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 Editorials | Opinions | May 2005 
Mexican Leader Has It All Wrong
 Merlene Davis - Herald-Leader
| | "There's no doubt that Mexican men and women - full of dignity, willpower and a capacity for work - are doing the work that not even blacks want to do in the United States." - Vicente Fox |
My father worked two jobs most of my life so that my mother could stay home and keep track of three rambunctious kids.
During the day he worked at a granary; when the granary closed, he was a repairman for Owensboro's housing authority.
At night, he worked as a janitor at the same office building for more than 20 years.
He did that because he wanted us to concentrate on our educations so that we wouldn't have to clean any toilet that wasn't our own.
That's why I had a couple of problems with what Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, said about my race.
During a public appearance in Puerto Vallarta on May 13, Fox said, "There's no doubt that Mexican men and women - full of dignity, willpower and a capacity for work - are doing the work that not even blacks want to do in the United States."
I wasn't going to say anything about his words when they first spilled from his lips, but time and again folks, black and white, have asked me what I thought of the comments. Most thought Fox had said nothing wrong.
A lot of the menial jobs no one else seems to want are taken by Hispanic workers, true enough, and they do seem to be good workers.
But many of those workers are new here and speak a foreign language. You sort of have to start at the bottom and work your way up when you have those obstacles, don't you?
Plus, after being here for a while and learning English, don't you think those workers would like to step up to better positions?
Why criticize only blacks for doing that?
If I were to be out of work any time soon -- which some of you hope becomes reality -- the last place I would look for work is in janitorial services because I have a college degree.
The same is true of all the white kids I went to school with in high school and college.
And Lord knows I don't want any of my children considering farm labor or hotel maid service as a career choice after they graduate from college.
It's not just black people who won't take those jobs. It's anyone accustomed to life in America who is trying to do better.
The rub comes with the words "doing the work that not even blacks want to do."
It's like comparing Mexican workers with slime. You would think Mexican workers would be a bit teed off, too, but Fox took pains to call them a bunch of nice names before tearing them down.
Blacks are the least of American society, the bottom of the totem pole, working at jobs whites wouldn't touch. At least that is Fox's perception.
You have to go pretty low to get below blacks. And then Mexicans are now beneath them.
Fox said that with the intention of showing how America needs to open its borders and allow more Mexicans in to work. He has grown more frustrated with U.S. immigration policy and deteriorating relations between the two nations.
Hispanic workers have kept nearly every aspect of our economy rolling for years, from agriculture to the service industry.
Just don't take down my race because you want the U.S. to afford Mexican workers the opportunity to support their families with U.S. dollars.
America has encouraged immigrants of all kinds to come and make a better way of life for themselves and their families. The catch has always been that they must first become part of America's underclass and work the menial jobs.
Fox wasn't complaining about that.
What he didn't say, and what he should have been complaining about, is that the immigration situation is not merely a question of demand for workers, but the business sector's quest to drive down wages.
No one should have to work in the jobs for the wages that some Hispanics do. Families in the United States on the lower end of the economic scale can't make ends meet with that amount of money. Those wages are artificially low because businesses know they can replace workers with others filing across the border.
Blacks would take the jobs that others refused as long as the jobs paid a decent amount of money. The Mexicans have proven they will take the jobs whether they get paid a decent or living wage or not.
That's because America has no problem with being Mexico's welfare system. The workers get a pittance, and American businesses make money hand over fist.
So, no, blacks don't want the jobs some Mexicans take, just like Fox said.
But neither do any other Americans of any culture. |
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