Another Side to Race and Immigration

[zenekar]

Another Side to Race and Immigration

Bill Fletcher
https://www.blackcommentator.com

It really hit me in the 1980s while living in Boston. At
that time the southern Irish economy was a complete
mess. People were the greatest export from Ireland, and
a lot of them were coming to the USA. At the same time,
immigration from Haiti and the Dominican Republic was
increasing, and into Boston these three groups came.

Documented or undocumented all three groups found
themselves looking for work and housing. As a struggle
for the rights of immigrants and against discrimination
emerged, Haitians and Dominicans began to coalesce, but
the Irish were a bit stand-offish. Immigrant rights
activists were at first perplexed until they uncovered
that the Irish were being encouraged by Irish American
politicians to keep themselves separate from other
immigrant groups because it was likely that a 'special'
deal could be cut for them.

To put it another way, the Irish were being trained to
become and accept becoming white.

The public face of immigration in the USA is not a
rainbow; it is brown. Don't get me wrong. People from
Asia, Africa, Europe AND Latin America are migrating to
the USA, among other places. Yet in the popular media
the portrayal of the immigrant is usually that of a
Latino. Periodically one sees the face of an Asian or
African. Rarely, unless one is discussing the Russian
mafia, does the European face of immigration come to be
unveiled.

This deserves exploring. If one goes to New York City,
for instance, one will find that East European
immigrants have made significant in-roads in the
construction industry as both documented and
undocumented workers. In fact, much of the work that has
been carried out to rid buildings of deadly asbestos has
been carried out by East European and Latino immigrants.
Yet, East European immigrants seem to be almost
invisible.

When anti-immigrant forces mobilize, they focus on
creating a 'Berlin Wall' between the USA and Mexico. I
have not heard about any walls keeping East Europeans
out. I have not heard about stopping the East Europeans
at the borders, when they exit planes or ships, or
perhaps cross over from Canada.

In order to make sense of this we have to recognize that
this racialization of immigration is not new and has
very little to do with the numbers. In the 19th century
while Asian immigrants were being persecuted,
particularly on the West Coast of the USA, immigrants
from Europe were coming to North American shores en
masse. While it is certainly the case that there was
widespread discrimination and prejudice by non-
immigrants against southern and Eastern European
immigrants, it never compared with the terror faced by
Asians.

The problem for much of the USA with immigration is not
so much immigration, but that there is so much
immigration from South of the border, and specifically
from Brown countries. This immigration upsets the racial
balance--that is, the domination of a 'white bloc'--that
the ruling elites have attempted to hold in place since
the founding of the USA (when it was declared that
whites could become citizens, whoever the whites
happened to be). Although there is a section of the
Republican Party that would like to turn a segment of
Latinos (and Asians) into honorary whites, this does not
go down well with the more extreme Right-wing that would
rather that the USA be a more 'pure' white republic.

What is odd is that many African Americans ignore the
reality of this racialization. While it is the case that
among lower waged workers there is job competition with
Latino workers, it is also the case that there is job
competition with many other unskilled immigrants. Yet,
anti-immigrant forces EVEN within Black America will
tend to focus on the Latino or Brown face.

Recognizing the racialization of immigration should help
one understand that much of what we are witnessing is a
scapegoating of Latinos for much larger forces and
factors that are underway in US society. In previous
commentaries I have written about this, most especially
the restructuring of capitalism that has been underway
and that immigrants are the victims rather than the
source. I have also addressed immigration to the USA as
a major result of US foreign policy that has destroyed
the political and economic infrastructure of so many
countries, e.g., El Salvador. The scapegoating that we
are seeing, including the rise of violent militias and
public demonstrations against immigrant day laborers,
tends to focus on the Latino as if it is the Latino who
is the source of all of our problems.

Were there to be a serious discussion of immigration in
the USA, it would have to address why there is a
differential in treatment between East European and
Latino immigrants in the public mind and in reality.
There would need to be a discussion as to who is and who
is not threatening the jobs of non-immigrants--if
anyone. There would need to be a discussion as to why
nearly 200,000,000 people have been in the process of
migrating to places outside of their homelands and what
that says about contemporary capitalism.

Yet those who scapegoat the Latino want no such
discussion. As long as the face of immigration--
documented and undocumented--is an 'evil' Latino we are
absorbed in a madness out of which there is no escape
and for which there are no answers.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Bill
Fletcher, Jr. is a labor and international writer and
activist, and the immediate past president of
TransAfrica Forum.

[Tars]

As long as the face of immigration--
documented and undocumented--is an 'evil' Latino we are
absorbed in a madness out of which there is no escape
and for which there are no answers.

While I agree with the author's sentiments, that the immigration "problem", is, at its foundation, a racial bias problem, I disagree that "there are no answers".

The answer lies in the history of United States immigration. We're ignoring it, so are dooming ourselves to repeat it. Every demographic group that has immigrated to the U.S. en mass, has faced fear and hatred from the citizens whose families have been here a few generations longer. Examples are the Africans, Irish, Polish, Chinese, and so on. But after awhile, (the lighter the skin the less time it takes), the group gets assimilated into U.S. society, and becomes part of the norm.

All the hair pulling, finger pointing, wall building, and histrionics will eventually fade away, the Latino "Brown Menace" will be accepted, and Americans will move onto the next target of their fear and hatred - Asians, South Americans, Arabics, or whomever it may be.

In 200 years, while there will still be examples of genetic racial purity, the huge majority of Americans will be somewhat darkly complected, and the American language will sound somewhat different than it does today. They'll still find some reason to complain about whatever "Menacing" immigration group happens to appeal to the paranoia du jour.

Tars