Adriana Maestas
+ FollowLatino .orgs Were Oddly Mum on Troy Davis
When Troy Davis was executed over two weeks ago, some Latino activists and political observers noticed a deafening silence from the traditional Latino civil rights and legal advocacy organizations. Often, issues that impact the African American community have a similar ring in the Latino community, especially with respect to the criminal justice system.
Given recent surveys suggesting Latinos have low levels of confidence in the criminal justice system, a death row case riddled with doubts seemed like something that Latino civil rights organizations would jump on, right?
Perhaps the issue doesn’t register as prominently with Latino civil rights organizations because they are so focused on jobs and the economy, immigration, education, voting rights, and other immediate issues. But devoting some resources to death penalty advocacy might be worth the effort considering the percentage of Latinos sentenced to death and incarcerated on death row is increasing.
While Latinos comprise a little over 16% of the U.S. population, they comprise about 13.5% of death row prisoners nationally. However, when you dive into state level statistics, things begin to look worse. A recent report by the ACLU of Northern California stated that in 2007, Latinos comprised 50% of new death sentences. The ACLU report finds that in the Golden State for 2008, Latinos made up 38% of death sentences. And in 2009, Latinos comprised 31% of death sentences. Back in 2000, when Latinos were 33% of California’s population, they were 19% of the death row population. The same report says that what is driving the increase of Latinos on California’s death row cannot yet be determined.
But overall, our death row population is growing nationally.
Reaching out to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF/Latino Justice), and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), I asked if the organizations issued any statements on the Troy Davis case, issued joint actions with the NAACP and/or comments on death penalty cases.
Repeatedly, I was told that they don’t take positions on death penalty cases. NCLR further explained that while the organization does sometimes work with the NAACP, it has never worked on the death penalty.
The silence of the larger establishment Latino civil rights organizations should not be interpreted as lack of Latino care for death penalty and criminal justice issues. Presente.org, dedicated to amplifying the Latino political voice, shared updates on the Troy Davis case through social media spaces.
And a Pew Hispanic Center report from 2006 shows that in the Latino community, 42% of Latinos oppose the death penalty, while 47% favor it, indicating the community’s split on the issue.
Despite the silent treatment from major organizations, some of the community’s most prominent leaders have come out against the death penalty. In 2009, then Governor Richardson signed a bill repealing the death penalty in New Mexico. Famed labor leader Cesar Chavez was reportedly a death penalty abolitionist. And as a state legislator, Antonio Villaraigosa, who is currently serving out his second term as the mayor of Los Angeles, proclaimed his opposition to capital punishment.
As the Latino population continues to grow, along with its presence in jails and on death row, Latino organizations should consider officially entering the death penalty debate. In doing so, they will send a message that they care about Latinos facing injustice in the criminal justice system.
The Troy Davis case was a prime opportunity to build better relations between the Latino and African American communities. Why wait to discover a Latino death row case where international law might be violated?
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13 Responses to Latino .orgs Were Oddly Mum on Troy Davis
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texanmary says:
If they've never commented, what exactly is odd about it? And did the NAACP try to engage them?
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- To me it's odd because advocacy orgs tend to jump on national bandwagons like this, especially those rooted in civil & human rights debates.
- That's a very good question.
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mgpthoc says:
Why don't you comment how Davis himself did not testify in his own behalf?
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mgpthoc says:
How is complaining in this article that "Latinos" didn't speak up YET Davis, himself, didn't speak out? It is very relevant. Why should others speak in support when the criminal would not even defend himself?
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The death penalty is tricky when donors fund your operations, as is the case with most Latino advocacy orgs. If you oppose it, you advocate for the lives of people guilty of some seriously disgusting crimes. If you support it, progressives don't believe in you. However articulating a position on the death penalty is different from supporting Troy Davis. It seems to me that the 'not taking a position on the death penalty' line is rubbish. The silence of Latino advocacy orgs on this is indeed puzzling…
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This incident just conveys more proof that the Latino Civil Rights and legal advocacy organizations are only interested in self-service, and utilizing their corporate donor’s funding for high salaries and image award ceremonies and parties. They only reflect the values that make Third World countries “Third World” countries.
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I think that's a bit of a stretch, Michael. Latino civil rights and other legal advocacy organizations do a lot of great work and you would notice them if they were not around. Of course, you never hear about this work, because folks are only interested in pointing out what they're not doing. They can never do enough, it seems.
And, if you had any idea of what these groups do with all their corporate and philanthropic donations, then you might not be so quick to contend that they are putting it all toward high salaries. That's just not accurate. The reality is that these groups do accept corporate donations, ALL NON-PROFITS DO, but the best ones do everything in their power to keep corporate influence out of their policy and program work. Accepting corporate donations is just a reality of the non-profit world.
Now, re: the Troy Davis case. Was it a missed opportunity? I'm not so sure I'd characterize it that way. For one, it does little to honor the life of a now dead man. I should hope that no group saw this as an "opportunity" to advance their work and get their name out. That's just a disgusting idea. Hopefully going forward, however, groups like NCLR might reconsider their position on the death penalty, or at least take a position on how to reform it. It's hard to ignore that the majority of those on death row are people of color. Still, in the case of NCLR, they don't take positions on issues where there is not a majority of the community on one side of the issue. The reality is that the Latino community is split on how it feels about the death penalty. NCLR would be going against its mission to support causes and issues that are clearly important to the whole Latino community. Like it or not, Latinos cannot come to a consensus on this complex issue and it would be wholly arrogant for NCLR to insert itself and tell the rest of the civil rights community that this is how Latinos feel, when its clearly not the case.
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Monica says:
DC2TX,
Why would some of these orgs not even want to take a stand in a case that has so plagued with problems and conflicting evidence? Troy Davis could have had lighter skin and a Spanish name, like Tomas Davila or something and had experienced similar treatment. You simply gloss over the humane concerns simply because there is not a majority in the community. The evidence in this article indicates split within the community on the issue. Are you implying that these organizations only respond to polling? Sometimes leadership means taking a stand that is not popular… if most organizations are looking for polling to support a position, then we really are doomed.
And nice try on apologizing for your corporate sponsors… Go figure, corporations have a heavy hand in the incarceration game.
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Pingback: Latinos and the Death Penalty Debate
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Well DC2TX…of course you’re paid by NCLR to write these comments rationalizing the status quo. I’m sure you’ve been at the receiving end of one of those Image Awards Janet Murguia places so much emphasis on. Perception versus reality, something Dick Cheney and the military industrial complex are so refined at doing. It’s a shame that the NAACP, the Urban League, and other Black organizations have recently spoken out and taken a stand against the anti-immigration legislation in Georgia and Alabama. But when the Black community needs Latino support, the staff at NCLR is still recuperating from last week’s Image Award party, sponsored by all those alcoholic beverage and fast food companies? That’s real political behavior Cesar Chavez would be proud of.
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Thanks for raising this important issue. We must build multi-racial and multi-ethnic coalitions to combat the systematic and institutionalized racism that puts people of color at significantly higher risk of detention, imprisonment, and subject to the death penalty.