Level the Playing Field: Expunge Records of Native Born
Americans
By
Sherman N. Miller
As an African American Republican, who was the Republican Party Lt.
Gubernatorial Candidate in the State of Delaware in 1996, I am
distressed when I read comments of President George Bush extolling the
virtues of the illegal aliens’ willingness to work. On June 1 The Wall
Street Journal reported that the President said, “Our economy thrives
based on capital investment, kind of an entrepreneurship, good fiscal
policy, but also willing workers who do jobs that, oftentimes, Americans
simply do not want to do.”
But
who did these jobs before the illegal aliens showed up? It is common
knowledge that for many decades African Americans worked these so-called
unattractive tasks.
In
1972 as an Urban Agent at the University of Delaware, I worked with a
group of black female domestic workers who were trying to get their
salaries elevated to the minimum wage. These black ladies took great
pride in their work; however, they were looking for a decent wage. I
felt that these black domestic workers had had their fill of being
relegated to yesterday’s chattel.
In the article The Butler Boom, The Wall Street Journal shows the evolution of domestic jobs.
They state that butlers now are making over 100,000 dollars per year.
“Starkey students pay more than $12,000 for Boot Camp. While that may
sound steep, a good Starkey graduate can start at $70,000 to $120,000 a
year, not to mention free room and board. And butlering has become one
of the fastest-growing occupations in the United States after more than
a half-century of decline, driven by the greatest surge in American
wealth in nearly a century.”
Clearly, if one pays what a job is truly worth, then American workers
gladly will seek out these jobs. What raises my dander is The President
wants to grant amnesty to the illegal aliens to take jobs that once
offered entrance into the workforce. Yet I do not hear of the President
advancing legislation to expunge the records of the 2 million American
citizens now in prison. The President will elevate 12 to 20 million
illegal aliens over native born Americans with felony records when it
comes to getting many good jobs.
What are the chances of inner city children (black, white, or Asian)
growing up in crime laden neighborhoods not getting into some sort of
problem with the criminal justice system?
Does this mean the illegal aliens have a distinct advantage over
Americans growing up in the inner cities?
It would be good if the President would read an April 2003 Human Rights
Watch report, Incarcerated
America. “The country that holds itself out as the ‘land of freedom’
incarcerates a higher percentage of its people than any other country.
The human costs — wasted lives, wrecked families, troubled children —
are incalculable, as are the adverse social, economic and political
consequences of weakened communities, diminished opportunities for
economic mobility, and extensive disenfranchisement.”
I do not hear of judges trying to make provisions to keep families
together for the children of native born Americans because their parents
made some bad choices. Native
born children may find themselves caught in the state childcare systems
until their parents serve their time.
I do not hear the U. S. Congressional Black Caucus lambasting the
current amnesty charade floating around the US Congress, especially
since the HRW offers a very chilling comment on Black Americans in the
US Criminal Justice System. “Even more troubling than the absolute
number of persons in jail or prison is the extent to which those men and
women are African-American. Although blacks account for only 12 percent
of the U.S. population, 44 percent of all prisoners in the United States
are black.”
It is disingenuous for the black U.S. Congressional office holders to
ride into office on the backs of black votes and condone sham amnesty
legislation that will make their communities become permanent under
classes because felony convictions have closed access to the economic
mainstream. Presidential candidates that pussyfoot around the illegal
alien crisis ought not to make it through the primary process.
If President Bush wants to have an equal footing, then he ought to
expunge the criminal records of the native born Americans after they
complete their entire obligation to the justice system for crimes deemed
appropriate for forgiveness. On the other hand, the Twentieth Century
hosted huge numbers of refugees moving between nations when they felt
conditions were no longer acceptable at home. Hence, I trust the US
Senate and House of Representatives will not entertain any pretense
amnesty bill but allow the nation to enforce the immigration law
currently on the books.
