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2B «) cT LIFE/ Charlotte Thursday, November 9, 2006 Hispanics and blacks in the South seek common ground Continued from page 1B according to the Census Bureau. (It counts Hispanics as people of any race whose ethnic backgroimd is in. Spanish-speaking countries.) While blacks are still more numerous in the Southeast, except for Florida, a rush of immigrants from Spanish speaking countries is chang ing racial interaction across the region. Several Southern states now lead the nation in the growth of Hispanic resi dents and illegal immigrants. In places like Houston and Los Angeles, where blacks and Hispanics have long hved side-by-side, the two groups most often fight for jobs, notably low-income jobs that were often held by unskilled black workers. An April 2006 Pew Research Center poll showed that more blacks than whites said they or a family member had lost a job or never got it because an employer hired an immigrant worker. ‘When you get down to the nitty-gritty worker, the antag onism still exists, while politi cians talk about common areas and agendas,” said Nicolas Vaca, author of “The Presumed Alliance: The Unspoken Conflict Between Latinos and Blacks and What It Means for America.” That animosity endures in the South, where anti-immi grant groups argue that Hispanic newcomers are will ing to accept wages that oth ers won’t. Many Southern employers, especially farm ers, however, say that there simply aren’t enough local workers to harvest their peaches and pluck their chick ens. Is the job argument simply a new version of the “racial baiting” behind historic white-on-black discrimination in the South? Yes, said race relations historian John Inscoe, it’s all too easy to stir up raaal or ethnic mistrust in poor people who fed outnum bered in Ihe fi^t for survival. Census figures show that across 11 Southern states, fbr- eign-bom Hispanics have a substantially lower unem ployment rate than blacks — less than 5 percent, compared to more than 9 percent for blacks in 2004—and earn more; their median household income of $33,765 (evun26,550) in 2005 was nearly 10 percent higher than that of blacks. Fhrthei’, research has found blacks feel threatened beyond Marrow donor awareness Continued from page 1B anoth^’ minority blood dis ease patient and to raise awai'eness of sickle cell dis ease. The Dancing for Life pix> gram features liturgical dance ministries and gospel artists who ai-e coming together in support of National MaiTow Donor Awai'eness Month. Seventy percent of patients ai-e unable to find a donor match within theii* immediate family and must search the NMDP registry Moi-e diversi ty is needed to increase the probability of finding a match for minorities. The groups of individuals identified by the NMDP for focused recruitment are: Blacks, Amei'ican Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders., volunteer donoi-s who wish to join the maiTow registry must be between the ages of 18 and 60 and in good health. Aftei' completing a brief health questionnaii'e, volmiteer donors sign a con sent fonn and give a tissue sample by swabbing their inside cheek, lb learn about the potentially life-saving process of mairow donation, visit the NMDP website at www.maiTow.oi'g. the workplace by the influx of Hispanics in the South Of the three metropolitan areas with booming immigrant pop ulations surveyed in a study related to the April Pew poll, it’s only in the Southern one — Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina-that a solid majority of blacks favors cut- tii^ back on legal immigra tion. But some say it’s precisely because of the history of strained race relations in the South, where institutional segregation was painfully dis mantled, lhat the region can help integrate another com munity into the American mainstream. “There’s a very natural link age between the Afiican- American and the Hispanic communities,” said NAACP President Bruce Gordon. “There’s a conscious effort to create animosity between Afiican-Americans and Hispanics that takes our eye off the ball. There’s an advan tage to coalition, and we should find a way to take advantage of this opportuni ty” Angela Arboleda of La Raza agrees, though she notes black leaders have not always embraced the notion of soli darity among minorities, cit ing as an example New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin’s comment that he feared lhat city would be “overrun by Mexican workers” during reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina. In Georgia-home to many black leaders, one of the fastest-growing illegal immi grant populations, and some of the nation’s most stringent immigration laws —the grow ing pains in the developing black-Hispanic relationship have been acute. “Both sides (blacks and whites) are waiting to see if Latinos will define them selves as black or white,” said Dana White, a professor at Emory University who has written about the South. Since Rkin color is still a defin ing issue in race relations, and most Hispanics in the U.S. are white, some argue that rather than joining a coalition of minorities, Hispanics will close ranks with white Americans and furtiier marginalize blacks. In 2001, black Georgia law makers fought legislation making Hispanic businesses eligible for a state program designed to bolster minority enterprises, arguing it would weaken the state’s goal of helping black businesses. However, last April some black leaders spoke of a shared cause against discrim ination at a pro-immigration rally in Atlanta that drew 50,000 people, the kind of street demonstration typical of the civil rights movement defined by Atlanta son Martin Luther King Jr And it was in a majority- black county just outside Atlanta that Georgia’s first bilingual public school, Unidos Dual Language Charter School, opened in August. Yolanda Hood, who is black, enrolled her 5-year-old son in the sdiool even though some rdatives feared his English could be compromised. “We’re more sensitive to the phght of Hispanics just because we dealt with so many prejudices,” she said, explaining that her own edu cational experience influ enced her decision. 'T went to a predominantly black school, then a predominantly white college and it was a shock to , me—I didn’t want my son to have that.” Overcoming mistrust and misunderstandings will take time, experts say After the attacks in Tiflon, even thou^ they were not officially termed hate crimes, the U.S. Justice Department sent peacemakers to ease ten sions, and police stepped up patrols to queU rumor's of blacks terrorizing Hispanic neighborhoods. “Sometimes I think it was some kind of racism,” said Tbreso Rodriguez, who was assaulted by a black man shortly before the deadly attacks. ‘T met a man with his jaw and teeth taken out. If it were only stealing, there’d be no need to hit us so much.” ^ BELOW WHOLESALE GMND OPENING SaiE ^FaSHlON WaREHOVSE nEfrssvrrsETS (Jattets, PatOs. Shirt, He, Po^ Square) Skxls, Jeans. Dress & Casual Button Down Shirts, Siwes. Jogging Suits, Leaffwr Jackets BOVS 2 Piece Stats. Jeans. Shirts, WinierCot^ GIRLS Church Dresses, Jeans. Jogging Suites. 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