Latino Politics in Massachusetts: Struggles, Strategies and Prospects by Carol Hardy-Fanta & Jeffrey Gerson

Author:Carol Hardy-Fanta & Jeffrey Gerson [Hardy-Fanta, Carol & Gerson, Jeffrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ethnic Studies, Social Science, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781135672140
Google: AqymAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-01-14T10:35:27+00:00

Whither Latino Politics?

This analysis began by suggesting that Springfield’s at-large electoral system and group competition and modeling between African Americans and Latinos played a critical role in the explanation of Latino underrepresentation in the city. This is true. There is no question that, with a ward-based system, Latinos could have achieved representation within the city council as early as 1979. In that year, when César Ruiz ran for city council and Latinos turned out in higher numbers than ever before, that opportunity was lost. The 1981 and 1993 elections showed that it was not altogether impossible for Latinos to get elected in an at-large system. But in 1997, it was again evident that at-large elections were a more powerful obstacle to representation than apathy or socioeconomic status.

In terms of black–Latino relations in the city, there is no strong evidence that competition has been fierce, but it is clear that modeling has hardly happened. This is largely due to the fact that African Americans are just as underrepresented as Latinos. In such a context, it would be reasonable to assume that Latinos and blacks would join forces to achieve representation. Yet the record shows that attempts at collaboration have been feeble at best. This is in part due to the fact that aside from a lack of adequate representation, there is little else that Latinos have in common with Springfield’s blacks: African Americans were there earlier, their struggle was qualitatively different, and today they fare better than Latinos in key areas. Without a doubt, Latino–black collaboration could be profitable politically, but the history of black–Latino segregation is perhaps too strong an obstacle. Furthermore, it is not clear how significant the rewards of coalition building might be. As long as Latinos and blacks agree that they can accomplish their goals by relying on separate brokerage strategies, the incentive to collaborate will be considerably less. Although there are ongoing efforts to reduce the political distance that exists between Latino and African-American elites, their history is short.

In any event, these hurdles are compounded by the marginalized, nearly-destitute position Latinos occupy in the city’s political economy. In 1990, more among them than among whites and blacks were born outside the United States, spoke no English, dropped out of school, and had no jobs or were poor. This notwithstanding, it is clear that the one-two punch of at-large elections and socioeconomic disadvantage does not inevitably lead to electoral apathy and exclusion if Latinos are encouraged by voter registration and education campaigns. If they have the choice of supporting a Latino candidate, participation is also more likely.

Still, their participation record is mixed and this is true not just at the mass level. Compared to the Italian and Irish of Springfield, the level of stamina and persistence of Latino elites vying for political office has been inconsistent at best. In general, the quality of Springfield’s Latino elites does not seem to be great. Historically, Latino leaders were unenthusiastic about promoting successors they could not control, but they have not been very good at developing a cadre of loyal replacements either.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.