I think it’s a question most Latin@s already know the answer to, but I was very happy to see that the mainstream news is taking the question seriously–and even allowing the voices of the LGBT community into the mix as well.

“In Suffolk County, if you don’t watch where the areas are that you’re going, are they’re whites, and they see that you’re Latino? They’re chasing you,” said Marcus Morales of the Lower East Side.

“Absolutely. I think Latinos are being targeted,” added Sandra Cruz of the Lower East Side.

But while concern is growing in Latino neighborhoods like Jackson Heights in Queens, when you look closer, the anti-Latino wave is not so “black and white.” There is a strong anti-immigrant component to what’s happening in Suffolk County. And when Jose Sucuzhanay and his brother Romel were attacked in Brooklyn, it was because the brothers were walking so close to each other, the attackers went after them because they were gay. It’s something Marcus Morales knows a bit about as a 53-year-old gay Puerto Rican.

“I’m still here. There’s a reason why: ’cause I knew how to walk, and there were just certain areas that you couldn’t be in,” Morales said. “I’m sad to see that for some reason, we’re backtracking. We’re going back in time.”

via wcbstv.com