Mexicans were mainly the victims, while blacks were the majority of the suspects, said Lisa Hart, a senior intergroup relations specialist with the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. Most of the suspects were under the age of 18 and male.

Lisa Hart presents the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission's Zerohour, which promotes a future free of hate and discrimination. Hart presented at a training session about hate crimes on Tuesday at the Western Justice Center.

Hart displayed graphs to illustrate her point as part of the PeaceBuilding BrownBags training session. The workshop is part of a series that brings experts together to start a discussion of how to prevent violence.

During previous community forums, Pasadena residents identified hate crimes as an issue that concerned them, said Najeeba Syeed-Miller, executive director of the Western Justice Center, a nonprofit organization that promotes peaceful conflict resolution. 

Marian Thompson, deputy in-charge of the Los Angeles County District Attorney Pasadena Juvenile Office, said since 2004, the department has seen a pattern of assaults where a group of African Americans, who are often affiliated with gangs, victimize a lone Hispanic man. On the street, these attacks are reportedly called “Sock On Mexican.” The Pasadena Police Dept. refers to them officially as Youth Street Crimes.

“We have here a trend that involves African American gangs stretching their wings by assaulting the most vulnerable group,” said Dan O’Connell, special projects officer with the juvenile office.

Between 2005 and 2006, Pasadena police have received about 75 reports of these youth street attacks, said Deputy Chief Christopher Vicino. These types of crimes, however, have decreased in recent months.

Often times, blacks yell and shout at the Hispanic who can’t speak English, so it’s hard to determine whether they used racial slurs, Vicino said. For this reason, it can be difficult to establish a motive. Police often interview the suspects to determine whether they committed a hate crime.

Police file a case as a hate crime when evidence indicates the suspect has committed an offense based on the victim’s actual or perceived race, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation.

Angelica Salas, executive director of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said immigrants are often afraid to report hate crimes to the police because they fear deportation. CHIRLA provides advocacy for those immigrants.

Salas believes the major debate over immigration reform has increased hate crimes against the Hispanic community. Some of the Hispanics victimized come from families who have lived in the United States for generations, she said.

Community members who attended the event noted that they thought some of the tension between African Americans and Hispanics is because of the demographic shift in Northwest Pasadena. More Hispanics have moved into that area and many blacks have left. They suggested welcome committees be formed in the neighborhoods, so the two racial groups can meet and interact.

Attendees also proposed there be more celebrations of diversity in the community. Since young people commit the majority of these crimes, they recommended youth be taught mediation, conflict resolution and cultural history in the Pasadena Unified School District’s schools.

School board member Renatta Cooper said she wants to find ways to incorporate such teachings into the current curriculum.

Rev. Eric Lee said hate crimes occur because a group of people believe they are superior.

Lee, the executive director of the Southern California Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, thinks the only way to end hate crimes is if people can accept each other regardless of their differences.

He turned to Martin Luther King’s writings, which encourage all human beings, regardless of race or creed, to live together as brothers and sisters. All crimes are hate crimes, he said. They are crimes against the human race.

“We can’t isolate ourselves in comfortable arenas or environments and say that’s not my problem,” Lee said. “Any injustice is a threat to justice for everyone.”

Although the discussion revolved around hate crimes committed in Pasadena by blacks against Hispanics, Syeed-Miller noted that all racial groups have been involved in hate crimes.

Unlike the trend in Pasadena, blacks received the majority of victimization countywide this past year, according to the 2006 Hate Crime Report produced by the Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations.

“Any community can be a perpetrator or a victim,” Syeed-Miller said. “Any individual can be a perpetrator or a victim.”