Bobby Chavez

Period 3

Dear future President of the United States of America,

I’d like to ask you to “take some extreme measures” to help with the current racial violence in the U.S. Many people think that things have gotten a lot better than in the past, and maybe they have, but racism still exists and things only seem to be getting worse.

According to the FBI National Crime Figures of 2015 “with interracial homicides, or black people who killed whites and whites who killed blacks – climbed to their highest levels in 2015.The number of black people who killed whites and the number of whites who killed blacks climbed to levels not seen since 2008” Killings of blacks by whites and whites by blacks accounted for about 12 percent of the roughly 6,000 homicides last year in which police had information about the race of both victim and killer,” according to a U.S. News and World Report article.

“The police killings of 37-year-old Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the next day shooting of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor with no criminal record, caused a retaliation by a 25-five year old who confessed to wanting to kill white officers because he was angry for what they had done.” At a rally for Sterling and Castile, the 25 year old opened fire on officer, killing five and leaving 8 wounded”. From the Guardian.

The Charleston church shooting, a mass shooting that took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina on the evening of June 17, 2015 ended with 9 people killed. Dylann Roof, 21-year-old confessed that he committed the shooting in hopes of igniting a race war. It is evident that there are racist people out there. People who hate and want to kill people who aren’t their same race.

In the current presidential race, Mr. Trump has called Latinos drug dealers, killers, and rapists. Some argue that his remarks do not make him racist. Maybe not, but the news, the media, and life will show you how people are taking all that in. People are becoming more racially vocal. Whether through media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and even out on the street.

Over the summer, my Latino friend got into a fight with a white boy who was calling him and his other Latino friends border hoppers and spics. When my friend told him to stop, the guy told him that it was his freedom of speech and that he could say whatever he wanted. My friend then told him that freedom of speech does not give someone the right to be racist. The guy laughed in his face and said, “Why not?.That’s what you all are anyway.” That is when the fight got started and how that boy ended up with a broken leg.

You see, Mr. or Ms. Future President, racism exists. It exists not only in the news but here in our town, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, with people we know. These are only a few examples I’ve shared with you, but as you know there have been many more very tragic occurrences this year and in years past. Something needs to be done before it ends up getting worse then before with our society.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully, Bobby Chavez-Palomo