In the times of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington there was no illegal immigration problem as there is today. But for Blacks at that time there was a very noticeable immigration problem just the same. In the late 1800’s Blacks had to face losing jobs to immigrants from parts of Europe. Although those immigrants arrived to our shores legally, they were getting preference over native born Americans. Some of whom were much closer to being former slaves than Blacks of today that cry about slavery. Just the same, the Blacks of then faced an issue that some Blacks of today are facing. That they are being overlooked for low-wage jobs they used to be doing. Personally I feel Blacks of today have far more opportunities than Blacks of the past. To me it’s a disgrace that some Blacks of today try and associate themselves with a time that they never knew, when done for the sake of a handout. Even in the face of today’s immigration issues, Blacks have far more opportunities than any Black in times past. But for a moment, lets see what these figures of America’s history noticed, given we know Blacks are losing jobs to illegal aliens now.

I’ve found that several others have covered this from various angles. So I’ll just present some of their writings and I think they each speak well for themselves. It would be best to read each in full.

Here is a good commentary from the site U.S. Border Control. It mentions how Conservatives like Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington had a level of agreement with Liberals like W.E.B. Du Bois and A. Philip Randolph regarding immigration. They all agreed that open borders is not a good thing.

Liberal professor Nicolaus Mills also realizes the similarities in his LA Times Op-Ed piece.

I should note, that I don’t see Blacks as some group that is only capable of doing the lowest skilled jobs, but I do realize there are many Blacks that simply don’t have higher level skills yet. They need some opportunity of employment until they improve their skill set. While I’m against most social programs, I’m also against removing job opportunities that people should be leveraging instead of looking to social programs.

Shay at blog Booker Rising notes how Booker T. Washington was against open borders.

You can read Booker T. Washington’s 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech speech here. The speech was profound for it’s location and time. What those who criticize the speech don’t often understand, is that Blacks in Georgia had to be even more careful in speech than people like Frederick Douglass, who made his speeches in the North. Booker T. Washington was risking his life even making the speech that he made. A Black man addressing a White crowd and telling them what they should do in 1895 Georgia was not the norm. So he was “on the edge” to even make the address that he made. For it’s location and time, that speech was actual progress, not a regression.

So with all the Black Liberal and Conservatives that recognized the issues with immigration, I am amazed by today’s so-called Black leaders that go soft on illegal immigration. I personally am OK with legal immigration, but given some of the views of Black Conservatives from times past, they might look at me and say I’m Liberal on the issue. While today’s Blacks consider me to be pretty Conservative. Simply amazing!

update 4/28/2006 11:41AM Shay at Booker Rising has found other similar information.