The unemployment situation across America is bad, no
doubt. But for African-Americans in some cities, this is not the great
recession. It’s the Great Depression.

Take Charlotte, N.C., for example. It is a jewel of the “new South.”
The largest financial center outside of New York City, it's the showcase
for next year’s Democratic National Convention. It was a land of hope
and opportunity for many blacks with a four-year college degree or
higher.

According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, in
Charlotte, N.C., the unemployment rate for African-Americans is 19.2
percent. If you add in people who have given up looking for jobs, that
number exceeds 20 percent, which, according to economists Algernon
Austin and William Darity, has effectively mired blacks in a depression.

Results from the George Mason University Survey of Virginia Residents released on June 8, 2007:

• Sixty-eight percent of black Virginians oppose the creation of government-sponsored hiring centers for day laborers, which may include illegal aliens.
• Almost eighty-one percent of black Virginians
  favor requiring local police to check the immigration status of people
  they encounter during routine activities, such as traffic violations.
• Almost fifty-percent of black Virginians
  approve of groups of people known as Minutemen who look for illegal
  aliens along the Mexican border and in communities in order to report
  them to authorities.
• Sixty-six percent of black Virginians agree that illegal immigration takes jobs away from American workers.
• Seventy percenty of black Virginians agree that illegal alien workers in the labor market tend to lower the wages and salaries of American workers.
• Sixty percent of black Virginians agree that illegal immigration hurts American customs and way of life.
• Almost seventy-three percent of black Virginians agree that illegal immigration increases the dangers of terrorism.