El Paso’s indoctrination to the far-right

I am Latina, born and raised in El Paso, Texas. I have always been incredibly proud to come from El Paso, and I love the city deeply. I even have a large tattoo of the star. All that being said, I have been unbelievably depressed and disappointed to see so many of my fellow community members turn toward far-right politics and Trump. The El Paso I grew up in was one of mutual love, community, compassion, and empathy - a community built by immigrants and their descendants. Now, especially on this Reddit page, I see so much hate, conspiracy theories, and misinformation being spread in support of a candidate who has made very clear his disdain and hatred for Latino people.

This is especially painful considering I am an academic researcher who studies white supremacist and racist violence. I was so devastated by the 2019 El Paso shooting that I devoted my professional life to studying events like this, to ensure they don’t happen again. It is so unbelievable and chilling to me to see people in these comments use rhetoric so similar to that used by the EP shooter. To use the same anti-immigrant, pro-Trump language and hashtags used by someone who violently murdered 23 of our community members in cold blood. I strongly urge you all to read more about the shooting, especially if you are a Trump supporter. You are supporting the same president as someone who carried out the worst terrorist attack on Latinos in modern history… if that’s not a wake-up call to you, I don’t know what will be. It’s depressing, bc this is not the El Paso I know and love.