It’s Deeper Than That

I was recently moved by a speech I heard given by a remarkable Michigan State graduating senior.   I suspect the powerful words uttered that day will resonate in me forever.  Here is a partial insert from that astonishing speech:

“In our uniqueness’ lies our strength………

No amount of money will combat poverty only education can do that.  No amount of violence will ever bring us peace only love can do that… no amount of prejudice will bring us understanding only diversity can do that. No amount of conversation can spring us into action only “will” can do that.”

As I pondered over this young mans speech I couldn’t help but wonder, as a nation are we diversified enough in the workforce- public and private sectors, specifically top management positions?  I also questioned the legitimacy of “Separate but Equal” in the historic case “Brown vs the Board of Education” and by this I mean are we still separate, are we yet equal?  Many Americans would say the answers are unequivocally yes; schools have been desegregated, “all” Americans can vote (although new voter id laws arguably mirror the Jim Crow era), “white and black only” signs have been eradicated, minorities hold prominent positions, African Americans can ride public transportation without having to give up their seats or ride in the back of the bus, women hold high powered positions and a small sample of middle class or below poverty exceptionally smart/gifted children are awarded full scholarships.

To this I say look deeper than that, just because you redesign or change the face of a watch doesn’t mean the detailed interconnecting parts are different or the complete maker overs” are simply limited additions.  We have not ended economic inequality or the racial caste in America; but merely reshaped it.  Likewise, we live in a society where a person’s zip code is one of the pre-determining factors or the right of entry to equitable resources, an exceptional education, above average health care and access to opportunities that lead to promising futures for children. All the while a struggling middle class is currently forced to take out Parent Plus loans at an accrued interest rate equating to $3-$4 a day just so their kids will have a fighting chance to even the playing field.

According to recent Nation article:  “In suburbs across the region, elites have been seceding from their inner- city school districts and setting up academic laagers of their own. The result is a concentration of race and class disadvantage in a system with far fewer resources. In a 2012 report, UCLA’s Civil Rights Project noted: “Nationwide, the typical minority student is now in a school where almost two out of every three classmates (64%) are low-income. ”The discrepancy between black and white unemployment is the same as it was in 1963. According to the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University, between 1984 and 2007 the black-white wealth gap quadrupled. The Supreme Court is dismantling affirmative action and gutting voting rights. Meanwhile, incarceration disparities are higher than they were in the 1960s.”

Notably, America was founded in 1776, yet we still are identifying “first.”  For example, first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, first black President, Barack Obama, first Hispanic US. Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Solomayor, first black US Attorney General, Eric Holder or first black woman US Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, First black and first black woman mayor of San Antonio, TX, Ivy Taylor, First woman and first Hispanic U.S. Surgeon General, Antonia Coello Novell, first chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Board, Janet Yellen- you get the picture, to say this is the norm would be an oxymoron.

Similarly, we still identify with “separate but equal” ideologies by acknowledging and supporting Black Entertainment Television (BET), historically black colleges, black student unions in non HBCU’s, Congressional Black Caucus, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), BET music Awards and magazines like Essence and Ebony that solely address current issues in the African-American community.  This is not to insinuate that there is not a need, but my point is why is there still a need, this country was founded over 239 years ago, how long does it take to diversify or break the cycle of isolation. Demand that the “UNITED” States of America live up to its name..

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. George Bernard Shaw 

To simply ignore the existence of inequality or race does not negate the fact that it exist; even if it is socially constructed, its effects are real.  Since 1992, the annual number of charges alleging color- based discrimination in the workforce has steadily risen. In fiscal year 1992, EEOC received 374 charges alleging discrimination based on color. By fiscal year 2006, that number had increased to 1,241 charges. (EEOC)

Additionally, despite the Equal Pay Act men are still paid more than women over the course of their lifetimes.  An articlewritten by Pew Research pointed out:   “According to the White House, full-time working women earn 77% of what their male counterparts earn. This means that women have to work approximately 60 extra days, or about three months, to earn what men did by the end of the previous year. However, our own estimate, which is based on hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers, finds women earn 84 percent of what men earn. Based on our estimate, it would take approximately 40 days, or until the end of February, for women to earn what men had by the end of last year.  Even though women have increased their presence in higher-paying jobs traditionally dominated by men, such as professional and managerial positions, women as a whole continue to work in lower-paying occupations than men do. And some part of the pay gap may also be due to gender discrimination – women are about twice as likely as men to say they had been discriminated against at work because of their gender (18% vs. 10%).”

In light of the current media buzz over the controversy surrounding the confederate flag.  To that I say dig deeper than that: Since the end of the American Civil War, confederate flags have stained our country for years, they have been displayed in states, cities, counties and towns, schools including colleges and universities, private organizations and individuals, yet we as a nation are just now actively holding meaning conversations to remove them from state grounds.  I shudder at the thought that it took this long and a recent racially motivated massacre to spark the conversation when in fact there has been countless others and the flags still stood without question.  For example: The Greensboro Massacre in Greensboro, North Carolina, the 16th street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham Alabama, the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek Wisconsin ect…  On 12/8/14 FBI released its annual Hate Crime Statistics report, which revealed that out of 5,922 48.5% were racial and 11.1% were due to ethnicity.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, Martin Luther King,

Now that we have dabbled a little deeper into issues that woe our country, the defining question would appear to be is there hope for change? Legislatively yes, political candidates who are not addressing these issues should not be voted into office? We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them, Albert Einstein

Yes there is hope, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead”.  Our workforce and our entire economy are strongest when we embrace diversity to its fullest, and that means opening doors of opportunity to everyone and recognizing that the American Dream excludes no one, Thomas Perez

We Are Better Than That

By Girl Talk | April 30, 2015 at 09:22 PM EDT | 2 comments

Congress is the vocal point of our country (introduces legislation) and the President sets the tone (signs legislation into law/Commander & Chief of Military).  Therefore, when the President is constantly disrespected by a fraction of members of Congress without accountability then what message does that send to the rest of the country?

For instance, up until 2008 all Americans, regardless of their political party rallied around the leader of the free world: It was as if once the oath of office was taken, all bets were off, campaign contributions dissolved, political attacks diminished and the term “live to fight another day” meant the next election, not immediately following the inauguration, that is until President Obama was elected to office.  Why is this, it certainly can’t be based on ideology because Republicans and Democrats have debated and disagreed on policies for centuries, it’s what makes our country a democracy, no this appears to be something much more cynical.

For example, how do you explain an unopposed allegation of a plot devised by senior GOP members pledging to repeatedly block President Obama on all legislation before his term even began- all Americans can attest to this because it appears they have remained true to there pledge even at the detriment of the country at times.  Subsequently, during the President’s State of the Union address Joe Wilson; a congressional representative from South Carolina called the president of the United States a liar during his speech.  In contrast, lets not forget the “Birthers” who assert that the President was not born in the United States.  I mean seriously, what are they really insinuating because the last time the American people checked Hawaii was definitely part of the United States, but Canada is not, yet know one including Donald Trump challenges Senator Ted Cruz who is from Canada and running for the 2016 presidential election.  These are only a few examples of a massive archive of occurrences that have taken place over the last 6 years, yet nothing can be more mind blowing than the past two recent occurrences simply because it makes the US appear un-unified:

(1) On March 3, 2015 John Boehner along with other house leaders openly invited Israeli’s Prime Minister, Netanyahu to speak at a joint meeting of Congress to essentially campaign against the president’s Iran policy.  Chris Mathews from MSNBC had these words to say, “GOP assisted a “takeover attempt” by a foreign government.  Think it through, what country in the world would allow a foreign leader come in and attempt to wrest from the president  control of the U.S. foreign policy?” (view)

(2) On March 9, 2015 in what appeared to be an attempt to sabotage nuclear diplomacy without even knowing the details of the negotiation, a letter spearheaded by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and signed by a total of 47 Republicans to include Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) warned Iran leaders not to be too optimistic about ongoing negotiations with the Obama administration over Tehran’s nuclear program (view).  Minority Leader Harry Reid had these words to say “it’s unprecedented for one political party to directly intervene in an international negotiation with the sole goal of embarrassing the president of the United States”.

Vice President Joe Biden had these words to say, “In thirty-six years in the United States Senate, I cannot recall another instance in which Senators wrote directly to advise another country—much less a longtime foreign adversary— that the President does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them. This letter sends a highly misleading signal to friend and foe alike that that our Commander-in-Chief cannot deliver on America’s commitments—a message that is as false as it is dangerous”. (view)

For the past six years a fraction of congress has exposed the country to constant gridlock, venomous attacks against the president and side shows of one party divided against itself. What’s even more disconcerting to many Americans is the notion that this is acceptable behavior.  If there are no lines drawn between what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior towards how Congress openly addresses the leader of our country, then others will also see no boundaries.  A divided congress breeds a divided nation, we are much better than that…..