I’m Not The Only One

If you’re not familiar with the term, Mexican hunting refers to a recent practice of white Americans (some blacks, too, although to a lesser extent) of looking for people who “look” Mexican and then beating them, sometimes to death.  Of course, for most white people, almost all Latinos can be visually mistaken for a Mexican.  Already, an Ecuadorian immigrant has been beaten to death and a Colombian immigrant was almost beaten to death.

It’s great to see that blacks and whites in America have transcended their rocky historical relations to come together to attack Latinos. I also find it interesting that this sort of violence is primarily taking place in states like California, New Jersey and New York and not places like Arkansas, Georgia or Arizona.

The latest incident involves an actual Mexican who was attacked in New York City’s Staten Island.  This time, however, the Mexican government is responding to this incident via the Consul General of Mexico in New York.  The plan?  Post “personnel” on Staten Island until “further notice” .  Personnel is fairly vague, but it almost sounds like the Mexican government wants to deploy its soldiers on U.S. soil.  At best, this is a diplomatic nightmare that will only further encourage non-Hispanic Americans to attack all Latinos, not just those of Mexican ancestry.  The Mexican government can’t even keep Mexicans in Mexico from being murdered; can they really do anything to prevent Mexicans in New York from being attacked?

Maybe it’s because I am now a New Hampshire resident where all you need to openly carry a firearm is a state ID, or maybe because the people from whom I rent my home walk around the house in shorts and a .45 strapped to their hip.  But perhaps what’s perpetuating these senseless hate crimes is the fact that the victims are legally prohibited from adequately defending  themselves.  It would explain why these attacks have become so rampant in states that embrace gun control laws.  Most of the anti-immigration rhetoric is erupting from Arizona, Texas and other states which observe the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but the anti-immigrant violence is not taking place there. Could there be a correlation?  Interestingly enough, the origin of gun control laws can be found the then Democrat-controlled Southern states, in an effort to protect the Ku Klux Klan from their victims.

As a New Yorker and an American of Latin American descent (even though my ancestral homeland is technically a U.S. colony) I’ve been acutely  aware for some time of the Mexican hunting raging on in New York City and in the nearby suburbs.  In New York state, civilian possession of a firearm is a felony offense punishable by three years in prison.  Since I moved to New Hampshire last April as part of the Free State Project,  I’ve met many a “gun nut” who have actually convinced me to exercise my right to protect myself.  I’m further encouraged by the fact that New Hampshire recently legalized the sale and possession of switchblades.   As my fellow Free Staters say, “when seconds count, the police are minutes away.”

For me, Mexican hunting hits home.  It reminds me of a friend of a friend, a humble Poblano immigrant named Guillermo who worked in the kitchen of a restaurant in Queens all night long and would walk home from work at 4 or 5 in the morning.  And yes, Guillermo was an illegal alien.  One day, Guillermo never came home.  Police found his lifeless body in a nearby park, hanging from a tree via a scarf tied around his neck.  An investigation was done, but no killer was ever identified, and there was no proof of whether the attack was a hate crime or simply gang violence, despite the fact that he was not a gang member and his body was clean of tattoos (at least his arms and chest).  Regardless of who lynched Guillermo and why, I know he’d still be alive today if he’d been carrying a gun.

When you want bigots to stop chasing after you, it’s nice to have something with a little stopping power.  I’m not going to say publicly whether or not I am packing heat, but no one’s going to Mexican hunt me.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 4:08 pm and is filed under Government Incompetence, Immigration, Free State Project, New Yawk, Latin America, Race & Ethnicity, Civil Rights, Government Interference. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.