Originally Posted by Samoon

Let there be no doubt about it. Black people should pay close attention to this ongoing election. This election is about "change", alright. But not just for the Presidency. It's also about change as a people. Black people need to realize that no one beats a path to our door unless they WANT something from us. It's time to let those people know they can beat a path to our door, but that this club now has a door charge JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!! The Clintons have done very little for us, and the NAACP has done LESS! These unconcerned individuals don't even aggressively vie for our vote (and why not, so many of us just hand our vote over on a silver platter without knowing the relevant issues that DO affect US) and all we get for our vote is war for oil, outrageous gas prices, health care you can't afford and low-wage jobs. Replacing the twerp in the White House with a skirt in the White House is not going to make me feel better about it. Barack Obama has his work cut out for him. And we'd all best pay attention to how this goes down. Because it lets us all know who our friends really are....and aren't.

"Take a look around"

The Black and Brown Divide

As Blacks have voted and tuned in on the presidency, Hispanics are firmly opposing Black leaders in favor of white ones. Is the brotherhood among minorities dead?
The Democratic primaries in California woke up a lot of people. During this election, there was a lot of talk going on about the "Black and Brown" divide. Most people have assumed for decades that since Blacks and Hispanics are minorities, it is only natural that they will support each other for elective office. Wrong! Hispanics have always viewed themselves as a "dominant" group. While Blacks have helped to elect Hispanics (The wife-cheating Mayor of Los Angeles, for example) it is abundantly clear that Hispanics have a clear opposition to voting for Black candidates. Whether it's viable Black candidates like Ron Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas who lost his bid for the senate, or now Barack Obama running for president, Hispanics have opted to vote for the white candidate--or not at all. Up until recently, this trend has been most notable in places like California and Texas, but as the legal/illegal Hispanic populations increase across the nation, I note that this trend is not just isolated to the southwest United States.
What we see is that when the candidates are Democrat or Republican , Hispanics will routinely vote Democrat. However, when the candidate is Black and his opponent is White, Hispanics will tend to vote against the Black candidate as we're seeing in the Obama/Clinton race. During "Super Tuesday" for presidential candidates, California voters chose their candidates for president. Hispanics make up a huge block of voters in California and they overwhelmingly chose Hillary Clinton over Obama by 64% according to MSNBC. It is now clear that being a fellow minority hasn't created any kinship with Hispanics in America if we ever had this. We've all heard of the racial school fights that are almost a daily occurence in California, and the situation in the jails is so balkanized that even rival gangs like the Crips and Bloods put aside their street differences, while in prison, in order to put up a resistance to the Hispanics in jail, many of whom are illegal aliens. What we see coming into form is a two front assault: Whites against Blacks on the one hand and Hispanics against Blacks on the other.

We're also seeing a lot of the same pathology typical of caucasian society against Black people being exhibited by Hispanics against Blacks. Jennifer Lopez was adamant to prove her "street credentials" when she embarked on her music career. She struck up a romantic relationship with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs to leech off his fanbase, but when it was time to choose a life partner she chose Latin singer Marc Anthony. There has been a large influx of Latinos into rap music, but you do not see Latinos clamoring to equally welcome Blacks into their music culture. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with people trying to make as much money as they can, and in all honesty there were legal and public image issues involved with Lopez's break-up from Combs (specifically a nighclub shooting involving Combs' protege' Shine). However, once again, we are seeing an economic methodology of using what Black people have to offer and then discarding Black people after usurping a position among us. Whether it's Asian stores, Arab liquor stores that prefer to set up shop in Black neighborhoods and not white ones or traditional white businesses, Black people's money is respected, but Black people ourselves are not welcome----even when it is WE who generate the income for these businesses.

Black people have been very naive about a good number of things, and how Hispanics see Black people is probably the most recent, and the most troubling because, unlike whites, Hispanics tend to live and work in traditionally Black neighborhoods. And what we are seeing in traditionally Black neighborhoods is a "push" to push out the Black residents.

We don't see this kind of behavior when Blacks move into Hispanic neighborhoods. And so it begs the question "Why do Hispanics hate Black people?"

Is it simply competition for space? Or, a power struggle between two ethic groups that, at the end of the day? Neither holds the baton of power in this country. That would be a sensible explaination if Black people had something to compete for. But considering that the majority of the valuable assets in America are white-owned, that doesn't hold water. Most likely it is the fact there is a highly influential nativist push among Hispanics (through long-time groups like La Raza and Conquistadors) combined with the fact that other ethnic groups have learned the lessons of white racism very well. If one wants to be looked upon favorably by the larger society (mainstream), all one has to do is to show disdain for Black Americans. Hispanics have only been a political force for the last 10 years and yet you have white politicians and white businesses bending over backwards until their spines snap to become as Hispanic as possible---even burdening themselves with extra expenses like setting up bi-lingual phone services and bi-lingual package printing. You've NEVER seen these same companies go out of their way to hire Blacks or make mainstream advertising featuring Blacks in a positive role. White politicians regularly oppose Affirmative Action, claiming that they are listening to their constituents, but we have presidential candidates like John McCaan and Hillary Clinton fighting and even openly insulting their white voters telling them they approve of amnesty for illegal aliens, for example. We have NEVER seen these same white, Republican, or even Democratic candidates publicly tell white voters that, "we are against you and in favor of Black Americans---even if you don't like it!" And yet this is exactly what we see in their attitude toward Hispanics. Not all of these politicians use illegal aliens to mow their lawn or babysit their children. More likely, big business has more to do with it than anything else but it still has a devastating effect on Black people.

It's clear that Hispanic disdain for Black people is no accident and it is clear this is not a trend we will see diminish. As Hispanic influence increases, we will see fewer and fewer opportunities for Black Americans develop. Remain in denial about this if you want, the proof will definitely be IN the pudding. We will be in the middle of a giant squeeze play, crushed between Whites on one hand and Hispanics on the other. While no one should construe this article to mean anyone should be anti-Hispanic (or anti-anyone else for that matter) we as Black people need to see to our own affairs first. We can't just support people because they are white----or Black for that matter. Screw-ups cross every ethnic line.

Hopefully this will "open the eyes" of OUR people that have sleeping on this for years, decades even. "BE for US, by US."