Marcelo Lucero is a 37 year-old immigrant from a poor village in Ecuador who has lived in the United States for 16 years was fatally stabbed to death by Jeffrey Conroy, a 17 year-old white supremacist. This article displayed a true sense of racism and hatred towards immigrants and the minority. The article states that Conroy and his six friends were out drinking one night when they declared that they were going to attack an innocent ‘Mexican’. Tragically for Mr. Lucero, he was the first Mexican they stumbled upon. The boys circled around Mr. Lucero and started to throw punches and kicks at him. Obviously Mr. Lucero was helpless in his defence as he was largely outnumbered by these teens. The beating did not kill Marcelo rather it was a fatal stab wound to his chest by Jeff which tragically ended his life because of his Hispanic appearance. This was obviously a hate crime which makes matters even worse. It brings me to ask two questions. What possesses a 17 year-old to do such a brutal crime and where did he learn to hate immigrants so much? There are quite a few answers to this question, but here are the main answers. One, he learned these poor values from either his family or friends or two, he learned them from this society and past issues regarding race. This article shows that racial values are still not being properly learned by today’s youth. I found this article both depressing and absolutely disgusting by the acts of this horrifying crime. While this is not the first time that this kind of incident has happened, I believe that this attack on Mr. Lucero provides not only a reflection of widespread anti-Latino sentiments but also a widespread of racial intolerance and hatred towards the minority. This article not only shows the continuing problems of racism and anti-immigrant views, but it also shows how little progress has been made in this heated conflict.
Article by: Kirk Semple
New York Times
November 14, 2008
Section A24
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