The Presumed Alliance: The Unspoken Conflict Between Latinos and Blacks and What It Means for America

By Nicolas C. Vaca, PhD

“A hard and unnerving look at how changing demographics will forever alter our country’s dialogue on race.” — San Jose Mercury News

As Latino and African Americans increasingly live side by side in large urban centers, as well as in suburban clusters, the idealized concept of a "Rainbow Coalition" would suggest that these two disenfranchised groups are natural political allies. Indeed, as the number of Latinos has increased dramatically over the last ten years, competition over power and resources between these two groups has led to surprisingly antagonistic and uncooperative interactions. Many African Americans now view Latinos, because of their growth in numbers, as a threat to their social, economic, and political gains.

Nicolas C. Vaca debunks the myth of "The Great Union" and offers the hope he believes each community could learn from, in order to achieve a mutually agreed upon agenda. More than simply unveiling the problem, The Presumed Alliance offers optimistic solutions to the future relations between Latino and Black America.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061750205

Nicolas C. Vaca, PhD

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Nicolas C. Vaca holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a practicing attorney in the Bay Area and has been a visiting scholar at University of California at Berkeley for the past two years. An award-winning journalist, Vaca is also a contributing writer to the prestigious journal California Lawyer. He lives in California.