I was shocked to see that Univision and Telemundo are not covering what’s happening in the United States. I was surprised that they can take a “neutral” stance about the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality. Let’s face it, police and state-sponsored violence affects us all, because the system we live in wasn’t made for Black people, Latinx and Hispanic people, or immigrants of color.
This is the same brutal system that authorizes ICE to enter homes without warrants to arrest and deport undocumented ‘aliens’ -- yes, this is how people who don’t look like the majority in a culture are labeled and devalued. This is the accepted system of law and order that we have quietly stood by and watched as they have torn families apart and put kids in cages. Why didn't we start marching in the streets then? Because, in America, the sad truth is that not all lives are equal even though we claim they are.
It angers me that the Latino media sources want to be quiet when we need them to be vocal on all our behalf; it aggravates me that their media owners want to show solidarity when it’s convenient and good for their brand, but they won’t be the voice for the weak and marginalized people in society. It ticks me off that they want to preach unity in diversity in theory only.
Read: Leon Krauze. The Latino Community Is Finally Coming to Grips With Its Own Racism. Slate. 11 June 2020.
That’s why the Hispanic community needs to do better. We need to educate, re-educate and help the cause of all people of color in any capacity we can. Many of us are paralyzed by fear, but we keep fighting because we call the United States our home and we love it. This movement is not an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ battle; it’s about all of us fighting racism together.
That’s why I say the names of the Black Lives that have been taken so soon and so unjustly, and I stand with my Black brothers and sisters because unless we see the targeting of any group as a human injustice, we cannot consider ourselves to be a civilized or progressive society.
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