It Starts from Within.

On paper or merely glancing at my uniform name badge, I more than likely would be considered a Hispanic deputy sheriff. In person, though, some say I could “pass” as a wide variety of ethnicities. “You kinda have chinky eyes, but your skin is tan. Wait. Your last name is Gonzalez? What are you?” Growing up in the surrounding suburbs of New York City allowed me to be accustomed to similar conversations, which still occur in my life today. I am actually not Hispanic, and there is nothing wrong with assuming I am. People prejudge all the time. I do it. You do it. We all do it. However, when prejudices compel one to commit crimes and other forms of injustice based upon those biases, we, as people, must take appropriate action. Our SHARE Tolerance program is certainly an effective step in the right direction to educate and combat intolerance.

I was born and raised in New York, college educated in a state university, and street educated though my peers. Many of my closest friends are successful African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. I embraced cultural diversity throughout my life. During patrol as a deputy sheriff, there have been instances when I have conducted traffic stops of vehicles, and the drivers assumed I pulled them over for being a certain race. Aside from them being completely incorrect, I take those accusations personally because of the person I am and the people who have influenced my life through the years. I may not know the driver’s personal life experience, and likewise they may not know mine. One thing for certain is race was not, and will not be, the sole reason I conducted a traffic stop.

Race and ethnicity seem to play an integral part in people’s view and contact with law enforcement. Here is another true field story. I arrived at a residence regarding a call for service of a lady who had ongoing party disturbances with her Hispanic neighbors. After speaking with the neighbors regarding the circumstances of the complaint, I spoke with the lady. Her first sentence to me was, “Oh, your last name is Gonzalez? So you’re probably just going to take their side, huh?” Amongst other things, I said to myself, “Wow. Did that just happen?” and I handled the incident to conclusion.

Situations such as the two mentioned above motivate me to educate and constructively challenge people who have certain prejudices and beliefs of intolerance. The chance to be involved with the SHARE Tolerance program as a facilitator is an opportunity of a lifetime. We provide teenagers, young adults, and people of all ages with real life stories of intolerance in hope to open their eyes to what really happens in our own neighborhoods. The program allows them to make educated choices against difficult issues regarding acts of social hatred. To give back to the community in the position of power we hold, is an amazing experience. In my honest opinion, I feel many of the SHARE Tolerance personnel would probably get involved in a program such as this, whether or not they were a sworn deputy sheriff.

A world famous New York-born hip-hop artist wrote in a song, “Difficult takes a day; impossible takes a week.” As deputy sheriffs, and “everyday people” in the world, we’re not trying to do the impossible by eliminating intolerance completely, but we are trying to make THAT difference—one difficult day at a time.

Rene Gonzalez, Deputy

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