June 21, 2008

In L.A., race kills

Black-Latino tensions, not gangs, are at the heart of the county's violence, Sheriff Baca says.

By Lee Baca
June 12, 2008

Conversations about race are fraught with emotion, confusion and controversy. But that doesn't mean we should avoid or sidestep the issue.

As a Latino raised in East Los Angeles, and as the elected sheriff of Los Angeles County for the last decade, I have seen many sides of the race issue. I have lived it, in fact.

So let me be very clear about one thing: We have a serious interracial violence problem in this county involving blacks and Latinos.

Some people deny it. They say that race is not a factor in L.A.'s gang crisis; the problem, they say, is not one of blacks versus Latinos and Latinos versus blacks but merely one of gang members killing other gang members (and yes, they acknowledge, sometimes the gangs are race-based).

But they're wrong. The truth is that, in many cases, race is at the heart of the problem. Latino gang members shoot blacks not because they're members of a rival gang but because of their skin color. Likewise, black gang members shoot Latinos because they are brown.
continued...

No comments: