A Sixth Grade Class Assesses the Recall

My spouse is a sixth grade teacher, and has done a unit on the current election with his students. Someone else noted that it could be expected that a classroom of children would elect the actor if it could--but not this classroom, not by a longshot.

First, I should say that the class is about 3/4 Latino. Each student wrote a short piece on the candidates and the election and their impressions. Most students supported Bustamante, and only one student said "I guess I'd vote" for Schwarzenegger. One student wrote, "I hate Arnold because he doens't want us to have licenses." Others said that though he's a successful actor, they don't understand why he thinks he should be governor.

It was very interesting that they had this level of political understanding. I think the Republican Party will continue to suffer in this state because of its racial scapegoating. In this election, they have targeted Latinos with the driver license issue and have targeted Native Americans with the attacks against their political donations. This is the way Republicans try to win elections in this state: scare and cajole whites into voting for an anti-people platform. Of course, in the longer term, it's a main reason they're in the pathetic state that they're in.

What's the proportional disparity between 3/4 latino class and the rest of California? California is not exactly 3/4ths latino, is it?

The key factor that invalidates this is the racial disparity between this sample and the state, and the influence of Latino media. The recall, as viewed through mainstream media is significantly different then the news viewed through the latino media. In the first week of Arnold's announcement to enter the race, the mainstream media was talking about Arnold almost nonstop. But the latino media barely mentioned him, focusing on Bustamante. Thus, the part of the population that got it's news from mainstream vs. latino media were in entirely different media immersion environments. Kind of like how Al Jazeera and CNN emphasize different things.

I think this is a really good sign. It shows even the young aren't so foolish.

I doubt Arnold will get the latino vote. A good sign.

I don't think the poster was trying to say that this 3/4 latino class was representative of what the state of California will do tomorrow. I think they were just saying that latinos are looking past the movie star bullshit and like Cruz, because he is latino.

Derrrr.

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