Oscar Rosales Castaneda

Real Change

The complexities of celebrating ‘Hispanic’ Heritage Month

by Oscar Rosales C... | September 26th, 2018

Real Change columnist

This is my first “Hispanic Heritage Month” since taking on this column; it feels as though it carries extra weight amid the racist rhetoric being proliferated by the White House — even if I have qualms about the word “Hispanic.”

On one hand, the term “Hispanic” ignores indigenous inhabitants who have little connection to Spain or Spanish culture. Likewise, this term excludes the Portuguese-speaking inhabitants of Brazil, which bears the distinction of being both the most populous nation-state in Latin America and second-most-populous country in the Western Hemisphere.
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Now we have a war against the poor

by Oscar Rosales C... | August 29th, 2018

Real Change columnist

Three months have passed since the Seattle City Council’s unceremonious backpedaling and subsequent reversal on funding for very needed affordable housing. Our corporate overlords flexed their muscle and our timid council obliged, lest they bear the brunt of becoming unelectable for not working with our local “job providers.” I’m sure it’s a distinction that many politicians wish to do without.
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The psychological toll of immigrant detention and incarceration

by Oscar Rosales C... | July 25th, 2018

Real Change columnist

To understand the psychological impact of immigrant detention, we must also look at incarceration. Though they may not seem intimately related, it is no coincidence that both anti-immigrant legislation and “three strikes” incarceration policies became central focuses of lawmakers almost simultaneously more than two decades ago.
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Jeff Bezos doesn’t care about poor people

by Oscar Rosales C... | June 27th, 2018

Real Change columnist

The Employee Hours Tax suffered its demise in the most cringeworthy way possible. The sad display of political cowardice was reflected in a 7-2 vote to repeal the tax, with councilmembers Kshama Sawant and Teresa Mosqueda being the oppositional votes. As Jeff Bezos ponders using his wealth for space exploration, the city of Seattle continues to grapple with a state of emergency.
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Affordable housing in an intersectional lens

by Oscar Rosales C... | May 23rd, 2018

Monthly columnist

It has been quite the eventful last few weeks in the Emerald City. The Seattle City Council voted for a scaled back employee hours tax (EHT) to the tune of $275 per full-time employee for Seattle’s largest corporations. The amended proposal was substantially less than the initial $500 proposal, which Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened to veto.
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Reflecting On May Day in Seattle

by Oscar Rosales C... | April 25th, 2018

Monthly columnist

May 1 quickly approaches once again in the Emerald City. The day, punctuated by marches and calls for social justice, originated in the 1880s to honor the martyrs of Haymarket Square during the height of the American Labor Movement.

Systemic repression against radical labor, in tandem with the creation of Labor Day (set in early September), led to collective amnesia of our shared labor struggles. May 1 as a holiday was forced to the margins.
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The psychological toll of ICE raids

by Oscar Rosales C... | March 28th, 2018

Real Change columnist

Immigration discourse has been contentious for several years. I would argue several generations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been given a renewed license to operate unchecked since President 45 (known as Cheeto in Chief amongst my friends) has entered the Oval Office.

The uneasy feeling that comes from these raids oddly resonates with me and is reminiscent of the Immigration and Naturalization Service raids (INS, a precursor to ICE) in the Yakima Valley in the 1980s.
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Notes from El Noroeste: Circular migration

by Oscar Rosales C... | February 28th, 2018

Real Change columnist

I originally made my way to Seattle in 2002 by way of Yakima. My own trek is a shorter variation of a journey my parents made — as part of the Mexican diaspora — to Washington state in the 1980s. Their migration north was not the first northbound journey made by family members. In the 1910s, my paternal great-grandfather moved to Santa Barbara, California, where my grandmother was born. In Texas, my maternal great-grandparents established a home, and to this day I have relatives that I have yet to meet who live in Fort Worth, my grandfather’s birthplace.
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El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido: Unity in the face of daunting odds

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | June 1st, 2016

Last month, community members marched in the Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights. This was the 17th year in which the march was organized, and, of course, this year also marked the 10-year anniversary of the major demonstrations that were orchestrated across the country in the spring of 2006. Yet, if you were to consult local news media outlets in Western Washington in the days leading to May 1, as well as the few days after, one would be left with the impression that Seattle was an urban war zone.
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The upcoming May Day march is about seeking human rights for all people

via Oscar Rosales Castaneda | April 24th, 2013

On May 1, an estimated tens of thousands of people will take to the streets of downtown Seattle to demand fair and just immigration reform that respects the civil, labor and human rights of all workers. Given the current political environment in Washington, D.C., we are preparing for one of the largest crowds in several years. This will be the 13th march that El Comité Pro Reforma Migratoria Y Justicia Social, the organization where I work, has organized.
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