Opinion: Mayor's 'taco' comment the least of East Haven Latinos' troubles
Editor's note: Christopher Lapinig and Katie Chamblee are law students in the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School, which represents plaintiffs in the civil rights lawsuit against the East Heaven Police Department.
By Christopher Lapinig and Katie Chamblee, Special to CNN
(CNN) - On Tuesday, following the indictment of four East Haven police officers for violating the civil rights of Latinos, Mayor Joseph Maturo responded to a question about what he planned to do for the Latino community by saying he might have tacos for dinner. He deserved the vehement backlash that followed.
But the mayor’s insensitivity to the seriousness of the problem is only the tip of the iceberg. His comments epitomize a town leadership that has refused to recognize Latinos as full members of the community who are entitled to the full protection of the law.
Police Chief Leonard Gallo’s retirement announcement today is the first step toward dismantling the toxic culture that has sanctioned police misconduct for years. Town police have failed to fulfill their constitutional obligation to protect the rights of all members of the East Haven community. Indeed, they have relegated Latinos to the back of the bus.
East Haven’s history of racial strife is long and brutal. In 1997, East Haven police chased a 21-year-old, unarmed black man and fatally shot him at close range. Gallo promoted the shooting officer to sergeant. The NAACP launched a boycott. A subsequent lawsuit unearthed a history of police brutality and prejudice; police softball shirts, for example, that depicted officers handcuffing caricatured gang members on a cruiser with the caption, “Boyz On The Hood.”
But even this public scrutiny failed to generate change. In 2008, reports surfaced that East Haven police officers were harassing Latinos and targeting Latino drivers for traffic stops. Then, in February 2009, community leader Father James Manship was arrested while trying to document police harassment of Latino shopkeepers.
The Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division on behalf of Father Manship’s church. Last month, after a more than two-year long investigation, the Department of Justice issued a scathing report, finding that discriminatory policing practices were “longstanding” and “deeply-rooted” in the department’s culture.
This history of abuse and marginalization will not be remedied by after-the-fact apologies or a public relations campaign. It is actions - not words - that need to change in East Haven.
Gallo’s resignation was necessary, but it is not enough. The allegations documented in the criminal indictments, the civil rights lawsuit that Father Manship and Latino residents have filed, and the Department of Justice report make it abundantly clear: nothing short of a top-to-bottom overhaul can fix the East Haven Police Department.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of Christopher Lapinig and Katie Chamblee.
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Wait a minute? If tacos (YUM!) are offensive to the Latino community then Taco Bell, Taco Time, Taco Del Mar and others which have a latino theme must also be offensive. I guess, by that reasoning I'll order Pizza at a latino themed restaurant, go to a German restaurant to get spahgetti and an Italian restaurant to get my tacos.
Sure a lot to remember in the ever changing political correctness game.
It's 2012. We all know that skin color is not the issue. The issue isn't where you came from. Are you here legal or not. And are you a burden or an actual credit to your community.
As a 4th generation Latina, I can assure you that the overall lack of intelligence in many of the posts is rather amusing. The facts are simple. Many latinos in the community have been here for several generations and should not be judged by their skin color. Many of them do not even know how to speak Spanish and have assimilated to the culture, others have chosen to keep their culture and speak Spanish/ listen to Spanish music and to enjoy their heritage, as many Germans, Italians, Irish,and other immigrants who have been here for years have. Everyone except for Native americans are truly immigrants in this nation, and each have people who take the system for granted. Illegal immigrants are a problem but they are not all from Mexico, and they are not all a bunch of trouble makers. The simple facts off this story are that Hispanics because of the color of their skin are being targetted and harrassed by a group of people who should be upholding the law and protecting them from criminals and devients. The ignorance of many is just showing on all the candidates that are in the Republican primary and then the racist rednecks poke their heads out of the woodwork to share their uneducated responses and it just becomes a big ignorant argument.
I dont care about skin color....where you came from...what your nationality background is, I either like you or dont like you based upon what kind of person you are. If one is nice, then I like you. If one acts the fool, I just walk away and but a lot of distance between that person and myself.
Often when one reads the Reponses by various posters, one can walk away confused. Sometime people have a tendency to make things complex when they are really quite simple.
So in the interest of simplicity let me say this: If you think it is ok to discriminate against people and the police force acting as Nazi shock troops, then you will find no fault with their action or the comments of the Mayor.
If on the other hand you do not see the role of the police as racist bullies but more as the guardians of law and order , then you along with other people with healthy minds will be outraged by their alleged behavior. I say alleged as they too deserve their day in court. It’s not really that complex, is it really that hard for some people to “ Act like Americans instead of AmeriKKKans?
AmeriKKKans..........like that!
I saw tons of my friends lose their jobs, then their homes, then their families over the last 3 years. Maybe all you saw was your Facebook account, and everyone waving an unknown flag for people who have never earned their rights in this country! Keep to your side of the street, but not on my block. I earned my rights to be here....have you ?
The more I read of your posts, the more racist you sound. You sound like a white supremacist who thinks only you and people like you deserve jobs and to live in the US. There are hard working people of every race just as there are low lifes in every race. I get frustrated too with people who are lazy and use the system to get things for free but every race does it. As far as you being a Vet, it"s irrelevant. That does not make you any better than anyone else so telling people to be careful what they post next is BS. I respect Vets but you sir, don't deserve it if you are going to be a pompous ar$e!.
It's NOT "your" block. It's NOT "your" side of the street. And you haven't done a darned thing to "earn" ANY "right" to segregate people just because you want to stereotype them and pretend they aren't as good as you'd like to believe *you* are.
If you want to be treated like people than stop acting like animals. The majority of gangs in the U.S. are made up of latinos. They are responsible for 70% of violent crime in the entire country. I'm tired of everyone getting so offended about others personal opinions. People don't HAVE to like you, just simply tolerate you. No one owes you anything.
CNN: I don't know what possible good comes out posting articles like this. It just brings the normal bigots out of the woodwork who blame their miserable lives on immigrants or other minorities. 50 years ago, East Haven could have been any small town USA...just change the skin color from brown to black. We sure have come along way...huh?
It just shows how much you hide behind OLD cliches...heard them 20 years ago...hear them still today. Since when did people living in their own community in their own way, own right, own minds turn into a crime against humanity, or is it just certain minorities we worry about today ? I don't see you fighting for Thai rights, or Russian immigrant rights in America...you people pick the most trendy up and coming minority and run with it.
It turned that way when *some* of those people decided that they were "better" than others, so could treat those others like lesser beings. Could abuse them, misuse them, cheat them, own them, deny them basic human rights. But, guess what? Anyone who thinks like that actually proves that they most definitely are *not* better.
it would have been hilarious if it was black people and he said he was gonna have some fried chicken and watermelon right?
Why would it be?
READ THIS IN MY CITY ! (SEATTLE) READ THE LOWEST AN ILLEGAL CAN BE PAID (CASH)
http://www.casa-latina.org/get-involved/hire-worker#PAY
Hey, anybody think that OBAMA's FBI should look at any ILLEGAL ALIENS living there??? Nope, sorry, guess I lost my head there for a minute. Lets give them the city with no shots fired.....as we sink lower and lower :-((
I'm sick and tired of Latinos being offended by everything. Get over yourselves! A taco comment was, at best, humorous. Try living in California where EVERYTHING is in Spanish; we allhave to be so sensitive to others, but others show no sensitivity to us. Wonder why our country is now #36 in terms of education? Humm... How about if your state is out of money? Look, I dare you, at what my state (California, if you weren't paying attention) pays for schooling, welfare, and for the crimes these wonderful people commit.
I myself found the Taco comment funny however, it was not appropriate coming from a Governor. There is a place and time for comments like that. There are jokes about every race and most of them are funny. I think the taco comment is not what the issue is, it's the fact that the police are harassing them. That is an issue and everyone should be treated equally. It's not one race that makes a country.
It will make everything much easier if we all remember a very simple definition of what is "racist": Racist means anything that any minority person dislikes for any reason. Once we all accept that reality, we can get past it.
SashaG – your state?? You just happen to live there but have no more 'rights' to it than any other resident. Love the way folks get possessive about areas when their only claim is that they happen to be there
get used to us mija we came here to stay horaleeeeeee hahaha
LOL....thats right!!!!!!!
I have to say, looking at some of the postings from this and other opinions, some people should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe it is the fact that you can hide behind anonymity. It is not too much to ask that people be civil. Oh, and use spell check.
Try moving to Mexico and asking THEM to be civil. Why is America the only "dumping ground" for people that "choose" to move into a dominantly white neighborhood/state like Connecticut, and then scream about THEIR civil rights? i already had to move out of my own country because of the sheer ignorance of people that "label" themselves American. Oh yes, and I'm also a Veteran, so be careful about your next comment!
What's to be so careful about because you are a veteran? And a very sucky veteran at that.
So, you think being a veteran gives you the right to to be an ignorant pompous mule?
Why would the neighborhood you live in have anything to with your civil rights? If you live amongst people who look like you, you have rights, but otherwise you don't? Yes, they should talk about THEIR civil rights, because that's what they are. They are everyone's civil rights. Yikes!
Chris – what did the 'I'm a veteran so be careful what you post' comment mean? Your vet status means that instead of going to college, you did what most southern kids do – picked the only other option out there. I think the kids who got harmed and died in Irag and all the other wars deserve honor for giving their all but the rest of you uneducated egomaniacs who think you are special simply because you didn't make it to college and picked all that was left (services) need to move on. You served, you were paid, you came home and the cycle continues with the next batch
you are just sooo ignorant!!!
who gives a mierda
Well, as a mother of latino children, I would like to tell you how it can be from the other side. People can be and are horribly cruel. They dont care that you are an honor student to them you are how you look. Mexican, to them means lazy, drug dealing, illegal. Walk a mile in someone elses shoes.
Have you looked at the recent "younger" generation of Mexicans coming up illegally? They know they don't have to work hard for less money anymore. In Seattle alone, they cannot make under $12/ cash. They take that "cash" to Bank of America, where they do not have to show any identification, and open a bank account. With an open bank account, they are prime customers for Visa and MasterCard. Next opens up more doors for car loans and home loans....so hmmm...we all are hated because of the color of our skin....try being the most hated and then try and have an opinion!
So what are you doing to protest the bank's actions?
The key here is "..A SCATHING REPORT" rather than criminal charges!
@Latina & Señora Gringa,
You absolutely right! I happen to a white man of Germanic & Scandinavian descent.
The Native Americans were here first. From their point of, the palefaces are illegal alien.
The Mexicans, most of whom are part Spanish & part Indian, were here next.
Finally the Anglos came here next.
About breaking the law, I care much less about Hispanics bending the law & much more about the real criminals.
Bernie Madoff stole zillions of dollars, most of it from hard working people in the middle class.
Bernie Ebbers & the late Ken Lay stole millions.
Bernie Ebbers' creeps in MCI WorldCom started billing me directly at old addres, and sent me a nasty third notice past due which I did get. After I went balistic & canceled service, their telemarketers kept calling me wanting me to go back.
As a mid-western conservative Republican, I don't care about people coming here to work; I care about bigots & mega-supercrooks.
Police put their life on the line every day and having the Reverend Father James Manship monitoring (or watching and besetting and targeting) the Police is both helpful and antagonizing.
It looks very bad for the cop who comes around and arrests the priest ... but put yourself in the officers shoes. What if the police, or perhaps, went around videotaping eveything that Father Manship did and what is there was media attention on pedophile priest in New Haven – Father Manship would feel that such microscopic scrutiny of his actions was harassment and cruel and unusual punishment.
Much as I dislike some police and much as I respect priests, Father Manship's actions escalate tensions in the town, and hinder the police in doing a very difficult job. If the police have to go around second guessing each other and practising defensive policing, policing costs will escalte tremendously, or police protection will diminish significantly.
GIVE THE POLICE OFFICERS A BREAK! THEY HAVE A DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS JOB TO DO AND FATHER MANSHIP IS JUST MAKING IT MORE DIFFICULT AND COSTLY AND INEFFECTIVE! HE IS PROMOTING A CORROSIVE ATMOSPHERE IN THE TOWN, REGARDLESS OF HOW NOBLE HIS INTENTIONS APPEAR TO BE!
Recording one's actions on a data capturing device in public is not against the law. Pulling someone over because of their race is against the law. If the police are not mature enough in their thinking not to know these two facts, they have no business being a police officer.
What if you're pulling someone over based on the fact that a Hispanic male between the ages of 18 and 25 just robbed a liquor store.....that must be profiling right???? There's a huge crime problem in the area that keeps spreading farther and farther from New Haven. I don't always condone their actions, but the police know who are committing a lot of the crimes and if the way to get them off the streets is to profile certain races, then by all means let them do it.
@ Really...yes and they need to pull over every white male every time a child goes missing too! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
Taking over this country...and never firing a single shot! Love it
That Taco Bell joke made me laugh so hard! Thanks for the comedic relief.
Really, softball shirts are so controversial? I guess you didn't know that police arrest gang members and use their cruisers as a hard surface to lean the "criminals" against while searching them for weapons, drugs etc. I'm not saying the rest of the information is true/false, but putting pictures of gang members on tee-shirts... hardly prejudicial or racist. There are more slanderous comics in the paper on a daily basis.
I think I am going to join they politician's ranks now. All they have to do is use skin color, religion and culture to blind most people. Thats got to be the easiest and oldest trick in the book, because all through out history that is all has taken for them to rob their own people blind, and just about everyone still falls for it.
Latios use skin color all the time to play the race card ans muslims use religion to do the same. Growup.
You're so right! I hear a Hispanic play the race card every freaking Tuesday. "You can tell me what to do! You're just doing it because you're white and you think only the Latinos handle the garbage. Racism!" And I tell him, no, I'm telling you to take out the trash because I'm your wife and it's trash day.
Estimated 7 million non-agricultural jobs are held by illegal aliens .
Jobs that could and should go to Americans. Push your state rep to make a change .
Google this: NUMBERSUSA .Once you are registered, go to the "action board" to
send free faxes to you state representative .
They are all typed up and ready to go, you just need to click your mouse to send.
You have no credibility, you pull statistics & numbers out of your a hole and expect everyone to just believe you?
Don't think so.
Latina.. Do your homework.
Thank goodness for NUMBERS USA. Legal Hispanic residents should open their wallets and pour money into NUMBERS because they are trying to get and save your jobs also. You unemployed that want to work should remember that many ILLEGAL ALIENS have jobs that should be YOURS!!! Support NUMBERSUSA
This isn't about special rights or even asking for equal rights; it's about a violation of existing rights. Jose is being stopped and harassed simply because he is a Jose. He's not being detained because he's matching a suspect's description. He's being stopped because the cops are bullies and they work for a dept. that looks the other way and/or approves of such illegal behavior.
Illegals ignore the laws and try to make a race issue when they get caught.
Just like you now.
NOT all Latinos are ILLEGAL. It is comments and a mindset like yours that perpetuate hate and intollerable behavior in our country. Two hundred years ago comments just like yours were made against the Irish. Then it was the Chinese. Then it was Italians. Then Jews. This is an article about a problem East Haven has with dealing with their Latino community, not with illegal aliens. US citizens. What a sad state we're in that so many people like you assume that an entire group of people are illegal aliens, commit crime, and are less worthy of their basic rights as American just because of their ethnicity. What would you do if the ethnic group we decided to hate today was yours?
Wow, gonna be a xenophobic racist, huh? "Just like you now." Are you implying I'm an illegal immigrant? Rooney? Is that really your last name? Sounds rather Irish to me. Where are your papers? What's that? You were born here? Yeah right. Well, I was born here, too and I am not Hispanic. I'm Irish. Latinos didn't just get here and not all of them want to stay in Az, CA or TX. They have the right to move around the country the same as any other citizen. If they choose to live in CT, it's their right.
Who said anything about illegal aliens in this article? I went to an EXCELLENT public school in CT, and we had about 20% Latinos in the student body. I am pretty sure most of them were born here, with an equal right to live under the law any place they choose. Even those who were not born here may still be citizens with those rights. And even those who are not citizens are still human beings who deserve to be treated with common respect and decency.
Agree, Senora. I can only account for hateful remarks by assuming they are coming from bigoted, narrow-minded, sheltered individuals who have probably never really gotten to know a person of hispanic descent. Thank God for clear thinking people who are not swayed by hate speech. And thank God for the churches who are doing the right thing & standing up for everyone's civil rights, once again.
I got to meet some people...right before they replaced 30 of us at my company. After I lost everything, I decided to start thinking clearly about the responsibility of someone knowingly putting someone else out of work so they can have something that was never theirs to begin with !
Yes, thank God for those churches. I remember the Catholic church supporting Nazi's in WWII. Get it??
People in this country need to Educate themselves on the immigration issue. when you do you will understand that the Latin American people are not the real treat to our work force and are actually a great asset to almost everyone the work for.
they are being used to distract the people of this country from the real problem which is and has been the flooding of the US with unneeded H1B visa holders from India, China, and Pakistan under the false pretense that there are no qualified people from this country to fill those positions. There keeping your mind and your attention people making minimum wage or a little more to keep you off the subject of why all the good engineering jobs or even just technical jobs are being handed out to unqualified H1B visa's at half the price of what Companies would need to pay Americans. Educate yourself on the issues and stop being ignorant peasants.
Illegal aliens are costing us millions each day. They collect social welfare, take jobs,
burden schools, get handouts, commit crimes..
Illegal immigration costs the U.S. more than $130 billion a year.
They're just your worst nightmare, eh Bobby?
Billions are sent to Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, on and on, on and on, BILLIONS, so that they can fight their wars against their own people...I hope you are speaking out against this as well.
Since when was $12/cash considered minimum wage in ANY city in America? That is the lowest a Hispanic can be paid in Seattle, Wa!
I think the Police chief and mayor need to retract and stand up for the rtights of the other citizens in being protected against illegal Lationos. I find his statement ,"tacos" unprosecutable and these 2 kids bringing the lawsuit just two STUPID KIDS. It is time Americans get behind our elected officials despite rude or unthinking comments and protect our citizens from factions supporting illegals. Texas ,California and Arizona are overun.
Are there any Kids in Law School out there that are PRO AMERICAN REPUBLIC WHO CAN BRING A COUNTERSUIT?? PLEASE DO SO FOR AMERICANS.....Start your Pro American Civil Liberties lawsuits.........Voters have rights to their elected officials......voters have rights, not LAtion harboring Illegal Lovers groups....Please Go For it Americans!
Another ignorant stupid person trying to distract from the fact that this is not about 'illegals', this is about hispanic members of their community being harassed and badgered for simply being brown.
You obviously don't live in Southern California where Latinos run everything. Our educational system sucks, largely due to the illegal aliens (mainly Latinos) who lag behind and keep all children at their level. We pay millions for English as a Second Language – why?, I have no idea, because, again, EVERYTHING is in Espanol for them. Our prisons are OVERRUN with criminal Latinos/illegal immigrants that taxpayers pay dearly for. The California illegal aliens don't pay for anything; they take and do not give back. Look, I dare you, to what Californians pay for prisons, education, and welfare for those who live off of the taxpayers. The statistics online are understated. If you want respect, you have to earn it. My cousin was murdered iin Manhattan Beach by a gang of Mexicans who gang-raped his girlfriend and then slit her throat. What happened to them? They fled back home, of course. If they had stayed, they would be just more illegal aliens in prison at our expense. Then we'd pay for their lovely children and their "wives" through welfare. My story isn't uncommon so don't even go there. It isn't the color of a person's skin that people don't care for (that is so 1960); it is their behavior and their actions.
It's fine for Obama to label Bush as the "typical white" president, then it should be make this comment.
The federal government won't protect U.S. workers, local communities and
taxpayers from illegal immigration . Push your state representative to make a change .
Google this: NUMBERSUSA .
Once you are registered, go to the "action board" to send free faxes to your state representative.
They are all typed up and ready to go, you just need to click your mouse to send.
How about we punish the local business that give them jobs in the first place....?
I wonder if he planned to make them himself or get them from Taco Bell?
I am so sick of people crying out discrimination. If a norwegian asked why there weren't any norwegians on the the law enforcement and he replied by saying he will help out by eating "lefse" would this even be in the news? NO! I can't wait until the white community is a minority. I already have a list that I will call the "discrimination" flag on.
Unfortunately it is much easier to racial profile a Latino based solely on looks alone not so much with a Norwegian.
Hispanic are allowed to pick the laws that they wants to obey and ignore the ones that
they don't like. If anyone should suggest any different Wow accusations of racisim,
marching in the streets.
Ur White!! And?
Well I hate everything Mexican. You think they have a problem? Waukegan, Lake county Illinois is a haven for the Latino's Why they even gave them their own 24 hour Latino radio station! WKRS sold out to them. Built them soccer fields, Their own indoor fitness center (a soccer field). Then the Mexicans complain about a county law that allows unlicensed drivers to have their cars towed, they cried discrimination! Now they go to Wisconsin and get licenses. Waukegan public school even rolled out the red carpet. Drive down Grand avenue and you will think you are in Mexico. Go ahead and fire back at me I don't care and will ignore you anyways. Viva la Migra!
Buck up little camper. You'll be alright.
Missed your meds again? poor dear
Actually, you're my man. Come to California and you will find almost half (yup) of radio stations and cable/satellite/fiber optic TV services in Spanish. I'm paying $100.00 per month for Fios and almost half of the programs are in Espanol. In grocery and department stores: Spanish (Latino) music over the loudspeakers and in writing. Californians spend millions and millions each year for illegal aliens, mainly Mexicans, for education, incarceration/prison, and welfare. Politicians are used to us sitting back and acting like it is impolite to mention we are being financially and educationally raped out in the open. No one likes the "r" word.
Thank you, Governor Brown for sticking to us.
Thank you President's Bush and Obama. Voted for both of those fools.
i live in southern calif. n i love it......if u hate it so much and all the latinos then why dont u get the f*** out!!!
Except on Cinco de Mayo right?
VIVA LA RASA!!!!! HUEY
getting a little crazy, don't ya think?
Shhhhhh! It's now the "T" word.
Never say "taco".....it's very racist. LMAO. Pathetic.
True that... Its funny tat the Latino community is all in a up roar considering the fact the fact they want their group as a whole to be shown favoritism and that's just not right... Sorry for the tax paying law abiding Latinos that got caught up in the drama that the illegal non tax paying law breaking individuals put you in... America is filled with a bunch of emotionally charged baby's that cry over everything... You know if the mayor plays it right e can probably get chicken parm from the Italian community...
You sound so sorry...well, I'm sorry your loud-mouthed right-wing mayor gave the rest of you right-wingers a bad name by sticking his foot in his mouth...again.
Your narrow take on this doesn't say a whole lot for your cognitive abilities. I suggest you learn a little bit about the definition of the word "context" and how it plays a major role in how words can be used in a positive and negative way in certain situations.
I saw this coming,when they silenced the(#*&#)Bell dog.
Your lack of comprehension skills is pathetic. Aye que rico!
Take your squat bow legs back to our homeland.
And law enforcement seems puzzled that they are losing respect of the community. That comment the Mayor "farted" out of his mouth is a testament to his narcissistic and bias mentality. I feel sorry for the people of East Haven.
Maturo has got to go!
Illegals have got to go and with them the legals who aid and abet them. Suks to be you.
Why are you assuming the Latino community of this town is here illegally? I went to a public high school in CT, and about 20% of my classmates were Latinos, most of whom were born in this country. Are you really suggesting that it is ok to target a community of our own citizens like this? Wow.
Another good ol' boy gets to retire and enjoy his full pension after what has been a career filled with injustice. Awesome.
A TACO IS A TACO NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT