The media has been saying that there is a great level of violence between Blacks and "Hispanics." The conservative media and conservative bloggers have been pointing it out and asking why "Black leaders" aren't saying anything about this violence. In the forums that I visit, when this is brought up I mention that not all Hispanics are the same. For example, I know Blacks and Puerto Ricans get along well in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. I also know the same can be said for Dominicans. I definitely can't say that I know this is the same for Latinos from Mexico or El Salvador. I've heard about tensions and I've experienced an isolated incident, so I can't say yes or no either way. Therefore, the broad brush is more harmful than useful.
So, now we have Hillary Clinton winning the Nevada caucus, and the advantage she had with Latino voters over Obama is being reported.
The Nevada results contained some worrisome signs for Obama along demographic lines. The heavy support that Clinton won among Hispanics suggested that he could face an uphill climb to win that important group in California, New York and New Jersey, the three most populous states with primaries on Feb. 5. In the first contest in which race has played an important role, white caucusgoers in Nevada backed Clinton over Obama, 52 percent to 34 percent, and nearly two-thirds of Latinos chose Clinton. Black voters broke heavily for Obama over Clinton, 83 percent to 14 percent.
However, Matthew Yglesias has an interesting take on the matter:
There's lots of reporting out there on Hillary Clinton's strong win -- 64-26 -- over Barack Obama among Latino voters in Nevada. One thing I would add to this is that Clinton did pretty well with whites, too -- beating Obama 52-34. What's more, we've seen over and over again that Obama does better with more affluent voters and with better-educated voters. And, of course, the pool of non-hispanic whites is more affluent and better-educated than is the pool of Latinos.
Long story short, I'd be interested in seeing how different hispanics and non-hispanic whites really look once you control for non-ethnic demographic factors. Or, in other words, does Obama really have a specific problem with Latino voters, or is this more of a class phenomenon?
He asks a good question.
Should the break down of voters be reported? Is it necessary? I have to write yes to both questions. However, there is a right way to ask and a wrong way to ask. The media is too lazy so they are going to ask the wrong way.
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