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Topic subjectthese stories don't help you either though.
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=18&topic_id=182383&mesg_id=182500
182500, these stories don't help you either though.
Posted by SoWhat, Mon Nov-09-15 03:11 PM
the authors and commentators agree that the problem is exploitation of the disenfrachised w/o regard for their citizenship status, ethnicity or race. b/c as any student of American history understands, the USA has _always_ functioned w/some class of disenfranchised ppl working for outstandingly low-wages. first there were the indentured servants, then slaves, then sharecroppers, then children and now various immigrants (first they were European and East Asian and now they tend to be Central/South American or South-East Asian).

and the concern that undocumented immigrants are taking all the low-wage jobs reminds me of concerns about emancipated Blacks taking those jobs during the Reconstruction Era. same old problem is rehashed 150 yrs later but now it's been recast w/different ethnicities and races involved. but it's the same old story w/the same root - exploitation of an underclass.

anyway, to answer the question - i think it's great that for the most part Blacks ain't falling for the okey-doke and casting this new problem as a Latino vs. black thing or even a citizens vs. undocumented immigrant thing b/c none of that recasting actually gets to the root of the problem as i see it.

from the links you posted:

"To be sure, factors other than illegal immigration contribute to black unemployment. The problem cannot be solved without solving the problems of the high school dropout rate, high rates of family instability, and low job-retention rates. Moreover, >>halting illegal immigration is not a panacea even for the problem of depressed wage rates for low-skilled jobs<<."

---

"Prof. SWAIN: Its not about African-Americans, its about Americans because Latinos are hurt too. Legal Latinos, their wages are depressed. Some of them are in the same boat as African-Americans. They are being discriminated against. Its also whites with low levels of education.

Its an American problem. Its not a black problem. Black people get hurt more because of discrimination. And thats, again, thats another American problem thats not being addressed adequately."

"Mr. JEFFERSON: May I say one last thing? I just want to say that a lot of people sort of - and I get a lot of hate mail for this piece and sort of conflate, as Professor Swain said, sort of conflate being sort of have questions about immigration as being anti-Latino. And I think that thats sort of - thats a cheap argument. I dont fault illegal immigrants for wanting a better life. >>I fault employers who look at qualified African-American job applicants and say I dont want your labor<<. I want to hire somebody whos easily exploitable and to whom I can pay very, very obscenely low wages."