A good case can be made that the Latino vote in Texas put Hillary Clinton over the top. Blacks broke heavily for Obama here, but they were only 19 percent of the overall Democratic electorate -- down from 21 percent in 2004. Latinos broke heavily for Clinton, but they were a whopping 34 percent of the overall Democratic vote total -- up 10 points from four years ago.
I believe that the black-brown divide is one of the more undercovered political stories of this season. Adelfa Callejo, the 82-year-old grande dame of Dallas Latino activism, and a Clinton supporter, slipped up and uttered a politically incorrect truth when she said just prior to the vote that Obama's problem (with Latino voters) is that he's black. Hillary Clinton quickly distanced herself from the Callejo gaffe, but what she said had a lot of truth to it.
In Dallas, the black-brown divide causes racial tension in the public schools, which are heavily black and brown, and majority Latino, and open warfare on the school board. You'd likely be scandalized by the anti-black e-mail some of us on the editorial board have gotten from Latinos. A lot of the hostility between the races is fueled by mass immigration, as Steven Malanga documents in the current City Journal, in a piece focused on the decline of the Rainbow Coalition idea.
It is impolite to notice all this, apparently. Black and brown political leaders do their best to downplay or deny it, and much of the news media coverage doesn't go much farther than this laughably bad Chicago Sun-Times column from Sunday, headlined, "Facts don't back black-brown divide in Texas." How does columnist Mary Mitchell know? She interviewed exactly two prominent Dallas Obama supporters, one black and one Hispanic, who both told her that there is no such thing as a racial divide.
It's interesting to contemplate what might happen this fall if we have a McCain-Obama contest. It's been taken as a given that very few Latinos will vote Republican for president given the collapse last summer of immigration reform in Washington, thanks to grassroots conservative efforts seen by many Latinos as racist. But what happens if the Republican candidate is the man who risked and nearly lost his shot at the presidency to stand up for Latino interests -- and his opponent is a black man? Will Latino anti-black racism benefit John McCain in a close race? It's unpleasant to think about, but there it is.
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Well, just to clarify my own position, I'm not accusing Rod of being personally a racist, or motivated by personal animosity. But I do think that obsessing over the supposed racism of this or that minority group, while ignoring the effects of long-standing majority racism, is chasing the gnat out of the room while giving a wide berth to the 800-pound gorilla parked on the sofa.
What's funny is that immigration wasn't an issue till the war in Iraq went South. Bush never campaigned on securing our borders (or ports) in 00/04.
Republicans continually look for scapegoats/distractions when their own policies go awry. I'd figure on them pulling out gays, Mexicans, public school teachers, ACLU members, feminists, etc. when the campaign starts going poorly for the GOP this summer.
As far as blacks vs. latinos, I can only speak for the Denver Metro area:
I'm a white who lives in a predominately black area and Latinos are moving in the neighborhoods. It seems to me that with the anti-immigrant frevor Latinos could do just as well in a black neighborhood as a mixed or a white one. And Latinos are moving into the old Stapleton airport area where I live.
Black residents don't seem to have any more hang-ups than whites in my view.
I've been a public school teacher most of the decade in Denver Public Schools. Latinos seem to emulate the hip-hop culture quite well. I've never dealt with an issue as a MS & Elementary teacher over some Latino - Black issue.
In fact, I think what the baby-boomers don't get is that hip-hop culture (a segement of African American youth culture) is the most popular thing around (even for many white suburban kids).
Maybe it's gonna be the folks after GenXers (like myself) who really are color-blind.
I'm tired of hearing about wars between races and ethnic groups. Let's instead talk about the difference between the haves and have-nots. Class disparities in the States are only making existing group tensions worse.
Sure, lets pretend that there is no animosity between the blacks and browns. Let's look the other way as Latino gang members target blacks in Los Angeles.
Yeah, you "don't see anything wrong."
How convenient.
The bottom line is that latinos are harder workers, more patriotic and more intellectual than blacks. Blacks by & large do hardly nothing but whine & complain about how everyone else is responsible for their failure. Where a black will wait for someone to give him a handout, the latino, by hard work and dedication, will make the most out of every opportunity this great country provides.
So true, JD Gent! This is the elephant in the room. No one dare speak the reality, which is that blacks are genetically less intelligent, lazier, and much more agressive than other cultures. Anyone with common sense can see this.
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