The Sense of Cooperation Between African Americans and Latinos in Politics

The presence of Latino leaders in all levels of government is necessary in order to have advocates who will represent the needs of the Latino community. Although the Latino population is on the rise and quickly becoming one of the largest ethnic minorities in the United States, the ethnic and racial backgrounds of leaders in government positions are not reflective of our nation’s diversity. Leadership can be developed within the Latino community by individuals who are active participants, have strong roots in their community, and

Immigration from Latin America and the growth of the nation 's Latino population are two of the most important and controversial developments in the recent history of the United States. Latinos are destined to continue to have an enormous impact

The Latino/a experience within the racial system in America was similar to that of Indian immigrants from Asia. In the early 1800s, Indians were granted free access to immigrate to America and naturalize as American citizens because they were perceived as whites. However, as social tensions between Indian and Anglo men began competing for jobs, housing, and women, Members of Congress racialized Indians. They justified that Indian men were no longer privileged to be white because Indians left Europe and traveled backwards to the East, making them inferior (Aoki, and Takeda). These examples of racialization are important to understand how Latino/as have been unwanted in the job

The latest survey by the US census portrayed the big change that is happening after the influx of Latinos in the country. There is a Latino identity that’s neither white nor black she mentioned, and it is a positive identity. It appeared that 48% of latinos claimed to be white. Classifying themselves as whites connotes that they have already assimilated to the American Culture The survey wrapped up that there is a considerable demographic shift identifying Latinos to be increasingly aligned with the color that that defines America. On the other hand, 42% of Latinos marked other race, and 2% claimed to be black. Even in the census, to be white signifies the dominance and the notion that it is better than non-white. People who look similarly share the qualities that are perceived to be alike. They usually enjoy similar success and suffer similar sorrows. This method of collection racial data augmented debates however it revealed many things. It is undeniable that the cultural and social construction of Latino in the US is growing exponentially and the race and ethnicity that used to define and unite them has now become the margin that split them

In 2008, African-American presidential nominee Barack Obama garnered 67% of the Latino vote. In his bid for re-election, President Barack Obama acquired 71% of the Latino vote (Pew Research Center). With these statistics in mind, one can conclude that there has been a consistent growing pattern of continued co-operation between blacks and Latinos at the national level. This is in complete contrast however, to the mindset of some observers who believed that Latinos would not come out in the numbers they did because of racial bias and because of the fact that Obama received much less support amongst Latinos in the democratic primaries when faced against Hilary Clinton (Hero & Preuhs, p.3). Many people mistakenly thought this to be so because

This article focuses on the rise and fall of the “black-white coalition” of populist advocates in Grimes County, TX. The period of Reconstruction gave black people opportunities and power. For instance, during this time, blacks in Grimes County successfully formed a Republican organization. Despite white-supremacists of the Democratic party seeking to end the group, black Republicans managed to retain local power and send legislators to Austin, even after the period of Reconstruction ended. A few years later, a meeting was held in Grimes County in which candidates from black and “lily-white” Republican groups, and Independent Greenbackers were nominated for county offices. Among the candidates was Independent Greenbacker Garrett Scott. Unlike other candidates, Scott had a willingness to publicly associate with blacks. In fact, the article mentions that Scott undermined the idea of white solidarity. After winning the election for county sheriff, Scott became political allies with black district clerk, Jim Kennard. The two worked together to create the black-white coalition that became the People’s Party. The People’s party did well up until 1898. However, the coalition did not sit well with the men of the democratic party. The Democrats, led by J.G. McDonald, came together and held a covert meeting in which they planned to take back county offices that populists filled. This was the first of many meetings of the White Man’s Union. The union made their debut once the spark of

America is most known for its diversity, with immigrants from almost everywhere on Earth. The American Dream has lured many minorities to the land of the free and home of the brave, in search of opportunity. Though the U.S. is known for its “American Dream,” America does not have equal opportunity for all of its people. Women and Latinos, specifically, have been denied social and legal equality, with both movements starting in the 1960`s. Latinos had the Chicano movement while women had the second wave of a feminist movement, with similarities and differences in their goals, means, and results. Although Latinos focused on reforming education and work conditions and women wanted to reform their image in society, both educated the public through organizations and used protests to gain limited success of better job opportunity though are still viewed as inferior to white men.

Gonzales develops his thesis by asserting that Latin American immigration and Latino presence in the United States are

Now it has become the largest racial minority in the U.S., there’s no denying the influence that Latinos have as a voting bloc. While Hispanics have more political power than they did during the Civil Rights Era, they also have new challenges. Immigration and education reforms are of key importance to the community. Due to the urgency of such issues, this generation of Chicanos will likely produce some notable activists of its own.

Verba et al. also speak to the impact of income level on political participation, a topic often repeated by political scientists (DeSipio 1996, McClain and Tauber 1998). The conclusion: “for each kind of participation, affluence and participation go hand in hand” seems rather obvious (Verba et al. 1995: 189). Indeed, if a Latino parent works two low paying jobs and worries about paying the bills every month (as many do) he or she will likely have little incentive to travel to the polling place to ensure Hispanic representation in Washington. Additionally, Hispanics encounter further impediments to political participation: lower ages and education levels, coupled with language difficulties and illegal and non-citizen statuses further enlarge the gap between

A diverse minority group of Latino and Spanish-speaking peoples has played an important part of what it means to be American and what it means to be a citizen in the United States today. Moving into the future, in order to analyze the trajectory that this group is in, we must first understand the group’s history in the United States and in territories that would become the United States. In addition, we must look at the origins of the most recent wave of Latino immigration in order to understand their current effect on American society and the intersection between both minority and majority groups. Finally, we get to the apex of this investigation: what lies in the future for Latino Americans in the United States? Although Latino

My hometown of Tolleson, Arizona is a small city of six thousand, five hundred residents with a predominantly Mexican population, with nearly 78% of the residents declaring themselves as Mexican in the 2010 census (citation). The focus of my research will be on the power of Latino representation in government in Latino-majority cities, like Tolleson, whose city council is majority Mexican. Tolleson has been making great strides to fix up the town and provide more jobs and opportunities to its residents, and in doing so, the city has asserted itself as a major innovator. For example, Tolleson was the only city in Arizona to not lay off employees during the 2008 Great Recession, and the Paseo de Luces, which was created by Mayor Adolfo F. Gámez, who also fought to keep highways such as the Interstate 10 and South Mountain Freeway from dividing the city, is a major project completed by the city in order to attract jobs and create a sense of community and history. Another example is the Home Rule Measure (or alternative local expenditure limitation), in which voters had this measure on their ballots to decide whether to allow Tolleson to continue to spend the revenues it collects. Approval of this measure does not increase taxes, just reallocates them, and in order to ensure the passage of the measure, Gámez and other city council members walked door-to-door to explain the bill and to urge everyone to vote in favor.

The United States of America is considered a melting pot of heritages and nationalities from all around the world. There is no official language, and no one culture all citizens abide by. Despite the fact that everyone in this country is different from one another, there is still a constant uniform citizen that has a more favorable position. This citizen is white, English-speaking, and somehow always in the front of the public sphere. In the recent years, there has been an increasingly dominant Latino presence in America. Their strength in numbers challenges there being a poster American citizen, and that that citizen will remain white. When working to assimilate to America’s “culture,” Lations seem to believe that there is one America, within which people speak a singular language and experience one culture. The pressure to assimilate stems from the white citizens of the country feeling threatened when there is a new culture and language, which they do not understand. As a result they feel personally threatened by the people who can speak both Spanish and English, and their response response involves marginalization and the obvious exclusion of Latino groups in the United States. There is a phenomenon, cultural citizenship, where Latinos perform their cultural practices to stretch their identity into the states, and practice their right to be authentic members of their community.

The Latinos in my class differed in the way that they were proud to say they were Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Dominican. Thus, I pursued a relationship with these classmates and I began to feel differently about Latinos. I realized that I was taking part in the prejudice thoughts my previous classmates had toward Latinos by concealing my identity. I also recognized that Latinos were struggling to pursue a better life and that we are looked down upon. As a result of discrimination, it is difficult for us to accomplish our goals in life. Presently, every opportunity I get, I talk about my culture. I discuss the hardships Latinos face and I describe my experience growing up Puerto Rican. Although I am Puerto Rican, I don't know as much about my culture as I should. Reading Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez has brought new insights to my knowledge of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. Gonzalez focuses on language and writes that speaking Spanish is treated as a handicap instead of as an asset.

Race relations are an ever prominent issue in American society. Controversies focusing around race are a commonly seen smeared across the front page of the newspaper or headlining on the evening news. The opposition is usually between a minority group and "The Man," a colloquialism used by many Blacks to refer to the overwhelming power stemming from white racist tendencies. This racial tension can sometimes can cause the oppressed to band together against the oppressor. Many times, the most prevalent link is between the African American community and the Latino community. Here we find two groups of people with very similar lifestyles who find camaraderie between themselves when dealing