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Welcome to the Age of Yes!
I’m writing a long and in-depth piece analyzing the election and the outcomes, and the president-elect’s particular approach and potential legacies. I started to write it here but it got too big and unwieldy. There’s a portion of it, though, that I am excited about and want to share.
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Equality Deferred
The candidacy-and now election-of Barack Obama has elicited an avalanche of commentary on race across the political and social spectrum.
Some pundits have posited that we now inhabit a "post-racial" society that has transcended racial differences with the victory of an African-American presidential candidate. That a nation which held blacks in bondage, and refused to grant them justice long after slavery was abolished, could elect a black man for the highest office in the land appears to most observers as a striking victory for the cause of racial unity and tolerance.
Lost in this celebration, however, has been any serious treatment of the Arab and Muslim question. Obama was ceaselessly and openly pilloried by conservatives as a foreign, exotic, unpredictable quantity, not only because he was of mixed racial heritage, but also because he was wrongly said to be Muslim and Arab. And while the Obama campaign fought firmly and intelligently to overcome voters' fears about electing an African-American, they rarely took the extra step of condemning the anti-Arab and anti-Islamic caterwaul of their opponents' campaign.
In this context, serious studies of how Arab and Muslim Americans are treated inside the United States should be welcomed to the discussion. One such study comes from Dianne Shammas, an American activist of Lebanese heritage pursuing her Ph.D in at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Her thesis is the latest comprehensive study of racial discrimination against Arab Americans at community colleges in southern California and southeast Michigan.
She surveyed 753 Arab Christian, Arab Muslim, and non-Arab Muslim students from 21 community colleges using a 92-item survey and three focus groups to learn how this population viewed prejudice on campus and interacted with the larger campus community.
Previous studies have shown high levels of discrimination: a 2007 Arab-American Institute survey showed 76 percent of Arab-Americans ages18 to 29 experienced discrimination, and a 2004 Muslims in the American Public Square report showed 50 percent of American Muslims ages 18 to 24 experienced discrimination in the school and workplace.
However, Shammas said her findings did not bear out these previous reports. She found that Arab and Muslim students tend to cluster and form friendships on religious and ethnic lines, as do other minorities on college campuses. Examining 570 written responses, Shammas found that 38 percent of students formed friendships based on sameness of culture, heritage, and religious belief more than any other criteria.
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Gambling With Education
A treasure trove of implications for school children can be mined from the election returns on Tuesday--not just as a result of the big race but also from a number of key ballot measures I discussed last week.
But before getting to the initiatives, a quick dissection of what President-Elect Obama may mean for children in the early months of his administration. There are two quick and easy wins that look to be likely bets on any 100 days type calendar: expanding funding for children's health insurance --a measure vetoed by President Bush--via SCHIP and passing a new college tuition tax credit to benefit at-need college students in exchange for community service.
The tougher question is what President Obama will do about reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (AKA NCLB). It's unlikely that he will tackle NCLB in the early part of his legislative calendar simply because: 1.) It will cost a lot of political capital to do so, and 2.) that capital, in the eyes of most Americans, is more urgently needed on economic action, energy policy, troop numbers in the Middle East, and even health care. So the best answer to the question, what will President Obama do on K-12 education in the very early going? He'll punt... at least until middle-late 2009.
To the ballot measures: Missouri, Colorado, Maryland, and Arkansas each had ballot proposals to increase access citizen access to gambling with a back-end result of increasing (or substituting) public education funding. All four initiatives passed. Just goes to show what happens when you bundle up a bunch of core American values--freedom, education, risk-taking, greed--in one neat package and place it on a ballot: people will vote for it.
Nebraska and Colorado each had initiatives to ban affirmative action, part of California millionaire Ward Connerly's steady march to rid states of the policy one by one (affirmative action bans have been passed in Connerly's home state of California, Washington, and Michigan in previous elections). The ban passed easily in Nebraska, but was just declared defeated in Colorado, by the narrowest of margins.
Colorado wasn't done with controversial measures affecting education, though. A trio of anti-union measures, Amendments 47, 49, and 54 were up for decision as well, and the first two were defeated easily, largely through the campaign organizing of the Colorado Education Association. 47 & 49 would have made it illegal for school districts to force teachers to pay their union dues by witholding pay from their paychecks, a fairly common practice in schools across the nation--but Union control lives on. Amendment 54, however, passed narrowly--a measure designed to limit the lobbying influence of organizations who receive no-bid / non-competitive contracts from the government. The measure was supported as a pro-democracy plan to limit lobbyist and special interest influence; teachers unions are likely to file suit over the initiative on first amendment grounds.
Lastly, the initiatives I was personally most curious about: Oregon measures 58 and 60...
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E-Day Elation
We honked horns and waved signs on Crenshaw boulevard in LA, we danced to soul-disco classic "Ain't No Stopping Us" on 125th Street in Harlem and we partied in San Francisco from the Castro district to 19th and Valencia Streets to Divisadero, where crowds sung along to Bob Marley's "Three O'Clock Roadblock."
All over America, in big cities and small towns, citizens of all races, nationalities and political perspectives came out of their apartments and houses, party-hopped, shut down streets and diverted traffic to celebrate one of the most monumental elections in the country's history.
Several of my friends predicted that there would be metaphorical dancing in the streets. But the reality of people actually dancing, hugging, smiling and reclaiming their public streets was all the more sweet. It was a celebration lead by youth, and one well deserved, with some 66-percent of the youth vote cast for Obama. In San Francisco, as with many other city, first-time voters and Millennials filled the streets after Obama's acceptance speech. I felt lucky to be a part of their leap into civic activism.
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E-day: Faces of Early Voters in Minnesota
(This content is produced by Rock the Trail -- a parnership of Rock the Vote and WiretTap magazine. All photography by Rebecca “B FRESH” McDonald.)
7 a.m. At the University Avenue bus stop in St. Paul, Minnesota, Robina Rai continued her Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts from the night before. She is not a citizen, but has been active in both the 2004 and this year's election through the League of Young Voters, or as they say in the Twin Cities, the League of Pissed Off Voters. She took the bus from St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis, getting off at the University of Minnesota campus to make sure people are getting out to vote, and are informed about the candidates. The League put together voter guides for cities across the country, which can be found online at www.theballot.org.
8 a.m. Nellie Brau, on her way to class to take a test, chose to represent her excitement about this year's election with her American flag scarf.
Zubair Saiyed was campaigning on a busy corner of campus for Obama, letting people know he thinks Minnesota needs change. All over town, people on their way to class and work were greeted with the morning dew, and political flyers from the previous night's "Midnight Madness" flyering efforts.
9 a.m. On Nicollett Mall, Malissa Mallory, a special education teacher who was recently laid off, was on her way to get health insurance, vote and then go volunteer and make sure people are getting out to vote today.
9:30 a.m. Deangelo Jacox was on his way to school at Studio 4/High School for Recording Arts. He is not old enough to vote yet, but can't wait until the next election.
10:00 a.m. Franklin Delano-Nothing is an anarchist who believes people can organize and make change, even without a leader. He might vote today for the State Referenda on Clean Water, Wildlife, Cultural Heritage & natural Areas (AKA Vote Yes Minnesota), but he will not be voting for any individual person.
10:30 a.m. Robina makes her way back to University Avenue and gets off the bus at the Plasma Services building where a line has formed to donate plasma for money. She makes her way up the line, making sure people know where to vote and that they can register at the polls today, because Minn. has same-day registration. Today, she will also be poll-watching with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Minneapolis. The ACLU is part of a coalition of organizations that are making sure everything runs smoothly across the country today.
11:00 a.m. I finally make it to my voting location to cast my ballot. This is what I have been working toward for months and months. I can't wait until this day is over, so I don't have to see another nasty political advertisement on TV. I got my sticker, and checked out the ballot where kids can vote, too!
Long Lines Call for Reform
According to the Associated Press, there were 27 million absentee and early votes in 30 states. For weeks, these early voters have encountered long lines at their precincts, such as the one seen in this photo posted by my friend Jack who voted on the Sunday before elections:
"In North Carolina, more than 2.3 million people -- or about 38 percent of registered voters there -- had voted by Friday, according to CNN affiliate WRAL."
But long lines weren't just in southern and battle ground states. My conservative home state Oklahoma also reported long lines:
"It seems like every big election we have an outpouring of new voters, but this is the most," Carter County elections secretary Helen McReynolds said in a First 12 News Report
My facebook friend Calvin Reese snapped the photo below of the early voters in Oklahoma:
This enormous turnout before tomorrow's mass exodus to the polls bring to light an important question: are our polling places equipped to handle massive numbers of voters at the polls? Some people might see the long lines and think they're encouraging signs of democracy. But other folks, who can only vote during lunch breaks or are eagerly trying to handle family obligations, might be turned off by long lines.
Kieran McCarthy, who was filling out his ballot while sitting on a lawn nearby a ballot drop box in Denver, Colorado, told KUSA that he thought that "the early voting in Colorado really helps."
McCarthy added, "I think it's hard for a lot of people to take a day off work or get in line where you might be there half a day," McCarthy told KUSA."
Earlier this year the organization Why Tuesday began asking why elections are always held on Tuesdays. Why can't we hold elections on weekends or allow for week-long voting? So far, early voting has been the most common compromise. Currently, 32 states allow no-excuse, pre-election day in-person voting.
After this historical election, it's time to encourage a serious revision of our voting and elections law.
My Big Gay Blog
Today I came home to find a “Yes on Prop 8″ sticker slapped onto the Barbara Lee campaign sign in front of my building. Prop 8 is the proposition to ban gay marriage that passed in California last night. The sticker wasn’t there yesterday. Driving around the neighborhood tonight, I didn’t see anymore stickers, just the one in front of our building.
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What (Else) to Watch on Tuesday
November 4 promises to be a crucial and historic moment in American history for more reasons than just the headliner presidential election. Also at stake are more than 150 ballot initiatives and referenda in 36 states. Many astute observers are already aware of the most prominent among these initiatives such as California’s proposed amendment to ban gay marriage (currently polling almost neck-and-neck) and South Dakota’s amendment to ban abortion part II, but there are also a host of important ballot proposals that have not quite made the popular news media radar screen.
There is more at stake in the voting booth than just these state level initiatives too; in many towns and cities voters will have to choose between increasing taxes for various services or abiding by the pressure of a slowing economy and cutting local spending. In California alone, for example, there are more than 50 local education-related ballot initiatives having to do with teacher salaries, new text books, new school buildings or building repairs, and so on. Most of these local education spending bonds pass during ordinary election cycles, but during this economic downturn, it is anyone’s guess how much voters will be affected.
Chief among the crucial state initiatives concerning education are four categories: gambling for education proposals, proposals to end affirmative action, a set of controversial initiatives aimed at curtailing union power in Colorado, and a really controversial initiative in Oregon aimed at drastic reform of how teachers are paid throughout the state.
The first set of interesting ballot proposals are in play in Missouri, Colorado, Maryland, and Arkansas. Depending on how one looks at them, they are either pro-gambler’s rights proposals or proposals to supplement or modify existing school spending structures. Basically the states propose either to expand state lotteries, extend casino hours and gambling limits, allow slot machines, and raise casino taxes to fund education. In Missouri, for instance, there is a state cap limiting the amount of money that individuals can lose by gambling in a certain time period ($500 per 2 hours) that would be lifted, with all additional revenues turned over to schools—an amount estimated between $100 and $130 million per year.
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YM Blog: Tolerance Isn't Enough
On November 4, California voters will decide on proposition 8. If passed, Prop 8 would undo the California Supreme Court decision to grant same sex couples the right to equal marriage under law. The change would exist on the grounds that marriage between two people of the same sex impedes on the religious freedom of some. But since when did my rights to love someone of my choosing have anything to do with another person’s right to worship her God?
The proposed change would affectively strip people of rights guaranteed to all citizens and grant them second class status in the name of "tolerance."
To me, tolerance denotes the short space between bigotry and acceptance. Being tolerant of someone by no means amounts to treating them equally. Sadly, we tolerate young people like Sakia Gunn and Lawrence King being murdered because they were queer. We turn a blind eye of tolerance to children and adults taking their lives, rather than live openly and authentically queer.
And while I am starkly opposed to Prop 8, I’ve come to the conclusion that neither side has listened to the other. As a result, the more important issues like addressing institutional homophobia, racism and sexism get lost in the fray.
It's important to remember that this effort shouldn't just be about personal beliefs; it should be about mutual respect. And contrary to what you may have heard this isn't about the word "marriage," it's about rights. We may disagree on how those rights are distributed. But we agree that as people we are all entitled to them. We may also agree that the right to our beliefs important. Even if we refuse to allow another's beliefs restrict our rights.
YM Blog: Anti-Choice Advocates Won't Stop
When I cast my ballot on November 4, it will be the first time I plan on bringing a camera with me to document my visit to the polls. But while we’ll all be excited to make our picks for president at the top of the ticket, we can’t forget the bottom of the ballot, where down-ticket races and ballot initiatives will impact our lives closer to home. Californians in particular will be voting on several youth-focused propositions which, if passed, carry serious implications for young people of color.
Proposition 4 is one of those initiatives that we can’t afford to overlook. The law seeks to change the California state constitution by mandating that a minor notify her parents 48 hours before being able to obtain an abortion.
In an appearance on Meet the Press, Gov. Arnold Schwartznegger endorsed the proposition. “I would not want to have someone in the school take my daughter to a clinic to get an abortion without telling me or my wife,” he said. “I think one or the other should know. If my daughter decides she doesn't want to let me know but she feels more comfortable with my wife, that's perfectly fine with me…But someone, one of us both, should know, and I believe in that 100 percent.” The bill sounds harmless when Arnie puts it that way.
But it’s not.
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YM Blog: More Than Obama and McCain
(This post originally appeared on FOBBDeep)
While most people are caught up in the election hype surrounding the race to the Presidency, it’s important to remember that there’s a hell of a lot of other things on the ballot to research. There are the congressional elections that are taking place for each person’s respective district, 12 state propositions, and whatever other propositions and local offices exist in one’s district.
To reitirate, there are 12 propositions on the California state ballot. For the Presidential undecided voters, who confuse me more than Republicans, this means you need to figure out that part of the ballot yesterday and start researching the other important things that in many aspects affect you even more.
Ideally, I would l would like to drop some knowledge on each of these propositions, but I’m busy as hell with classes and have to select the ones that I feel an urgency to speak. In this case, it’s regarding Proposition 6 aka the Runner’s Initiative: Police and Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Penalties and Laws. Initiative Statute.
In a state where the institution criminalizes the youth and tracks them to become products of the prison industrial complex, such an initiative further perpetuates the cycle of injustice. Prop 6 essentially mandates nearly $1 billion each year towards a failing criminal justice system. This would in turn cut funds in education, healthcare, and other vital social programs that work at the roots. Instead of pumping more money to place even more folks behind prisons, what is needed is community-based solutions to curb the crime and violence.
What is ironic about the initiative is that the biggest contributor towards Prop 6’s passage, Henry T. Nicholas, has his own justice problem as he has been accused of securites fraud and multiple drug crimes.
Don’t let the name “Safe Neighborhood’s Act” fool ya’. It’s just going to make the problems that exist even worse. The anti-gang talk just further promotes the war on the youth, allowing more 14 year old to be tried as adults.
Learn more:
YM Blog: Lower the Voting Age
A few months ago, I stopped talking to my sister-in-law because she didn't plan on voting. It might seem harsh, but as a 17-year-old who's actively involved in campaigning but still too young to cast a ballot, I was furious that someone in my own family could be politically apathetic. Even though every important Caliornia ballot measure will have a direct impact on people my age, we're powerless to determine our own destinies.
For me, the ultimate hypocrisy in how our society views youth can be seen by drawing parallels between the death penalty and arguments against lowering the voting age. In California, people as young as sixteen are seen as mature enough to be sentenced to death. Yet the staple argument against lowering the voting age is that young people aren't mature enough make decisions about who leads our democracy. On November 4, voters will decide on proposition 6 , also known as the Runner Initiative. If passed, Prop. 6 will allow 14-year-olds to be sentenced to death.
Young people are routinely painted as criminals by the media, but the reality is that more teens are working than going to jail. Teens pay an estimated $9.7 billion dollars in sales taxes alone, at least 80 percent of high school students work at some point before graduation. Even in this year's election, teens have played a monumental role, despite being unable to cast a ballot. Taxation without representation, anymore?
There are people who are trying to change voting age laws. In March of 2004, former state Senator John Vasconcellos (D-CA) attempted to pass a bill (PDF) that would allow 14- and 15-year-olds with a 1/4 vote and 16- and 17-year-olds with a 1/2 vote. Ultimately, it was abandoned by the Senator because he couldn’t get enough votes to move it on to the Senate floor.
Recently, the National Youth Rights Association is renewing calls to lower the voting age. As WireTap previously covered, the group released new public service announcements to lower the voting age:
Back in the sixties, when the voting age was 21 and teens were routinely shipped off to serve in the Vietnam War at 18, they protested. Ultimately, they won, and in 1971 the voting age was legally lowered to 18. Are our voices strong enough to win that same type of change today?
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More on lowering the voting age from WireTap: The Sweet 16 Vote (Sarah Burris)
Top 10 Reasons to Lower the Voting Age (Sarah Burris)
More Than the Presidency
The sad fact of every election is drop off. No, it's not that disease that happens when your arm falls off. Drop off is when people only vote in the presidential race, ignoring everything else on the ballot. Many people each election either don't know who the other candidates and propositions are, or don't feel they are educated enough to make a decision.
This has to stop. What good is it to only focus on the presidency and ignore the local issues and politicians who have a day-to-day impact on your life?
So some folks at the ACLU Foundation in California have started a non-partisan campaign to connect with young voters and ask them to pledge that they will "go all the way" (no pun intended) on November 4.
This week the ACLU Foundation launched a Facebook Application that I am a big fan of, as well as a website and SMS campaign where people can text their pledges to friends.
The best part is the chance to win a free Nintendo Wii if you recruit tons of people to the application.
Onward Oregon, in conjunction with the Bus Project, is also encouraging folks to Fill Out Your Whole Ballot by asking for a pledge:
"As excited as we all are by the Presidential and Senate races, here in Oregon we have some very important local races, the outcomes of which are likely to have a profound impact on the direction our state takes. Each of your votes is important, and participation becomes critical the further “down” the ballot you look."
At their website Whole Ballot, anyone from any state can sign up to pledge to vote the whole ballot online.
The same is true for the League of Conservation Voters in Oregon who published this recent video assuming success for Obama and reminding voters that the new president will need "a team behind him":
Also, in a poem to young voters, vlogger Jay Smooth recently admonished folks against getting overwhelmed by the pre-election excitement, only to drop the ball on election day:
I assume that ya'll know what you're doing because you read Wiretap. Therefore, you should pledge today! Friends don't let friends drop off.
YM Blog: Political Geeks Rule
Being a PolitiCorps Fellow with the Bus Project means that I have completed a ten week long political boot camp summer nerd-off. I've learned how to knock on doors, talk to voters, create effective messaging and get volunteers interested in being part of the action.
It also means that most of my friends are political geeks who have spirited debates about state house candidates, love to look at polls and share canvassing stories from the weirdest doors we've knocked on all across the country. It appears that the political geek class is growing during this election season (or at least becoming more vocal). Often inspired by Barack Obama and the thousands of other young people who are absolutely integral in ushering in change to this country. This is exciting for a number of reasons and inspired by Obama himself I would like to clearly list three of those reasons here:
- Political nerdery no longer has to mean a bunch of men sitting around talking about polls and targeting and how to get "those people" to vote. It still often occurs around a pitcher of beer, but it also means brainstorming silly, innovative ways to get others involved and make the whole political process more interesting.
- Young people are going to control this whole process soon. I've been hearing this for years, but it wasn't until I entered the work force post-college that I really understood how true it is. Soon we will hold the jobs (if we don't already) that map out candidates advertising, web outreach and field strategies. This means that we get to make elections look the way we want, moving them beyond being an obstacle you have to overcome to make it into office.
- Politics isn't just about getting good people elected- although that helps. Politics dictates how we live our lives: who we can marry, how polluted our environment is and how prepared we are for the future. Getting people excited about good candidates, about becoming a candidate one day and about creating policy that makes our neighborhoods, cities and states better is necessary to making politics work. More people involved = better ideas becoming reality.
This is all why I get so excited about what can happen in a potential Obama administration. Hopefully the movement will continue and evolve past getting Obama elected to keep neighbors talking to each other about the future and what we want it to look like.
One great step in the direction of politics as fun and integral is Trick or Vote. The Bus Project's brainchild that has spread to forty cities this year, Trick or Voters like to say: "You may be too old to trick or treat, but you're never too old to trick or vote!" On the one night of the year that people are expecting to open their doors to strangers, Halloween, volunteers knock on doors and remind folks who might not, to vote. This is proven to be the most effective way to get people to vote- asking them face to face. It also is a great way to connect an American tradition with something that makes America stronger and more inspirational. Let's get out there in these next two weeks and beyond!
YM Blog: Senate Candidate Launches Campus Tour
Jim Slattery, candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kansas, unveiled a new $5,000 college tuition tax cut last week.
I was honored to receive unvetted access to follow Slattery along on his tour talking with him as well as other students interested in his plan as well as other important issues this election. Slattery spent time answering questions in townhall style meetings as well as a special candidate forum hosted by the popular site 18 in 08.
The plan is similar to Sen. Barack Obama's proposal for a $4,000 tax credit for students and slightly similar to Sen. John McCain's plan to "simplify the existing benefits."
Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken proposed the same credit as Slattery, but few other candidates are speaking to students or looking at issues that impact young people this election.
I've been pleasantly surprised by those few candidates who reach out to young people. As someone who graduated college with tons of debt, and wanted to work in civil service or civic engagement, I found it nearly impossible because I couldn't afford to do that and pay off my loans. Plans like these help need-based families and they also help foster dedication to service. I'm grateful to candidates who think about this within the context of students' needs.
Check out video of Senator Slattery: