Censored Blog hosts Earl Hutchinson on blog tour

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is on a book tour, a "blog tour," and has asked the Censored Blog to host him today. Here's some information on his new book, "The Latino Challenge to Black America," and a message from his publicist about the novel idea of "blog tours."

Chapter 1
Rising Latino Numbers, Rising Black Fears In October 2005, one month after Katrina ripped through New Orleans, a plainly agitated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told a town hall audience, "I can plainly see in your eyes that you want to know, 'How do I take advantage of this incredible opportunity? How do I make sure New Orleans is not overrun with Mexicans?'The remark was insensitive and insulting. And within days an enraged United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce denounced Nagin: The rising tension that underlay the Chamber's protest of Nagin was probably inevitable after the Census Bureau in 2002 publicly trumpeted that Latinos were now the top minority in the U.S. The news hit black America like a thunderbolt.
Chapter 3

Warped Perceptions in Black and Brown Despite being in America for centuries, many blacks still remain trapped in a hopeless morass of poverty, crime, violence, drugs and family deterioration. The newer immigrants accuse blacks of demanding expensive and wasteful government programs, rather than emphasizing self-help and personal initiative to draw themselves out of their economic misery. Few immigrants say it publicly, but privately some believe that blacks have stagnated because of apathy, laziness, low self-esteem and poor discipline. Even Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, in his seminal address at the Million Man March in October 1995, after chastising blacks to uplift themselves and their communities pointed a glowing finger at Mexicans as an example of immigrants who are moving forward in America, even if many of them came here illegally.
Chapter 7

Black and Brown Political Coalitions: Fact or Romantic Image

The Reverend Norman S. Johnson was a lonely man in the spring of 2001. The then-executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference –West was one of only two of the city's more influential black leaders to endorse Los Angeles mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa. Nearly every other prominent black leader and black elected official had endorsed Villariagosa's white opponent, Los Angeles city attorney James Hahn. Villaraigosa knew that black voters were wary and suspicious of him. He was determined to try to do whatever he could to reassure them that if he won, it would not mean (as some blacks openly said) that Mexicans would now run city hall.
Chapter 9 Illegal Immigrants Versus Black Workers There were no other blacks, whites or even English-speaking native-born Latino workers in the plant or in few other shops in the area. This is not a fictional story. Anti-illegal immigration activists say that the experience of the young black job seeker has played out thousands of times at restaurants, hotels, on farms and at manufacturing plants nationally, and that this is a major reason so many young black males are unemployed, join gangs, deal drugs and pack America's jails. The job loss to blacks that they attribute to illegal immigration is as much perception as slight reality. However, when the perception becomes a widely-held public belief and is continually repeated as fact, it soon takes hold in public opinion.

Nikki Leigh writes to the Censored Blog about the idea of the blog tour:

Authors have begun to use blog tours to promote their books. The process involves finding blog owners who are willing to "host" the author. I've found its much more effective to find blogs that appeal to the "target audience" for the book. This is a way to get information in front of the people who would be most interested in the content of the book. Mr Hutchinson's tour is going well. He's had several appearances on CNN and Fox News and I was very happy to see his book mentioned on the screen while he spoke with the host of the show. His ranking on Amazon has been good through the month and The Latino Challenge is ranking well in several key book categories. It appears that we're getting the book into people's hands and that's the best way to get the conversation started to help the problems he discusses in the book.
Anyone who would like more information about tours or Mr Hutchinson are welcome to contact me at nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com or can visit my website at www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm.