Oscar Rosales Castaneda

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Articles by Oscar Rosales Castaneda

‘Hispanic’ heritage, government identifiers and census count

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | September 23rd, 2020

I cringe every time I hear the term “Hispanic” when September rolls around. I used this term sporadically as a youth when referring to people of “Spanish-speaking” background and slowly phased it out in favor of the term “Latino” and, as of late, its more...

Read more in the Sept. 23-29, 2020 issue.

Pandemics, police and people of color

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | August 26th, 2020

August was no exception with newsworthy events. As much as I prefer not to write about the pandemic, it seems necessary for providing the social context of local events through a larger prism. In this case, the sudden retirement of former Seattle Police...

Read more in the Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020 issue.

Reflections on pandemics and mental health

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | July 22nd, 2020

Here we are, four months since writing my first column on the intersection of race and the pandemic through a local lens. I reread my first two columns and my heart sank upon realizing how little things have changed. In fact, I’d argue that conditions have...

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

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...