THE PUBLIC INTEREST: CAN THE RALEIGH CITY COUNCIL SEE IT?
Raleigh's city leaders have a civic duty to create spaces for public dialogue; to encourage and listen to diverse viewpoints; offer honest analysis and synthesis toward recommendations that advocate for the public interest; and act in the public interest, which means advancing city goals that improve the lives of everyone.
When the perspectives of local leaders align with the public interest, I believe that trust will grow in our city. Trust is earned from tangible success, from the results of action rather than talk. As trust grows, healthy community is built, and goodwill is fostered. Unfortunately, trust in our local leadership is dwindling. The community struggles to reconcile their decisions with the greatest needs and the crisis that many of our residents are facing. The decisions are misguided. How can they be rectified?
For example: How do we rectify the City Council's commitment to unbridled growth when we are seeing downtown small businesses dissolve? How do we rectify the council’s commitment to growth when we are seeing old hotels filled with people who cannot afford their homes or apartments anymore? How do we rectify this commitment to growth when we are seeing a huge disconnect between the community voice and the decisions made by the council? How do they continue to hold on to their current notion of growth without the trust, support, and involvement of community?
These questions reference just a few of the basic concerns about the current trajectory of our city. Unfortunately, there are 5 to 10-year strategic visions for how we will build buildings, but there is no vision for how we will build people.
Healthy people make healthy families; healthy families make healthy communities; and healthy communities make a healthy and prosperous Raleigh. Of all the levels of government, cities are ideally positioned to leverage the expertise and experience of disparate sectors and diverse sets of people. It is this diverse set of community voices that the city has under-appreciated. This public voice is left with only one option and that is to line up, for hours on end, during council meetings to have a few minutes to access those who are supposed to represent them.
I struggle with understanding how Raleigh's leadership can accurately secure the public interest amidst the mounting distrust from diverse community groups. In meeting after meeting, public testimony after public testimony, email after email, we see evidence of this breach in the public trust. I wonder … what is the public interest that is being represented?
Signs of this breach of public trust are visible in the handling of recent development projects. Currently, for example, there is a development project on the table that is designed to be one of the largest developments in Raleigh's history, The Downtown South Project.
There have been several opportunities for council to demonstrate an alignment to the larger public interest by attending to the details and the benefits of this project. But these are missed opportunities for them.
· First Opportunity: Although this development is slated to be built in a federally designated Opportunity Zone, no plans were communicated on how the tax breaks associated with these zones will benefit existing residents, who are mostly people of color. This development has the potential to redefine who can afford to live and work in this area, and the existing plans do not include how it will support those residents who are already invested in the Southwest & Southeast Raleigh communities.
· Second Opportunity: in the beautiful renderings and 3D designs of the DS project, almost no attention is given to sharing the benefits of the profit with the community. Several community groups have lobbied for a Community Benefits Agreement that includes affordable housing units. In a city that is steadily pricing out low-income residents, negotiations either never happened or stalled, but in any event the lack of results marks a significant failure.
· Third Opportunity: in the absence of embedded community engagement platforms (like our banned CACs), the lines of communication between council, developer, and residents are fractured. A project this size would benefit from mature, tested, and healthy review and analysis from the Citizen Advisory Councils. Community engagement platforms, like the CACs, could be helping to create meaningful opportunities for participation, create an effective communication pipeline between all stakeholders, and be a platform to capture the accurate interest of the public.
These failures have ignited a revisit to the question of whose best interests are driving decisions. I believe that future growth in Raleigh needs to be designed by, and financed, and delivered in close cooperation with the community, private, and civic sectors.
Participatory democracy welcomes residents as partners, rather than antagonists, in getting things done and facilitating responsible growth. It is at this intersection of civic engagement where our city leaders will find their right alignment with the public interest.
I enjoyed the offer to co-write with @EmilyAntoszyk on an article that speaks to Teachers of Color Pipeline.
North Carolina’s teacher and student demographics - Recruiting & retaining teachers of color https://www.ednc.org/map/2020/08/north-carolinas-teacher-and-student-demographics-recruiting-and-retaining-teachers-of-color/ via @EducationNC @JusticeLoveFoundation
I am a Black teacher, I am a Black principal, and I love education. It would be powerful to show that education (as an institution) loves Black teachers and students so much that the current talent pipeline imbalances become a thing of the past.
Raleigh is at a pivotal moment, a moment where leaders must listen. For a city that has received so much praise for its quality of life as a great place to live, work, and raise a family, Raleigh’s leadership is being questioned by its most important stakeholders, the community.
I stand with those who seek to amplify, deepen and multiply efforts to build an equitable, thriving Raleigh that values the voices and participation of our residents. Raleigh leaders, do not miss this moment to listen.
End Police Violence by Adopting the Dept of Civilian Justice Bill in North Carolina
JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO CREATE CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM by SIGNING the CIVILIAN JUSTICE PETITION
The Department of Civilian Justice (DOCJ) is an independent North Carolina State agency. It is not part of the North Carolina Police Departments, North Carolina District Attorney Offices, nor the North Carolina Department of Corrections. This independent agency is the right response to the injustice we are seeing across the country. SIGN THE PETITION!
The DOCJ is empowered to receive complaints of corruption, investigate, make findings, conduct administrative trials, and enforce discipline on any position or rank within the North Carolina Police Departments, District Attorney Offices, and the Department of Corrections. DOCJ Administrative Trials will be conducted by judges who are not affiliated or influenced by any City Department. DOCJ Investigations will be conducted in an impartial fashion by an Investigative staff which is entirely composed of civilian employees.
READ THE CIVILIAN JUSTICE BILL Proposal: https://1drv.ms/b/s!AhmsqLxOsIVCgZ0_hwsfQGOAIAESjg?e=uAdeIv
As a black boy growing up in Florida, Terrance Ruth was inspired to become a teacher not by anyone at his school, but by his mother. She was a nurse at a
Where are our Black Educators?
This question is embedded in several layers of racial history and the contemporary experiences of black, brown and poor students. Dr. T. Ruth explores this question with Lisa Philip from ww.wunc.org
The Moral March on Raleigh and HK on J People’s Assembly is in its 12th year.
The Great Moral March, HKonJ, was a chance for me to introduce my son to movement work. Miles is 3 years old and had the experience to see the collective “WE The People” unite across several issues. I was proud of the team that helped organize and put this event together. We spent countless nights, weekends, and cups of coffee planning.
I have recently been more conscious of my time spent away from my son doing doing work in the community. So, I started bringing him with me. I hope he looks back and understand. I hope he realize the significance of this work..... Miles is funny, when I leave out the door in the morning, he salutes me. He act like I’m apart of the military and going off to duty. I guess he understands.
The concept of race headlines many discussions in America. If you are talking about education, then you must address the achievement gap between white and black students. If you are talking about poverty, then you must talk about the disproportionate number of people of color who consume social services. If the conversation is about crime, you are pressed to mention the high number of African American male inmates.
It’s the fog of race: prejudice and discrimination applied to pigmentation-neutral topics. There is no biological correlation between any skin-related cell in the body and, for instance, intelligence and educational achievement. When a low-performing student is being described, their racial profile will probably provide the least useful data. It will not point to different teaching interventions or course offerings. Leading with race can distort the appropriate process in identifying this student's needs.
The tendency to see all things through racial lenses has sometimes led to inaccurate conclusions. In 1870, journalist John Swinton said in response to Chinese immigration that "liberty is a conception of the White race, not of the Yellow or Red or Black.” Americans, said Swinton, should worry about the "tainted hordes vast and dense" that were inhabiting their cities. Liberty is a racially neutral term, but it gets foggier when its meaning is infused with race. By attaching negative prejudices to the term, Swinton posited an enclosed white social grouping, with a corresponding isolated out-group of nonwhite people.
The mistake Swinton made—assigning inaccurate values to social groups—is consistently repeated today by various subgroups in America. This is accomplished through social categorization, one of the most basic processes of a society. Social categories make it possible for the mind to think. They are also the basis for prejudgment, or prejudice.
Social membership (rich or poor, male or female, black or white, etc.) is a byproduct of social categories. Social memberships make group-based distinctions that guide perceptions, beliefs, and reactions. If you identify with a group, then that becomes your in-group, and everyone else is the out-group.
In-groups are psychologically of the highest priority. You live in them and for them. Hostility toward out-groups helps strengthen your sense of belonging. And in-group identification is fundamental to intergroup bias—defending a membership trait of your own group may come at others’ expense. Therefore, hostility towards out-group members starts with love for your in-group association.
The roots of prejudice lie in categorization—and the categories of race have become the dominant loyalty among Americans. Americans find it difficult to imagine a future cultural norm where race is not the leading variable. So race creates a social fog around issues of education, criminal justice, law, economics, and religion.
It is possible to adjust the way people view social category memberships. What if the focus shifted from social memberships (such as racial groups) to a more inclusive category, such as national or human identity? What if race acted as a third- or fourth-tier lens rather than the primary one? Will race remain as significant when social media communities surpass physical engagement as the main place to build category membership relationships?
Each question speaks to possibilities that may not be too far in the future. Progress requires overcoming the psychological blocks—cynicism, pessimism, and all those other crutches of contemporary thinking—that keep many Americans from believing in the possibility of a less racially dominated culture. Moving beyond the fog of race is an important step.
Less than a year ago I wrote an article to my dad on Father's day and it was called "Father Time". I was able to share the impact of time on his life through his battle with prostate cancer. This month it has been a year since the death of my father due to cancer. The loss of my father has caused me to value every minute that I share with my mother.
Carol Ruth, my mother, has six biological children and numerous foster kids. She has celebrated this day of Mothers many times over the years. However, this Mother's day is different. This will mark a year since my mother lost her longtime partner, my father.
My mom is known for being such a force. She seems to march through any life battle. One of her favorite songs is an old gospel hymnal "A Soldier in the Army of the Lord". I think that song speaks to her life very well. All of my siblings remember our early years with our mother. I would call my memories as a spiritual boot-camp, she was training soldiers.
As a strong mother of six, our family encountered many obstacles ranging from financial to spiritual. And in every life struggle my mother displayed impressive consistency. Despite the impact of the problem Carol appeared ready for the battle. I have vivid memories of all of her six kids around her bed praying while she sat in the middle.
However, the loss of my dad was hard for everyone. It continues to be a difficult event to fully understand. But for my mom it has been especially hard. I can imagine my mother, a spiritual general, trying to maintain the consistency during this life battle. And on mother's day it will be a year. A hard year that take me back to that room where her six kids are praying around her.
Mom, just know that your six kids are still kneeling around your bed praying. But the prayer now is for you. We are grateful to have a wonderful mother and we are grateful for every second we share still symbolically at the foot of your bed. Thanks for being such a force. Thanks for training six soldiers. Thanks for being an awesome mom.
The achievement gap in education refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-entry/completion rates. The gap in achievement is used to describe the troubling performance gaps between African-American and Hispanic students, at the lower end of the performance scale.
Somehow the racial implications of the achievement gap has evaded change. Somehow minority students across America have underperformed for generations with the achievement gap widening every year. How is this possible in a country of countless resources and technological advancements for the classroom?
Miles
Miles, it is weird that when it comes to education and race people will allow themselves to believe that change is impossible. Everything else in our culture is capable of changing, but discussions of race has remained unchanged. Technology changes months at a time. The way people watch television shows have changed. Uber has changed the way people travel locally. But many believe race and education has avoided and will continue to avoid change.
UNCF’s Silent Change
My school just observed MLK day. I always wondered why MLK spoke to the future and not the present when he referenced race. It seems like he was managing expectations with realistic timelines and outcomes. Pacing cultural expectations needs to happen for education in general. The achievement gap is complex and a comprehensive solution consist of a web of factors. Race and education will evolve through silent changes.
Silent change is nearly invisible to the larger audience who have an appetite for rapid progress. Silent change for our culture is small change, minor difference, incremental movement. We are not programmed to value the minor victories of this journey to create a neutral education environment. We demand change and quick results without understanding the complexities of social change.
Endurance is a requirement. Major tragedies, negative data trends, and recent racial history must not discourage the fight for the countless minority students that need to be empowered. Students, families, communities, schools and government must stand firm.
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) has traditionally led the silent change for minority students. Standing firm for roughly 70 years, the UNCF have traditionally served first generation graduates minority students and families with incomes below $25,000. UNCF gives hope and empowers the students with the odds set against them. One of UNCF’s mottos is “They’re (minority students) not asking for a handout, just a hand.”
Over time, UNCF will and has made a positive impact on the number of minority families with college graduates. This impact is silent and it occurs one student at a time… a slow pace. North Carolina benefit from the silent change lead by UNCF since 1944. Despite seeing the major data pointing to an epidemic in education for minority students, UNCF is dedicated for the long-term.
What changes are silent? When schools customize the entire school environment to support an inclusive support network for students that is a minor victory. When the majority of minority students can see, grasp, and imagine a post high school education then that is a minor victory. I see a minor victory occurring with technology. Through technology, individuals can express themselves with unique associations without feeling the pressures to remain racially homogenous. Also, technology can provide an escape for students who are trying to live above the popular racial stigmas of education.
James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
Empower Tour
How do we empower black male students in K-12? How do we encourage mothers who are emotionally drained by the constant failure their child face in school? How do we empower minority students to not just graduate but to see high school as just a stepping stone? How do we empower minority children and their peers to see intelligence as a black student behavior trait?
Miles, I met with Marc Newman from UNCF regional offices for North Carolina. I shared with him how educational success is talked about, amongst my students, as if it is a white student behavior characteristic. My students talk as if they are disqualified from enjoying academic growth because they were born black. My students and sometimes their parents are defeated in the formal learning environment.
Marc went on to share information about the UNCF Empowerment tour (http://empowermetour.org/). He said that traditionally UNCF only focused on higher education but the byproduct of low performing minority K-12 students are affecting college success. Marc and his team are traveling around the USA to empower minority students both K-12 and college through scholarships, training, parent workshops and encouragement.
The empowerment tour is an absolutely free event to empower and to sustain the silent change needed to re-brand the type of student potential for minority children. Current college black students lead and organize the empowerment tour giving K-12 kids a visible imagine of the slow change. We must empower one student at a time and have them be the story of success for the next wave of minority students.
Ethics of Disenfranchisement and Voting Rights in the U.S.
Introduction
This paper examines the contemporary ethical issues surrounding voting rights in the U.S. Among the most important elements of democratic citizenship is suffrage (i.e., the right to vote). Suffrage is the embodiment of individual sovereignty. According to Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, if law is not a genuine expression of the general will, it is illegitimate. Even in modern countries like the U.S., voting and other forms of political participation are skewed toward the elite, those with higher incomes, those who are employed, and those with more education. Low voter turnout presents serious challenges to democratic responsiveness, or the ability of leaders to respond to the needs and demands of citizens. Hence, voting should be encouraged in accord with the common interest. In this paper, three disenfranchised groups in the U.S. are analyzed: convicted felons, the homeless, and immigrants.
An important conclusion is that, in a true democracy, citizen voting directly controls policy. Therefore, limited access to political participation for certain classes of citizens is equivalent to social injustice and results in an illegitimate democracy. For this reason, allowing all citizens – irrespective of their status – to vote would give them a voice in the context of governance. This notion is also associated with distributive justice, a philosophical concept that concentrates on just outcomes and consequences. For example, in regards to convicted felons in the U.S., fair and consistent felony re-enfranchisement laws should be passed so as to reinstate voting rights for everyone.
This paper begins with a description of Democratic Theory, with its emphasis on political participation as the essence of democracy. Then, the authors proceed to address ethical considerations of voting, mostly based on Rousseau’s thinking and on the concept of distributive justice. What comes subsequently is the heart of this analysis: examining possible voting rights for the three aforementioned disenfranchised groups in the U.S. This paper ends with a discussion that also offers suggestions for future research.
Democratic Theory
Democratic Theory is the foundation of both direct and representative democracy. At its core is the importance of political participation. Voting is often seen as the essence of political participation in a democracy. Healthy representative democratic governments are based upon the idea that citizens engage in electing their leaders based upon their belief systems, ideologies, and policy preferences (Dahl, 1956). For centuries, political scientists have discussed voting behavior and ethics, asking a variety of questions about citizens and the votes they cast. What causes an individual to choose a political party or candidate? Who votes, and for whom? How do differences in voting reflect who we are as individuals? Is there a gender gap or racial divide? What are citizens concerned about when they cast their ballot? These questions are central to gaining an understanding of who we are as political actors, but they also raise ethical questions about which voices are being heard, who is able to vote freely (and who is not), who is deciding the outcome of American elections, and why (Verba, Schlozman, Brady, & Nie, 1993)?
Liberal democratic theorists posit that a democratic government is essential to prevent oppressive rule. Therefore, a vital aspect of modern democratic decision-making is the existence of free and fair elections. Indeed, Democratic Theory rests on the principle of political equality (Dahl, 1956). Yet, many political scientists have pointed out that, despite free and fair elections, political participation and influence remain unequal and systematically biased in favor of the privileged. Specifically, voting and other forms of political participation are skewed toward the elite, those with higher incomes, those who are employed, and those with more education (Barnes & Kaase, 1979; Jennings et al., 1990; Verba & Nie, 1972; Verba et al., 1993; Verba, Schlozman, & Brady, 1995).
Some groups are shut from the political process completely – including convicted felons, the homeless, and immigrants. Many others experience systematic barriers like shift labor or childcare responsibilities that prevent them from getting to their polling place. In a Presidential Address to the American Political Science Association in 1996, Arend Lijphart (1997) began by saying that “political equality and political participation are both basic democratic ideals. In principle, they are perfectly compatible. In practice, however, as political scientists have known for a long time, participation is highly unequal” (p.1).
Lijphart (1997) maintains that low voter turnout in the U.S. presents serious challenges to democratic responsiveness, or the ability of leaders to respond to the needs and demands of citizens. Converse (1964) argues that elites have belief systems where different points of views clash with those of the masses, and that these belief systems differ in “important and predictable” ways (p. 206). Comparing the ordering of political actors to a pyramid shape, with a small number of powerful elites at the top and a large base of the mass public at the bottom, Converse (1964) asserts that these important and predictable belief systems between elites and the mass public present problems of measurement and representation. He calls this concern “democratic bias.” The U.S. struggled with a long and difficult history of denying suffrage rights to some of its citizens. Since voting rights in the U.S. made significant progress at the beginning of the twentieth century, it is now time to remove the existing barriers to political equality.
Ethical Considerations
Among the most important elements of democratic citizenship is the right to vote. Suffrage is the embodiment of individual sovereignty (Montesquieu, 1899). It is the means by which rulers and ruling classes are forced to consider the interests of their constituents (Mill, 1873). The development of Western democracy is mostly expressed in terms of extensions of this right. Extension of the right to vote is “a dialectical solution to the actual and potential conflict between equality and freedom... [a means of] creating rather than merely acknowledging the contrast between political equality and social inequality” (Casper, 1976, p. 104). For Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the proper choice of voting rule can elicit the appropriate attitude of an individual with respect to the decision of the whole; it can support the morally significant activity of acknowledging error upon discovering that one has voted against the general will (Schwartzberg, 2008). Although Rousseau held that the general will should be evident in a well-ordered society, a vote is nonetheless required to identify it (Schwartzberg, 2008).
Voting as a practice is not an indication of equality. Rather, Rousseau proposed that the suitable proportion of the vote was necessary to ensure that the general will had been correctly determined. This important key is often overlooked when analyzing the ethical processes of voting results. Large segments of the general population are neglected when the voting process is constructed and implemented. This unethical mishap is sometimes produced through design where segments of the population are not educated in the importance of their social contract to vote (Grofman & Feld, 1988). There are also times when this unethical mishap is unconsciously produced. For example, many elites think particular segments of the general population are irrelevant.
In Western culture, civilized society should seek the general will both by design and by staying sensitive to the segments of society that have the highest probability of not voting. Although, a large probability of any sub-groups’ constituents will not vote, there should exist an appropriate respect for the interest of each sub-group due to even the potential number of voters. To remove the right to vote for a sub-group can silence voices desiring accountability for certain audiences. Rousseau stresses the need that voting rules should capture the voice of the general will. Only then can voting rules ensure that an assembly has indeed identified the general will, as opposed to the private will of some of its members (Schwartzberg, 2008).
To assure that the majority vote of the population is circulated towards an accepted solution can be a distributive justice problem. Distributive justice concerns what some consider to be socially just with respect to the allocation of goods in a society. The goods, in this context, are the voice – i.e., the vote of the individual in the general will. Hence, a community where incidental inequalities do not arise would be considered a society guided by the principles of distributive justice (Roemer, 1998). Voting should produce an outcome that captures the general will as evidence that the voting process has maintained its moral components of eliminating inequality. Allocation of goods accounts for the total amount of goods handed out, as well as how they will be dispersed and divided.
Civilizations have a narrow amount of resources and capital; the problem arises on how the goods should be divided. The problem under consideration is whether every voice within the general will is being heard across issues addressing the entire population. The ethical implications are primarily focused on how votes are divided throughout populations and whether the distributions are fair enough to capture the general will. The moral solution should enable every individual to receive a fair share or fair vote. Often contrasted with “just process,” which is concerned with just processes like the administration of law, distributive justice concentrates on just outcomes and consequences (Roemer, 1998).
Three Disenfranchised Groups in the U.S.
Voting is a vital aspect of a healthy democracy. It allows the people’s voices to be heard and have an impact on the direction and administration of the country. In fact, in a true democracy, citizen voting directly controls policy. In a representative democracy, such as the U.S. and other free nations, voting allows many people – but not all people – to choose representatives which most closely resemble the values and ideals of the voter. A true democracy would allow people who vote to have a profound impact on the way a country is governed. In the past, the U.S. actively denied suffrage rights to women and minorities. Although universal suffrage is said to have been accomplished in the U.S., it is important to recognize that certain vulnerable populations continue to be disenfranchised by voting regulations and restrictions.
On the contrary, researchers find that—according to every measure they examined—wealthy Americans are far more active in politics than average citizens. By nearly every measure they are also substantially more active than the merely affluent found at the upper end of general population surveys. According to the authors’ evidence, the frequency with which wealthy Americans attend meetings, pay attention to politics, and volunteer for political organizations is about twice as high as the frequency among the merely affluent. Many wealthy people contribute large amounts of money to politics. One-fifth of them reported “bundling” contributions. Many initiate contacts with public officials, especially their own and others’ senators and representatives. As is well known, Americans with higher incomes tend to participate more actively in politics than lower-income citizens do. They more frequently turn out to vote, engage in political discussions, attend campaign events, contribute money, contact public officials, and the like (Verba, Schlozman, and Brady 1995; Schlozman, Verba, and Brady, 2012). Three groups that continue to be either actively or passively denied suffrage in the U.S. are convicted felons, the homeless, and immigrants.
Disenfranchised Felons
The successful agenda of conservative crime policies in the U.S. since the 1970s has had a tremendous impact. It has produced an enormous increase in felony convictions and incarceration, as well as a corresponding increase in rates of felon disenfranchisement. Prison populations have grown tremendously, rising from approximately 200,000 in the 1970s to 2.3 million in 2009. During that year alone, more than seven million people were under some form of correctional supervision (including probation, prison, jail, and parole) (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009). In 2013, the number of persons admitted to state or federal prisons alone was 631,200 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2013).
The Sentencing Project (2010) estimates that 5.3 million Americans have temporarily or permanently lost their voting rights as a result of a felony conviction; 1.4 million of these individuals are African American men (approximately 13% of the black male population). The U.S. is unique in restricting the rights of non-incarcerated felons, who make up approximately three-quarters of the disenfranchised population. Many inmates in European countries retain the right to vote even while incarcerated; other countries have voting restrictions based on the length or type of sentence imposed (Ewald, 2002; Fellner & Mauer, 1998).
Although the U.S. is virtually the only nation to permanently disenfranchise ex-felons, the extent to which convicted felons are disenfranchised varies significantly across states. As of 2014, Maine and Vermont are the only two states that permit individuals currently incarcerated for a felony to vote (Spates & Mathis, 2014). Four states (Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, and Virginia) are at the other extreme; as of 2014, all individuals convicted of a felony in these states are disenfranchised for life, though they can apply to the governor to have their voting rights restored (Gray, 2014). Felon disenfranchisement policies in most states lie somewhere in between these two extremes; individuals on probation are ineligible to vote in thirty states while those on parole are ineligible in thirty-five states (King, 2008).
In states with the most restrictive laws, it is estimated that 30-40% of the next generation of African American males will lose their right to vote if current trends continue (The Sentencing Project, 2010). Women and veterans are also special populations that have been particularly over-representative in disenfranchised voters; an estimated 676,730 women and an estimated 585,355 veterans are unable to vote as a result of a felony conviction (The Sentencing Project, 2010). There have been changes to disenfranchisement policies in the past decade, the majority of these changes have resulted in returning the right to vote to at least a subset of the disenfranchised population.
Due to the fact that racial minorities and the poor are significantly overrepresented in the U.S. criminal justice system, and those groups also traditionally vote for the Democratic Party, there has been substantial speculation about the potential impact of these policy changes on election outcomes. This is particularly true in Florida, the nation’s most populous swing state. In fact, many people, including academics, believe that President Bush would not have won the 2000 election if the almost one million ex-felons in Florida could have voted at that time (Uggen & Manza, 2002). Supposing that prohibiting this population from voting has had an impact on election outcomes is based on the assumption that disenfranchised felons would participate in the electoral process if given the opportunity to do so. Namely, it is assumed that disenfranchisement policies are the actual reason why individuals are not voting. Previous research has attempted to assess the validity of this assumption by comparing voter turnout across states with different felon disenfranchisement laws. In 2014, total voter turnout was lower in southern states that permanently disenfranchised felons (Walker, 2014). Likewise, Hirschfield (1999) found that black males are relatively less likely to vote in states with relatively high rates of voter disenfranchisement.
The philosophy behind felony disenfranchisement is that persons who commit felonies have broken the social contract, and have thereby given up their right to participate in a civil society. However, opponents argue that so many felony charges, like drug possession, are victimless moral crimes that do not break the social contract. Besides, if these felons honor their terms of punishment, serve their sentences, or rehabilitate themselves, they should be permitted the opportunity to be re-enfranchised (Pettus, 2013). Policies on felony re-enfranchisement among the fifty states are so inconsistent that they create confusion among, not only those former offenders who wish to regain the right to vote, but also the very officials charged with implementing the laws. As a result, a network of misinformation discourages some legally eligible voters from registering to vote while placing undue restrictions on others during the registration process. Former offenders who are unaware of their state’s restrictions may slip through, register, vote, and in doing so, unwittingly commit a new crime.
Fair and consistent felony re-enfranchisement laws can contribute to the rehabilitation process. They can reduce the harmful impact on low-income and minority communities where a disproportionately high number of individuals are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. The right to vote helps foster a sense of community for those who feel disconnected and unfairly excluded from civic participation. Priority must be given to developing a nationwide policy that allows for reinstatement of voting rights, as well as education of former offenders regarding restoration procedures.
Disenfranchised Homeless
Citrin, Schickler, and Sides’ (2003) work simulating 100% voter turnout demonstrates that high turnout marginally benefits Democrats. DeNardo (1980) shows that high turnout has two effects: one that helps the Democrats and one that helps the minority party, whichever it is. Differences in voter turnout matter from a policy perspective as Avery and Peffley (2005) find that states with restrictive voter registration laws are likely to have higher upper-class turnout, resulting in less favorable welfare eligibility requirements for the poor.
As a particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged segment of the population, the homeless have virtually no political power. Their civil liberties are severely limited, giving them hardly any opportunity for resistance. Some argue that, by developing public policies aimed at suppressing the rights of the homeless, the upper ruling class maintains their authority and lawmaking power (Amstel, 2004; Barak, 1991). One aspect of political participation that is obstructed for the homeless is voting. While every state today has a policy allowing the homeless to vote, the latter still face many obstacles when attempting to exercise this right, such as residency or ID requirements for registration (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2010). The inability to contribute to public policies directly affecting their welfare only serves to perpetuate their status as inferior citizens. Limited access to political participation for certain classes of citizens is equivalent to social injustice and results in an illegitimate democracy (Miller, 1999).
Although the national rate of homelessness in America has fallen since 2013 (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2014), disenfranchisement for the homeless remains a problem. With roughly 60% – or 2.1 million homeless individuals – being of age to vote and only one in every three homeless people registered to vote, it is clear that access to voting for the homeless is a significant social problem (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009; National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 2008). Prior to the 1990s, many lawmakers failed to take notice of this issue and were reluctant to initiate policies that could alleviate this injustice. For instance, in 1994, there were only 13 states that had policies protecting the voting rights of the homeless, and 31 states required a permanent residence for voter registration (Hanrahan, 1994). In 1995, the Voting Rights of Homeless Citizens Act was introduced to Congress. It required states to abide by specific guidelines to protect the voting rights of the homeless. However, this bill was never passed (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Instead, each state has been forced to address this issue individually as cases challenging the constitutionality of their current policies regarding homeless voting rights have been brought before the courts.
Several landmark cases have provided guidance for states when revising their policies for homeless voting rights. For example, in Pitts v. Black (1984) the court ruled that states should expand their definition of “residence” to include any dwelling in which a person plans to reside for an indefinite period of time. Another case, Fischer v. Stout (1987), further addressed this issue of residency by ruling that homeless people can use a shelter, park, or street corner as their address when registering to vote. In the following case, National Coalition for the Homeless v. Jenson (1992), the court ruled that constraining the voting rights of the homeless by requiring them to live in a traditional residence in order to vote was unconstitutional. While these cases expanded the voting rights of the homeless, due to the transient nature of the homeless population, identifying a temporary residence can be challenging.
Another issue complicating homeless voting rights is the ID requirement. Federal law requires first-time voters to submit a valid driver’s license number or social security number when registering to vote. If an individual does not possess either of these ID forms, he or she can be issued a voter ID card that can permit him or her to vote. However, such individuals must present a valid form of identification when they arrive at the polls. If they fail to present valid identification at that time, they can cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted when the voter’s eligibility requirements can be verified. While ID requirements vary from state to state, this complex process can greatly deter the homeless from voting, since many of them lack valid forms of identification (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2010).
Several initiatives have been launched to educate the homeless about their voting rights and to encourage their political participation (Murray, 2006; National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Many of these campaigns include a voter registration component where they assist the homeless with registering to vote. For example, in New York, the Partnership for the Homeless conducted educational workshops in homeless shelters around the city to register homeless voters and inform them of the importance of their political involvement (Murray, 2006). Many homeless individuals may feel severely disenfranchised and disconnected from the political arena. By encouraging them to vote, these organizations are empowering the homeless to make a difference and take a stand on issues that are relevant to their welfare.
Overcoming the obstacles associated with exercising their right to vote has hampered political involvement for the homeless (Amster, 2004; Barak, 1991). While they are in dire need of assistance in terms of public policies that can improve their lives, attempting to assert their basic right as a citizen of a democracy can seem overwhelming to this vulnerable population. By restricting the voting rights of the homeless, states are keeping these individuals in their disadvantaged condition and preventing them from reaching their full potential as political participants.
Disenfranchised Immigrants
Today, many people in the U.S. would consider voting rights for non-citizens an unusual idea. Many people in a free country consider voting the essence of citizenship. However, voting rights as a privilege of only those who are U.S. citizens has been a fairly recent occurrence. In the time period between 1776 and 1926, forty states and federal territories allowed non-citizens to vote in local, state, and even federal elections. Some non-citizens were even allowed to hold public office. Early Americans viewed voting rights for immigrants as a way to entice newcomers to come to the U.S. In this way, voting rights were determined not by citizenship, but by whether one was white, male, and a landowner. Putting these other issues aside for the moment, it is clear that, for much of U.S. history, voting rights for immigrants was not only allowed, but it was also encouraged (Hayduk, 2015)
All of this began to change as the twentieth century approached. Beginning around that time period, predominantly different types of European immigrants began making the U.S. their home. These new European immigrants were mostly from Eastern and Southern Europe rather than Western Europe. These immigrants were not seen as “white” and had different views and cultures than the Western European immigrants which made up most of America since the colonial period. This fact, coupled with mass social movements, the development of third political parties, and wartime hysteria surrounding World War I, caused a domino effect where each state systematically eliminated voting rights for immigrants. At the same time, federal legislation began to drastically reduce the number of immigrants allowed into the U.S. Today, this rich 150-year history of voting rights for immigrants in the U.S. has been buried and stricken from our national memory (Amin & Sherkat, 2014).
However, since the 1970s, voting rights for immigrants have been slowly making a comeback in several U.S. jurisdictions. In 2006, Chicago permitted immigrants to vote in school board elections, six municipalities in Maryland allowed non-citizens to vote, and two municipalities in Massachusetts also allowed immigrants to vote. Additionally, over a dozen jurisdictions across the U.S. are currently considering allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. This movement matches a global initiative where over forty countries currently permit voting by resident non-citizens. Clearly, many nations around the world view immigrant voting rights as an important part of their governance (Hayduk, 2006).
There is huge potential for immigrant voting in the U.S. today. Since the 1970s, the number of first generation immigrants has tripled from about 9.6 million to 31.2 million. This growth has been faster than the national growth overall and has resulted in immigrants accounting for a higher percentage of the population than they did thirty years ago (Ramakrishnan, 2005). First generation immigrants made up 4.7% of the U.S. population in 1970 and over 12% of the population in 2005. Several states have large immigrant populations also. California, New York, and Florida all have first generation immigrant populations of over 20%. In these states, one out of every five residents is a first generation immigrant. In effect, this data shows that the immigrant population of the U.S. accounts for a sizable proportion of the national population as well as the state population in a few states (Ramakrishnan, 2005).
An increasing number of these immigrants remain non-citizens. In 2014, the U.S. rolled back to its melting-pot origins; the country was now home to 41.3 million legal and illegal immigrants - the highest percentage in over 90 years (Perez, 2014). This situation will continue to expand the number of non-citizen immigrants in the foreseeable future. Another cause is the relatively long time it takes for an average immigrant to become a naturalized citizen. At the present time, it takes an average of 8-10 years to become naturalized. The number of non-citizen immigrants along with their representative percentages of the national and state populations results in a lot of potential political power if these groups were given voting rights (Aptekar, 2014). The high percentage of non-citizen immigrants results in a strikingly lower percentage of Latinos and Asians in the U.S. who actually vote (Parkin & Zlotnick, 2014).
Already in 2000, Whites comprised 70% of the population and cast over 81% of the vote; Latinos comprised 12.6% of the population but only cast 5.3% of the vote; Asians comprised 4.2% of the population but only 1.9% of the vote (Hayduk, 2006). To put this in perspective, 62% of Latinos and 59% of Asians did not vote, whereas only 25% of Whites and 35% of Blacks did not vote. The differences between these voting turnouts can be attributed partly by the number of non-citizen immigrants representing these two classes. These numbers show the potential power behind allowing immigrants the right to vote (Hayduk, 2006).
There are many reasons behind the restoration of voting rights to immigrants in the U.S. Some of these are moral reasons while others are practical reasons. Like previous disenfranchised groups (e.g., African Americans and women), the main weapon needed to succeed in winning voting rights for immigrants will be political action and struggle. Without the right to vote, immigrants are at a higher risk of experiencing discrimination and bias. Extending the right to vote for immigrants would bring a voice and visibility to millions of them, which would in turn make the government more representative, responsive, and accountable.
Many overall arguments can be made for immigrant voting. To this effect, Hayduk (2006) breaks it down into three categories: (1) social contract, (2) bias, and (3) mutual benefits. Social contract in a democratic state means that members of that society are obliged to obey the laws if they also possess the means to participate in that nation’s governance. A situation in which immigrants are expected to obey the law without government participation is equivalent to the treatment colonial Americans had vis-à-vis the English legal system and governance during that time. The risk of bias or discrimination is also greater for a group if that group is not represented in the government. Refusing non-citizen immigrants the right to vote removes their voices from the government. Without their vote, elected officials are less likely to entertain their views when voting for legislation. Finally, there are mutual benefits for allowing immigrants the right to vote. Other groups who have common interests with the immigrants would benefit from the additional leverage that these immigrants may provide. An alliance between several minority groups, which could include immigrants, would allow these issues to gain momentum.
Although, a large probability of any sub-groups’ constituents will not vote, there should exist an appropriate respect for the interest of each sub-group due to even the potential number of voters. To remove the right to vote for a sub-group can silence voices desiring accountability for certain audiences. Rousseau stresses the need that voting rules should capture the voice of the general will. Only then can voting rules ensure that an assembly has indeed identified the general will, as opposed to the private will of some of its members (Schwartzberg, 2008).
Discussion and Future Research
What this paper has demonstrated is that, although universal suffrage is said to have been accomplished in the U.S., it is important to recognize that certain vulnerable populations continue to be disenfranchised by voting regulations and restrictions. As we have seen, three groups that continue to be either actively or passively denied suffrage in the U.S. are convicted felons, the homeless, and immigrants. The U.S. is still facing a long and difficult situation of denying suffrage rights to some of its citizens. In a true democracy, citizen voting directly controls policy. On the other hand, in a representative democracy, such as the U.S. and most other free nations, voting allows a certain number of people – but not all people – to choose representatives which most closely resemble the values and ideals of the voter. Hence, since voting rights in the U.S. made significant progress at the beginning of the twentieth century, it is now time to remove the current barriers to political equality so as to reach distributive justice, a philosophical concept that concentrates on just outcomes and consequences. A true democracy would allow people who vote to have a profound impact on the way a country is governed.
As Jean-Jacques Rousseau framed it, if law is not a genuine expression of the general will, it is illegitimate. Yet, both political equality and participation remain significant challenges for representation in the U.S. Convicted felons, the homeless, and immigrants represent three specific groups which are currently either actively or passively shut out of the political process by voting rules and regulations. While issues affecting these groups are important in their own right, the disenfranchisement experienced by these groups are individual examples of what seems to be a political tradition in the U.S. This tradition involves the elite empowerment to disproportionately affect representation and policy outcomes. So, by improving voter turnout as a policy goal among vulnerable populations in the U.S., it would go a long way toward accomplishing political equality for all. Nonetheless, to accomplish this is not an easy task.
For future research, it might prove interesting to look at new ways of universalizing voting rights for the three aforementioned disenfranchised groups in this paper. For example, Clinard, Quinney, and Wildeman (1994) categorized felons in a “typology” of felons, implying that second-degree felons should have more citizenship rights than first-degree ones. How to improve political equality and accomplish a true representative democracy was not the subject of this paper, but it is an area demanding the attention of both scholars and practitioners. Some have suggested experimenting with compulsory voting, a system in which all citizens are required to vote or be reprimanded with a fine (Galston 2010). Others have suggested that forms of community governance will pave the way toward improving political participation and representation (John, 2009). In addition, employing educational workshops as a means to empower these disenfranchised segments of the population to participate in the voting process can also be a method of equalizing voter participation.
Truly, scholars and practitioners should consider the importance of political equality and evaluate viable policy options for improving turnout and empowering vulnerable populations to become politically active. Such policy options need to consider the ethical importance of political equality, and the goals of our democratic government to be inclusive and representative. It is the authors’ hope that this paper has enlightened readers on a phenomenon that seems to remain underrepresented in both our media and educational systems.
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You have had a wonderful opportunity to spend large amounts of valuable time, at home, with your mom. Since your birth, your mom, has willingly sacrificed social time spent at work to love you. She has balanced completing her degree, co-leading in Girls Scouts, and being an at-home mom.
The first and probably the most important classroom exist at home Miles. In this early home learning environment, there are so many things you are absorbing from your mom and I as you began to walk and become independent. As your parents, our words, thoughts and views impact the way your mind organize feelings, beliefs, and judgements.
Presiding over your early learning experience is humbling, scary and carries a lot of responsibility. The early at-home childhood learning experience has unfortunately been detrimental to many kids. Parents have unintentionally transferred harmful prejudices during the early years of their children’s life. What kids learn about race before they take a single step into a school building is alarming.
Post-Racial Home Culture
Miles your oldest uncle (Cory) decided that for his first child he was going to deliberately create a post-racial culture in his home. Cory decided that he would avoid relying on racial distinctions to describe people around his son. He also chose not to limit his son, Josiah, to racially centered discussions, movies, or social groups.
This decision by my brother was not an attempt to escape the history of external ethnic distinctions. However, he was convinced that the history of race was a result of unnecessary prejudices that led to inaccurate science, laws, and social categories.
What seemed fair to your uncle was to allow his son to grow up with the idea of comparing his abilities to his peers without the popular stereotypes that currently attempts to predefine minority students’ test scores, graduation rates, and careers.
I would personally see more benefit in this strategy than the highly racially focused prejudice conversations that many adults had with your mom when she was little. She recalled many older family members telling her that she needs to be smarter than her white peers. Or that she needed to work twice as hard as her white peers.
This type of racially centered conversation creates a clear transfer of harmful racial prejudices that tells a minority child that there is a natural and functional difference in the mind of a white child verses a black child. This dangerous racial prejudice is harmful because it is not supported by evidence/science but it is innocently consumed by all students.
Schools Introduce Race
On the other hand, your uncle’s hope was to try to hold a mirror up to himself with the purpose of cleansing his words and eventually his thoughts of possible hidden racial prejudices. He was one of only a few parents that I have ever met that brought awareness of the dangers in transferring prejudices to young children.
I asked my brother, how was my nephew gradually exposed to race. He remembered the day clearly. It was school that introduced race and the existence of social ethnic inequalities to his son. Cory said that Josiah was in the first grade. Upon arriving home, Josiah had many questions about race and injustices of the past. My brother felt that his son was no longer the same. From then on the lens of race existed for his son and he began to see the world through external distinctions rather than inward abilities.
Other parents have more extreme stories where teachers, principals, and student peers have created harmful racial scares for their students. Unfortunately, the school is a pool of harmful racial prejudices that were brought from home. Almost no one leaves their racial prejudices at home but they transport it to their school which has been potentially detrimental to certain learning environments.
How does this happen? How do we as adults lead to the sustaining of racial prejudices in our children that leak into the school environment? How does the school contribute to existing racial prejudices? Is prejudice necessarily negative?
Is Prejudice Necessarily Negative?
Miles to be prejudice or to pre-judge does not have to necessarily be a negative tool. One great thinker viewed prejudice as processing stereotypes and categories. Prejudice is seen as a normal and an inevitable byproduct of how people think.
For example, there are many sports in America but I am inclined to watch and participate in. The sports I watch most are often a reflection of the sports that I enjoyed playing while I was in school. I therefore make a decision to watch basketball and football over other sports. By default I expose you to the sports I desire and the hobbies I prefer. Also, by default I show prejudices against sports that I did not enjoy.
Now when your mom takes you to the store you tended to gravitate to a basketball and/or a football even if I was not present. Miles, you now prefer the football and basketball over a baseball. Your sports preferences were shaped by my sports preferences. You have absorbed my prejudices of sports.
I believe that this holds true for all categories of life including ethnic prejudices that dominates American culture. Miles your mom and I want to filter our unconscious harmful racial prejudices so that it does not impact the formation of your own preferences. This task as a parent is extremely difficult because we will not always know that we are acting according to our racial prejudices. This is what makes the early home training so critical to the educational journey of children.
From Home to School
Children and adults will transport these prejudices learned in their home environment to the school they attend. It is in the school environment that kids will have to express, defend or change their judgements on several different categories (example: desired food, views of minority or majority people groups, and religion etc.). The school becomes a battle ground of varying prejudices that creates tension amongst students who have or have not ever been exposed to different perspectives.
School staff, parents, and students will need to be more sensitive to this transfer of prejudices from various home environments. It is becoming necessary to even host an orientation at the beginning of each school year for all grade levels to talk through some of the more harmful prejudices that lead to faulty decision making. Schools could potentially spearhead this effort of opening helpful communication between conflicting prejudices.
Change Agent
Miles, our goal as parents is to lay a foundation that supports a healthy life for you. It is healthy for us as your parents to filter our unconscious racial prejudices and to surround you with likeminded people. To some degree each group I associate with molds how I define my social preferences and it indirectly impacts your social preferences. Furthermore, if I live a life that reflects an unbiased racial perspective then you will absorb that preference of racial indifference.
However, if I bombard you with racially centered words and thoughts then that will define your preferences. Unfortunately, schools right now are swarming with kids programed to sustain racial prejudices because they witnessed it at home.
Nonetheless, I believe that schools will eventually address this issue head on. I believe that teachers and administrators will be forced to concentrate on the harmful racial views that arrive with new students and are sustained by older students. Miles, be the leader for a post-racial school culture if it does not exist by time you get into school. Be the change agent.
I have learned something new about poverty that I want to share with you. Currently, Americans see poverty and poor people through a racial lens that reflect incorrect ideas of minority populations. I believe a lack of understanding of the root of poverty potentially contribute to the perceptual distortions of certain people groups. There is a popular social idea that support an understanding that minority is poverty. Some people actually believe an equal sign stands between poverty and minority. There are some who think that poverty is the same as being a minority, that those realities are the same.
This is a sad truth. Surprisingly, the support of this idea that minority equal poverty is not exclusive to White Americans. This idea is not exclusive to adults. Our school children, even minority students, absorb this false world view. It is unfortunate that this idea ignores the complexity of poverty. In particular, White poor students become invisible with this world view. Also, poverty identified with selected pigmented people groups creates unintended consequences in education. This is especially true when poverty is simplified to represent one people group, one geographic location, or one gender.
Miles I feel that it is my duty to help you understand the differences between the social layers of poverty as it pertains to all distinctive people groups. Son you must first understand the complexities of poverty. Then I hope you embrace this truth of poverty without believing that your skin pigmentation has required that you self-identify as being poor. My wish is that you can act unbiasedly towards those students and peers who live through the struggles of poverty.
Poverty Misunderstood
For a long time I accepted the view of poverty as a condition where an individual lack basic things. Schools have used the same premise by looking at guardian income levels and by using free lunch categories. The use of a ‘have or have not’ descriptive of poverty is popular and easy to measure. Therefore, our society have a tendency to pay more attention to individual groups that suffer at higher percentages rather than raw numbers.
Our culture places emphasis on solutions to poverty that focus on certain distinctive people groups. This focus often creates racial stigmas of that very association formed in popular culture of poverty and race that may not exist for all members within each racial group. Actually poverty in America once resembled diversity where both White and Black children reflected low income living but not anymore.
The current interpretation of poverty through the lens of race I think is limited. This view of poverty ignores large segments of poor students at the expense of attempting to have perceptions of poverty remain within racial lines. For example, according to The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation stat health facts[1] North Carolina has 700,000 White citizens in poverty verses 539,300 Blacks. Both the Black and White poverty numbers are hard to embrace but if we only see Blacks as poor then we miss the 700,000 people.
It is customary to overlook the total number of people and to base arguments of poverty only on the percentages. The percentages is where Black Americans exceed that of White Americans. However, I just find it difficult, ineffective and inefficient to use race as a filter for viewing poverty because it ignore volumes of a variety of people who share the same economic struggles. Also, just looking exclusively at income levels can have limitations. In my opinion, fractured relationships, instead of money, speaks more to students’ condition of poverty than anything else.
Broken Relationships
I recently attended a group meeting where we discussed a more accurate definition of poverty. The group first collected the assumed definitions from all the attendees. Generally, everyone had a western view that looked at quality of life through job, income and education levels etc. Almost no one, including myself, mentioned the quality of relationships and community.
In this group, poverty was defined as a set of broken relationship either between two individuals (and community) or broken relationships between an individual and an institution. Institutions is understood to be any social area that has rules for behavior, a hierarchy and defined membership. For example, schools consist of rules for student behavior with levels of responsibility and well defined criteria for a kid to be enrolled as a member.
As an administrator you have to review countless life stories of students for the purposes of creating an educational learning plan. I have also read a variety of students’ background data and it basically mapped out the quality of relationships formed between the student and their community or school. What I have discovered is broken relationships exist in the lives of all students no matter what social class or race.
No One is Exempt
In my line of work students were overwhelmed with the pressures of broken relationships at home. Students had difficulty aligning with the expectations of their mother while managing the tense relationships with their teachers. Some students were separated from their parents and struggled to adjust to their grand or great grandmothers. Other students had disrupted relationships with their community that resulted in delinquency which meant they had lost time from healthy relationships at home and school. These stories belong to students of all people groups and class status. No one is exempt from turbulent relationships that causes unbalanced poor life styles.
Although race may speak to the cultural differences of an individual student it does not necessarily speak to differences in the type, duration and impact of broken relationships. Teachers have witnessed the delegate balance of unhealthy relationship students have at home and how that impacts the students’ response to their relationship with the school. However, kids are still categorized by income and not by the quality of the relationships.
I have seen students (of all social classes) display signs of poverty due to the quality of their relationships. Wealth is not about money but about appropriate support and balance of healthy relationships at home, school and in the community.
Miles your mom and I will strive to guide you through healthy relationships at home, school and in your community. Although we can try our best, life will create imbalances periodically. The quality of your relationships will determine the support you have when you experience temporary imbalance. Poverty, as understood in this paper, transcends distinctive people groups and should not be associated with pigmentation. Miles remember that no one is exempt from experiencing poverty. However, our goal is that you live a wealthy life full of an abundance of healthy relationships.
The holidays are branded as a time of happy moments with family, friends, and food. Every holiday song speaks to the wonderful time we enjoy sharing gifts. But for my students, the holidays represent moments and emotions from family connection to family disconnection.
For many of my students, the Christmas holiday represents the struggle for external acceptance. I have witnessed Christmas as a competitive moment where students are pressured to compare their gifts with other students.
The inward life pains that students secretly speak to me about are kept hidden while they engage with their peers in a game of show-and-tell. They show all of their material gifts, never telling of the real life pain they wrestle with at home and in their community. All is invested in the perceived value others have of them through how many gifts they receive for the holidays.
Fred’s Story
Although the bulk of students at my school share in similar poverty experiences, this time of year they give their best competitive performances with statements of abundance and wealth. In the classroom environment, they speak of holidays filled with an over flow of food and an over flow of gifts.
One student comes to mind. Miles, you met my student Fred. He is the student who always runs to pick you up when I bring you to the school. He is also arguably my most animated student with jokes, smiles, and a whole lot of bravado. Fred spends the majority of his day talking about what he has and what his life is like outside of school.
I asked Fred about his Christmas holidays. He said that “Christmas is Christmas.”
Fred is 18-years-old, and he remembers just four good Christmas experiences. He does not make a big deal of the holiday because he is always disappointed.
But his mood changed as he remembered and told me about a time when he saved Christmas for his family.
Fred lived in South Carolina when he was in middle school. It was winter, and the electricity was off. He said his family lived with his aunt, and they could see each other’s breath in the house because it was so cold.
Fred remembered a school program that gave him the opportunity to provide Christmas gifts for his mom and siblings. Fred earned school behavior bucks he could use in the classroom gift store. He used his bucks to buy a necklace for his mom and toys for his two sisters.
Fred says that even though he does want things for Christmas he never mentions anything to his mom because he don’t want to burden her.
He says his family’s happiness is what makes the holiday season special.
Fred asked that I share his story so it can benefit someone in hard times during the holidays.
“Christmas is Christmas”
I was intrigued by Fred’s story. Day-to-day, the kindness of his heart is buried under his efforts to compete in the surface show-and-tell game with his peers.
To understand Fred’s “Christmas is Christmas,” I had to look beyond his show-and-tell performance for his peers. I had to look beyond the impulsive behavior in his classes. I had to look beyond the events of his suspension. I had to look beyond his need for attention all the time. I had to look beyond his external appearance, including a Mohawk, tongue ring, and sagging pants.
At the root of his statement “Christmas is Christmas,” Fred showed he values his family. Christmas to Fred is not about how much he can obtain but how much he can give.
Community of Gifts
Miles, there are lessons in the show-and-tell competition among my students, and the lesson is that students are much deeper than their conversations. Within each school, the conversations of the students are an indicator of the health of their community.
Every student can deliver gifts filled with many lessons that improve the health of the school community no matter how many mistakes they make in their journey. I have the privilege to share in annual holiday celebrations with students, like Fred, who have made many mistakes.
Every year community groups volunteer to serve and donate to each holiday celebration at the school. After the community shares in preparation of the food, decorations, and the holiday presentation with the students they always leave appreciating the gifts of the students.
My school is an example of how communities are blending together. The small cafeteria at the school is packed during the holiday celebration. Present at each annual celebration are church groups, wealthy and poor community members, local and distant friends and family members.
Parents bring aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Laughter, presentations, and hugs fill the cafeteria. Diversity is expressed through the presence of various ethnicities, social class status, education levels, or even geographical residential locations. Students are sharing time with their families and with their peers all at the same time. Kids are providing gifts toward a healthy school environment, and they contribute to a happy holiday for the adult volunteers.
Miles, I am honored that you had the opportunity to attend these holidays celebrations. I am glad that you see what Fred means by “Christmas is Christmas” at my school and in our home and in our community.
My experiences as an education administrator in North Carolina have been primarily with students who are poor, minority and struggle academically. I have wondered about the relationship between education outcomes and socio-economic status (SES). Education research has found home background (or SES) to be an important determinant of educational outcomes, and economic research has shown that education strongly affects earnings.
According to the US Census, NC has an estimated 2014 population of 9,943,964 with 17.5% of persons below poverty level. Of the students in poverty who live within Wake County I have had the opportunity of seeing two types.
The first type of student has the raw intelligence that is blurred by critical life events but despite debilitating home life circumstances they achieve satisfactory outcomes in school. The second type of student needs assistance to produce satisfactory education outcomes along with assistance in dealing with debilitating home life events.
Poverty
Poverty is not simply the absence of money but it is also the inability to function effectively in society. Inadequate education can contribute to a form of poverty. Poverty discourages enrolment and survival to higher grades, and also reduces learning in schools.
Poverty also impacts the home life. The home background of students is the most important factor influencing educational outcomes. Student poverty is strongly related with a range of concepts including parental educational attainment, household income levels, and access to basic needs. It is hard to separate limited income from other home life factors.
The history of America is filled with people of poverty who defeated the strong grip of poverty. Many poor students defeated the odds and performed well in formal learning environments.
The Odds
Most ethnic groups, in post-industrialized America, have had to exceed the educational levels of their previous generations. For African Americans in particular, there use to be structural limitations that prevented formal education. However, there is always a story of a grandmother, father or mother who campaigned for their children to take learning seriously.
Historically, informal learning continued throughout poor Black communities. Conversations and family priorities were placed around learning and attaining formal and informal educational achievements.
Education was seen as a critical vehicle for African Americans to exit generational poverty. Black parents applied pressure at home through homework, reading, etc. that would reinforce the value of learning.
What was fascinating was that the parents themselves were not educated enough to actually understand the materials that their children were learning at school. So, the parent support came from instilling the value of formal and informal education and encouraging their children even though the parent could not complete the school work themselves.
At some point in every family someone had to campaign for their child to achieve greater life goals and beat the odds. It is here that the assumption that ‘poverty almost guarantees academic failure’ falls apart. We, the community and parents, must speak against this view that poverty alone will prevent any progress of all students in school. Encourage students to beat the odds!
Fighting Fate
It is difficult to have a student enter my office on enrollment and we examine his home situation where the research would suggests that this student has a very little chance of succeeding in school. It can seem like my job forces me to fight fate, a fate that would argue against any positive outcome in a poor student’s learning journey. The odds are stacked against them.
A home life for my students may include: single/uneducated mother or father, criminal record (parents and child), ethnic minority, poor neighborhood, free lunch, or living below poverty level. Statistics and stereotypes suggest that a student born to these rough circumstances will perform poorly in school.
However, every year my team is surprised by an amazing student. There is always at least one amazing student who could check off a few life events on the poverty checklist and still possess a fierce determination to overcome. It is a myth that a student in poverty is incapable of learning.
“Christian, You Can Do Anything”
I ran into a friend of mines name Ventura. He is a middle age Hispanic who works as a janitor with his wife at the local school. He logs in 80 hours a week of hard labor working two janitorial jobs at local schools. We often talk about our sons and the experiences of fatherhood.
Recently he shared his story that lead into greater news about his oldest son named Christian. Ventura shared that he came into the country illegal and fought hard to become a legal citizen. In that fight Ventura was homeless, temporarily locked up, and spoke little to no English.
He then shared that he did not go to college and that actually no one in his family ever went to college. When Christian was born Ventura would tell him that “You can do anything and that anything is attainable.” He taught Christian not to view life through its limitations but through its opportunities.
In the 9th grade Christian told his dad that he wanted to go to Duke University but that he knew it was too expensive for his parents. Ventura told his son that nothing is out of reach. Ventura said “Christian you can do anything, including going to Duke University.”
Knowing that Duke was very costly, Ventura received permission from his wife to sale their car and home to pay for Christian’s college if it was necessary. The stress of paying for college was kept from Christian but the confidence his parents had in his ability to perform well in formal education was celebrated and known.
Christian scores from his SATs were high enough to receive a preliminary invite to Duke University’s 2015 summer orientation. Christian is just in the 11th grade and he was offered a full ride scholarship to one of Duke’s undergraduate programs. Christian is defeating the odds. The odds look at the educational pattern in his family, the income levels of his parents, and the language barriers. Despite the odds, Ventura and Christian are winning in education.
In your infant years you have had the great opportunity to meet my dad, Clarence L. Ruth. I have enjoyed seeing him hold and play with you. You represent a lot to my dad. You represent new life, a new generation, and an extension of the Ruth name. For Father’s day I want to appreciate and introduce you to the educational legacy of my dad.
I am proud to be the bridge between the Ruth men in the past and the Ruth men in the future. I plan to absorb the lessons that I have learned over the years from my dad and re-teach them to you. I love and appreciate your grandfather and my dad. His journey is fascinating and I want you to know about your grandfather’s life before and after his battle with cancer. My dad’s life and decisions produced my life and impacted my own decisions in raising you.
Early Education
Miles you were born in the same state as your grandfather, right here in North Carolina. My dad was raised in Southern Pines to a family that had many ups and downs. The family turbulence forced your grandfather to run away from home at the young age of 15.
My dad dropped out of high school. He relied on vocational job skills acquired through various opportunities such as: golf catting, share cropping, and naturally gifted skills in house-hold / auto mechanics. Your grandfather had the hard task of surviving in a rough NC community without an education and without family.
Military
My dad once told me that during this time of his life, with no education and no guidance, that he feared being a low life on the corner of the street. So, he entered the military where he was given the guidance and purpose that he desired and needed. Before the military your grandfather did not pursue any formal education.
After 4 ½ years in the military, he had a thirst for formal education and at the same time he was not confident in this area of formal learning. Dad did not want to fail in the area of education where he had previously quit during high school. However, once he experienced the guidance of the military it helped push him to learn more. Even with limited education, my dad always carried himself with outward intellectual confidence.
Vocational Training
Before I was born my dad had three of my siblings and decided to acquire his GED. Afterwards he then went to air conditioning and mechanic schools. Over time, the majority of my childhood memories associated my dad with auto and house-hold mechanics repair. I have vivid memories of my dad under the hood of a car giving the neighborhood children the coins in his pocket so they can get candy.
My dad landed jobs in mechanical industries and stayed employed for many years. He relied on his physical size and strength to succeed in his educational training. He could lift boiler parts, appliances, and car parts. He was dependent on his physical gifts and abilities and that was passed down to me and my siblings who were athletic. However, life would eventually force him to rely on his education.
The BIG Announcement
It was my bachelors’ graduation day when all the family came to Atlanta to celebrate this accomplishment. During the pre-ceremony meeting my dad said that he had a big announcement after graduation. When we arrived back from the graduation celebration and dinner, the family was gathered.
The center of attention was my dad and he told all of us around him that the doctors have located cancer cells in his body. There was no immediate response because as a family we did not understand the implications of such a debilitating disease. At the time, my dad didn’t even realize how his battle with cancer would impact his view on education.
Later Life Education
For many years your grandfather has maintained the appearance of physical strength even after the big cancer announcement. But at some point the internal bodily struggle started to show external signs. His job changed to more technology base and less physical as his body began to weaken. He had to learn new technical skills.
Both at work and at home my dad had to relearn how to enjoy and experience life through the abilities of his mind as a result of cancer. Slowly his natural functions such as walking and driving was effected by the disease. He could not fully depend on his physical body anymore.
As a result, my dad became an intensive reader and learner. He is constantly playing audio books, reading, and discussing new concepts. Your grandfather even talks about how he wish that he could of took advantage of college opportunities in his earlier years. This evolution was amazing to the family. My dad was a hardworking blue collar guy for the majority of his life, but now we have seen him become an appreciator of academia.
Lessons Learned
Miles your grandfather produced four sons with college degrees, and two daughters who own their own businesses. Also, he produced a son who ran for congress and a son who is a high-end fashion designer. His legacy is a beautiful display of white collar seeds even though he worked hard as a blue collar worker.
Miles, the first time you met your grandfather (as an infant) you both had a stare down. After that he said that you would be just as tough as he is. He became an even bigger fan of yours, Miles, after that stare down moment. My father has mentally defeated cancer by shifting his view on education and that took the same mental toughness that he said you would have.
Miles value your grandfather’s educational journey no matter what path you take. I don’t know how much time you have left with your grandfather but learn from his life. Finish high school, value college and appreciate the power of your mind. Remember this particular lesson about Grandpa: that the physical deteriorating condition of his body never hindered the passion and thirst that he had for learning, it actually increased his thirst.
Schools have maintained the symbol of a public service for the local community, serving the nearby neighborhood children. However, the neighborhood children overtime have embraced both a local and distant-virtual community.
Locally, minority students are culturally rooted in their ethnic heritage (family history). From a distant-virtual, a new trend of blending the same local ethnic roots into a larger, rapidly growing, mixed cultured community. This new community exist as a solid unit with multiple ethnicities seen as a single group.
Son this trending group will positively impact the perception of African American youth. Children with backgrounds in ethnic cultures are emerging as a part of a new multicultural consumer group. I am pleased with the potential educational benefits that this multicultural consumer group can provide for you son.
Multicultural Consumer Group
This trending multicultural consumer group is propelled by population growth and volume purchasing power. The population growth will result in a hike of minority children births in America. So people call this expansion of minority youth as the "Browning of America." As the expansion of minority children occurs it is believed that race would become a more complicated conversation. It is exciting that this group will challenge American's perceptions of race.
The strength of this multicultural consumer group is that it has buying power. Social media has made micro volume purchasing a great tool for this growing young population. One or two dollar purchases by millions of minority school children creates a demanding and economically reliable voice. Or even the free advertisements, worth millions of dollars, that these students provide to brands through social media outlets of Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Facetime or Instagram.
I have so many questions surrounding this growing population that holds so much social capital. Like, who is in this group and how will they use their social and economic influence in American culture? Will this group proactively confuse and redefine the old discussions of race and racism?
Will this group challenge the existing statistics that predicts lower educational performances based on racial groups? Will schools embrace this mixed-cultured technology driven community? I wonder as this group of students mature will they be able to answer these questions. Let us explore this group further.
Group Membership
Multicultural consumers are the fastest growing group of the US population with rough 120 million and expanding at a rate of 2.3 million a year. This group is made up of African American, Hispanic and Asians. The largest segment of this group is Hispanics. African and Hispanic Americans currently sit at the lower end of educational success in terms of K-12 grades, test scores, and graduation rates.
However, this group will have the influence to change the historical pattern of African and Hispanic Americans as the educationally outperformed groups. They can accomplish this task by putting pressure on school systems to absorb their technology driven community. Their mixed cultured community exist almost entirely through online-web relationships.
FaceTime and Instagram
I had a chance to speak with students about their engagement in this online community. As I started the conversation by mentioning Facebook they laughed. They said that Facebook was for old people. They began to inform me that their community engage around three tools: Instagram, Facetime and text. I was shocked that they did not mention phone calls at all.
These students walked me through the time spent between school dismissal and bedtime. It appears that the bulk of that time is devoted to nurturing, engaging and developing virtual relationships. This is done through pictures, micro videos, chats, and texting. According to the students, Facetime and Instagram are the best tools for sustaining this form of relationship.
I asked the students about using these tools during school and they quoted verbatim their district policy on no personal electronic devices. There was almost a letdown at this point. How do schools adjust to this growing online group? How long can schools restrict access to this community during school?
Even an Education Technology Specialist for the state was baffled by the decision of districts and schools in the state to restrict this community rather than embrace this virtual multicultural group. It was in her professional opinion that embracing this community will allow education to make the appropriate reforms that will reach future and failing students.
Group Features
There is a learning curve that is needed in education for embracing this multicultural consumer group. Major corporations are begging for these same students to be even more engaged online because of the economic benefits. When will education begin to beg students to be more engage online because of the academic benefits? This will only occur when we fully understand the group features.
First, members are on the edge of blending and uniting demographics and social trends. They force a reshaping of how Americans use culture to connect with increasingly diverse populations. Second, the cultural patterns that describes this group is foretelling of how communities will look 20 years from now.
This occurs through their belief in expression and inclusion. They express their ethnic uniqueness while at the same time feeling completely included in a group of diverse cultures. Third, this group is absolutely drowned in technology from morning to night.
Miles by your mere birth you are going to be effected by this expanding group of young students. Your school years will play out differently than I can even imagine if this multicultural consumer group is any predictor of your future community. I see the benefits of this group and how it could assist you in accurately addressing the issues of race and education. In time, the blending of demographics and ethnicity will create an unbelievable educational experience for you.
