Perspectives: On Immigration and Black Unemployment, Congressional Black Caucus Remains Silent
Missing from the debate on Capitol Hill about immigration reform is the Congressional Black Caucus, which should be standing up against policies that enable immigrants to compete with Blacks and other low-wage, low-skill workers for housing, health care, education, employment opportunities and goods and services.
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_7360.shtml
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Because of my concern with comments like those issued by Dr. Swain in this issue, I have begun to seriously study the social, educational, and political implications of immigration for African-Americans. Although my focus is on education, I believe that the employment issue when argued on the premise that immigrants take jobs from African-Americans is faulty. This is my problem, why can’t we take this opportunity to propel our young people to become more educated, better qualified, and more competitive on the job market. The current argument assumes that many of our people will always compete for low-wage positions because we cannot do any better. But we can. Also, I would like to remind Dr. Swain that since official unemployment rates are accumulated from unemploymet offices where undocumented (no person is “illegal”) workers would not qualify to apply for unemployment of to seek unemployment lest their status be revealed, the statistics to which she refers probably do not reflect what she says they do. We do need to be concerned about unemployment among our people, but I refuse to accept that we cannot prepare our young people to compete on a higher plane. Perhaps instead of being like catfish and carp, only feeding off of what is left over at the bottom of the sea, we need to rise and become the whales and sharks, who feed at the top of the food chain.
May 29th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Illegality is not a qualified by morality or by any political agenda. It’s a fact. If someone is an immigrant, but became so while breaking the laws of the country in question, that immigrant is an illegal one. If you don’t like that, try to change the law, which I’m assuming you are in favor of. Even then, the immigrant STILL broke the law at the time, and so said changed law would need to retroactively grand pardon.
But that’s not what I wanted to comment on. I completely agree, it is important to improve education for African-Americans so that they can compete on a higher plane. But assuming you can magically do this within a handful of decades, you will never eliminate the Black uneducated poor any more than you can the White uneducated poor.
More importantly, in the HERE and NOW, which is what the CBC should be most concerned with, increased competition for jobs and the subsequent growth of unemployment and decrease in wages for a large portion of African-Americans will only continue to hurt the long-term goal of education and…y’know…living. It’s hard to make your kids study hard and develop a healthy work ethic while daddy is struggling to even bring food to the table.
June 15th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I agree with the professor %100. At the bottom is an excerpt form Pat Buchannon. A man I have rarely agreed with but I must on this one. I
have been in a position to witness the abuse of legal skilled labor.
I’m in the IT industry , the part about replacing older workers happened to me. The company I worked with laid-off 200 employees and moved to Mexico. We also began getting our parts from China not here. The Corporation wanted all products shipped in free from Mexico and even the rights to still put the ‘made in USA’ on the label because Headquarters and R&D was still in the US. They even made people train the Mexicans to take their jobs. They got a better package if they trained them.
This is what woke me up!
The only thing Pat missed is the knowledge GOES BACK HOME!!!!
Now they know everything you do! Including Nukes, people!
A German gentleman I used to work with told me ” You Americans are crazy, I love this country been here 25 years, but if you keep letting everything go what will you have?” The same sentiment is shared by a number of Legal immigrants. Everything Pat lists is really happening.
1. Take care of Americans before non-Americans.
2. Give Amnesty to Ex-Prisioners! They could use the Jobs illegals take.
If these corporations can PROVE (Not just SAY) they need workers then Congress can set aside a number of workers permitted to enter to work for these companies. Why did they not do this??? It’s too bad for them they did not do it the right way.
Excerpt form Pat:
This immigration bill is but a piece of a great global project already far advanced. In 1993, a majority of Americans opposed the NAFTA trade deal with Mexico because they did not believe the propaganda and feared that, as Henry Kissinger said, it represented the architecture of a new world order.
More than a dozen years have elapsed. And the results? Contrary to the promises, our trade surplus with Mexico did not grow. It vanished. In 13 years, we have run $500 billion in trade deficits with Mexico. Last year’s $60 billion was the largest ever. Mexico now exports more cars, trucks and auto parts to the United States than we export to the world.
What NAFTA did was enable U.S. companies to close their plants here, fire their American workers, and move their factories and jobs to Mexico, while Mexico continued to export its poor to the United States.
What is the hidden agenda of the global companies, which evolved out of what were once great American companies?
They want a limitless supply of low-wage immigrant labor and an end to penalties for hiring illegals. They want the freedom to shut factories here and move them to nations where wages are low, benefits nonexistent and regulations lax. They want to be able to move products back to the United States free of charge. They want to be rid of their American workers, but keep their American consumers.
They want to be able to go out to Asia and hire bright kids and bring them to the United States to replace middle-age U.S. workers who cost too much. They want to be able to outsource their white-collar jobs to India at a fraction of the wages they pay Americans.
It is about globalism — and about greed. And, as the Bible says, love of money is the root of all evil. But they have a problem. The nation has begun to awaken to the reality that the vision of the global corporation and the transnational elite cannot be realized without the death of the American republic. And so they are in a fight that is long overdue.
June 20th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Once again Carol Swain sets out to further the conservative agenda and do whatever it takes to support the powers that be. It is truly a shame to see some black academics seeking to further their career by garnering the praise and adoration of those who seek to maintain the divide between blacks and Latinos in this country.
In short, the movement against immigration from Latin America has strongly RACIST overtones. Therefore, black folks need to realize that those who work against Latino immigration are the same folks who wish to maintain a status quo where white priviledge continues to benefit some while limiting opportunities for others. Do black people really want to take a stance in support of this type of agenda???
September 16th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Education is the most important agenda in the world. When we fail to recognize that dollars spent rewarding illegal activities (war, self-hate, abusive power, etc) is taking away from the main agenda item - education and reform, we lose. Education in multi-languages is not beneficial to all of society, but education about multi-culture societies in a unified language is a great benefit to all.
God bless us when we become divided, it will happen!
March 5th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Good posts that keeps me coming back. Thanks!
Joo
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:33 am
Don’t need to the NAACP, the Sleazy CBC, the Poverty Pimps, other Jackleg Individuals, and/or the Black middleclass who give praise to this sleaze.
Just to prove my credibility, or strong sense of ethics, it would be insane if I united, praised, or joined forces with any of these sacrilegious, sleazy, and/or criminal individuals . I would voluntarily turn myself over to the policing authorities, or the judicial system, be it on the Federal, State, County, and/or City level as self punishment for even thinking about such an alliance with any of these misfits.
It would not be necessary for anyone to recommend that I be institutionalized. I would go on my own free will, to be placed in any mental institution, prison, etc., etc., in the event I were to be so ignorant, foolish, and/or of such low self esteem, as to give praise to any of this trash.
Sleaze such as……..
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-55129