Being a Latino Ally to Black Lives Matter
Photo from Unsplash by @byfoul
Black lives matter. End statement.
2020 has been a strange, difficult, stressful, but very necessary year. The Australian wildfires, the sudden and tragic death of Kobe & Gianna Bryant, along with the other passengers on that helicopter. COVID-19 continues and highlights how unprepared, or even unwilling (see the swift militarization of police further below) this country is to deal with a serious pandemic. In New York, Amy Cooper knew, be it consciously or subconsciously, that she could weaponize the blackness of Christian Cooper, as more eloquently stated by Trevor Noah. At that moment, the country came to realize that systemic racism was very much real, and very much alive. Why else would that be relevant in their confrontation? Why is that a detail necessary when calling the police? We didn’t realize it at the time, but that lit the fuse. May 25th. Literally at the same time this exchange occurred, an innocent George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis Police. A day later the video of his murder went viral, and 2 weeks later, there are no signs of the mass protests slowing down, as people demand true change, immediate change. If the police can be militarized with riot gear and facilities can be quickly built to host the National Guard, why can’t change happen just as quickly? A true, severe change needs to happen, starting with the defunding or abolition of police forces. A system that has proven time and time again that those who supposedly are placed to keep our communities safe, cannot hold themselves accountable. Therefore, it must change entirely.
I’m not here to explain or educate you, dear reader, on the existence of systemic (institutional) racism. There are much more educated and better resources than this blog to educate you on that (a good starting point I’ve used is here). Generations of Jim Crow laws, red lining, business loan denial, defunding of resources in minority and black communities, those are not up for debate. Yet, even as a man of color, a son of Mexican immigrants, 1st generation Mexican-American, spending most of my life experiencing racism and prejudice, the last 2 weeks have taught me that I have a lot yet to learn, and even I have my own privileges when it comes to that same systemic racism that exists in our country, and frankly, in the world.
I’ve heard and seen other minorities or Latinx asking “what about our lives?” and it’s easy to lash out in anger. I have done it. But being an ally to Black lives has never been about other lives not mattering, it’s about their lives simply mattering. They are being killed at a disproportionate rate by the police more than every other race. Look up disproportionate before you pull up raw numbers. Yes, people that look like me in this country are also killed at a high rate by the police, but still not at the amount of our Black neighbors. So we prioritize the burning house, that’s the one that needs the most immediate attention. With that, let me address my Latinx readers in Spanish.
Los hispanos, hijos y hijas de inmigrantes, en esta nación deben reconocer que la lucha del Negro también es nuestra lucha. El punto no es que solamente haya justicia para el Negro, sino la eliminación de la injusticia de parte de la policía y el sistema judicial que también nos afecta a nosotros. Tampoco podemos olvidar los problemas que nosotros mismos tenemos en relación con el racismo. Cuántas veces tenemos que oír como hijos y hijas de inmigrantes que no somos verdaderos Mexicanos, Boricuas, Cubanos, Dominicanos, etc simplemente por desarrollar una nueva cultura en los Estados Unidos? A veces no somos aceptados por la gente de origen de nuestros padres, ni tampoco nos aceptan como Estadounidenses. A dónde volvemos? Entre ambos también tenemos nuestros propias tendencias racistas que hay que combatir. Por eso es importante unirnos al movimiento del Black Lives Matter, porque al final del día, los cambios también nos benefician a nosotros, y la razón por la que debemos mostrar solidaridad.
While the day and the moment is not about me as an immigrant son, the underlying issues and problems that the Black Lives Matter movement is looking to solve are deeply rooted in issues that also affect me. And even if they didn’t, and not all do, as a human being I find it my moral responsibility to be a better ally, contribute what I can, because justice and equality is everyone’s issue. Obviously with this site, and the content creation brand I am building, I talk about other, less important things, which is why I found it difficult to not say something before attempting to resume my aspirations. However, the color of my skin will ALWAYS be a part of my identity, and normalizing these conversations is a small step I can take.
Black Lives Matter.
