I worked as a professional racehorse groom for most of my life. Horseracing history is the basis of two distinct American narratives slavery and immigration. For the purpose of this audience, I will attempt to show how these narratives have been utilized to create deep divisions among America's labor forces. Illegal immigration is a wedge it is a means of retarding wages and curtailing labor rights. I have witnessed illegal immigrants use their legal status to bargain for American jobs, as-well-as how that status affords them preference above native labor. Media is specific in reporting about those who benefit from the practices of entering, staying, as well as hiring illegally. Subsequently, these practices are defended by accusing opponents
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Horseracing was a sanctuary for the offspring of freed slaves who would follow the previous generations into an industry of which there was a clear record of participation. However, European immigrants were also arriving and looking for work familiar to them as well. During this era books on horseracing, identify the Black jockey as a popular feature of the sport, consequently; the new European immigrants entered the sport and brought with them a tactic called rough riding. White horse owners determined it would be decidedly safer for their horses if they curtailed the use of the black jockey. It appears it didn't occur to these owners it was the introduction of the new immigrant, not the old native laborer which presented this new problem, none-the-less the solution was to redefine the labor pool. There are books regarding this era which will claim that Black men became too large to continue as jockeys and thus were forced out due to necessity rather than race-based reasons. If we are, to be honest, the primary purpose of the American immigration system is to maintain a White majority. We once acknowledged that purpose because we acknowledged amalgamation and assimilation as the basis for the system. We no longer make such claims, however; studies show that within the largest immigrant group Hispanics are now by majority self-identifying as
Horseracing was a sanctuary for the offspring of freed slaves who would follow the previous generations into an industry of which there was a clear record of participation. However, European immigrants were also arriving and looking for work familiar to them as well. During this era books on horseracing, identify the Black jockey as a popular feature of the sport, consequently; the new European immigrants entered the sport and brought with them a tactic called rough riding. White horse owners determined it would be decidedly safer for their horses if they curtailed the use of the black jockey. It appears it didn't occur to these owners it was the introduction of the new immigrant, not the old native laborer which presented this new problem, none-the-less the solution was to redefine the labor pool. There are books regarding this era which will claim that Black men became too large to continue as jockeys and thus were forced out due to necessity rather than race-based reasons. If we are, to be honest, the primary purpose of the American immigration system is to maintain a White majority. We once acknowledged that purpose because we acknowledged amalgamation and assimilation as the basis for the system. We no longer make such claims, however; studies show that within the largest immigrant group Hispanics are now by majority self-identifying as