The Haters are out!

It seems like the beloved Haters were in full effect this weekend about the 17th Annual Latin American Festival that took place this past weekend.

The festivities appeared to be doomed by some bad weather late Friday night into early Saturday morning, but the WoMan above stepped in and treated us to some unseasonably cool and sunny weather.

There were a myriad of flags representing the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia to name a few. From mere appearance, it could have been mistaken for a United Nations gathering and not a gathering filled with music, food and lots of fun.

As a city where the Latino population represents 15.2% (as of July 2006), there are still few whites that attend the 2-day festivities, even though it is free and open to the public.

Is this a sign that Worcester, with its “every man’s city” appearance is still a city racially divided? Some may argue that that is still the case where 70.8% (as of July 2006) is White Non-Hispanic.

Worcester is a city that has direct ties to the Underground Railroad and it’s known as a city that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds, but that doesn’t nullify that the city has long struggled with the influx of immigrants.

As the city deals with the increase in immigrants and, in many cases non-English-speaking people, residents are having a hard time with the changes the city continues to go through. Coupled with the changing landscape throughout the city, it’s not hard to tell that Worcester has realized that it must change if the city is to continue to thrive for generations.

After reading the Worcester Telegram and Gazette article Excelente!, it was refreshing to read what one reporter’s take was on the festivities. The next thing that caught my attention was the number of reader comments, which as of 2 PM today stood at 18, many of which seemed to display a level of animosity and downright Haterade. Read the article and the comments for yourself here.

Knowing what I know about Worcester, it still comes as a surprise that so many people would take issue with folks celebrating their dual heritages by waving a flag from their country.

Issues of ignorance and a lack of depth come through in many of the comments that some seem to justify with sweeping remarks such as, “WE Fly the American Flag in this country. We Speak English, you need to learn it as well. Deport all Illegal Aliens now.......” as one poster known as Citizen of Worcester wrote.

I can write for hours about this topic, but I will surmise it as, “Ignorance breeds fear, fear fuels hatred and hatred feeds the ignorance”. Walk good, please!