Poor taste on a number of levels.

On a separate point ... Hillary sez that Latinos won't support Barack Obama. She seems to infer that Latinos and hard-working whites will switch over to McCain rather than support the Democratic nominee.

Is that your sense of how Latinos will react to Hillary losing the nomination?

peace, Villager

Villager, leaving Cubans out since politically they are less alike than the rest of the Latinos in the U.S., I think most Latinos, the overwhelming majority, will vote for Obama. There are Latinos who don't like African-Americans - which is how Obama is seen, biracial guy and all - and they will either vote McCain or stay home. But I believe the overwhelming majority will vote for Obama.

What people don't pay attention to - to the extent that it's worth paying attention to polls this early in the game - is that, for all the attacks between Clinton and Obama, McCain hasn't been able to go ahead in the polls. That says a lot about the strength of both Democratic candidates and McCain's weakness as well. And if you take into account that we probably won't be out of Iraq by November, that gasoline prices won't come down any time soon, if ever, and that the economy won't turn around by November, that spells big troubles for Johnnie Mac.

I'm glad you wrote this entry LP. Sometimes the big dogs need to be called out like this and this is certainly the case.

Latinos are certainly more willing than others to vote either Democrat or Republican, but if Obama is able to effectively communicate his positions to Latinos they'll vote for him in droves.

Forgive me for my ignorance with the Latino electorate, I haven't been around any Latino's since high school and that was specifically Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in a wholly mixed high school on Chicago's North Side.

That being said, I've lost all grounding on even remotely what's going on in the Latino communities across this country. My question is, what does the a) Democrat party need to do to do some coalition building between blacks and Latinos because I'm just convinced this is the only way both communities can pull ourselves out of this socio-economic mess we've found ourselves in. And b) more specifically, what is it that Obama would need to say to Latino's in this country that would make him not have a repeat of the California primaries.

JLL

[W]hat does the a) Democrat party need to do to do some coalition building between blacks and Latinos because I'm just convinced this is the only way both communities can pull ourselves out of this socio-economic mess we've found ourselves in. And b) more specifically, what is it that Obama would need to say to Latino's in this country that would make him not have a repeat of the California primaries.

Well UN, the first thing everybody needs to realize is that "Latinos" or "Hispanic" is a big catch-all category for everyone who's of Latin American descent, Spanish is a language - first or second - they speak, or both. As you may - or may not - remember, there are fundamental differences between some Latino groups that affect how they view the rest of the US. For example, Puertoricans are U.S. citizens by birth, so the issue of immigration doesn't really pull as hard as with, say, Mexicans.

With that in mind, what can Obama do? First, be aware of those differences and who your audience is. You can't have the same "Latino" speech in LA and in NYC. Second, the unstated assumption is that because Latinos voted for Hillary in California they won't vote for Obama in the general election. That's nonsense. If the Latino community listens to what Obama has to offer vs what McCain has to offer to them - regardless of whether you're Mexican or Puertorican, they shouldn't have a difficult time making a decision.

As far as building a "black/brown" coalition, you have to go back to what a "coalition" is:

1. a combination or alliance, esp. a temporary one between persons, factions, states, etc.
2. a union into one body or mass; fusion.

That begs the question of what kind of "coalition" are we talking about; the former or the latter? Or do we want something in between? Something more enduring than a temporary alliance but not quite a fusion?

If we want something more than temporary but less than a fusion, the key issue is to have an open and frank dialogue about what are the common problems and concerns afflicting our communities and, more importantly, where are we in real or apparent conflict or competition. The first issue will be our points of convergence from which we can move forward. The last will be the obstacles we'll face in making such an alliance a long-term and effective one.

It's a matter of trust. Latinos have to get to trust Blacks and Blacks have to learn to trust Latinos. And learning to trust someone is a heck of a lot easier when you realize you have something in common with them.

Just my $0.02

to El Loco:

Okay, I was more or less on point then. I just wanted a different perspective. But you are right, many, including myself did make the assumption that Latino's en masse would vote for Hillary over Obama, although I kind of did just localize it for the West Coast.

But as far as coalition building, my vision would be more along the lines of what Jesse Jackson attempted to do. Coming together on the important issues, but still realizing that each community does have differences. Therein lies our problems, and I'm convinced that solution will come from the younger generations. Seeing as how many high schools and colleges are mixed, we (and they) have the benefit of knowing what it means to be cross-cultural and understanding that there are stark cultural differences between Mexican, Puerto Rican and Columbian, and Nicaraguan all of which get lumped into that umbrella called Latino.

Without sounding bitter about it, however, I'm sure it's a sore point for African Americans because generally Latino's have a nationality to attach to their heritage, but African Americans are just that, and nothing more.

JLL

I appreciate the comments that have resulted from the original post. I'm a Black blogger. I would like to figure out some tactical things that I can do to begin to create a dialogue with Latino bloggers. For example, I've added Latinopundit to my RSS-feed. Is it time for us to create blogrolls for Latino and Black bloggers intersted in working on efforts to bring our communities together?

I'm open. I control my blog. How can I use my blog to help heal(?) the rift between Latino and Black community?

peace, Villager

Without sounding bitter about it, however, I'm sure it's a sore point for African Americans because generally Latino's have a nationality to attach to their heritage, but African Americans are just that, and nothing more.

UN, that's revealing to me as a Latino. I never thought that "nationality" or lack thereof would be such a key identity issue for African-Americans. I've always thought of African-Americans as a distinct group with a shared history and, to an extent, a shared experience, and I always thought that was enough to give you a sense of "completeness" if that's what you want to call it.

The Latino experience is also more complicated than nationalities too. One of the issues I've discussed both here and at Telling Stories is the racial tension faced by many Latinos of either African or indigenous descent in their own countries. I remember a big exposé some 8 months to a year ago in Colombia - I believe - where the reporters were staking out a restaurant and they sent a white couple and they were let in. But when they sent an indigenous couple they were denied entrance under the pretense that there was a "private party" taking place.

Then there's Spanish TV. There are very, very few dark skinned anchors, actors, etc. on TV. In fact, here in the US there are more dark-skinned characters in its soaps than in any Latino novela.

Yes, we have a "nationality" but we also have our issues too.

How can I use my blog to help heal(?) the rift between Latino and Black community?

Wow. That's quite the open question right there Villager. I don't think anyone can tell you what to do. For me, I fall back on Sting's lyrics from "All This Time"

Men go crazy in congregations
But they only get better one by one.

This type of change or "healing" will take time and effort. And the first thing both sides can do is listen to the other side. Really listen.

I watched an ESPN movie on Bobby Knight called "A Season on the Brink." There he is excoriating his whole team after they got beat up badly. I forget who the star player was supposed to be, but he's sitting in the locker room with his head down as Knight is ranting and raving.

Then, one of the assistant coaches comes over and tells him this:

Don't listen to him. When he tells you you're an a**hole, don't listen to him. When he tells you why you're an a**hole, listen to him.

That's the kind of spirit we need to bring to the table. Because inevitably there will be times when someone - you, me, or someone else - will write or say something stupid or hurtful to the other side. Rather than get defensive about it, which is the easiest path to follow, we should approach these incidents as opportunities to (a) learn about the other person and (b) educate the other person. Particularly if we can do it with arguments and facts and not just with feelings and opinions.

Let me give you a quick example: I read not so long ago (2-3 months)that there are some African-Americans who are very strongly against illegal immigration and the hiring of illegal immigrants because they are taking jobs that legal minorities, including African-Americans, could have if the illegal immigrants weren't in the U.S. That issue is an opportunity to (a) learn about the other side and (b) find some common ground.

In my opinion, the real problem here isn't illegal immigrants or African-Americans, but rather the businesses that take advantage of this underground labor force. They are the ones who should be brought to task first. Because if they have to hire U.S. citizens or legal immigrants, (a) they will have to pay better wages and provide better working conditions and (b) it will discourage illegal immigration by reducing opportunities.

Just my $0.02

Well, I know it really suks when you hear others ask the question to others "oh what nationality are you?" and that's a question never asked to African Americans. If someone ever asks "Where are your people from?" most times are answers are something like "Mississippi" or "Alabama" and that's about the best we can do.

And from one of my English professors in college, I never hyphenate African American anymore because my Africanness is not dependent upon by Americanness and vice-versa. That's about the best this uppity Negro can do in this situation.

But this whole nationality, skin color thing, as far as I'm concerened, is the result of good ole brainwashing as a result of European influences through the ages.

Sorry about coming late to the string.

I saw a Korean woman comic on last Comic Standing last night,and one of her jokes was to tell her mother that she wanted to marry a "regular guy" instead of an Asian guy.

The judges, including Richard Belzer, felt that she deserved to go on to the next round of the game show with jokes like that.

The idea that freaks, geeks, the downtrodden and the minorities should be lumped together is one of the strongest tides in U. S culture.

Remember the jokes about going to prison and having to share your cell god forbid "a big Black guy?"

How about the fact that on Jimmy Kimmel Live his "weird " sidekicks are his security guards: a surly Black woman, his old "uncool" Uncle Frank, and Guillermo the "witless Latino."

And in the so called high culture, I remember my white Liberal classmates gushing over Diane Arbus photographs because she photographed "freaks and Puerto Ricans." Someone else's term, not mine. They would try to recreate the "feeling" by going to Chinatown in NYC ans photography fish merchants, and vendors. Why? Because to them, the fact that Chinatown is filled with --well Chinese people, is kind of "odd and interesting."

I'm an African American myself (thanks for the correct spelling UN). And I'm very much prObama because of his positions on the issues. It's nice to have someone running that finally looks and sounds like me, but at the end of the day, he's really the only person that cares about uniting all of this country more than getting the job.

It's nice to have a person running for president that actually acknowledges the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Look on his web site and see what he says about developing energy partnerships with Brazil (another race troubled country). But at least he talks about South America in ways other than poverty, Communism, and immigration.