Black vs. brown
"In the rarefied world of national politics (and in America's even more other-worldly universities) blacks and Latinos tend to be lumped together in what Nicolas Vaca, a California lawyer, calls a 'presumed alliance.' Last month, Barack Obama ... assured a Hispanic conference that such a bond existed. ... On the streets of America's cities, however, rather less lofty attitudes are apparent.
" 'We're being overrun,' says Ted Hayes of Choose Black America, which has led anti-immigration marches in south-central Los Angeles. 'The companeros have taken all the housing. If you don't speak Spanish, they turn you down for jobs. Our children are jumped upon in the schools. They are trying to drive us out.' ...
"Last year [a poll by Pew Research] found that one-third of blacks believe immigrants take jobs from Americans — more than any other group. ... One survey of Durham, N.C., found that 59 percent of Latinos believed few or almost no blacks were hard-working, and a similar proportion reckoned few or almost none could be trusted."
— From "Where black and brown collide," in the Aug. 2 issue of the Economist |
