The Man in the Mirror
She is a retired worker with a college degree and worked for many years in the court system. She wanted to get back in the work force on a part-time basis and had several interviews. She had all the necessary skills except one—she didn’t speak Spanish! Therefore, she didn’t get any of the jobs she sought.
According to my friend, this person was livid that the persons she interviewed with didn’t have a degree, but they were fluent in Spanish. This person had become a stranger in their own country.
California prints all of their official documents, including election ballots, in over 200 languages. So, as opposed to making foreigners learn our common language, thus acculturating into our society; California has necessitated American citizens to acculturate to foreigners (even if they have become citizens), thereby creating a vast amount of tension and angst within the state.
This has been done all under the guise of being “sensitive.” The ironic thing about the person who was denied the job she wanted because of the lack of language skills is that she will continue to vote for Democrats who support policies that are not in her best interest!
I am sure her rebuttal would be, well, there are no Republicans that I agree with; so, she will claim to vote for the lesser of the two evils. When will Blacks begin to vote their interests and not the lesser of the two evils?
Most Republicans will agree with her on the need for English to be the language of business (including government). But, because she might disagree with Republicans on a range of other issues, she continues to vote against her own economic interest.
Voters in the Black community need to show a high level of political sophistication. Sometimes you have to lose in order to win. If your economic self interest is important to you, then you might need to vote for a Republican this election that is not going to support amnesty and other programs that impact you negatively. During the next election you might revert back to your Democratic proclivities.
Your self interest should be more important than your party! Can you imagine not being able to get the job you wanted simply because you didn’t speak a second language—in your own country!
In the Black community, this behavior is repeated over and over again. We talk about the high unemployment rate in the Black community, then vote for politicians that want to legalize 30 million illegals, half of who will be competing for low skilled jobs with the underemployed within our community. We talk about the low wages for the low skilled, but then vote for those who want to raise the minimum wage, thereby increasing the unemployment rate among those who are supposed to be the most vulnerable.
When Blacks begin to vote their interests and not their emotions, then and only then, will we see overall improvements in the pathologies negatively impacting our community? We are the only large voting block that consistently votes against our own self interest.
Our community must not expect politicians to pass some sort of purity test. Since jobs are the number 1 issue, why would you continue to vote for those who are anathema to the business community, especially those who are entrepreneurs?
The National Council of La Raza focuses on Hispanic issues, the Human Rights Campaign focuses on gay issues, but what do the groups like the NAACP or the Urban League stand for?
Our groups are too busy trying to save the world, while losing their on community. These other groups only work with our groups when they deem it in the best interest of their group’s membership.
Every successful organization or person clearly defines their goals and uses that as its guiding principle to determine where to invest their time, energy and money. We claim that employment and wages are the most important issue of the day, but yet we put all of our energy into whether someone is the victim of a hate crime, as opposed to a crime.
But, in a democracy, we get what we deserve. If we continue to vote for candidates who pursue agendas that are not in our best interest, then it is our fault. We know the answer to a lot of the questions we constantly ask ourselves. The answer to these issues could not be any clearer, especially when you look at the man in the mirror.
Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (www.excellstyle.com) & U.S. Africa Magazine (www.usafricaonline.com).
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