Funny stuff here. Subjectively and experientially I have always had a soft spot for Hispanics (Latinos? Latin Americans? Spanish-African- Native Americans? Hard to determine what’s currently PC). The men are cheerful and enterprising; the women are cheerful and sexy. What’s not to like?
African American activists talk about “people of color” and freely refer to their Latino brothers and sisters (no less than their gay brothers and sisters) as if they represent a united front. Subjectively and on the ground, nothing could be further from the truth.
Whether you are in Harlem or on the island of Hispaniola, the difference between Blacks and Latinos is glaring and unmistakable. And it has little or nothing to do with skin color.
First and foremost, there’s the matter of social cohesion and mutual support. Hispanics seem to look out for each other and Blacks seem not to. An Hispanic family may be confusing and impossibly tangled to a Blanco but it is very definitely a supportive family unit. Black people call each other “brother” and “sister” but brotherhood and sisterhood is not what they practice.
Black Harlem’s business streets and avenues are divided between government offices, churches, national fast food chains and a scattering of genuinely independent businesses, none of them thriving. The atmosphere is enervated, bedraggled and needy.
The main streets of Spanish Harlem and up through Washington Heights, Inwood and the Bronx are healthy, energetic hives of commercial activity. Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Cubans–they’re all hustling for the almighty American dollar. They’re not only supporting themselves but in the American immigrant tradition they’re sending money home to families in Latin America. Small wonder they mainstream into American society–skin tone notwithstanding–in a generation or two.
Latinos like Judge Sotomayor who make common cause with leftist Black activists are favored by establishment leftist whites. But they don’t represent the broad majority of Hispanics who are generally religious, conservative, and enthusiastically capitalist and upward-mobile.
