Why do the deaths of Latinos at the hands of police get far less attention?

Nicole Santa Cruz and colleagues Ruben Vives and Marisa Gerber looked at the difference in reaction to the police killing of Ricardo Diaz Zeferino, an unarmed Latino, and many high-profile deaths of black men at the hands of police. Here's an excerpt from that story:

The muted reaction to the deaths of Latinos in confrontations with police tells a larger story: Black Lives Matter is starkly different from Brown Lives Matter. In contrast to the fatal shootings of African Americans such as Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Walter Scott in South Carolina, deaths of Latinos at the hands of law enforcement haven't drawn nearly as much attention.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the release of a video showing Gardena police officers shooting two men, killing Ricardo Diaz Zeferino, an unarmed Latino. The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube. It generated national media coverage, but very little protest.

Over the last five years in L.A. County, coroner's data show that Latinos, who make up about half of the county's population, also represent about half the people killed by police. Of the 23 people fatally shot by law enforcement in the county this year, 14 were Latino.

The disparity is rooted, at least in part, in historical context. Read more >>