Protester
(Photo : Reuters Connect)

Amid the nationwide protests across the country following the death of George Floyd, some Hispanic leaders are calling attention to the fact that racism in the Latino community should be acknowledged as well.

Racism in the United States

The issue of racism across the United States has long been a major concern in the country. It has existed in the colonial era and began when White Americans were given legal and social rights denied to other races and minorities. 

The two biggest ethnic minorities in the country, Latinos and Blacks, are most of the time the target of racial discrimination. In New York City alone in 2018, police authorities have made 88 percent "stop-and-frisk" towards Blacks and Latinos and it was found out that 70 percent of them were innocent according to Pew Research Center.

According to a published article by The New York Times, it says that race has contaminated American solidarity and it also emphasized a famous line from Edgar Porter's "American Poison" that says, "Unwilling to share the bounty of state with people of other races and creeds, heritages and colors, real Americans - the white ones - have prevented the erection of a welfare state at all." 

Top Hispanic Leaders Acknowledge Racism Exists Within Their Own Community

Amid the nationwide protests that are held across the country following the death of George Floyd, the Latino community could no longer take their silence anymore. Some of the nation's top Hispanic leaders are now calling that racism in the Latino community should also be acknowledged.

In a published article from the Miami Herald, dozens of prominent leaders from the different Hispanic and Latino organizations wrote that "We have failed to grapple with anti-blackness that exists in our own community," and it was later on published on their website, somosforblacklives.com, on Tuesday.

They also wrote in the letter, "We have remained silent when our tias have encouraged us to partner with people who have lighter skin than we do so we can mejorar la raza (improve the race). We have hated ourselves for our skin color, hair texture, our curves and our accents."

It was also stated in the letter that, "Latinos must acknowledge our own racism, then we must pledge to fight it," The letter from the Hispanic and Latino leaders came in as a sign of protest following the death of George Floyd.

There were more than 40 leaders from civic and human rights advocate organizations who signed the letter. That includes leaders from American Civil Liberties Union Executive, United We Dream, Hispanic Federation, and League of United Latin American Citizens.

Hispanic and Latino Leaders Signed the Letter?

According to Dr. Denise Collazo, a co-author of the letter, leaders signed the letter because there are more things that need to be done. She said: "We felt like at this moment there's an important need to call out some of what does exist in our own families. ... It needs to be called out and it needs to stop."

Racism in the Latino community has long been there but today they are taking steps to build a real, multiracial partnership. 

Meanwhile, the Pew Research Centre found out that some Latinos are Whites while a quarter of Latinos living in the United States are identified as Afro-Latino, Afro-Caribbean, or of African descent with roots from Latin America. 

This just simply means that Latinos and the Black community, the two biggest minorities in the country who have long been suffering discrimination across the country, are closely related to each other.  

Check these out!