Race Relations: Better or Worse under Obama?

Tomorrow President Obama will be giving a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on race. Since Sen. Obama became President Obama race has been a hot topic for many in the media and even those on social media as well. Originally, many viewed the election of Sen. Obama to the Presidency of the United States as a positive step toward improved race relations in the United States. Star Parker wrote, Racial Divide Worse Under Obama, initially, "There was exhilaration that the nightmare was over- finally. That wrongs have been righted, that we can get on with America's business without the ongoing issue of race looming, and that we can stop looking at blacks politically as a special class of Americans."

Star Parker was on to something here. America had elected its first black President four years prior to were piece. The trouble is the election didn't bring forth the calming aspect Parker, and others, wished for; rather it armed the media with a new talking point - race. From the time that Sen. Obama was elected President, those that oppose President Obama's ideals for America have been labeled racist. Granted there are parts of America that still harbor deep seated racist thoughts and that is not something that will completely go away.

At the same time, as Star Parker had hoped that "we can stop looking at blacks politically as a special class of Americans" the media did just that. Anytime a black politician or candidate for office voiced an opposing view of President Obama's agenda - the media and more specifically social media - labeled them as an Uncle Tom. How does that promote race relations?

In a recent town hall in New York President Obama answered a professor's question by saying, "Fifty years after the March on Washington and the 'I Have a Dream' speech, obviously we have made enormous strides. I'm a testament to it, you're a testament to it, the diversity of this room and the students who here are a testament to it. And that impulse toward making sure everybody gets a fair shot is one that found expression in the civil rights movement and then spread to include Latinos and immigrants and gays and lesbians." Now, on social media when one invokes the "I Have a Dream" speech and the famous lines where Martin Luther King implores America to view people not based on the color of their skin rather on the merit of their character by any white person that person is persecuted by many in the black community.

Why is it so wrong for people of all color to invoke those sacred words of MLK? Is it not better for America, better for race relations that we all have a common theme, a common thread from which to weave the future? MLK nailed it. Unfortunately we have failed. We can point fingers to the past all we want.

Governor Bobby Jindal recently wrote an Op-Ed for Politico, The End of Race, where he points out that, "Racism is one of the more tragic features of the human condition. Like greed, envy and other sins, it has been around for thousands of years, on every continent." Gov. Jindal continues, "Here's what I've found in Louisiana: The voters want to know what you believe, what you stand for, and what your plan to do, not what shade your skin is." Gov. Jindal parents came here from India around the time of MLK's assassination.

Louisiana, the Deep South, voted in Bobby Jindal as Governor of the state. A colored man, a child of immigrants - why? Because of his ideals, his beliefs, his plan - not the color of his skin. Louisiana is the same state that David Duke hails from too.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman (CBC), Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio stated in response to a question on the trajectory of race relations in Niall Stanage piece Black Lawmakers Lament Flaring of Racial Tensions under Obama, "Right after the election of the president, I would have thought it was going in a positive direction, but I am not so sure anymore."

In the same article, CBC member Rep. Barbara Lee of California said,"The country, for whatever reason, has not confronted race in the way that it should. With stop-and-frisk, and all the issues around income inequality, you really have to wonder [how much things have improved.] But I think a lot of it is to do with the idea that race has been an issue that we can talk about."

Niall Stanage does hit the nail on the head later in the piece when stating, "Put those economic factors together with the high-voltage legal cases on the killing of Trayvon Martin and the curtailment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and it is easy to see why black politicians, and liberals in general, are ambivalent over where things stand." Stanage is guilty of what many in the media and on social media equate - black politician to liberals. Not every black politician is a liberal but as I stated earlier for some reason those black politician's that speak non-liberal talking points are labeled Uncle Toms.

The melting of race today in America is taking place. The Ruling Class understands that if America completes the melting of race into a society of merit of character they have lost control and are in danger of office. It is time for America to embrace MLK and view less on skin tone and more on character. Race relations are in a similar boat that ethnic relations were in Boston, New York and other major cities in the 1800's. It took time for the "Natural Born" citizens to accept the Irish, the Germans, the Swedes, etc...

Immigration Bill Debacle

The "Gang of Eight" have crated and re-crafted the immigration bill full of goodies to gain votes but concentrating on debating those is the distraction the cobblers of this bill want us to focus on. When Minnesota faced a Constitutional Amendment on requiring a photo ID for voting, opponents debated from the stand point of an Amendment solving an problem that doesn't exist.

In 1986, Congress passed and President Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). The IRCA required the following:

• that employers to attest their employee's immigration status
• made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit unauthorized immigrants
• legalized certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants
• legalized illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided there continuously  with the penalty of fine, back taxes due, and admission of guilt. 
• increased enforcement of U.S. border

The proposed "Gang of Eight" bill re-addresses each of these points above. Why? The unofficial number of illegal immigrants, I mean those living in the shadows, is 11 million. In Harold Holzer's book Lincoln President-Elect, Holzer (p 225) writes, "Even Americans opposed to slavery were anxious about what might happen to slaves - and to themselves - if the institution died. Full integration into free society, and with it, competition with white workers for low-paying menial jobs, was not yet a political option in the Republican mainstream." 

In April of this year, on NPR, host Celeste Headlee discussed the "Gang of Eight" immigration bill with Harold Holzer and Lesley Jordan - a food industry worker in Los Angeles.  The focus of the dialogue was the impact the immigration bill would have on the African-American community. 

Headlee asked, "Well, explain to me. Have you had any incidents that occurred in which you know for sure that an illegal immigrant, for example, either got a job that would've come to you otherwise or negatively affected your ability to get a job?"

Jordan responded, "Absolutely. Because in the food services, in the restaurant, you have the back of the house, which is the kitchen area. And those are Latinos working in the kitchen. And if you can't speak the language, then why would the chef  - why would the restaurant, why would they hire you? And that's been my experience. I don't speak Spanish. I don't feel that I should have to speak Spanish. But unfortunately I don't and I've been passed over for jobs because of it. And I know this for a fact"

The concern that Lesley Jordan echoes a concern that Holzer wrote in his book of Whites prior to Lincoln taking office. The only thing the new "Gang of Eight" bill will address is the expectation that all illegal immigrants will need to learn English otherwise the rest of the bill echos the 1986 legislation. It is that echo that concerns me and should concern the rest of America.

The problem with illegal immigration is not rooted in the vast number of illegal immigrants hiding in the shadows; rather it is the lack of resources given to the 1986 bill. Currently, Congress is in search of a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. By not existing, my meaning is that America never fully completed the decree of the 1986 legislation. Instead of reinventing reform law why not just fund the 1986 legislation and stop coming down on States, like Arizona, who want to assit the Federal government in enforcing the current law on the books. 

The issue of illegal immigration is not that reform is required; rather it is enforcement of current law and freeing up resources to build the wall along the Southern border.