Print, television and social media overwhelmingly focus on Latino immigrants. Currently, DACA, (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals) is a prime example. This minimizes the concerns of Black immigrants from Africa and throughout the diaspora. Today’s column consists of excerpts from Dr. J. Owens Smith’s (CSU Fullerton) paper, “The Impact of Immigration on the Socioeconomic Status of Blacks: A Case Study of Black-Hispanic Conflict,” which highlights how public policy and practice impact immigration reform and Black-Latino relations.
Dr. Smith’s fundamental argument is undocumented Latino immigration is detrimental to Blacks. He notes that from the 1930s to the adoption of affirmative action, Latinos largely, enjoyed the same rights and privileges as whites. He maintains whatever socioeconomic disadvantages Latinos suffered were not because of race, but language and their socioeconomic status in the society from which they migrated. And since affirmative action attached benefits to being a minority, Latinos began to claim they, too, were a racial minority. The federal government recognized their claim and accorded them the same minority status as Blacks.
The authority of the government in granting any group “harm status” is seeded in international law. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights places an obligation on “states” (nations) to develop a system for the prevention of discrimination and protection of its minority populations. Its Sub-Commission on Human Rights provides the following definition: “Differential treatment of such groups (minorities) is justified when it is exercised in the interest and welfare of the community as a whole……..In order to qualify for protection, a minority must owe undivided allegiance to the government of the state in which he (or she) lives. Its members must also be nationals of that state.”
Smith says the Sub-Commission’s definition of minority excludes “aliens,” (undocumented persons) from privileges accorded to national minority groups. “To grant the undocumented such protection, in effect, grants them more extensive protection than the natives of a state.”
Within the above definition, he says three characteristics “disqualify” Latinos from being classified as a minority group that requires special attention: They are not trying to preserve their language; many Latinos do not have undivided allegiance to the U.S.; Latino and other undocumented groups are immigrants, not nationals. He also contends the Universal Declaration of Human Rights places no obligation on states to provide immigrant groups” harm status” for injuries incurred in their homeland.
The Sub-Commission on Human Rights made a distinction between “legitimate” (national) minorities and “artificial” minorities, i.e., those groups that claim minority status for the purpose of receiving benefits, for example, claiming minority status to benefit from minority programs.
Historically, Latinos were considered white by both the government and themselves, and their language was not a barrier to their socioeconomic growth and development. According to Dr. Smith, another advantage they enjoy over Blacks is that many immigrated with skills, particularly entrepreneurial skills. As a result, many of the skills training programs in America have been dismantled, forcing Blacks, and others to compete at a disadvantage with immigrants for skilled jobs. (Generally, this argument, especially as related to high-level skills, applies more to Asian and European than Latino immigrants.)
The huge increase in Latino populations throughout the nation resulted largely from passage of the 1965 Immigration Act, designed to allow immigrants from various third world countries to migrate to the United States. Smith argues the majority of these immigrants were non-white, but prior to the adoption of affirmative action, virtually all were classified as white. He says because of the benefits affirmative action attached to minority status, many of these groups began identifying themselves as minorities. However, under international law, they are classified as “artificial minorities”, since no group harm was inflicted upon them and were never subjected to the same discriminatory policies and practices suffered by Blacks.
“As the Latino population grew, the government arbitrarily gave Latinos group harm status without having adopted a policy that inflicted harm on them. The term “group harm” means a collective harm against a group that transcended generations and was enforced through public policy.”
At the core of Black-Latino tension is government policy that upheld an artificial minority, granting it group harm status without having imposed such harm. This policy gave an artificial minority (Latinos) preference to resources based on their swelling numbers that posed a continuing threat to Blacks’ rights, particularly in employment. Smith asserts that much anti-Black sentiment is based on stereotypes formed in Latinos’ homelands and it intensifies Black-Latino conflict.
Smith’s paper evokes and provokes strong, positive and negative responses. His chief argument, that government policy and practice concerning undocumented Latino immigrants has a detrimental impact on Blacks. This is true. They are virtually excluded from the immigration reform debate. Clearly, Black immigrants deserve to be part of the debate; just as clearly, they are not. Shamefully, the immigration conversation effectively overlooks Black immigrants from Haiti, Africa and the Caribbean. This is reprehensible. (As is the prolonged silence of U.S. Black leadership about Latino immigration’s effect on African Americans, particularly in places like Los Angeles with very large Latino populations.)
Dr. Smith’s underlying message: Immigration, and immigration reform, must never be at the expense of Black immigrants and/ or Black Americans. Black immigrants, supported by Black Americans and their allies, must demand an equal place at the immigration reform table. Otherwise, governmental inequities and Black-Latino tension will continue, unabated. Needless to say, these challenges are exponentially greater because of Donald Trump’s presidency.
