NPR's "Tell Me More" show offers the misleading "Latinos Increasingly Targeted For Hate Crimes" (link):
The FBI reports that hate crimes against Latinos rose almost 40 percent between 2003 and 2006, and Hispanic activists say they are being targeted with threats and intimidation. Tony Asion, of El Pueblo, a Latino advocacy group, is joined by Kevin Johnson, of the University of California-Davis Law School, to discuss the statistics that are sending shockwaves through some Latino communities.
Now, for the facts that NPR won't tell you: the 40% rise was obtained by choosing a low year (2003) as the starting point and by not adjusting for population gains. And, when that adjustment is done, hate crimes against Hispanics are actually down since 1995 (as a percentage of their population).
That show is apparently produced or hosted by Michel Martin, but her involvement with the segment isn't known. Note that Johnson was a member of an Immigration Policy Group for the Obama campaign.
Immigration2008a · Wed, 11/12/2008 - 19:27 ·
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