The Presumed Alliance

by Vaca, Nicolas C.

• ISBN13: 9780060522056
• ISBN10: 0060522054
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-08-01
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

As Latino and African Americans increasingly live side by side in large urban centers, as well as in suburban clusters, the idealized concept of a "Rainbow Coalition" would suggest that these two disenfranchised groups are natural political allies. Indeed, as the number of Latinos has increased dramatically over the last ten years, competition over power and resources between these two groups has led to surprisingly antagonistic and uncooperative interactions. Many African Americans now view Latinos, because of their growth in numbers, as a threat to their social, economic, and political gains. Vaca debunks the myth of "The Great Union" and offers the hope he believes each community could learn from, in order to achieve a mutually agreed upon agenda. More than simply unveiling the problem, The Presumed Alliance offers optimistic solutions to the future relations between Latino and Black America.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(16)
1 The Latino Tsunami: The Browning of America	17	(31)
2 Somewhere over the Rainbow Coalition: The Zero-Sum Game and Black-Latino Conflict	48	(14)
3 Who's the Leader of the Civil Rights Band? Latinos' Role in Brown v. Board of Education	62	(23)
4 The Folly of Presumption: Black Voters and the Los Angeles 2001 Mayoral Election	85	(23)
5 Passed By and Shut Out: Blacks Trapped in Miami's' Latino Vortex	108	(19)
6 When Blacks Rule: Lessons from Compton	127	(19)
7 Houston, We Have a Problem: Latinos Abandon Party Loyalty to Vote for One of Their Own	146	(23)
8 The Big Manzana: The Troubled Road to a Latino-Black Coalition and the Latino Mosaic of New York City	169	(16)
9 Visions of the Future	185	(18)
Notes	203	(26)
Index	229