ABSTRACT
As a result of African American and Hispanic migration into the cities, the white population is becoming a minority in most big cities. The new urban minorities initially brought to urban politics a tone infused with militant rhetoric. It has 154not fit very well into the mold of machine politics, and the old political machines have not met the needs of these new minorities.
African American urban politics has shifted away from emphasis on the struggle for civil rights that characterized African American politics before and during the 1960s. In the new century, African American urban politics is focusing on gaining or holding representation in city government, increasing job and economic opportunities, trying to reverse the deterioration of the city, and trying to target the city’s resources more directly at the social problems of minority populations. African American mayors have had some limited success with a dual strategy of encouraging business investment to increase jobs in the private sector and using affirmative action strategies to increase job opportunities for African Americans in the public sector.
Hispanic politics strives to frame electoral strategies and mold political coalitions to maximize Hispanic influence. San Antonio serves as an example of Mexican Americans seeking political control through conventional means and using that control to promote economic development. Key issues for Mexican Americans involve bilingualism, immigration, and jobs. Cubans dominate Miami, are much more economically successful than other Hispanics, and are much more conservative.
Asians constitute the largest block of legal immigrants today. They are more successful economically and are less segregated than African Americans or Hispanics.
Despite the appeal of a rainbow coalition among lower-income racial minorities, several obstacles stand in the way of such a coalition materializing.
Four patterns of bias affect today’s urban politics. First, several internal aspects of African American and Hispanic politics reduce their potential political influence. Second, the reform-style politics discussed in Chapter 4 inhibit the political influence of African Americans and Hispanics. Third, lower-income whites are usually absent from rainbow coalitions, leaving the coalitions dominated by upper-middle-class and business-community leaders. Fourth, there are limits to the socioeconomic advancement that can be achieved through political power.
