Posted on 02/02/2003 8:55:55 AM PST by Dog Gone
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.
It is sad what has happened in my neighborhood. This was a respectable, blue-collar area of hard-working black folks living in their bungalows and going to their jobs. In just a couple decades it has become almost entirely Mexican. They live several families to a three-bedroom house and keep chickens in the yard, but the city doesn't care about the zoning violations or the noise of having so many crowded into a small space.
According to the Census Bureau, nearby Watts is now 60 percent Hispanic, and it was previously the black community on the West Coast. No longer.
The immigration situation is really hard on our young people. A 17-year-old kid on my street couldn't get a job at McDonald's because he didn't speak Spanish. Another young neighbor boy was thrown into a bilingual classroom at age 8 and was forced to listen to Spanish all day long. His six-hour school day was turned into three hours. When his mother asked for an English-only class, she was told "there are none."
Would you believe that I, a black man, have been called a racist many times for speaking up against this invasion? I have a radio program on the subject and therefore hear from a lot of people, even some in Mexico.
When they call me a racist, I put this question to them: What if a hundred thousand Vietnamese were suddenly dropped into Guadalajara? And what if those newcomers didn't speak Spanish, and further insisted that their children be taught in Vietnamese? What would you think if they were happy to work for half the normal wages for any job they could get, thereby putting thousands of your local Guadalajarans out of work? Would it be racist to say there was a problem?
When people of good will and good sense hear the situation put that way, nearly all understand and respect my viewpoint.
Now if only they would listen in Washington. America's political leaders are the problem. They have been selling out this great nation for real and imaginary political benefits while ignoring the dangers. Even after Sept. 11, nothing has been done to plug up our borders. Another terrorist attack could be 10 times worse, and it would likely happen because Congress and the president learned nothing about the need to keep the nation's borders secure.
If I sound angry, you hear right. Like other Americans, I want immigration to be legal, controlled and reduced. But as a black American, I see that the burden my people must carry is heavier than for many others. I am sure that if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were alive, he would understand the fundamental unfairness to the black community of allowing more immigration than the nation can handle.
Such is life.
The Old Florida Crackers complained when the Yankees from New York came to Miami. They, in turn, complained when the Cuban middle class moved en masse to Miami in the early 1960's. The first wave Cubans complained when the "Marielitos" showed up in Miami in 1980 and now the "Marielitos" are complaining about the "Indios" from Central America that are showing up in Miami.
Oh, I forgot. The Seminoles complained when the Old Florida Crackers showed up.
Nothing like 20 years and a bunch of newcomers to make a group "Old American". :-)
But, all kidding aside, no "Old American" or "Recent American" should have to put up with anybody who is not legal.
Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
"Sorry, I don't buy it. A "respectable" area of "hard-working" black folks?"
Why did you say that? Why did you put "respectable" and "hardworking" in quotations like that? And why don't you "buy" it?
I don't understand why you are accusing me of an "absolute generalization". So why don't you answer the question, because I don't know what you're going to say.
You’re setting up a strawman argument.
The subject of the article is a particular neighborhood in California, and by extension, certain black neighborhoods that have been “taken over” by Hispanic immigrants.
Your question deals with all the black neighborhoods of the universe, therefore not relevant to the article.
Of course, there are middle class neighborhoods that are not run down, but those are not being taken over by Hispanics.
The black person in America today has no idea where their ancestors hailed from on that very large continent. And traditions/culture of one tribe in Africa varies wildly to another. And, of course, even if a black man/woman in this country could trace his/herself to one region, visiting those there would be problematic. They would be looked upon with great distrust...and in certain remote places, be in grave danger.
That is a curiosity to many Mexicans as well. At least the ones that are here legally and have been here a few generations. Like my sweet "pocho" and his "pocho" parents. They don't get the chicken thing OR the endless Virgin Mary murals.
But no one in the RNC would listen. The Party of Abolition missed their Golden Opportunity to pick up African- Amercan votes by a sin of omission: simply turning a blind eye to illegal immigration.
Now Boogaloo Waters and her ilk in LA have both the illegal alien vote (illegally, of course) and the black vote! Illegal Aliens = Cheap Votes for the Rats; Cheap Labor for the Republicans.
A "respectable" area of "hard-working" black folks?
Fellaz! Did I read this correctly? Or do my eyez fail me?
T-minus 41 days until the girth of Tha SYNDICATE, the philosophical heir to William Lloyd Garrison.
101 things that the Mozilla browser can do that Internet Explorer cannot.
Your pun is really blasphemy.
T-minus 41 days until the girth of Tha SYNDICATE, the philosophical heir to William Lloyd Garrison.
101 things that the Mozilla browser can do that Internet Explorer cannot.
You're very good at quoting out of context
No. 126 was not to me. I quoted your direct statement made to me by you.
So, to take a phrase from you, "I don't buy it."
Don't sweat it. I hold nothing against you. It's just refreshing to know where you stand with people, that's all.
310 sucks when it used to be 355. ;-)
Then you ping people who will only see a sentence out of context in their comments' window.
Nice touch.
I also like to know where I stand with people.
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