; Minority Voice April6- 13,2007, pg?_ How Severe Is Immigrants Impact on Employment? PanesEa eee Ce , T Per gt. arte ese » fal; inantly negative: WwImmigration is a highly contentious, pivotal issue and opinions range from locked against to strongly supportive. Thou mixed, of course, Blacks T feelings are predominan y negat :immigration ? has obvious far-reaching ramifications for politics, the economy, public education mate key areas. Black lenis were virtually silent concerning last year Ts immigrant rightsnational initiative.) - eee ee oy ifornia Employment and Wages. ? ItThis column focuses on immigrant effects on employment ~ excerpts from a recent Public Policy Institute of California study, oHow Immigrants Affect California Emp oye show it affects the- offers an opportunity to assess conservative-leaning researchers Spin on immigration and its implications for Blacks. oOne of the most contentious issues about ron iot higher shate trywages and employment opportunities of US natives. If immigrants hurt the labor market options of native workers, Californians should feel the most pain. California has a !immigrants in its population and labor force than any other state, arid by 2004, immigrants constituted one-third of the state Ts labor forcé and population. ; f California nativeThe report analyzes the effect of immigration inflow on the employment, population and wages of US natives in California. It compares the size, trends and estimates of Californworkers ? behavior and wages to national averages. wo i : . | d the exipfoymentThe major findings have implications for the national debate and California. First, there is no evidence that the inflow of immigrants over the period 1960-2004 worsened the ral aceopportunities of natives with similar education and experience. No association was found between the inflow of immigrants and the out-migration of natives within the same e ~~ ona 3 idgroup. Second, according to the study Ts calculations, during 1990-2004, immigration caused a 4% real wage increase for the average worker. Third, the results indicate that recent aaenees .lower the wages of previous immigrants. Wages of immigrants who entered California before 1990 were T 17 to 20% lower in 2004 than they would have been absent any immigration be1990 and 2004. | : | | ©The supposedly dire labor market effect of immigration is one reason why some politicians called for tougher measures against illegal immigrants during the last Congress. Moreover, the new_ Congress is likely to revisit potential reforms such as introducing guest worker and visa programs, Bee a | thout3 2004, California was home to almost 30% of all foreign-born individuals working in the United States. Moreover, one-third of the state Ts 15 million workers and two-thirds of those A opit~ high school diploma were foreign-born individuals in population and labor force. During 1990 " 2004, alone, new immigrants increased the size of the foreign-born population by over 40%.very large number of those individuals were poorly educated Mexican laborers. . . _ : 7The study poses the question: What is the effect of immigrants on wages? Immigrants increase the supply of labor. Hence, they should decrease the wages of native workers, reduce theiremployment opportunitiesBy: Larry Aubryet | Los Angeles SentinelThetuore the African American comm inity tries e how ir, the more it opens itself up to greater criticism. It Ts is more difficult to have a public :conversation without those who either exploit Black crisis or enjoy commenting the B: isis, as some form of catharsis for why such problem continue to persist. The racistsime public intellectuals asset that the historical social construct has contributed to the problem. American stopped talking about race and the riation Ts complicit involvement in that Ts a problem. American society created the problem, but wants no responsibility in, correcting the problem. Economic suppression is so great in poor communities that it is nearly impossibleto escape from the social ills created by economics alone. Complicate this by Poor education, poor health, poor family structures and poor values (choices), and you have a situation that Black~~ people can Tt eseape from; ~~ i ae ae ae a: | || it's eathaation tha while not hopeless, leaves many feeling helpless. And where can the African American expect to get help from?, America cut Black America loose twenty years ago, By theend of the Reagan Revolution, the separation, economic/social/political, was complete. We Tve spent the last twenty years looking for something that just isn Tt there. But unlike other races and.cultures who turned inward to. cultur: L-values and community support systems, Black communities have turned on each other and there are few support systems to be found. That Ts'a problem.Many in our community continue to be exploited by consumerism, gangsterism, and popular culturalism that undermines intelligence, morals, and discernment. eee aeThis eteates level of sophistication (or unsophistication) that makes it difficult for African Americans to relate to each other. Other cultures have generation gaps. The Black community hasther more than they otherwise would; and de-empower our communities in ways that are unbearable. How do we escape the realities of our communities throughoutorse than slavery or segregation-but not give the oppressors of the nations more power than they should have? How do we escape the problems that are now becoming "t intractable in how we see each other and how others see us? Only we can answer these questions. Questions like, why are so many Black men out of work (or the |ly Black men in jail? Why are we the only race of people where the majority of families are headed by females? And if one more White person asks me, oWhy can TtIf I knew the answer, I Td be richer than Bill Gates. Certainly, if others wonder this about us, we certainly wonder it about ourselves. It can Tt be the issue of beingbeen poor, It Ts can Tt be the issue of education-Black people were once barred from education. It Ts can Tt be the separation issue-Black men often went away, often-ape the law, and the family survived. What makes 21* Century problems so difficult to escape? And what makes many in our society bask in watching the: ur Of Black America? Mayt (ow that the social construct set up to work against Black America has finally engulfed it. Or that the disparities created by the construct to disadvantageBlack America has finally consumed.it. Or the frustrations over the injustices Wages against Black America has caused it to turn on itself. Of course, the racists will say, oNobody made them do. it ? Or, oif they Td just instead of cars and bling-bling... and you see how it goes on and on. They say us as the problem, we seeus as the problem, and Sp owledge, though. This new iteration of slavery, of segregation that promotes a new form of socialaf rol, by remote control, that is :justias ef there is. a problem, They just. can Tt escape itwAund that Ts a.problem. When do we UHL oursélve@ nd at tha ice Mn em tod; here T aici ae . T einanswets the escape? ? Bscltpipg thiprgblem is now Blackproblem. u ai oS82 x | as By:The Black Anglo Saxon "For dil the talk of defining ourselves as African Americans, there are those of us who define ourselves based on the culture we have adopted, which is most] ;pretend to be African American, many of us are really Black Anglo Saxons. James Ear! Jones, an icon of the Black Anglo Saxons once mused that there is not Black culture,culture is shaped by language Tand our language is English, therefore, our culture can not be anything else. . . . | |According to James Baldwin, oThe making of an American begins at the point where he himself rejects all other ties, any other history and himself adopts the vesture of his adopted land. Inthe case of the Negro, the past was taken from him whether he wouldorio. ? 9 | | :For many of us, Black History begins in America with our ancestors being brought over in chains from savage lands, delivered mercifully to civilization and Christianity, without which wesurely Would have perished. ange Ree To Sa | nmstianityAnd, even after a quiet admission that slavery could not be continues it é ju i¢8 continued boundlessly, even extending to the chaining and abuse of our self-image and according self-worth.Even when we were supposedly free, from the end of slavery to: Jim Crow and to the beginning of integration, we were still being captured many times over and lifreedom, while accepting the lie of acceptance. aa ame oee eer ane Tied to aboutThe goal all along has been to fit in, to melt with mainstream society,Culture that will never acceptus, = Ph oe aAnd even some of us who claim to be Afroceritric know of little of that which is intritisically African, For example, ask any so-called African American to name threeKings or three nations in Aftica. Most of us have nothing that shows an intrinsic African understanding. Yet, even Italians who can Tt speak Italian know abou_ have been there or not, and many have not. Hell, many Black Anglo Saxons know about Italy and Sicily, even though they know nothing of Africa as demonstrated by the wretch" rappers who take name $ of Italian gangsters with pride. The point is that even the Black Anglo Saxon who loves the rhetoric of being Afrocentric, has no intention ofperp ogeophone ite , ris red we vere once kings and ach, but hae pis are doing vid but living like the heirs of royal blood.Gane, SK them.-ol Altica today, and they believe that the entire continent is rife with AIDS, civil wars and pdverty, They acce this dismal view of Africa fr ietican news reno; .have Blea pai and-have pram dapised the continent with native Aer . : * id | , " | Oo o Aneta aws TEPORRR, DaMany Black Anglo axons want to be as quiet and as non-confrontational as possible, which often means exoneratin people who commit crimes against our community si ~have ory overtures to us as in the case of former President Clinton, or when they are causing damage to out eins as in the case of 50 Cents eis y Saly Deca myBlind and silly Negroes are still running around calling William Jefferson Clinton the first Black president, tacitly ignoring the fact thatape Boyeo . a tayApel BlockAagie tee step etinn during his y watch. hi ed % | _And, Black Anglo Saxons are aftaid to do what is necessary to:garner freedom, which includes chastising our own in order to protect our community, We saw South Africa oain +independent with the use of direct and productive tactics, including oNecklacing, ? where a tire was foisted around the neck of a sellout, filled with Kerosene and set ithe ending the life ofhe Black Angl | orked wi amount to assault the inner city Black psyche with him cobuitt withposters in Black neighborhoods, silly Negroes meekly attacked Paramount and still loved 50, excusing the moron Ts poor behstice simply because he 7 Black oisplayed prominently onThe community should have gathered around 50 and beat the snot out of his nose, but he gets defended or even pid try as a role model simply because he is making money And some of thsame Black men and women who refuse to take him to task, rage loudly otherwise about the destruction done by rappers and rap music, forgetting that Russell Simmons Puff Dad yi 4 J TZ have all profited from harming our community even as we laud them for amassing cash from doing such harm, dy and Jay-Entertainers in ay gone by ranging from Eartha Kitt, Sidney Poitier and Muhammad Ali placed their careers on the line for what they believed, but today, Black Anglo Saxons are moreAad Bek e caipetaines ey ive rp a i i liAnd, Black Anglo Saxons love their well-paid entertainers so much tha en Ohe of us attacks a cooning comedian or buffooning rapper, the Black Anglo Saxons will T) minishing the Bl. C Ktale image, while desecrating the Black female image and Black Anglo Saxons ftom both aeput thany ¢ is have done that so well that we Tve lost our own sense of history and our own sense of culture in favor of aPr: 3Tae | shah riest of us align ourselves with the Democrats " a party that systematicall ut Black sl odren alone and then began to blame the fathers for being absent, On the other beadidhe betaune OF us to retutn to their side, while doing ing for any of us, 3 aeDdEIS ( Wee ie, story in America, ars wc haa 3 7 deol al hae8 (AC) were Bla governments, even wher ad No true governing party, African Americans have nn cous: :2 Imp ent, go omning nothing and not even attempting to, aie vans have no ita heri¢a, while separating all ties with the Black Americans Who are left at the bottom of society Sai na4Hers of White society and so began to pretend at assimilation while ooking down at the Negroes they piot ee Na nothing Pele a Moe eleSeat cl more Negroes than ever b were allowed into the White world. whars 4... ne eebonomically depressed urban areas all actoss America, orld where they ,fii ri Sl4 a ye i} 4 eynay sg ie else ya Fendi wedlanat aleae, 1 oe ee aant ih Phadibe ica hastig oBe hae any