• “The Shame of Postville, Iowa,” an editorial in Sunday’s New York Times, calls attention to an essay written by Erik Camayd-Freixas. Mr. Camayd-Freixas is a professor and court interpreter who witnessed the aftermath of last month’s ICE raid on the Postville community. He was disgusted when he saw the injustice in the legal system that the workers were subjected to; instead of being deported immediately, over 260 workers were charged with serious identity fraud crimes and sentenced to 6 months in prison:
What is worse, Dr. Camayd-Freixas wrote, is that the system was clearly rigged for the wholesale imposition of mass guilt. He said the court-appointed lawyers had little time in the raids’ hectic aftermath to meet with the workers, many of whom ended up waiving their rights and seemed not to understand the complicated charges against them.
The editorial also added:
No one is denying that the workers were on the wrong side of the law. But there is a profound difference between stealing people’s identities to rob them of money and property, and using false papers to merely get a job. It is a distinction that the Bush administration, goaded by immigration extremists, has willfully ignored. Deporting unauthorized workers is one thing; sending desperate breadwinners to prison, and their families deeper into poverty, is another.
• Following the allegations of Guantanamo Bay-like treatment at ICE facilities, the Seattle Times has an article detailing numerous stories of abuse at an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington. The stories are part of a 65-page Seattle University Law School report titled "Voices From Detention". Detainees claim that they are routinely subjected to physical and verbal abuse, strip searches and manipulation:
The report's authors said conditions are consistent with those at detention centers across the country. They are calling on Congress to pass laws that protect the rights of detainees…
Detainees in the study say they were pressured to sign documents or asked to sign paperwork they didn't understand, a practice their attorneys say often leads to their unwitting deportation…
The report said one woman, after an attorney's visit, was strip-searched and told to open her legs while a female guard peeped into her private parts.
To learn more about detainee treatment at ICE facilities, see this posting on The State of Opportunity.
• Even after weeks of people discussing the horrific effects of the Postville and Houston raids, ICE has done it again – according to The Providence Journal, ICE agents arrested dozens of maintenance workers in a raid of Rhode Island court houses on Tuesday:
The raid led to
a noisy demonstration by at least 100 people outside the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement office at 200 Dyer St. last night. Police
officers arrived as the crowd grew; at one point the police pushed a
line of demonstrators across the parking lot.
For a full summary of the stories on the Rhode Island ICE raid, go to the Citizen Orange Pro-Migrant Sanctuary Sphere posting.
• The New York Times is also reporting that many immigrants in New York City, most of them Latino, face being disenfranchised in the November election because the federal government is taking so long to fully process their citizenship applications:
At stake are the applications of at least 55,000 people in the New York City area who have been waiting at least six months — and as long as four years — for their documents to be processed, the lawyers said.
As mentioned previously, this Saturday saw the Heartland Presidential Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, an opportunity to talk with candidates about 'real issues facing real people in our communities' with attention to our values and policies of interconnection. You can watch a webcast of the forum on the Center for Community Change's Movement Vision Lab blog. Additionally, The Huffington Post linked to a Des Moines Register article on the event, and Adam Bink over at Open Left liveblogged summaries of statements made by each of the participating candidates: Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd, and Kucinich.
The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog has reposted a Texas Observer article about the challenges faced in the expansion of drug courts in Texas. While courts geared towards rehabilitation and redemption (rather than simply inflicting prison time) are much more effective than traditional courts in helping people overcome addiction, court practices vary widely according to the judge on the stand.
"Bennett and Leon Grizzard are the two judges who oversee Travis County's drug diversion court. They steer addicts into a court-supervised treatment program instead of prison. In the past decade, drug courts like the one in Travis County have successfully handled nonviolent defendants with drug and alcohol addictions—if success is defined as increasing public safety at the least cost to the taxpayer. People who complete drug-court programs rarely tumble back into substance abuse. According to four drug-court judges surveyed, about 10 percent of program graduates commit new crimes—a recidivism rate roughly one-fifth that of traditional probation routines. That means drug courts can ease the strain on overcrowded prisons and save taxpayer money. A study of the Dallas drug court by Southern Methodist University showed that every government dollar spent on diversion courts saved taxpayers more than $9.
Though criminal justice reform groups have advocated drug courts for years, Texas until recently lagged behind the rest of the country.
...
But as drug courts become more widespread, it appears that—like the narcotics they were created to fight—the courts can be abused. State and federal governments have instituted few regulations and set up no oversight. Judges have wide latitude to decide people's fates. In the hands of the right judges, the drug court model performs marvelously. Other judges appear to have trouble reconciling their punitive role with this new therapeutic one. The U.S. Department of Justice designed a set of guidelines and best practices—but they're the criminal justice equivalent of blueprints without building codes. The guidelines suggest that judges receive ongoing training and partner with treatment programs and community groups.
Because drug courts grow mostly from the local level, there is little standardization. Texas law broadly defines a drug court, but places hardly any restrictions on what judges can do. There is no oversight specifically for the drug courts. A recent case in Houston demonstrates the potential risks behind the courts' expansion. Judge K. Michael Mayes of Montgomery County is facing a federal lawsuit by a defendant who claims his treatment in Mayes' drug court was arbitrary and violated his rights to due process."
Firedoglake has written a post on a bill under consideration in the Senate known as the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act. This Democratically-authored legislation, which has already passed the House by a large margin, has many progressives questioning its vague definition of 'ideologically-based violence,' arguing that this law would be a step towards a fascist state in which citizens can by prosecuted for 'thought crimes.' We must remember that democracy in America is dependent upon our ability to raise our voices, on our rights to free speech and fair elections. Any law that seeks to contradict our capacity to participate fully in our communities is a violation of our human rights.
In a related story, the Latina Lista blog has been the subject of a recent spam attack, bad enough that the site's commenting feature has temporarily been disabled. Offering "Anything and Everything from a Latina Perspective," the blog often discusses issues of immigration, American history and culture.
The ImmigrationProf Blog has revisited a 2006 essay by George Lakoff and Sam Ferguson about the language we use when discussing immigration. Here's the abstract on the Rockridge Institute's website:
"Framing is at the center of the recent immigration debate. Simply
framing it as about “immigration” has shaped its politics, defining
what count as “problems” and constraining the debate to a narrow set of
issues. The language is telling. The linguistic framing is remarkable:
frames for illegal immigrant, illegal alien, illegals, undocumented
workers, undocumented immigrants, guest workers, temporary workers,
amnesty, and border security. These linguistic expressions are anything
but neutral. Each framing defines the problem in its own way, and hence
constrains the solutions needed to address that problem. The purpose of
this paper is twofold. First, we will analyze the framing used in the
public debate. Second, we suggest some alternative framing to highlight
important concerns left out of the current debate. Our point is to show
that the relevant issues go far beyond what is being discussed, and
that acceptance of the current framing impoverishes the discussion."
In other immigration news, Burger King is under fire for its refusal to join McDonald's and Taco Bell in an agreement to pay historically-underpaid migrant workers in Florida an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked. Also, a federal court in Canada ruled in favor of a lawsuit challenging the Safe Third Country Agreement, which had designated the US as a
"safe third country" for asylum-seekers, meaning "if they make it to the
U.S. before entering Canada can be returned there." The court found that "the United States fails to comply with Convention on Torture or Article 33
of the Refugee Convention and [therefore] the U.S./Canada safe third country
agreement was flawed as there was no ongoing meaningful review mechanism."
The DMI Blog points to this week's New York Times coverage of the successes of a re-entry program in Brooklyn which offers counseling, drug testing, and work and training programs to former inmates. Re-entry programs not only support the value of redemption, or the right to a second chance, but they are also effective in helping people reintegrate into the community and remain there. According to a recent study of the comAlert program,
"ComAlert graduates are less likely be
re-arrested after leaving prison and much more likely to be employed
than either program dropouts or members of the control group.
Participants who complete the Doe Fund work-training component do even
better. They have an employment rate of about 90 percent, somewhat
higher than the ComAlert graduates generally and several times higher
than the control group."
Finally, Jack and Jill Politics offers further analysis of inequities in Wednesday's CNN/YouTube Republican debate, as compared with its Democratic counterpart:
Of 34 total questions aired, 24 were from white men (including 2 cartoon versions) in the GOP debate.
That's 71%. For the Dem debate, counting was a little more challenging
since one video aired combined video submissions from several people.
Still I'd estimate 22 of 38 questions aired were from white men (I did
not count the snowman as white because snow does not have an ethnicity)
or 58%.
Further, there were 8 questions shown that featured African-Americans during the Democratic debate and a measly 2 in the GOP debate. Hmm.
Also, strikingly -- astonishingly, no questions whatsoever during the GOP debate on:
Healthcare in America Katrina Climate Change or Environment Darfur Iraq Troop Withdrawal Afghanistan and Pakistan -- Resurgence of the Taliban Racial Profiling Voting Machines and Voting Rights The Failure to Capture Osama bin Laden
The Huffington Post offers an introduction to last night's CNN/YouTube debate for Republican presidential candidates, noting that "people from across the country submitted more than 3,500 videos posing
questions" to the candidates, of which 40 were selected to be broadcast during the debates. The Opportunity Agenda was among those submitting questions, with four videos created for the purposes of promoting community values in our nation's political debate. Mike Connery has written two posts about the debate over at Future Majority, the first offering a comprehensive summary of the event and the second publicizing the fact that CNN did not coordinate with YouTube at all in order to select the forty questions that were aired. By single-handedly shaping the content of the debate, CNN was able to bypass the debate's original intention, that of providing a voice to a diverse group of Americans.
In other event news, the Heartland Presidential Form will be held this Saturday December 1 in Des Moines, Iowa, only weeks before the Iowa caucus. Five of the Democratic presidential candidates will be in attendance at the forum, the focus of which will not be on specific issues but on progressive vision and values. According to the website:
The Iowa Heartland Presidential Forum is part of a new nationwide Campaign for Community Values
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, the Center for Community
Change is - and hundreds of grassroots partner groups - are
coordinating this groundbreaking effort to challenge the "go it alone"
mentality that has dominated politics and build a new politics for the
common good.
'Tis the season for presidential politics, and with it, the debate over what values propel voters to the ballot box.
A
recent debate in Florida claimed to represent and display the interests
of so-called "values voters." The dissection of the nation's "moral
values" took up a good bit of ink following the 2004 elections. And
we're all familiar with the "family values" that guided policy
throughout the '80s and '90s. But in all this talk of values, why are
so many core American values consistently missing?
Instead of concentrating on people's individual moral decisions, or
their family life, we should focus on our collective values, the ways
we can move forward together and the policies that work toward the
common good. We need to reintroduce to the debate the ideals of
equality, opportunity and fairness. And we need to acknowledge that our
individual stories and circumstances add up to a national community
best positioned to solve our problems together. In short, we should be
talking about our community values.
Mirror on America reports that the US military has been asking soldiers wounded in combat to return the signing bonuses they received upon joining the armed forces. As the military is exhausting those Americans who are willing to sign up for duty, it has begun offering up to $30,000 in signing bonuses which it has then asked to be refunded when soldiers who have lost limbs, hearing or eyesight are no longer able to serve out their commitments. In the case where America's foreign policies are proving responsible for the destruction of its own citizens, our country should honor and respect these sacrifices with additional support from the community, not less.
Ezekiel Edwards at the DMI Blog has written about a client and personal friend who was able to triumph over a drug and alcohol addiction that had brought her into contact with the criminal justice system. Edwards uses her example to illustrate the difficulties people face when they are trying to make a new start:
It took her a number of months to find any sort of work. The road to
employment is difficult enough as a poor African-American woman with
little formal education, currently taking GED classes, but with a
criminal record, it becomes outright impassable. She finally found a
part-time job working four hours a day, five days a week, at $9 an
hour. She arrived 20 minutes early every day. After six weeks, she was
fired without explanation. Now she is looking for work again.
She cannot afford her rent, and is looking for public housing, but,
again, her criminal record (all for nonviolent offenses) limits her
options. She is trying to do the right thing, trying to become
gainfully employed, trying to further her education, trying to find
affordable housing, trying to spend time with her daughter, and, most
of all, trying not to drown herself in the bottle by remaining in her
program, but society is not making it easy, or even somewhere in
between easy and frighteningly difficult, to move forward. Even after
all she has gone through, there is no relief in sight.
The Pro Inmigrant blog has posted about a new coalition between the American Jewish Committee and a group of Mexican-American advocates to fight discrimination and demand comprehensive immigration reform in the US. Working with the idea that Jewish Americans who have successfully assimilated can and should help today's immigrant populations, the AJC just co-sponsored a three-day workshop with Mexico's Institute for Mexicans Abroad. According to Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhán, whose grandfather came to Mexico from Armenia,
"Now, more than ever, we must underscore a self-evident truth:
Migrants are not a threat to the security of the US...They are important actors in
the fabric of what makes America great."
Along this same theme, the ImmigrationProf Blog has linked to a new report by UC Davis economist Giovanni Peri which found that "high immigration
cities experienced higher wage and housing price growth. Immigration
had a positive productivity effect on natives overall, but important
distributional effects. Highly educated natives enjoyed the largest benefits while the less educated did not gain (but did not lose much either)."
The 'Just News' blog quotes an AP article discussing the fact that a serious backlog in the processing of citizenship applications may prevent thousands of residents from voting in the 2008 presidential elections. Hopefully this media attention will encourage immigration authorities to expedite the process so that all Americans will have a voice in electing our national leaders.
The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog has posted about last week's House vote on the Second Chance Act, legislation that aims to address the needs of individuals reintegrating into the community after time spent in prison. The bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in a vote of 347-62, and it is expected that the Senate will consider the same legislation before the end of the year. Based in the spirit of redemption, the idea that we all deserve the support we need to make a new start,
"H.R. 1593 would provide grants to States and local areas to create or
strengthen the systems that help adults and youth transition into the
community when they are released from incarceration by providing drug
addiction and mental health treatment services, job training and
education opportunities, housing and other necessary services."
The same blog also covered a recent report by the Brennan Center on felony disenfranchisment in New York state which found that "87% of those currently disenfranchised in New York are Latino and African American." The state's sentencing structure is currently under review for its early Nineteenth Century laws that still effectively deny the right to vote to people of color.
Also, a successful doctor and his entrepreneur wife are facing sudden deportation proceedings in Pennsylvania after a small error was found in the documents they used to apply for American citizenship. Although Pedro and Salvacion Servano have been in the US legally for twenty-five years, and have come to embody the American Dream in their family life and contributions to their community, they are currently fighting to appeal the mandate that they report to ICE the day after Thanksgiving in order to initiate deportation proceedings to the Philippines.
Finally, the Immigrants in USA Blog featured two articles on the value of a multilingual society. Statesman.com wrote about the tensions involved when a California school district announced its intentions to provide bilingual education to all students, and mercurynews.com published an opinion piece on the value of learning English but not losing the language of one's cultural heritage. Given that "many folks pay thousands of dollars to acquire a second language," linguistic diversity is an undeniable advantage to our community and our economy in an increasingly interconnected world.
Both Prometheus 6 and the ACS Blog have highlighted a recent Washington Post article that speaks of the president's intention to use executive orders as much as possible to single-handedly make government policy because he feels that the Democrat-controlled Congress is not getting anything done. Bush is disappointed by the delay in confirming Mukasey as head of the Department of Justice, a nomination stalled by differing ideas as to what qualifies as the human right to freedom from torture.
In Oklahoma, a federal judge has declined the request of a coalition of immigrants rights advocates to block the enforcement of a new state immigration law. According to Immigration News Daily, the law "will bar illegal immigrants from obtaining jobs or state assistance and make it a felony to harbor or transport illegal aliens." Once convicted of a felony, Americans lose their right to vote, making this issue just as much about preserving the voice of democracy as about immigration per se.
Latina Lista has written about a new study by the Urban Institute and National Council of La Raza entitled Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children. The study worked with three communities that have been affected by raids in the past year (New Bedford, Massachusetts, Greeley, Colorado, and Grand Island, Nebraska) and found that:
"Children experienced the emotional trauma of their parents' sudden
absence, often personalizing the cause of the separation and feeling
abandoned or fearful that their parents could be abruptly taken away
from them.
Mental health experts noted that children's and parents' fears and
the events surrounding the raids led to depression, post-traumatic
stress disorder, separation anxiety, and suicidal thoughts in children."
In Grand Island, Nebraska, 17% of children affected experienced the loss of both parents in the raids. Author Treviño says of ICE's lack of a standard to protect children from abandonment, "It's a fine line between being sensitive to children's well-being and
enforcing the law. But that is what marks the difference between great
nations and...countries that let fear and intimidation rule
instead of compassion and common sense."
The HealthLawProf Blog has cited a new report by the Economic Policy Institute which concluded that "the number of Americans lacking health insurance rose by nearly 8.6 million to 47 million from 2000 to 2006." The study goes on to analyze the demographics and causes of the changes, finding widespread losses in coverage due to employers no longer offering insurance to their workers. It's time we start taking these numbers seriously and work to fix our broken health care system with consideration for how best to benefit the community as a whole.
In today's hopeful news, Rachel's Tavern notes that Genarlow Wilson has told reporters after his release from prison that he wants to go to college to study sociology. Wilson had been given a 10-year sentence for committing a consensual sex act with a fellow teenager; his recent release was due to a redemptive Georgia Supreme Court ruling that decided his sentence was cruel and unusual punishment. A free man, Wilson has received several offers to fund his college education, and he holds the conviction that "This situation, what I had to endure, has a lot to do with sociology.”
Yesterday's Columbus Day holiday did not go smoothly, as 80 Native American activists were arrested at a sit-in protest of Denver's holiday parade. While claiming "that honoring Columbus in essence celebrates the foundation of genocide, racism, and slavery in the Americas," non-violent protesters were rounded up quite violently by police. The intense controversy over this federal holiday is another flag of just how important is it to frame American history and policy with respect to human rights, or to focus on Bringing Human Rights Home.
"What if America launched a new New Deal and no one noticed? And what
if, instead of lifting the unemployed out of poverty, this
multibillion-dollar project steadily drove poor communities further and
further out of the American mainstream?
That's how America should think about its growing prison system,
some leading social scientists are saying, in research that suggests
prisons have a far deeper impact on the nation than simply punishing
criminals."
These posts are definitely worth a read with attention to the way that our prison system values retribution over redemption, the idea that those who falter in their efforts or break societal rules warrant the chance for reconciliation, rehabilitation, and a new start.
Tennessee Guerilla Women posted a story about 2600 members of the Minnesota National Guard who just returned from 22 months of duty in Iraq to find that they were deployed one day short of the 730 days required to receive the college education benefits outlined in the GI Bill. To knowingly deny veterans the chance to go to college is a disrespectful statement that in spite of government promises and their personal sacrifices, the soldiers must 'go it alone' and support themselves through school. This myth that we should all 'pull ourselves up by the bootstraps' is contrary to our nation's long-held belief that our success as a country depends on the success of all, that we should be striving for the common good. The policies of our government should be based in community values rather than punitive individualism.
An interesting post on the Immigrants in USA Blog discusses the way lack of transportation negatively affects immigrant populations. Based on an article published in Alabama's News Courier about a lecture by sociology professor Stephanie Bohon, the piece discusses how transportation barriers "prevent [immigrants] from learning the language, learning about job or housing opportunities and having access to services." If undocumented individuals are unable to obtain drivers licenses and there is no public transport available in their area, they are left dependent on expensive taxi fares and may choose to forgo outings such as taking their child for necessary vaccinations.
After recent crackdowns on the mobility of immigrant workers, a shortage of farm workers has left farmers threatening to leave fruit and vegetable rotting in their fields. As a result, the Bush administration is quietly working to rewrite federal regulations on foreign labor. This is a perfect example of how reactionary, anti-immigrant policies have not only failed to fix the problem but are making things worse for the American economy. Immigration replenishes our country's workers, communities, and traditions. Immigrants are central to our productivity and success, and help ensure that the US continues to be a land of wealth and opportunity.
Finally, Future Majority alerts us to a new campaign to get young Latinos to vote called Vota Por Tu Futuro (Vote 4 UR Future). A media campaign based on PSAs and in-show
ads, Vote 4 UR Future is a partnership between the youth-focused TV channel Telemundo, mun2 and a coalition of political organizations such as Rock the Vote, the US
Hispanic Leadership Institute, and Democracia USA. Thie campaign is a great step towards ensuring that the growing Latino population has a voice in electing our public officials.
In the ongoing dilemma surrounding 'sanctuary cities', the Department of Homeland Security is now suing the state of Illinois over a new state law that bans employers from using the Social Security administration's no-match database until the agency can certify that it is 99% accurate. The Bush administration contends that the state law preempts the new federal law meant to increase pressure on undocumented workers.
Regarding the progress of SCHIP reauthorization, the bill has passed in the House, but without the margin necessary to override a veto by President Bush. It will next move on to the Senate for consideration. Blogger Lane Hudson on the Huffington Post has referred to SCHIP legislation as a "defining issue that neither side can afford to lose." If the program is not reauthorized, 6 million children already enrolled will lose health insurance coverage.
Facing South reports that the Supreme Court has announced that they will consider a case on the constitutionality of lethal injection in Tennessee. The ruling could problematize the 'three-drug cocktail' that thirty-seven US states use to administer the death penalty, on grounds that improper administration of anaesthesia could result in an excruciatingly painful death. We hope that the Supreme Court considers the American value of redemption in their analysis of the process of lethal injection. If nothing else, it is helpful to reiterate judicial support for the constitutional ban against 'cruel and unusual punishment.'
An appeals court also ruled yesterday to overturn a lower ruling which prevented holding military trials for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. According to the New York Times, "the ruling allows military prosecutors to address a legal flaw that had ground the prosecutions to a halt." There are some 340 detainees waiting an indefinite period to exercise their right to a fair trial.
Finally, big news today is the Senate committee hearing on the confirmation of Hans Von Spakovsky, who has been nominated as chair of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). A coalition of civil rights groups such as Think Progress are vehemently opposed to the nominee, is said to have “used every opportunity he had over four years in the Justice Department to make it difficult for voters — poor, minority and Democratic — to go to the polls.” We trust that the committee will remember how important it is that all American voters have a voice in electing our governing officials.
Racialicious reports on a new game, “Without Prejudice”, in which five
judges must decide which contestant deserves a $25,000 prize. Hosted by psychotherapist Robi Ludwig and
working with partners like GLAAD and National Council of La Raza, “Without
Prejudice” asks the five contestants to be honest about their lives and the
judges must narrow down these contestants based on any reason. The show hope to teach viewers about prejudice, and the affiliated website features a number of educational resources on the subject. There are also discussion guides for starting
conversations about prejudice. After the
pilot episode premiered last night, The New York Times reports that the show is
anything but “without prejudice": each participant seems to have his own biases
that are hard to miss. Check it out for
yourself on Tuesdays on the GSN.
The New York Times profiles younger members of the New York immigrant community, as well as its support of the DREAM Act. Many of these
children of undocumented workers are legal citizens, born in the US. Not all are registered to vote, but they could be a powerful voice on behalf of their parents in the U.S. and local politics. Some groups are trying to gather support there for
the DREAM Act, a provision of which has been added as
an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill (thanks, ImmigrationProf Blog!). In this
amendment, undocumented residents of military age who arrived in the US before age 16 and could immediately enter a
path to citizenship if they serve at least two years in the armed forces. The Boston Globe has an update of the bill's progress.
In a review of over 100 studies, TheBoston Globe reports that black women are less healthy because of the pressures of racial discrimination (thanks, RaceWire!). In one study, black women who indicated that
racism was a source of stress in their lives developed more plaque in their
carotid arteries – an early sign of heart disease – than black women who
didn’t. These studies could reshape
racism as a public health problem. These
findings come at a time of severe racial disparities in American health care. African Americans face a higher risk than any
other racial group of dying from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and
hypertension. These health disparities
are exacerbated by lack of access to quality health care and health
insurance. Higher poverty rates and
lower wages also hinder progress in equality. Check out our fact sheet about African Americans and Opportunity.
DMI Blog reports on Rinku Sen’s reflection on the possible
unity between immigrants and US.-born Blacks, Latinos, Asians and American
Indians. She looks at the origin of the
term “people of color”, and how it has affected identity in political
action. In her experiences
as an advocate working in partnership with multiracial organizations, she felt it necessary to “expand [her] identity
in a way that tied [her] to Black people as part of their rebellion.” Sen confronts the impact the term has on our immigration debate, and asks whether immigrants fall under the definition of
“people of color.” At the end of the day,
she acknowledges that she cannot decide this question, but expresses that a
positive immigrant policy will include dialogue on race and color as well as
nationality and class.
Our view:
The best way to achieve fair legislature and rights for
immigrants is to understand the common struggles we all face in achieving
equality. “People of color” everywhere
want the same basic rights – better education, living conditions, wages, and
health care – and the only way to achieve anything is to recognize this common
struggle. We’re all in this together,
and achieving opportunity for one group will be best fought with many partners.
Earlier this year, we teamed up with students in the Masters in Media Studies program at the New School University here in New York. As part of a media production class, we became the "client" and the students became graphic designers, tasked with creating images representing the core values of community, equality, and human rights apply to one of three initiatives: Immigration reform, health care equity, and the 2008 election.
Here's a sample of some of the great work they produced. These images are creative commons licensed (Attribution), and the name of the designer can be found in the description. We encourage everyone to Remix and Reuse them in your own work. You can find the full set of images here.
Before the election, we told you about a voter protection program called Video the Vote. VtV had the idea to document problems at polling places using rapid response teams with video cameras. Videos were stored and tagged on YouTube to document and publicize all voting irregularities.
Readers may notice a recent addition to our site. In the sidebar is a new, open-source widget - Voter Story - designed to combat irregularities at the polls during tomorrow's elections.
It's pretty simple. If you encounter any irregularities at your polling place, or have trouble voting, simply fill out the form and submit your personal voter story. Your submission will be forwarded to a non partisan voter protection agency. You will receive an email confirmation stating that your story has been submitted and that you may receive a follow up call regarding your submission.
The tool can be placed on any website (technical details below), and will compile all submissions into a centralized database to document voting problems and to make sure that good government and election protection organizations are fully aware of all irregularities that occur in their area.
If you're concerned about the integrity of the voting process, please spread the word about this tool and consider adding it to your website (if you've got one).
How to install Voter Story on your website:
The sign-up and installation process can be pretty simple. Go to Voter Story, sign up for an account, and click "Download Free Widget." This will present you with some code to cut and paste into your site. Pick the platform that you are using and copy the code, open your site, paste, republish, done.
You probably noticed that the Voter Story widget looks a little janky on our site. It seems like Voter Story was built for Drupal and not so much for other website platforms. I had a few problems installing it on my site, so if you are using Typepad, here's what I did to get it to work:
Went in to Typepad and created an "Advanced Design" of my template. (Designs>Manage Designs)
Went to VoterStory.org and copied BOTH code snippets for Typepad in sequence (top to bottom).
Opened up the "sidebar.inc" file in my typepad advanced templates.
Pasted both sections of code beneath the <!-- sidebar --> tag.
Saved Template
Published Template
Don't bother trying to alter the width or height of the widget to make it fit/look better. My attempts to do so resulted in a worse design issue than what you currently see in our sidebar.
This is a fantastic effort on the part of Evolve Strategies, The Carnegie Corporation the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Institute. A word of advice for next year, though. It would be much better if the tool was slightly more customizable, if users were allowed to track how many times their readers submitted stories, and if the group kept a running list of websites who were utilizing the widget.
With only four more days until Americans make their yearly trek to the polls, its hard not to think about what it means to be a citizen, and what political participation really looks like in America - both historically and practically. Here are some items I've been enjoying as I try to grapple with that problem.
A new poll by the Harvard Institute of Politics (pdf) suggests that, on Tuesday, young voters will shatter previous turnout records for midterm elections. The poll - which has an incredible sample size of over 2,500 18-24 year olds (half on and half off the "college track") - concludes that turnout could be as high as 32%. The previous record was 27% set in 1982.
The gang at Radio Open Source just finished a show about "Experiments in Democracy" with Lani Guinier. The show explored the question of what participation looks like in America and in other democracies, and how we can truly make our electoral system more representative of the voices of the people it is meant to serve. Listen to the show. (24mb mp3)
A rash of stories about Diebold machines are leaking into the media. Problems are yet again arising with these machines, and the blogosphere is awash in conspiracy theories. HBO is currently airing a documentary on the machines - Hacking Democracy - which premiered last night.
A citizen journalism outfit - the Polling Place Photo Project - is asking folks to take a picture of their polling place and submit it to the project. PPPP hopes to create a record of the voting experience in America in 2006.
In a more activist vein, I'll point people yet again to Video the Vote - a project that seeks to document and minimize irregularities in Tuesday's voting process. If you've got some time on Tuesday and want to help safe-guard our democracy, this non-partisan group is looking for volunteers for a variety of tasks from filming sites, manning the phones or shuttling film crews in your car.
Finally, conservatives like to fear-monger about immigrants voting illegally. Its the purported rationale behind many of the stringent voter ID laws they are trying to pass in the states. So allow me to relish in a moment's worth of Schadenfreude as I introduce you to the new face of voter fraud.
Are you looking to do more than cast your ballot on election day?
Do you own a digital video camera?
If you answered yes to those three questions, then sign up with Video the Vote and help secure the voting rights of millions of Americans on election day.
Through the work of thousands of volunteers across the country, Video the Vote seeks to document - and where possible, minimize - voter disenfrachisement this November.
A new report (pdf) released by ElectionLine suggests that November 7th will be a chaotic election day, with buggy technology, new ID laws, and voter suppression tactics threatening yet again to undermine our voting process and deny thousands of Americans their voice in our democracy. From the report:
This was supposed to be the year — and the election — when the voting process nationwide was more secure, more technologically advanced and more trusted by the citizens and candidates participating.
Yet as the mid-term elections approach, machine failures,database delays and foul-ups, inconsistent procedures, new rules and new equipment have some predicting chaos at the polls at worst and widespread polling place snafus at best. The changes to the American electoral system have been widespread. New machines for voters with disabilities have been implemented in polling places nationwide, while statewide voter registration databases are up and running in most states.
But critical differences still exist across state borders and new controversies emerged in 2006. Strict new voter ID rules have been the cause of continual legal challenges in some states, while lawsuits in other states have challenged the use of electronic voting systems. Limits on voter registration drives enacted in two key battleground states have been struck down by federal judges. While the use of paper backups to electronic voting has become more widespread, the rules for their use in recounting or auditing totals after an election vary.
The Nov. 7 election promises to bring more of what voters have come to expect since the 2000 election — a divided body politic, an election system in flux and the possibility — if not certainty — of problems at polls nationwide.
The report identifies which states are at highest risk for voting irregularities - Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio,Pennsylvania, and Washington - and outlines what problems we might expect to see in each state.
There's lots to do this election cycle - GOTV, Carpooling voters to the polls, phone banking, etc. If you are concerned about voter disenfrachisement, and want to help protect people's right to participate equally in our democracy, consider Video the Vote as another option for election day activism.
Two videos for you today. The first is a travelogue of the "Hear Me Now Gulf Coast Listening Tour" by Diana Nikkah. We sent Diana on tour to record the experiences of those affected by Hurricane Katrina and their struggle to rebuild their lives. The short film was recently screened at the Impact Festival in New York City.
This video - and more - is also available on our YouTube Channel - Opportunity TV. Give it a visit, and let us know about any opportunity-related or socially conscious videos you're watching.
The second video is a trailer for the documentary American Blackout, which chronicles the tactics of voter disenfranchisement employed during the 2000 presidential election. If the trailer piques your interest, Color of Change has lots of action links around the movie. You can host a house party to screen the movie, sign-up as a video "poll-watcher" for the upcoming election, and more.
Everyone deserves a chance to start over after missteps or misfortune - whether that means having a chance to rebuild after a disaster like Katrina, or being able to participate in the civic life of our country after serving time in the corrections system. Our nation is strongest when each person has a stake in society and a voice to participate in the decisions that effect us. So it was encouraging to read the latest report
(pdf) from The Sentencing Project noting that the movement to restore the voting rights of felons is gaining momentum.
According to the report, the last decade has seen more than 600,000 ex-felons regain their franchise, and 16 states implement policy reforms to lower restrictions on the right of felons to vote. This year alone, 73 bills on felony disenfranchisement
were introduced in 22 states. An astounding 85% of these bills sought to
expand voting rights.
That's the good news. Here's the bad:
U.S. disenfranchisement laws remain among the world's most
severe despite public opinion polls showing 80% support for restoring
the vote to those who have completed their sentences.
More than 5 million Americans still will be banned from voting
this Election Day.
Here's the ugly:
An estimated 1 in 12 African Americans is disenfranchised, a rate nearly five times the rate of non-African Americans.
This is an issue that effects us all.Restoring the voting rights of felon's is an important step that we as a nation need to take if we want to turn our justice system away from the punitive model in force today and embrace a redemptive model in line with much of our values as Americans. We've still got a long way to go, but its nice to see that the momentum is on our side.
Read the full report (pdf), which includes a breakdown of state-based policy reform.
