June 18, 2001

11:49 PM

Amexica.So, living in two hispanic-dominated regions (Los Angeles, South Florida), I've seen the growth of the latino population create one of the oddest political coalitions ever. Ultra-conservatives (mostly white) want to tighten the borders because they see their "way of life" disappearing or mixing linguistically with Spanish. Blacks are threatened by dropping to #3 in the country's racial make-up, and see whatever political power they've gained begin to evaporate in a numbers game. In LA's recent mayoral race, this coalition became the deciding factor in defeating the latino candidate.
posted by owillis (20 comments total)

camerica.
posted by the_ill_gino at 12:21 AM on June 19, 2001

Of course, the whole of two continents is called America. Other ironies abound: "Los Angeles" and "Florida" are both very W.A.S.P. names.

Legacy of a Land Grab
posted by lagado at 4:34 AM on June 19, 2001

As if they didn't grab the land from the native americans, who grabbed the land from previous tribes, etc., etc.
posted by CRS at 6:25 AM on June 19, 2001

Principles are for loony fringe types of the Right, The Left or the Whatever. For the vast majority of everybody else, politics is about who's eating out of whose plate, period. If Blacks and right-wing whites suddenly find they have an economic interest in common, watch 'em hop in bed together! Is anyone surprised?

> As if they didn't grab the land from the native americans,
> who grabbed the land from previous tribes, etc., etc.

Give the continent back to the giant ground sloths.
posted by jfuller at 6:37 AM on June 19, 2001

fight america! fight to keep yourself white, just like you have for as long as you have existed.

(yes, there was a time before america. no, it's not called pre-american history.)
posted by will at 6:50 AM on June 19, 2001

Reminds me of the joke about Hyde Park in Chicago.
“Whites and blacks, shoulder to shoulder, united against the poor.” Somehow I don't see the same thing happening in the upcoming Florida Governor's race.
posted by machaus at 7:24 AM on June 19, 2001

Does anyone have any thoughts about "English-only" laws as they apply in this situation?
posted by davidmsc at 8:17 AM on June 19, 2001

Wow. The speed with which MetaFilter discussions devolve is startling.

Anywho, out here in California, the republic of "Amexica" is definitely redefining the political landscape. There's a reason Al Gore handily won this state--the large, and fast-growing, Latino population. It's causing shifts in places like Orange County, where districts that were once resolutely Republican (behind the Orange Curtain) are now electing Latino Democrats to office. The fact that the LA Mayor's race was between to fairly liberal Democrats is another sign. I would be surprised if a Pete Wilson-like Republican were able to win the governor's seat now.
posted by peterme at 9:36 AM on June 19, 2001

Yet oddly enough, the Cuban community in south Florida is, by all reports, largely Republican. What accounts for the difference?
posted by Dreama at 10:46 AM on June 19, 2001

Not to mention that Texas, with a very large hispanic population, is solidly Republican. I think hispanics are much more likely to split between the two major parties like whites.

Blacks, on the other hand, seem to be totally in thrall to the democratic party, with any deviation from that allegiance met with slurs and curses.
posted by CRS at 10:50 AM on June 19, 2001

Yet oddly enough, the Cuban community in south Florida is, by all reports, largely Republican. What accounts for the difference?

Is that a joke?
posted by rodii at 11:14 AM on June 19, 2001

What accounts for the expectation that Cuban-Americans would be politically aligned with Mexican-Americans on the other coast?
posted by sudama at 11:15 AM on June 19, 2001

thrall
1 a: a servant slave : BONDMAN; also : SERF b: a person in moral or mental servitude
2: a state of servitude or submission
posted by sudama at 11:21 AM on June 19, 2001

Lemme see - one party actually gives a damn about blacks, the other keeps them around for photo opps. Which would you choose?

But that's not the issue here, is it?

To your other point, the Cuban community is pretty single issue: Castro. Republicans have been pretty anti-Fidel (because he's a "commie"-horrors!) while Democrats are more towards normalizing some kind of relationship. Hence they side with the Republicans. Its that simple.
posted by owillis at 12:05 PM on June 19, 2001

I thought Cubans were mostly republican thanks to Kennedy and the failure at the Bay of Pigs. I guess they also viewed Carter as too soft (The sandinistas took Nicaragua during his term, and came back to democracy while Reagan/Bush), and Clinton, well, they won't forgive him for giving back Elian, even if it was the only decent thing to do.

I'm from Mexico, and I guess mexicans in the US have traditionally aligned themselves with the Democrats mostly because of their more populist style, which is more similar to actual mexican politics. And yes, there's Pete Wilson and the infamous proposition 187.
posted by tremendo at 2:02 PM on June 19, 2001

> "Los Angeles" and "Florida" are both very W.A.S.P. names

What? they're spanish names: "the angels", and "flowery"
posted by tremendo at 2:07 PM on June 19, 2001

What? they're spanish names: "the angels", and "flowery"

Please reset your sarcasm detector to "full awareness."
posted by feckless at 2:28 PM on June 19, 2001

Democratic alliances with labor unions definitely help for Mexican representation as well.
posted by owillis at 2:54 PM on June 19, 2001

an aside

The sandinistas took Nicaragua during his term, and came back to democracy while Reagan/Bush

If I remember my history correctly, the Sandinistas were voted into power in Nicaragua, this upset the United States (mainly because any potential business market turning against capitalism is bad for US business) and led to them funding the rebellions against the popular Sandinista government (See also: Vietnam) or so it is laid out in "Manufacturing Consent"

So if anything Reagan and Bush pushed against Democracy.
posted by drezdn at 11:02 PM on June 19, 2001

Yet oddly enough, the Cuban community in south Florida is, by all reports, largely Republican. What accounts for the difference?
tremendo summed it up pretty well. Here in South Florida, the Cuban community is pretty much in lock step with conservative retirees. When Janet Reno runs for Governor against Jeb Bush next year, the tide may well turn on the African-American community. And, by all accounts, they hate Jeb Bush.
posted by stevis at 11:31 PM on June 19, 2001