The growing tension between Black and Hispanic communities has not received much attention in the main stream press. But it is a very real problem that could lead to lot of blood being shed in the years to come.

The Rainbow Coalition Evaporates by Steven Malanga is a good introduction to this issue. It is main problem is that Mr. Malanga is obviously not sympathetic to the immigrants, and that leads him to be unfair on a number occasions.

For example, he says….

A recent study by Harvard economist George Borjas and colleagues from the University of Chicago and the University of California estimates that immigration accounted for a 7.4 percentage-point decline in the employment rate of unskilled black males between 1980 and 2000.

Given that incarceration rates for black males also went up during that time period, I am highly skeptical of any study that can precisely pinpoint the porportion of the the fall in black male employment can be blamed on Hispanic immigrants. Even after you get out of jail, a record is a hard thing to get a job with.

You cannot blame Mr. Malanga for the conclusions of Borjas study of course. But Mr. Malanga does not seem inclined to even consider the alternate explanations.

But one Mr. Malanga’s unfairness is one of the things that helps makes “The Rainbow Coalition Evaporates” a good introduction to issue of Black and Hispanic tensions. After reading his piece, you will have no doubt about how many in the Black community have come view the immigration issue.