The Presumed Alliance: The Unspoken Conflict Between Latinos and Blacks and What It Means for America
Attorney Vaca examines the traditional political alliance between blacks and Hispanics, revealing that increasing tensions between the two groups is threatening their potentially powerful partnership. Because the American civil rights movement focused on the oppression of blacks, other nonwhites have had their identities and much of their concerns subsumed under black issues, according to Vaca. But the backlash against civil rights and the rise in the nation's Hispanic population are uncoupling Hispanic interests from those of blacks. Vaca delineates points of conflict, including competition for employment, immigration policies, and the traditional prejudices each group has held against the other. The airing of these conflicts, submerged historically, is both a reflection of the times and of the significance of the statistical impact of Hispanics in American consumer markets and within political factions that counterbalance the black vote. Vaca explores the question of whether the political alliance between blacks and Hispanics will grow stronger out of respect or whether formerly hidden differences will drive a wedge between the minority groups that will reconfigure American politics.Vernon FordCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved