Right, and we're supposed to pretend that this kind of comment isn't racist right? It all goes to hell when the Mexicans move in, but it's not racist. Uh-huh, right.
Right, and we're supposed to pretend that this kind of comment isn't racist right? It all goes to hell when the Mexicans move in, but it's not racist. Uh-huh, right.
Hmm....really?
Maybe a little more depth is needed in your understanding of economics...
Sociologist Lisa Catanzarite looked at many different occupations across 38 major metropolitan areas. She found that the higher the percentage of "recent immigrant Latino men" [RILM] in each local job, the lower the wages paid to citizens and established immigrants.
She writes: "The pay penalty in occupation-MAs [Metropolitan Areas] with 25% RILM [recent immigrant Latino men] amounts to $2,369 per year; at 15% RILM, the penalty is $1,421, and at 5% RILM, $474. These are substantial wage discounts, given that annual earnings average $21,590. In other words, in occupations with 25% RILM, workers earn only 89% as much as workers in comparable fields without RILM."
In other words: all else being equal, if the makeup of your occupation's local labor pool changes from 0% new immigrant to 25%, your income shrinks 11%. (source...http://www.ncpa.org/iss/imm/2003/pd081903c.html and http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/)
And that only accounts for the unskilled Labor market...the % difference is GREATER in the "Skilled" Labor segment. And don't deny it, because the demands for H-1B's PROVES it's more profitable for Companies to follow this business model that GUTS the American Middle Class!
Game, set, you lose.
That's the problem. For people who run around with a racial chip on their shoulder EVERYTHING is racist.
Frankly, I don't give a fat rat's a$$ as to what you want to 'pretend'.
My post was a recap of a conversation I had with a friend the other day. He was complaining that his neighborhood had turned into a barrio.
Do you know why he used that particular word?
Because HE'S FROM MEXICO!
Pretty RACIST of him, huh?
For starters:
Let's assume we are only talking about Mexican descended folks living here.
Then let's say that for sure all Mexicans do not live in dangerous barrios. They certainly don't.
But now let's ask how many Mexicans do live in dangerous barrios as opposed to "anglos".
Then let's ask at what rate are Mexican youth in gangs as opposed to "anglos".
Then let's ask at what rate are Mexican youth in the joint as opposed to "anglos".
This is what folks see and from where they draw their opinions. From real observations and it worries them.
Not the nice Mexican families they know....or even the hard workers who may be quite poor actually.
That's just the way it is. Same reason your average American is more fearful of a redneck in a pick up in a bar parking lot than some Yankee in a plaid coat who looks like Bob Newhart driving a Volvo.
Perceptions with a foot in reality. That is not racism.
At least not to me.