Groups Joining Fight Against Hate Crime

Nearly a year after a white supremacist allegedly shot to death a Filipino American postal worker and injured five people at a Jewish community center, the number of groups working against hate crimes in Los Angeles County has grown.

From members of homeowner groups to a formal state panel, Los Angeles County now has more organizations working to increase awareness of and to prevent hate crimes.

This week many will participate in a Week Against Hate, an event that commemorates the one-year anniversary of the killing of Joseph Ileto and the shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center.

“We’re hoping to really bring people together, not only to recognize the common pain felt by a number of different communities, but also to empower them to take action against hate crime,” said Robin Toma, acting executive director of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.

On Aug. 10, 1999, Buford O. Furrow Jr. allegedly walked into the North Valley Jewish Community Center and opened fire, creating a bloody chaos of what had been a summer day camp. When the shooting was done, three children, a teenage counselor and a 68-year-old grandmother were injured.

Furrow then left the center, authorities said, and chanced upon Ileto, who was making his rounds as a postal carrier on a street in Chatsworth. Furrow allegedly asked him to mail a letter then opened fire. Ileto, 39, was shot nine times.

News of the rampage rocked the city and brought calls of condolence and condemnation, including from the White House. The rampage also heightened awareness and concern on the part of county residents, Toma said.

“Being at the vortex of a lot of hate crime response activity, we have seen a welcome increase in the number of events, actions and organizations that are addressing hate crimes,” Toma said.

The San Fernando Valley Hate Crimes Alliance was created in the aftermath of the attack and is a collaborative effort of the commission, district attorney’s office, Anti-Defamation League, Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Police Department.

The alliance has held well-attended town hall meetings in the Valley, Toma said. The meetings drew about 200 people.

“I looked in the crowd and I saw a lot of folks who were just community folks, maybe connected with a neighborhood watch or a chamber

of commerce,” Toma said. “It seemed like a cross-section. That to me is very hopeful because it meant we weren’t preaching to the choir.”

In the year since Ileto’s death, other hate crimes and slayings have added to the concern.

Raul Aguirre, a 17-year-old high school student, was killed in May. The Hoover High School student was beaten with a tire iron and stabbed in the heart, allegedly by two Armenian teenagers. Prosecutors suspect that the Armenian youths went to the Glendale school looking to begin a fight with Latino youths.

In April at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, Latino inmates severely beat and stabbed a 21-year-old African American man. The inmates placed the bleeding and unconscious man under a mattress and then sat on it to prevent deputies from finding him, authorities said. When deputies found the man, he was so seriously injured that he was placed on life support. Six Latino inmates were later charged with attempted murder and mayhem.

Racial violence and hostility at the county’s jails are a key concern of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission, which is searching for solutions.

“I think Sheriff [Lee] Baca is open to really addressing these issues,” Toma said. “[It] has an impact on the streets of our city and county. Guys come out with a racial identity and orientation that gets hardened and ends up getting spread to their group and gang. . . . We know it has an impact beyond gang members.”

Organizers of the Week Against Hate say the time is set aside to remember all victims of hate crimes. The groups hope the events will draw residents from communities throughout the area to join in the discussions and commemoration.

For the family of Ileto, the events are a continuation of a year of marches, speeches and meetings with elected officials--all in the interest of ending the violence that took the life of their son and brother.

Ismael Ileto, Ileto’s brother, frequently speaks to groups urging them to become involved against hate crimes.

“Also to report the incidents, not to be afraid,” he said. “I found out there’s a lot of organizations that will help out if you’re not afraid to speak out. We need to let the public officials know what’s happening.”

The key, he said, is for communities to “build relationships with other communities.”

The Week Against Hate began last week in Chino Hills with the dedication of a new post office to the memory of Ileto. Other events include:

* Tuesday, community dialogue, East Los Angeles College Student Activities Center, 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, Monterey Park, 7-9 p.m. With the Ileto family; Enrique de la Cruz, professor and chairman, Asian American Studies, Cal State Northridge; Rabbi Gary Greenebaum, American Jewish Committee, Western regional director; Deputy Dist. Atty. Carla Arranaga, and others.

* Thursday, community candlelight vigil, Communities United for a Hate-Free Tomorrow, Japanese American Cultural and Community Center Plaza, 244 S. San Pedro St., downtown L.A., 6-9 p.m. With the Ileto family; California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer; Warren Furutani; Stewart Kwoh of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California; Greenebaum; performances by Nobuko Miyamoto-Great Leap, and others.

* Sunday, Unity Over Hate Rally, Pierce College, Swisher Park, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills, 10:30 a.m., with U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) and others.