This week's column: Painting immigration with a broad brush, in black and brown
A small, prosperous local company has painted my house three times — as well as patched the gaping hole I left when I took an unfortunate plunge from the attic through the ceiling (but we won't dwell on that).
The proprietor, a big, soft-spoken black man with a soothing voice and warm personality, always delivers what he promises, and his work is top-notch.
When I first met him his crew was composed entirely of African Americans. By the third time he was doing work for me, his crew was all Latino.
They were quiet and respectful and only one of them spoke English. "He translates for me," the businessman said. "I tell him, he tells the other guys."
The businessman confided that he very much favored this new crew over his old one; they worked harder and complained less. They did their jobs well and then they went home.
I thought again about the black painter and his brown workers when the immigration debate heated up last week amid the massive demonstrations on May 1, including one in Greensboro. Their display of unity and sheer numbers was impressive.
They also seem to recognize and appreciate the vast opportunity here, even in the worst of times. You can do so much here. You can be so much.
Yet as the Hispanic presence grows, so does a sense of wariness and even resentment among some African Americans.
The "Mexicans" are taking over. They are moving into our neighborhoods and filling up our schools and taking our jobs. They are driving down wages.
Even worse, some of us say, they've supplanted us as the minority du jour.
Maybe that's why, when the National Association of Black Journalists teams with its Latino, Asian and Native American counterparts for joint conventions, I haven't sensed many meaningful bridges being built.
Subtle tensions have been brewing for years.
Yes, the Rev. Nelson Johnson spoke Monday at Greensboro's pro-immigrant rally. But black faces in general were far and few between.
Sensing an opportunity, the Minuteman Project, which sponsors its own citizen border patrols, has targeted African Americans in a campaign to build broader support.
"The illegal invaders are using our hard-won civil rights to justify their illegal incursion across our border," a black activist, Ted Hayes, said last week at a Los Angeles Minuteman rally.
You may not have to look far for similar sentiment here. The Minutemen have planned a rally for Thursday in Greensboro.
Truth be told, I have my own issues with illegal immigration. I agree that the government needs to stop hemming and hawing and produce a workable immigration policy whose laws can be enforced strictly and consistently.
I admire and even envy the power and exuberance of the statement mostly Latino immigrants made across the country last week. They seem to have found a sense of unity and purpose that black folks used to have.
But, like a lot of people, I quietly resented their sense of entitlement — the implicit theme that once they've made it into the country illegally, they are somehow now owed the American dream. And admittedly it rankled me, for some reason, to hear them invoke the name of Martin Luther King Jr.
Yet, I also believe that Hispanics and other immigrants continue to enrich the American experience. Meanwhile, African Americans and Hispanics tend to live in the same neighborhoods or at least near one another. They go to the same schools and have had to battle many of the same prejudices.
It would be more than a shame if they were wedged apart by the same fears and ignorance that have historically kept black people and poor whites largely divided.
So I've resolved not to let prejudice overcome reason. Or to equate bad laws and bad policies as bad people. Or to paint the immigration picture with such a broad brush that I can't see reason underneath all my ignorance.
Comments (9)
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Allen, it looks like the proprietor of the painting company with the warm personality has aquired some type of prejudice against black workers-not a single one on his payroll any longer. Hopefully you took him to task for this, although you gave no indication in the above column that you adressed this egregious lack of diversity with him.
It is also good to see that you have resolved to not let prejudice overcome reason-an obvious sea change in your thinking. Maybe leopards can really change thier spots
Posted on May 7, 2006 12:06 PM
Allen, I found a lot in your piece that I agree with. However, I am troubled by the passage "it would be more than a shame if they were wedged apart by the same fears and ignorance that have historically kept black people and poor whites largely divided". Why did you limit it to "poor" whites? The assumption seems to be that all black people but only "poor" whites are the victims of fear and ignorance that cause racial problems. I disagree with both premises. I don't think all black people are the victims of such things, and I don't think that only poor whites are the victims of such things. The implication is that the perpetrators of such acts are middle and upper income whites, leaving everyone else blameless.
Posted on May 7, 2006 4:23 PM
Allen
It seems that you ride the fence on this issue like most of us (including me). It's like that that old saying, "Some of my closest friends are black." But they never get invited to dinner at your home. Most everyone has at least one good experience dealing with Hispanic immigrants, but that does not make those who are here illegally right for this country. Yes, they work very hard but they should not be compared to the African-American work ethic because African-Americans built this country for NO wages (as slaves). And now that everyone gets paid, as a group they seem to still stay at the bottom no matter how hard they work. So this sentiment that Hispanics will do the work that others, especially African-Americans won't do, is not a fair comparison.
Posted on May 7, 2006 10:23 PM
The employer in this story is a Black man so he made the decision that he did not want to employ Black men. A Black man judging Black men and finding their work ethic lacking. That is the point I see being made. Bill Cosby has been making some hard statements about the moral fiber of the Black community that no one wants to hear. This employer is also making a hard statement with his actions. Maybe it is time for the Black community to take a good look at itself and stop blaming everything on white people. I personally just can't believe a Black employer would not want to hire Black employees unless there was a very good reason not too.
Posted on May 8, 2006 12:03 PM
Brenda, you may want to read Leonard Pitts' column today, if you haven't already.
Posted on May 8, 2006 12:30 PM
Allen, how about doing many of us a favor and reccomending Leonard Pitt's column to Dot Kearns and other would-be Guilford Co. demogogic racial scam artists. I think they would be much more in need than Brenda.
Posted on May 8, 2006 2:43 PM
Allen, I hire a lot of web-savvy folks, and often hire from A&T because the young folks there traditionally work hard, have the skills, often need the job, and are smart. Besides, A&T makes it a lot easier for me to hire students than does UNCG. Every decision I make regarding hiring is a business decision. I like to hire juniors (I get two years from them) and I need someone who use of a car. They need a good telephone voice; have to be smart; have to be able to deal with me.
I hire college students because they have the skills we need AND they cost less than an experienced adult. That could be your painter's situation - a business decision and not a racial one.
I think you made a leap from business to entitlement. None of my A&T workers feels "entitled" to the job and they don't do anything except want to learn more. In business, that's all most folks care about. You can't turn a profit unless the job is done well and for a reasonable cost.
Business requires cold decision-making sometimes. That may be all there was for your painter.
Posted on May 8, 2006 9:27 PM
A couple of responses above seem to be kind of touchy. Brenda in particular seems to deny a built in white entitlement in the real world. But let's face it...the only way the Black community can "take a good look at itself" is to fully recognize the role that the White community played in their fate from day one. Thanks for pointing it out though.
Posted on May 8, 2006 9:32 PM
Sue, you may have misunderstood. The sense of entitlement, as I intended to refer to it, is not to a job but to citizenship ... as if "Now that I'm here (however I got here), you owe me this."
I admire anyone with a strong work ethic, and as I mentioned, I think immigrants help remind us why this country is such a wonderful place, even with all of its imperfections.
Posted on May 9, 2006 12:08 AM