🚀 go-pugleaf

Why would anyone hire a well educated black American in San Antonio
when they can hire twenty illegal aliens for less?

San Antonio is a dying city.  It will soon take on the appearance of a Texas
border town
where illegal aliens are a large percentage of the population, and where
crime such as theft, and
kick-ins are very common.

I really hate to see what is happening to South Texas and especially San
Antonio, but the
vast numbers of illegal aliens pouring into Texas has created this
situation.  The tide is moving in the
direction of Houston and Austin.  Those cities will be overwhelmed too
unless something is done to halt
the influx of criminals from south of the border who care nothing about our
laws, but love our money.

Before you leave San Antonio, call the City Council there.  Tell them that
you are leaving because of
the problems associated with illegal immigrants over running the city and
changing the culture from that of
South Texas to a mexican ghetto like Matamores.  But, of course, you'll
probably be talking to a bunch of people
who won't understand your English.


author wrote in message <3690E173.6370A3CD@idworld.net>...
>The Impact of Black Flight on the Future of
>San Antonio's African-American Community
>
>One of the questions John Wiley Price asked of San Antonio's
>African-American community at last month's NAACP banquet was whether our
>young people were leaving the city and what were we doing to hold them
>here.
>
>The Flight of the African-American young -- especially college educated
>persons -- is a growing phenomena in San Antonio. More and more of our
>young people are choosing to leave San Antonio for the greener pastures
>and opportunities in cities such as Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and points
>north, south, east, and west.
>
>Twenty-two year old Karama recently moved to Houston. Although one of
>her major reasons was to attend the University of Houston next semester,
>she also says that she felt that San Antonio has little to offer young
>African-Americans such as herself, and she probably will not return her
>to live. She likes the fact that Houston has a larger African-American
>population and it is an everyday occurrence to see African-Americans
>working in all types of responsible positions in the city. She is
>impressed, as she interviews for employment, to, more often than not, be
>interviewed by an African-American and to be able to choose between two
>or three African-American radio stations to listen to.
>
>Karama says she made a decision a couple of years ago to live elsewhere
>-- Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia were her other choices -- because
>"there's nothing for Blacks here in San Antonio."
>
>Kelly also left San Antonio after earning her Master's degree in social
>work. She felt that there would be greater opportunity for her career
>advancement in Houston.
>
>Many of those leaving San Antonio leave because there is a perception
>that the Black voice in San Antonio is moot. Our small numbers and the
>failure of the City to embrace African-Americans beyond the traditional
>boundaries of the "Black community" lend credence to that perception.
>Young people as well as older African-Americans who have left San
>Antonio also say that they feel that, San Antonio does not have enough
>for African-Americans in the areas of culture, political power, and
>community influence.
>
>However, the major reason that many young people, especially college
>graduates, leave the city is because they find that they can make more
>money in other cities.
>
> And they�re probably right. A recent study shows that San Antonio�s
>wages are abysmally low, and city and business leaders are still using
>the city�s low wages as an incentive to get companies to locate here
>although COPS and Metro Alliance have been successful in preventing the
>city from offering huge tax incentives for companies that pay poverty
>level wages.
>
>Not only do other cities offer better wages than San Antonio, many young
>African-Americans who have left the city say that there is limited
>opportunity here for African-Americans.
>
>Vincent Gray, the son of Allen Gray who is active in Metrol Alliance, is
>a junior at Xavier University majoring in Business Administration and
>minoring in political science. His father says that his son recently
>told him that if he had to make a decision right now as to where he
>would live and work, he would choose Atlanta because there is just so
>much more opportunity there for African-Americans.
>
>When his father asked him "what about San Antonio", Vincent responded,
>"And do what?"
>
>The young man believes that, in terms of making money and becoming
>financially successful, if you are not a doctor or lawyer, there is not
>much opportunity for African-Americans.
>
>Mr. Gray says that he tried to argue that his son could come back and
>make a difference, to which the young man responded that if San Antonio
>doesn't want to change itself, he could simply go where there is more
>progressive leadership.
>
>There is also the perception, among African-Americans, that
>African-Americans' position as San Antonio�s 'minority-minority' puts
>African-Americans and Hispanics in competition for jobs in areas that
>have historically had a good record in hiring
>African-Americans-particularly government jobs.
>
>Many African-Americans return home with their degrees only to find that
>an inability to speak Spanish throws them out of the loop for good
>paying jobs. Paulette is one such person.
>
>Paulette wanted to remain in San Antonio after graduating from North
>Texas State University with her degree in sociology. With her degree in
>hand, she set out to interview for a job as a probation officer.
>Although African-Americans make up a large percentage of the people on
>probation, she was told that she needed to be able to speak fluent
>Spanish in order to be employed.
>
>After several months of futilely searching for a job in San Antonio,
>Miss Webster took her job search to other parts of the state. She soon
>found a job in her field in the Midland/Odessa area -- an area that also
>has a large Spanish speaking population, but where her inability to
>speak Spanish was not a hindrance to employment.
>
> She later transferred to Austin where she works as a probation officer,
>has bought a condominium, and has become part of the social and civic
>fabric of Austin's young African-American community.
>
>Former City Councilman and pastor emeritus of Mt. Zion First Baptist
>Church Rev. Claude W. Black has been concerned about the requirement for
>bilingualism for years. He points out that many state and local
>government jobs have, as a requirement, that job candidates must be able
>to speak Spanish.
>
>"This requirement of bilingualism," Rev. Black believes, "cuts out the
>reality of applications being made by many Blacks." Often, he says, the
>ability to speak Spanish is not even necessary to the performance of the
>job.
>
>"We're taxpayers," he emphasizes. "We should not be eliminated from jobs
>supported by tax dollars." He goes on to say that, even in the private
>sector, "it (elimination from jobs) is a violation of our rights as
>taxpayers and citizens because the private sector companies enjoy the
>benefits of what our tax dollars pay for -- streets, police protection,
>etc."
>
>The problem of young African-Americans leaving the city after earning
>their degrees is not unique to young people who are just graduating from
>college in the past 4-5 years.
>
>Yolanda and Norma are sisters, both professional woman -- one in her
>late 30's, the other has just turned 40-- who have chosen to live
>elsewhere. One lives and works in Louisville, KY; the other in Atlanta.
>Both grew up in San Antonio and their father and brother still live
>here. One of their main reason for leaving was that there was such a
>small number of other young African-American professionals and they
>found, after returning here from Howard University, that
>African-American cultural experiences were limited.
>
>Although young people of all ethnic groups are often finding better
>opportunities outside San Antonio and are opting not to return to the
>city after earning their degrees, the Flight Problem affects the
>African-American community much more profoundly than it does San
>Antonio's Anglo and Hispanic communities.
>
>San Antonio�s African-American population is about seven percent of the
>total population. As more and more of its young, well-educated
>population leaves the city, it is being left in a position of an
>eventual decline in its numbers as older African-Americans pass away.
>This also creates a future dilemma of a shrinking African-American
>middle class.
>
> The loss of educated, upwardly mobile African-Americans may also play
>itself out in a loss of African-American influence in San Antonio's
>corporate and private sector communities, similar to what is happening
>in San Antonio's police department.
>
>A significant number of  San Antonio's African-American police officers
>are at the point where they will be retiring within the next 5-10 years.
>As the City has failed to hire younger African-American police officers,
>when these officers -- especially the higher ranking officers -- leave
>the force, there will not be a large enough pool of younger officers to
>replace them, resulting in a net loss of African-American police
>officers, particularly in decision making positions.
>
>The same is happening throughout the city. The flight of younger
>African-Americans -- those in the 18-40 age group -- from San Antonio
>leaves a smaller pool of African-Americans to replace older
>African-Americans in key positions of leadership and influence in the
>workplace and in the community -- public and private.
>
>The �Flight� also leaves African-Americans in San Antonio politically
>vulnerable. If San Antonio�s already scattered African-American
>population gets any smaller, African-Americans will become more
>marginalized politically than they are now; the needs and specific
>problems of the African-American community will continue to be
>overlooked. The so-called �African-American seats� on City Council and
>in the State Legislature are becoming increasingly at risk. The East
>Side, which has always been the area considered the bailiwick of
>African-Americans is steadily losing ground to Hispanics, who now make
>up about a third of the population of the 17 census tracks that make up
>the East Side and is steadily growing. While the Hispanic population on
>the East Side is steadily growing, the African-American population is
>not; San Antonio�s Seven Percent Black population is scattered
>throughout the city with not enough weight in any one area to be real
>influence, therefore its voice is becoming more ineffectual.
>
> Retired Col. Roy Burley, in an earlier interview with African-American
>Reflections, put forth a solution to retaining some semblance of a Black
>presence in the political arena. He urged African-Americans living in
>other parts of the city to become active and known in their neighborhood
>associations so that African-Americans from areas other than the East
>Side have an opportunity to be elected to local political offices such
>as City Council. The question remains, however, will there be someone to
>advocate for the African-American community if the East Side District 2
>seat is lost?
>
>Rev. Black feels that the inability for prepared, educated
>African-Americans to find good jobs here is the crux of the problem. He
>says he has been concerned for years that mid-management jobs are not
>available to African-Americans who are qualified, and, therefore, our
>most qualified African-Americans are having to go to Dallas, Houston,
>and Atlanta to find opportunities.
>
>What occurs, he says, is that the community is affected in that this
>phenomena of keeping prepared persons from getting the better jobs is
>keeping our children from enjoying the best opportunities in education,
>healthcare, and other resources. If parents are restricted and limited
>in their income, they are hard pressed to be able to help their children
>move to the next level.
>
> Based upon what Rev. Black is saying, this creates a domino effect that
>results in the African-American community failing to thrive economically
>and, therefore, socially and politically because the cream of the crop
>of African-Americans are taking their talents, skills, and potential
>contributions to the African-American community and the community as a
>whole to other locales.
>
> The question framed by John Wiley Price is important: What are we, as
>an African-American community, doing to hold our young people here? Our
>young people, like Mr. Gray's son, don't  feel that they should have to
>fight the battle of creating opportunities and if there is a lack of
>progressive leadership to tackle the problem, they will continue to fly
>away.
>
> Mr. Gray makes the point that San Antonio is "subsidizing Austin with
>an educated workforce" because Austin offers much more opportunity for
>young people -- although its African-American population is not
>significantly larger than San Antonio's.
>
>At this point, it looks like San Antonio is subsidizing a lot of cities
>by just giving them our cream of the crop young people to work, live,
>and contribute to their communities.
>
> African-American Reflections
> Nov 17, 1998
>
>