Speakers attack hate crimes with education

By Laura Rico

Daily Bruin Contributor

“Ending Hate” was the focus of the Asian Pacific
Coalition’s forum Tuesday night at the Kerckhoff Art
Gallery.

The event concentrated on hate crimes committed against members
of the Asian Pacific Islander community and how these crimes can be
tied to broader issues of racism, homophobia and sexism.

Tuesday night’s event was co-sponsored by the Asian
Pacific Coalition and Concerned Asian Pacific Islander Students for
Action. It is part of a two-week long multi-media exhibit titled
“A.P. “˜Eyes’ ““ Reflection on Youth: Past,
Present and Future” that concludes Thursday at 7 p.m. at the
Kerckhoff Grand Salon.

Featured speakers included the family of Joseph Ileto, a postal
worker of Pilipino descent killed in a racially motivated attack in
August. Ismael and Deena Ileto, the brother and sister-in-law of
Ileto, stressed the need for stronger anti-hate crime legislation,
as well as education and tolerance. The Iletos also advocated the
establishment of ethnic studies programs in academic
institutions.

“The more you learn about other cultures, the less you are
afraid of them,” said Ismael. “After my brother’s
death I felt scared, helpless, suspicious of people.”

Deena remembered her brother- in-law as a “shy and quiet
man who worked hard and always smiled at people.”

The Iletos stressed that hate crimes affect people living in all
areas and from all classes and ethnic backgrounds.

“Hate has no boundary, it doesn’t stop in certain
neighborhoods. You can’t just say, “˜Oh, it can’t
happen where I live’ because one day it could,” Deena
said.

The Iletos are currently lobbying congress members and other
politicians to reinstate the Hate Prevention Act of 1999.

Nora Ramos, of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center’s
Anti-Discrimination Unit discussed how hate crimes are the direct
result of ignorance and intolerance, citing statistics gathered
from the APALC that showed parallels between hate crimes and
homophobia.

“Forty percent of hate crime victims who are targeted
because of their sexual orientation or perceived sexual
orientation, are white, heterosexual males,” Ramos said.

Participants in the forum were divided into small groups to
discuss the media’s role in forming public opinion about
Asian and Pacific Islanders and the similarities between the
struggles of the API community and the LGBT community.

Second-year student Evan Okamura of APC and the Nikkei Student
Union credited this format of discussion as a way to engage the
audience actively with the issues being presented.

“In the small groups, our goal was for the audience to
network and meet people from different organizations who share
their interests,” Okamura said.

According to student organizers, the purpose of the forum was
not only to bring attention to the incidents of hate crimes against
APIs, but to discuss the role of a campus-wide hate crimes policy
and diversity requirement in combating the incidents.

Cheryl Marie Lott, one of next year’s Undergraduate
Student Association Council’s general representatives and
RoseAnne Gutierrez, the USAC Academic Affairs Commissioner-elect,
were on hand to discuss the campus hate crimes policy and the
diversity requirement, respectively.

Okamura said drawing parallels with other communities and having
USAC members involved with the meeting showed how relevant the
issue of hate crimes is at UCLA.

“The USAC representatives gave great discussions,”
said Okamura. “People appreciated learning more about the
topics, and how to get involved.”

Maricar Laudato, the women’s programmer for APC, credited
student participation and involvement as the key to organizing
successful forums.

“The model in which we had the forums under was pure
grassroots organizing that was thought of, created and funded by
students. We really wanted to organize people in that way,”
Laudato said.

To close the event, Tram Linh Ho, external director of APC, made
candles with other members of the audience and panel.

“We want people to take something home to remember what
they learned here,” Ho said.