Latinos

Ruben Martinez (“Knock the Police Chief Off His Pedestal,” Opinion, March 16) is out of touch with the people he purports to write about. For too long, armchair revolutionaries have used Latino immigrants as fodder for their political fantasies. Martinez does it again when he gives credence to gangster rapper Tupac Shakur’s prophesy that Mexicans will join blacks in an insurrection. That notion is as preposterous as it is dangerous.

A Field poll last year showed that Latinos were more optimistic about the future than was the rest of California. A recent Times poll revealed that a majority of Latinos feel the city is going in the right direction. Furthermore, a La Opinion poll showed that a majority of Latinos feel the police are doing a good job or better protecting their neighborhoods.

YOLANDA CHAVEZ

Los Angeles