In the 1990s, the phenomenon was most prevalent in major cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami – large urban centers where significant numbers of African-Americans and Latinos lived side by side.

Today, ground zero is New Orleans, where a lot of African-Americans are no longer sure they want to live and where a lot more Latinos have gone to find work.

The fact that there is a new spice in the gumbo hasn't gotten by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Since Hurricane Katrina struck, the civil rights leader has worried about the city's changing demographics in a way that brings to mind how whites used to worry about African-Americans moving into cities before many of those whites took flight to the suburbs.

During a recent appearance on CNN's “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” Jackson again complained that, as New Orleans is being rebuilt, “outside workers” are displacing natives of the city. (Translation: Latino immigrants are taking jobs that might otherwise go to African-Americans.)

Jackson was careful not to frame the issue in terms of illegal immigration despite prodding from Dobbs, who has spun hysteria over foreigners into ratings gold. What Jackson did seem eager to talk about, however, was what was happening now that many Latinos have moved to New Orleans.

At least he's honest. It's the one thing that is often at the root of concern over illegal immigration – the fact that it changes the landscape of cities, towns and neighborhoods in ways that many Americans often find disconcerting. Jackson noted that while New Orleans was 3 percent Hispanic before Katrina, it is now 20 percent Hispanic.

Jackson said that he plans a march and a protest on April 1 to demand that native workers be given priority over foreign ones in the rebuilding of New Orleans.

A perfect choice – April Fool's Day for a foolish idea. The jobs are there for the taking, and many of them pay well. Yet polls show that large numbers of the African-Americans who fled New Orleans have no desire to return. Someone has to do those jobs, and often that “someone” is a Latino immigrant who doesn't mind roughing it in a demolished city that still lacks many basic services. Jackson's impractical solution is for companies to provide affordable housing for workers.

The protesters should scrap the march and have a parade. For grand marshal, I nominate New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who not long ago complained that Mexican workers were “overrunning” New Orleans.

Black leaders are naturally going to protect their power base and preserve their influence. But as the rhetoric filters down to the workers themselves, African-Americans might actually buy into this idea that they're being crowded out by Latinos. In fact, it may have already happened.

According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, there is a new wave of race-discrimination cases showing up at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The cases involve African-Americans who feel they've been passed over for Latinos. What's more, the agency has actually found for the plaintiffs in a few of these cases and secured settlements from companies on their behalf.

Even so, I still have a tough time believing that African-Americans are being held back by Latinos. And I have an even tougher time drawing comparisons to what happened in the 1950s and '60s when white employers – believing that African-Americans were inferior – rejected black job applicants in favor of other whites. Is the argument that the employers of today consider African-Americans inferior to Latinos?

I prefer the argument made by an African-American friend with whom I once hosted a radio show in Los Angeles. Whenever black callers complained about Mexican immigrants taking jobs, he would jump on their case. “You have to aim higher than that,” he'd tell them. Instead of fighting with Latinos for the bad jobs, he would say, you should compete with whites for the good ones.