A GUEST POST BY AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR
RAUL RAMOS Y SANCHEZ
Raul Ramos y Sanchez
The Franky Benitez blog has been a lightning rod for Latinos in the social media sphere, myself included, to vent their indignation about the disparaging talk by the hosts of the BBC’s show Top Gear. At the same time, there is a LACK of talk I find equally troubling.
There is still very little talk in the national media about the trial in the shooting death of nine-year-old Brisenia Flores, killed in Arizona during a home invasion by three people with ties to border vigilante groups. Shawna Forde, a former member of the self-appointed border patrol calling themselves the Minutemen, is accused of leading two men into the home of Raul Flores in the early morning hours of May 30, 2009 and shooting Flores, his wife and daughter in a robbery attempt. Reports say Forde and the others believed Flores was a drug dealer whose money the killers would use to fund their border security operations.
CNN, NPR and the Washington Post have carried stories about the trial of Shawna Forde. But the trial — and Brisenia’s brutal murder — have failed to match the coverage in over 300 newspapers that followed the death of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, whose killer was believed to be an illegal border crosser – but never arrested. The media frenzy following Krentz’s death was used by Arizona legislators to justify the passage of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, SB 1070.
As a Latino, I cannot help but feel a sense of bias by this disparity of media attention. And perhaps that’s what makes me especially sensitive to the disparaging words by the three louts on Top Gear.
Cartoonish jokes about national character may seem like frothy fun to the BBC. But the consequences of such talk take on a wholly different tenor in the U.S. today.
In 2010 alone, Hispanics were killed in hate-motivated attacks in Arizona, Maryland, New York and Washington. Each time these stories were published online, ethnic slurs like those on Top Gear have appeared in the comments section by those who apparently feel the victims deserved their fate. Even online reports on the case of Brisenia Flores — a nine-year-old shot in the face in cold blood — have drawn similar talk from those whose hatred seems to trump the bounds of decency.
Meanwhile, Top Gear host Jerermy Clarkson states in a public explanation for his comments: “I’m sorry … that you have no sense of humour.” To Mr. Clarkson, I reply: It’s not that we don’t have a sense of humor, sir. It’s that you are a clueless, arrogant ass.
Raul Ramos y Sanchez is the award-winning author of the novels AMERICA LIBRE and HOUSE DIVIDED from Grand Central Publishing. For more information visit www.RaulRamos.com.
I live in California and family in Arizona and I admit that the first I heard about Brisenia’s death was on this blog. It’s tragic and deserves a hell of a lot more attention than it has received.
Because I am new to her story, I’m wondering, was there this same social media uprising by Latinos last May when she was killed?
You raise an excellent question, Danielle. Some of us were indeed talking about this heinous crime when Shawna Forde was arrested in July of 2010. You’ll see a post from my blog at the link below.
If there is any good news in this situation, it’s that the voice of Latino bloggers have grown even stronger since then. All the same, we have a long way to go.
http://raulramosysanchez.blogspot.com/2010_07_11_archive.html
Because a lit of Latino influentials on social media are still worried about themselves and not about others. But that is changing.
As for Mencia, he is next on our list.
Please, PLEASE pitch this to The Huffington Post. They have completely ignored the stories about Brisenia Flores and top Gear.
How do we even do this?
If we want change it is EVERYONE’s responsibility to participate in the conversation. More now than ever, it is important to speak up against things that are wrong.
Let’s keep the ball rolling.
As always I continue to enjoy and share your content.
Letty!!! Exactly, keep sharing and cross-linking. That is how we impact real change.
I honestly don’t believe the two are related. Top Gear and their hosts are shock-value comedians the same as people like Howard Stern and Carlos Mencia, and people understand that. I do not believe their opinions are not perpetuating hate crimes.
I wrote Julio recently about quotes I’ve read from Mencia such as:
“Why did the 14-year old Mexican girl end up pregnant? Because her teacher told her to go do an essay. (ése)”
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mind_of_Mencia
Mencia constantly uses the word “wetback” in his stand-up as well. But he also makes fun of whites, blacks, Asians, and the mentally handicapped to name a few. Why? Shock value.
While I understand the desire to call people like Mencia and Top Gear out, by doing so you are only feeding their desire for shock value based attention. I feel that everyone’s time and energy would be put to better use fighting to get stories like Brisenia’s more media attention.
Good point, but I argue this: Mencia and Top Gear get the attention pretty easily. We need to force ourselves to the table and this story is helping.
La Voz de Aztlan out of Los Angeles has been covering the story from day 1. They have included the voice recording of the chilling 911 call made by the mother Gina while the home invasion was occurring. It can be heard at
http://www.aztlan.net/minutemen_murders_911_call.htm
Thank you so much.
You cannot reason with these idiots. They are all the same and come from the same root. Disparinging remarks can be offensive and reasoning will not make them less so. If the asshats of Top Hats are saying things about mEXICANS WELL THERE ARE MANY THINGS TO SAY ABOUT SMELLY BRITONS WHOSE TEETH YOU CAN FIND ONLY WITH A FLASHLIGHT.
Ok, then. Thanks for commenting.
Raul and Julio,
Thank you so much for bringing up these very important – and tough topics. You are so right. We don’t complain. Why is that? I can understand that we don’t want to, as my mother used to call it, “delores” anything to death, but these are important topics that will not cease until we do speak up.
As an Arizonan, I have been watching the events happening with the tragic death of Brisenia Flores, and it sadly reminds me of what happens when gangs shoot each other, or Mafia lords “take care of business.” People look the other way – because they are fearful. We have been demonized so badly in this region (perhaps in our entire country), that people don’t want to speak up.
The truth is, the Minutemen are hunters. And what do they hunt? Human beings. My husband and I have witnessed the Minutemen lined up in their camo, quads and rifles when we go hiking in the mountains near the border. They are not hunting deer, they are hunting Mexicans – and with glee.
As far as they are concerned, one innocent child’s life is a small sacrifice to get to their ultimate goal. To keep the Mexicans out of Arizona. Sad, but true.
Some people may say, what does the ignorance of hosts of Top Gear have to with this? It’s more of the same – only they perpetuated the nastiness and racism with their words, not guns.
We MUST speak out for our people. For ourselves. Thank you Raul and Julio for your bravery, intelligence and voice. I am so proud to be a Latina and aligned with you.
Ana
We are honored to have you, Ana.
Thanks for adding your voice to this debate, Ana.
Some may say — including some Latinos — that we are being overly sensitive to these derogatory comments. I respect their opinions. All the same, I believe letting ourselves be the butt of jokes from people who do not understand the full implications of their “humor” is something I will not tolerate in silence.
This is especially galling to me when tragedies like the shooting death of Brisenia Flores pass virtually without notice by the BBC and the mainstream media. Seems they’re willing to mock Mexicans with outdated stereotypes but unwilling to report significant stories about real, present conditions.
Amen!