Por / By Robert Fuchs, Esq.
It is hard to believe that as an ethnic group that represents nearly 20% of the U.S., we have so little power over our rights, our education, our workplaces, and many other everyday aspects of life in this country that we call home. If a police officer detains a Latina who does not speak English, there is no attempt to contact an interpreter in order to make sure she understands her rights and the officer understands what she is saying. I often see this in DWI cases. Being bilingual students often causes kids to be placed in inferior classes because school districts in the U.S. see bilingual children as inferior. My wife and I noticed this when we registered our daughter in kindergarten many years ago. We must stop others from disempowering Latinos in our country.
There is hope however, but we must inform other Latinos how they can gather and protect their power here in the United States. We must break the barriers in movies and television by creating movies like Encanto, and by growing beyond television stations that only cater to English or Spanish but not both. We must demand the equality that is guaranteed us in the Constitution, so that our rights are not trampled upon by the police, USICE officers, or the criminal or immigration courts. Latinos are a powerful consumer group, and we must hold racist company leaders accountable, such as Goya CEO, Robert Unanue. Media outlets must provide the necessary information so that Latinos in the U.S. can be empowered and help shape our future.
How do Latinos
empower other Latinos
in the United States?