Barack Obama and Mexican American Voting Trends

I've been reading a lot regarding the voting trends of Mexican Americans towards whites and blacks. There is a lot of statistical data that says Mexican Americans will not vote for blacks. The causes range from racism to the black-brown struggle for power in local politics. I've spoken about racism towards blacks as I saw things growing up in a previous post.

I think the main reason has to do with a certain deference by Mexicans towards whites. I know this sounds contradictory given that Mexicans (in Mexico) have a negative and imperialistic view of the US, and that in Mexico, whites are seen as spoiled and naive - easy targets to be taken advantage of (sorry for the grammar!) So given that Hillary Clinton is white and a US senator (a double symbol of authority) it's easy for me to see why Mexican Americans mostly vote for Clinton. I remember as a child my mother taking me with her when we were getting our green cards. When my mother would talk to a white person, her attitude changed to one that is hard for me to describe - almost fear but not quite, something like reverence but not quite. I call it deference. She passed that on to me in some way. I remember my first days in the US, even though I spoke fluent English and therefore the language barrier did not exist for me, I still had that sense of deference and almost fear when I had to speak to a white adult.

Anyway this is all anecdotal, but I sense that this deference is real and may well be the proverbial "elephant in the room."