Last weekend, some 500,000 people took to the streets of Los Angeles to protest a tough immigration bill passed by the House in December and to put pressure on the Senate, which is debating the issue now. In the crowd were very few African-American faces, noted Ronald W. Walters, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland. Their economic prospects are directly threatened by the huge influx of illegal immigrants, he said. African-Americans are competing for jobs in construction, hotels and restaurants, meat packing and textiles, he said, and they lose out to immigrants willing to accept lower pay and fewer benefits.
“The African-American leadership has a lot of angst about this,” he said, adding: “It’s not just a black problem, but we are the most acutely affected. The fact is, it’s hurting us.”
Ok, so a 30% unemployment rate among working-age black males is atrocious. But let me ask a really really delicate question- would those same black males be willing to go work the hard farm labor that their slave forefathers did or are the associations with slavery enough to keep them from the positions if illegal immigration was suddenly halted completely?
This is more a sociological question than a practical one. Maybe it is easier for us to see immigrants as farm labor than blacks because we don’t have the images of latino slaves in cotton patches getting whipped by white masters?
Good point. However, not all the jobs that immigrants take are farm ones; two of the largest areas to find immigrant workers are Chicago and NYC, where I last checked no farms exist.
I admit the choice to raise wages to practical levels is a difficult one, but if done across the board, the pain can be spread more thinly. Another thing to consier is that if an immigrant finds he or she cannot work at just above slave wages s/he can choose to return to the home country or go to another state. A poor person, black or white, when stuck in jobs that promote poverty has nowhere else to go. “Hey, boss I need a day or two off from plucking chickens so I can find a real job. You don’t mind do you?”. A migrant worker is just that, free (poor use of wording) to seek jobs wherever they might. Whereas the ghetto dweller has far fewer options, especially when s/he must compete with migrant workers.
Regarding job options of immigrants and Americans: A person with an American passport can easily get into lots of countries around the world and get him/herself an illegal job. Things are much harder for the immigrants. Job-wise, an American has way more options than any other nationality, even compared to the developed countries in Western Europe.
Continuing the Europe/America comparison – America and not Europe is the world leader economically because the system here is set up to encourage competition, in part by allowing hungry immigrants at every level, from farming to computer programming.
to dilettante:
What if that American is generally poor? Do you mean an average white American who has a high-school degree? What options for jobs in other nations are open to inner-city (code word for black) youth? And will the outflow of these jobs affect the job market in the U. S.?
A migrant worker is more “free” to find another job how? They don’t get unemployment if they get fired, they aren’t protected under labor laws or osha standards. If they request fair treatment from one boss they usually can’t get hired by another boss in the area. Their only freedom is that they are not tied to the community to begin with, which also means they have less community resources available to them.
Yes, but how free is the poor person, who must now compete with immigrants, free to move from Baltimore or wherever to find a job out of her/her area? What options does a person with limited skills who lives in a town most of their her/his life have if immigrants begin to compete for possible jobs? And how fair is it that we do nothing for those whose ancestory is American, whose parents and grandparents paid taxes in contrast to someone whose children we must educate since the parents got a job illegally? Why should our education dollars go to someone (or their children) because their country of origin cannot or will not provide same?
My point is that an American knows s/he cannot survive on $7.40 an hour, while an immigrant is prepared to accept that pay. The reason why this situation is more acceptable should be the problem of the country they came from not ours.
Deek you’re starting to sound like one of the minutemen whack jobs.
Educating the children has a benefit to society. Those children grow up to be higher wage earners than their parents who pay taxes and contribute to society. This has happened in every immigrant population.
What the question should be is why hasn’t the same thing happened with african americans and what can be done to change that? There are major differences- most immigrants come here willingly, african americans didn’t, and no one but the african americans had slavery and its legacy to contend with. What needs to be done to give them an actual fair shot?
As far as ancestry being American – the only people who have actual american ancestry are native and their poverty rates (except for casino rich tribes) are higher than even african americans. Everyone else has immigrant ancestry. Don’t start spouting the isolationist crap.
Slighty isolationist. We have become the world’s policeman and that is a scary thought. Katrina proved that we are not protected at home.
Another point: When too many foriegn doctors started to come here a few years ago, American doctors protested and successfully lobbied Congress to make their entry much more restrictive. This is the case with all high-end professions. There is considerably less competition in the U. S. for these jobs. Those who traditionally are better off are well protected on both ends, higher pay, lower costs due to immigrant labor. People on the lower rungs of the ladder do not have the same luxury.
to Deek:
if a poor American thinks it’s better to be an illegal immigrant he/she has freedom to easily become one in a variety of countries. lot’s of options compared to a high-school graduate from Mexico, for instance.
Thank you Dilettante. Try living as an illegal with no papers, no credit, no bank account, no identification, no healthcare, no job protections or job laws and the constant threat of being arrested and deported. That’s the freedom of being illegal.
Responding to an earlier comment by dilettante (who the heck are ya btw?) The EU is about to (or just has) surpassed the US in both population and GDP, the euro is becoming the preffered currency for both black and grey market transactions- which is the first step before becoming the dominant world currency.
On that one- your europe/ america arguement is a dog that won’t hunt.
“Try living as an illegal with no papers, no credit, no bank account, no identification, no healthcare, no job protections or job laws”
sounds pretty close to the options many American born blacks enjoy, except being deported the threat is a return to a house of detention.
dilettante: I lived in Europe for a few years. These options for living illegally over there is non-existent. And, if Mexico promotes making sure its citizens emigrate to the U.S., I doubt it will encourage poor people living there.
To be clear I am not for returning illegals. Nor am I against any immigration. My stand centers on pressuring “guilty” countries from dumping their problems on us.
Hey, I wouldn’t care if immigrants take up the resources and space in well off neighborhoods, but typically the “extra” people put strains on areas that are already on edge. Tax dollars used to teach newcomers English, for example, must come from already meager budgets. Again not a problem in rich school districts, but a major issue where one textbook is already shared among many students.
And yes RQ, to me immigation should not be discussed without addressing what you said:
“What the question should be is why hasn’t the same thing happened with african americans and what can be done to change that?”