No doubt you’ve seen Black pundits all over TV stating the categorical imperative for California Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint a Black woman.
Black Lives Matter launched a petition Monday calling on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a Black woman to fill the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Kamala Harris once she officially resigns to become vice president.
‘Appointing a Black woman to this seat is nonnegotiable — this must be done,’ Black Lives Matter Global Network wrote, directing the Democratic governor to either appoint U.S. Reps. Karen Bass or Barbara Lee to fill the seat for the remainder of Harris’ term.
(Fox News, November 17, 2020)
Well, Newsom just defied their demand. In doing so, he made clear that Latinos are now wielding the political clout Blacks once did. And this, notwithstanding the role Blacks (especially women) played in helping Biden defeat Trump.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday named California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, giving the state its first-ever Latino senator.
Ms. Harris, the second nonwhite senator elected to represent California, is set to vacate the seat when she takes higher office on Jan. 20 and Mr. Newsom had been under intense pressure to appoint a person of color to replace her.
‘Through his tenacity, integrity, smarts and grit, California is gaining a tested fighter in their corner who will be a fierce ally in D.C., lifting up our state’s values and making sure we secure the critical resources to emerge stronger from this pandemic,’ Mr. Newsom said of Mr. Padilla.
(The Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2020)
Mind you, it’s not just that Latinos compose 40 percent of California’s population … and growing. It’s that they are supplanting Blacks as the dominant minority group across the country, most notably in swing states like Florida. And you know the truism:
As goes California, so goes the nation.
And so politicians like Newsom – who clearly harbor presidential ambitions – are simply reading the writing on the wall and pandering to Latinos accordingly. Hell, even Biden seems intent not only on appointing more Latinos than Blacks to his cabinet, but also on defying another BLM demand to appoint a Black as attorney general; you know, just in case he survives to run for re-election in 2024. No less than two good old white boys are the front runners for that critical position.
That said, whites would like nothing more than for Latinos to begin treating Blacks here the way “coloureds” used to treat Blacks in South Africa. But it behooves Latinos and Blacks to appreciate that their political clout will be far greater if exercised jointly rather than severally.
Therefore, instead of resenting Latinos for this one appointment, Blacks would do well to hail Padilla. Of course, this does not preclude them holding a grudge and lying in wait to exact intra-party revenge against Newsom in Democratic primaries. But Blacks and Latinos divided against themselves will only allow whites to continue their political, economic, and social hegemony.
[Note: Trump must figure in every commentary about politics in America these days. Therefore, I shall suffice to note that none of his children (think Ivanka) or children-in-law (think Jared) can have any real love or respect for him. Because, if they did, they would have intervened (via Fox News) long ago. This, to let him know that fighting the election result is not only making him look like the biggest (sore) loser in history, but also ruining the family brand. But it speaks volumes that Trump appears to have them just as cowered as Republican politicians.]
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