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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But of course Illinois and esp Indiana are not seen as progressive as Oregon is (despite Oregon not having such a reputation prior to the last few decades)

Oregon and Wash and Calif have few blacks because they did not have huge industries developing at the time of the great migration of blacks from the South.  [b]Their black pops are decreasing as white pops are decreasing - with the in migration of asians and hispanics.[/b][i] [/quote]

This may be true, but I wonder if there is not a white elephant in this discussion.  Could it be that the Latino American and Asian American immigrants and the U.S.-born descendants of those immigrants, who have settled in states like California, also bring with them, and pass along to their families some biases against certain groups?  I think that no one wants to discuss or explore the question because, let us face it, some political groups in this country - and particularly in California - thrive and prosper on a political alliance of Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans; when in fact those groups often have very different needs and interests.

For example, I believe it was a Latino American legislator in California who just last year proposed getting rid of, or curbing, the California law which prohibits the use of affirmative action (yes, California unbelievably passed such a law some time ago) in admissions decisions to California state universities and colleges.   There was so much blowback and concern among California's Asian American legislators, driven by a firestorm from their constituents, that the Latino American legislator agreed -- after discussion with his party -- that it would be in the better interest of political party alliances and unity to drop that proposed measure.  I also, again only by second-hand anecdote, recall reading another comment to an article on California's African American diaspora, wherein a self-indentified African American business owner, said that as enthusiastic as a potential Asian American customer might be to work with him and his business as the discussion takes place on the phone, they almost never hire him for the job once he shows up in person.  And you can google many stories about African American families made to feel unwelcome, or worse, in California's Latino American neighborhoods.

Truly terrible, and though I feel that we rightly hear about Caucasian American discrimination against African Americans and Latino Americans, I feel that no one wants to discuss the discrimination, bias, or animosity which these minority groups can exhibit towards one another.[/quote]

AMEN.[/quote]

[quote=Anonymous][b]Yes, I think it has been typical for many immigrants to identify with and work to be closer to white Americans and to do the opposite with black Americans.  After all, when you yourself are in a vulnerable position, you will see it as in your interest to be identified with the people in power and to reject association with the people at the bottom.  It's not just but it is out there.

What's to discuss? People at the bottom of the totem pole try to find someone else they can look down on. When it comes to discrimination, the difference between minority groups and white people is that the worst of minorities is representative of all minorities, while the best of white people is representative of all white people. 
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The highlighted and combined comments just do not get it.  First, you make the mistake of assuming that the discrimination that African Americans experience in California from Latino Americans and Asian Americans comes only from "immigrants" in a "vulnerable position" at the "bottom of the totem pole."  I hate to break your stereotypes, but a lot of the Latino Americans and Asian Americans in California are wealthy, connected, and at the top of the pecking order in their communities.

You don't believe me?  Well, look at a city like Miami, Florida, where African Americans experience discrimination from wealthy Latino American business owners and professionals who come from Columbia, Cuba, Venezuela, and Argentina.  One common practice is to ask an African American job applicant if they can speak Spanish, as the customer base in Miami is so Latin American and most people can speak Spanish (and English as well), and then deny the African American candidate the employment on the basis that they cannot speak Spanish.  A perhaps legitimate job requirement used as a tool of discrimination.

So, yes, other ethnicities, cultures, and races do import their biases and discriminatory attitudes towards African Americans when they settle in the United States -- whether we care to acknowledge it or not -- and not because they are "vulnerable" "immigrants" "at the bottom of the totem pole".
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