Since the NumbersUSA website began in 1996, Black American history has been one of the elements integral to our mission and message. We don't reserve it for February.
Reducing immigration is NumbersUSA's sole legislative issue. And our attention to that part of American history that is "Black history" has taught us that no large demographic of our U.S. population has been more harmed by mass immigration than the descendants of American slavery.
We battle for a fairer economic deal for every American, and especially for every American of every race, ethnicity, religion, or ideology who is struggling to succeed. But we know from our study of history that the greatest beneficiaries of our efforts are African Americans, for reasons explained at considerable length in my new book BACK OF THE HIRING LINE.
That fact -- confirmed by my more-than-a-quarter-century of research -- is never far from the front of my mind in all that I do to fight against the enticement and rewarding of illegal migration and the importing of massive numbers of immigration no matter who gets hurt.
All the way back in my 1996 book that was the foundation for starting the NumbersUSA website, I stated why it was important to everybody in America that immigration be reduced to combat the horrific White-Black wealth gap:
The uncompleted agenda of economic and political equality of opportunity for the descendants of American slavery ranks as perhaps our most troubling and pervasive national agony. No social problem seems untouched by the acrimony of racial recriminations that rises out of the failure to end the massively disproportionate presence of Blacks in poverty. Despite a thriving, large population of well-educated, well-paid, highly productive Black Americans, one-third of the total Black population seems intractably stuck in poverty -- and the number has been increasing throughout most of this era of rising immigration.
Does it seem like there is any less racial acrimony today?
In my new book, I write:
There are many causes of current racial disparities. This book is about one of them: The effect of sustained immigration surges over the last two centuries in making it more difficult for generations of many African Americans to obtain jobs, earn incomes, and build wealth. . . .
It is the contention of this book that we can no longer ignore this 200-year story of the connections between immigration policies and Black wealth inequality. If our nation desires less inequality in the future, we must understand the role of immigration policies in narrowing or widening it in the past. The gaping disparities of the present call on us to engage in a civil discussion about immigration policies that can contribute to a more fair and just society for Americans of all races, ethnicities, and national origins. . . .
Of all factors that contribute to economic inequality in the United States, immigration policy is the simplest to change for the quickest results.
I'm thankful to the New York Post for its review about BACK OF THE HIRING LINE this week. (Read it here.)
I'm also thankful to the more than 10,000 visitors this past week to Black-run social media events at which I was invited to answer questions inspired by the book. The dialogue was at times vigorous and challenging, but there seemed to be no disagreement that mass immigration policies are instruments of severe discrimination against the descendants of the Black Freedmen of our American history.
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(On Amazon.com, view the reader reviews and order the audiobook, paperback, and Kindle versions of BACK OF THE HIRING LINE: A 200-year history of immigration surges, employer bias, and depression of Black wealth.. If you have already read or listened to the book, please go on the page to rate the book and maybe leave even a one-sentence review -- thanks.)
ROY BECK is Founder & President of NumbersUSA
