Race Relations Browns vs. Blacks

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For their part, some Hispanics complain that blacks are unwilling to treat them as equals in the fight for equal rights. "We sometimes have assumed that because blacks have fought civil rights battles, they are more sensitive to our struggle," says Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, a federation of 140 Hispanic organizations. "That's not always the case. Blacks say to us, 'You're whiter than us. You're immigrants, and we've seen people like you get ahead of us. So we're going to be very suspicious of you." The major points of contention:

IMMIGRATION. In Miami the roots of Latino-black antipathy date back to the arrival of thousands of refugees from Castro's Cuba during the 1960s. Many of the newcomers benefited from U.S. government programs that provided $1 billion worth of refugee-assistance payments and small-business loans. Even worse, the immigrants soon began taking most of the menial jobs in the tourist-hotel industry, the city's largest source of employment.

/ Relations have frayed even more because of U.S. immigration policy. Washington's hostility to Castro's regime means that nearly all Cuban immigrants are treated as political refugees and allowed to remain in the U.S. But almost all the would-be immigrants from Haiti are classified as economic refugees and sent back to their homeland. The disparity in treatment was vividly illustrated in early July, when a Coast Guard cutter intercepted a fishing boat carrying 161 Haitians and two Cubans they had plucked from a raft in the Caribbean. Both Cubans were permitted to stay in the U.S. All but nine of the Haitians were sent home.

POLITICS. Although black and Hispanic voters have often united behind candidates from one group or the other, attempts to weld long-lasting political coalitions in most large cities have been difficult to sustain. A case in point: the Latino-black alliance that helped elect Harold Washington as Chicago's first black mayor in 1983. Nearly 7 out of 10 Hispanics voted for Washington and gained a voice in local politics they had never had before. Acknowledging the importance of the Hispanic vote, Washington appointed Latinos to several key positions.

But cracks appeared in the coalition after it became known that blacks were being hired for patronage jobs at a much higher rate than Hispanics. When Washington suddenly died in 1987 just a few months into his second term, a succession battle split the city. Two years later, 75% of Hispanics deserted the black candidate, city alderman Timothy Evans, and cast their ballots for the winner, Richard M. Daley, son of the late Chicago boss. Explains alderman Luis Gutierrez: "Rich Daley sent a message -- 'I'll build a coalition with Hispanics, and my government will respond to you."

JOBS. Many blacks fear that Hispanic immigrants, who are often willing to work for less than the legal minimum wage, are supplanting them in even the lowliest positions. "Young black males stand on the street corner every day," says James H. Johnson, director of UCLA'S Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. "Hispanic males stand on the street corner too. But somebody comes by and takes them to work. Nobody picks up black males but the police. Blacks look at Hispanics as the problem."