As I mentioned at the beginning of the week Earl Ofari Hutchinson will be around to promote his newly published book The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation Between African-Americans and Hispanics. Mr. Hutchinson will be around for a short time to answer any further questions or followups.

I would like to point out even though the book focuses on Latinos as a whole, some of you will notice, there are certain question I only reference Mexican Americans, instead of Latinas/os. As some of you know there has been a long running racial tension between African Americans and Latinos/as, mainly with Mexican Americans. These tensions date back around the time of Texas independence and when the US annexed a third of Mexico’s territory following the Mexican War. However, it was during the time, 1920s, when Mexican Americans were trying to attain a certain level of “Whiteness” when tensions between Mexican Americans and African Americans really started. As you read the questions I asked, you will see why I only mention Mexican Americans not the entire Latina/o community.

Here are the questions I sent him:

1. There are many examples where there have been collaborations between black-brown in lawsuits during the earliest civil rights struggles, especially in school desegregation cases in California and Texas. In Mendez v. Westminster, the 1946 Mexican school desegregation case in Orange County, CA, Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP submitted an amicus brief that many legal scholars acknowledge was a dry run for Brown v. Board of Education. And in Corpus Christi, TX, in the late 1960s, parents of African American and Mexican American school children brought suit against the school district for busing ethnic Mexicans to predominantly black schools and African Americans to predominantly Mexican schools, while leaving predominantly Anglo schools alone. I have noticed that people tend to point out how Latinos piggybacked off Blacks during the civil rights movement, given our historical litigation collaborative efforts, why are these accounts never mention when people talk about past collaborations? By mentioning these collaborations, wouldn’t this help develop a stronger unity by providing further evidence of past collaborations?

Yes, that why I say in an answer to another question below it’s crucial that each group know something of the other group’s history of struggle and the issues they struggled around. That’s the key to consciouness building and ultimately coalition building.

2. I was part of the Lee Brown’s campaign when he held off Houston city councilman Orlando Sanchez. It is true Brown was endorsed by Latino business and political leaders; however, there were other factors that played into why some Latinos backed Brown over Sanchez. One had to do with the divide between Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans (Sanchez). While it is true Brown pledged to make City Hall and his administration inclusive, however, many within the Latino community did not feel Brown kept his promise and many started to cry foul. Recently, a similar situation is occurring with our school superintendent, Abelardo Saavedra, where the black community is crying foul and is campaigning against the Houston school district’s $805 million bond referendum this Nov. Both situations have been played up the news media, which in both cases have ruffled racial feathers. Some would argue that this one way by the white elite establishment of creating a divide and conquer between both groups. You mentioned that some may feel it is being “exploited by some,” so my question, what are your person thoughts, is the media exploiting the racial divide that currently exist? If so, for what reason?

The media has long since honed the art of divide and rule among competing ethnic groups into a science. It churns out endless TV features, news reports, and stories on the great racial divide between black and white and black and Latinos. But when do you see the news stories and accounts of places and areas and issue where blacks and Latinos join hands? Good leadership can in part help to overcome the divisive strategy.

3. Continuing on the same the scenario. I do admit it was very painful because there were some within the Latino community who were quick to label any Latino a traitor for supporting Brown. I worked hard to break down the need of supporting one’s “own” regardless of party affiliation or political beliefs. This was true for the case against Alberto Gonzales. Interestingly enough, many Latino civil rights groups supported both Sanchez and Gonzales. It is obvious Latinos are suspicious of African American politicians to look after their interests any more than African Americans are suspicious of Latinos who are in office. In your opinion, how can we ensure our leaders (political and civil rights) do not fall into this closing-ranks mentality trap brought on by community pressure?

That’s going to take a lot of hard, patient work by black and Latino leaders and organizations to get each group to see past their own narrow, ethnic group interests, and support a candidate (Latino or black) that’s willing to speak out for and fight hard for education, criminal justice, and voting rights reforms, more jobs, housing and affordable health care. These issues transcend ethnicity, and the sooner blacks and Latinos see that the faster the struggle for justice and equality will accelerate.

4. It’s no secret that many African Americas resent the “minority” status of Mexican Americans who, they believe, have not suffered the degree of discrimination and exclusion they have. However, history tells a different story. Prior to the Civil War and the Jim Crow laws, Anglo Texans differentiate themselves from poor Mexicans by references to the use of an “alien language,” undesirable migrant worker status (later, illegal immigrant status), or even lack of hygiene. These prejudices justified discriminatory practices from the effects of “racism,” yet we continue to apply our definition of race to our historical past. By doing this, it negates the fact that many Mexican Americans suffered the same degree of discrimination and exclusion. If one were to look at old Census records Mexican was considered to be a race. It was not until Sanchez v. Texas (1951); Texas courts ruled that Mexicans were “white people of Spanish descent.” Yet, other states and federal governments distinguished “Mexicans” as a separate category alongside “negroes” and “whites,” and Mexicans were segregated in schools, restaurants, and public swimming pools as a matter of practice. It was not unusual to find one bathroom for whites and one for “Colored Men” that was also labeled “Hombres Aqui” (”Men Here”). None of these events are mentioned in our public history books and the only way to find this information is taking a Mexican American course in college, but we know these cases are usually taken by Latinos. My question, are there any suggestions you would like to offer on how we can better educate both communities of our histories that could help unite us?

I’ve always said that black history month and Hispanic heritage month should be every month and every day and the accomplishments of both groups should be force fed to students of all ethnic groups by teachers, administrators, and parents. This would do much to break down the barriers and lift the fog of ignorance that ethnic groups have about each other’s struggle for justice and economic uplift.

5. Recently, the media mentioned that the recent demonstration in Jena, LA could mark the start of the 21st century’s civil rights movement. However, last year, the same thing was being said about the immigration marches. Besides the obvious message that immigrants are taking away jobs, I have noticed, which you also mentioned in the beginning of the year and in your book that many blacks and some civil rights groups were not happy comparing the immigration reform struggle with the 1960s civil rights movement. Because of this, it was not surprising that there was minimum support from the black community during the marches. Fast forward to the present, during the latest Jena demonstration, I noticed there wasn’t any public support from any of the Latino civil rights group for the Jena 6 demonstration. I find this very interesting because both events were demonstrations to challenge the justice system; one challenged the disparities in the justice system, while the other challenged the current ICE raids and the inhumane treatment of immigrants in the detentions centers and among other things. Given the fact there has been a history of black and brown collaborations, especially in the early civil rights struggles in Texas and later during the civil right movement, do you think African Americans and Mexican Americans can find common ground again given our current economic and social conditions?

Yes, but it requires strong, proactive, visionary leadership at the ground level to see the need for linkage on issues of justice, economic parity, and civil rights between a Jena struggle and the immigrant rights struggle.

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