SALINAS & FERGUSON: A Media Difference In Being Brown vs Black In U.S. Society
There are many things in common between African Americans and the U.S. Latino community. Unfortunately, one of the biggest similarites is a reality of living with unjustified police brutality and murder from various law enforcement depts.
However, despite this horrendous fact of our U.S. society (a true embarrasment to our country everywhere in the world), the levels of attention that mainstream American news media gives toward our two respective communities and our shared experience of police abuse and murder are dramatically different. Take for example the situation this year between the police shooting of Michael Brown (Aug. 9) in Ferguson, MO, and the four Latinos (emphasis "4" people) wrongfully killed by police in Salinas, CA, this year: Angel Ruiz (March 20); Osman Hernandez (May 9); Carlos Mejia (May 20); and Frank Alvarado, Jr. (July 10).
Whereas the nation and world are both currently a buzz regarding the situation of one African American male in Ferguson, the similar deaths of four Latinos in Salinas are little talked about by mainstream media and thus relatively unknown.
In discussing this lack of national news coverage being given to the deaths in Salinas, a number of local residents have repeatedly questioned our news team, "Does America really want us to start acting like Ferguson to be heard?" Truly, this is a very valid question for others in the national news.
Cell Phone Captures a Latino Walking Home, Not Fighting, Then Being Shot From Behind & Killed By Salinas Police
Whereas the Salinas Police Dept. has repeated stated they shot and killed Carlos Mejia on May 20 because he was swinging a pair of garden shears toward officers. The video footage shown below clearly shows a different story. Rather, what's seen is a man silently walking home when he is then shot in the back from behind leading to his death. Police also said the officers tried to use a taser on him. Whereas, the video clearly shows differently with one witnesses heard yelling, “Why the fu** didn’t you guys just taser him? You guys didn’t even try.”
ADDITIONAL FEATURED NEWS REPORTS RELATED TO THE TOPIC OF THIS ARTICLE FROM AROUND THE WEB:
The Salinas Californian, October 24, 2014
SALINAS, CA - Earlier this month, Angelica Garza (sister of police shooting victim Frank Alvarado Jr.) said she didn't believe Salinas police engaged in discriminatory suppression.
Wednesday night, she changed that view.
"I had given them the benefit of the doubt," she said. "I didn't believe it was a race thing until these nine names came out. But four Latino men, including my beautiful brother, and it was nine cops, not one Latino." Garza was among about 50 gathered Wed. outside the Salinas Police Dept. to protest police violence as part of nationwide. -- Read full article: (click here)
FERGUSON, MO - This past weekend, in a tense press conference, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and called for a curfew in Ferguson, the St. Louis suburb where protesters have been clashing violently with law-enforcement officials following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. “This is a test,” Nixon said. “The eyes of the world are watching.”.. Knowingly or not, Nixon was echoing words ... -- Read full article: (click here)