Jose Malagon Hernandez

Headshot of Jose Malagon Hernandez

Hate Crime Research – Anaheim

Hate Incident

Jose responds:

What is something people might not know about your when they first meet you?

Things people might not know about me is that I am going to school in the evenings and work at the school district in the mornings.

What made you select this particular article?

While searching for an article I read about landmark cases pertaining to discrimination and civil rights. These articles and cases although good enough for this assignment I believe have been so extraordinarily portrayed that they seem like they happened in a far-way land long ago. I selected this article because it was written in 2019 and the incident too close to home for many, remind people that racial tensions exist. As a student and educator, I believe conversations on racial topics need to be addressed and discourse amongst students should be guided, encouraged, and constructive.

What might be missing from the story that would be important for readers to know?

I think it might be important for readers to know the full context of why the three attacking men engaged the victim. There is a lot of information missing in the article that would help readers gain a sense of what and why this happened. People, even those with extreme ideologies do not walk amongst society assaulting people based on looks. We have devised laws based on our moral and ethical values to prevent that from occurring. Although there are instances of violence, I suspect they are not all unprovoked. What is not missing but I think deserves more attention is that two of the assailants were in the U.S. military. This detail I think is the driving force behind the reduction of sentences and not the actual events of the encounter. Further research is needed to know the facts.

Share a little bit about your empathy towards the victim or victims family.

Being an immigrant myself I understand how this incident could make a person feel like they are not safe. Being in a new environment is an experience that can be overwhelming especially if you do not speak the language. Being attacked by individuals that do not look like you while yelling in a language you do not understand clearly can certainly lead to the trauma suffered by the victim.