The Ethnic Presidency looks how racial and ethnic conflict has openly and covertly played a crucial role the past three decades in influencing, shaping and ultimately deciding who bags the world’s biggest political prize, the White House. Hutchinson believes that racial politics will play an even bigger role in the 2008 presidential election and future election.

I had the opportunity to conduct a blog interview with Mr. Hutchinson and his responses to my questions were as follows:

1. In your new and last book you look at how racial and ethnic factors come into play in political races, how do you think this will play out in the 2008 presidential election?

Race already has played a role. The two questions that the media has been obsessed with are “Is America ready for a black president?” and “Will Latinos vote for a black candidate?” Both suggest that race and ethnicity are deeply imprinted in the thinking of the media and by extension the thinking of many voters. Even those that feel they have to add “we have no problem voting for an African-American.” Also, the rap against Obama is he lacks experience, that could be a subtle way of saying he lacks competence to deal with the big ticket public policy issues.

2. Obama seems particularly interested in capturing the Latino voter, but it seems he is having some problem because of this allegedly lingering tension between Latinos and African Americans. However, in 1988, when Jesse Jackson also ran for President, it seems he was able to make major inroads. What are the major difference between the two?

Obama makes no overt appeals to Latinos on issues of immigration and health care. Jackson did. Obama is relatively unknown to Latino voters. Jackson was well known through his rainbow coalition organizing efforts. Finally, the tensions and conflict over immigration, numbers, and political power between blacks and Latinos has sharpened in some quarters in the past decade.

3. If Obama were to win the nomination and if you were part of his campaign team, what advice would you give him so he could bridge the Latino and African-American communities together?

Spend time in the Latino communities. Learn some Spanish. Talk about health care and immigration reform. Cultivate the support and confidence of Latino community leaders and elected officials.


I like to thank Earl Ofari Hutchinson for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions. These are indeed exciting times. Even though the topic of race may not be as taboo as it was in past, we still have a long way to go in addressing the inequities that exist in our country. The message being told by both candidates is clear. It is a call to bring about change and hope in America. However, we must stay vigilant and make sure we are not being sold on false “hope” by either candidate.

FOR MUCH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON, VISIT HIS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR WEBSITE.

TO ORDER YOUR COPY, VISIT ETHNICPRESIDENCY.COM

It is amazing how America has a selective memory when it comes to discussing the historic nature of the Democratic primary election. While many are hoping that the race issue would not be in forefront in the 2008 presidential primary campaign, the fact is, racial and ethnic conflict has always been a factor in presidential politics. The Ethnic Presidency looks how racial and ethnic conflict has openly and covertly played a crucial role the past three decades in influencing, shaping and ultimately deciding who bags the world’s biggest political prize, the White House. Hutchinson believes that racial politics will play an even bigger role in the 2008 presidential election and future election.

Hutchinson examines Obamamania, the Hillary and Bill factor, the soaring Latino vote, the silent but potent Asian-American vote, the immigration wars, the GOP’s love-hate relationship with black and Latino America, and Bush’s effort redo the GOP’s image from the ole boys club to a party of racial diversity. Although the book was release this month, Hutchinson wrote this prior to the first Presidential primary which was on January 29, therefore, some of the questions The Ethnic Presidency asks have already been answered. Here is a sample of questions the book asks and answers:

• Will America accept a black president? Can Obama be that president?
• Will America accept a woman president? Can Hillary be that president?
• Will America accept a Latino president? Can Bill Richardson be that president?
• Will America accept a Mormon president? Can Mitt Romney be that president?
• How the GOP played the Southern Strategy through Presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. to repeatedly win the White House. Can and will they abandon it in 2008?
• Did blacks and Latinos elect Bush?
• Have the Democrats taken the black and Latino vote for granted?
• Why have Presidential candidates other than John Edwards avoided making poverty an issue?
• Why immigration will be a stealth factor in the 2008 campaign. And did it help or hurt John McCain?
• Will Rudolph Giuliani’s contentious relations with blacks as New York mayor hurt or help his White House bid?

Earl Ofari Hutchinson – Bio
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author, syndicated columnist, political analyst and commentator. He has been a frequent guest on Hannity and Colmes, The O’Reilly Factor, The Big Story, EXTRA, and numerous CNN news and talk shows. He was a regular commentator on CNBC’s The Dennis Miller Show.

He has been a guest on the Today Show, Dateline, The Lehrer Hour, and BET News, America’s Black Forum. He is a frequent commentator for the American Urban Broadcast Network and Ed Gordon’s News and Notes on NPR. He is a featured columnist for Black News, Black America Web, and Alternet. He is associate editor of New America Media.

His op-ed columns appear in the Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Christian Science Monitor, and other major newspapers. He is the author of nine books, including The Latino Challenge to Black America.

FOR MUCH MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON, VISIT HIS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR WEBSITE.

TO ORDER YOUR COPY, VISIT ETHNICPRESIDENCY.COM

The rules are very straightforward and go as follows:

1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.

The following three sentences comes from Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House:

With Rove long gone from the White House after his resignation in mid-2007 that further guaranteed there would be no repeat of the Bush triumphant play of the gay marriage issue with the black evangelicals.

In the flush of their Bush victory, evangelical leaders and conservative pro-family groups could take solace in the fact that for a brief moment the issues of war and peace, and jobs and the economy took a back seat to moral values for just enough black voters to help make the winning difference for a conservative GOP president.

With few exceptions, Democratic strategists shrugged off the difference the black morals vote made in crushing their hopes to topple Bush from the White House.

And now, the next set of victims.

I choose Dan of Fitness for the Occasion; gordo of appletree; Kyle of Citizen Orange; Kai of Zuky; and adriana of latinopoliticsblog.com.

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.

Mr. Hutchinson has reached out to a number of Latino blogs to spark up conversation. I was asked to write up some questions while I was reading his book and the send those questions to him, which he would then answer. His stop will be on October 11 this coming Thursday. Mr. Hutchinson will be around for a short time to comment and answer comments. When I was developing my questions, I was hoping I would has some hard questions concerning the Black-Brown divide. My goal was to break down some myths I am hoping that I did. I know that some of you, my readers, probably participated in a previous stop, however, I hope you will continue the conversation on my blog. This is an important discuss that will not be solved in a few days, but this is a great way to begin for a conversation.

His bio material and book summary follows:

The Census Bureau made it official in 2002! Latinos are now the top minority in the U.S. The news hit black America like a thunderbolt. Many blacks complained that they would be shoved even further to the economic and political margin among minorities in the country. The Census report also showed Latinos were widening their population growth gap on blacks.

But, it’s not just the numbers. Latinos demand political and social issues no longer be framed solely in black and white. That presents another challenge to black America. At times that challenge has been intensified and conflicted by the wildly divergent agendas of African-Americans and Latinos on immigration, political empowerment, bilingual education, and jobs. These are complex and engaging issues.

The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation Between African-Americans and Hispanics examines the hot button issues and problems that conflict and unite blacks and Latinos. It looks at how both groups interpret and see those issues and problems through the prism of their experiences. It’s highly readable, fast paced, cutting edge book that blends the personal and analytical, and ultimately can serve as a guide to navigate race and ethnic relations through 21st Century America. The book will be published jointly in Spanish and English.

Author Bio -
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author, syndicated columnist, political analyst and commentator. He has been a frequent guest on Hannity and Colmes, The O’Reilly Factor, The Big Story, EXTRA, and numerous CNN News and Talk Shows. He was a regular commentator on CNBC’s The Dennis Miller Show.

He has been a guest on the Today Show, Dateline, The Lehrer Hour, and BET News, America’s Black Forum. He is a frequent commentator for the American Urban Broadcast Network and Ed Gordon’s News and Notes on NPR. He is a featured columnist for BlackNews.com, BlackAmericaWeb.com, and Alternet.org. He is associate editor of New America Media. His op-ed columns appear in the Baltimore Sun, L.A. Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Christian Science Monitor, and other major newspapers.