Patchogue, NY, has seen its share of tension over the past few years. The town has been roiled in a debate about illegal immigration. Like many towns in Long Island, Patchogue has seen a significant increase in its Latino population. Among them was Marcelo Lucero, 38, who had come16 years ago to improve his life. He worked hard at a dry cleaning business to support his mother who lives in Ecuador.

Although Patchogue police records show a decline in hate crimes, many in the Latino community would argue the opposite was true. Marcelo Lucero often warned his brother, Joselo, to stay safe. Tragically, while walking with a friend on November 8, 2008, Marcelo Lucero was assaulted by seven high school teenagers who, media reports said, set out that night to go "beaner jumping." According to prosecutors, they had already assaulted one Latino man who managed to escape, then came upon Lucero and a friend. They quickly surrounded Lucero. The young men taunted, then beat Lucero. His friend escaped and called 911. By then Jeffrey Conroy had stabbed Lucero in the chest. He later died from that chest wound.

Of the seven teens, six are white and one is Hispanic. All attended Patchogue-Medford High School. For these students “beaner jumping,” (meaning attacking Latinos) was a regular activity. Authorities have since stated that this was not an isolated incident and are encouraging others to come forward regardless of their immigration status.

Jeffrey Conroy, 17, is considered the ringleader. He was charged with first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime and first-degree gang assault and is being held without bail in the Suffolk County Jail. Jordan Dasch, 17, Anthony Hartford, 17, Nicholas Hausch, 17, and Kevin Shea 17, all from Medford and Christopher Overton, 16 and Jose Pacheco, 17, both of East Patchogue, NY, have all be charged with first-degree gang assault and were assigned bond options. All seven have pleaded not guilty. Conroy was a star athlete at his high school and his parents were prominent fundraisers for athletic programs there.

The residents of Patchogue are just coming to grips with what happened. Among them, Patchogue Mayor, Paul V. Pontieri Jr., has done a great deal of soul searching:

Patchogue is a unique place in Long Island. Over the last 25 to 30 years it has had a very vibrant Latino community. In 1990, 12% of the population was Latino. In 2000 it was 24%. We’ve always had a minority base. I've grown up with it.

I think the thing that disturbs me most is the abuse going on—the “beaner jumping.” Its’ been going on for the last year and a half. [Since it happened] I have been meeting with Latino community members about housing access, renovations programs, and the library’s bilingual citizenship program. We have 12,000 people here living in 2.2 sq. miles—24% are Latino. Out of that number, probably 75% are Ecuadorian. We’ve always been diverse. On a day-to-day basis it doesn’t seem like a town where these things could be going on. I missed it. We all missed it.

There are three parts of this problem. First is governmental leadership—state, county and federal levels. The federal level says put up a fence to keep out people we don’t want. Our kids see that.

The second is the schools. In our school district, we have an austerity budget. They say you are going to lose your football and other clubs because we have to have an ESL (English as a Second Language) program. It will cost the same amount as the athletics—$1 million. They [the school system] have to stop labeling it a cost. Once you call it a cost, the parents who raise money for athletic programs, well, the message to kids is that ESL is costing us our sports programs.

The third part is parents. As a parent, you say a Latino is moving into our block and what is this going to do to the cost of our home? If we frame it that way: we are going to lose our programs because of that Mexican, or I’m going to lose my job because an immigrant is going to take it. The seeds of anger don’t fall far from the tree.

I came out of [the field of] education. I know kids learn at the breakfast table, at the dinner table and in the lunchroom. I think the accumulation of negative messages from news media, our parents and the school districts ultimately add up. Fences are put up to keep bad things out. Now we’re saying we’re putting up fences to keep bad Latinos out. If that isn’t a message for these high school students, I don’t know what is. We planted the seeds.

Hillary Clinton said it takes a village to raise a child. Maybe it takes a village to look at a problem like this. During the last couple weeks I spent a lot of time doing what I should have been doing all along—talking to the Latino community. I met with two brothers last night. They came to a community meeting. One has a cleaning company and the other is a laborer. They came with one of their daughters who helped with the translation. It was very enlightening. It made me think about how we make this one community. We talked and had a very positive discussion.

These seven kids are a microcosm of anger out there, generated by adults, not kids. It’s not the kids who need education on this subject; it’s the adults who need to understand the impact of their words.

A lot of the blame has been put on the County Executive, Steve Levy. He made a comment three years ago: Who is there to protect the residents? He was talking about Farmingdale [where a single-family home was overcrowded with Mexican workers sharing space. Town residents were afraid for their property values and angry about lost property tax revenue]--that house was so overcrowded and dangerous. That comment was taken to be negative but he wasn’t too far off talking about that.

Marcelo’s brother, Joselo, on the other hand, has been unbelievable. He’s gone from anger to hurt to calm. He’s really tried to bring everyone together. Just listen to what he says when he speaks in public.
[For video of Joselo Lucero at a Rally for his brother go to YouTube, ]

This is the place where I grew up. It’s been a rough couple weeks. This place is who I am. It’s been very difficult.

Although Mayor Pontieri did not want to blame County Executive, Steve Levy here, media reports say that he asked Mr. Levy not to attend the funeral. Most others are far more willing to point the finger at Mr. Levy for his intense focus on illegal immigration. Since he took office in 2004, Levy has proposed bills and signed bills designed to rid the County of illegal immigrants, though he is quick to distinguish them from legal immigrants, whom he say he supports. He has sought to penalize contractors who hire undocumented workers, strip contractors working for the county of their permits if found to employ illegal immigrants (only one was ever found,) restrict non-related people from living in the same residence, outlaw loitering by day workers who often stand at the side of roads waiting for work trucks to pick them up, and has brought in Federal officials to check the immigration status of inmates at the county jail. Years of this have fueled an extremely polarized and angry debate that stings both legal and illegal immigrants.

Among Levy’s staunchest opponents is Reverend Allen Ramirez of the Brookville Reformed Church. Ramirez says if Levy were really concerned about day laborers loitering on the street, he could have tried to create hiring sites for them. This would have gotten them off the street and also provided them a safer way to find work. There are many better ways he could have dealt with the problems he sites, argues Ramirez, but instead, he has created a climate of fear and anger that is, at least in part, to blame for what happened to Marcelo Lucero. [For a profile of Reverend Ramirez—click.]

Sergio Rodriguez was also active in the aftermath of Lucero’s killing. He is Executive Director of Hispanics Across America, an organization that “involves itself in the Latino community on a large scale. We want to handle issues that affect the community on the whole.” This is certainly that kind of case.

Many Americans don’t discern between legal and illegal immigrants but being illegal doesn’t mean that you will kill, steal or rape. I understand why Americans might be frustrated when school populations jump from 800 to 1200, when many of the parents are illegal immigrants and don’t pay taxes. But the illegal immigrants tend to be poorly educated with no grasp of American laws. They cut corners to make ends meet. They are not being malicious.

Hispanics Across American tries to educated immigrants just as much as the communities they enter. They tell them they can’t be out on the streets drinking and partying—a common activity in many Latin countries. They tell them they can’t blare loud music in their apartments, also something common in their own countries.

I’m sure a lot of people in Patchogue have legitimate issues with what is going on there. I think that Marcelo was not involved in any of those things but received the worst of their response. A lot of people have issues with immigration. How come they (illegal immigrants) don’t pay taxes? I think that a lot of people feels like, hey, as long as you’re here, and your not doing anything wrong, go get a tax id number and help us out so our taxes don’t rise. 75-80% of the people I talk to are very upset that something like this [hate crimes like Lucero’s murder] is happening in this country. They are supportive. But they want tax help. It is the main topic that comes up when I speak with non-Hispanics and non-immigrants—they want illegal immigrants to do their part. Some people just don’t want them here, but not all people feel that way.

I don’t think there are more hate crimes, but more people are willing to come out in the open. Still, hate crimes don’t get fully reported because people are scared. They are worried about their status. This is something that is not going to go away. As adults, we have to do a better job of watching what we say in front of our children. Murder is not a form of deportation.

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The Real Cost of Prison
Death Row Cell Phone Discovery Prompts Texas Prison Lockdown
A Dangerous Game of Words
Hate Versus Hope
Hate Groups' New Target: McCain