Jack & Jill Politics

I mean you really have to love that an old school racist like Pat Buchanan still gets to be on television every single day. You would never see Louis Farrakhan on television being paid as a political analyst, but MSNBC puts Buchanan on screen for hours on end.

I was just crip-walking over to Media Matters with my nine milly in my beltstrap when I saw this:

During MSNBC’s coverage of the South Carolina Democratic primary, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson said, “I can’t think of a whole lot of situations where there’s an actual clash between Latino and African American issues.” He added, “I think there is a perception that they’re at odds, but I don’t think they really are to that extent.” Following Robinson’s comments, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough asked MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan, “Final grim thoughts for us tonight?” In response, Buchanan cited gang wars “in South Central L.A. [Los Angeles]” and “in the prisons” as evidence that tensions between African Americans and Latinos would affect voting in the Democratic primary. Buchanan said: “I regret to say you are mistaken about the African American community and the Hispanics. South Central L.A., there is a turf war going on. There’s a war in the prisons.” Buchanan continued, “People who don’t understand that don’t understand America, I’m sorry to say.”

Does he consult the KKK manual before answering these questions? Or does he just sit around all day while he’s not on television watching OZ DVDs?

Meanwhile, Gregory Rodriguez does a pretty fantastic job of arguing that this gap either doesn’t exist or has been vastly overstated by the media.

University of Washington political scientist Matt Barreto has compiled a list of black big-city mayors who have received broad Latino support over the last several decades. In 1983, Harold Washington pulled 80% of the Latino vote in Chicago. David Dinkins won 73% in New York in 1989. And Denver’s Wellington Webb garnered more than 70% in 1991, as did Ron Kirk in Dallas in 1995 and then again in 1997 and 1999.

He could have also added that longtime Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley won a healthy chunk of the Latino vote in 1973 and then the clear majority in his mayoral reelection campaigns of 1977, 1981, 1985 and 1989.

Here in L.A., all three black members of Congress represent heavily Latino districts and ultimately couldn’t survive without significant Latino support. Five other black House members represent districts that are more than 25% Latino — including New York’s Charles Rangel and Texan Al Green — and are also heavily dependent on Latino voters.

I think the truth behind the “Latinos are all racist” news blitz is a subconcious desire on the part of whites to deal with their own race issues by projecting them onto minorities who don’t have necessary access to media it would require to issue a comprehensive rebuttal. It’s similar to making the public face of anti-Semitism in America Louis Farrakhan, when its clear that we have plenty with far closer ties to official power. Like Pat Buchanan, for instance.