Beating Death in Pennsylvania Exposes Racial Tensions

An immigrant's  beating death in a small town in Pennsylvania is igniting debates over race and immigration. Luis Ramirez had been in Shenandoah for six years. He had steady work, two children, and a fiancé whom he planned to marry and bring back to mexico with him. The Saturday before last, friends dropped him off at a park—then got a call saying he'd gotten into a fight. When they returned, he was being beaten by a group of youth. After one kicked him in the head, his friends say, he started convulsing and foaming at the mouth. He died in a hospital the following Monday.

The group that beat Ramirez reportedly included several members of Shenandoah's popular high school football team. Several witnesses to the beating say the group of youth beating Ramirez shouted ethic slurs. One witness—an ex-police officer—said they shouted to Ramirez's friends that they should leave Shenandoah or, --quote—"you're going to by laying here next to him." But so far, both police, and local officials, say they don't think the beating was racially-motivated. And, though investigations continue, there have been no arrests.

Joining me to discuss the issue is Margaret Barajas. She's the CEO of PALO, the Pennsylvania association of latino organizations.