For males of color, status is mixed - The Salinas Californian
Impassioned pleas for changes that will help the lives of boys and men of color were made at a state hearing held Friday at Hartnell College in Salinas. They were there to listen and to give testimony at the State Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys & Men of Color in California. Some 20 bills have been signed by the governor to benefit programs that affect poverty, health care and the arrest and incarceration rate of men and boys of color. The hearing was co-chaired by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, the select committee chairman, and Assemblyman Luis Alejo, a select committee member and Latino Caucus chairman. Though many hearing speakers presented positive information about Monterey County and Salinas programs that are helping improved the lives of boys and men of color, the statistics remain grim. Systems such as law enforcement, health care, job creation, immigration and education need to change. Brian Goldstein for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice questioned why Monterey County is building 120-bed juvenile when there are just 65 youth incarcerated in the current hall. Angie Junck of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center slammed local law enforcement for collaborating with federal immigration officials. "This county's war on crime has become a crime against immigrants," she said. Source: www.thecalifornian.com
