This Just In: Bill Richardson Is Hispanic!

If you pay close attention to the way the press covers New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s run for the Democratic nomination for president, you will see evidence of the way race still matters in our culture.

Richardson is half-Mexican, and he is quite proud of his Hispanic roots. There is no question that he will emphasize this during the campaign, but he doesn’t want it to define him. Back in December, he said, “I am Hispanic, which I believe is an asset. But I'm not running as an Hispanic; I am running as an American who is proud to be Hispanic.” But he has little choice in the matter. Even if he does not wish to make his ethnicity a centerpiece of his candidacy, the media certainly will. While it is not necessary for journalists to continually point out Barack Obama’s race (since it is clearly visible), Richardson’s name and appearance do not immediately identify him as an ethnic minority. Accordingly, those writing about him will be certain to highlight it – we expect in every story about him.

In January, Washington Post political guru Chris Cillizza wrote a story about Richardson’s announcement in which he mentioned the governor’s ethnicity in the first sentence:

“New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson began a run for the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, betting that his long résumé and Hispanic heritage will boost his chances in a field already stocked with better-known candidates.”

Last month, the bloggers joined in. Here’s the third sentence from Libertarian blogger John Murney’s entry on Richardson:

“In America, Hispanic voters, especially Cuban-Americans, vote overwhelmingly Republican. With Richardson as the Presidential candidate, the Democrats would have an opportunity to build inroads with Hispanic voters.”

To be fair, Richardson is playing up his heritage. It’s difficult to know to what extent, though. Way back in November of 2005, Newsweek ran a story with this headline: “The Right Candidate? New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says America is ready for a Hispanic or woman president—as long as the person is mainstream.” In the story, Richardson discusses foreign policy toward Latin America, and, as promised, the potential presidential candidacy of minorities. But we have to remember that the media not only set the agenda (direct us toward what we should be thinking about), but also provide context for a story.

For instance, it is possible that the conversation Richardson had with Newsweek included much more than these issues, but the editors chose to center the story on ethnicity. Whether they leave out other substantive issues, or simply move Richardson’s comments about his ethnicity to the beginning of the story, the focus (and headline) is not up to Richardson.

In a study we conducted during the 2004 elections, we found that newspapers were likely to make a reference to race and to frame the story around race when one of the candidates in the contest was non-white. That work was conducted on U.S. House and Senate contests, though, and the salience of a presidential election makes extrapolation unwise. Nonetheless, we expect that Bill Richardson will continue to be “the Hispanic candidate” in the race, and given Americans’ latent (or not-so-latent) racism and xenophobia, this characterization will likely not work to his advantage in the long run.