Posted on 02/18/2009 3:21:00 PM PST by reaganaut1
NEW ORLEANS — They are the men still rebuilding New Orleans more than three years after Hurricane Katrina, the head-down laborers from Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala who work on the blazing hot roofs and inside the fetid homes for a wad of cash at the end of the day.
But on the street, these laborers are known as “walking A.T.M.’s.”
Their pockets stuffed with bills, the laborers are vulnerable because of language problems and their status as illegal immigrants. And as Hispanics have become the prey of choice in crumbling neighborhoods here in one of America’s most crime-ridden cities, racial friction between the newcomers and longtime black residents has moved close to the surface.
...
Many bluntly assigned a racial component, saying that it was “los morenos” — their colloquial term for blacks — who were after them. “When we are leaving here after work, we have to go on foot,” Mr. Billado said, speaking through an interpreter. “The blacks are waiting for us. They’ll beat you up. They’ll take your money.”
...
Roger Cruz, from Honduras, said: “A lot of people don’t know how to defend themselves. There’s racism of blacks against Latinos.”
The accusation of racism does not ring true to some city leaders. The Hispanic workers tacitly acknowledge some unfamiliarity with the dangerous ways of inner-city life, and in the eyes of some in New Orleans, they have mistaken simple opportunism for racism.
It is not exactly racial prejudice that makes the Hispanic laborers the target of choice, said the Rev. John C. Raphael Jr., a black former New Orleans police officer and now a minister who has led anticrime rallies here.
“I think it’s not directly racial,” Mr. Raphael said, but rather “the fact that they were vulnerable, they were taken advantage of.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
There’s a way to stop the muggings - go the hell home to Mexico.
Get out the Violins!
Of course, there will be retards coming on this thread saying how the blacks robbing hispanics would have been "nice hardworking Americans" were it not for "illegal immigration." Trust me folks, the morons doing the mugging wouldn't do an honest day's work if you put a gun to THEIR heads.
I bet it is racial (remember Korean shop owners in LA, 1992), but criminals likely target the sort of people who are least likely to fight back or go to the police as well.
More like, "los moronos."
Interesting how the black liberal sees crime as an opportunity.
Can we keep the workers and send back the criminals instead?
I find I don’t have a dog in this fight.
Bienvenidos amigos ala ciudad de “chocolate”
The only thing racial about this is that blacks are the perps. They could care less that the people they are robbing are Hispanic. They would rob other blacks , Hispanics, Indians, or Chinese if the opportunity presented itself.
How is this stuff happening on Obama’s watch? Didn’t these criminals (the muggers that is) make the Obama pledge?
Snicker
Reparations?
Only the vulnerable.
I guess Mexicans, or anyone foreign-born, or the elderly, or the disabled, or anyone alone could fall into that category.
Don't you like the fact that outsiders come into rebuilt the city, rather than the citizens?
Nope, the citizens would rather rob from the very people doing the work they should have done themselves as soon as the water receded.
I am anti-illegal alien, but Americans like these muggers don't help the cause.
Here's a thought:
Send the illegals home and claim it was for there own safety (not a far cry from the truth, Then let's see if New Orleans gets back to “normal” any sooner.
Better yet, maybe this amnesty type thing could work if we do this:
Make 1 illegal a citizen and EXPORT 1 thug criminal to south of the border. Sort of a cultural exchange deal.
I think they’re a matched set....so, no.....
I surprised Al Sharpton hasn’t pimp-marched against this racism.
Illegals are known for carrying cash. That = muggings. Easy targets since most are indeed illegal and don’t want ICE to find out. Criminals are criminals because it’s the easiest way to cash. The easier the better!
As far as sympathy goes? Go back to Mexico. I’ll bet there’s hardly ANY crime there! `sarc
“Hey, my friend, I bet you I can tell you where you got them shoes.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.