BlogHer - immigration - Comments

it was a pleasure

Kim Pearson — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:43:35 -0500

Rose is a special woman to be sure. I hope that through her example, more Afro-Germans will share their stories. Thanks for commenting.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

thank you

Katiaoutloud — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:01:16 -0500

Thank you for highlighting out story. Rose is dear to my heart and has helped me tremendously on my own journey!

Kindest Regards,

Kathrin

Thanks, Maria

Kim Pearson — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:47:33 -0500

I really appreciate your taking the time to read and comment.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Fascinating and touching story & history

Maria Niles — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:28:37 -0500

Thank you, Kim for sharing Rosemarie's story and some of the history of Afro Germans with us. Really very interesting to learn more about both.

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I'd love to hear more about your research, Maria!

Kim Pearson — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:08:08 -0600

This quote is so important:

Coalitions must be actively built and require an understanding of issues that are important to communities and they will vary within the broad umbrella of "Hispanic" and will vary locally.

You're so right -- and even where there is a history of coalition building, it's a mistake to assume unanimity. I think. for example, of the range of opinions I've heard from Latinos about bilingual education. On the other hand, I've seen a shared concern among African American and Latino leaders about the disparate impact of the subprime mortgage crisis on people of color and working class people. Class, geography, age, culture -- all of these factors are vectors that affect political attitudes. One hopes that more of those nuances will become visible in news coverage.

Friend of BlogHer George Kelly sent this analysis from Sarah Wildman, writing on the the Guardian newspaper site. It concludes:

Finally the results of the Nevada caucuses bring in yet another slice of identity politics. Hillary won the Latino vote. This should highlight for both campaigns how crucial it is to have their ground workers go door to door to meet and entice the increasingly important Latino vote - more open to the Democrats than in 2004 thanks to the xenophobic anti-immigration debate of the GOP.

If Nevada is any indicator, the Clinton campaign's get-out-the-vote effort among Latinos is stronger. Obama relied on the endorsement from the Culinary Workers Union, whereas Clinton went out and picked up endorsements from big names in the Latino community. (Latino voters, who made up 15% of Nevada caucus-goers, went 64%-26% for Clinton.) While that momentum among Latinos will not be as crucial in South Carolina, where Latinos make up only a small percentage of the population, the Clinton campaign will definitely try to leverage it in other states as we roll to Super Tuesday on February 5.

And yet the Latino population is not uniform; across the country it changes from state to state. Cubans in Florida vote more conservatively, for example, than Mexicans in California and Dominicans in New York. Latinos aren't the same type of voting bloc as African-Americans, which means the Obama campaign has a chance to regroup and rethink how to peel away Latinos who may have voted Republican in 2004.

Unlike 2004, Democrats.now have a registration advantage over Republicans among Latinos, so expect attention to this diverse segment of the electorate to become even more intense.
Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Fantastic post, Kim!

Maria Niles — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:25:28 -0600

My primary Ph.D. research focused on black-Latino political coalitions. There is a tendency to assume that African Americans and Latinos will automatically coalesce and of course the reality is much more nuanced but that also does not mean that Latinos automatically will not vote for black candidates out of some sort of racial tension.

Coalitions must be actively built and require an understanding of issues that are important to communities and they will vary within the broad umbrella of "Hispanic" and will vary locally. The issues of Central Americans in Southern California are quite different from those of Cubans in Florida. For example shared issues around small business and public education has helped build political coalitions of primarily Mexican and Central American Latinos with primarily Vietnamese Southeast Asians in California.

Assuming monolithic lockstep behavior by any group is lazy thinking in any direction.

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Beyond Help

You're welcome!

Kim Pearson — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:47:29 -0600

I suspect, you're right, Marilyn, that many Americans don't understand the diversity and complexity of Latino peoples. It's especially important to recognize the integral roles they play in American life, both historically and currently. I know I have a lot to learn, myself. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Thank you for these links, Kim!

Marilyn — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:40:13 -0600

This is such important information and I suspect most Americans know very little about it, myself included. I knew even less before I moved to the Caribbean. It was only there that I began to look at and have my eyes opened to Afro-Caribbean history. Thank you for posting this.

The Land of Moo

Co-Founder of Bloggers for Darfur

Horse race reporting is an old problem

Kim Pearson — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:18:16 -0600

Hi Morra,
Yes, the focus on the horse race is a perennial problem -- an easy story to write -- the crabgrass of political journalism. Jay Rosen has a nice blog post from 2004 that connects this style of reporting with the "inside the beltway" mentality that, too often, separates journalists from the concerns of the public whose interest they are presumably protecting. Even earlier, Timothy Crouse's The Boys on the Bus identified the larger problem -- pack journalism -- that creates a journalism more responsive to the preoccupations of elites than the pressing concerns of the voting public.

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

I can't stand it anymore!

Jenna Raby — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:39:47 -0500

I'm from New York City, a proud survivor of September 11th. Let me tell you, Giuliani capitalized on a traumatized nation and is getting leverage and lift from the pure lack of sophistication of the American electorate. It is widely known and acknowledged among the press corps that Giuliani is a madman. Give me strength, I left New York to come to California to get away from psychos like Guliani. Keep the pressure on and keep educating everyone you know.

Jenna Raby
http://www.laborfair.com
Laborfair.com: good help is easy to find!
Blog: http://blog.laborfair.com

OMG...NO!!!!

Catherine Morgan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:10:21 -0500

Even scarier than Guiliani in the white house, is the idea that the "media" could (more than likely will) ultimately be responsible for electing the next president. Why not just skip the elections...and let the media and the supreme court figure out what's best for this country? They obviously feel they know better than us, and at least we wouldn't have to worry about whether or not our votes were counted.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

"Thuggishness"

moddivorce — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:20:57 -0500

Arianna's got cajones to say that on national television - Thank goodness! Hopefully more interviews like these will air and shed light on Guiliani's antics. It would be devastating if the media moves this man into the primaries and then, into the white house!

Helene
The Modern Woman's Divorce Guide
http://themodernwomansdivorceguide.com

Did you see this interview with Arianna Huffington?

Catherine Morgan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:35:16 -0500

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
also at CatherineBlogs.com and The Political Voices of Women

The Pew Center's real-time coverage of Bush v. Gore

Kim Pearson — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:52:48 -0500

Perhaps more journalists should have been writing about this July, 2000 research, which included these insights:

If presidential elections are a battle for control of message through the media, George W. Bush has had the better of it on the question of character than Albert Gore Jr., according to a new study of media coverage leading up to the Republican convention.

But in age of skepticism and fragmented communications, the public may not be getting—or believing—the message....

Kim
BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Thanks...and look at horse race stats

Morra Aarons Mele — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:50:06 -0500

Kim

Thanks for sending this and setting straight my perceptions. Personally, I think the tide is turning in favor of nicer Giuliani coverage.

This part is scary, from the Shorenstein report:
In all, 63% of the campaign stories focused on political and tactical aspects of the campaign. That is nearly four times the number of stories about the personal backgrounds of the candidates (17%) or the candidates’ ideas and policy proposals (15%). And just 1% of stories examined the candidates’ records or past public performance, the study found.

Yikes. Is this because coverage starts so early and there's so much airtime to fill? Is this a normal occurence?