Part 2
Martin Feria continues where he left off as we confront racism in the City of Geneva starting on the Hobart & William Smith College campus as he retells when he was racially profiled by students. Why was he profiled? Should it matter that Martin wasn’t a student on-campus and rather a visitor?
On this special two-part edition, Feria also reflects on the People’s Peaceful Protest organized by Black Lives Matter in Geneva, which has been still happening each day – and sometimes on multiple occasions, for almost three-weeks strong to date.
Part 1
By Gabriel Pietrorazio
What is it like growing up as a first generation U.S. citizen with Mexican heritage in Geneva?
Martin Feria, a lifelong Geneva resident is a first generation citizen here in the United States after his parents and older brother moved from Mexico to California and then Geneva, New York. Feria, who is shortly moving away to New Jersey reflects on his challenging upbringing from the vineyard to the junkyard while balancing a life filled with traumatic racist encounters. The Feria family owns La Reyna de México on Castle, which is located on the same street as Char Burrito – but doesn’t see as many customers as their competitor. Does race have anything do with it? Is there implicit bias and selectivity in choosing between authentic and inauthentic restaurants?
This is the first installment of a two-part episode, about the lived experience of Feria. Part two will be published on Thursday exclusively on FingerLakes1.com.
Recent Episodes
Gabe covered health and indigenous affairs in the Finger Lakes between 2019 and 2022. His award winning coverage was cited by the federal government and provided residents with an invaluable service during the coronavirus pandemic.