Immigrant ends African-American political power in Los Angeles

It’s not a “replacement”, but Nithya Raman, “born in Kerala, India”, will be replacing Karen Bass, “the first African-American woman in United States history to serve as a speaker of a state legislative body”, as mayor of Los Angeles. In conceding the race, Karen Bass’s very first sentence stressed her own skin color: “Four years ago, you elected me as the first Black woman mayor in the history of Los Angeles.” This is yet another example of how wrong President Trump was when he famously said that immigrants were “taking Black jobs” (see below).

Let’s compare the native-born American and the immigrant who is not her replacement.

	Karen Bass (not replaced, but soon to be unemployed)	Nithya Raman (not a replacement, but will have Bass’s job)
Age	73	45
Birthplace	Los Angeles, California	Kerala, India
Education	Cal State Dominguez Hills, USC	Harvard, MIT
Party	Democratic Socialists	Democrat
Spouse	divorced from Jesus Lechuga	Vali Chandrasekaran
Jew-hatred	Worked in 2019, as a member of Congress, to reward the Gazans launching rockets at civilians in Israel with full statehood. H.Res.326	One month after the Gazans mostly peacefully crossed the border to kill and kidnap Thai Buddhists, American citizens, EU citizens, Israelis, et al: “In November 2023, Raman adjourned a city council meeting to memorialize “the many civilian lives that have now been lost in Gaza”.” Also, “In June 2024, she and Councilmembers Hernandez and Soto-Martinez introduced a municipal resolution to call for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” in the Gaza war.” (the ceasefire that Hamas, UNRWA, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad sought for rearmament)
Housing is a Human Right	Wanted to restrict camping near schools and parks.	Wanted to allow camping wherever the unhoused wished to house themselves.

What’s the incoming (not “replacement”) immigrant mayor’s plan? Bring in more immigrants to intensify the competitions for jobs (lower wages for African-Americans) and apartments (higher rents for African-Americans).

What about Jewish political power in Los Angeles? Actual Jewish Jews have so little relevance now that Candidate Raman felt free to tell a Jewish audience in LA that Israel was guilty of “genocide” (Fox, below). It’s interesting that Nithya Raman was able to enhance her chances of winning a city office by saying negative things about a foreign country that she’s never visited. What is the possible relevance to running Los Angeles? (Same question about her 2023 and 2024 city council advocacy for the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) and other Arab fighters who call themselves “Palestinian”)

(Let’s not forget that the Gazans are simultaneously suffering from both genocide and the challenge of managing rapid population growth.)

How about the overall number of Black voters in Los Angeles? Gemini says that Blacks were 13.5-15% of the city’s population in 1965 when Congress opened U.S. borders via Hart-Celler. The Black population today is about 8%. Again, remember that this is not a “replacement”.

Related:

• “What’s a ‘Black Job’? Trump’s Anti-Immigration Remarks Are Met With Derision” (New York Times, June 2024) about the completely false information being spread by a president whose election was completely illegitimate: ““They’re taking Black jobs and they’re taking Hispanic jobs and you haven’t seen it yet but you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our history,” Mr. Trump said on Thursday, speaking of migrants crossing the southern U.S. border. He then repeated the reference during a campaign rally in Virginia on Friday, adding that Black Americans who have had jobs “for a long time” are losing employment to immigrants.” (Karen Bass had been collecting a government paycheck for 22 years (since 2004) before she was “not replaced” by an immigrant.)
• Below, Nithya Raman’s campaign site promises that Black Americans who work in brick-and-mortar stores and restaurants will face increased competition from street vendors who are “overwhelmingly immigrants and women”.