Latinos and black Americans have an enemy – and it is not each other
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Version 0 of 1. The need for political unity between African-Americans and Latinos is compelling, not least because the futures of African-Americas and Latinos are inextricably linked. We often live in close proximity to one another and both struggle with issues like mass incarceration, racial profiling, police brutality, educational achievement gaps, health disparities, poverty, food deserts and housing discrimination. There are examples of where political unity between the two groups has yielded desired results, from the election of Harold Washington in Chicago, Antonio Villaraigosa in Los Angeles, and most recently, Barack Obama. Dr King knew and supported the work of Cesar Chavez, and met with many other leaders in the Chicano Movement. We cannot afford to allow trumped up (pun intended) scare tactics to divide us. Donald Trump recently exploited the grief of Jamiel Shaw, a black man from California whose son was tragically gunned down by an undocumented immigrant in 2008, for his own political ends. Shaw’s pain over the incident must be unbearable, but the likes of Trump use his loss to play on the often tenuous relationship between African Americans and Latinos, particularly surrounding the issue of immigration. Trump is fully aware what having a black man at his side as he tours the nation. He is able to sidestep allegations of racism, while he spews vile nativist xenophobia and divides the black and Latino electorate, which have historically been key to progressive victories at the polls. Related: 'I'm, like, a really smart person': Donald Trump exults in outsider status This strategy is timely because Trump, the divisive entrepreneur turned presidential candidate, has suffered financial losses due to his recent ugly anti-immigrant and anti-Latino comments. NBC has severed its ties with “The Donald” (an old nickname for Trump), and everyone from judges to contestants from Latin America have opted not to take part in the Miss Universe competition that Trump has a major stake in. Donald Trump is no emissary for Black America either. He recently blamed the struggles faced by African-American youths on their supposed lack of “spirit”; Trump Management settled a case after being sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to black applicants and John O’Donnell, a former president of the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, alleged that Donald Trump thought laziness was a genetic trait in black people. Trump, bestselling author and regular Fox News guest Ann Coulter and many other hateful voices from the far right have said black people and Latinos are rapists – and they use skewed statistics to back their claims. While Coulter and others sound eerily like Dylann Roof (and could have potentially been his influences), they tend to leave out the fact 70% of child molesters are white males. Donald Trump and Coulter are perfect examples of the fact that Latinos and black Americans share common enemies. So what is getting in the way of a stronger and more lasting alliance between us? There have been plenty of articles which detail reasons why African Americans should fear undocumented immigrants. The gist is usually: “they are taking our jobs”. But this assumes that those jobs were made available to African-Americans in the first place. Black unemployment levels reached 21% in 1983, when the number of undocumented immigrants residing in the US was around 2 million, or less than one percent of the nation’s total population. As the number of undocumented immigrants actually dropped by one million from 1980, unemployment for African Americans skyrocketed. The barriers to black economic success today remain the same as then: institutional racism. Were undocumented immigrants stealing jobs from black people, more educated African-Americans would find themselves unaffected by the influx of workers from Mexico and Central America, and would have employment statistics on par with white workers. However, educated black Americans also lag behind. A University of Michigan study found that black graduates of elite universities also encounter roadblocks to employment or are offered lower starting salaries. An African-American with some college education has roughly the same chance to gain employment as a white high school dropout. There are many reasons for this, like the fact that white employers tend to hire within their own social circles, which often unintentionally excludes black job applicants. These biases are only exacerbated by a drug policy that lands large numbers of black men and women behind bars, and which creates major obstacles to employment once they are freed. This kind of discrimination affects Latinos in America as well, which is why the overall framework for racial justice and equality should include immigrants from Mexico and other places, whether they arrive with or without documents. I sympathize with Jamiel Shaw over the senseless death of his son, Jamiel Shaw II. I also believe that undocumented immigrants who break serious laws by committing violent acts or engaging in drug trafficking should face the full extent of the law and be subject to deportation. But I think the true culprit in this case – aside from the individual who pulled the trigger – was gang related violence, which plagues both black and brown communities and claims the lives of scores of innocent people. While there are no short-term fixes for this problem, black and brown men, like Mr Shaw and me, should consider volunteering our time to mentor African American and Latino youth and steering them in the right direction, as many across the country are already doing. This would be a more effective way to address gang violence than rallying against an equally vulnerable community and aligning with a man who some time ago would have denied Shaw and his son a place to live. One need not be reminded of the famous Martin Niemoller quote in order to know what happens when we do not speak up on behalf of other oppressed groups. There are groups that understand the need for unity between our two communities. In 2011, the NAACP stood alongside NCLR to fight racial profiling in Florida. And Casa de Maryland, a Latino advocacy group, has been extremely vocal in support of Black Lives Matter since the death of Freddie Gray, who died while in the custody of the police in Baltimore. The political futures of African Americans and Latinos is like a card game: and black and brown kings and queens played strategically and cohesively can trump a few jokers. |