Black People : Immigration dominates southern US politics

[triniti424]

smh okay though I will be the first to agree that imigration isnt the picture of perfection... IMHO... all of this fuss over it is a distraction from the war going on now... how else to get folks to forget about all the soldiers dying overseas.

 

[Omowale Jabali]

smh okay though I will be the first to agree that imigration isnt the picture of perfection... IMHO... all of this fuss over it is a distraction from the war going on now... how else to get folks to forget about all the soldiers dying overseas.

I disagree totally. In fact, I have always believed that the war in Iraq was a front to divert attention from more pressing domestic issues and now here the struggle is coming HOME to roost.

For example, if one studies closely the events surrounding 9/11, there was already at the time a fight in the legislature over immigration reform. It was a platform which california governor gray davis was shaky on and this led to a divided constituency which could not fight off the recall campaign..

In Texas, as school kids are walking out of classes, as they are also doing in california, the anti-immigration forces are 50-60%, while pro-immigration forces are 40-50%.....this is not a substantial difference considering that Texas, similar to california has a republican governor, and is the home of a republican president. Just think, where else are the most recent republican presidents from over the past 40 years......two states, both which are pro-energy and have a vested interest in expanding operations of the oil and petroleum industries into foreign lands, while using low paid and largely unskilled labor to replace higher paid unionized workers.

is any just coincidence that most of the so-called al qaeda operatives of 9/11 were trained pilots or unversity students in california, texas and florida, all areas with high populations of latino immmigrants?

personally, I believed 9/11 to be a staged operation which then was used as a pretext for invasion into Iraq and eventually Iran, while also providing a logistical basis for increasing us presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which can then be used as other staging areas.

Most importantly, 9/11 provides a clear cover for a reformed homeland security issue and keep reading closely the press coverage concerning these student protests, especially while they are growing amid labor unrest in france.

If these protests in texas, california, florida, etc. continue i expect the government to arrest, detain and incarcerate growing numbers of even it''s own labor leaders who join these protests as these protestors will be cited as threats to national/homeland security...

 

[panafrica]

I disagree totally. In fact, I have always believed that the war in Iraq was a front to divert attention from more pressing domestic issues and now here the struggle is coming HOME to roost.

I agree with this completely!

 

[Queenie]

Brother O, you explained what I've been thinking and couldn't articulate, extremely well. Bush has 3 years left to complete as much of his agenda as possible. I can't say that all Republicans are involved in his plan but enough are and stand to gain a lot if he is successful in achieving his goals.

Let me ask you. What did you think about the film, "Farenheit 911"? Do you think it was a bunch of hype as it's been painted to be or could that be the typical American smokescreen to distract us from the truth?

Brother Sip, Ain't that a trip? What's the difference between a Mexican and a Haitian?

Queenie

 

[Omowale Jabali]

Brother O, you explained what I've been thinking and couldn't articulate, extremely well. Bush has 3 years left to complete as much of his agenda as possible. I can't say that all Republicans are involved in his plan but enough are and stand to gain a lot if he is successful in achieving his goals.

Let me ask you. What did you think about the film, "Farenheit 911"? Do you think it was a bunch of hype as it's been painted to be or could that be the typical American smokescreen to distract us from the truth?

Brother Sip, Ain't that a trip? What's the difference between a Mexican and a Haitian?

Queenie

I really believe that Michael Moore did an excellent job, as an INDEPENDENT film maker to expose the POWER behind the Bush Administration. There were a few minor points that I was skeptical about but they are so minor that now I don't even remember what they were.

Keep in mind that some of my viewpoints are rather subjective and admittedly lack objectivity because a lot of what I express is experiential. That is to say, having now lived in California, and now Texas, I have a much better KNOWLEDGE concerning the POWER behind the last successive wave of Republican governors and presidents from California and Texas....and as a union activist I am keenly aware of how BOTH states have faired under 1) deregulation of energy companies, 2) the effect of high illegal immigrant populations on displacing Black workers and Black students in public education and 3) the amount of political suppression which has been inflicted particularly on BLACK MEN as a result.

What Michael Moore did was to confirm some information I was trying to relay to folks concerning the relationship of the Bush and Bin Ladin families and it is that knowledge which leads me to conclude that 9/11 was possibly staged, and used as a pretext for a much larger issue.....Declaration of a state of emergency, declaration of martial law, and the move of the legislature to enforce more death penalty cases, resulting in illegal wiretaps (which Bush openly admits and seeks to justify), a heightened paranoia and xenophobia, and increased tension and disunity among Black and Brown working class activists and youth...

I can not overstate my last point as I moved to Texas after first hand witnessing the escalating breakdown last year of Black and brown unity and heightened attacks on Black youth, which has also led to open warfare in the state's prison population.

In north Texas, the Black population is sizeable enough that open conflict between Black and latino students and workers has not escalated but there has been an attack on Black public officials with numerous corruption scandal allegations.

Therefore, there are Black students protesting all this week alongside latino students, at least in the Dallas area.

The question I now have directed to some of my university colleagues on the west coast is where do they now stand in this present protest movement. We used to have a Third World Coalition that was viable in the 80s but that have changed dramatilcally with the decline of the Black college population, particularly the decline of Black MEN.

I think that now this is a situation which Black people as a whole need to look at closely as the united states is becoming a "Third World" nation, with a declining resource base. What is OUR interest as Black people in uniting with Latino working class fighting for justice and economic opportunity in the workplace, when this same support may lead to our further displacement....

This is an interesting moment in amerikan history because the economy is slowing, WHITE MIDDLE CLASS families are experiencing higher foreclosure rates and younger whites are also being forced into low skill servie jobs. And more families are having a difficult time paying higer energy costs, especially home heating bills. I see this clearly in texas (Bush country) and many white are increasing becoming upset at the Bush administration which accounts for one of the lowest presidential approval ratings, now around 34%.

As soon as more folks see through the "terrosrist threat" smokescreen this approval rating will decline further but they already have another scapegoat....the "illegals"...however...check this...

One thing obvious in travelling through the southwest from California, Arizona, New mexico and texas....there is considerable new home building...and most of the workers i have observed are Latino i.e. Mexican immigrants...As new housing starts decline across the southwest those construction workers are becoming displaced and new home builders can not afford to continue building while paying escalating health and unemployment benefits...

Folks...this is why i have been speaking of the need for more Black youth to go into technical and vocational training programs...to reclaim the sector of the economy which the "illegals" have flooded....

Starting with the construction industry....because new housing starts are presently declining and folks are starting to shift into buying used homes....and if this trend continues my plan to invest in and renovate foreclosed or tax lein properties will outpace the building of new homes...

And for this I would prefer to hire Black sub-contractors rather than Latino provided that quality work can be done in a timely manner...

Let us look at the situation in New orleans and learn from that experience.....the federal government is faced with a dilemna because the contractors which they have given the lion's share of funding to in rebuilding have carried out a plan to force out unskilled Black workers and the mostly Black underclass while replacing them with latino workers. The proplem here is they now can not find enough workers to keep pace with the rebuilding plan specifications because housing has become so expensive...

This same scenario caused a decline in housing starts in california and I am watching it repeat itself in texas...

At some point whites will turn on these latinos cause they need a scapegoat to blame for the decline of their economy, even though this decline is led by the the greed of their own energy company officials many of whom are being uncovered as guilty of numerous abuses of power and position. One such example is a case involving the Texas Utility commission....more on that later...