Posts Tagged ‘racial profiling’
Arizona not part of the Land of the Free This 4th of July Weekend
8:43 am By Maegan La Mala · arizona|Immigration · 1 Comment
3 Jul 2010Travel warnings are thought of as reserved for tourists and “American” diplomats traveling through “third world” countries dealing with coups and other political unrest. Certainly they are not thought of for states within the United States, and certainly not on the Fourth of July weekend, this is the land of the free after all. Unless of course we are talking about Arizona.
Some affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union have issued travel alert of sorts, aimed at warning Latinos and other people of color communities as to their rights when stopped by law enforcement.
“ACLU affiliates across the country are issuing these alerts because it is imperative that individuals understand their rights before traveling in Arizona,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “Under Arizona’s racial profiling law, people who look ‘foreign’ are more likely to be stopped for minor infractions and then asked for their ‘papers’ if police believe, based on their appearance or accent, that they could be in the country unlawfully. We hope the alerts provide people with some measure of protection from illegal harassment from law enforcement and inform them of their rights should they encounter it.”
Does This Dress Make Me Look Illegal?
8:57 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration|Justice · 4 Comments
16 Jun 2010If there was any more proof needed at the ridiculous and disgusting racist, stereotypical premise behind laws like SB1070 in Arizona and how they encourage racial and ethnic profiling against ALL Latinos, enter stage right Republican Congressman Steve King. He revives the idea that the undocumented can be identified by their shoes, grooming habits and an innate “sixth sense”.
Mala sees racist people.
Racial Profiling is Not a Reality Show or a Game Show
7:56 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · arizona|Immigration|Ohio|radio · 1 Comment
3 Jun 2010When the perception is that a law will only impact the lives of “others” whom you have already dehumanized it’s easy to make fun, make light, and make a game. For many Latinos in Arizona, SB1070 is not a game. Living in Maricopa County under Sheriff Joe has never been fun.
Columbus, Ohio, radio station WTVN-AM thinks that racial profiling is fun!
Click on the picture to enlarge it.
The contest allegedly was a reaction to Columbus Mayor, Michael Coleman’s decision to ban city employees from visiting Arizona on official business in protest of the new law.
Read more…
But Puerto Ricans Aren’t Immigrants Right? Rican in Chicago Almost Deported
12:03 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · chicago|Immigration|Puerto Rico · 8 Comments
28 May 2010This goes out to all of those Latinos comfortable in their privilege, all of those who say that the “legal” Latinos have nothing to worry about, all of those who are offended when they are called Mexican.
In NYC Blacks and Latinos Are All Criminal Suspects Until Further Notice
11:41 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · arizona|Immigration|New York City|race · Comments Off
20 May 2010The unlawful stopping and and frisking of people of color in NYC has been a problem for over a decade now, but technology and the current anti-Latino and anti-immigrant climate raise the stakes for these communities, our communities.
The NY Civil Liberties Union filed a class action lawsuit against the New York City Police Department over the racial profiling during increased stop and frisk operations in NYC (over 80% of those stopped are Black or Latino) and over the fact that regardless if those stopped are found doing something “criminal” or not, their names are entered in an NYPD database to be kept indefinitely creating a class of permanently criminal residents.
ACLU and Others File Lawsuits against SB1070 and for Day Laborers
9:31 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · arizona|Immigration|Justice|New York · 4 Comments
19 May 2010The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) certainly has been busy filing two separate lawsuits that seek to end discrimination and racial profiling of immigrants and Latinos.
First in Arizona: On Monday the ACLU, Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the National Immigration Law Center, National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center filed a lawsuit to stop SB1070 on the grounds that it violates the Constitution’s 1st and 4th amendments, among other reasons.
From the L.A. Times:
The individual plaintiffs include a 70-year-old U.S. citizen of Spanish and Chinese descent who says he’s been stopped twice by Arizona police asking for “papers”; a Latino citizen studying at Arizona State University whose New Mexico driver’s license would not be accepted as proof of citizenship under the law; and a Jamaican immigrant who fears police will not believe the photocopy of a judge’s order that he be allowed to stay in the country, the only paperwork he has that gives him legal status here.
The Dangerous Game of Profiling
8:28 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · arizona|Immigration|New York City|race|Seattle · 3 Comments
14 May 2010Racial and ethnic profiling is all over the media. Last night, with a knot in my stomach, I watched the local news talk about the raids that happened all along the U.S. Northeast in search of those involved with the failed Times Square bombing fireworks show. I do not feel any safer.
As a survivor of 9-11-01, I feel less safe when I hear pundits on television saying this is the way to do ethnic profiling. Already one of the Muslim Junior High School students I work with is being bullied again. I don’t think she feels any safer either. I especially feel less safe for her and so many others when it is being argued that it is ok to suspend Constitutional Rights in the name of the “war on terror”.
And before anyone jumps on me in the comments section, pointing out to me that this site is called VivirLatino, here is the connection.
Recently another report came out of my city, New York City, saying that people of color, specifically Blacks and Latinos were more likely to be stopped and frisked BUT that they were not more likely to get arrested. Meaning that ::gasp:: Blacks and Latinos are not more predisposed to criminality. We just always seem to fit the description or look “suspicious”. Don’t tell that to a “cop in the hood” though. It just makes sense that more of “us” are stopped in “our” neighborhoods.
I though I was a goner!
2:47 pm By la Macha · arizona|Immigration|Media · 8 Comments
12 May 2010
Guess Who Gets Stopped and Frisked the Most in NYC?
7:39 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · crime|New York City|race|Violence · 2 Comments
18 Feb 2010Despite crime being at an all-time low in the Big Apple, stop and frisks are at an all time high & guess who gets stopped and frisked the most?
A total of 575,304 people were stopped and questioned in 2009 – an 8% increase over the previous high of 531,159 in 2008, the NYPD said Tuesday…
The NYPD was required under a 2001 law to report data on those stopped, questioned and frisked.Of those stopped in 2009, roughly 57% were frisked, 6% were arrested, and another 6.2% received summonses. Blacks and Latinos were the subject of roughly 87% of the stops in 2009.
Why Does Latino in America Equal Spanish Being Criminalized and Pushed Aside
6:13 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Bilingualism|Immigration|language|Media|media justice|Politics · Comments Off
28 Oct 2009It’s not just immigration that is being criminalized as some people have commented. Any trace of Latinidad deems people as targets for varying forms of harassment ranging from traffic stops, to tickets, to jails, to beat downs, to deaths. While some think that skin color alone can “mark” someone as other, and in this case Latino, language and varying levels of accents also brand. Just look at how much time is spent in this discussion on Latino in America on the issue of assimilation, acculturation and the role of language.
The issue always is how can you speak Spanish and still assimilate/aculturate with the ultimate goal seemingly being not being labeled/identified/called out as “other”. If you are going to insist on speaking Spanish then for everyone’s sake do it at home, where no one else can see or hear you or else face the consequences:
Let us not forget that we started 2009 with someone getting physically attacked while having a cell phone conversation in Spanish.
Sometimes we don’t even need language. Just having a name that could remind someone that you are Latino is enough to get you fired.
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
blog advertising is good for you
blog advertising is good for you
- Karen: Have you see the census figures for 2010? Latinos are not all that diverse. Most" Latinos" are Mexic [...]
- Maegan La Mala: Hi Karen, I agree but only in part. I think that people do get up in cults of personality but th [...]
- Maegan La Mala: I haven't heard anything about a rally being held Jose Luis. i know Presente.org is organizing a pet [...]
- Karen: Also, Al Sharpton, now a host on MSNBC, brought attention to the Trayvon Martin case because he knew [...]
- jose luis: when the rally is going to be held in SAn Diego..if there is on??? [...]
- Washington DC Bound
- By Land & By Sea Drawing Attention to Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera
- Welcome to NY Secure Communities
- DOJ Puts Sheriff Arpaio on Notice. Who Will Put the DOJ on Notice?
- VL at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival: Babygirl
- 45th Precinct Residents to File Complaint Against Abusive NYPD Officers
- Monday Musica : Maga Bo – Quilombo do Futuro
- NYC : Confronting Police Violence in the Courts – May 19, 1-3pm – Justice Committee Workshop
- Passage of NYS DREAM Fund No Dream Come True
- No Surprise in the S-Comm Task Force Sham
