Betrayal

How can I feel betrayed by someone I never knew?

For me, Cesar Chavez served as a beacon of hope. A symbol of Latino resilience, strength, and our ability to force our way through the ashes after a fire is thrust upon us by the dominant culture. He represented the strength that my grandparents had as they worked under the sweltering Central Valley sun, the strength my grandfather still has, the strength of my father, of my mother.

But now?

He’s another man who abused his power.

He viewed young girls, like the one who lives inside of me, as pieces of meat. Someone to be used, abused, and discarded. He is the “rapist from across the border” these Orange men are obsessed with. His name now becomes a log thrown onto yet another fire forced upon my people. Upon Latinos. Upon good, hardworking people.

With Sexual Assault Awareness Month coming up, I feel gutted. Not surprised, but reminded of a deeper truth: that our men have too often stayed silent.

As they hurt us.
As they watch us being hurt.
And after we tell them we’ve been hurt.

Latinos, why do we continue to silence our young girls?

I see it when a mother tells a child victim-survivor that she asked for it. I see it when a woman tells me her female family members protected her assailant when she disclosed her childhood abuse, simply because he was a man, therefore, he mattered more.

Men like Cesar get to become the face of movements, while women are shoved into their shadows-silently working, cooking, rearing children, and being violated.

Latinas- believe these women and the scared little girls who live inside them.
Latinos- be the change. Because it’s happened to you too. You’ve told me yourself. And so have your brothers. I see you.

He doesn’t represent the strength in my blood.
He isn’t the movement.

Latinas/os- all we know is resilience. They will find an excuse to hate us, to minimize us, to add fuel to the flames- but we persist.

Thank you, Dolores.

The views and opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of any current or former employer or affiliated organizations.