BlackPerspective.net
Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
Tennessee Tornadoes, Super Tuesday, and Hispanic Support
February 6th, 2008
This is going to be a mixed bag as far as specific issues covered; but it’s all related to yesterdays vote.
For a free lance piece for the local paper I wrote the following in regards to Hillary’s Vote totals in Tennessee:
Part of the outcome can be attributed to polling stations being closed up to 2 hours early in the western part of the state. Jackson Baker of the Memphis Flyer Online explains the repercussions in an article that night that I read while blocking out the blaring tornado warning sirens here in Nashville:
“The reason is that working-class folks have ONLY the early-morning hours or the after-work hours to vote. The middle class, especially the homemaker component of it, has much more latitude. Not even to mention the out-and-out professionals — disproportionately conservative, white, and, where relevant, Republican. So two evening hours of wipe-out is going to hurt the working-class part of the spectrum disproportionately.
And in Memphis, it had been acknowledged by everyone that the black working class would go overwhelmingly for Obama…
But even so, Hillary Clinton would have won Tennessee. Just not by as much.”
memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A38956
I elaborate on this and talk about the lack of Hispanic support for Obama and for Black social causes; as well as other election related issues in the podcast below.
Don’t be fooled by the tv talking pundits. Last night was in most ways another loss for Hillary Clinton. She barely won states she was leading by 20 to 30 points in just a couple of weeks or so ago. The more the campaign goes on the more she fades. All she did last night is stop the bleeding from getting out of control.
The delegate count is from last night was 582 for Clinton and 562 for Obama. They basically tied, with 50.8 percent of the delegates for one, versus 49.2 percent of the delegates for the other.
Popularity: 14% [?]
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17 Responses to “Tennessee Tornadoes, Super Tuesday, and Hispanic Support”
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Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
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Well,here I believe you can see fear in action.Hispanics are still trying to
figure-out the whole scheme of things and as far as they can see.America is
controlled mainly by white people.Therefore,combine the fear factor with what
they’re trying to figure-out.I can understand why Obama didn’t do as well
with the Hispanics.
-garry b
PS: Never under-estimate what fear and a lack of knowledge/understanding
will lead people to do!
Yep, it does seem like they’re hedging their bet with the known factor. Yet, I think they’re cutting their own throat by not allining with other minority groups to amass power, as oppose to hedging on the white power structures benevolence.
Also if Obama can’t when then it makes it very unlikely that a Mel Martinez, or whomever from the Hispanic world could get this type of position in the near future either. It’s not that I think they should necessarily vote for Barack just because he’s Black, but I think many are specifically not voting for him because he is Black. Otherwise we’d see a more even distribution. Hell, the white vote is more evenly distributed.
I don’t listen to the spin, because as we all know the spin or what we hear the pundits spew is what the campaigns tell them in the spin room. That or some preconceived notion that even if it doesn’t pan out they stick with. There is a post at Huff Po
Why Latinos and Asian Americans Went for Hillary
www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-chang/why-latinos-and-asian-ame_b_85359.html
which I think hits closer to the mark than anything spewing on he news.
It’s obvious that we as americans still have a long way to go as far as equality. The real deal is that Latino and Asian americans still feel that they have a better chance on the side of whites than blacks.
If further shows that there is absolutely no attention focused on the issues that affect this country and the people, it’s all an inward prejudice (in the heart). Say anything with your mouth, but what really counts is what you do, , ,and what you do comes from the heart. It’s sad, but it’s a fact.
God Bless!
Hey Yo!
Just wanted to let you know I stay reading and respect what you are doing here.
I stayed up late listening, watching and waiting for the results. As you know I’m from Mass, I voted for whoever. I’m registered as a democrat and honestly.. with how close this race is I wouldn’t care if Obama or Clinton won the democratic nomination. Like you’ve mentioned before either way it’s a big milestone in US history.
I just want to know when they will change this electoral/delegates vote thing. I know it’s just the primaries now but as a supposed democracy it doesn’t make sense. Especially with all this stuff you are talking about with your podcast.
In addition… as I’ve learn in my civics class in high school and in college: statistically, Hispanics are more conservative than African American… but correct me if I’m wrong. that’s why they seem to be going for Hillary as her campaigns tries to stress her more experience over Barack. Also they say most Hispanic associate Hillary with her husband and they want the Clinton era back where Hispanics were doing well in this country (supposedly).
I dunno…
Anyhoo… you stay up Yo!
Shay
What happened in Tennessee?
I felt great last night for Barack, especially when I was about to fall asleep and the media realized they got it wrong in MO, Hillary was not the winner as projected. I knew my St. Louis peeps wouldn’t let me down.
Cooper, I think you’re right on point about media spin.
Thanks for the Huffington post article, I’m bout to check it out.
Black people have to remember that “Latino” or “Hispanic” could be white. I suspect as much as 50% of Latinos or Hispanics are functionally white.http://www.nuestrolosangeles.com/e/cultural/id.php3?id=1822 Those two designations refer to the language that is being spoken by the said person.
bishopscott, I think it’s too bad we can’t coalesce; but we have to realize that this is the case so that we (black folk) do what’s good for us.
Shayla, thanks for your continued support from the begining.
I’m sure you’re right about the points you ‘vementioned being factors in the equation for why Hispanics mostly go with Clinton. With most things, there is no just one reason, and different people do the same thing with different motivations.
Nonetheless, I thing the totality of evidence, outside of just this voting for Obama thing; demonstrates that the Hispanic community is not trying to unite with the Black community for collective minority power. If the the Obama vote stood alone in a vaccume, one might conclude that those other factors you mentioned and the factors in the Huffington post article that Cooper posted, were the only reason; but since we have ample across the board evidence of lack of support and even emnity within a large portion of the Hispanic community towards the Black community, we know those things aren’t all of the equation.
As I see it there has to be a coalition built with the Asian and Arab communities. They can be influenced easily, because of the Black dollars that they depend on to support their families.
Obama needs to shuffle the deck and find the money card to get them all-board his train ride to Washington.
MrsGrapevine, along with the polls closing two hours early in Memphis which is majority black, due to the tornatoes; whites 18 - 29 vote 56 to 37 percent for Clinton; whereas in Georgia it was the exact. Alabama was similar to GA as well.
Sall that’s true.
I’ve had people try to argue with me about Hispanic being a culture and not a race. You have Indo-hispanics, Afro-Hispanics, and Euro-Hispanics; and most Euro-Hispanics live white. You wouldn’t even know most of them were Hispanic if they didn’t tell you, or maybe if their name happened to be something like Gonzales; but many of them are not.
This might be sorta off-topic but I think it addresses the core issue(s). Slap me upside the head if you think I’m wrong.
It amazes me that people can’t see how the ‘Old-guard Democrats’ are manipulating the masses - especially when it deals with the minorities. It’s fairly laid out in Jeff Chang’s piece, which cooper mentioned above in comment #3. Kudos to cooper.
In my opinion, it’s always been the Democratic Party, as it stands now, who has done the least to help our country become strong in that they would rather have people on the dole, foment angst among the various races and tax the hell out of us in order to sustain those programs that keep people ‘in their places’. Isn’t it better to teach someone how to fish than give them the fish with no effort on their part?
As D. Yobachi Boswell pointed out, “we have Indo-Hispanics, Afro-Hispanics, Euro-Hispanics” and we probably have Indo-Africans, Euro-Africans, Afro-Asians, Asiatic-Whites, Euro-Asians - I could go on forever. Can’t you see how this is harmful to us all. Remember the saying “divide and conquer”?
Not until we all come together as Americans and stop ‘fracturing’ our masses, there will be no coalescence and therefore the in-fighting will continue. Not until we get back to ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’ will this country change.
“You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world” - Revolution 1 - Beatles - White Album - 1968.
Hats off to everyone who commented above.
writeonbro, when Frantz Fanon wrote that we are the wretch of the earth, he wasn’t lying.
The problem is that all these groups, on the whole, have accepted white supremacy racist ideals about us. Plus, Arabs and Asians don’t have to worry about losing our dollars, because black entrepreneurship doesn’t threaten to replace them.
This highlights a problem with the Black community. We haven’t built ourselves up sufficiently so that we have enough to bring to the table to have the kind of leverage we need when we coalition build.
Morgan I’ll agree with you to the extent that the Dems clearly manipulate race politics to maintain power, and they certainly love to tax us to death to maintain social programs as a source of power as well; even when their may be better ways to confront a socil disparity.
Nonetheless, the majority on the other side, when talking about “what’s good for America” always want that good to come about by racial minorities giving up their heritage, giving up demands for full inclusion and recognition culturally, and generally going along to get along; while the white majority is required to do nothing.
What a conundrum. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Let’s all pray that Barack wins and that he can somehow take the good from each party and kick the bad at the curb.
With a Democratic congress and a Democratic President perhaps some change for the good will transpire. Got my fingers crossed.