February 2, 2003
THE CENTER CANNOT HOLD:
African-Americans drowning in wave of illegal immigration (TERRY ANDERSON, Jan. 31, 2003, Houston Chronicle)The black community has made great strides in the last few decades. Racism has certainly not been eradicated, but it is no longer accepted with a wink and a nod as it once was. We are proud to see Secretary of State Colin Powell, even when we do not agree with everything he does. The same with Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, and many others.That's the good news.
The bad news is that in some regions we black folks are so overwhelmed by the huge numbers of immigrants that we are being displaced in our schools, jobs and neighborhoods.
That may seem a harsh thing for a black person to say against brown people, but I don't see it that way. I am an American, proud of both my nation and my race. What I see in my community of South Central Los Angeles -- where I have lived nearly all my life -- is thousands of Mexicans who care nothing about our traditions and culture, and only want to impose their way on us. That's not immigration, that is invasion.
The central problem with John Judis's theory of an Emerging Democratic Majority is that the groups that are supposed to make up its coalition do not share common interests. They are bound together only by their dependence on government to either dole out money to them or to preserve legal regimes they favor (abortion, affirmative action, etc.). Now that Latinos are poised to surpass blacks as America's most numerous minority (excluding women--a minority only in the politically correct sense) the tension between the two groups is likely to get quite ugly. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 2, 2003 12:47 PM
I'm afraid to have my name attached to this, but I think that future generations of blacks may live to regret their resistance to what Anderson terms, "Mexicans who care nothing about our traditions and culture, and only want to impose their way on us." That is, after the Mexicans have moved upward and onward from the ghetto, and left the blacks behind, wishing that they had let them "impose their way" a bit more readily.
Posted by: Your secret liberal pal at February 2, 2003 1:25 PMOJ:
I believe your conclusion "...tensions between the two groups is likely to get quite ugly." is largely incorrect. For reasons for too numerous to go into here, African-Americans are very attached to the public sector, whether through welfare or employment.
However, Mexican-Americans, like Koreans, are far more entrepreneurial. Therefore, Mexican-Americans will follow the more typical immigrant path, which means they won't be fighting with African-Americans in the zero-sum government universe.
Call me an optimist...
Jeff Guinn
I agree with you both but at that point Latinos will be Republicans, which proves the point, does it not?
Posted by: oj at February 2, 2003 1:59 PMMany who postulated that Mexican immigration would shift Texas left the way it did California, are missing some critical symbols, Most Mexicans are strong believers in Christianity and the ethic of hard work, making them by nature more at home with conservatives than Liberals, it wasn't the Mexicans who turned California Liberal, it was the other way around. They didn't bring about the liberal muticuluralist, welfare state attitude, they assimilated themselves to what was already there, just as in Texas they assimilited themselves to a more conservative vision of what America is about, and elected a Republican to the Senate rather than a minority candidate on the Democratic ticket.
Posted by: MarkD at February 2, 2003 2:14 PMWell, we'll see what the long run brings.
Pessimistically yours,
Whack A. Doodle
I think the pre-existing political culture has an important effect on immigrants to a region like Michael Lind has theorised in some of his writings.
Therefore Mexicans coming to the South-West are likely to vote conservative while those arriving in places like the Pacific Northwest would vote Democrat.
I guess you could cite California's recent electoral history as the continuance of the backlash against the Republican governor who went nativist.
Orrin,
with all due respect, as long as the non-white minorites hate you more than they hate each other, then Judis is right and you are wrong. This is exactly how the modern Democratic party works today.
Robert:
But, ethnic groups tend to hate those they come in contact with most. Thus black hatred for the Jews, Koreans, and Indians who stores and other businesses in their neighborhoods. As Latinos homestead black neighborhoods friction will increase.
Good point - look how the Irish hate the Irish.
Posted by: pj at February 3, 2003 7:59 AMThat's British Protestants vs. Irish Catholics.
Posted by: oj at February 3, 2003 10:37 AMOver at opinionjournal, Taranto cites Henry Louis Gates
on this phenomenon, and claims he said that blacks are
"in danger of losing our privileged position."
Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it, but that
wasn't what I was marching for back in '63.