Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a syndicated columnist and political analyst, who writes about race, politics and social issues in books and blogs, has tackled the sticky subject of relations between African Americans and Hispanic Americans.
His latest book is The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation Between African Americans and Hispanics, $19.95, Middle Passage Press (September 1, 2007) ISBN-10: 1881032221, ISBN-13: 978-1881032229.
The author devotes a chapter to education, giving it the telling title of “Reluctant Classroom Allies.”
Too often, as the book’s name implies, conversation on shared concerns and conflicts has not taken place. The two groups often see themselves in competition for scarce jobs, resources and other benefits of American society and talk past each other about the causes and solutions, as the author notes. Meanwhile, those who oppose progress for either group are all too happy to see them pitted against one another.
