Ethnic Conflict in L.A.: Latinos and African Americans

Encanto

This might not be hitting hard in Calecia where the majority of the population is Mexican/Mex-Amer, but its an on-going conflict here in L.A. I live in West Covina and lately this problem has escalated.

Just last night my 19 yr. old neighbor Richard was going crazy hitting his face, hands, legs, against a wall after getting word that his brother was shot dead in the back of the head while riding in his car in San Bernardino. I tried to calm him down some from his shaking body and out of anger he said "why does there have to be black people in this world, why cant there be just us and white people." And i stood there and couldnt answer him.

Two weeks ago while watching the pats-jags game and making carne asada outside my patio on a sat afternoon, shit went down by the apts. parking lot and two black kids and two hispanic kids went at it turned out to be a fatal stabbing. 17 yr old black kid dead. The crime scene lasted until the early morning the next day.

Having come from and grown up in a small town like Calecia down in the desert, i hadnt been exposed to this type of ethnic conflict because we dont have black population living in the I.V. We see it on the news, black vs. brown crime everyday all over L.A.

Check this story: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_8114679

Why is there so much tension between raza and blacks? Que desmadre.

elchrist · Posted: 30 Jan 2008 04:40 PM Post subject:

Sounds like you live in a pretty rough neighborhood. Hopefully you (and your family) keep safe.

I've only experienced a little bit of this black/brown tension in real life. Back in high school I remember a black student who was chased out of school by a gang of cholos just for the color of his skin. They almost caught him too.

I think the only black student who was ever safe was Armstrong's kid. Unless he was the same kid who was chased out of CHS.

The majority of the black/brown crimes I've experienced have only been on TV thanks to the show The Shield. Some scenes might be a little exaggerated, but I'm sure there's a lot of truth to The Shield.

IMO, black/brown crime will always exist due to the nature of our cultures. Have you ever met a Mexican who didn't talk smack about an African-American? "Ese pinchi neg..."

RandR · Posted: 30 Jan 2008 10:36 PM Post subject:

This is a good question. You really don't see that much here in Calecia. I played football in high school with Armstrong's kid (Nathan), and everyone treated him like part of the team and just another one of the guys. It helped that Nathan made the effort to fit in by speaking some spanish and starting the "Culero" chants whenever the refs blew a call during a game.

I've heard reports on this in the past, and supposedly the problem starts with money. Latino immigrants come to a city and start taking jobs (since a latino immigrant will usually take more than one job in order to send money home -- lots of jobs) from black people, which naturally isn't very well recieved. Whatever the root of the tension, it's a little scary to think the problem looks like it can only get worse.

Please take care of yourself and your family.

carnicerodegiles · Posted: 30 Jan 2008 11:47 PM Post subject:

I didn't see much of this black/brown hate growing up in El Centro. As a matter of fact, it seemed to me there was a time (mostly in the mid 90's) that a lot of hardcore cholos somewhat embraced the whole black culture. Most of the hardcore cholos also lived in the east side, which is still the de facto black neighborhood of El Centro.

The little bit of hate that I did see mostly came from the Mexican kids who spoke little to no English. In their defense, I did witness a lot of bullying to them from pretty much all other kids, including blacks. After my PE class, I actually witnessed the following exchange (believe it or not, it was even in a somewhat friendly and humorous manner from both parties involved):

Black Kid: (to a Mexican kid,in broken Spanish) La Migra! Ha ha!

Mexican Kid: Si wey, ahi vienen por ti pa' regresarte a Africa...pinche neg....

verbal · Posted: 31 Jan 2008 11:03 AM Post subject:

The answer is complex, but there is a simple answer…

Mexicans are racist. Blacks are racist.

No one wants to say it or admit, but that is the truth. I am not generalizing that all Mexican and Black communities are racist, but only the one’s prone to violence. I have known great people and forward thinking people, but somehow it will always come back to that uncle that thought us the word ‘mayate’. The Mexican culture will always be “echo in Mexico’ first, and then maybe think progressively. For example, what is the reaction of a young Mexican girl who brings his black boyfriend to her grandma’s house in Mex or TJ?

When one goes down then others feel/have to defend their boy. In baseball, when the other pitcher hits your teammate there is a code that your pitcher better hit the very next player he faces. Same thing, only that race substitutes the team’s colors. I have seen this countless times.

If you’re Mexican with black friends, and say a Mexican gets his ass kicked, ultimately who will you back-up? Are you really going to sit on both sides? What if another Mexican calls you out and tells you “are you in?” If you say no, then you will always be a bitch to them.

I’m not calling pato a racist, but only highlighting what he posted back in 2007: “Of coarse I'll be cheering after every Castillo and Dos Santos goal, and I'll be hoping they have a lot of kids with Mexican women. It's just sad to see how they do incredible moves and goals and to know no Mexican player can do that himself.”

That sums up what many people feel/think about Giovanni. Is it sad? What matters is that is the truth. If you don’t subscribe to such school of thought, at least accept that people out there will continue to foster such thoughts.

Encanto · Posted: 31 Jan 2008 12:19 PM Post subject:

well im just glad to know Calecia don't have to deal with this shit down there but i know there is conflict between mexicans coming in and mexicans already living in the valley sometimes. i feel it sometimes when im down there in the valley. for example, los chicalones vs. pochos (mex-amer's). some dont want them coming in anymore others are ok with it. The border is what divides us. In L.A., the border comes along through racial lines and barrios and ghettos.

randr you got a good point there about Latinos coming in to take jobs and threatening blacks. At the same time Latinos are transforming communities that used to be predominantly black and turning them into Latino barrios now and that might be one reason why we see this tension.

verbal, we know a young girl who brings a black boyfriend will be seen as a "mayatera", and raza can't use that 'n' word anytime, its only blacks that can use that word with each other. why? dont know, maybe its kind of the same as calling someone from Chicali a Wetback in front of him/her.

It seems that ethnic Mexicans and Blacks cannot live in harmony here in Los Scandalous. It can be attributed and tied to establishing territory, prison gangs, straight up hate looking down at each other, poverty, uneducated masses, single parent homes, drugs, etc. the list can go on and on and no one has been able to solve this shit.

Right now that area around Duarte and Monrovia is hot having seen daily homicides of this kind going back and forth between blacks and browns for the past month. This weekend two 16 yr. old Latina girls fell victims and the next day a 16 yr old black kid got shot in retaliation couple of blocks away. It's like a game of soldiers going back and forth killing each other.

It is sad to see this f*^@ed shit going on, and we wonder if someone will ever put an end to it, more than likely the saga will continue.

Encanto · Posted: 31 Jan 2008 04:47 PM Post subject:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-monrovia31jan31,1,2788249.story?ctrack=8&cset=true

elchrist · Posted: 01 Feb 2008 11:01 AM Post subject:

This is a bit off-topic, but related to hate crimes in San Diego:

Poway Holds Hate Crime Forum
http://www.kpbs.org/news/local;id=10793

I like this quote: "...there is a right way a wrong way and a Poway."