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Commentary- |
| May 1, 2006 A Day Without Immigrants May 1st, International Workers Day, was marked by protests this year by hundreds of thousands of immigrants across American communities. The catalyst for the marches is pending legislation in Congress that would increase border security and make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant. What you will not hear about on Capital Hill or the newscasts is the adverse affect immigration has on America's Black underclass. Factors point to a widening gap: incarceration rates, high school drop out rates are up while presence in the work force is down. The New York Times recently reported the increasing percentage of poor, uneducated African American who do not have jobs, increasing at levels higher than that experience among White or Hispanic men of similar socio-economic levels. Surely the relentless immigration of cheap undocumented labor contributes to the frighteningly high levels of joblessness in the Black underclass. While not advocating affirmative action programs, this commentator suggests that it is America's priority to enter the Black underclass into our economy before relying on cheap undocumented labor from foreign countries.
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| April 29, 2006 Nuestro Himno The immigration debate escalated to new levels this Friday upon the release of "Nuestro Himno", a Spanish language take on the American National Anthem. Featuring popular Hispanic singers such as Carlos Ponce, Olga Tanon, and Gloria Trevi, Nuestro Himno could be considered at best a loose translation of the Star Spangled Banner, while at worst, out of control multiculturalism. While the song's producers might have been well intentioned, fiddling with something as cherished as the national anthem has created a huge backlash, and is certain to hurt their cause. President Bush has entered the debate, saying, "I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English". While the Senate and Congress debate the intricacies of immigration reform, it is the issue of common language that registers high on the concerns of most Americans, and the President was correct to address the language issue. |