Rev. Joseph E. Lowery to Blacks and Latinos "build a civil rights alliance"

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery on Wednesday urged Latinos and African Americans to form alliances to build a political and civil rights powerhouse.

Lowery, president emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, compared the immigrant rights movement today to yesterday's civil rights movement.

He said he hoped the conscience of the black community would cause African Americans to "exercise sensitivity, compassion, fairness and a sense of justice" on such issues as immigration reform and discrimination against Latinos."

Lowery "compared the immigrants rights movement to yesterday's civil rights movement." This isn't the first time this has been expressed. This is a prime example of what is wrong with the debate on TODAY'S ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MOVEMENT. What can one say to calls for alliances of this type that are based upon a comparison not unlike apples to oranges? Nothing.

This is so disengenuous, especially coming from someone who helped build the "civil rights" movement. How does this change our history? Do the civil rights of black people and what they have gone through in this country's history truly compare and fit into the same mold as those that enter the country illegally?

From the paper:

"Lowery acknowledged some African Americans believe that illegal immigrants are a drain on social services, siphon away jobs and depress wages.

But the challenges of black and Latino leaders is to turn "these disagreements —- real or perceived" into opportunities to work together and develop an agenda that will serve both communities."

Are African Americans not Americans? White, black, yellow, green, rainbow....whatever color American; this does not change the reality that Illegal Immigration is an illegal activity. Did those in the civil rights movement start out as citizens of this country and demand to be treated like any other American, have the same rights and options and so forth? Or did they come from some other country illegally and demand equal rights?

The Reverend challenges leaders of the black and latino communities to turn "disagreements -- real or perceived" into options for working together. To those leaders I suggest they answer the challenge of the "perceived" comparison of civil rights and illegal immigration.

It does no one any good making decisions or taking actions in the real world based upon a "perceived" reality. But then again, that seems to be the way so many deal with their world these days.

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**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**