Portland observer., June 20, 2012, Page 8, Image 8

Fortiani» COhserUer
Page 8
June 20, 2012
Developing a Just Immigration Policy
Black immigrants
will play prominent
role
D edrick M uhammad
T h e te rm “ A f r ic a n
A m erican” has becom e a
catchall to describe black
Am ericans in the United
States. But it obscures the m ore nuanced
realities o fblack im m igration to the United
States.
Black im m igrants, w hether they hail
from Latin A m erica, the C aribbean, and
the African m ainland, often com e to the
A m erica to escape poor conditions and
find econom ic opportunity. As this nation
struggles with immigration reform, the black
im m igrant com m unity will play a prom i­
nent role in developing a socially just im m i­
gration policy.
A bout eight p ercen t o f black im m i­
grants are A fro-L atino, o r B lack L atino.
M any S panish-speaking countries have
m assive A fro-L atino populations, includ­
by
ing B razil, C olum bia, H aiti, D om inican
R epublic and C uba. T hese L atinos are
diverse not only in their history and b ack ­
ground but also in their struggles, so their
reasons for m igrating to the U nited States
are m any. H ow ever, the m ajority m ake
the m ove to seek better econom ic o p p o r­
tunities for them selves and for their fam i­
lies.
A fro-C aribbeans also im m igrate to
the U nited States to seek expanded o p ­
portunity. T he term applies to people
w ith A frican a n ce stry w h o se n ativ e
countries are located in the C aribbean.
T he first w ave o f A fro-C aribbean vol­
untary m igration to the U.S. began in the
1930’s and has continued to this day.
A ccording to the Schom burg C en ter
for Research in Black C ulture, this grow th
can be attributed to “the increasing e co ­
nom ic hardship and disen ch an tm en t in
the B ritish W est Indies and the sim u lta­
neous expansion o f the U.S. econom y
w ith its relatively high w ages and g ro w ­
ing em ploym ent opportun ities.”
Finally, the rate o f A frican im m ig ra­
tion to the U. S. has steadily increased.
A ccording to figures from the Im m ig ra­
tion and N aturalization Service, the n u m ­
ber o f A frican im m igrants to the U nited
S tates m ore than q u ad ru p led in recen t
years, from, ju s t o v er 100,000 in the
1960’s and 1970’s to o v er 5 0 0 ,0 0 0 in the
1980’s a n d 1990’s.
T o d ay ’ s A frican m igrants are in creas­
ingly in terested in estab lish in g p e rm a ­
nent resid en cy in the U n ited S tates, a
stark co n trast to im m ig ran ts from the
6 0 ’s and 7 0 ’s w ho often in ten d ed to
return hom e and co n trib u te to n a tio n ­
building efforts after acquiring an A m eri­
can education.
It is no coincidence that black im m igra­
tion to the United States greatly increased
after the 1960's, w hether from the C arib­
bean, Latin A m erica, or Africa. Just as
outright racially discrim inatory law s in the
United States lim ited the progress o f A fri­
can A m ericans throughout the history o f
the U.S., outright racially discrim inatory
immigration policies limited the num bers o f
people o f color w ho could legally im m i­
grate to the United States.
The great influx o fb lac k im m igrants in
the latter h alf o f the tw entieth century is
largely attributed to the liberalizing o f im ­
m igration policies that occurred during the
height o f the civil rights m ovem ent. The
Im m igration and N ationality A ct o f 1965,
one o f the lesser know civil rights bills from
that era, ended the national origins quota
system and opened the door for large-
scale Asian, A frican and Latin A m erican
immigration.
O ver the last 50 years the children o f
black im m igrants have becom e a grow ing
part o f the A frican A m erican population.
T his can be seen in the election o f the first
African A m erican president, him self the
son o f an African im m igrant.
The diversity o f the black com m unity
w ill continue to grow in 21 C entury
A m erica. As w e continue to m ake ad­
vances against racial inequality in the United
States, the connection betw een to d ay ’s
black freedom struggles will necessarily
be connected to im m igration and im m igra­
tion policy.
Dedrick Muhammad is senior di­
rector o f the NAACP Economic De­
partment.
Making Progress on Living Longer
Racial gap narrows
to all-time low
M arc H. M orial
In r e c e n t w e e k s , w e ’ve
shared w ith you the new s that
the birth-rate for people o f color
n o w e x c e e d s th e ra te fo r
w hites, and that A frican A m erican deaths
from prostate can cer are declining. N ow
w e have m ore good new s about the
health status o f A frican A m ericans as
the Journal o f the A m erican M edical
A ssociation reported that the racial gap
in life exp ectan cy has n arrow ed to an all-
tim e low .
A ccording to a new study, led by Dr.
S am H arper o f M o n tre al’s M cG ill U ni­
versity, “ B etw een 2003 and 2008, life
exp ectan cy at birth increased from 75.3
to 76.2 years am ong n on-H ispanic w hite
m en and from 68.8 to 70.8 years am ong
n on-H ispanic black m en, w hereas for
by
*** ^Jorilanh (Dbseruer
w om en the changes w ere from 80.3 to
81.2 years fo r w hites and 75.7 to 77.5 for
blacks.
T hese chan g es red u ced the racial
gap from 6.5 to 5.4 years am ong
m en and from 4.6 to 3.7 years am ong
w o m en .” W hile still too w ide, the
g ap in life e x p e c ta n c y b e tw e e n
blacks and w hites in A m erica is now
the sm allest on record.
But even m ore interesting than the
raw num bers are som e o f the reasons
behind them . T he study reveals, for
exam ple, that after years o f dev astatio n
in the black com m unity, w e a p p ear to be
m aking progress in the fights against
A ID S and heart disease.
As reported in the N ew Y ork T im es,
Dr. H a rp er’s study calcu lated that 15
percent o f the change in life ex p ectan cy
betw een black and w hite m en w as due
to faster declines in the rate that black
m en are dying from H IV co m p ared to
w hite m en. A n o th er 15 percen t w as due
Established 1970
USPS 959-680 __________________________________
47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
to im p ro v em en ts in p rev en tin g and trea t­
ing heart d isease am ong b lack m en.
A sim ila r p a tte rn in H IV d e a th ra te s
c o n trib u te d to 8 p e rc e n t o f th e c h a n g e
in th e life e x p e c ta n c y g a p b e tw e e n
b la c k a n d w h ite w o m e n . D e c lin e s in
m o rta lity ra te s fo r h e a rt d is e a s e c o n ­
trib u te d to 29 p e rc e n t o f th e c h a n g e
a m o n g w o m en .
L et m e b e c le a r: H e a rt d ise a s e and
H IV in fe c tio n re m a in m a jo r c a u se s o f
e a rly d e a th in B lack A m e ric a . A fri­
can A m e ric a n s are still 3 0 p e rc e n t
m o re lik e ly to d ie fro m h e a rt d ise a s e
th an w h ite s. A n d b la c k s a c c o u n t fo r
m o re n ew H IV in fe c tio n s an d H IV -
re la te d d e a th s th a n a n y o th e r ra c ia l
g ro u p in th e c o u n try . B u t th e n a rro w ­
ing life -e x p e c ta n c y g a p sh o w s th a t
ta rg e te d p re v e n tio n a n d tre a tm e n t e f ­
fo rts in A fric a n A m e ric a n c o m m u n i­
tie s are m ak in g a d iffe re n c e .
T h e N a tio n a l U rb a n L e a g u e h as
b een in v o lv e d in the fig h t a g a in st A ID S
fo r m o re th an tw o d e c a d e s. T o g e th e r
w ith o u r a ffilia te s a c ro ss th e c o u n try ,
w e c o n tin u e to stre ss the im p o rta n c e
o f H IV p re v e n tio n in c o m m u n itie s o f
c o lo r, p ro m o te g re a te r a c c e ss to c a re
a n d in flu e n c e n a tio n a l A ID S p o lic y .
S in c e 2 0 0 9 , w e h a v e b e en a p a rtn e r
o rg a n iz a tio n in th e C e n te rs fo r D is ­
e a s e C o n t r o l ’s A c t A g a in s t A ID S
L e a d e r s h ip I n itia tiv e , a f e d e r a lly -
fu n d e d o u tre a c h e ffo rt th a t is h a rn e s s ­
in g th e c o lle c tiv e s tre n g th o f so m e o f
th e n a tio n ’s le a d in g o rg a n iz a tio n s to
fig h t H IV a m o n g h a rd h it p o p u la tio n s.
W h ile it is g o o d n e w s th a t th e life
e x p e c ta n c y g ap b e tw e e n w h ite s an d
b la c k s in A m e ric a h as n a rro w e d to an
h isto ric lo w , w e w ill c o n tin u e o u r w o rk
to e n su re th at A fric a n A m e ric a n s are
n o t o n ly liv in g lo n g e r, b u t a lso a g in g
h e a lth ie r.
Marc H. Morial is president and
chief executive officer o f the National
Urban League.
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