The effects of immigration on African-Americans were raised several times during this morning's Washington Journal program on C-Span. Here are some of the the comments. Note the repeated expressions of disappointment with politicians.
FROM A CALLER WHO IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS A LIFE-LONG DEMOCRAT AND SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT OBAMA: "I feel that illegal immigration has devastated the African-American community. No one seems to be expressing that I feel that President Obama has let down the African-American community. We need to voice our opinion to our black leaders that we need to be supported, that we need jobs, that we are suffering out here. And part of the reason is illegal immigration. So we have been let down not only by this president but also by our leaders in the Democratic Party."
FROM A NEW YORK CITY WOMAN WHO IDENTIFIED HERSELF AS A DEMOCRAT: "If people could come up to upper Manhattan and see how many people -- Mexican people -- that are here. [She complained that the influx had made it difficult for young people to get jobs at McDonald's] Black children, they definitely can't get them because they don't speak a second language. We're talking about the construction jobs that we see going away. My whole residential area is being redone. We had a big community center built. It was supposed to be jobs given to residents that lived in there. Who did we see there? We saw all Mexicans in there. The contractors, they hire these people, you know, they went against us. Mayor Bloomberg went against us."
FROM AN E-MAIL READ BY HOST SUSAN SWAIN: "Immigration has never been good to the African-American community. Starting from the Irish immigrants who took jobs from freed blacks in New York. The Irish immigrants even burned and drove blacks out of New York City. It's one thing for the GOP to support business through cheap labor. It's another thing for the Democratic Party to turn its back on the African-American and poor white communities."
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