Immigration hits home in Lynn - Blacks voice fear of a loss of jobs

Boston Globe ^ | April 16, 2006 | Yvonne Abraham

[Cincinatus' Wife]

LYNN -- James Banks thinks he knows how the controversy over immigration in this country is going to end: ......

''The whole United States is going to change," the African-American store manager said as he got his hair cut at a Union Street barbershop on a recent morning. ''They'll let you go, and get one of these happy immigrants in your spot. They won't be late, they won't get sick, and they won't complain. They will work every unhappy American citizen out of their grass-cutting, trash-hauling, floor-sweeping jobs."

But he doesn't blame the immigrants: They're just feeding their families. Banks, 36, says the fault lies with a generation of young African-American men who would rather ''walk their sneakers up and down the street" than step up on a stage to collect high school diplomas.

''Immigration is going to set the black community back 25 years," he said. ''Because they'll let it."

.....''As a community we are beginning to grapple with the plight of the African-American male, which is in a crisis state," said the Rev. Hurmon Hamilton, senior pastor at Roxbury Presbyterian Church. ...

......Virginia Barton, a black activist and community historian who has lived in Lynn for all of her 77 years, said African-Americans once found plenty of work in the city: When she was growing up, they worked as maids, cleaners, and in the shoe factories for which the city was famous.

European immigrants worked beside them in lower-level jobs for a time, mostly sweeping the factory floors. Then the immigrants moved into more skilled jobs, Barton said.

''Things got better for them and stayed the same for the Afro-Americans," Barton said. ''It was racism, simple as that. The immigrants that came had a language problem, but they could work around that. The Afro-Americans had a color problem."

[Coldwater Creek]

Where has everyone been for the last 60 years?????

We are going to see a civil war between the blacks and browns.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I could only put an excerpt from the article.

It's worth a full read.

[stopem]

I would be willing to bet that IF GIVEN THE CHANCE to enter LEGALLY to be fingerprinted, photographed, background check, interrogated, BEFORE given entry to
"Do the "JOBS" Americans wont do"
They WOULD NOT ENTER!!!!

WHY? because their intent is not truly known!

Saying that on May1 they intend to shut down our ports should be a red flag warning enough!

[Jabba the Nutt]

"Benson's attitude is reflected in a recent Pew Hispanic Center poll, which suggests that African-Americans, in general, view immigrants more favorably than do whites, but they also believe more strongly than whites that immigrants take jobs from native-born workers."

A little cognitive dissonance here. If the elected Republicans weren't so cowardly, they'd see the strategic opportunity to cut into the heart of the Democrat voting bloc and go after African-American votes on the immigration issue.

[BIGZ]

''Immigration is going to set the black community back 25 years," he said. ''Because they'll let it."

Blacks only hope is to unite with the whites in this country and oppose ILLEGAL immigration. Unfortunately Black leaders still insist that Whitey is the cause of their problems. Just as the liberal MSM will allow Our Country to be destroyed because of their hatred of Bush, I might add that homosexuals should considers their attitude towards Muslims, there will be no homosexuals if Muslims ever gain control.

[SauronOfMordor]

We are going to see a civil war between the blacks and browns.

The conflict will intensify in two stages:

1. When the Hispanics demand more affirmative action access to government jobs, displacing blacks
2. The real hoorah will start when we discover that we cannot maintain the welfare state with soo many recipients

[tkathy]

This 11 million is just the beginning. The tens of millions of illegals after this will totally destroy our job market. Especially for blacks.

[ConsentofGoverned]

"This 11 million is just the beginning"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.......
how do you measure those here illegally..who hide from law and file false names live in homes with 20 other illegals ??
the sad truth is we have many more than 11 million here now and thousands every day coming across the borders..
One day I fear we will wake up and it will have been too late as these all will get the vote and change our country into a socialist "heaven" of the third world.
Your freedoms are leaking away..Private property rights are gone, soon many others will follow..supported by the Socialist mind set of these "harmless" illegals who will vote.

[q_an_a]

great point!! An illegal - even one here for 5 to 10 years who is a subcontractor on a landscape, building, road work site does not pay state, federal or local taxes - thus this savings alone under cuts his native worker by 20%+.

How can a black man start a business in painting, landscape or road repairs to compete with this illegal? Are not samll businesses the engine of our economy?

In addition, the all cash society, created by the illegal, allows them to export our money to a corrupt country that can't stop it's leaders, police and military from stealing from the underclass.

[sgtbono2002]

***''They'll let you go, and get one of these happy immigrants in your spot. They won't be late, they won't get sick, and they won't complain. They will work every unhappy American citizen out of their grass-cutting, trash-hauling, floor-sweeping jobs." ***

It isnt about being black, its about a work ethic.

Fact is the Mexicans DO show up on time and work hard when they arrive. Its a fact of life that employers will hire people who work and pass on those who wont.

People who sneak in over the border should be sent home. Those who wish to apply and enter legally should be allowed to work. Simply put. No Tickee, No washee

[hershey]

Unions and the Jesse Jackson crowd will attempt to corral Hispanics under one big Rainbow for his personal enrichment and power, and entitlements/reparations/affirmative action, handouts/victimhood for illegals. Jesse's only problem is convincing blacks he hasn't sold out to Hispanics, but he's handling that...'Illegals ('immigrants', notice the whitewashing of the truth) -- the new Civil Rights movement'!

[BooksForTheRight.com]

I have seen it. I have heard from owners of small businesses. Mexicans, Hondurans, Ecuadorans and other Spanish-speaking immigrants, (and I quote) "Have a good work ethic", "are good workers", "I can't get enough of them".
I know many of these people and I can verify that it is true. They come to the USA to work for their families (often quite big). They don't have the same job opportunities in their native countries.
Now. The big question!
The job opportunities have existed in the USA for many years.
Blacks have lived in the USA for many years.
The job opportunities are not sought after by American Blacks.
People are willing to travel long distances, learn another language, put up with different customs in order to earn a good living.
Blacks moan and groan about oppression and discrimination while they sink further and further into self-scorn and refuse to look for jobs where they might have to actually work.
WHY do you suppose that is?

[ConsentofGoverned]

"I know many of these people and I can verify that it is true. They come to the USA to work for their families (often quite big). They don't have the same job opportunities in their native countries. "
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>...............
I guess when the founding fathers wrote our constitution they meant for America to be a place for Jobs,, not a place for rule of Law and the vision of a Republic that promoted the freedom of it's citizens under a common understanding of the role of a Limited Government..From your post - we are a country put here to provide jobs for any and all
not for those who see the American system as the best in the world, and as citizenship a right that must be sacrficed for ..the original writers of immigration law understood that making citizenship difficult was one way to root out those that had other agendas for becoming an American but today the illegals only see us as a tit to suck from not a Nation to Join.

[Yorlik803]

it will be between Black and brown and white.
Bush needs to be impeached over the way he is letting a firkin country dictate the US policy on this.
Bush is letting everyone down. HE wont listen.
The only thing I can see that is good is at least we don't have that moron Kerry in the whitehouse.

[dennisw]

We are going to see a civil war between the blacks and browns.

Do you really think the elites and the hacks in DC give a crap? Include the jerks offs in the gated compounds where the only brown/black face you see is daytime, is their imported serf class

[ClaireSolt]

Yes, blacks stay unemployed in big city ghettos but enterprising illegals will cross a continent to find work. Whatcha gonna do? We already tried bussing.

[manwiththehands]

Interesting take on the problem. May we say that illegal immigrants are simply doing jobs black Americans don't want to do? And could that not lead to racist implications for the pro-amnesty crowd? "Mexicans" and/or "illegal immigrants" are not a "race". But blacks are.

[angkor]

The job opportunities have existed in the USA for many years. Blacks have lived in the USA for many years. The job opportunities are not sought after by American Blacks.

It's not limited to black Americans. I know of businesses that have trouble hiring unskilled labor of any kind, unless they go to the Hispanic labor pool.

It's very strange.

In my teens and college years, myself and most of my pals did everything from dishwashing to paper routes to housepainting to summer construction jobs.

How do kids make money these days?

[cgbg]

Jesse's "Rainbow Coalition" was brilliant propaganda--because Jesse knows the greatest threat to his constituency is not dumb Whitey (who falls for every Race Card con) but is the new immigrants who hate Blacks with a passion and will gladly remove them from power and replace them as the group demanding "special treatment".

Today we have already seen that the immigrants can put more protestors out on the street on a nationwise basis than can Jessie.

Black leaders have lived by the sword (of political action)--now they are about to die by it.

How long before the "Black Caucus" is outnumbered by the "Hispanic Caucus"?

My prediction--ten years.