I Defend Ashley Gonzalez and Reject Your American Selective Sensitivities

Officer Ashley Gonzalez, a Houston Latina cop and former Marine, faces termination for a raw social media rant using racial slurs against Black people she encountered on duty. Suspended with pay amid viral outrage and protests, her words were crude but unfiltered frustration from the streets.

I support her fully, apology or not. Latinos and Indigenous peoples owe no fealty to Anglo-American social norms that sacralize one group's sensitivities above all others. Our ancestors lost lands to conquest and settlement—brutal history shared across humanity. Yet today, we're pressured to mute our culture, speech, and observations to shield Black Americans from discomfort, while anti-Latino or anti-Indigenous rhetoric often gets a pass. This hierarchy makes no sense.

Regardless if she said nigger, nigga, faggot, or whatever. It's all bullshit and it only plays into giving Black and White Americans more power.