Coalitions and Collective Memories: a Search for Common Ground - Ediberto Roman

• Citation: Vol. 58 No. 2
• Publication year: 2007

Coalitions and Collective Memories: A Search for Common Groundby Ediberto Roman^*

We're going to take this movement and . . . reach out to the poor people in all directions in this country . . . into the Southwest after Indians, into the West after the Chicanos, into Appalachia after poor whites, and into the ghettos after Negroes and Puerto Ricans. And we are going to bring them together and enlarge this campaign into something bigger than just a civil rights movement for Negroes.¹

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I never will forget one little blonde co-ed. . . . She demanded right in my face, "don't you believe there are any good white people?" . . . . "What can I do?" she exclaimed. I told her, "Nothing."

I regret that I told her that. I wish . . . I could telephone her, or write to her, and tell her what I tell white people now when they present themselves as being sincere . . . I tell them that at least where my . . . organization is concerned, they can't join us ... . Where the really sincere white people have got to do their "proving" of themselves is not among the black victims, but out on the battle lines of where America's racism really is—and that's in their own home communities; America's racism is among their own fellow whites.²

— Malcolm X

I. INTRODUCTION

The above quotes from two path breakers of the civil rights era evince clashing visions of coalition building—one embracing inter-minority group coalitions and the other questioning their usefulness. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the name of social justice called for ever-expanding collaboration, which included whites; Malcolm X rejected such coalitions as unnecessary and misdirected. Though several decades old, these conflicting sentiments—one following an assimilationist model and the other more nationalist—are still the subject of academic debate. In fact, a considerable amount of legal scholarship, written primarily by scholars of color, has recently taken contrasting views regarding the efficacy and propriety of coalitional efforts. These scholars have included some of the academy's most accomplished authors, including Lani Guinier,³ Gerald Torres,⁴ Richard Delgado,⁵ Haunani-Kay Trask,⁶ Robert Williams,⁷ Kevin Johnson,⁸ and Eric Yamamoto.⁹

The following pages explore this contemporary debate, and ultimately sides in favor ofinter-minority group coalitions, as they may be effective democratic vehicles towards social change. Part II examines the argument in favor ofinter-minority group coalitions. Part III addresses the challenges to those positions, including the arguments posed by leading skeptics. Finally, Part IV rejects the cynicism associated with coalitions and proposes a concrete point of commonality that may help forge much needed common ground for many racial and ethnic outsider groups.

II. The Advocates

Those who advocate inter-minority coalitions¹⁰ tend to emphasize changing national demographics, especially the growth of the Latino community. At least one advocate has termed the Latino community as the new "'favored minority'" and the new "'majority minority'" group,¹¹ noting that that community will become the largest minority group by the year 2050.¹² As one writer put it, the optimism associated with these coalitions stems from the old maxim that "'there is power in num-bers.'"¹³ These numbers are approaching the point where the coalitions legitimately expect to challenge racial hierarchy and white supremacy in the United states.¹⁴

In their recent book on the subject, The Miner's Canary, Professors Guinier and Torres support a recasting of constructions of race in favor of the use of the term "political race," which would include a host of different minority groups that could choose to join a coalition of the previously marginalized.¹⁵ To the authors, this new construction can bolster the participation of previously marginalized groups.¹⁶ They assert that "[p]olitical race is therefore a motivational project. Rebuilding a movement for change can happen only if we reclaim our democratic imagination."¹⁷ By way of example, these authors point to the dramatic way in which African-Americans and Mexican-Americans responded to a legal ruling against affirmative action in Texas.¹⁸ After examining that effort, the authors summarize their thesis: "[the African-American and Mexican-American] activism showed how collective racial identity can operate within the American paradigm, not as the limiting essentialism denounced by conservatives and neoliberals but rather as the locus for individual and communal participation."¹⁹

In his book, Interracial Justice, Professor Eric Yamamoto similarly examines a host of reconciliation projects and coalition efforts.²⁰ Yamamoto calls for the mutual acknowledgment and recognition of the respective histories of each member of a coalition.²¹ other authors have likewise placed great value on the role of finding a common ground in any coalition effort.²² Like Yamamoto, these authors tend to believe that finding such points of commonality is a necessary starting point for any coalition.²³ While advocating the need for traditional domestic minority groups to defend the rights of Arabs and Muslims, one writer traces the evolution of critical race scholars' growing interest in coalitional politics in order to achieve civil rights reform.²⁴ she emphasizes the importance of finding a common understanding within groups.²⁵ other scholars have championed such coalitions, stressing perceived common interests.²⁶ Examining Asian and Latino and Latina groups, another writer highlights each group's shared views on "immigration, family, citizenship, nationhood, language, expression, culture, and global economic restructuring."²⁷ overall, these advocates not only use political pragmatism and democratic idealism as vehicles to promote their goals, but they also tend to look to constructions of identity and mutual interests as starting points for mobilization. Though most of these scholars note the need for shared experiences, several nonetheless stress the need to acknowledge points of difference between members of any coalition.²⁸

III. The Challenges and the Cynics

The search for common ground, though a foundational component of any coalition effort, is nonetheless often fraught with pitfalls. These pitfalls may be manifested in a variety of ways. For instance, in an effort to find commonalities, the realities of different histories of racial and ethnic groups may arise.²⁹ Finding rallying points between different groups with different experiences has historically proven to be difficult.³⁰ Many coalitions fail because of what is known as the zero-sum game—the gain of one minority group at the expense of another.³¹ Both supporters and detractors of coalitions raise the specter of such hierarchies within minority groups.³² Professor Enid Trucios-Haynes, an advocate of coalition building, acknowledges "the hierarchies of race and oppression must be overcome to form effective intra-group and inter-group coalitions."³³ On the other end of the coalitional divide, Professor Richard Delgado, one of the legal academy's leading scholars, is skeptical of inter-minority group coalitions.³⁴ Delgado questions whether diverse minority groups will "be able to work together toward mutual goals—or [will] the current factionalism and distrust continue into the future . . . ."³⁵ Echoing one of the challenges raised by Yen Le Espiritu, Delgado observes the inevitability that within any given coalition there is likely to be at least one high-status, influential, and relatively assimilated group that expects to assume a position of power and authority over the coalition.³⁶ Delgado argues that "[t]his practice not only adopts the master's tools and thus unwittingly strengthens his house, but it also weakens the coalition."³⁷ As a metaphor for his skepticism, Delgado looked to the game of baseball, arguing that when fighting for social justice, outsider groups may more closely resemble a solitary batter instead of a member of the team playing the field.³⁸ In other words, Delgado suggests that outsider groups may be better off undertaking reform efforts individually rather than using concerted action.

IV. A New Vision of Coalitions?

It is true that in the long run coalitions may end, morph, or dwindle in significance. Nonetheless, real gains can be made while the coalitions are in effect. Groups come together because they view themselves in a similar situation, and as a result they share many, but not necessarily all, interests. This situation is similar to the formation of political parties, such as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's reform of the coalition that made up the Democratic Party in the 1930s to include the poor and people of color.³⁹ And like the Roosevelt coalition, many coalitions can have significant impact.⁴⁰

A recent and thought-provoking example of one such effort is the nationwide, grassroots mobilization by millions of Latinas and Latinos against the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005, otherwise known as H.R. 4437, a bill aimed at heightening penalties for illegal immigrants and their employers.⁴¹ Among other things, this bill, if made law, would have created more than 1000 kilometers of fences and walls along the United States-Mexico border, would make illegal entry into the United states a felony, and would penalize a broad range of acts that would be considered aiding and abetting illegal immigrants.⁴² The largest of the protests against H.R. 4437 occurred on April 10, 2006 in 102 cities; one locale alone included a crowd of over 500,000.⁴³ Estimates suggest that the protests included over one million people.⁴⁴ This reaction is not only the timeliest example of interethnic coalitions, but it is one whose impact has captured national attention.⁴⁵ This coalition was formed without a central leader and arose from local activism, which included a handful of radio and...