An Open Letter to My Latinos Who've Stayed Silent
Art by Michelle Muñoz // @ittsmichellemunoz (click the image to see more of her artwork)
To my white Latinos, non-black Latinos, and even fellow Afro-Latinos who’ve kept silent (not just on social media, but in your communities, families, and overall) and have dissociated and detached yourselves from the recent racial injustices—whether you’re aware of it or not, you are complicit in our country’s racial injustice problem.
This is not an isolated incident. George Floyd and Breonna Taylor weren’t just two people who were senselessly murdered, and the pain and anger we’re seeing from the black community isn’t merely a reaction to just one crop of bad cops or one single, terrible event. This is not an overreaction and they are not being ~dramatic~. This is a culmination of years of generational pain, of being senselessly murdered for just existing, of worrying for their lives and families simply because of the color of their skin, of seeing themselves in the people murdered/affected by police brutality, of justice not being served as it should, and of being continuously failed and invalidated by a system that should protect them.
Our country’s system isn’t hearing them. And when you fail to speak up or acknowledge what’s happening in any way, you’re not hearing them either, and you are complicit in the system.
Black Lives Matter is not a political statement. It’s just a statement. And voicing that Black lives matter doesn’t mean that your lives don’t, or that your struggles are less important—but it’s not our time right now, and the focus should be shifted to the people group who’ve been recently hurt. When a part of your body’s been injured and broken, you don’t focus your energy on healing your whole body, but centering on healing the area that’s feeling the most pain right now.
Please, please note that responding to the statement of “Black lives matter” with “All lives matter” is invalidating that black lives aren’t mattering right now. And many of us have profited off the mentality and the system that supports this. Regardless of what political party you’re aligned with, the ruthless murdering of black lives should upset you. If all lives matter so much to you—black lives included—why aren’t you standing up for these lives? Why are you dismissing what’s happening? Why do all lives matter only when it’s in response to people proclaiming for black lives to matter?
When you’re saying that this isn’t a racism issue, but a humanity issue, you’re refusing to acknowledge the racial prejudice black people face solely because of the color of their skin.
If all lives matter to you, if humanity matters to you, demonstrate that sentiment in the way you carry out your life, not just in response to “Black Lives Matter” posts/protests.
It’s easy to watch these events unfurl and think “wow, that’s horrible,” and continue on with your life because it’s “not your problem” and it doesn’t hit home for you. It’s not enough to just “not be racist.” Your neutrality does nothing in transforming our reality and repairing the damage. Your neutrality on “not making it a race thing,” on colorblindness, on “keeping the peace and not risk being divisive", is actually what’s hurting us more. Acknowledge what’s happening and allow yourself to see the full picture. Let it be uncomfortable. Let it make you better.
When a black person is murdered, please examine if your first reaction is to justify it. In regards to being shot multiple times by the police in her home, or being kneeled on for 9 minutes after exclaiming he couldn’t breathe—it absolutely does not matter what Breonna Taylor or George Floyd were doing, or what kind of people they were—they did not deserve to die. Stop trying to work around it to fit your narrative. Challenge your narrative instead.
They did not deserve to die.
They did not deserve to die.
They did not.
Speaking out about the riots and your disdain/disagreement with them but staying silent when black people are murdered says a lot about what you value. You may not advocate for violence, and I’m not saying that you should, or that you need to, or that you’re a racist if you don’t. You don’t have to agree to understand how the people suffering are processing and reacting. If violence makes you uncomfortable, that’s fine. Racism and murder are uncomfortable, too.
Be slow to judge and proclaim that rioting/looting isn’t the answer and that they should negotiate peacefully, while still ignoring the fact that black people aren’t often heard. The emotional, physical, institutional, systemic trauma was not inflicted peacefully, so please understand if it’s not processed peacefully, especially if it continues to be invalidated.
Being Latino/a POC does not exempt you from a racist mentality. We must acknowledge that our existence has been colonized, and we have to challenge our colonized mentality. You can be Latino and still be racist. You can have black friends, a black partner, or black children and still be racist. Racism isn’t always blatant; It goes far beyond that. It’s deeply embedded into our subtle interactions with people who are different than us, how we view them and perceive them, how we think about them, and how we act towards them when they’re suffering. Our racism can be shown in our hesitancy to stand with our black brothers and sisters, our failure to listen and understand, to acknowledge their fears, struggles and stories, to not try to understand them in their context.
Once we’ve acknowledged this, we can do the personal work to do better and contribute to the healing of our society. To fight racism on a grand scale, we must first fight it within ourselves.
For the Afro-Latinos who are navigating and feeling this pain, and who have fallen victim to this system and are actively speaking out against it, I love you and I see you.
I love you and I see you.
If a group of us are still struggling, we have work to do. Let’s take action together.
It’s understandable if you’re still in the learning process and are still figuring out how you/your voice can be helpful. Don’t feel like you have to be a social media activist in order to speak out. There’s so much we can do to fight racial injustice outside of social media. A good and healthy first step is to listen and become educated. Here are some other things you can do to help:
1) Check in and LISTEN to your black friends and loved ones this weekend. They’re emotionally exhausted. Be a safe place and remind them to prioritize their rest.
2) Acknowledge the Afro-Latinos within your own communities and seek to understand them. We are a part of you, but our experience in this country is different than yours. As Latinos, we definitely have struggles, but for white/white-passing Latinos, none of your struggles are due to the color of your skin. Please acknowledge that.
3) Challenge your family members who hold racist or ignorant beliefs. Challenge your friends when they hold strong opinions without understanding the fuller picture.
4) Actively call out the anti-blackness in your communities. Be inclusive in the rights you fight for. Speak out when immigrant justice does not extend to black immigrants, or when rights offered to white-Latinos do not extend to Afro-Latinos.
5) Challenge the dominant narratives around general healthcare access, immigration and education.
6) Educate Yourself—Here are 5 Podcasts/Shows/ (among SEVERAL others) to learn more:
Anti-Blackness in Brown Communities by Cosas De La Vida Real
Codeswitch by NPR
Breaking Tradition and Dragging Anti-Black Norms in Latinx Spaces by Caña Negra
White Like Me (Netflix)
When They See Us (Netflix)
7) Sign petitions here.
8) Text “FLOYD” to 55156 + Text “JUSTICE” to 668366
9) Get in contact with the District Attorney and Minneapolis Mayor. Leave a message for them demanding that 4 officers including Derek Chauvin (Badge #1087) and Tou Thao (Badge #7162) be arrested for the Murder of George Floyd. More information here.
10) Resources/tools regarding racism and anti-blackness here and here.