With more and more shocking videos of unarmed Black men being murdered coming out more and more lately, I see several Latinx Facebook pages talking about the Black Lives Matter movement and what this means for us Latinx as a community.
I agree with what they are saying, which is they need our support right now as people of color. However, I am seeing a lot of backlash against these pages, a lot of "all lives matter" and "Well if you do not want to get shot, then you should comply with police!" I am absolutely sickened by the anti-blackness that the Latinx community has, and we have been showing our nasty underbelly of colorism and prejudice toward the Black community.
Something needs to be made very clear about what it means that we are not standing with them at the protest lines and that we are not giving them the empathy and support that they need. The Black community has fought - and died - so that many of us (YES us Latinx) can have the rights that we have today.
The Civil Rights act of 1964 is the prime example. This bill stopped segregation in public places as well as stopped discrimination against race, sex, etc. This fight was fought long and hard by many Black men and women who faced very scary realities of violence of all kinds, discrimination, and yes, death. Yes, that is right, those "welfare queens" and "thugs" are the reason that there are no longer signs all over America that look like this:
Since y'all love to talk about Martin Luther King, this is what he had to say about Black and Brown struggles to Cesar Chavez in a telegram in 1966:
“As brothers in the fight for equality,” Dr. King wrote, “I extend the hand of fellowship and good will and wish continuing success to you and your members…You and your valiant fellow workers have demonstrated your commitment to righting grievous wrongs forced upon exploited people. We are together with you in spirit and in determination that our dreams for a better tomorrow will be realized.”
That might not be enough for you, but have you thought about the fact that our Afrolatinx members are also suffering? That they are living in fear that they are not only could be killed by police, but also be deported? Are you surprised that there is such a thing as an undocumented Afrolatinx?
INTERSECTIONALITY IS SO IMPORTANT PEOPLE!
Did you know that Mexico has about 1.38 million citizens who are of African descent? Did also know that they were not able to put this on the census until 2015? As a Mexican-American woman, I had absolutely NO idea that there was such a thing as Black Mexicans until I read this very article last year.
I know what you are thinking, what about us? We too suffer our own challenges. Immigration reform? We have been waiting for so long! I know this and I am very aware, as I too am very affected by this issue. I know of so many Black allies to our cause. My African American friends who have shown me their empathy and support through out the years. As people of color, we NEED to unite.
This is me calling us as a community OUT. It is time to get off of our butts and walk that protest line. It's time to shut down the stereotypes, and stop letting our family members say anti-black statements. We cannot let one more life be lost. Ponte las pilas, AHORA.
#blacklivesmatter #lasvidasnegrasimportan
