Oscar Rosales Castaneda

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Articles by Oscar Rosales Castaneda

Structural racism is killing people in our communities

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | June 24th, 2020

These last few weeks I cringed as I awaited erasure as our society, afflicted with perpetual amnesia, forgets this moment and allows it to reemerge later. Like clockwork, anger manifests over the killing of yet another person of color. A damn pandemic did...

Read more in the June 24-30, 2020 issue.

Viva La Huelga!

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | May 27th, 2020

This month began with a celebration of worker power and solidarity in the face of daunting odds. An emergent struggle has emerged over reopening Washington businesses. The irony is that this clamoring over “state overreach” with Gov. Jay Inslee’s orders had...

Read more in the May 27 - June 2, 2020 issue.

COVID-19 lays systemic racism and classism bare

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | April 22nd, 2020

As we near the month and a half mark since Gov. Jay Inslee issued the order to close non-essential services, we have a better idea of how preparation and infrastructure have impacted the effectiveness of the COVID-19 response. Early action no doubt...

Read more in the Apr. 22-28, 2020 issue.

Brutal anti-immigrant COVID-19 response

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | March 25th, 2020

This U.S. presidential administration has proven to be as equally criminally negligent as it is incompetent. There is really no way to sugarcoat it. Tactful language could not articulate the dire straits in which many marginalized communities find...

Read more in the Mar. 25-31, 2020 issue.

We don’t have the luxury of looking away

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | February 28th, 2020

I watched the federal court case against Seattle activists who were charged with trespassing for protests at U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office last summer. To my dismay and that of many others, there was no mention of their reasoning to request a meeting...

Systemic silence and retaliation against activists

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | January 22nd, 2020

The last several months have been harrowing for many who fight for better conditions with immigrant rights in western Washington. This month on Jan. 30, the group of activists known as the “Cantwell Six,” named for their protest at Washington U.S. Sen...

The banality of evil consulting firms

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | December 24th, 2019

As attention focuses on impeachment, many of us are dismayed at what is occurring in real time. Children are traumatized, families are not reunited and people are still dying from brutality and neglect. Our attention is elsewhere, which allows for human...

Migrant children are still being traumatized

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | November 27th, 2019

Real Change columnist

On Oct. 24, six protesters were arraigned in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The protesters — Howard Gale, Jennifer Gosar, Elizabeth Graham, Nikita Minkin, Nick Peda and Jessie Yadlowsky — were arrested Aug. 6 while waiting...

Cultural appropriation as colonial residue

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | October 23rd, 2019

Real Change columnist

Fall means an abrupt change of the seasons in the Pacific Northwest, as perpetually overcast skies arrive for their months-long stay. The season also brings a tangible and figurative connection between life and death, as evidenced by the popular cultural...

Untethering heritage

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | September 25th, 2019

Real Change columnist

Upon eclipsing the mid-month point, we transition into the odd ceremonial recognition of “Hispanic” identity. I feel conflicted that this event systematically pushes a Spain-centered narrative, even though Latin America uses the month of September to...