Crowd Honors Slain Postman, Decries Racism

They numbered in the hundreds, people who would not allow themselves to forget a man who had apparently been killed only because his skin was not white and he worked for the U.S. government.

One by one, dozens approached the mother of Joseph Santos Ileto, the Filipino American postal worker shot Aug. 10 allegedly by white supremacist Buford O. Furrow after his rampage at the North Valley Jewish Community Center, and told her how they felt.

Angry. Confused. Hurt. But most of all, defiant, unwilling to let such blind hatred remain the lingering memory of Ileto’s death.

“We aren’t going to be cowed by people like Furrow,” said Janette Anderson of Chatsworth, a Filipina who is married to an African American. She said she wanted their 7-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, to see a different side of what the apparent hate-killing had wrought. “The small segment of society that feels like him is just not going to get to us. We have to fight back.”

At a pancake breakfast Saturday outside a Chatsworth rail station, tears welling in their eyes, they spoke of the need to be strong, to make their own statement along with Ileto’s family. And they did.

A caravan of letter carriers arrived in their white and blue trucks and presented the family with hundreds of letters from people around the San Fernando Valley and all over the world, some of the many who had written to give a gift or share their grief. A number of them used free greeting cards donated to residents along Ileto’s route. The letter carriers then handed Ileto’s mother, Lilian, his navy blue mail satchel.

“We appreciate what you have done for us,” she said, clearly moved by the display. “Thank you.”

The head of the Chatsworth Chamber of Commerce handed the family a $5,000 check--a small portion of the money still pouring in to help them.

“We did not get defeated by that animal,” said Bill Powers, head of the chamber. “We stood up.”

Politicians such as Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) and Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) spoke of the need for tougher laws to combat the spread of guns and hate.

Each postal worker received a long-stemmed red rose, a reflection of the community’s gratitude for the sometimes thankless job they do.

“It’s overwhelming to see this,” said Louie Garcia, a letter carrier and colleague of Ileto’s from the Chatsworth Post Office. “It’s wonderful to know the community cares.”

Many of those in attendance lived along Ileto’s postal route, and said they would never forget the soft-spoken man who allegedly became Furrow’s “target of opportunity” in a Chatsworth driveway as he delivered their mail. Ileto, described by friends and family as a hard-working man who was a devoted son and brother, was 39.

“He was just so friendly,” said Dee Anthony of Chatsworth, one of those to approach Lilian Ileto. “He always had a smile on his face.”

The organizers of the event, Jon Lauritzen and Jane Lowenthal, said they wanted to show that Furrow, a member of the Aryan Nations hate group, had come to the wrong place to spread his message of hate. According to Ileto’s brother, Ismael, they succeeded.

“We need to be united against the hatemongers out there,” he said. “This is what America stands for.”