4A
EDITORIAL AND OPINION/Qatlutle
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Bush
tKIie Cljarlotte ^osit
The Voice of the Black Community
1531 Camden Road Charlotte, N.C. 28203
Gerald O. Johnson ceo/publisher
Robert L Johnson co-publisher/general manager
Herbert L White editor in chief
EDITORIALS
Secure die
border, then
enforcement
President Bush’s address Monday on immigration to the U.S.
raised some eyebrows and concerns on all sides of the debate.
His decision to post 6,000 National Guard troops at the U.S.-
Mexico border is at best a stop-gap measure to show at least
some resolve to shutting ofF the spigot to illegal entry from the
south. In other comers, troops at the border signal a balkaniza
tion pitting American haves against Mexican have-nots.
Immigration proponents and Mexican President
\Tncente Fox have expressed concmis that the
beefed-up patrols militarize the border and
increase the darker of bloodshed.
But America has to get a grip on immigration,
and impioving border security is but a small,
albeit important first step. America’s previous offi
cial response has been next to no response at all,
leaving the nation a swinging gate to anyone with
enough stealth, determination or money to get in
without detection. Even if individuals were somehow cax^ht, it
was more nuisance than deterrent. That needs to end.
Putting troops at America’s doorsteps at least signals a start in
how the country deals with immigration issues, but more needs
to be done than addir^ armed force to the equation. Immigration
law is a hodgepodge that fails throu^ its antiquties and lax
enforcement.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans - facing intense pressure fixim
their constituents to revamp immigration law — are split over
how best to approach the issue. Last year, the House of
Representatives passed a biU that would criminalize illegal
immigrantion and put the border in virtual lockdown. 'Ihe
Senate is hailing over its own version, which would likely
include provisions for more than 11 million immigrants to stay
in the U.S. and work towards citizenship. It’s a slippery slope,
but Congress and the executive branch need to find enough
political will and muscle to deliver fair and just legislation.
A temporary guest worker program may also be part of a far-
reaching program, but that poses issues as well. Native-born
Americans, and African Americans specifically are nervous that
unchecked immigration has the potential to drive up black
imemployment, which is traditionally at least twice that of
whites. Not all of those imemployed folks are are looking for jobs,
but it would stand to reason that if better-payii^jobs on the bot
tom of the employment ladder were available, their chances
would improve.
That’s where the real battle begins - can business and govern
ment resolve potential confficts over illegals who’ll work for
lower wages. lb prevent the exploitation of mdocumented
immigrants, we support tourer penalties for businesses that
hire them and in the case of government, withdraw contracts
from businesses that do.
Despite the popular perception, immigration isn’t about
Latinos, .the group most hkely to be impacted by change.
Ameiica has a difficult time keeping track of visitors who come
to this coimtry on a visa, only to conveniently forget to leave
when it expires. They’re coming from Afiica, Asia and Europe in
addition to Central and South America. With no enforcement,
they’ve melted into the American fabric as well, mostly as pro
ductive, albeit illegal threads of the nation’s mosaic.
We should welcome all who aim to become citizens through
legal means. Exploiting individuals who are here out of econom
ic desperation is criminal, and those who do should be held
accountable as well. But first things fii*st. Get a grip on the bor
der. That’s an act of self-preservation and national security
Continue the drive for
subsidized housing
Affordable housir^ is a misleading term, namely because it’s
so literal. For the poor, affoniable takes on a totally different
meaning, because it’s so difficult to obtain in Charlotte. Publicly-
financed housir^ can only go but so far, which causes some con
sternation among advocates for the poor, who feel Charlotte’s
housing market is so driven by the bottom line that it’s lost any
compassion.
That’s not to say the effort isn’t being put forth. The Charlotte
Housing Authority is developing communities where low-income
and middle-class residents can live side-by-side. It’s a novel
approach, but the jury is stiH out in terms of its effectiveness.
The concept, which has been implemented in Atlanta, Dallas,
Tbxas and San Francisco, with varying degress of success, is sim
ple; the homes look middle-class, the neighborhoods are upscale.
Who wouldn’t want to be part of that? The problem is that not
enough support can be mai*shalled to grow these communities.
Developers and lenders, who are in business to maximize prof
it and minimize risk, haven’t fallen over themselves to get into
the mixed-income movement. When they do, lower-income resi
dents are wary that the profit motive is what will hkely price
them out of subsidized communities when more money can be
made at market rate. In essence, there’s a possibility that a com
munity that starts with a 50-50 mix of low-income and middle
income could quickly turn into a gentrified neighborhood.
But that’s a risk worth taking, and Charlotte has done so with
good results for those fortunate enough to land a home. More
needs to be done to build momentum for pubhcly-financed hous
ing as the city continues to grow. The old model of barracks-style
apaiiments that sprouted during World War 11 is a thing of the
past. A safer, more efficient model of housing is not only good for
the poor among us, it’s better for the community as a whole.
Bush Med about U.S. spy program
After the New York Times
disclosed the existence of a
domestic spy program in
December, President Bush
s s u r e d
such as Al-Qaeda.
He said, “In other words,
one end of the communica-
tion must be outside of the
United States.”
Thanks to an investigation
by USAIbday, we now know
that President Bush was
lying. In a fiunt-page story
last Thursday the newspaper
wrote: “The National
Security Agency has been
secretly collecting the phone
call records of tens of millions
of Americans, using data pro
vided by AT&T, Verizon and
BellSouth, people with direct
knowledge of the arrange
ment told USA Ibday ” Qwest
was the only telephone com
pany that refused to volim-
tarily turn over its records.
Believed to be the largest
database ever assembled in
the world, the telephone com
panies turned over records of
millions of citizens - most of
whom were not suspected of
any Olegal activity - to the
super-secret National
Security Agency, ostensibly to
help fight terrorism.
The three largest telephone
companies provide land and
cellular service to more than
200 million customers in
every state. Under the plan
disclosed by USATbday a
record of every telephone call
made to and firom a U.S. resi
dence or business was givar
to the NSA, aUovting them to
examine any calling patterns
The program was initiated
shortly after the Septemb^
11, 2000 attacks on the World
Tirade Center in New York,
the Pentagon and an
attempted hij acking over
Pennsjivania. President
Bush authorized the program
with an executive order.
No one objects to law
enforcement officials tracking
terrorists, but it is dear that
this administration is usirg
9/11 and the subsequent pas
sage of the Patriot Act as an
excuse to violate our constitu-
.tionally-protected right to pri
vacy and sidestep the checks-
and-balances routinely pro
vided by the judidal and leg
islative branches of govern
ment.
It is equally disturbing that
the telephone companies
would go along with this
scheme. In the past, law
enforcement offidals were
I'equired to obtain a court
warrant before obtaining
such sensitive information.
But after 9/11, the telecom
munication coihpanies caved
in and provided millions of
records to NSA.
In addition to offering
“directory assistance,” the
Big Three are offering the
government “direct assis
tance.” Except in cases where
warrants have been issued,
the phone companies should
hang-up on such request.
Send the NSA a disconnect
notice when it tries to pry into
the personal lives of law-abid
ing dtizens.
Because intelligence agen-
des have been asked to work
more closely in the wake of
9/11, there is a good chance
that some of the data collect
ed by NSA will also end up in
the hands of the FBI and
CIA.
NSA spedalizes in inter
cepting and decoding interna
tional communications. It’s
such a top-secret agency that
for years, many offidals
would not even acknowledge
its existence.
In another false assurance,
the agency points out that it
collected calling infbimation,
not identifying information of
the callers. That’s hardly
reassming. Anyone beyond
the age of children watching
Saturday morning cartoons
knows that NSA, credit
bureaus and mass marketers
can fink the telephone num
bers to other personal infor
mation, such as names,
addresses and Sodal Security
numbers. It’s not enoi^h to
violate our privacy they also
take us for fools and think
that we don’t know about
what they call data mining.
The etecutive branch has
the tools it needs to capture
terrorists. Tb protect dtizens’
4th Amendment right
against “unreasonable
searches and seizures,” the
Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Comt was
established in 1978. The
court, a panel of federal
judges, meets in secret and
issues warrants in national
security cases. The judges
rarely turn down a request by
the government and federal
offidals even have the
authority to conduct a search
md apply for a warrant later.
StiU, the Bush administra
tion complains that going
throv^ the FISA does not
allow it to act quickly on
national security matters, a
charge disputed by those
familiar with the workings of
FISA.
As we have seen with the
Patriot Act, standing up to
those who would run
roughshod over our 4th
Amendment rights is an
issue that unites progres
sives, conservatives and lib
ertarians. And this is the
time for dtizens to stand up
to our government and Ihe
telephone companies that
now sell us out — literally
GEORGE E. CURRY is editor-
in-chief of the ■ National
Newspaper Publishers
Association News Service.
Illegal immigrants overrun heartland
On May 8, I was buying a
newspaper at a Wawa in
Claymont, Del., when an
elderly Euro-American male
and I were taken aback by
the heading on a fiont page
artide in the News Journal
newspaper that read. Jobs
are there for immigrant
workers Employers want ID,
but no questions asked.
It was clear that illegal
alien (undocumented work
ers) cheap labor and potential
future membership in vari
ous organizations are making
a mockery of enforcing the
U.S. immigra-
tion laws.
The elderly
E u r 0 -
American
chap said, “I
would work if
they would
give me a job,
but nobody
wants some
one my age.
(?ivil rights era blacks know
that one of yesteryear’s
dreaded dvil rights combat
ants was often the small town
sheriff that many black folks
suspected was a member of
the White Citizens Cormcil,
the Ku Klux Klan. Hence, the
foUowir^ quote fix)m today’s
Georgetown, Del., chief of
police William Tbpping, in the
News Journal, ought be
etched in stone for it si^gests
that Tbppir^ is derelict in his
duty
‘T teU everyone I talk to,
whether they like hearing it
or not, that if illeg^ immi
grants had to leave, many
industries would be badly hit
and it may take a while for
them to recover,” Tbpping
said. ‘T know I wouldn’t want
to work at Perdue and do the
jobs immigrants do.” This
comment offers legitimacy to
the exploitation of Olegal
immigrant labor for yester
year’s black Americans did
these low level jobs long
before Olegal immigrants
arrived. Thdays difference is
that black American dtizens
have made the transition
from chattel to human
beings, so employers now
must pay an adequate wage.
I recall helping some black
domestic workers in
Wilmington, Del., in the early
Nineteen Seventies go after
getting paid minimum wage
salaries. These ladies liked
their domestic jobs, but Ihey
wanted at least to earn a
minimum wage salary versus
being perceived as quasi
modem day slaves.
What is maddening in this
illegal immigration debate is
to see The White House and
U.S. Congress suggesting a
decriminalization of Olegal
immigration thereby offering
a competitive advantage to
over 11 million Olegal immi
grants in the economic main
stream over Black, White and
oth^ American dtizens pos
sessing felony convictions. On
the other hand, we ou^t to
ask ourselves who is showing
compassion for the old people
and chOdren left behind in
the dying vOlages that the
chOdbearing-aged Olegal
immigrants abandoned in
their native land.
I shared my disdain on the
current state of Olegal immi
gration with the National
Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People. I had hoped that they
woiOd see the wisdom in
using some tough-love to
solve this problem.
My compromise was,
“...The U.S. Congressional
leadership ... must make ille
gal immigration a felony
offense for both the illegal
alien and his or her employer
to take away any competitive
advantage these illegal immi
grants will have on native
bom American dtizens. On
the other hand, if the U.S.
Congress is afraid to make
illegal immigration a felony
offense, they can'pass a law
that expunges the records of
native-born dtizens after five
years of completing their
prison and legal system
tenure assuming they have
no new infractions - of course,
this action may not apply for
all crimes.”
The Washington Bureau of
the NAACP replied in a May
4 email that offered their
March 31 press release. The
opening statement in this
press release reads,
“Comprehensive
Immigration Reform should
not include criminafizinging
imdocumented workers.
Immigration pofides must be
consistent with humanitari
an values.”
Yet one only needs to read a
February 27 artide, “Closing
the Gap between
Incarceration and Education
of College-Aged Afiican
Americans” by Aretha
Marbley writing in Tfeachers
College Record, to wonder if
the NAACP has lost its focus
on the upward mobility of
Afiican Americans in the eco
nomic mainstream.
Marbley makes two points
that should be pondered:
• “...In the coUege-age
group, 18-24, the
college/imprisoned ratio for
black males is 2.6 to one com
pared to 28 to one for theii*
white male coimterparts,
which means that for every
2.6 black males enrolled in
college, there is one in prison,
whereas for every 28 white
males in college, there is only
one in prison.
• The cost to taxpayers for
maintaining a prisoner is
about $60,000 per inmate per
annum. On the other hand,
having these young men
working and earning an
annual salary would gener
ate a gross income subject to
local taxes, through purchas
es made in their communi
ties. For example, if these
800,000 black men currently
incarcerated were employed
at minimum wage then that
income would translate into
an economic influx of $4.4
million per hour
Perhaps it is too much to
ask of our leadership to see
the virtue in understandir^
that goodness begins at
home.
SHERMAN MILLER is a syndi
cated columnist.