Thread: Ruben Navarrette: Reducing minority rivalries

Ruben Navarrette: Reducing minority rivalries
3:53 PM, Apr. 28, 2011




The nation's shifting demographics could spark a flare-up of "the black-brown thing." The phrase refers to the valuable yet thorny relationship between America's largest minority and the group that formerly held the title.

One of the more interesting findings from 2010 Census figures is likely to start a ruckus: Latinos are now the largest minority in more than half of the biggest cities in the United States, outnumbering African-Americans in 191 of 366 metropolitan areas.

This has been the case nationwide since 2003, when Latinos crossed the numerical threshold and became the country's largest minority.

To which I have to respond: "Big deal!" What's the benefit? It sometimes seems Latinos endure more hostility, neglect and discrimination now than they did several years ago precisely because other groups of Americans that feel displaced are pushing back with all they've got. A spike in hate crimes, a surge in restrictive immigration laws and more assaults on speaking the Spanish language are all examples of what happens when people feel threatened by changing demographics.

If you don't like change -- and who does? -- there is a lot to push back on. According to the Census, there are 50.5 million Latinos in the United States, which represent 16.3 percent of the U.S. population. There are about 38.9 million African-Americans, or about 12.6 percent.

And, despite claims by nativists, only a sliver of the Latino figure is undocumented. While the Census Bureau insists that it seeks to count all residents, regardless of legal status, illegal immigrants have always been less likely than U.S. citizens to participate in the decennial survey because of their distrust of government officials. One imagines this was especially true last year. In 2000, what was then called the Immigration and Naturalization Service agreed to temporarily halt raids during the census-taking period to help increase participation. Last year, the agency that replaced the INS -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- refused to do the same.

So it's a safe bet that most of the 50.5 million Latinos registered in the Census count were in the country legally. And for anyone to argue otherwise is a waste of time.

Besides, the real issue is how Latinos and African-Americans can continue to work together -- in politics, business, entertainment, media, the arts, etc. -- without giving into fear, anxiety, jealousy and rivalry.

You will find plenty of those impulses in the immigration debate, where you often hear African-Americans complain that Latinos are stealing their opportunities, crowding them out of neighborhoods, and threatening to erode their political gains.

According to multiple sources who attended President Barack Obama's recent immigration reform meeting, the Rev. Al Sharpton raised these concerns and cautioned against overreacting. Recalling his trips to Arizona in recent years to question whether authorities there are abusing their power, Sharpton told the several dozen leaders he often hears African-Americans complain that Latino immigrants take their jobs. According to the sources, Sharpton told the group that he doesn't believe this assumption is true and that black leaders have to challenge this kind of rhetoric -- perhaps by pointing out many of the jobs done by illegal immigrants would go undone without them.

African-American leaders do have that duty. During a recent debate in Mississippi over a proposed Arizona-style law that would have required local and state law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone they stopped, the state's black legislative caucus stood together against the measure and helped defeat it.

In turn, Latino leaders must do whatever they can to address one of the major concerns of African-Americans: a fear of displacement. From what I've learned over the years from reader response to my columns, speeches and interviews, many African-Americans resent the attention given by the media and politicos to topics such as the "Latino vote" or the business community's drooling fascination with the nearly $1 trillion that Latinos spend each year on goods and services. They fear that they'll be brushed aside.

It's a natural concern but it's also a needless one. Latinos don't want to take anything off the plate of African-Americans. The latter is still the dominant minority in this country, and it always will be. Chalk it up to U.S. history. Latinos just want a seat at the table and a plate of their own. And, due to their prominence and contributions, they deserve it.


http://www.indystar.com/article/2011042 ... Star.com|s

Originally Posted by OneNationUnderGod

Ruben Navarrette: Reducing minority rivalries
3:53 PM, Apr. 28, 2011

According to multiple sources who attended President Barack Obama's recent immigration reform meeting, the Rev. Al Sharpton raised these concerns and cautioned against overreacting. Sharpton told the group that black leaders have to challenge this kind of rhetoric -- perhaps by pointing out many of the jobs done by illegal immigrants would go undone without them.

Navarrette knows that he's lying, Sharpton is just an idiot. Many of those jobs that would go undone are in fact the jobs that black Americans used to be able to get. Unfortunately they've been undercut by illegals. How Sharpton manages to not know this is incomprehensible.
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