Sarah+R’s+2017+OpEd+Article

We do not have options



LLLL The American system does not serve to protect minorities in torn down places. So why do they get mad when we don’t oblige by their laws? Their laws are only our laws when punishment follows, their laws are meant to keep us chained at the bottom. When you are born into this ever-so-present system meant to keep you and your people down, the odds are more than against you. The odds are pushing you towards the waves of self-destruction. Sometimes people fight against these waves and prove this crooked system wrong with a smile full of triumph, but most of the time this is not the case nor will it never be the case. Whether it was from my grandma’s hard hand or our perseverance, my siblings and I were able escape that world although we all had our moments of being hardened statistics. My brother was proud and fascinated by the fast money he could roll in while my dad and grandpa were also proud of making what one could get from working part-time in two hours. Call it the hustle or the disgusting thing that keeps America down, but this is the only option we have.

LLLL My brother spent all his time loving streets that did not love him, but he did it for us. With missing parents and a single grandma working three jobs to feed seven mouths while her husband was deported for keeping his family alive. There is this systematic presumption that we are dirty people who are lazy and need to get off of our asses. These are the people who do not understand the systematic oppression that drives us to live this “dirty lifestyle”. While I do not understand the people who join gangs to protect their turf I do understand the ones who join for protection and opportunity. LLLL What are you to do when the handcuffs keep hugging you before you even make a move? The system expects you to escape this poverty that has b een passed down to you for generations although they know there is not a lot for a kid with high hopes and few opportunities. It is this that we should denounce and not the individuals who take this path to escape this poverty. The minute you serve your first gram is the minute you partake in the American Dream. You then go from serving grams to serving rocks until the law decides that it belongs to you. The virtual handcuffs are now physical and you are now presented with a handful of years due to the inequity of our criminal-justice system. According to the National Gang Center, 40% of gang members are under the age of 18 while the race breakdown of gangs is nothing new. In another recent research, 47% of gang members are Hispanic, 31% black, while 22% is considered other. These numbers show that the institutional oppression of our people more than serve us, they praise us. These kids who spend 3-5 years in a juvenile hall have already been given up on and the circle is now 180 until they catch their first felony where their visions are skewed. The system would rather continue this mass incarceration instead of providing education for the souls intertwined in this system. With a felony weighing heavy on their backs, employment opportunities are little to none while the streets provide the same temptations and opportunities. LLLL This is not even the worst part; the worst part is that this person was once a young kid who witnessed this vicious cycle and is now a part of it. This lifestyle was in their blood. They will have kids too and the waves will push them to live lawless lives despite both of their hands resisting the waves as they drown under. The circle then goes 360, a complete circle, and will continue to feast on the oppressed. If the lost lives of my primos taught me anything, it's that we must congregate; Sureños, Barrio 18, Latin Kings, and anyone else who is looking to escape the handcuffs of this nation. We will not come to bring violence but to show the world that we are better than this, we will come together to show future generations that the ways of this crooked system will never change but it is possible to rise against the waves.