Recently, at my 12-year old daughter's lacrosse game in Landsdowne just outside Baltimore City, my daughter heard a Westminster parent yell at a Latino man who was retrieving his stray soccer ball: “Get your Spanish ass off our field.”

Her sister and I were sitting on the opposite side of the field chatting periodically in Spanish, and we missed this racist act. My daughter quickly shared the story with us following the game, reminding me that we — as Latinos — are justified in our unease as U.S. demographics shift and fear of “foreigners” is stoked in our political and public discourse.

As a Latina mother living in Baltimore City, discussing race and racism with my three children is paramount. I need to equip them with the resiliency both to rebuff any epithets aimed at them and to stand up for others who might experience such ignorance.

Despite the dominant narratives, Baltimore is not just a city of white and black. In fact, The Baltimore Sun reported recently that the city Police Department will recruit in Puerto Rico this summer because they need bilingual officers who speak both Spanish and English to serve the Latino demographic growing rapidly here. Language abilities are paramount, but we should also consider what sort of training these officers will receive related to important topics like race relations, racism and culture. Some Latinos living in the Greater Baltimore area are not immigrants, but like myself were born in the U.S. Yet, much like Donald Trump attacked Judge Gonzalo Curiel for his U.S.-born Mexican heritage, we now know that none of us escapes our surname or faces.

Therefore, I hope all of our police officers have the opportunity to attend events like the one I helped to co-host at Loyola University Maryland this spring. It brought together black and brown community members to discuss topics on race and race relations. Donald Trump hosted a rally at the exact same time on Maryland's Eastern Shore where a crowd shouted, “Build that wall.”

I brought my daughters to the Loyola event with me and was glad I did. It gave us the opportunity to discuss the ways in which Latinix (gender neutral term) students are demanding integration and political engagement with other marginalized communities in the city, an issue raised by Baltimore Algebra Project organizer Katie Arevelo. My girls heard artist Juan Ortiz emphasize the lesser-discussed need for Latinos to understand their own cultural histories of racism against black and indigenous Latinos as well as African Americans. Additionally, the panelists encouraged knowing the activist Latino/a histories — all to avoid an identity crisis while Latinos co-exist in a dichotomous black/white society here in Baltimore.

My daughters also learned about Mr. Trump's simultaneous rally. They now point out Confederate flags they spot or bumper stickers bearing directives like, “You're in the U.S.A., speak English,” and they know such messages are aimed at marginalized communities, our Latino brothers and sisters who are newly arrived. It is important that we continue to stand up and speak out about injustices within and outside our different cultural enclaves, and to seek ways collaboratively for solidarity and justice. At the same time, all of Greater Baltimore must wake up to the rapid demographic shifts, welcome our newcomers with open arms and seek mutual understanding.

When I think of the ignorance and racism my preteen daughter experienced on the lacrosse field, I'm reminded of an upsetting photograph I saw online of mothers and their children crying and reaching through a fence that separated them on our southern border. Fear generates division and pain.

Solidarity and love should never be ripped apart. We should never advocate for walls, whether on our landscape or in our hearts. Instead, we need to advocate for mutual respect and love. That is the message I give my own children. What are you telling yours?

Stephanie A. Flores-Koulish is an associate professor within the School of Education of Loyola University Maryland; her email is sfloreskoulish@loyola.edu.