Race DOES Matter - The American Worker Ads

I had a chance to catch up on some housework the other day to tackle one of my most dreaded chores - the never ending, constantly multiplying baskets of laundry constantly invading my home - so I decided to multi-task and catch up on some of my shows that I record on my DVR.

A particular ad caught my eye during a break, one that has been airing in the Atlanta, Georgia market for a couple of weeks now. In one of the spots, it shows Dr. Frank Morris, former Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, an organization created to educated future Black leaders and to broaden and elevate the influence of African Americans in the political, legislative, and public policy arenas, commenting about immigration and the effect it is having amongst employment of Black men in America, all done against superimposed images of the American border (let’s be perfectly frank here for a moment, they’ve got to be referring to Mexico, obviously, we’re not complaining about those darned Canadians and building a wall along their border, are we?) and black and white images of depressed Black men in various states of financial stress and/or difficulty. As the ad played, I was disturbed by the fact that the ad seemed to be pitting one racial group against another by inferring that the decline of employment in the Black community is solely based on Latin immigration issues and wondering who was behind this subversive message, filled with subliminally racial overtones.

Hmmm, I thought to myself, I have GOT to check this out; this is the insidious type of political advertising, misrepresentation and distortion of the facts that is a prime example of what’s wrong with our political election process system and why it’s time for a change on all sides, I find the practice not necessarily attributed to any political party, but a disturbing policy that’s been employed by all on occasion, from time to time. I scrambled to find the remote, fervently praying it wasn’t connected to any Democratic political organization or operative. Well, it seems that it was paid for by the Coalition for the Future American Worker (CFAW), an organization who according to their website is “an umbrella organization of professional trade groups, population/environment organizations, and immigration reform groups.”

Little information about the organizational tree could be found about the CFAW on their website, but one of its sponsors/contributors is NumbersUSA; which happens to be an entity founded by John Tanton, a Republican activist from Michigan, and regarded as one of the leaders in the anti-immigration and “official English” movements. Mr. Tanton has either founded or co-founded three groups designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center and is the author of an infamous memo to WITAN IV attendees written in 1986 which showcases some of his questionable, controversial and racially inflammatory thoughts on the issue of immigration. Amongst Mr. Tanton’s other “achievements”, he is also the founder and publisher of Social Contract Press, whose books play on the fears of white, English-speaking Americans by inferring that immigrants will take over the United States as well as co-founder, Former Chairman and board member of the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) . Typically, his publications released on Social Contract Press will highlight research that portrays the negative aspects of immigration issues while ignoring conflicting or positive information, playing on the racist fears and attitudes surrounding this issue.

According to an article published at the Southern Poverty Law Center website, Dr. Harris, along with Mr. Tanton, was part of an anti-immigration contingent determined to take over the board of the Sierra Club, an environmental organization which has nothing to do with immigration issues, in order to “seize the reins of a respected and well-financed liberal group to express immigration restriction arguments that might otherwise draw accusations of racism”. Although unsuccessful in taking control of the Sierra Club, it seems as if they have not abandoned their tactics.

Those who actually are affected, even Dr. Harris himself, knows the problem facing the Black community is a little more complex than that and involves an amalgamation of complex issues rooted in racism, incarceration, and lack of education -- not just immigration, as he pointed out in his statements to a subcommittee before the Judiciary House of Representatives in 2004.

In the particular spot mentioned, Dr. Morris states, and I’m not going to respond with statistics and figures in each instance:

“If you’re a Black American, you’ve noticed that many of us are out of work. You’ve probably also noticed a huge increase in immigration. Those two facts are related.”

Well, I’m Black and what I’ve noticed is that while, yes, there seems to be more Hispanics working the day labor pools, increasing competition for Blacks for available employment, Blacks have, in most cases, refused to become competitive with the changing market by refusing to work at all for lower wages or increasing productivity, opting to have no income instead an honorable, lower-paying one, or even entertain the thought of working two jobs. Many decided to acquiesce such jobs to Hispanics, therefore allowing them to dominate the market. It’s all about supply and demand, baby; they saw the opening and filled it.

It’s not that Blacks are incapable of working the jobs previously done at lower wages, many refuse to and the simple fact of the matter is that contractors or others in need of their services don’t care about the color of the labor; they just need someone who’s going to do the job at the lowest cost, period. Have they perhaps driven down the cost of labor? That may be true to an extent, however, Blacks don’t have the right to be angry, in most cases, some were so busy complaining, reveling in their mental apathy and stagnation, trying to find someone to blame instead of looking for the remedies instead of simply just getting up, getting out and getting something. A real man, regardless of color, will do what he has to do to provide for his family, at least that’s what my father always told me.

Have I noticed an increase in immigration? Yes, and I don’t doubt the veracity of the data supporting that statement, there is an effect, but I don’t place the blame on the people themselves, I blame NAFTA, for one. Ross Perot was right, what you’re hearing right now is that large, sucking sound he mentioned. That combined with lax enforcement of existing immigration laws, this set up a perfect storm that’s being felt along all racial demographics. According to Dr. Morris in the Seattle Times, "This issue is not new; this preference for immigrant workers over native African-American workers is historical."

He also goes on to say, “The only time when the black workforce is desired is when there's low immigration.” The wave of immigrants into our country has given American employers a choice, and they seem to be choosing immigrant workers over Black Americans and as Dr. Morris states, the historical precedent seems to be for employers to choose immigrants of varied racial demographics over Blacks. There may not be conclusive data available in this matter, but for those who hire and those who seek work in these sectors, I’m sure they would hesitate to disagree.

If employers don’t hire illegal immigrants, you very simply and effectively remove the incentive of coming to America make a living. If you combine this with employer sanctions, add new, tougher controls and effectively enforce them; and by revoking the policies which make it more financially attractive for American companies to utilize foreign workers and strengthening trade agreements that make it economically viable for countries to compete in the global market, immigrant workers will have an incentive to stay in their native countries. Employers will then be forced to hire Americans, but American workers have to become competitive in the global work force market and stop driving up the cost of doing business to the point where it will no longer be beneficial to companies’ bottom line to move jobs overseas, which goes back to rescinding the policies enacted by NAFTA. I’m not saying to eliminate unions, as they are needed to ensure worker’s rights and fair pay, however, they have come to the point where they antagonize and polarize the corporate sector.

The solutions are not easy ones, granted and require compromise on all parties; otherwise, we’ll continue to see declines across the board. It’s critical that we address these matters with a clear, concise, unbiased frame of mind, as our economic future depends on it.

“Studies show immigration accounts for 40% of the decline of employment for Black men.”

“Mass immigration is also a cause for the decline of Black wages.”

Again, assuming the data is not flawed, then yes, one can conclude that immigration does has an negative effect, but what’s not being discussed and taken into account is the detrimental effect the vicious cycle of incarceration, unfair sentencing and lack of educational and vocational training has on Black wages. Our years of failing schools have produced a generation who may have graduated, but are ill-equipped to enter the workforce in skilled labor, forcing them in record numbers to the unskilled job market, which has previously been filled by immigrant workers. Because of economic pressures, that may lead some to find other illegal means of employment, putting them into the cycle of the penal system, further exacerbating matters. That combined with the loss of manufacturing jobs (again, thank NAFTA), in my opinion, is a larger threat to not only the Black community, but all American workers as a whole. With the recent report that states that one in every fifteen of the Black population is in the penal system and the difficulties of those who were incarcerated in re-entering society and the job market, I would see this as the largest threat to employment of Black Americans, not the immigration issue.


“It’s time to stand up for Black Americans jobs.”

That is correct, someone should, but Black Americans aren’t the only ones affected. The Black community has long suffered from inequities in the employment market, even in the most robust of economic times. It’s not a new phenomenon for us, but I’d rather for someone to stand up for ALL the issues, not the just the ones that advance a particular, nefarious cause.

By presenting this issue by having a Black spokesman to bring some type of racial credibility to the ad and by not fully presenting the facts, and the inference that a particular group is responsible for the ills of Blacks and employment, further fan the flames of racism and seems like an attempt of bringing an element of divisiveness to the upcoming Presidential election.

The real question is: Where was this organization’s and its supporter’s stance then and where will they are AFTER the election? Will there be that same amount of concern for the other influences affecting the Black community and employment or will this fall to the back burner should their initiative fail? That’s what Black America is looking for, someone who’ll care about not only us, but all Americans, issues before and after the election.

I know where my Black leaders were trying to go in the past, but not until we have recently been finally recognized as a legitimate, political entity and a force on the political landscape, not much attention has been paid to them, or the issues they represented. The attention is a refreshing change; however, let’s not taint it by bringing the divisive element of racism into the issue, especially by directing the ills of one people upon another. Unless George W. Bush has been successful in totally eradicating the American Constitution, I believe it still starts out by saying, “We, the people…” No racial denotation needed.