The Sanctuary:: The Luis Ramirez Murder: A Logical Step in the Process of Establishing a Subhuman Class
The process of defining a subhuman class and institutionalizing discrimination and violence against that group is not new. How quickly and conveniently some of us allow our collective memory to cover its own tracks. Parasite, diseased, leeching, dangerous, over-breeding, vermin. These terms and this imagery have been deployed for ages, on various groups of people, on various pieces of land, in the service of various endeavors; and always to bring about the same ends. To demonize and dehumanize a group of people so that other people come to understand that the social compact with the demonized group is broken; that discrimination and violence against the dehumanized class now carries no moral consequence. That is the meaning of this latest ruling by an all-white jury in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Racial murder of a Mexican carries the same consequence as walking up to a white person and punching them in the belly: simple assault.
The death of Luis Ramirez
Via an e-mail from a friend:
Dear Friends and Family,
After they had beaten Luis Ramirez to death, the white teenagers who attacked Luis sent an ominous message to his friends:
“Tell your f**king Mexican friends to get the f**k out of Shenandoah or you’ll be f**king laying next to him.”
Just over a week ago, two of Ramirez’s killers were acquitted of all serious charges by an all white jury, with the jury foreman making it clear that justice for Ramirez had no chance in the town of Shenandoah, PA:
I believe strongly that some of the people on the jury were racist. I believe strongly that some of the people on the jury had their minds made up maybe before the first day of trial…And I believe the four boys that were involved the most are racist.
Thanks to the hard work of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and others, the Department of Justice is now looking into Ramirez’ death. But that’s only part of what’s needed. Where are the leaders in the State of Pennsylvania? Why has the governor had nothing to say? His silence is shameful.
Until elected leaders speak up, we can expect more stories like Luis’—not just in Shenandoah, but across the country. Pennsylvania Governor Rendell owes it to the people of his state and to Latinos everywhere to speak out and condemn what’s happened. I’ve joined Presente.org in demanding that he does. Please click the link below to add your voice and ask your friends and family to do the same. We need to speak out and let folks across the country know we won’t tolerate hate and violence towards our communities. It starts with demanding that the Governor of Pennsylvania make clear that anti-immigrant hate has no place in Pennsylvania (or anywhere else). It’s time for him to show leadership now. Join me in calling for Governor Rendell to speak out:It takes only a moment.
<http://presente.org/ref/23143/campaigns/ramirez>
Thanks,
JJ
References
Justice Not Served
Justice Not Served: Pennsylvania Hate Crime Assailants Found Not Guilty May 01, 2009 POTTSVILLE, PA – A jury in Schuylkill County found the two defendants, Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, accused of beating 25-year-old Luis Ramirez to death, not guilty. “Tonight there is no justice in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. The jury’s conclusion is an outrage. Luis Ramirez was brutally murdered. Witnesses testified that it was racially motivated as a result of hate and intolerance. In the week when Congress passed the Hate Crimes Act, this verdict underscores the importance of the passage of this Act. It is time for the Department of Justice to step in and bring justice to the Ramirez family and send a strong message that violence targeting immigrants will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” stated Henry Solano, MALDEF interim president and general counsel. In July 2008, Ramirez lost his life after he was knocked unconscious and kicked in the head by a group of Shenandoah teenagers who yelled racial epithets before and during the brutal beating. Witnesses overheard anti-Mexican and ethnic epithets shouted by his assailants. At trial one of the witnesses testified that one of Ramirez’s friends tried to stop the beating but one of the assailants said, “Tell your Mexican friends to get out of town, or you’ll be laying next to him.” Ramirez leaves behind his fiancée and their two young children. Brandon Piekarsky was charged with third-degree murder and Derrick Donchak was charged with aggravated assault. Both were charged with ethnic intimidation. Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives took a historic step forward and passed H.R. 1913, “Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act” by a vote of 249 to 175. The bill strengthens existing federal hate crime laws by authorizing the Department of Justice to assist local authorities in investigating and prosecuting certain bias-motivated crimes. MALDEF urges the Senate to act quickly and pass the bill. MALDEF will continue to work with the Ramirez family and the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure that the actions of the defendants and the death of Luis Ramirez is fully investigate as a hate crime. “Luis’s death reflects a steady increase of hate crimes targeting Latinos. Since 2002, the FBI has documented a 40 percent increase in hate crimes committed against Latinos,” said Gladys Limón, MALDEF staff attorney. “This drastic rise of hate crimes against Latinos must be addressed by the new Administration and Congress.”
First Arrest For Standing In Front of Renowned Chicano Mural in Orange
Easter Sunday. A kid from the Cypress neighborhood in Orange lounges just outside his apartment building where a huge, sprawling mural by influential Chicano artist Emigdio Vasquez is painted on the exterior walls. Bring in the sirens and the Orange PD. Minutes later, you have an arrest. The crime? The teen was standing in front of artwork that the Orange PD and DA’s office claim promotes, glamorizes and inspires gang violence.
Source: OC Weekly
Presidential Initiatives to Bring Dramatic End to Bush Era
By Roberto Rodriguez
While President Barack Obama has been reluctant to pursue legal means to prosecute possible war crimes and abuses by the Bush-Cheney administration, he has quietly and incrementally begun to undue most of the its damage. The quiet part of Obama’s counter-offensive has begun with the creation of his “peace, dignity & justice” cabinet. Its primary goal is to bring the U.S. government back into compliance with both U.S. and International law, on both, foreign (the so-called War on Terror ) and domestic matters. In this spirit, President Obama is slated to unveil a series of initiatives to be announced, and go into effect, on April 1 that will bring a dramatic end to the Bush-Cheney era. Having seen an advanced copy of these initiatives, the president will be proposing: Peace First Act: The U.S. government commits itself to abide by all U.S. and international laws and conventions in regards to war. Unprovoked war is hereby deemed illegal. War can only be waged with the approval of a two-thirds vote from Congress and only if in full compliance with international law. Geneva & Hague Compliance Act: The U.S. government will hereafter adhere to the Geneva Conventions on War, including the bans on torture, extraordinary rendition, secret prisons and illegal detentions, interrogations and incarcerations. It also agrees to unconditionally accept the authority of the International War Crimes Tribunal. All agreements by previous administrations with foreign nations that exempt the United States from said court is now null and void. The Cheney De-privatization Act: The U.S. government hereby proclaims that hereafter; war will cease being a profit-making enterprise. The outsourcing of war to private companies, also known as mercenaries, is heretofore ended. Similarly, the government hereby rescinds all contracts with profit-making corrections corporations, thereby ending the privatization of prisons and detention facilities. Zero Tolerance Collateral Act: The U.S. Government will cease the practice of assassinating targets (individuals) without trials, particularly if such actions result in the killing of innocent bystanders. As such, assassination, particularly via drone planes, will hereafter constitute a crime against humanity. The Princess Di Land Mines Act: In honor of the work of the late Princess Di, this nation agrees to ratify the 1997 international Landmine Ban Convention, thereby ending the isolation of the U. S. government. The Women’s Dignity Act: The U.S. government agrees to ratify the 1997 U.N. Convention on Discrimination Against Women Treaty, thereby bringing the nation into the 20th century. No To The Flat Earth Society Act: The U.S. government agrees to end the practice of relying on greed or superstitious beliefs and instead will rely on science in making decisions that affect labor, food and drug safety and the environmental future of the planet. The Veterans and Elders Dignity Act: The U.S. government commits itself to ensure that no veteran shall again ever be subjected to unemployment and homelessness. Similarly, the government agrees that no elder over the age of 65 can ever be foreclosed upon. Further, the act also prevents financial institutions receiving bailout monies to foreclose on anyone. The Arpaio Special Act: Recognizing Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s relentless work in the area of immigration enforcement, the president hereby names him the new chief of Homeland Security. Simultaneously, this act also dismantles said department, hereby bringing an end to the era of big and fear-based government. The Humane Migration Act: This act directs Congress to create humane migration agreements that protects the rights of all migrants, as enumerated in the U.S. Constitution and as agreed upon by all International agreements. The government hereby agrees to eliminate the category of “illegal alien,” commits itself to bring down the walls along the U.S./Mexico border, cancels all future immigration dragnet raids and rescinds immigration kangaroo courts such as “Operation Streamline. Indigenous Peoples’ Treaty Compliance Act: The U.S. government agrees to unconditionally ratify the 2007 UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This act will also automatically trigger a case by case review of every treaty ever broken by the U.S. government. The You Lost the Election Act: This act compels the media to remind the losers of the previous election, that they in fact – along with their causes – lost the previous election. Hereafter, this act nullifies the ability of any president to create signing statements that permits him/her to ignore the law, including these initiatives.
(c) Column of the Americas 2009 Column of the Americas PO BOX 85476 Tucson, AZ 85754 NEW AMERICA MEDIA COLUMNS http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/ ARCHIVED COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/ Site/Welcome.html XColumn@gmail.com Original enclosure (7191936_240×240_Front.jpg)
Eagle Feather Research Institute
Saludos/Saludes: For those interested in Indigenous/mestizo cutting-edge research and publications, please see press release below or go directly to the Eagle Feather Research Institute He is a friend and colleague, but more importantly, one of the leading researchers in the field of Indigenous/mestizo knowledge on this continent. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MYTH VS FACT: CENSOR BIAS? New Research Covers Culturally Misrepresented Groups: Gypsies, Jews, Indians, Mestizos, Arabs, Women etc, Austin, Tx.—March 9, 2009. Eagle Feather Research Institute provides current research of different cultural groups that have been misrepresented via distorted or biased cultural histories due to political, racial or religious reasons. The goal is to present factual cultural data that is not political; ipurports to go beyond superficial layers of information and question the validity of sources. While society has progressed technologically, current scholars begin to question the more important civilizing elements that constitute a working and harmonious order. While censorship was notorious in the Middle Ages with the Inquisition, it is still present in varying and subtle ways among the cross section of institutions in the modern world. Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, Research Associate at the University of Arizona states: “The work of Dr.Arnoldo Carlos Vento is both a treasure and unprecedented. The work I have been doing on the inter-connectedness of the continent via Maiz, was done by him a generation ago. His work and research are fascinating and I can only hope to build upon his work and the other Indigenous scholars. Additionally, he builds upon the work of his own mother, Adela Sloss Vento, what I term, a ceremonial discourse.” The new Website contains Educational Materials that are divided into five series: Pre-Columbian, Mexican, Chicano/Chicana, Native American and Ancient Cultures. Areas covered include Culture, History, Philosophy, Language, Literature, Medicine and Oral History. The listings of works are further divided into Abstract/Articles, Abstract/Books, Articles and Books. While most works are in English, some books and articles are in Spanish. Additional areas under News and TIPS include Historical Bits, Natural Health and Linguistic Nuances and News/Green Earth. The Columns of Latest News and Newsletters provide a forum concerned with current issues: Nutrition, Health Risks, the Endangered Eco-system, Folk Music, and current as well as future projects. Among the goals: stimulate thinking regarding long standing historical and cultural myths. Was scalping initiated by American Indians? Did Teddy Roosevelt charge on horseback up San Juan Hill? What role did the Inquisition play in the creation of history and modern myth regarding the Aztecs? Why did Americans refuse to eat tomatoes before 1830? Was the idea of Hell as eternal damnation known in the time of Jesus? Did the word “America” really originate with Albericus Vespucci (Almerigo, Americo)? Among recent E books include works concerned with Native American and Western Worldviews in Collision, History and Culture of Mestizos, the Christian Crusades, Southwestern History, Mexican Intellectual History, Literary Anthologies, Memoirs of first Mexican American woman civil rights activist, in addition to literary and historical novels both in Spanish and English. Criticism, Poetry and Essays complete the genres. Archival photos of cultural movements add further to the listing. For additional information contact: Arnoldo Carlos Vento, PhD, Executive Officer or visit http://eaglefeather.org and peruse the Bookstore. About Eagle Feather Research Institute: Non-profit educational Institute founded in 2002. The Institute provides educational research to the public sector: Educationists–Principals, teachers, students—legislators, the media, libraries and the general public. Founder: Arnoldo Carlos Vento, PhD, Emeritus Professor and an internationally published scholar. Contact: Arnoldo Carlos Vento, PhD, Executive Officer Eagle Feather Research Institute (512) 347-1509 acvento@eaglefeather.org # # # — ————————- Thanks & Sincerely Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez Column of the Americas PO BOX 85476 Tucson, AZ 85754 NEW AMERICA MEDIA COLUMNS http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/ ARCHIVED COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/iWeb/ Site/Welcome.html XColumn@gmail.com
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO)
Please visit Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), an international, nonviolent, and democratic membership organization based in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Its members are indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories who have joined together to protect and promote their human and cultural rights, to preserve their environments, and to find nonviolent solutions to conflicts which affect them.
The work of UNPO adapts continually to meet the challenges of its Members and the nature of the international political climate, but each Member remains committed to respecting the five principles enshrined in the UNPO Covenant:
nonviolence
human rights
democracy and self-determination
environmental protection
and tolerance.
