Thread: Black-Latino clashes rising over jobs in L.A.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... o0528.html

Black-Latino clashes rising over jobs in Los Angeles

Daniel B. Wood
Christian Science Monitor
May. 28, 2006 12:00 AM

LOS ANGELES - From where Johnny Blair Vaughn sits outside Lucy Florence Coffee House in the heart of Los Angeles's Black community, he can feel the temperature rising over immigration.

The biggest reason, says the father of seven, is jobs.

"If you drive across this city, you will see 99 percent of all construction is being done by Hispanics. . . . You will see no African-American males on these sites, and that is a big change," said Vaughn, who has worked in construction for two decades. His two oldest boys, in their early 20s, have been turned down so many times for jobs - as framers, roofers, cement layers - that they no longer apply, he says.

While Los Angeles is ground zero for Black-Hispanic friction these days, echoes of Vaughn's words are rising throughout urban Black America as Congress labors over immigration reform. In cities where almost half of the young Black men are unemployed, a debate is raging over whether Latinos, undocumented and not, are elbowing aside Blacks for jobs in stores, restaurants, hotels, manufacturing plants and elsewhere.

"In this era of mass immigration, no group has benefited less or been harmed more than the African-American population," said Vernon Briggs, a Cornell University professor who researches immigration policy and the American labor force.

Some Latino groups, meanwhile, counter that such a correlation is more a perception than a reality.

"We are fighting . . . hearsay and opinion," said Randy Jurado Ertll, a Hispanic educational consultant and director of El Centro de Accion Social Inc., a community-service organization in Pasadena, Calif. "Blacks say, 'Hey a Latino immigrant came and took my job,' and some Latinos say, 'Blacks have all the jobs at the post office or city hall and don't want to give jobs to Latinos.' "

Statistics show that young African-Americans are having trouble in the job market. Unemployment among young Blacks nationwide is 40 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many economists disagree that immigration is the reason Black unemployment is high. Instead, shrinking budgets for job training and creation, industry downsizing and manufacturing flight to foreign countries are to blame.

Yet the perception that Hispanic immigrant workers are pushing Blacks aside in the job market is evident in many cities with a high Black population including Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington and Denver, Briggs says.

"Latinos and Blacks are at each others' throats in our jails and in our high schools," said Najee Ali, an activist based in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Others point out that tensions between Blacks and Hispanics are not new and are not tied solely to immigration. They also result from a competition for housing, education and health care because of the sheer number of Latinos, they are the largest and fastest-growing minority group. Hispanics' increasing political clout as well as recent immigrants-rights demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of Hispanic immigrants in dozens of cities have roiled many in the Black community.

"It angers me because I know that the jobs immigrants are coming to get are not just the ones they got in the past . . . seasonal jobs for picking," Vaughn said. "They got a glimpse of what America is, and they want a piece of the American pie. I can't blame them . . . but there has to be a way for the government to step in and make it fairer so that African-Americans can be employed also."

Choose Black America, a coalition of business, academic, and community leaders, formed this month to advocate for stronger border security and not allow undocumented immigrants to become citizens.

In April, protesters marched in front of the office of Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., because she, along with the Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, supports citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

This subject keeps coming up weekly, it is really a growing problem for Black Americans.

Somebody- send this to Jesse Jackson. Where's Al Sharpton?

Statistics show that young African-Americans are having trouble in the job market. Unemployment among young Blacks nationwide is 40 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many economists disagree that immigration is the reason Black unemployment is high. Instead, shrinking budgets for job training and creation, industry downsizing and manufacturing flight to foreign countries are to blame.

So, we're to believe that the black construction workers aren't getting JOB TRAINING but yet Illegals, with mucho less training, especially by American standards, are working at those construction jobs?

Job creation? But......the construction jobs are there.......they were created. Only problem is that ILLEGALS are taking them.

What am I missing here. This is such an imbicilic statement.

2nd Amendsis said: So, we're to believe that the black construction workers aren't getting JOB TRAINING but yet Illegals, with mucho less training, especially by American standards, are working at those construction jobs?

Yep and this explains the poor quality work, the increase in accidents and death on the job.
What gets me is that every proponent of open borders- like Chuck Hagel today (Argghhhh! He's SUCH a LIAR!) on Meet the Press is want to mention the fact that the USA has a very low unemployement rate.
Yet beneath the murky surface of statistical manipulation- we find that the Native- Born have anywhere from a 10% to 40% unemployement rate.