COLUMBIA -- Charleston's black Democratic senator once again has created a racial firestorm. 
 
 Audio clip Sen. Robert Ford's Comments during the Senate Committee Meeting Tuesday Download audio clip 
 
 In a debate over hardening South Carolina's illegal immigration law, Sen. Robert Ford argued against a new law because "brothers" don't work as hard as "Mexicans." 
 
 Ford said during a Senate committee meeting Tuesday that the state needs immigrants to fill hard labor jobs, such as construction jobs at the new Boeing plant in North Charleston, because black Americans won't do the work. 
 
 "I know brothers -- and I'm talking about black guys -- they are not going to do the dirty work at Boeing, to do that hauling and all that building, that dirty work," Ford said. 
 
 He went on to say that "brothers" do not want to perform hard work. "A brother is going to find ways to take a break," he said. 
 
 He later made a comment about "blue-eyed brothers" also not wanting to work hard. 
 
 Ford opposes the illegal immigration reform bill, which he said would harm the state. 
 
 He was immediately scorned by black leaders as well as state Republicans and Democrats, and called on to apologize, but the five-term senator stuck by his comments. He said his remarks taken in full context were not intended to single out blacks for having a poor work ethic. 
 
 Americans, of any ethnic group, whose families have been in the country for generations work as doctors or lawyers or school teachers, he said. 
 
 File 
 
 "I was talking about the building of America and how every generation of Americans did the hard work," Ford said. "Americans are not going to do real hard work. Everybody in America knows that." 
 
 Dot Scott, president of the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the fact that the comments were made by a black man in a position of prominence is especially upsetting to the black community. 
 
 "It's unfortunate that he would say something that negative about African-American males," Scott said. "I don't think they really are his brothers. If they were he wouldn't be saying that." 
 
 Scott did not ask Ford to apologize. She said to do so wouldn't be fruitful. 
 
 "I am not high on apologies," Scott said. "People usually say what they mean. I don't think it would do any good to even ask him for an apology. There is only one way. It's Robert's way." 
 
 Carol Fowler, the state Democratic Party chairwoman, and Joel Sawyer, executive director of the state Republican Party, said Ford should apologize. 
 
 "It's disgusting and abhorrent that any elected official would say something that offensive," Sawyer said. "He needs to apologize immediately, and hopefully the condemnation of his comments will be equally as loud from both sides of the political aisle." 
 
 Fowler said Ford's comments are offensive to all. 
 
 "I think he should apologize, but I think he shouldn't have said it in the first place," she said. 
 
 Ford said he does not mind apologizing, but in this case he said he does not know why anyone would be offended by his comments. 
 
 Reader poll Should Sen. Ford apologize for his comments? Yes 25% 322 votes 
 
 No 74% 928 votes 1250 total votes. 
 
 "What am I apologizing for? I made a lot of jokes in my presentation like I always do," Ford said. 
 
 Ford said people who don't have a sense of humor "need to get a life. I am not going to stop bringing a sense a humor." 
 
 This is not the first time Ford's comments have caused a stir. Ford was blasted for his 2007 prediction that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama would drag down the whole Democratic ticket, a prediction that he said has since come true. 
 
 Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said Ford's comments were wrong and he does not want the remarks to divert the focus of the debate on a stronger illegal immigration bill in South Carolina. 
 
 The Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to send the bill to the full Senate for consideration. 
 
 The bill would require police officers to check the immigration status of people they arrest, stop for a traffic violation or question on suspicion of breaking the law. The legislation also would give residents the ability to sue their police and sheriff's departments if they believe the local law enforcement officials are ignoring the state mandate. 
 
 Those opposed to the Arizona- style bill believe it will encourage racial profiling. The bill attempts to guard against that by forbidding law enforcement to stop someone because of their race or national origin. 
 
 The bill is intended to build on a 2008 illegal immigration law. 
 
 The Judiciary Committee's voted 13-6 to advance the bill. Sen. Brad Hutto, an Orangeburg Democrat who is white, joined the committee's five black members, including Ford, in opposing the bill. 
 
 Noelle Phillips of The State newspaper contributed to this report. 
 
 Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855. ||||| crossing over South Carolina Lawmaker Is Just Going to Say It: We Need Illegals to Do Our Crap Jobs 
 
 During a debate over an Arizona-style illegal-immigration bill in South Carolina yesterday, Democratic state senator Robert Ford, who is black, said this: 
 
 
 
 "I know brothers — and I'm talking about black guys — they are not going to do the dirty work at Boeing, to do that hauling and all that building, that dirty work," Ford said. He went on to say that "brothers" do not want to perform hard work. "A brother is going to find ways to take a break," he said. He later made a comment about "blue-eyed brothers" also not wanting to work hard. 
 
 Ford's comments were immediately condemned by the local NAACP chapter, and leaders of both political parties have asked him to apologize. Are his words as bad as they initially seem, though? It's never right to cast aspersions on an entire race, but it seems as if Ford was including white people  those would be the "blue-eyed brothers," we think, although Google was totally unhelpful here  in the category of people who don't want to do dirty work. That would greatly alter Ford's point: It wasn't about the work ethic of a single race, it was about the work ethics of immigrants versus non-immigrants. That's how Ford explains it, at least: 
 
 
 
 "I was talking about the building of America and how every generation of Americans did the hard work," Ford said. "Americans are not going to do real hard work. Everybody in America knows that." 
 
 He also tells the AP: 
 
 
 
 "Black guys and white guys are going to get out there and do the hard work? No. I'm for America, and America's a country of immigrants," Ford said later when reached on his cell phone. "Everybody in America finds ways to take a break." 
 
 It's not a totally politically correct position to take, but isn't this actually a pretty widely accepted concept? Plenty of Americans do have tough jobs, but everybody knows that the jobs illegal immigrants take are some of the most low-paying and grueling ones our country has to offer — the busboys, the day laborers, the farmhands, etc. That illegal immigrants are more willing to take these jobs than American citizens has been well documented, as in this AP story from September: 
 
 
 
 Benjamin Reynosa, who was picking ruby-colored grapes in 90-degree heat near Fowler on Friday morning, said he often is the only U.S. legal resident on seasonal crews. He said most people hear about the jobs through word of mouth or signs tacked outside rural stores, not the electronic registry. "I've been working in agriculture for 22 years and I can tell you there are very few gringos out here," said Reynosa, 49, of Orange Cove. "If people know English, they go to work in packinghouses or sit in an office." 
 
 Ford definitely could have made his point more eloquently and without inflammatory racial language, but what he was trying to say doesn't seem that controversial. 
 
 
 
 Ford comes under fire for his remarks [Post and Courier] ||||| An African-American lawmaker in South Carolina said Tuesday that stricter illegal immigration laws would hurt the state because blacks and whites don't work as hard as Hispanics. 
 
 State Sen. Robert Ford made his remarks during a Senate committee debate over an Arizona-style immigration law, eliciting a smattering of nervous laughter in the chamber after he said "brothers" don't work as hard as Mexicans. He continued that his "blue-eyed brothers" don't either. 
 
 Once his ancestors were freed from slavery, he said, they didn't want to do any more hard work, so they were replaced by Chinese and Japanese. 
 
 "We need these workers here. A lot of people aren't going to do certain type of work in this country," said Ford, D-Charleston. "The brothers are going to find ways to take a break. Ever since this country was built, we've had somebody do the work for us." 
 
 He recalled to senators that four workers in the country illegally showed up on his lawn and finished mowing, edging and other work in 30 minutes that would take others much longer, and only wanted $10 for the job. He went on to say he recommended the workers to his neighbors, and one local lawn care businessman lost work _ a story one senator remarked was hurting, not helping, his case. 
 
 The executive director of the state GOP called on Ford to apologize. 
 
 "It's abhorrent and incredibly offensive that any elected official would make comments this racist," said executive director Joel Sawyer. 
 
 Ford, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination last year, said he'd apologize, but he doesn't know what for, or what it would change. 
 
 Through the generations, whenever one immigrant group becomes "Americanized," they stop working hard, he said. 
 
 "Black guys and white guys are going to get out there and do the hard work? No. I'm for America, and America's a country of immigrants," Ford said later when reached on his cell phone. "Everybody in America finds ways to take a break." 
 
 To his critics, he said, "They're taking life too serious. My advice is for them to get a life and to learn American history." 
 
 The state NAACP leader called Ford's wording unfortunate, and that Ford should have spoken in the larger context from the start, rather than further stereotypes. 
 
 "All human beings that I know of share both positive and negative traits," said Lonnie Randolph with the South Carolina chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "All individuals share the same shortcomings." 
 
 Ford's comments came during debate on a proposal of a measure similar to one in Arizona that directs officers during a traffic stop or something similar to check the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally. Producing a valid driver's license, passport or military ID would satisfy the query. 
 
 South Carolina's bill differs in that it directs local law enforcement to call Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to alert them. If ICE agents don't respond, the suspect has the right to a bond hearing.
– A black state senator in South Carolina has caused a ruckus with his argument against a law curbing illegal immigration. The US needs these immigrants, said Robert Ford, because they're willing to do hard work that ordinary Americans won't. Except he used far more colorful language: "I know brothers—and I'm talking about black guys—they are not going to do the dirty work at Boeing, to do that hauling and all that building, that dirty work," said Ford. The same held true for white people, or "blue-eyed brothers," he added, according to the Post and Courier. He drew immediate condemnation, along these lines: "It's unfortunate that he would say something that negative about African-American males," said a local NAACP official. But Ford, who's resisting calls for an apology, said he was just using humor to make a point and that his critics should lighten up, notes AP. "I was talking about the building of America and how every generation of Americans did the hard work," he said. "Americans are not going to do real hard work. Everybody in America knows that." New York's Daily Intel blog thinks he's mostly right: "Ford definitely could have made his point more eloquently and without inflammatory racial language, but what he was trying to say doesn't seem that controversial." Click for more.