O Tempora, O Mores! (October, 2002)

Philly Flap

On Aug. 22, the Philadelphia Daily News printed an article about fugitive murder suspects the police thought were hiding in the city. On the cover were mug shots of murderers; on the inside, the paper profiled 27 suspects, publishing their photographs and describing their crimes. All the fugitives were non-white men. Most were black, and a few were Hispanic or Asian.

Readers promptly turned in two of them, but the predictable reaction came quickly, with blacks yelling about “racism” and “insensitivity.” A week later, Managing Editor Ellen Foley published an apology, in which she said the story caused “much soul-searching in the Daily News newsroom.” She explained that there were no pictures of whites because there were no whites wanted for murder in the city, but apologized for the layout anyway: “The front page photos from last Thursday sent the message to some readers that only black men commit murder. That was a mistake.” (This is odd, since not all the men on the cover are black.)

Too little, too late. A group of blacks calling itself the Coalition for Fair News Coverage is demanding the resignations of Miss Foley and Editor Zack Stalberg. So far, no resignations. [Fugitives Among Us, Philadelphia Daily News, Aug. 22, 2002. Mark Angeles, Strong Reaction to People Paper Fugitive Cover, Philadelphia Daily News, Aug. 23, 2002, p. 4. Ellen Foley, To Our Readers: An Apology, Philadelphia Daily News, Aug. 30, 2002, p. 6. William Bunch, Coalition Calls for Editors’ Resignations, Philadelphia Daily News, Aug. 30, 2002, p. 6.]

Fakers Foiled

The court system is finally beginning to punish people who stage fake hate crimes. Two years ago, a black woman named Jaelynn Sealey burned her own car in her driveway in Huntersville, North Carolina, hoping to collect insurance money. For added drama, she also wrote “racial epithets” on her garage door. Support poured in from white neighbors, who raised money, brought food, and helped wash the words off her garage.

On August 8, Miss Sealey confessed in court that it was all a hoax. The judge ordered her to repay $2,225 neighbors gave her, and after pleading guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud, and making false statements to federal investigators, she faces a theoretical 45 years in prison and a $2.25 million fine. Her actual sentence will be considerably lighter, but there is a good chance she will do hard time. [Woman Admits Faking Hate Crime, AP, Aug. 9, 2002.]

Likewise, two black students at Wall High School in Asbury Park, New Jersey, face criminal charges and possible expulsion for putting threatening letters in their own lockers and in those of other black students. Police discovered the hoax by setting up pin-hole cameras to observe the lockers. Faced with the evidence, the two girls confessed they had written the notes in the hope of being excused from school. Because they are both 16, their charges of conspiracy, bias intimidation, and making false statements to police will be handled in family court.

“One of the most unfortunate things about this is that there were a couple hundred man hours spent on this case in order to determine it was just a hoax,” says prosecutor Ken Keller. “It is time and effort that could have been directed elsewhere.” School Superintendent Ed Miklus notes that a number of innocent students were treated as suspects, and says “the whole incident was very damaging to everybody.” He says he will probably convene a disciplinary hearing that could result in expulsion. [Naomi Mueller, Racist Notes Found at Wall High School a Hoax, Asbury Park Press, July 17, 2002.]

These measures are a significant change from years past, when hoaxers would get a slap on the wrist while liberals shook their heads in bewilderment at the idea of faking a hate crime when there was so much real “racism” on the loose already.

Maine: Not as White

In August we reported that former Maine Attorney General Jim Tierney thinks his state is losing population because it is too white and boring. This may be about to change. Approximately 1,200 Somali refugees have descended on the city of Lewiston (population 36,000), heretofore 98 percent white and overwhelmingly Catholic. Originally resettled by the federal government in Atlanta and elsewhere, the Muslim Somalis began arriving in Lewiston in February 2001. There are now about 1,200 of them — about three percent of the city’s population — and their numbers are growing by about 120 every month.

Somalis didn’t choose Lewiston by accident. The ones in Atlanta wanted to escape high rates of violent crime and drug use. In 2000, the elders sent scouting parties to a number of cities where Somalis already lived, such as Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City; and Portland, Maine. Portland was promising, but housing was expensive. The elders chose nearby Lewiston because housing was cheaper and welfare benefits were higher: up to $742 a month for housing and $454 for food for a family of four. Lewiston isn’t known for its thriving economy, but that makes no difference to the Somalis, who aren’t looking for jobs anyway.

Now 729 Somalis are on the dole, and account for 46 percent of the city’s welfare spending. The city has hired two additional welfare workers to handle the influx of indigents, and two new English as a Second Language teachers to cope with the one-year jump from 25 to 230 in the number of students who don’t speak English. The schools also hired six new teaching assistants and a Somali parent coordinator. So far this year, Somalis have swallowed up $400,000 in welfare and education benefits.

Residents have not voiced any real opposition. School curriculum coordinator Janice Ploude worries that there aren’t any jobs for the Somalis, and recognizes they are straining city finances. “But is it healthy for kids to be with other kids of diversity?” she asks. “Yes it is.” Even if the locals didn’t want the Somalis, there is nothing they can do about them. Refugee advocates point out that refugees are legal residents, and therefore entitled to live wherever they like. [Brian MacQuarrie, New Arrivals Put Strain on Lewiston, Boston Globe, July 16, 2002. Mark Bixler, Atlanta Somalis Escape to Maine, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug. 18, 2002, p. A1. Mark Bixler, Concerns About Crime, Kids’ Future Led to Move, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug. 18, 2002, p. A10.]

Schools Resegregate

A recently-released report by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University has found that racial segregation is increasing in American public school districts. It calculates segregation in terms of what it calls the “exposure index,” of non-whites to whites. An exposure index for blacks of 23, for example, means the average black students goes to a school that is 23 percent white.

In a sample of 185 school districts with enrollments of more than 25,000, black exposure to whites increased in only four districts over the last 14 years. Hispanic exposure to whites increased in only three districts. White “isolation,” as the researchers call it, increased in 53 districts. Resegregation was most rapid in Clayton County, Georgia, where in 1986 the average black went to a school that was 68.7 percent white, but now goes to a school that is 23.1 percent white. The report did not give details on how test scores, violence rates, and other indices of deterioration have changed over the same period. The 20 most rapidly resegregating school districts are concentrated in the South, with eight in Texas and three in Georgia. [AP, Study: School Districts ‘Resegregating,’ Aug. 11, 2002.]

Press reports did not indicate to what extent exposure to whites has decreased simply because the tremendous increase in non-white children means there are fewer white children to go around.

Brown-bagging

Rainbow Foods, a grocery store chain in the Minneapolis area, calls itself “the friendliest store in town.” Earlier this summer it sponsored The Gathering 2002, A Woman of Color Expo. The store promoted the event — ”a weekend of fun for today’s Black Woman” — on ads printed on grocery bags. Held on June 29-30, the program featured home decorating, attractions for children, and a black-cultural bookstore, and promised “Make-up, Fashion and Beauty Galore!” and “Non-Stop Main Stage Entertainment” starring black bands. All for $7.00. [Ad from a Rainbow Foods grocery bag.]

Just Random Violence

The city of Milwaukee hosts an annual summer fair and carnival called Summerfest. On July 7, from about 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., groups of young blacks ran through the festival crowd beating whites. The worst injuries appear to have been broken noses and ribs, as blacks attacked whites of both sexes and all ages.

Victims and witnesses say the attacks were racially motivated. Henry Schlipp of Milwaukee says blacks screaming obscenities about whites knocked down two of his friends at around midnight on July 7. “One of them was 6 foot 4 inches and 250 pounds, so you know these kids must’ve been moving quickly through the crowds,” he says. “We honestly didn’t know what hit us.” Ken Waara, also of Milwaukee, says a group of 30 to 50 blacks sped through the crowd screaming insults at whites. “But before we could react,” he says, “I was struck on the back of the head and couldn’t see for a few seconds . . . I was hit again on the left side and on the right side of the head.” Diane Riddle says one black shouted “What are you looking at, white boy?” before attacking her and her son. Jeremy Mor of Mequon, Wisconsin, says, “All of a sudden, somebody jumped up and knocked out a white kid for no reason. Then another person got punched and was dropped.” Young blacks punched and pushed 10 to 15 Summerfest security guards, and injured two police officers who were trying to arrest them. All suspects got away.

Milwaukee Police Chief Arthur Jones at first claimed the violence was strictly random, but as more witnesses came forward, he managed to conclude: “The truth is we had African-American youths and victims who were white. I am not in a position to say, nor would I say under the circumstances, that the attacks were not racially motivated. Nor am I in a position to say they were racially motivated.” [Tom Held and James Burnett, Youths Beat Festival Patrons, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, July 10, 2002. James Burnett and Tom Held, Summerfest Wants More Police Next Year, Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, July 11, 2002.]

Genes Make the Difference

Scientists have recently announced that a few key changes in a single gene may explain why people can talk but monkeys and mice cannot. Wolfgang Enard of the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, explains that the FOXP2 gene appears to be the same in mice, chimpanzees, orangutans, and humans, except that in the human version there are just two differences in the amino acid sequence. This very slight difference appears to give humans the ability to make the fine face and jaw movements necessary for speech. There are undoubtedly other genes involved in human speech, but scientists are surprised that so slight a genetic difference seems to be so crucial to what we think of as one of the defining characteristics of our species. The genetic code for humans is 98 percent the same as that for chimpanzees, and FOXP2 is just one example of the profound differences that can result from minute genetic variations. [Maggie Fox, Apes Lack Gene for Speech, Study Finds, Reuters, Aug. 14, 2002.] Although the researchers at the Max Planck Institute did not draw this conclusion specifically, the discovery lends yet more credence to the view that the very small genetic differences that distinguish human races also have great significance.

In a new study appearing in Science, for example, researchers say they have identified a genetic variation — found mainly in blacks — that greatly increases the risk of developing a rare type of cardiac arrhythmia. Among patients being treated for irregular heartbeat, scientists found that more than half the blacks had the allele, known as Y1102. One out of every 123 Hispanics had Y1102, but it was not found in any white or Asian patients. Among American blacks as a whole, 13 percent have the allele. [Paul Recer, Gene Variant Tied to Heart Risk is found Mostly in Blacks, AP, Aug. 23, 2002.]

Cleansing the White Tribe

Since 1994, when the African National Congress took power in South Africa, blacks have killed 1,334 farmers, farm workers, and family members. Blacks have also killed 12 white farmers in Zimbabwe and four in Namibia. The dispossession of farmers and the resulting famine in Zimbabwe have been well publicized, but the same process in South Africa is largely ignored. As Dutch journalist Adriana Stuijt explains: “These [murders] ‘only’ occurred in South Africa, and so the rest of the world remains oddly silent. Post-apartheid South Africa is apparently immune from the usual investigative journalism being conducted in the rest of the Western [?] world.”

The murder rate for South African white farmers is now 264 per 100,000, or nearly 40 times the murder rate in the United States. Since 1994, half of all white commercial farmers have either been murdered or have shut down operations rather than risk death. As a result, this year there will be 2.5 million fewer acres of corn harvested than during the last year of white rule, and South Africa could soon be joining Zimbabwe on the food line.

The South African government is largely indifferent to the plight of farmers. President Thabo Mbeki describes the killings as “the final stage of the revolution.” At the funeral of Peter Mokaba, an ANC member of parliament who recently died, “mourners” chanted “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer,” a slogan Mr. Mokaba is said to have coined. Cassie Aucamp of the Afrikaner Unity Movement points out that this kind of provocation draws little comment. “Imagine the uproar,” he says, “if Afrikaners were to start chanting, ‘Kill the Xhosas, kill the blacks’” at the next funeral of a murdered farmer.

A white South African activist in the Transvaal Agricultural Union says there is no hope for white commercial farming in southern Africa. “It might indeed be a good idea for the US Congress to hold hearings on the farm killings,” he says, “and extend visas to the Boers to go live in the United States.” [Anthony LoBaido, ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer,’ WorldNetDaily.com, July 28, 2002.] Nothing so sensible is likely to happen.

Foxing the Gringos

President Vicente Fox of Mexico is eager to consolidate his fellow citizens’ hold on life in the United States. He established a special government office to look after the interests of Mexicans — legal or otherwise — in America, and recently upgraded its head to cabinet level. He has pushed dual citizenship for Mexicans, which gives them a political voice in the United States while allowing them to maintain primary loyalty to Mexico. Until last Sept. 11, he was conducting well-publicized talks with President George Bush about getting amnesty for illegals.

Mr. Fox has also been behind the push to persuade American authorities to recognize the matricula, an identity document issued to Mexicans — legal or otherwise — at any of Mexico’s 47 American consulates. Most Americans identify themselves with a driver’s license when they open a bank account, cash checks, or get a library card, but most states make it difficult for illegals to get licenses. Banks, in particular, like the matricula system because they want the business illegals bring. According to Mexican authorities, Mexicans in the US sent home $10 billion, and banks make profits on the transfers.

According to the consulates, they issue matriculas only to Mexican citizens who can produce a certified copy of a birth certificate and an official Mexican photo ID like a driver’s license or voter registration. Applicants must also show proof of US residency, such as a lease or utility bill. The applicant then pays $29.00 for a laminated card with a photo, US address, and place and date of birth in Mexico. Last year, consulates issued 695,420 matriculas and are issuing them this year at an annual rate of 978,000.

No one pretends that a matricula changes anyone’s legal status, but every step that makes life for illegals more like that of legal residents is a step towards de facto amnesty. The matriculas are also a clear attempt by Mexican authorities to make it easier for their citizens to violate American immigration laws. Their success, however, depends exclusively on the willingness of Americans and American institutions to recognize them. The matricula has been so successful authorities in El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica plan to introduce similar documents for their own illegals. [Max Bixler, Guatemala Follows Mexico on ID Card, Atlanta Access.com, Aug. 14, 2002.]

Shyster Sharpton

Al Sharpton has been evicted from his office in the Empire State Building. City marshals padlocked the 48th-floor offices of the National Action Network on July 2 after back rent amounted to $40,000. Mr. Sharpton says his staff moved to his Harlem offices at 124th Street and Madison Ave. after Sept. 11 because they were afraid of terrorist attacks. Of course he stopped paying rent on the office, he says. “Why would we pay without using it?” Mr. Sharpton’s group signed a ten-year lease on the office in October 1999, and fear of low-flying airplanes is not a valid reason to break it. His landlord plans to take him to court.

Mr. Sharpton has a long history of stiffing people. In 1995, New York City and New York State went after him for back taxes and medical bills. Later the federal government said he owed $80,000 in income taxes. In 1996, when he ran for mayor of New York, the landlord of his campaign headquarters said Mr. Sharpton tried to skip out on a $30,000 rent bill. Last year, the Millennium Hotel had to sue him for the $25,000 bill for a January 2000 conference held to coincide with Martin Luther King’s birthday. Mr. Sharpton also tried to cheat Steven Pagones, a former Duchess County prosecutor, whom Mr. Sharpton accused of raping the black woman Tawana Brawley. Miss Brawley had gone public with a story about a sexual attack by whites, which she invented to explain to her stepfather why she had been out all night. A jury in Poughkeepsie, New York, ordered Mr. Sharpton to pay Mr. Pagones $65,000 for libel, but Mr. Sharpton refused. Three years later, black businessmen finally paid the bill when Mr. Sharpton’s scoff-law behavior threatened to land him in jail. With interest, the final bill came to $87,000. [Lois Weiss and Andy Geller, Rev. Deadbeat Bounced, New York Post, July 13, 2002.]

How to Baffle a Pygmy

Louis Raets runs something called the Oasis Nature Park in Yvoir, Belgium, about an hour’s drive southeast of Brussels. Usually he exhibits tropical fish and butterflies, but on a trip to Cameroon he got the idea of setting up an African exhibit to raise money for the Baka tribe of Pygmies. He flew in ten Pygmies, and built a traditional Baka village. The Pygmies dance for visitors, play music, and show videos in return for 40 percent of the $6.00 admission charge. The money is to pay for schools and wells in Cameroon.

The exhibit has, of course, been criticized as “racist.” “We disapprove of this exposition, which brings back the exploitation of humans and defies human dignity,” says Joseph Aganda of the Movement for New Migrants, an advocacy group for African immigrants. “Human rights” activists even appealed to Belgium’s civil rights authorities to shut down the show, but they declined, saying it was not “racist.” Still, the word is out that the Pygmy exhibit is reprehensible, and very few people have come to see it. The Pygmies are baffled. “I don’t understand,” says one in broken French. “We are carrying out a humanitarian project . . . for a better life. That was our objective for coming here.” [Constant Brand, Pygmies’ Exhibition Causes Uproar, AP, Aug. 20, 2002.]

You Change, Not Us!

Utah, long dominated by white Mormons, has a growing Hispanic population just like every other state, with the Hispanics increasing by 138 percent during the 1990s, from 84,597 to 201,559. Pam Perlich of the University of Utah reports that 71 percent of the Hispanics who work in the state are either farm workers or manual laborers. Unlike the small number of Hispanics who came to Utah in the 1960s and 1970s, today’s newcomers make little effort to learn English or assimilate. They plan to stay in America only as long as it suits them, and then go back to the countries they consider home. Archie Archuleta, a Salt Lake City administrator for minority affairs, explains that the state now has enough Hispanics to provide a homey atmosphere in which they can work, shop, and socialize as they did back home. “Most of us don’t push for assimilation,” he explains. “We push for accommodation.” [Tim Sullivan, Latinos Change Assimilation Trend, Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 13, 2002.]

Buy Your Prayer Rug Today

Two Muslim clerics living in London recently gave interviews to the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat, in which they described their goal of converting the West to Islam. According to translations provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute, they expect to accomplish this either by military invasion or by missionary work.

Syrian-born Sheik Omar Bakri, who founded and leads the Islamic Religious Court in London, explains how it will happen: “Allah willing, we will transform the West into Dar Al-Islam [a region under Islamic rule] by means of invasion without. If an Islamic state arises and invades [the West] we will be its army and its soldiers from within. If not, [we will change the West] through ideological invasion . . . without war and killing.” Mr. Bakri adds that the West is guilty of imposing “man-made law” on Muslims, but that a “[future] Islamic regime will impose Islamic religious rulings on them.” In the meantime, he says Muslims will live in the West but will not be part of it. “We do not believe that it is permitted to integrate into the societies in which we live,” he says. Mr. Bakri supports “interaction with society by means of my religion and my belief, in order to change the environment, not be changed by it . . .

His colleague, Egyptian-born Sheik Abu Hamza, imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque, says he is a British citizen only “to the extent that I use my British documents to move around.” “It is a superficial identity;” he adds. “[R]eal identity is in the heart and in the mind, and this is the [identity] that drives a man. This [identity] is Islam . . .” He says the current debate among Britons over immigration control can be solved only if they convert to Islam: “The only solution for stopping their racism is to call on them to join Islam, so they will realize what a civilization they are missing.” [Jon Dougherty, Muslim Leaders Pledge to ‘Transform West,’ WorldNetDaily.com Aug. 13, 2002.]

Reparations Rally Fizzles

Organizers had hoped tens of thousands of blacks would turn out on the Mall in Washington, DC, August 17, for the Millions for Reparations March, but only a few thousand showed up. Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam and Rep. John Conyers were the most prominent speakers. “We cannot settle for some jive token,” said Rev. Farrakhan. “We need millions of acres of land that black people can build. We’re not begging white people. We are just demanding what is justly ours.” Antoinette Harrell-Miller of New Orleans agreed: “They owe us. I want justice,” she says. “They built this country off the free labor of our ancestors.” [Janelle Carter, DC Rally Urges Slavery Reparations, AP, Aug. 18, 2002.]

Iowa Takes the Lead

Eight of the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists had valid Virginia driver’s licenses they had received by showing notarized copies of leases or utility bills that were supposed to prove residency. After the attacks, at least six states changed the way they grant driver’s licenses to foreigners. Iowa used to give a license to anyone with a social security number and a work permit, but since July 15, it now requires foreigners to show INS papers that prove they are in the country legally, and that indicate how long they are permitted to remain. A license issued to a foreigner expires at the end of the applicant’s legal residency, and is in no case granted for more than two years. On the face of the license, in red capital letters, it says “Nonrenewable — documentation required.” Immigrant groups are screaming that the new regulations are racist and unconstitutional. [Vess Mitev, Licenses Identify Foreign Nationals, Register (Des Moines), Aug. 13, 2002.]

Who’s Gifted?

Florida schools have long refused to accept the fact that blacks and Hispanics are less intelligent than whites and Asians, and therefore should not be equally represented in classes for gifted students. For several years, the state required whites and Asians to score 130 on an IQ test, but let in blacks and Hispanics who scored 116. In some school districts, “underrepresented minorities” got in if they managed a score of 116 on either the math or verbal portion of the test.

A group of white Florida parents sued arguing that race-based distinctions are unconstitutional, and won. Now, everyone has to score 130 — but there is a catch. Any student who doesn’t speak English very well or who qualifies for free school lunches still gets into gifted classes with a score of 116. Some think the new rules, which go into effect this academic year, will cut black and Hispanic participation in gifted classes by half. As an analysis by the Miami Herald shows, the effect depends mainly on parents’ incomes. In mostly-minority schools with lots of poor students, most of the “gifted” will still be “gifted.” The non-whites who will be kept out are the ones with better-off parents.

The state has promised to come up with some trick to let in more non-whites without explicitly taking race into account, but has so far not managed to square the circle. [Steve Harrison, Minorities’ Access to Programs for Gifted at Risk, Herald (Miami), Jul. 15, 2002.]

‘Sanctity’ for Blacks

Azurest is a seaside community of 119 families near Sag Harbor, New York. It was established in 1947 as a vacation retreat for blacks who were not welcome in white areas. It is now the preferred summering ground for wealthy blacks who can afford to go anywhere but prefer to vacation with other blacks. Among the residents are Earl G. Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise magazine; Helen Marshall, Queens borough president; Cecil Broderick, a retired physician and the deputy mayor of Sag Harbor; and Alma Brown, widow of Ron Brown, who was commerce secretary in the Clinton administration.

The New York Times recently wrote a sympathetic story about the psychological peace Azurest provides to blacks. It quotes Laurance Graham on its joys: “When vacationing among our own, in places that have been embraced by us for so long, there is a comfort — and a sanctity — that makes it possible to forget that there is a white power structure touching our lives at all.” The newspaper even put the word “sanctity” in the title of its article. “This is a historically black community,” says Lynn Hendy, president of the property owners association. “I’d like it to stay that way.” [Jane Gross, A Black Enclave in the Hamptons Offering Comfort and Sanctity, New York Times, July 16, 2002.]

Down Mexico Way

Enrique Sanchez calls himself the “second best professional shaman” in Mexico. Earlier this year, he says he was contacted by a jailed drug dealer facing murder charges, who asked him to magic him out of prison. Mr. Sanchez drove to the US border town of Nuevo Laredo, where he had an appointment with 19-year-old Patricia Elizabeth Sanchez, who wanted help with her love life. “I sniffed her blood like the shaman I am,” he says, “and knew it would do for the sacrifice.” He took Miss Sanchez to a secluded place and raped her, slit her throat, and collected her blood in a jar. Mr. Catemaco then drove to the city of Catemaco in the southeastern state of Veracruz, which is famous for its annual gathering of witches and shamans. There, on the islet of Cocodrilo he performed the ceremony intended to get the drug dealer out of jail. “I did what I did and it was done well, according to the science I practice,” he says.

At some point Mr. Sanchez was caught and now faces murder charges. When asked how things went wrong and whether he is in danger from the authorities, he replied “I’m not wearing the amulets that protect me.” His client is still in jail. [Mexico Shaman Sacrifices Woman to Work “Magic” for Jailed Client, EFE (Mexican News Service), Aug. 17, 2002.]

Arizona Graduates

Graduation Rates
	Boys	Girls
Asian	81.9	86.1
White	75.5	82.4
Black	62.6	73
Hispanic	53.3	63.9
Indian	50.1	61.4

Of the 57,585 students who were freshmen in Arizona high schools in 1996, only 71 percent graduated four years later. As in every state, more girls than boys graduated, as did more whites and Asians than blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. As is often the case, Hispanics graduated at even lower rates than blacks.

Joys of Diversity

Maximiliano Esparza is a an illegal immigrant from Mexico. In 1988 he was convicted of robbery and kidnapping in Los Angeles and was sentenced to six years in prison. He got out in 1992 and was on probation until 1995 — it is not clear why he was not immediately deported. This year he showed up in Klamath Fall, Oregon, where he got a job repairing stadium bleachers. On Sept. 1, in the early hours of the morning, he came upon two nuns of the Orthodox Catholic Church, who were performing what is known as walking prayers. He raped them both, and killed one by strangling her with her rosary. He has been arraigned in the Klamath County court and could face the death penalty. [Peter Martini, Hispanic Alien Rapes & Strangles Nun, Herald and News (Klamath Fall, Oregon), Sept. 5, 2002.]

Celebrating Diversity

In Brooklyn on Aug. 12, when a gang of young Dominicans on the prowl wandered into a Bangladeshi neighborhood looking for a bicycle to steal, a gang of young Bangladeshis ran them off. The Dominicans came back with reinforcements and began attacking anyone who looked Bangladeshi. Thirty-seven-year-old Mizinor Rahman was on his way home when he saw the violence. As Mr. Rahman dialed 911 from his cell phone, one of the Dominicans confronted him, screaming, “Who are you calling? The police?” The Dominican mob then proceeded to beat the Bangladeshi immigrant to death. [Larry Celona, Ikimulisa Sockwell-Mason and Michael Sofronski, Man Beaten to Death in Brooklyn Brawl, New York Post, Aug. 13, 2002.] Three days later, police arrested two Dominicans in a case that has attracted little attention even in New York City.

INS at Work

On July 26, in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, police officer Thomas Agredano stopped a van carrying seven men because its license plate light was out. He learned the men were illegal aliens from Mexico on their way to Tennessee to harvest tomatoes, and contacted the Immigration Task Force in nearby Dalton. INS Agent Doug Sullivan told Officer Agredano there were no vacant holding cells, and to let the men go.

INS spokesman Sue Brown says agents often let illegals go because the agency doesn’t have enough cells. Miss Brown says that if the illegals had been smuggled or were engaged in criminal activity, the priority for detaining them would have been higher. Officer Agredano released the illegals, who resumed their journey to the tomato fields. [John Madewell, Illegal Immigrants Stopped and Released, www.newschannel9.com (WTVC-TV, Chattanooga, Tenn.), July 29, 2002.]

Frank Talk From Franks

Stephen Franks, a member of the New Zealand parliament, has come very close to saying the right thing about immigration: the country must discriminate on the basis of religion and cultural background. He insists New Zealanders have the right to determine the flavor and cultural climate in which they live. “We do not want to create ghettos of people whose values are intractably opposed to ours,” he says, adding that aliens should never be allowed to “swamp” natives. He says he has learned much from traveling to different countries: “I like the difference but that doesn’t mean I want to live with it. And I think that’s a legitimate choice for people to make.”

Although Mr. Franks has not specifically proposed that immigrants be selected by race, the government appears to assume that is what he means. “As long as I am Minister of Immigration,” says Lianne Dalziel, “we will not have an immigration policy that specifies the colour of an individual’s skin as a pre-requisite for residence in New Zealand.” [Vernon Small, Act Insists Migrants Must Fit In, New Zealand Herald, Sept. 5, 2002.]