"People of Color:" A False Political Construct

Ever since Jesse Jackson coined the term “rainbow coalition in the 1980’s, Democratic Party strategists have been trying to put together a coalition, to varying degrees of success, of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans to form the heart of Democratic majority. That notion blew up a few weeks ago when three Latino council members along with a Latino labor leader were caught on tape making overtly racist remarks against African Americans and Oaxacan immigrants from Mexico. Simply put underneath professions of solidarity there has been a turf war in Los Angeles pitting African Americans against Latinos as the Latin share of the population rose to 48%. At the same time the African American share of Los Angeles’ population decline from 15% in 1970 to 8% in 2020.

 

What is happening in Los Angeles is being mimicked across the country where the Latino population is rising, and the African American population is stagnating. Into this cauldron there have been knock down drag out fights pitting Asian Americans against Blacks and Latinos in San Francisco, Northern Virginia, and New York City where meritocratic admissions policies to elite high schools are under attack to the detriment of Asian American students.

 

Adding to this volatile mix is the current Supreme Court case attacking Harvard University’s anti-Asian admission policies. (Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University) It is likely that the whole edifice of affirmative action will fall once the case is decided.

 

As a result, it now looks that African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans have far less in common than what was once thought. Thus, it will not be a surprise to see, at least, working, and middle class “people of color” moving away from their roots in the Democratic Party. A major tell would be developer Rick Caruso winning, or coming surprisingly close, in his underdog race for mayor of Los Angeles against Karen Bass.