Your reactions to Not In Our Town

20/9/2011

Students! Please share your thoughts and reactions to the video. Use the guide to prompt your thoughts, or offer what these issues made you think about. Has your thinking changed after understanding some of these ideas? I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
BE SURE TO READ OTHER PEOPLE'S COMMENTS BEFORE MAKING YOUR POST, it's okay to respond (appropriately) to someone else' s comment.

66 Comments

Zoe Cagan

20/9/2011 10:13:47

I thought that when the community as a whole, not just a few people, but when everyone stood up against it and said, "no more", was a really great move to end the hate crimes because most of the time there's strength in numbers. The video sort of made me think about the civil war and the civil rights movement and a Bill (i think 3011? something with a 3 and a 0) that's was trying to be passed to prevent immmigrants from Mexico from coming into Arizona. I thought about those and how we're still fighting that kind of discrimination and racism and how it just won't end.

(and I thought while typing this, "how awkward to be the first person to comment")

Bingham

20/9/2011 11:57:39

Good points. And understand the akward thing, but I think that makes you brave!

Call me an old softie, but I really found that story emotional and inspiring.

William Sommer

20/9/2011 13:13:36

After watching this video, it seems as if people tend to be ignorant about the problems in their community and until something tragic happens, nothing is done. At first, it really weakens the communities spirit, but it seemed like through this experience, they were able to come out of it as a stronger group of people. Also, when things like this happen and the media goes nuts over it, it also allows other parts of the nation to realize that maybe they should start being a little more cautious and to look for the warning signs. If the media properly executes informing the nation of the crime, it can really help us all.

Fritz Eagleton

21/9/2011 10:22:17

I was actually kind of surprised that the whole town was united. I thought they would be divided and that other people like the 7 teens would come out of the woodwork.

Steffannie Alter

21/9/2011 10:23:58

This video caused me to think about different aspects of hate crimes. While it talked about the community's reaction to the murder, the video also gave information on the teenagers who committed the crime, which I what particularly interested me.

The reaction of the police in the community where the killing occurred was quite impressive, in my opinion. In addition to focus on the one incident, they recognized the reason for the killing, and in the following years, they took actions to unite the population of the community to prevent further hate crimes.

I was also liked that the other people in the area went to such lengths to show their dedication and concern for the issues that had arisen. Between the performance, quilt, and t-shirts, they really helped bring attention to their cause and show that they felt quite differently from those who commit hate crimes.

I was quite fascinated by the teenagers in the video, and I would have liked to learn more about them. The video talked about the influence of adults, television, and other sources of information that may lead to hatred, but I would have been interested to hear from the teenagers mentioned why they considered their search for people to attack a sport, if they still were prejudiced, and how they felt about the reaction of the community.

Overall, I certainly thought that Not In Our Town was a really interesting video, and I'm really glad that we got to watch it.

Angelica Richards

21/9/2011 10:51:32

This video made me think a lot about the amount of discrimination we have in this world. The video made me think a lot about that quote we learned about in "The 'in Group"... that "differences between us did not cause hatred; hatred caused differences between us." The media and adults influence a child's point of view. then that causes the kid to love or hate certain things. I was happy at the end that the community instead of hating each other and taking sides, they united and improved there communtity, and made it a better place

Simone Trevas

21/9/2011 10:58:05

I felt like this film was very similar to how the holocaust was. In the holocaust, Hitler ( a German) killed a massive amount of Jews because he did not like or respect them at all. The same kind of thing happened in this film: a group of white guys wanted to kill a hispanic person for no valid reason, so they found one and unfortunately killed him.

Jade Jackson

21/9/2011 11:17:49

This video made me think about how discriminating and cruel people can be just by one look at you. Hate crimes to me are the most cruelest crimes, especially in this case, because you have the intention of hurting or abusing someone, and you don't even know who they are and they haven't done anything to you. This video reminded me actually of my grandfather who was shot and killed by a group of teenage boys and I haven't even gotten the chance to meet him, but from what I heard he was a remarkable man, like the man who was killed in the video. Some young people nowadays don't think about uniting and loving one another in their community and that's not fair for people who want to do something positive and caring in the community.

Mary Williams

21/9/2011 11:37:22

Whithin the first few moments of the movie and you telling us about the movie it made me instantly go back to two movies that we watched in my 8th grade leadership class. They were both about hate crimes, one of them was "The Two Towns of Jasper" about the killing of a black man because he was black and the other one (I don't remember the name) was about Matthew Shepard, a young gay man who was killed in Wyoming for being gay. In both of the movies the community did not know that there was a problem, they knew that something was going on but they didn't want to acknowledge it and in the end it brought the community together.

Angel Hickerson

21/9/2011 11:54:47

fist thing first is that i love the movie it's showing you how some random people in one community can do hateful people in your community can treat you wrong even though they havent even met you and just that one random person that they choose to mess with can make a difference on the community. but it shouldnt hjave to be like that you shoukd try to make a difference before it happend not after it happend. It remind me of that video we saw about the 8th grade and when she had got picked on by the those kids and then she picked on someone else when she knew that it was wrong and she knew how it felt but hatred should not be able to happend or be talarated. But i love the movie it bring back memories

Joelyn Villame

21/9/2011 12:06:51

Like Angelica said, it reminded me of the quote, "Differences between us did not cause hatred; hatred caused differences between us." For our generation and future generations, I can only hope that they see what violence and harassment caused by hatred and discrimination has done to many communities. I find it sad that those guys' common interest was to kill or jump on other Mexicans, Hispanics, or really, to them, people who looked Latino. I wonder if some of those guys did it because they truly hated them, if they were different, or they, as the in group, wanted to be accepted. It also ties in to the We and They story. I do hope our generation and future generations will be more aware of the ignorance people have and will help change their perspective. I think to get the attention to younger people is through music, and hopefully someone will come through with that. It takes a while to build a person, but it only takes a second to change them.

Sidenote: That movie made me tear up, and it was very inspiring! Thanks for showing it to us, Mr.B! Nevermind, saying Mr.B is weird. I'll stick to Mr.Bingham.

Shylah Crowder

21/9/2011 12:25:10

Has anyone heard of Rachel's Challenge? This video reminded me exactly of that. It was about this one girl who got shot during a school shooting, and everyone was trying to spread the happiness that she tried to spread before she died. I know it doesn't fit in as much with all of the hate crimes because that one was just a random shooting, but a lot of the things said reminded me of what people in Columbine said. For example, they mentioned how it probably could have been preventable, but no one spoke up until it was too late.

On another note, I thought the brother handled it much better than the sister. I do think that there should be forgiveness in people's hearts, and the sister said straight out that she never would. Even some of the people that were in Auschwitz said they have had forgiveness, but I was very impressed when the brother said that there was no winner and I think that is very true. On one hand, someone lost his life. While on the other, a boy basically will have no life for TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. That's longer than he has been alive, and he will definitely miss out on a lot... but I guess he should have thought about that before he did what he did... But back on topic, I really do agree. There is absolutely no winner here, and even though the town should have acted earlier (because they did have signs of this before the death), at least they did something.

Sorry for my long comments, but there you go. :D

Nadia Halim link

21/9/2011 12:35:21

Not in Our Town showed me how much hate between people is still apparent. They call America the "melting pot", where all people are given the opportunity to live freely, but what good is that if prejudices and hate stand in the way of a person's freedom?

Hate crimes are cruel in that a person is murdered not because of anything he or she has done, but because of the person's race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. It is scary to think that someone had to die before the cruelty and injustice in this small community of Long Island was revealed.

What surprised me most was that the murder was committed by seven teenage boys. Young boys who "hunted" Hispanics as a game. It struck me when the father cried out in the courtroom, "He's only seventeen!" Hate had caused a seventeen year old boy to kill another human being.

It was very inspiring that the community was so committed to protecting its people by getting the law enforcement, the schools, and the media involved. It gives hope for the future that one day people will see each other as equals.

Thank you for the sharing the movie with us, Mr. Bingham!

Jocelyn

21/9/2011 13:21:59

I myself got very emmotional with this video because I have before felt the hatred of others toward my race and in my neighborhood they also stabbed a hispanic boy and only a few of the people showed to the conference. It has changed somewhat but nothing compared to this video.

Emily Scott

21/9/2011 13:30:52

I really had thought that the town would be even more divided after the attack, because the hatred between the people had been noticed, so I thought there would have been more attacks. I suppose it's a good thing that the town came together and all, but that kind of "working together" thing happens all the time, and the idea usually fizzles out after a few months. I think it's a good thing to have an annual reminder of what had happened, but after a while the whole shabang will probably fade away.

Nicole Vickers

21/9/2011 13:31:33

I thought it was really and incredible sense of coming together after all the town went through and all the emotions they had, they still had the strength to pull through and make sure nothing like that ever happened again.

Emily Sherman

21/9/2011 13:33:21

This video reminds me a lot of the show that I'm in right now, Parade by Jason Robert Brown, because a Jewish man is accused of the murder of a little girl, of which he is innocent, and instead of supporting him and trying to help find the real killer, the people of the town lie at his trial, spread rumors about his family, and verbally and physically abuse him just because he is Jewish and educated. Eventually he is lynched by an angry mob. It's a true story, and a very sad one at that, but the response to his lynching horrified the nation and showed many people what fear and hatred of difference can do. Just like in the video, if the people had looked past their differences with this man, maybe someone didn't have to lose their life. Unlike the musical, the people in NOIT were all for change and acceptance, and tried their hardest to resolve their differences with one another, which was the right thing to do. The opposing sides of both the video and the musical teach a valuable lesson: the fear and hate of people different than us can only lead to someone's harm. Only if we look past our differences can we really feel safe.

Christopher Bennett link

21/9/2011 13:34:53

"Not in our town", was an excellent video, and gave me a good outlook on how people come together as one in a community when something goes wrong, or someone gets hurt. "NIOT" showed me how it felt from another ethnicity's prospective. Everyone has feelings, and even though were all different in our own way, we all have feelings.

The guy shot in the video was very innocent, and had no intentions of what happened to happen. As said in the video by his brother it took this man to lose his life for the community to really come together. Though the guy that was shot lost his life I feel that out of something bad, came something extremely good... The community became one, started working towards a common goal, and that was to make the environment that they lived in a better, safer place.

I was defiantly changed by this video. No matter what race we are, no matter where we come from, no matter how much money we have, and no matter what our background is we all should come together as one to better our communities putting aside all of our differences. This would make it easier on us, and have a positive affect on everyone.

Emily Wolfe

21/9/2011 13:44:30

I really enjoyed the video, I liked how it showed that people can unite over an idea that needed to be solved. I thought that the town should have started the defense for the Latin Americans before the death and that the death shouldn't have been the cause for the unity. I'm over all happy that they did unite because it shows that even different people with different beliefs, can all work towards the same goal. Making them a community.

Adriana Scamardi

21/9/2011 14:23:20

This video really made an impact on me. I didn't realize how bad descrimination had gotten. This has made me think twice about my actions and any racist joke I laugh at. I think it's pathetic how this world has let violence and racism kill someone and ruin 7 helpless families before finally realizing how wrong it really is.

McKenna Marmolejo

21/9/2011 14:33:43

I was very surprised by this video - it was quite an emotional roller coaster. It was a fantastic example of a community coming together, despite their differences in opinions and even culture. It was mentioned several times, by Joselo Lucero and other members of the court and the community, that it took one man's death to wake everyone up in the village of Patchogue.

At first, I thought that the village was going to grow apart. The Hispanics, Mexicans, etc., would hang out and the Caucasians and everyone else would hang out (in a sense, segregate because of Marcelo Lucero's death). It did seem that the Hispanics in the community were very "stand-offish" towards the whites. But as the days and weeks passed by, and the speeches and charity events were held, they started to form a bond. I was very glad to see that they all came together and formed a strong and loving - at least it seemed like - community.

"A community is a group of people working towards the same goal".

This quote basically sums up the entire documentary. After the tragic death of Marcelo Lucero, the entire community came together and worked towards the same goal - to end the hate. To form a strong relationship within the village. That's all they wanted. They wanted to have a strong and loving community, where there was no hate and there was no judgement. They wanted to have a community where everyone respected each other and accepted who they were. No matter what race they were, no matter what their religion was and no matter their sexuality. They all came together and became one.

Williams, Jordyn

21/9/2011 14:40:00

i think the video was very much inspirational to me and like most people I was shocked @ how the community could come together for one man (which I do find as a great thing) but I'm sitting @ home watching CNN and ironically anderson Cooper starts talking about a hate crime that happened a long time , but anyway these people in this certain community came together to support their neighbors. I think this Is a prime example of "Community" . I'm glad that their are people humble enough and involed into public issues. But I just wanted to say this video opened my eyes and I think america has come a long way but still has a long way to go.

Nicholas Walton

21/9/2011 14:46:27

This film reminded me a lot of the Alice Cooper song, "Welcome to my Nightmare" (or could even go to the extent of saying the entire album, but that idea is dissolved by the fact of the record being a concept about a man's nightmare). One man's (the town of Patchogue) world all of the sudden comes crashing down around him. It's an "unnecessary sedation", as Alice would say. You think you're safe when you might not really be. That is one of the themes of this film and it's "Nightmare" equivalent could be "The Awakening", which is the section of the record when Alice finally wakes up and realizes this might not all be just a dream and could be effecting his life. "Following a trail of crimson spots that lead me to the night, suddenly I realize, these crimson spots are dripping from my hands." This is referencing a previous part of the "nightmare" when Alice is accused of murder which he pleads not guilty, but that's another story all together. But, it represents Not In Our Town by the fact that, all along, just being oblivious to these horrific crimes is one of the things that's letting them continue to happen. They realize that they've indirectly been allowing people to be unnecessary victims of hate crimes, one resulting in death. They realized that, "These crimson spots are dripping from their hands".

Katharine Patrick

21/9/2011 14:53:54

Like Mary, this video reminded me of the hate crime videos our leadership class watched in 8th grade. In both videos we watched last year, however, the town responded in a different way. There were the people of the town who wanted change and people to understand other's differences and accept them. There were also the people who somewhat agreed that the man who was beaten until death or left to die got what he deserved. That demonstrates how poorly these towns were constructed; there are people out there who wouldn't attack a man they hate (because of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) but they agree that justice was served when somone else does that. This shows that these towns were not really communities because not every member was working towards a common goal.

NOIT is different, though. The town comes together and begins to make changes, to act immediately. All kinds of people in this town know that to make their town a safe and pleasant place again, they must make up for the tragedy that occured and learn from the mistakes (what should teenagers be listening to and how can outside influences regulate that-show them a good example?). That shows that this town is a community (they acted properly in a situation they were experiencing for the first time).

Christian Cortes link

21/9/2011 15:34:41

As a Hispanic-american, I understand how the Lucero family feels. People assume that because my sin is white, and i do not have an accent, that i am not hispanic. Generally, everyone is surprised when they figure out that I'm hispanic and my last name is Cortes. It's only been minor things like that. I've never been a target of a hate crime. So in that aspect, i cannot relate to how this family must have felt. Loosing a loved one to something so ignorant, vile and just horrible is not something any human being should experience. In this city NO ONE agreed that what those boys did was right and no one except one of the boy's father tried to justify what he did. That made me see how THAT was a true community. They all came together to stop hate because one man, who they probably have never met or even knew existed, died because of it. This shows that that town is filled with people who truly care about one another and when faced with adversities, can overcome that and come together. I've seen discrimination everywhere, even if it's not literal, it can still have a huge impact. i myself am guilty of this, even though i didn't mean harm, i still hurt that persons feelings. And now i try instead to STOP things like that, if some one says something like "you can't read cause you're black" or "hey beaner, are your pants ripped cause they got caught on the fence you were jumping", i try to say "hey that's not ok" because it isn't. It may be all be for kicks and giggles, but you never really know how that person feels.

Miyani Clark

21/9/2011 16:01:57

The video showed me some things that I had not been entirely aware of. I didn't know that there wee so many hate crimes, especially ones this severe. And they happen ALL the time. In the community of Patchogue, New York , a man in the video said that he had NEVER once met his neighbors from down the block, even though he had been living in his house for 30 years. Was that his neighbors hiding, or him just not seeing? Was what he asked.In the video, the people in the community, were part of something bigger than themselves after the horrible tradegy of the murder of Marcelo Lucero. His murder showed us how hate can cause horrible things. Where did the hate from the seven boys come from? If you think about it, it almost seems like it was taught to us. An example is how in the 50's African American and white children would play together until they were about 5 years old, and they didn't think anything of it. Maybe it is because they weren't taught to hate, and I think that the hate is taught. The reason these teenage boys may have attacked Marcelo is because they might have had bias that all Hispanics were bad, and didn't belong here. This is false, because everyone should(*should* that doesn't mean they do) have the right to be here in the United States.
During the trial, it must have been an extremely hard decision because no matter what, nobody won. The boys did a horrible thing, and because of that mistake, they have to pay a price. Take responsibility for your actions. In the community, after Marcelo was murdered, people started to release a big problem, all of the racism. So there community started working for something bigger than themselves, to make their community a no hate place. I was surprised that there wasn't much controversy between Marcelo's side and the boys side. One quote that I completely agree with, is when the women on the radio says,"If the boys had been Hispanic, he would have been sentenced for life." This just shows the unfairness and racism toward people who have are Hispanic.

Bingham

22/9/2011 00:19:05

Great comments guys! Take a moment as you think about this video how it connect to the themes we've been talking about in class (some of you already have). And also how these might be related to our Geography and HSPVA communities. Keep up the good work!

Marlene Marlowe

22/9/2011 10:02:41

The first thing I wanted to say was, I was surprised people actually stood up and said, no more! When I saw what they were doing, what a difference they were making, I was thinking. If they can do that in their city, well, it might be hard but we can damn well do it in ours! Theres so many hate crimes here, and you don't always need something really terrible like that to happen, to get a group of good people together, but I guess since there already happens to be a lot it doesnt really make a difference.

The second thing I wanted to say was I can connect to this story. When I lived in Hong Kong in an International School called (Hong Kong International School haha), I was hated by almost the whole middle school for being partially mexican. Theyre were all different races of kids there, but maybe 3 or 4 hisanics, including me. I was called beaner, dirty mexican, border hopper, illegal immigrant, and lots of worse things. The sad thing was I wasnt even fully mexican! I had a terrible middle school life in Hong Kong and I regretted even wanting to move to China willingly.

Stop the hate!

Katerina Muraviyova link

22/9/2011 11:01:16

This movie really made me think. It made me realize that at only times of complete desperation and tragedy does a community come as a whole and speak with one loud voice to eliminate hate. It also put life to the idea that some people don't even try to look past silly classifications such as race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and more. It made me wonder how people could have been raised to think that a person's identity is based on something so shallow as the color of their skin, instead of what's on the inside. It made me mad to think that some one would go out of their way just to hurt a person they don't even know. Well, good movie.

Viviel Bohler

22/9/2011 11:20:27

I think it's horrible that someone had to be killed in order for people to unite, and realize how much they were stereotyping and hurting people. :\

Steffannie Alter

22/9/2011 11:44:22

I agree, Viviel. I thought it was really interesting when that was mentioned during the presentation of the quilt. Someone was murdered, but that one death helped to prevent future deaths and other hate crimes. It was certainly a bittersweet triumph. It's awful that such an occurrance was necessary for the community to really understand that prejudice was such a large issue. However, at least it clearly united them, and the members of the community learned from what had happened.

Emily Chadwick

22/9/2011 11:52:00

Someone asked Morgan Freeman what he thought of black history month:
"I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history."
-Morgan Freeman
Things like this and the movie really make me think that racism will NEVER end, and that even the little things like black history month that may seem good, still contribute to separating the races. Maybe someday we will get to a point where people are not killed like this because of something like their race. The problem is, is that there are people who really truly with all their hearts believe that black people or Hispanics are lesser then us, and they will teach their children that, and unless they are taught differently later in their life, there will continue to be people who are racist.
And(in agreement to Viviel) it's so bad that someone had to be killed for them to come together. Its so horrible that things like that have to continue to happen to bring people together and eventually it fades away(somewhat) until something else happens.

Natalie

22/9/2011 12:48:45

It blows my mind to see how hateful people can be for no real reason what so ever. People can be so hateful and stupid, they do things destroy whole families and they dont even care, this movie made me really mad and angry, but it also made me really sad, i had to hold back the tears, i feel so bad for those families that were ripped apart, but it also makes me happy that that community was so supportive and they're making it so that nothing like that happens anymore, this movie was very enlightening and very emotional. I loved it.

Deisy Caceres

22/9/2011 12:54:17

This video made me think so much of the way people treat each other. Not just in school, but also in the outside world. I can see the point of view of the Lucero family, and why they reacted this way, i can also see why the father of one of one of the teenagers wanted to justify for him. Luckily I've never been a target of a hate crime, but this video made me sorta open my eyes and see that out there, there's a BIG world where anything can happen. I admire how the Lucero family took the tragedy that happened to them and turned it into something that was going to make this community stronger. How they raised awareness to the Hispanic community of how important is is to report these hate crimes and stop thinking of the police as the mean officers that just want to stand there write tickets,let things slide, and get immigrants deported.

James LeBlanc

22/9/2011 12:57:50

I'm going to branch off a bit from what you've already said and go off on the book side of town. Watching NIOT made me think of the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" because of the fact that they are killing a person because of their race. Some people don't see that the color of your skin makes ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE AT ALL! those people, as we all know are WRONG! These stories have some very similar concepts and conflicts but there is a difference. In TKAMB the people want to kill the man, and THINK they have trustworthy evidence to provide justification for killing him. but in NIOT the ring of teens think they can do whatever the hell they want and get away with it. Boy did they learn a lesson.

Morgan Mikes

22/9/2011 13:58:42

I thought this was a very inspiring movie. I thought it was great that the community came together as one to stop something that they all thought was important.

This movie makes me want to get to know other people who are in my community. I want to do this because I agree with the mayor when he said that he felt so bad not even knowing the man that was killed, but he really wished that he would've known him.

Thanks for showing this video to us Mr. Bingham!

Catie Auchter

22/9/2011 14:24:32

Last year we watched another film like this called the Laramie Project. A man named Matt Shepard was murdered for being gay and the murderer did not even know Matt man. I think its crazy how people feel like just because someone else feels differently or looks differently, they need to be killed. It is just horrible. I mean when you think about it, we were all immigrants when we first came to america looking for a better life. And now people who come here are looking for the same thing, but are being killed for it.

Makayla Tidwell

22/9/2011 15:35:52

This film reminded me a lot of the movie "Radio." "Radio" was about a man that was treated extremely unfairly because of his race. I feel that is exactly what happened in "Not In Our Town," a man was killed simply because he was a different race. Films like "Not In Our Town" and "Radio" really make you think about how you treat others. I think is is crazy that so many people judge a person by the way they look! Everybody deserves to be treated fairly.

Margaret Fisher link

22/9/2011 16:01:55

This video reminded me very much of a movie I watched last year, in school, called the Laramie Project. The Laramie Project was about a hate crime that occurred in Wyoming, where a gay man was murdered. Much like in the Laramie Project the community overcame the hate shown by the instigators and protested anti-gay acts across the country, which sparked similar protests nationwide. Both of these videos really opened my eyes to all of the hate in world, but also how much that hate can inspire people to do good, and to want to fight that hate.

Steffannie Alter

22/9/2011 16:31:42

I think it's interesting that so many people are saying they're reminded of other things they've seen or read. I think that shows that while Not In Our Town talks about a specific incident against a certain type of people, that was not a completely unique occurrence.

On a separate note, I was looking at material related to Not In Our Town and I found this interview with Jeff Conroy, the teenager who was found guilty of actually killing Marcello. Reading this made me feel even more conflicted about Conroy and his sentence. I thought it was fascinating, personally, so I wanted to share the link with anyone who's interested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/nyregion/30patchogue.html?pagewanted=all

.

Bingham

23/9/2011 08:40:29

Yeah, Steff, you are right about that, these are universal themes. That's why I chose to address them early in the year. I think it sets the stage for our look at the human condition.

And thanks for the article!

Kryssalyn Bayne

23/9/2011 14:55:56

When I saw this video It kind of made me upset in a way because things like that happen almost everyday in Houston & What do we do about it? Nothing. Yessss the people MAY get arrested but then what happens after that? We go on with life and it happens again. Is Houston to big of a community to do that? Sooo many questions come to mind when I think about the video.

Renée Piper

25/9/2011 07:22:59

I wasn't really reminded of anything specific when watching this film, but I was familiar with what it was talking about. Everyday there are things like this happening, but people either choose to ignore them or are too scared to do anything about it. Patchogue (?) embraced the issue head-on and other towns, other organizations, and other people won't feel so alone if they feel they are too scared to stand up and say anything about it.

There is such thing as strength in numbers. But there is also strength in an individual's determination to believe in something fully without having their opinion changed by others. Patchogue created a place where everyone could come together for a common goal and purpose. They created a community. The community may not have had set boundaries or borders, but they created a 'togetherness' that brought people together.

It is tragic to think that what it took for people to stand up and protect their brothers, is that one had to die. It's unfair to say that people don't notice the little things, because the 'little things' aren't little at all. *cough cough* But Patchogue is only the way it is now because people got hit over the head with reality in one of the most jarring ways. You'd never think something like what happened would happen to your town until it does, and then it's too late. What the police force of Patchogue recognize now is that the little things are great big road signs as to what the 'big things' are.

In America, people are supposed to be free. They are supposed to have equal rights, and opportunities: racism and prejudice is not The American Standard. People are coming here hoping for a better life, and if instances like this continue, people won't want to sit quietly and weep for their losses hiding from trouble, hoping that it will all stop. They will get angry, and they will retaliate. That is the American way, after all.

Emmalie George

25/9/2011 10:39:43

Not In Our Town was a very inspirational video to me. I feel as if I feel blindsighted thinking that none of that stuff that happened in their community could ever happen in my own community, but like the people in the video said...they never expected anything like this happening. They viewed their community as a safe and a rather good community. It makes me think that if something this serious could ever happen in my community, I live in a very safe and friendly community but so did they. This video really makes me think and I know if anything happened like this in my community we would have reacted the same way. We would feel sympathy for the victums and we would try and do things to make our community a better one.

Jessica Stevens

25/9/2011 10:46:26

I really liked this video and all of their efforts, however, i do have something against it. There is a video i watched in eight grade entitled 'the Laremy Project' that was about the incidint in Laremy where a gay kid was brutally killed. That movie was a rough movie to get through just because of the topic being so controversial, but it showed both sides of the story. It showed the stories of the people who were entirely against the killing, and the side of the people who were supportive of it. It was pretty rough, but I respected how they did that. I think this movie should have done the same thing. It was definitally a tragic incident in 'Not In Our Town' but I wanted to see both sides of the story.

Kelsey Johnson

25/9/2011 15:28:53

I feel that this video really relates back to the times when blacks were disrespected. Even though this is probally the number one thing mentioned, Martin Luther King was shot just for being a black man with a voice. Now this Ecuadorian man didn't even have anything to do with these teenagers who just decided to stab him that night. I don't see what race has to do with anything. So basically what these people are telling me is if that was a white man walking home that night, he would've gotten home safely. That's really sad. I wish people weren't so hateful.

Elizabeth Martinsen

25/9/2011 15:42:54

This video hit close to home for me. It is amazing to me how so much bitterness can induce people to commit such horrific crimes. I found it very unfortunate that the Latino population felt unsafe and that they did not have a dependable protection service. In addition, the fact that the death of an innocent young man had to happen for the community to realize something needed to change, is also very unfortunate.

I hope that one day people can look at individuals and not see their race or religion, but a person. People are people, period. You will find some you like and some you don't like wherever you go.

Kaylin Smith

26/9/2011 10:09:02

This video really hit home for me. It explains how our world should be. There are thousands of key points that were highlighted talking about race and violence. It exposed the way many humans think.It took the death of a wonderful man for people to understand that there was a long going problem in their communtiy. The video really made me understand the point of view of the people who were actually going through this tragedy. The video was fantastic. Everyone should have taken or learned something from this video.

Miller Walsh

26/9/2011 14:07:43

Although the video was great and really showed how the world should be, I couldn't relate to it at all. I guess it's kind of cause where I've been most of my life, since I went to a private school and all, and my parent's faith is completely against it and that's all I've been exposed to. The only ways I can relate to this is through my dad's experiences from when he was in high school and it was the norm not to except all people. I pretty happy that the norm has changed (mostly) for us now, and that we are mostly exposed to the positive side of the world that excepts people for who they are and not what they look like on the outside.

Bngham, Devan

26/9/2011 14:09:19

NOT MR.BINGHAMS SON! anyways the video was very touching because I was very emotional towards the KKK and blacks. Its just like that in the video so yeah. I was touched and would do anything to help. It really moved me how the community came togeather and helped over one dead person.

Nik Liebster

26/9/2011 15:00:08

The video was great. I have strong feelings towards immigration laws. My parents are immigrants themselves and although they are legal immigrants, I have experienced first hand other people's ignorance towards other cultures. In that aspect I enjoyed to film greatly. I also thought it was a great way to finish off this whole unit about community and individuality. It really reflected everything that we had learned and used a real world example which i think a lot of us were still needing. What it didn't do was light a fire in my belly to go out and help people. Then again, it takes a lot to inspire me and videos don't usually do that for me anyways. But if that was the point of the video then they did not succede (or however you spell that word). So all in all the film was effective, it was a great tool to use in class, but it did not inspire me in some magical indredible way.

Bingham

26/9/2011 23:20:36

Okay Miller, but you do understand that much of the world. Including America, is a scary place for people on the outside, the "they", right?
What the people of that town did to respond was exxceptional, outside the norm.

ian anderson

27/9/2011 00:06:14

this story, i think relates to little boxes. those boys categorized Hispanics and probably did not see them as real people. this also has to deal with geography and setting. wouldn't there be more hate crimes like this in Arizona? even police officers are allowed to ask for papers.i think that is categorizing. and this is coming from our government, which makes this allot more scary

Jacky Salinas

27/9/2011 11:20:36

I liked how one man in this video, the one who gave a speech on where does the hatred come from, said hatred for a different person is not in our genes. He asked where does it come from? It made me think, if someone learned the hatred, where did it start originally? Patchogue's community seems like they did the most in helping each other after Marcelo Lucero's death. "It took a death to bring us together" surprised me because shouldn't a community already be doing their part to bring a good cause together? My last thought about this video is how the good acts of this community after the death are shown, but leaves me in belief there are still people who believe what the 7 convicts did was right.

Caleb Taylor

28/9/2011 03:42:09

Ummmm i felt that the video was sad it took a lotta bad for the community to come together as a whole and get to know and meet each other and that is not the way a community should be

Daniel Huerta

29/9/2011 11:23:18

This video was compelling and had a great message. It took one person to die so that the people in that town realised what was really going on in the hispanic community and how the hispanics were suffering, and i like how they joined together to form a community against the hatred and racism, which is a huge problem in our country, and this video should be an inspiration to the country relating to the hispanic side of this country.

John

29/9/2011 13:31:25

R.I.P. LUCERO!!!

KayLa Thomas

3/10/2011 16:52:34

I was inspired by the community's reaction to the killing as a whole, but disappointed by the fact that it took someone to die in order to bring all of the violence that had been going on for a WHILE to light -- I'm sure SOMEONE had to report something on the "bean hoppers" at least once, but it took someone dying for the police to actually do anything about it.

I also find it hard to sympathize with the assailants -- I can understand why their FAMILIES would be heartbroken, but calling the young men "victims" as well just seems unfair. They knew what they were doing, and according to what the other students in the video said, they were not afraid to show it. A "victim", in my opinion, would be one of the countless Hispanics attacked during a "bean hopping", not the attackers themselves. They lost all possible sympathy or benefit of the doubt when they decided to take their rash actions a bit further and kill someone. Sympathy doesn't come into play when you have to take responsibilty for your actions.

Shylah Crowder

5/10/2011 11:42:41

KayLa, I agree that they did go absolutely too far, and I understand where you are coming from with how you feel about sympathy. I agree that in some terms that I don't feel sympathy for them, BUT you need to remember this. Those teenagers were fairly young compared to the span of life. They made a stupid decision and now their having to pay the price for it, and the price is mighty hefty. 25 years are being taken away from them. Imagine all of the things that we have gone through so far, and then double that. That is how much that boy will be missing in his life. I don't know about you, but I plan to do a lot in 25 years, and missing out on that would be like... Well imagine being in a coma... And when you awaken, the world has completely changed around you. I do agree that he did a wrong thing and that he deserves to be punished. I'm not saying that I exactly feel sorry for him, but I feel sorry about the things he is going to miss, and I feel sorry that he didn't realize what he was doing wrong before he did what he did and had to be punished for it.

joi pierre

9/10/2011 06:49:02

i fell like reading these blogs on this page is good. good for ours minds and our hearts ,, but its wasting time to type 5 thousand words saying i feel , i think, i dersied too.. when we all should stop thinking and start doing and to stop jugding by just starting to look not only to your perspective but others and to stop thinking if someone doesnt agree with you its not that that person is a bad but maybe he or she is thinking something different to find a solution. so what im really trying to say is if you cant stop talking about a girl or a boy that you dont like because he or she does XYZ or is whatever race or wears whatever cloths .. how can we be prideful and encouraging to stop hatered when where doing it in similary ways.. like my nana says "you cant say what you dont really know and if you do you just... crazy."so think about that and see what you can change in your thinking because nothing is going to change with a though or a right thinking thing to do its when you stop ... and to tell the truth im not there yet and im bold enough to say it .. and when you can say that you hate about people you steped one latter up to be something greater in my book, but then again someone else will beg a differ.

boo boo

18/10/2011 11:59:37

true dat.

Miller Walsh

8/11/2011 10:24:13

last comment, oh ya

Patrice O'Neill

14/11/2011 10:26:52

Patrice O'Neill link

14/11/2011 10:43:02

Dear Students,
Thank you for your thoughtful and heart wrenching comments. Your reflections on our film, Not In Our Town: Light in the Darkness are so powerful, and they have made us feel that the hard work it took to produce this film was all worthwhile. Clearly, you have an amazing teacher. I hope you will consider becoming more involved with Not In Our Town/ Not In Our School.( www.niot.org and click on Not In Our School.) There are 20 short videos on the Not In Our School site about students like you that can help jump start a conversation. Thanks again for your comments. Patrice O'Neill Producer/Director Not In Our Town

30/11/2011 12:35:54

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15/2/2012 10:45:20

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