Here's the thing: there's no real such thing as "White".

There's also, of course, no such thing as Hispanic, or Black.  Why?  Because there's no such thing as race.  And this is something the Democratic coalition - with its talk of inclusion - needs desperately to keep in mind before it goes too far down the "we hate whitey" rabbit hole.  Here's why:

There was a time, not so long ago really, when Irish weren't White.  Italians weren't White.  Greeks weren't White.  Whiteness, in fact, existed on something of a spectrum, stretching from the northwest of Europe (snowy and pure!) to the southeast (dirty!).  At the edges (and in between) existed those who were "olive" or "swarthy" or who, like a certain class of German, obsessed about being more NW than SE, more blonde than brown, and less "hunky".  Yes, hunky.  It was an insult, and it basically meant you were from the Hungarian end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and, hence, not White, not really.

There was a time, too, when Hispanics were on the verge of joining the White Franchise - waiting in the wings, as it were - until the American expansion put the kibosh on that.  When the US took over swathes of what had (briefly) been Mexico and (before that) Spain, Mexicans who could rightly claim "we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" were meant - by treaty - to become US citizens.  But plenty of Americans - sensing an opportunity - thought well surely the treaty didn't apply to Native Americans... and weren't Mexicans, you know, kind of Native?  Less White then... and fewer rights.

But back to that Franchise, and those almost-Whites.  The labor movement - read the works of Roediger for more - threatened to upend the privilege of many who had grown used to having it, and so in "Red Rover, Red Rover, Send Whites On Over" fashion, the franchise was expanded to include ever more groups that had existed on the further ends of the spectrum.  The Italians?  White.  Irish?  White?  Germans?  Indisputably!  And so it went... before stopping, for all intents and purposes, before Hispanics got the call. 

Intents and purposes?  Surely you've noticed a couple of odd things: Hispanics can "be of any race" (they're a quasi-ethnicity, in fundamental terms), and yet, very often, Hispanics are "white" (but, you know, not really).  They've been kept outside so long that they have - very roughly speaking - begun to racialize (and this is something they share with the Cape Coloured of South Africa), but the process in most ways is incomplete, and in many ways (remember: they can be of any race) must always remain so.

So now, in post-election triumphalism, many (not all) of the Democrats have celebrated the downfall of "rich old white men" (which is not only racist, but sexist and ageist, to boot, claims of big-tent aspirations being somewhat silent, in that regard).  White people flocked to Romney - except gays and kids, as more than one commentator I've listened to has noted, much in the way of table scraps to the lapdog of inclusion - and Hispanics, and Blacks, and Asians have punched the Democratic timeclock (for how many generations?).  And OK, sure, fine, whatever.  So it goes.

But I have also heard - and not just recently, but pretty much all my life - that much of what the GOP stands for, Hispanics also often stand for.  Pro-family.  Pro-faith.  Very often anti-gay (although hopefully this is changing).  If only, you know, the GOP acted glad to see them...  Although, of course, not only Marco Rubio, but Susana Martinez.  It's not like there's no precedent.

And so, putting two and two together, with a dash of history, and the existential fears of the GOP: if a Franchise has expanded before, it can expand again.  If Hispanics were in line once, they could be again.  Is the Republican Party all that palatable to them, now?  Mostly not.  Could that change?  It could.  "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Whites on over."  And this time, it's the Hispanics they'll be calling for.

Back the GOP into a corner, make White people feel excluded, and who knows what could happen. 

Now, mind, I'm not saying it must happen.  I am saying, however, that unless the Democrats behave like the party of inclusion they pretend to be - and this means of all Americans, including old white dudes - they'll be doing their part in setting the stage. 

So triumphalism?  Enjoy it, but tailor it, and then get it out of your system.  Now is not the time to gloat. 

Gloating is not "hope", is not "change", and has never, ever been "forward".