Immigration Should not be a Racial Issue

I really don’t mean to keep coming back to the immigration debate. I guess it keeps coming to me. I wrote about a reasonable discussion of the issues here. This issue presents really tough questions with no easy ansers. Today’s Washington Times highlights voices that smack so loudly of racism that it is difficult to take their concerns seriously.

BLACK LEADERS OPPOSE ALIEN ‘AMNESTY’ PLAN

"We're on the cusp of very critical legislation that centers on immigration -- both legal and illegal," Frank Morris Sr., chairman of Choose Black America, a new coalition of black Americans opposed to illegal entry, told reporters at the National Press Club in Northwest. "African Americans are going to be hurt if this legislation moves forward, [and] we are here to sound the alarm."

… Area residents attending the press conference said that black students are held back in already poor school districts by peers who don't speak English, and that monies for improved educational facilities are spent on bilingual teachers.

So the issue isn’t really immigration. It is those people who don’t speak English.

"It just infuriates me that our children's education has to be shortchanged for a subculture that in many instances doesn't want to assimilate," said the Northwest resident, who is in her 60s and has watched the D.C. landscape change for more than 30 years.

Of course support for assimilation is why this group chose the moniker “Choose Black America” instead of “Choose America”

Claude Anderson, another member of the coalition, called for a lawsuit against the U.S. government for failing to protect the rights of black Americans, who he says are losing voting power and being pushed out of affirmative-action programs by illegal aliens and their supporters.

Excuse me. I don’t think illegal aliens vote so how are black Americans losing voting power? Oh, I see. Competition at the affirmative-action trough is spurring this group to action.

This is a critical public policy issue. Let’s talk about economics and national security which are the crux of the issue. Let’s talk about the impact of illegal immigration on all American workers without concern for their race or ethnicity. The adverse effects will impact those who are poorly educated with low job skills. If those affected are disproportionately black then these black leaders should focus on improving education and job skills, not on holding a place in the queue for government favors.

Two generation ago, my maternal grandparents were of Mexican heritage but American born. I think their parents were also American born. They lived with all the bigotry and discrimination that was commonplace in their day. The Anglo ushers in their Catholic Church directed them to sit in the back of the church so they wouldn’t mingle with the white parishioners. I don’t think either of them graduated from high school. However, both their daughters graduated from high school. All six of their grandchildren graduated from college. One of these grandchildren attended law school and one attended medical school. It took two generation to make this kind of progress. It was not the result of any government program. It was the result of my grandparents’ belief in Faith, family, education, and hard work.