Rafieha, Sanchez, Vela, Salvador 1

Chelsie Rafieha, Jacci Sanchez, Janet Vela, Alejandra Salvador

Professor Lara Medina

CH S 445

10 May 2018

Latino Organizations Fighting Against Police Brutality

It is widely understood that people who are of ethnic minorities such as Latinos or

African American in the United States of America have a history of negative police relations

within their communities. This poor relationship has been worked on through police force by

creating policies that gear police toward more fair treatment of suspects. Despite rules and

policies attempting to regulate fairness, continued difficulty with the ongoing long-standing

perception of mistrust, maltreatment, and fear of the outcome of police interaction continues. The

paper will discuss the abuse against Latinos by the police force and apprise the organizations

who fought against it.

There are several issues contributing to the silencing of the Latino voice in the public

debate on police brutality. One of the leaders of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Eric

Rodriguez, stressed that the contemporary civil rights organizations, such as Voto Latino, NCLR,

and Black Lives Matter, strive to raise awareness of the police brutality in Latino communities.

Although Latinos account for 17.6% of the American population, they represented 16% of the

police-involved killings, 30% of arrests, and 23% of searches in 2016. However, according to

Rodriguez, state and local agencies' self-report statistics frequently fail to account for the cases

involving victims that are both Latino and Black. There is also a trend to poor coverage of Latino

cases by Latino media outlets and political organizations (Downs). Furthermore, the US Latino
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community lacks consensus as to how it is affected by police violence. Activists often tend to

address the topic solely from the perspective of border violence or undocumented immigrants,

rather than native-born Latinos. In addition, some Latino advocacy organizations, such as the

National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, combining 40 large groups, centered most of their efforts

around the issues of immigration. Such an attitude contributes to the perception of Latinos as a

"single-issue group" (Fountain). To this end, Juan Cartagena, from the Latino Justice civil rights

organization, blamed American Latinos for their inability to generate any significant protest

activity as compared to that of the Black Lives Matter movement (Fountain).

The above trends can be argued to be largely regressive as compared to some of the early

Latino organizations of the 1930s-1940s. El Congreso del Pueblo de Habla Española particularly

comprised multi-ethnic network of liberal and radical activists who managed to ignite a more

concrete awareness that considered Latinos to be a significant force throughout the nation and

not just an isolated, regional population. Hence, the unity of all Latinos became a central theme

in its political work and outreach (Gutierrez 110-112). El Congreso was distinctly unique from

most other organizations in the Mexican community. Bert Corona, for example, observed that the

new organization, from its inception, made every effort to make no distinctions between

immigrants and those born in the United States stressing "the unity of all the Spanish-speaking,

U.S. citizens or not" (Garcia 112). One of El Congreso's prominent leaders, Luisa Moreno,

understood the need to develop, as Vicki L. Ruiz explains, a "true national conference" and

therefore worked diligently to steer this civil right assembly in that direction (Ruiz 94-97). The

other key leader of the organization included the executive secretary, Josefina Fierro. Through

her tireless dedication and organizational abilities, and that of other activists as well, El Congreso

moved forward on several fronts to particularly bring attention to problems of police brutality
 Rafieha, Sanchez, Vela, Salvador 3

(Sanchez 249). El Congreso, for example, would help establish the Sleepy Lagoon Defense

Committee(SLDC), a multi-ethnic coalition that in 1942 defended a group of Mexican American

youth accused of murder (Healey and Isserman 76). Twenty-two Mexican American youths were

put through trial with an all-white jury and faced many injustices, such as being unable to speak

with counsel or change clothes. LaRue McCormick informed the youths of their legal rights and

found seasoned lawyers to join the defense (Healey and Isserman 68). Carey McWilliams and

Josefina Fierro de Bright gave speeches on the radio and at conferences to gain public attention.

Carey McWilliams headed the SLDC and became the chair of the SLDC after the Sleepy Lagoon

trial.

Notwithstanding, today's Latino communities do, in fact, respond to police brutality.

There are several common patterns in their contemporary reactions to police abuse. First, such

reactions are usually led by small groups of political activists who are not connected to any

nationwide organizations, which contribute to their invisibility in the media. Such activists have

organized numerous campaigns promoting police accountability and are often affected by

African American activism in the similar way some Latino movements were back in the 1960s

(Fountain). For example, in January 2016, in Baltimore, Latino and African American youth

organized a demonstration demanding a police reform. Latino students subsequently called upon

the local school officials to support the Baltimore's immigrant community. Following the

Department of Justice's (DOJ) publication of a report highlighting discriminatory police

practices, the Latino community met at a public forum emphasizing the absence of Latinos in the

above report and questioning the police's willingness to adopt its recommendations (Fountain).

Similarly, in the late 1940s, the Asociacion Nacional Mexico-Americana (ANMA)

emphasized the problem of police-community relations at its founding convention and adopted a
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resolution pledging ANMA "to seek discipline of police responsible for acts of brutality." La

Asociación Mexico-Americana (ANMA) was formed in the 1930s and is also known as El

Congreso. Anyway, ANMA cited numerous examples of police overreaction. Among them was

the police beating in October 1949 of nine Mexican-American youngsters arrested for murder.

The nearby Maravilla chapter targeted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for its

abusive behavior. In February 1950 officers for the Sheriff's Department arrested fifty Mexican

Americans, including a pregnant woman, who had been attending a baby shower. The charge

was disturbing the peace and possible presence of narcotics, even though no search warrants had

been issued and no neighbors had complained. ANMA accused the officers of using rude and

abusive language and brutal tactics in making the arrests. After an unsuccessful appeal to the Los

Angeles County Board of Supervisors, ANMA publicized the incident and urged others to join

its ranks and help build a mass movement to achieve first-class citizenship (Sanchez 220-221).

However, some of these unfortunate acts of brutality helped ANMA expand. For example, a

branch of ANMA was organized in Sonora, Arizona after a Mexican national was killed by

deputies during a dispute. Additionally, when members of Mine Mill union were beat up,

arrested, and held without bail by deputy sheriffs, it led to creation of the Grant County chapter

of ANMA.

The second pattern in the today's Latino's responses to police abuse is the recognition of

commonality with people of color and African Americans in particular. For instance, in 2016, in

Charlotte, North Carolina, following the police shooting of an unarmed African American man

Keith Lamont Scott, Latinos joined the city protests. The Latino activists specifically emphasized

the similarity of Latino and African American struggle. The above urban revolt, in turn,

contributed to the creation of Charlotte Uprising organization with the purpose of addressing
 Rafieha, Sanchez, Vela, Salvador 5

police violence against Blacks (Fountain). Similarly, in 2014, in San Francisco, a hunger strike

was launched by five protesters following the police killings of Latino and African American

males. The small group was led by the rapper Equitor and the group refused to eat until either the

Police Chief Greg Suhr or Mayor Ed Lee resigned. It ultimately resulted in the resignation of the

local Police Chief Greg Suhr (Fountain).

As mentioned, such responses somewhat parallel the Latino movements in the 1960s-

1970s without sharing the latter's radical ideology. For instance, organized in the 1960s, the

Brown Berets had little patience with the continued police harassment and urged a more militant

stance. The goals of the Berets, declared Sanchez, was "to stop discrimination and the many

injustices against our people." That would require major social changes, and "in order to

motivate someone or something towards change, pressure must sometimes be applied." This

option had probably been inspired by similar statements coming from Malcolm X and the Black

Panthers (UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center). Thus, according to Montejano, the Brown

Berets formed as a kind of “community defense group” wing of the Chicano Movement. They

focused on upholding and protecting everyday life practices within the barrio, as opposed to “the

missions or details of building a political party.” In south Texas, the Berets particularly focused

on local issues like police brutality, community drug abuse, and unsafe working conditions

(Montegano 173). These ‘community guards’ operated under an organized system of rules, or

manifestos, that mandated compulsory attendance at meetings, dress codes, daily communication

requirements, prohibitions against alcohol and drugs, and mutual respect (Montegano 178). The

Brown Berets were the first to go to high schools yelling “walk out!” which eventually led to the

East L.A. Walkouts, where thousands of Chicano high school students walked out of schools due
 Rafieha, Sanchez, Vela, Salvador 6

to frustration of having unequal conditions in Los Angeles School District high schools and

demanding improvements in furthering the quality in their schools.

Latino Civil Rights Organizations

Latino Justice is headquartered in New York. They can also be reached via

latinojustice.org. The organization provides legal assistance to police abuse victims and

encourages those affected by racially-inspired stops and frisks to share their story.

Charlotte Uprising is located in Charlotte, North Carolina and can be reached at

charlotteuprising.com. The organization assists those affected by the Charlotte Uprising events

by providing bail and legal support, as well as free and confidential mental health support.

Unidos US is an organization aimed at helping the Hispanic community nationwide in

areas of civil engagement, civil rights, immigration, education, workforce, economy, health and

housing. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and can also be reached at www.unidosus.org.

Voto Latino is a civic media organization that seeks to engage, educate, and empower

Latinos in order to build a stronger and more inclusive democracy. They are headquartered in

Washington, DC and can be reached at www.votolatino.org.

Police Brutality Cases

The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of violent fights between U.S. servicemen, off-duty

police officers, and civilians against young Latinos, African Americans, and other minority

communities in June 1943. A Zoot Suit was a fashion trend among men where they characterized

by a long loose jacket with padded shoulders and high-waisted tapering trousers. The zoot suit

Latino youths in California were known as "pachucos" and were viewed by whites as street

thugs, gang members, and delinquents because of their flashy clothes and chains. Anyway, the

Zoot Suit Riots began with U.S. servicemen attacking Latinos and stripping them off their suits,
 Rafieha, Sanchez, Vela, Salvador 7

leaving them injured and almost naked on the sidewalk. The Zoot Suiters symbolized the birth of

a new generation of Mexican American working-class youth and found their sense of identity

through this.

Luis Rodriguez from Moore, Oklahoma died in the early morning hours of February 15,

2014 in fault of police force. The reason for why police got involved and cause this situation to

occur is because someone called about a "fight" occurring outside the Warren theater. The

"fight" was between Rodriguez's wife, Nair, and their 19-year-old daughter when Nair slapped

their daughter for her behavior of being disrespectful and deceitful. When the police arrived, they

arrested Rodriguez as he was trying to go after his wife to comfort her and when the police

arrested him they tackled him on the floor. When he was being pushed down to the ground,

Rodriguez told the police officers he couldn't breathe but they ignored his warnings. After this,

Nair started recording with her phone and moments later the paramedics arrived and Rodriguez

was no longer breathing and died. Two months later, Rodriguez's death was ruled a homicide

during an attempted restraint by law enforcement. Homicide is a medical term that does not

denote wrongdoing or criminal intent. As a result, the Cleveland County District attorney cleared

the officers involved in the death of Luis Rodriguez.

Another example of a Latino police brutality case occurred in March 2018 when ten

police officers from the San Francisco Police Department shot 19-year-old male, Jesus Adolfo

Delgado, ninety-nine times. The incident occurred when two people alerted the police of robbery

at gunpoint by the occupants of a black Honda Civic. In a video, it shows Jesus Adolfo Delgado

jumping into the trunk of a black car. 19-year-old male, Victor Navarro-Flores, was in the driver

seat and 18-year-old female, Cristina Juarez, was in the passenger seat. Officers pulled up to the

black car because the vehicle matched the car description and ordered Victor out of the car and
 Rafieha, Sanchez, Vela, Salvador 8

detained him while Cristina remained inside the vehicle. Officers then noticed Delgado in the

trunk. With the trunk being half-way open, the officers yelled at him several commands in

English and then Spanish and when Delgado refused to comply, officers discharged a bean bag

round at him. Moments later Delgado allegedly fired a gun from the inside of the trunk and as a

result, the ten police officers fired at Delgado ninety-nine times, twenty-five bullets of which hit

Delgado. Later, the San Francisco Police Department recovered a 9mm handgun from the

Honda's trunk. Later it was revealed that it is believed that Jesus Delgado hid in the trunk

because he was undocumented.

Conclusions

Overall, the contemporary US Latino generation, though critical of the conditions of the

Latino community in the United States, believes in the principles of American democracy and

articulates the language of Americanism paralleling the early Latino reformist movements.

Beginning in the 1930s and stretching into the 1950s, El Congreso, ANMA and others worked to

eradicate the ills affecting Mexican Americans and Mexican nationals, calling for reform rather

than revolution, and fighting to secure the rights guaranteed to Mexicans under the Constitution.

Despite this fundamental difference with the later Chicano Generation, one cannot disregard the

precedent that these groups established for the insurgency of the 1960s and 1970s.

Reflection

People who are from ethnic minorities, which are known to experience being racially

profiled by police, also experience ongoing micro-aggression on a daily-basis. Furthermore, they

often have their own family histories of racial segregation and problems in the United States.

They believe that the police treated them unfairly especially when compared to how white people

were treated. However, often studies on the police are limited due to resource complications and
 Rafieha, Sanchez, Vela, Salvador 9

the police surely do not report on themselves. The national surveys leave out significant

members of the population, whereby the end result appears that people felt the police were fair.

To this end, demilitarization of the police it is absolutely necessary in a democracy that

purports to be responsive to, and representative of, the citizenry. When there is an outcry for

accountable policing and responsive policy, and the police respond with militarized gear

designed to handle an 'enemy,' this is indicative of a larger problem which merely influences

institutions like policing. The problem being protested in the first place is that police cannot be

trusted with their guns, so a response where they are more fully armed is categorically deaf and

blind. A better community representation on police forces in the way of gender, ethnicity, and

religion is a reputable institutional reform, but itself cannot do much to alleviate police bias.

Getting police of minority ethnicity on the force may not go far enough. At the same time, after

an instance of police brutality has already occurred, it is obviously too late to prevent it from

happening; however, aftermath of these incidences, and how they are handled may help prevent

future instances. To this end, Latino civil rights organizations may be effective in both helping

the victims of police abuse and organizing joint community actions to amend policies and ensure

that justice is served to the abusers.

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