Some Black residents say they fought too hard for political power to relinquish it just yet — and that Compton’s Black leaders are still battling racism from other racial groups.

“It’s like Game of Thrones. We have to keep this power. We have to keep the little bit that we have, which is all we have,” said Nina Childs, a Black local activist and filmmaker. “And we’re not giving it up.”

The story of people of color calling on White leaders to cede power for more diverse representation is deeply rooted in American history. But Compton reflects a newer power struggle, which experts say the nation may see more of in the years to come as traditional White and Black strongholds grow more Latino and the Latino community demands more political representation. …

It’s important to keep Black people in charge, said Jasmine Gates, 27, founder of the New Black History Makers in Compton, who supported Reynaga’s opponent, Sharif.

“Once we hand that power over to a Hispanic, or non-Black person, it’s going to be hard to get that back,” Gates said, sitting alongside Childs, the local activist and filmmaker, inside the Yetunde Price Resource Center, a meeting space funded by the famed Williams sisters and named after their sibling, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton.

[Identity politics are all about power — not even representation, except as an excuse to grab power. It’s political tribalism, and it excludes any possible meeting point of common interests, because the tribe is the only interest that ever counts. — Ed]