Thank you!
Mary Fusco says
Hate goes both ways!!! and it started way before 2016. According to most reports, before 2016 everyone was happy, lived in harmony and loved and respected each other. I must have been asleep. If in 2020 we get a new president I would expect all the hate and crime to come to a screaching halt. Hopefully, I will stay awake for this miracle. LOL.
Alphonse Abonte says
Democrat Party is not your grandfather’s or even your father’s Democrat Party. It has morphed and contorted, into a deranged radical left-wing antagonist, resolved on transforming America into a secular, socialist/communist system.
Bob Smeck says
Wait, people are tribal? And they blame everyone else for their problems? That’s amazing! But is it news?
attila says
We were getting along fine until Obama came on the scene. He did his best to drive a wedge between us. We’ll just have to rebuild what he destroyed.
Dave says
The only way you can view our country in the manner you are is if you have hate for people of color.
Obama was the united states greatest symbol of love and togetherness this country has ever shown and brought about much inclusion and positiveness.
Bradley says
What did President Obama do to “drive a wedge between us” as you say? From what I can see his only “crime” was being black and being president. And if that drives a wedge between us, the problem is with the bigoted, not Obama.
K. says
And he almost succeeded in doing it. Really good thing we became woke, and recognized it.. And I am sure you (Attila), and I will be called racist, when in fact it is those that are saying that, who are the true racist. I did not like Obama because he was of a color other than white, I did not like him because he was a bad President.
Fredrick says
The article lost a lot of credibility when I read “belief that they are immigrants or for speaking Spanish. ” It shows definite bias and tries to use the narrative that immigrants are a problem. It should have said….”belief that they are ILLEGAL immigrants or for speaking Spanish”. Unless you are Native American, we are all immigrants to this country and even those Native Americans were immigrants at some point. This is the typical tactic of the left trying to say that the right is anti immigrant. Everyone should want our laws to be upheld and respected and ANY immigrant come here legally. This is why there is division in this country. The right is tired of being called anti immigrant, of being called racist, homophones… blah blah blah. Yes there are racists on the right, just as there are racists on the left. But as long as the left keeps publishing crap that the right is anti immigrant, Trump, and people form the outside who don’t play politics will continue to get elected.
CB from PC says
Try ILLEGALLY immigrating into other countries. Refuse to learn the primary language, and fail to assimilate into existing customs. Commit crimes against the Citizens.
See how that works out for you. Damn right, don’t like the way things are here, go back to your country of origin and fix the problems.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we owe anything to people who illegally enter here and want free taxpayer subsidized benefits.
I am willing to bet that statistically there are a lot more crimes committed by Illegals on our Citizens than The other way around. And we all know they show for their court dates after bonding out from jail.
Bradley says
Beginning in the 16th century, people from Europe DID enter this region illegally. They refused to learn or speak the languages of the original Indigenous inhabitants. They refused to learn or assimilate into the customs of the Indigenous peoples. And they committed the heinous and devastating crimes of land theft and genocide, resulting in their stealing this continent and nearly annihilating all the Indigenous tribes. And in the U.S. Constitution, Article One, it says that treaties between nations are the supreme law of the land, that no other law supersedes them. The U.S. government entered into numerous treaties with sovereign Indigenous tribes and broke every one of them, meaning that the U.S. violated its own Constitution on many occasions. If you are not aware of this I suggest that you take a basic history course, and if you already have, that you take another one with a different instructor. “See how this works for you,” you say? C’mon!
Fredrick says
One way to look at would be to have you cite the laws that the “indigenous” people had in place that were broken? Did those “Indigenous” people have a structure of laws and border that was enforced?
or you could look at just as those “Indigenous” inhabitants did with their “Indigenous” neighbors. They went and conquered their neighbors land and made it their own and made new borders and laws. . just as has been done by kingdom, after kingdom since the beginning of time…
Whether you like it or not this is now the United States of America. As a country we have done terrible things to the “indigenous” people who were here before us immigrants. But that is done. We have laws, we have borders and both need to be respected. Who knows, in another 100 years we could be a conquered people and another group of invaders could take over and make new borders and new laws that will need to be honored and respected. Laws that will need to be enforced.
Bradley says
Tribes did have laws and a system of governance. Do you think all the indigenous tribal people were savages? Have you never heard of the Iroquois Confederacy? Our US government was based in part on it. And, as I said, the Constitution indicates that treaties are the law of the land. The US has violated over 500 treaties with Indigenous tribes. You may not care about this, and you don’t have to because that is your privilege. It is of no consequence to you one way or the other.
Fredrick says
Perfect… so that had laws and borders.. did they enforce them upon other tribes and neighbors? Or was it just piece and harmony? If one tribe “invaded” another tribes “area” was it just a kumbuya moment or did the other tribe try to enforce their “border”. If one tribe concurred another tribe what happened? Who’s laws where then enforced.
While I think we have treated the “indigenous” people of the US poorly, we violated treaties etc…. not a lot I can do about the past and to the people that were here then. Just like slavery. I can’t change the past. Don’t you think it is time to move on and take responsibility for yourself or do you prefer to wallow in the past and use the past as an excuse.
Our ancestors came here and took the country, it is the United states of America, we have laws and borders. Until we are conquered and what is our land is taken by some other invaders, that is not going to change.
My ancestors were overrun by the Romans at one point. Can I go back and get my ancestral lands back?
Curious says
No need to look any farther than the hateful, bigoted Revered whom the school board members were not inclined enough to stop this person from speaking at the last school board meeting.
I am considering attending the next school board meeting so I can give them my opinion on religion, politics, gun control, and abortion since it appears anyone can do that and they have no agenda whatsoever.
Grace says
There are those who hate as much as the perp does.
Especially in north Florida and Panhandle.
Trailer Bob says
Today, in a time of vast movement of peoples around the world, there is no reason for hate of those who do not speak or look like you. I would have to asses that racist people actually have a form of mental illness. And there is to be no pass for blacks either, as I was bullied and beaten by blacks when I was young as a white kid.
Racism is a form of hate. Why the hate? Who really knows in any particular situation? My best thoughts on why we look at people who speak differently than us or look differently than us is ignorance. It is not knowing much about other cultures or those of a different skin color. It is not having our parents talk to us about racism. Sometimes it is from the old and never fading habit of a disconnect with people who are different than us…that discomfort.
And of course it is to a degree what we grew up experiencing when encountering, in my case, blacks who would beat us up on the walk home from school, steal our lunch money, or…well the beating us up was pretty much a big factor.
Due to my stuttering as a youngster, I might as well been from another country as I was bullied and beat up more than enough.
So as I got older I realized that it wasn’t acts of racism alone that cause different forms of prejudice against people, but rather the part of being different. Back in the 60’s when we moved to a new neighborhood, we were picked on as well, and it really does effect one similarly as would racial hate.
People who were gay back when I was a kid were picked on, kids who were fat were picked on, kids that were considered ugly were picked on, and on and on it goes.
I am pleased to see that we are all getting along much better these days as the media, including TV shows have forced us to see and get to know those who look differently or speak differently that our selves. In the military one is housed with people of all color and from all walks of life, and this too wakes us up to the fact that there are others…others that we have to depend on, live with, eat with, and in many cases actually get to know them and just how similar we are.
Today I do feel like the above is happening…the work force is much more diverse than it was when I was a child. We actually had an African American President, hows that for a change? With a more diverse workforce we get to work side by side with those “other” people and it feel it works wonders for providing the time together to get to personally know and understand each other. And more and more, most of the planet is getting it, getting that we are all much more similar than we are different.
We are not quite there yet, as there still remains hatred and resentment of the rich whitey, those with different colored skin who seem to “eat and live in a house for free” because we are “paying for them to drink and buy nice cars”. But we are getting there.
Everyone seems to believe that the south is more racist than the liberal north, but that is not what I have found. Up in the northeast liberal areas, they play out the politically correct version of behavior, but trust me…liberal northerns are just as racist if not more than us in the south.
In the south, here in Flagler County, I find much more honest relationships amongst people of different skin colors, different languages, and; various income levels. At 64 years old I see things getting better, not there yet, but improving. Again, black actors coming into our living rooms for the last four or five decades has softened some of the distrust and/or hate amongst us. We have let them into our living rooms and got to see just how much we related with them…yes, them humans.
Hate is a terrible thing, and hating someone merely because of the color of their skin, the way they talk, or where they live is, without a doubt, wrong, stupid, ignorant, and it rips some of the beauty and awe of living right out of you.
So let us say Happy New Year! Lets treat strangers the way we would wish they would treat us. Lets criticize less and lend a hand more. Lets do small things that may be small and easy for us, but things that make someone else’s day and life a little more comfortable. Lets look in the mirror and talk to ourselves straight on about our flaws and work on them. There will still be many bad people (you can choose what bad might be) but we are getting better at living with those who are not exactly like us, and we can continue to make improvements to ourselves. Life is short, then you die. Make it a good life, help other, and live each day as if it were your last. Happy New Year!
Jami says
Couldn’t say it any better! Thank you Trailer Bob!!
B from PC says
I didn’t have to read the article, just the title and comments. Here’s mine. ILLEGAL is a fact, not racist or hate, but fact.
Fredrick says
The left continues to try to paint the right as anti immigrant when they know that is false. Follow the law, get in line, come here legally and you will be welcomed with open arms.
Sherry says
Thanks Blue Jammers!
Here’s to making 2020 a year of recovery from the fear and hate that is the daily drum beat of those intent on tearing our great nation down from within. We all must find the courage to break free of the FOX cult and open our minds to understanding and accepting the miraculous beauty and frailty of the human species. We truly are ONE!
LOVE is STRENGTH- NOT WEAKNESS
HONOR is STRENGTH- NOT WEAKNESS
HONESTY is STRENGTH- NOT WEAKNESS
We must make ourselves great again before we can possibly begin “together” to build a brighter future for our country and for our planet.
oldtimer says
I agree with to be fair’s opinion. Three years spent documenting “white suprimests” and neo Nazis is great but we all know these a—holes exist, there are groups of “people of color” who preach anti white and anti Jewish views, why no mention of them? Not all racism is committed by people with white skin.
hawkeye says
you hit the nail on the head
Steve says
Great article,well written, informative, researched, sources, links ect… Nothing is perfect but again there are those that wont accept this fine piece for what it is opinionated Journalism at its best. Go ahead and hate we dont hear you.
snapperhead says
Ahhh…. the ignorance shows in FL comment section on cue. The majority of hate crimes are not commited against illegal immigrants. These hate groups, and the bigots who may not be part of a group, don’t care if you’re here legally or not.They hate because of skin color, religious belief, sexual preference, interracial marriage etc.
Jane GentileYoud says
The most important word is missing throughout this article ” ILLEGAL”. Forget about the 1600’s …. INS didn’t exist then – it was each ‘man’ for themselves. LEGAL immigration is the path my grandparents took, as did my husband Mark – (British born). Growing up in NYC many of my friends, and their parents, had all kinds of accents, which opened my eyes to want to see the worlds they came from so I could grow, share, learn, and enjoy the fruits of diversity. But everyone in my life came here LEGALLY.
‘Nough said….
Bradley says
Forget about the 1600s? Forget about this country’s history? Forget that this country was built on land theft, genocide and slavery? To do so would be to disregard the truth about how this country came to be what it is today. It would require the promulgation of a false narrative of America, which I for one will not buy.
Sherry says
Thank you for sharing your personal experience of racism with us Trailer Bob. Yes, racism comes in all colors and unfortunately hate is being ginned up on a daily basis.
For those who mistakenly think only those trying to enter our country “Illegally” are horrifically abused by the Steven Miller AKA trump administration. . . please take a couple of minutes to read what is really going on. Here is what happens when those who are not “white” or well connected (like trump’s in-laws) try to enter LEGALLY:
Asylum
Over the last three years, the Trump Administration has escalated its attacks on asylum seekers using a cruel deterrence-only strategy. This year, the White House’s combination of changes has arguably dismantled the entire U.S. asylum system . The Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” (MPP) policy has forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for months, in dangerous conditions, while their asylum claims are processed. This process has left migrants in situations that involve rape, murder, and kidnappings, while all but blocking successful asylum claims. The Administration has also been bullying Central American countries into signing ‘safe third-country’ agreements, forcing asylum seekers to seek status in unsafe countries that don’t have the infrastructure necessary to process their asylum claims.
Remain in Mexico
At the end of last year, the Administration announced new “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP) that forced migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico during the process. In April, courts allowed the Administration to begin the program even as lawsuits were filed against the proposal. By May, the Administration had sent some 6,000 asylum seekers to Mexico to wait, initially telling them they would be in Mexico for 45 days before revising the estimate to a year-long wait.
By November, more than 55,000 asylum seekers had been removed from the U.S. and were being forced to wait in MPP camps. But as of August 31, well over eight months into the new policy, only two migrants under MPP were granted asylum. And only a dozen asylum claims were granted by October, according to one estimate. Astonishingly, even the rare few who have been granted asylum have not been able to obtain relief, because in several reported cases, even those granted asylum in the U.S. were again sent back to Mexico.
In other cases, migrants have been sent back to Mexico after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents falsified documents. Part of the MPP agreement states that only migrants with future court dates can be sent back to Mexico; if a migrant has completed the legal process, they are supposed to be paroled into the U.S. or kept in federal custody. But the Los Angeles Times reported that on at least 14 occasions, CBP wrote down fake court dates so they could send the migrants back, again, to Mexico.
Tens of thousands of asylum seekers — many of whom are families with children — sent back under the MPP have faced horrific conditions during their months-long wait. Sending desperate asylum seekers into dangerous cities, without any resources, has led to tragic but predictable outcomes. Migrants face widespread rape, kidnapping, and violent assault. A report from Human Rights First found “over 340 public reports of rape, kidnapping, torture, and other violent attacks against asylum seekers returned to Mexico under MPP.” Vice News published a story about an asylum seeker who feared being returned to Mexico under MPP but was sent back anyway; he and his young child were kidnapped by a cartel just five hours later.
In a 600-person study conducted by the University of California San Diego’s U.S. Immigration Policy Center, almost 9 out of 10 of all respondents expressed fear about being returned to Mexico. Their study found “63.9% reported that their persecutor(s) can find and have access to them in Mexico but [they] were returned to Mexico anyway.” Their study also found that 23.1% have been threatened with physical violence, and over half of those threats turned into actual experiences of physical violence.
There is also little in the way of shelter, food, or sanitary conditions under MPP. The US Immigration Policy Center study found that 34.5% of migrants under MPP have experienced homelessness. Many are living on the street under tents and blankets and relying on donated food. Finding clean water for drinking and bathing has also been a challenge. There have been reports of pregnant women lacking running water, access to showers, and medical resources unless they are actively in labor. Many migrants have turned to the dangerous and polluted Rio Grande as a last resort. But there have been reports of adults and children developing rashes after bathing in the river.
The same river has also led to many tragic deaths. The desperation condition of migrants being forced to wait is leading some of them to try and cross the Rio Grande without seeking asylum. This has led to tragic deaths like the father and child who drowned in the river in June, and the mother and child who died trying to cross in September.
The situation remains so terrible that U.S. asylum officers have filed suit against the policy, saying that MPP is “fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation.”
T.J. says
People need to understand that hate crimes can happen to any race or religion and it doesn’t necessarily need to be just people of color, I am a person of color myself and on a similar note mass shootings involving people of color are never reported, because you want to pin all this hate to a white face.
deb says
Hate goes both ways!!! , correct. Hate started before 2016, correct, Not all racism is committed by people with white skin, correct. Coming into this country illegally and expecting to receive the rights of US citizens , is not going to happen. It doesn’t matter what color you are, enter legally, its not difficult. . May 2020 be filled with a new HONESTY, KINDNESS, CARING, JOY, PEACE and LOVE!, if only that was simple. The amount of hate we see in the LOCAL news, home invasions, murder, shootings, drugs has no relationship to politics, race or gender. Its hate. Some people are just raised hateful and it all starts at home at an early age., fix that and we correct a lot of hate in the country.
attila says
Bravo T.J. You nailed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bradley says
Hate goes both ways, prejudice goes both ways, but racism does not go both ways. Racism is not just about hate, racism is about power – who has it and how is it used against people and how it affects their lives. If you say, for example, that you hate people with a certain color of skin, that’s prejudice. And it’s wrong. But let’s say you’re a business owner, or the CEO of a corporation, and you say, I hate people with a certain color of skin; therefore, I will not hire anyone with a certain color of skin, and if I see that anyone is working for me who has a certain color of skin, I am going to fire them – that’s racism. Because you are exercising your power in a way that has a negative concrete effect on that person’s life (depriving them of a job and income) based upon who they are as a person. And that is far worse, and more devastating, than hate or prejudice. Racism requires power. If there is no power in the equation, there is no racism. Consequently, only the people who have power and control over the money, businesses, land, governmental agencies, the law making, and the political policies of a country are capable of being racist. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who they are – white people whose ancestors came to this country from Europe and stole the land from the First Nations Indigenous people, whom they nearly entirely annihilated, and who exploited the free labor of African slaves to enrich themselves, and continued to keep them oppressed for decades with discriminatory laws which didn’t end until the 1960s. Such is the racist history of this country. Not all white people hate. Not all white people are prejudiced. But all white people in this country enjoy a privilege that was established long ago – and still exists today – by and through racism.
Jane GentileYoud says
Yes, Bradley forget the 1600’s – we on earth today are responsible for our own actions not those of any of our forefather nor anyone else’s plain and simple.
The article panders to ILLEGAL immigrants – i.e. law breakers as being victimized no differently than LEGAL, law-abiding immigrants.
Hate is not the issue – denial of the truth and intentional blindness to the simple fact that ILLEGAL is a far cry from LEGAL ! Let’s just do away with borders and turn our country into a free for all seems to be the author’s mindset
Sherry says
A truly “Excellent”, “Excellent”, “Excellent” statement about racism and power, and how white Europeans came to power by exploiting racism in what is now the USA. That foundational “superior” perspective is what motivates White Supremacists . . . along with many of the comments here.
Sherry says
@ Deb. . . a true “moral compass” begins with each and every one of us personally. The courage of believing in and exercising HONESTY, ETHICS, HONOR, INTEGRITY, COMPASSION, KINDNESS, CARING, LOVE, PEACE and JOY comes from within. These things start “inside” each of us “personally.”
How very sad for you that you feel the way you appear to. Consider the possibility that each one of us possesses the inner strength to rise up and reach for what is best and brightest about ourselves. All negative emotions are born of fear. That inner courage and strength can be used to “take our personal positive power back”. . .
* Back from the media “talking heads” that promote FEAR and HATE
* Back from corrupt, dishonest, money grubbing government officials that divide us
* Back from any Technology that steals our privacy and insidiously controls us
* Back from ANY source that moves us away from the scientific facts that can protect our planet
Each one of us possesses the inner strength to become truly conscious, and to move from the darkness into the light. The path begins with the introspective work needed to empower ourselves. Our personal healing and evolution, over time, will lead to positive changes in our society and culture.
Very Highly Recommended Reading: “The Law of Attraction” by Abraham and Hicks
Dear Deb, I’m sending my personal wishes for you to have a day filled with joy, peace and love! Yes, it is quite possible!