Latino Criminality

Mary Romero The Construction of Latino Criminality Abstract Romero uses the fatal police killing of Julio Valerio by officers of the Phoenix Police Department in 1996 as a case study to emphasize the connection between police violence in the Latino community as an artifact of the police image of Latinos as criminals. Romero begins with a historical overview of the social construction of Latino criminality and then proceeds to a discussion on the documentation that constructs Latino criminality; namely, the bandido, gang member, drug user and dealer, and illegal alien. She argues that law enforcement officers, politicians, and judges demonize Latino youth as inherently criminal. She offers an analysis of Julio Valerio’s killing to show how police enact and textually mediate legitimacy and power. Romero concludes by summarizing legal and political efforts to stop state violence against people of color and with suggestions on how to change the textual process that legitimates excessive force in communities of color. I liked most the history and development of the Latino criminal stereotype presented by Romero, how legitimating power and specific use of that power have become institutionalized through texts produced in this legal proceedings. Her concern with the media text of Julio Valerio’s killing by police is very original and how she makes the reader aware of the significance of the police report to mediating law enforcement’s culpability for the killing of Valerio. Essay Questions: Assignment # 5 1. Briefly summarize the history and development of the Latino criminal stereotype presented by the author. 2. Explain how legitimating power and specific use of that power have become institutionalized through texts produced in legal proceedings?