On a recent blog post of mine Philosophocon asked me a question about the immigration debate, but he wanted a view that doesn’t get heard a lot. He asked me about how Blacks felt about the immigration issue, and that got me thinking seriously about it. Keep in mind that I can’t speak for all Blacks in the country, but like I replied to Phil I’ll give it a shot!

As a student at Winston-Salem State University, a HBCU located in Winston-Salem, NC I have been privy to several conversations on this issue, and believe me it would surprise you what these young people are saying. Many of them feel that the influx of illegal immigrants is outing them in a financial bind; many of these students are on some type of financial aid and have jobs to make some personal cash. Many of them feel that illegal immigrants are locking them out of jobs that they would traditionally have, summer work like landscaping or construction is basically off limits to them because employers have access to incredibly cheap labor for the job openings that come available.

The students that I have talked to also feel that the influx of illegals has locked them out of what would be entry level jobs that they could have had a few years ago. Jobs like working at McDonald’s or a place like that are increasingly unavailable because they are being filled by illegal immigrants that have no real desire to move up, and are willing to work at minimum wage for long periods of time. The students that I have spoken with have looked at these as jobs that they could hold all through school, and have a chance to move up in before they left the company; now they feel as though the companies do not want to give them a chance to even get started.

But in the broader sense, the Black community is probably more conservative on this issue than one would expect. Blacks seem to see that increased illegal immigration threatens the economic stability of the Black middle class, and they want to see something done about it. Many Black small business owners are being directly affected by the influx of illegal workers, as they are being priced out of certain jobs because they cannot compete using legal workers. Because they have to pay their employees legally, and at wages above the minimum, the businesses that employ illegal immigrants are able to beat them on price. Also, the threat is very real for the reason I mentioned before: too many Black youth are being shut out of entry level jobs and are not having the opportunity to develop job skills. School is great and all, but kids need to have some real world experience before they go out on their own and right now they aren’t getting it, many times because there is a cheaper alternative available.

Politically, Blacks are starting to look askance at their “leaders” and at the Democratic Party over this issue. When the Hispanic/Latino population began to really grow in America, the politicians that had for so long claimed to be our friends began to ignore us; there was a new victim in town, and a new group to pander to. Democrat politicians still give lip service to the issues that Black “leaders” tell them are important, but their attention is with the growing Hispanic population and in trying to find a way to get their votes. Suddenly La Raza is getting as much attention from the Democrats as the NAACP, and many Blacks are getting their hackles up about it. Many are upset that the Democrats have left them like a jilted lover, while many more are starting to see that the Black community has been used not so much as a mistress, but more as a hooker that has been p*mped out by it’s leaders…and that spells trouble for both the politicians and the so-called leaders of the Black community.

And there is tension between Blacks and Hispanics, even if the media will never tell you about it. For years Blacks have felt that because of our status as America’s largest minority, and the power of our votes to determine many an election over the years that we were indispensible to the Democrats, and that the media would always treat us with a measure of deference. That has gone by the wayside as the Hispanic/Latino population has outgrown the Black population and they have become the group of choice for the political panderers to ply with their blandishments. Politically savvy Blacks have seen this coming for years, which is why you have seen many start to take a few tentative steps away from the Democrat Party leadership; they knew that the time would come when they would be thrown over for the new group in town. Consider it a political “7 Year Itch”, if you will. This competition for the attentions of the Democrat leadership has led to an understandable feeling of jealousy and mistrust between the “leaders” on both sides. And regular, everyday Blacks have long seen this push towards amnesty for what it is; a play by the Democrats to bring in another captive voting bloc to the Democratic fold, at the expense of the Black vote that has been solidly Democratic for as long as I can remember.

What the Black community will do is anyone’s guess; we may finally get ourselves out of Silky’s Cadillac and stand on our own feet, or we may decide that it’s scary making that type of change and scoot over for Silky’s new ho. But whatever happens, it will come with our eyes wide open and be a conscious decision that we enter into; we can’t claim to have been bamboozled on this one!

And that’s my take on the truth, in Black and …Brown!