BLACK LIVES MATTER, BUT WHAT ABOUT BROWN LIVES?
Coroner’s data shows that half of those shot and killed by police in Los Angeles in the past five years were Latino. This year, of the 23 killed by police in LA, 14 were Latino.
Now, some of the families of those killed by law enforcement under questionable circumstances are beginning to ask why some deaths seem to have captivated the attention of the media and of community activists, while others have not.
For instance the family of 28-year-old Oscar Ramirez Jr. who was unarmed and committing no crime when he was shot last fall by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies, wonders why they were unable to generate any kind of outcry for an inquiry into Oscar Jr.’s death.
The question is asked outside of LA as well. On February 10 of this year, Antonio Zambrano-Montes, a Mexican migrant worker, who had thrown rocks at cars, was shot and killed by police officers in Pasco, Washington. A video of the shooting appeared to show that Zambrano-Montes was running away, turning only at the last minute with his hands raised before shots were fired. Yet, although the story was big local news, interest in the investigation never caught fire nationally in the media.
The LA Times’ Nicole Santa Cruz, Ruben Vives and Marisa Gerber have written a thought provoking story that delves into the question and suggest that a least part of the reason for differences in response might be due to a complex weave of cultural differences between the black and Latino communities, along with separate historical contexts.
Here’s a clip from the story’s opening:
Kris Ramirez never saw police as a threat. Growing up, his body didn’t tense with us-versus-them dread when police cruisers drove through his Southeast Los Angeles neighborhood.
“If someone is wearing a uniform,” Ramirez said, “you show respect.”
Then last year, four days before Halloween, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed his brother, Oscar Jr., along railroad tracks near Paramount High School. Deputies said the 28-year-old didn’t comply with orders and moved his arm in “a threatening manner.” Ramirez was unarmed.
The Ramirez family marched in front of the Paramount sheriff’s station and held vigils, but they struggled to find wider support for their cause. As the family grieved, the national Black Lives Matter movement picked up energy, bolstered locally by the fatal shooting of Ezell Ford, a mentally disabled black man, by LAPD officers.
Watching the protests over Ford’s killing, Kris Ramirez felt frustrated: “Why can’t we get that same type of coverage or help?”
The muted reaction to the deaths of Latinos in confrontations with police tells a larger story: Black Lives Matter is starkly different from Brown Lives Matter. In contrast to the fatal shootings of African Americans such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Walter Scott in South Carolina, deaths of Latinos at the hands of law enforcement haven’t drawn nearly as much attention.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release of a video showing Gardena police officers shooting two men, killing Ricardo Diaz Zeferino, an unarmed Latino. The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube. It generated national media coverage, but very little protest.
IS PUTTING YOUNG PEOPLE IN SOLITARY AN ACT OF VIOLENCE? CA CHILDREN’S DEFENSE FUND HEAD SAYS YES
As SB 124, the bill that would greatly restrict the use of solitary confinement in California, works its way toward possible passage, Alex Johnson, the executive director for the Children’s Defense Fund CA writes in the Huffington Post about why the bill is so important.
Here’s a clip:
Nationally, approximately 60,000 youth are held in solitary confinement, the majority for non-violent offenses. Moreover, according to a study by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), over 50% of the youth who committed suicide inside a juvenile justice facility were being held in solitary confinement at the time of their death.
A few months ago the name Kalief Browder may not have triggered more than passing recognition. Yet those who question the brutal impact of solitary confinement on youth need to look no further than his ordeal. Kalief, who spent 800 days in solitary during three years at New York City’s Rikers Island after being arrested on a robbery charge at age sixteen, has become the national face of solitary confinement. While he was ultimately acquitted, the toll of solitary confinement had already impacted Kalief and he attempted suicide several times while in solitary confinement and after being released. He should have become a thriving adult, and indeed he was on his way, but the lasting trauma of being held in solitary confinement pushed Kalief to take his own life at the age of 22.
[SNIP]
Twenty-seven days before he died, Kalief authored an essay where he described the physical and psychological damage that results from solitary confinement: from chest pains, weight loss, diarrhea, and fainting to psychological symptoms like reduced concentration, confusion, memory loss, hallucinations, paranoia, overt psychosis, violent fantasies, anxiety, depression, and trouble sleeping.
Despite evidence demonstrating that solitary confinement is an ineffective rehabilitation strategy, the practice remains prevalent in juvenile facilities. A recent report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation documents substantial evidence of systemic abuse of children, such as placing youth in isolation, in 29 states including California.
A series of lawsuits have addressed the disproportionate number of disabled youth who are held in solitary confinement and deprived of their educational rights. A recent landmark settlement ended the use of juvenile solitary confinement in Contra Costa County (California) after it was discovered that disabled youth were routinely held in isolation for 23 hours a day. One young person known as “W.B.” had to be hospitalized with a mental breakdown after spending three weeks in solitary confinement.
I do have to compliment the Times on writing an article that suggests what anyone who’s pushed a patrol car already knows–that the role of race in all this isn’t one of genetics or anything like that, but of culture. Of how children are raised. And that many Hispanics are simply raised with a more conservative, less excuse-making ethic than many African Americans. (There’s still plenty of it, but less.) It’s easy to dismiss that as racist–but it’s real and it matters and I wish it weren’t the case.
When I stop a Hispanic for some traffic violation, they more often than not say, “Yea, I did that, sorry about that sir.” When I tell an African American why I stopped them, they more often than not say, “That’s not really why you stopped me…” (totally dismissing their fault and immediately accusing me of being a racist, having of course consequences on the subsequent nature of the stop). This is a profound difference that has repercussions across all the other issues. The most racist people I’ve met in my life have been African Americans. Fast forward to excusing Michael Brown of robbing that store; the repeated calling of an 18 year old felon a “kid”; the focus on people being “unarmed” versus their actions; the focus on police killings almost always in self defense, and the near total ignoring of gang-related murders and the reasons behind them. The worship of thugs from Compton rapping about gang violence–and inciting violence which already caused at least one death–through this new NWA movie is just one of many examples.
We do have a problem with race in this county and particularly relative to law enforcement. But I believe the problem is one of the cultures within the races, versus anything scientific or whatever. And if we can acknowledge the problems within the cultures, maybe we can begin to accept aspects of our cultures that are holding us back (including the fear among whites that drives them to build walls and arm themselves for a coming social collapse), and live in greater harmony together.
To the extent cops (of all races, who nonetheless put their lives on the line daily for people of all races) are prejudiced, it’s not because they were hired that way. It’s because experience has made them so. We need to look at why that might be, however painful it is. The lives that matter, of all races and professions, are worth it.
@10-33_Go: Well stated.100%
Perfectly stated.
You covered the bases and the races.
Only a person with experience and a righteous cause could profoundly word it the way you did.
No political posturing or blame, just the raw truth with no bashing or sugar on it.
Per the FBI’s expanded homicide stats for 2010, 3327 victims of homicide were white with 83 percent of the suspects being white and 13 percent of the suspects being black. 72.4 percent of the population was white in 2010 and 12.6 black.
2720 of the homicide victims were black. 90 percent of the suspect in those homicides were black. Only 8 percent were white.
Whites represent 72.4 percent of the population but are only responsible for 8 percent of black deaths. Blacks represent 12.6 percent of the population and are responsible for 13 percent of white deaths. Blacks represent a disportionate threat, give their population, to white and blacks. Lingering impact of racism plays a role but is not the only cause. Whatever, blaming Law Enforcement for black deaths ignors these realities.
When does the investigative media actually begin to add context to the black lives matter discussion?
Your comments put a seal on the lips of ALL finger pointers.
“the focus on police killings almost always in self defense,”
lol.
During the Zoot Suit riots, blacks in Florence-Firestone stood guard with malatov cocktails to fend off U.S. servicemen who were attacking Latinos in the neighborhood. The servicemen bailed and headed back toward downtown. Historically, this country has not been good to blacks and Latinos that keep their mouths shut. Donald Trump is evidence of that. Perhaps blacks just understand this better than Latinos, but Latinos are learning the hard way. Los Angeles also has a lot of undocumented immigrants, that may also have a lot to do with with Latinos staying tight lipped when pulled over. Cops that deal with more assimilated Chicanos in Northern California, where blacks and Latinos have a much tighter relationship, might have a different story to tell.
Hey Dude why not go back all the way to the Civil War while you’re at it? Biggest danger a young Black has is another young Black and same with young Hispanics. Odds are what they are. Hayward officer killed yesterday, that was a Hispanic shooter but this year all types of Brothers and Sisters in Blue have been the targets of Blacks and about 70% of the shooters come from that group, more than five times their population percentage. Old news is just that Dude.
@ 1. I totally agree with you. #8. Great information.
Surefire:. Obviously you have been wounded in the worst way. Your posts exudes with hate and disdain for Blacks. You truly have deep rooted issues. Tragic.
#9. You shouldn’t be ashamed to call yourself a redneck.
A redneck called by any other name is still a redneck. It is what is it is.
Any cop who puts his race before his brothers and sisters is a fucking asshole that should find another occupation.
Sure Fire: A little thing like facts can be very disconcerting to a liberal. Their fall back is to call you a racist when the truth upsets their progressive views.
Case in point: Steve Smith commentator for ESPN labeled “Uncle Tom” by black liberals for his comments on “black Lives Matter”. He was commenting on the fact that black lives only seem to matter when your shot by a white police officer vs someone of your own race which occurs with all too much frequency in this country.
Sure Fire, when are u leaving?
You can identify a tree by the fruit that it bears.
The same can be said about people, be it gangsters or rednecks.
Surefire, You’re partially correct. Killers of young black males is a neck to neck tie (no pun intended) between other criminal black youth and lying, crooked ass Cops.