Anderson@Large

Yes We Can Can

Back in the day, the Pointer Sisters had a hit with “Yes We Can Can.”  With a “very active” hurricane season looming, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the song has been re-recorded by the legendary producer Allen Toussaint for a benefit album for the Gulf Coast.

Illegal aliens say, “Si se puede” (“Yes we can”), but their movement has hit a brick wall as outraged Americans send bricks to amnesty supporters.  Illegals are slowly realizing that the “path to citizenship” will not be paved by mau-mauing – in a foreign language – in the streets.

So, a National Grassroots Immigrant Strategy Conference will be held "to discuss how to build a new national, broad-based, immigrant rights/civil rights movement, and to set a 6-9 month national strategy for this movement.”

Black folks can debunk the myth that the movement of illegal immigrants across our borders is comparable to the struggle of American citizens to realize the guarantees of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

Alton H. Maddox Jr., who represented the infamous Tawana Brawley, wrote in the Amsterdam News:

Ironically, Blacks have paved the way for their own demise. In their militant struggle to end slavery and Jim Crow, Blacks have engendered world sympathy, which rules out mass deportation as an option...

Illegal immigrants, who are not fleeing persecution, are being used as tools to destroy those who made it possible for them to enjoy any economic opportunities in this country. If illegal immigrants are entitled to amnesty, imprisoned Blacks should universally receive pardons.

It’s fitting that the illegal immigration debate is taking me back to my roots.  This evening I plan to attend a forum sponsored by the United African Movement, “The Real Story Behind Immigration," at Elks Plaza in Bed-Stuy.

Yes, we can still tell it like it is.

Gone Fishing

There's something fishy -- and rotten -- in the United State Senate (and here).  Clearly, 62 Senators have taken leave of their senses.  In addition to voting to give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, they voted to give Mexico a veto over whether we can secure our borders.
         

Though Blues Hall of Famer Bobby Rush says "the catfish bite better at night," I’m taking the next few days off to get ready for the coming showdown with House Republicans (and here).

Have a safe and relaxing Memorial Day.

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

Regular readers know that I’m passionate about illegal immigration (here and here). They also know that I like to blend my public policy interests (read: my day job) with my cultural interests.

So, I’m going to try to enjoy “Love and Marriage and New York City,” a comedy about two Jamaican-born couples who marry each other to get green cards. The production, directed by Woodie King Jr., is playing at the Billie Holiday Theater, a community showplace located just a few blocks from where I grew up in Bed-Stuy.

For more info, click here.

Black GOPers to the Rescue

Rescue me
or take me in your arms
Rescue me
I want your tender charms
’Cause I'm lonely and I'm blue
I need you
And your love too
Come on and rescue me
-- Rescue Me

Between Iraq and illegal immigration, I need some comic relief. Fortunately, the Republican Party’s pursuit of black voters is always good for a laugh.

For more than 30 years, the GOP has taken a baby-step approach to black outreach. Or as the Republican National Committee's Tara Wall put it:

We have a lot of ground to make up, but we have a message that is resonating. We are now talking to people we have not been talking to before.

Yeah, but is anyone listening?  I LOL at the headline, “The Republican Party Pins Hopes on Black Republicans to Break Democratic Lock.”  Like a drowning man reaching for a razor blade, a party that is so far down in the polls that it has to look up to see the ground hopes black voters will save it from an electoral beat-down:

After decades of trying to sway black voters, targeting a growing black middle class and the social conservatism of many churchgoing blacks, the GOP has gotten only weak results.

In 2000, George W. Bush got 7 percent of the black vote in his successful presidential campaign. Four years later, 11 percent of black voters cast ballots for President Bush [roughly the same support that Bush père received in 1988 and 1992].

OK, that’s enough frivolity. Back to reality (and here).

Illegal Immigration Color Lines

Supporters of illegal immigrants want to frame the debate as a brown (read: hardworking "undocumented workers") and white (read: racist xenophobes) paradigm.

A different color will be added to the mix at a press conference later today. The participants will include Dr. Claud Anderson, homeless advocate Ted Hayes and the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson. BTW, Peterson’s participation underscores that even a broken clock is right twice a day. But I digress.

These African American voices have come together to say to those who misrepresent the legacy of the struggle to secure the legal rights of American citizens to demand made-up rights for illegal aliens: You don't speak for me.  Hayes told the Orange County Register:

Illegals are using civil rights as the key to cross the border.  As black people, we have the moral ground to be the sentinels of freedom. These civil rights belong to our ancestors.

We want to promote civil rights for them (Mexican and Latin Americans) in their own homeland.

Many African Americans agree that President Bush’s amnesty plan (and here) is “a disaster for all Americans that will hit black citizens the hardest… Mass illegal immigration has been the single greatest impediment to black advancement in this country over the past 25 years. Blacks in particular, have lost economic opportunities, seen their kids’ schools flooded with non-English speaking students, and felt the socioeconomic damage of illegal immigration more acutely than any other group.”

If you think that’s hyperbole, consider this from the San Francisco Chronicle:

The current migration of Mexicans and Central Americans to the United States is one of the largest diasporas in modern history, experts say.

Roughly 10 percent of Mexico's population of about 107 million is now living in the United States, estimates show. About 15 percent of Mexico's labor force is working in the United States. One in every 7 Mexican workers migrates to the United States.

The 'New' New Orleans

With the reelection of Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleanians can rest a little easier.  If Mitch Landrieu had won, it would have sent a clear message to black evacuees: Even if the living isn’t easy where you are, don’t come back. As the New York Times reported:

Lawyers for New Orleans evacuees filed suit in Houston yesterday, asking a federal court to stop the Federal Emergency Management Agency from ending housing benefits for tens of thousands of people who fled the flooding of Hurricane Katrina. The evacuees had been issued 12-month housing vouchers by local governments but are now being told by FEMA that they must pay rent or leave.

A Landrieu victory would have begged the question: Why should the rest of the country care about pumping money into New Orleans when its residents, who had the resources to return, don’t care about black evacuees who are scattered throughout the Katrina Disapora?

Black voters showed once again that when they are “mad, glad or sad,” they will turn out and vote. Blacks are still mad about being left behind to fend for themselves. They’re mad about their treatment in the aftermath of the nation’s worst natural (and manmade) disaster. And they’re mad as hell that some opportunistic white politicians tried to exploit their absence to seize control of City Hall.

But let’s keep it real. Nagin was rebuked and scorned for good reason. Still, black voters threw him something (here and here). He now must get serious about a rebuilding plan that will help Katrina survivors get on with their lives (and here).

Be Careful What You Ask For

Illegal immigrants advocates have called for “comprehensive” immigration reform. Well, folks, they’re getting it. Senators are introducing amendment after amendment to the “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006.”

One amendment, for instance, would mandate that all voters present photo identification before casting ballots in a federal election. Sen. Mitch McConnell may have introduced this measure in response to the signs -- “Hoy marchamos, mañana votamos” (“Today we march, tomorrow we vote”) -- carried during the march of the illegals.
                  

 



   

 
                  
The Senate passed an amendment introduced by Sen. James Inhofe that would make English the national language of the United States (and here).

Raul Gonzalez, legislative director of the National Council of La Raza, told the Washington Post:

This is devastating.  For us, this is a tough issue to bring back to the community.

Similarly, the New American Opportunity Campaign acknowledges that “immigration reform legislation is taking a turn for the worse.”

The group sent out an action alert to “stop the Ensign amendment.”  The amendment would prohibit, ahem, “new Americans” from “claiming Social Security based on earnings credited before they were authorized to work in the United States… It is urgent for lawmakers to unite in opposition to this immoral bill and stop Senator Ensign from stealing the money of hard working immigrants (emphasis added)."

But it’s OK for illegals to steal education, health and other public benefits paid for by hard working American taxpayers.

BTW, the alert was sent in English and Spanish.  So, these “new Americans,” who can’t speak English, are supposed to call senators and say … what.

The Capitol Switchboard doesn't have the prompt, “Para continuar en español, oprima el dos” (“To continue in Spanish, press two”) -- at least not yet.