3 ms·
It's relevant, because border patrol on the Southern border is heavily staffed by Hispanic officers, in part because they need officers that are bilingual as mo
by tristor 9mo ago
It's relevant, because border patrol on the Southern border is heavily staffed by Hispanic officers, in part because they need officers that are bilingual as most immigration happening on the Southern border is from Spanish-speaking countries. But these same officers as a matter of policy are told to racially profile and target vehicles with Hispanic occupants. Power structures need the complicity of at least some defectors from the targeted group to be effective.
Further, within racial groups colorism is also a thing and can result in behaviors that seem incongruent. I've heard some of my in-laws say things like "I'm Mexican, but I'm not Mexican Mexican." It's not something people want to think about or admit, but racial identity is not a bloc, and these types of colorist attitudes can contribute to why folks may defect against their racial group to side with power structures.
Living in South Texas, I see a lot of shit, and what was said in the article neither surprised me nor seemed like a detail meant to evoke a race card. If anything it was pointing out that the officers pitted against the writer should theoretically had some empathy rather than acting out racial profiling. The truth is, that racial profiling happens a lot and sometimes the people doing it are of the same race as those being profiled.