Beatriz Carrillo: The Police Against Latinos
Police brutality against people of color has existed for a long time and although we are supposed to be in a color-blind society, police still target Latinos. There is a stereotype that Latinos are criminals, lazy and drug users and the police perpetuate this stereotype by specifically targeting Latinos.
I used to live in a small town where the population was predominantly white. Since the town was so small the police knows everyone and tend to go easier on the kids. However, this was never implemented on my brother. As one of the only young Latinos in the neighborhood my brother was always suspected of criminal activity. My brother is actually a very good student but he was not even allowed to wear certain colors. The principals, teachers and police were always weary of all his actions even though he never did anything to give them reasons to believe he was a drug dealer or anything.
With these kinds of experiences it is no wonder that Latinos are incarcerated at higher rates than white people. Latinos are always being watched and sooner or later they are imprisoned for something. Latinos are about 1/6 of the population but they along with black people make up over half the population in prisons. It is these kinds of injustices that as Latinos we must try and fight against. Racism still exits and the prison system is perpetuating it and is a way of keeping Latinos from advancing economically and politically.