The Importance of Showing Up

Today I'd like to talk about two examples of people that decided to show up and the affect these people have had and may have in the future. U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal (Georgia-R) and Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Two very different cases, but connected none the less.

Congressman Deal is a candidate for the Georgia Gubernatorial race and has recently proposed an end to "Birthright Citizenship", a right given all those born on U.S. soil regardless of the nationality of their parents. This right is given by Section I of Amendment XIV of the Bill of Rights which says,

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

I am far from a scholar of Constitutional Law, but this section seems pretty cut and dry. Still, Deal and his supporters from the Federation for American Immigration Reform argue that the 14th Amendment was not meant to act as a "loophole" for the babies of illegal immigrants to become citizens. Deal wants to close this "loophole" in order to find a solution to the country's immigration problem.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, was nominated today by President Obama to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. As a judge, Sotomayor has been the first hispanic judge in NY State history and she is now the first hispanic woman nominated to the nation's highest court.

Her ruling in 1995 forced Major League Baseball owners to negotiate with MLB union players, saving the "national pastime" from the greed of of its owners. Raised in a housing project in South Bronx, NY Sotomayor earned a Bachelor's Degree from Princeton and her Juris Doctorate from Yale University. She is the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants, people, who were only considered U.S. citizens as of 1917 (Thanks to the Jones-Shafroth Act).

U.S. Congressman Deal and Judge Sonia Sotomayor are two people who have shown up. Deal is showing up to argue against the privilege of citizenship given immigrants' sons and daughters like Sotomayor. Sotomayor has shown up and broken barriers for others like her who are told because they are a female, Hispanic or come from lower class neighborhoods, that they have to curb their "unrealistic" dreams. 

Deal may never become Governor of Georgia and Sotomayor may never become a Supreme Court Justice, but up to this point they have shown up and could have an affect on the lives of many current and future Americans.

CW

The Color of Help

This morning I was looking at different professional opportunities involving civic engagement, voting, democracy and community involvement on the internet. The sites were full of people who were happy doing altruistic and fulfilling work. Picture after picture, I saw plenty of faces smiling while taking a break from whatever project or event of which they were in the middle. Young faces, older faces, clean faces, dirty faces, well-kempt and scruffy. After seeing all these pictures I was left with a bittersweet feeling. 

I have been involved in a variety of programs and initiatives directly related in civic engagement in my life. This involvement has been in different parts of the country, working on different issues and with populations of different education, religion, age and class, but there has been one alarming consistency in most of my experience, lack of racial/ethnic diversity.

I understand that people get involved with things or causes that they're interested in, but what I don't understand is how so many of the issues (education, health, the economy, religion, politics/government, crime, etc) affect minority populations in most adversely and yet the people most often to be found working in the trenches don't look like those populations. 

Here are the explanations I've heard:

1. Minorities are too busy overcoming the issues that plague them to bring some attention to these issues and work to make them better.

2. Whites are less burdened, because of the societal advantage that accompanies being a member of the power race, so they can spend time addressing whatever issue they see fit to address.

3. Minorities are lazy and would rather complain and collect welfare or some other kind of handout than be a part of working to make things better for themselves or anyone else.

I am sure of two things: 1. There are other popular explanations to this dynamic that I am either forgetting or haven't heard and 2. There are more reasonable and accurate explanations to this dynamic.

What I am not sure of is how to shift this dynamic, because while I know that the "have-nots" are in as bad shape as they have been in a long time, I also recognize that there cannot be significant progress on any or all of these issues if this status quo continues. Any lasting solution to problems like equitable funding for education and health care have to come in part from those who are being most directly affected by the problem. 

If not, the solution will most likely come from those who were a apart of its creation. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for those creating the mess being a part of the clean up (i.e. U.S. involvement in recovery efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gulf Coast States affected by Hurricane Katrina), but if those who created the problem could really be trusted to fix the problem by themselves, the problem would never have existed.

All that being said, if those who are being most affected by the various issues that plague this nation can't find the will and the way to be apart of solving them, things will never get better. It takes many different perspectives to honestly identify a problem, so it just make sense that as many different perspectives would be needed to solve the identified problem. 

If you live in a neighborhood riddled with crime, then you need to go to anyone who will listen and get someone to do something about it and that could take the form of a neighbor crime watch or more funding for police to patrol the area. If you live in a part of town with no polling place within a reasonable distance of everyone in your district, you need to go to your councilman, alderman or selectman and find out why this is and what needs to be done to address the issue.

It's great that there are so many people working on issues that they are not being directly affected by and this needs to continue. What cannot continue is for those who are being directly affected by a particular issue deciding not to be an active part of addressing that issue. If you have enough energy to complain or be angry about it then you have enough energy to make things better and if not, then own up to that and suffer in silence.

CW

It All Adds Up

So, all over the news and the lips of the talking heads of CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox News was the Credit Card legislation that was passed by Congress. Legislation that will protect credit card holders who often find themselves at the mercy of an industry that has up to this point been weakly regulated. This is supposed to be the start of the Obama Administration's commitment to shift the balance of power from business and corporations to the average citizen.

Interestingly enough, there was an addition to this landmark legislation that managed to fly under the radar. Now, thanks to an amendment added to the bill, people will be allowed to carry concealed handguns into National Parks. There are so many different ways to attack this amendment, but that's for another day, what is more peculiar is how something like this amendment that has absolutely nothing to do with the original purpose of the bill can be added and enacted into law upon its signature.

The worst part of all of this is that it's not an irregular occurrence. Amendments and riders that have nothing to do with the body of the bill are added all the time. Take a look at most any significant legislation and you'll find some interesting little additions that made a huge difference in the lives of many Americans. While every one talks about the main accomplishment of a bill, what isn't being talked about rears it's ugly head months or years later when it's too late. Once discovered, people balk and complain and stand in astonishment that something like this could happen.

As I write this post, legislators are contemplating riders and amendments to bills that none of us have heard of yet. Bills that will make the evening news, newspapers, columns and the like, but these riders an amendments won't add up to even a fifth of the language in the legislation. Still, the effect of these alterations add up to significant changes in things from under what circumstances your privacy can be invaded or in what ways an organization can discriminate against a job applicant.

How does this happen? It happens because people are too busy to pay attention until it's too late. If elected officials had to answer to citizens who knew what was going on, they wouldn't dare try to slip last minute changes and amendments that don't belong into important legislation. Engaged and educated constituents are the best friend of a representative fighting to get things done. Engaged and educated constituents are also the worst enemy of a representative who cares more for getting re-elected than putting his or her neck on the line for what their district needs.

The little things make all the difference. A little awareness on the part of every citizen and the little amendments that add up to big changes might not slip through the little cracks. A little vigilance goes a long way towards keeping the little things like last minute amendments and riders from taking a big chunk out of Democracy.

CW

Welcome to Civic Demoliton

Hello and thanks for visiting the site. For those wondering why the name "Civic Demolition?" When I decided to finally do what a number of friends and family members have suggested I do in starting this blog, I figured out that I wanted this blog to be about breaking down subjects from a from a civic point of view. Hence the name "Civic Demolition".

Now, I hope that this blog will serve as a jumping off point for those you who are tired of seeing elected officials that say just enough to say nothing at all and only seem to care about taking action on things that will get them re-elected. The constitution begins, "WE THE PEOPLE, in order to form a more perfect union" which clearly stated that the union was not then and will never be perfect and therefore is always under construction. Unfortunately, construction on our country seems to have stopped a long time ago and now we have people fighting over who gets to owns the "materials" to construct this more perfect union. The funniest part about all of this is that the founding fathers of our country gave the people the most powerful tool available in the construction of our union, namely, the Democratic Republic form of government that exist in the U.S.

Tragically, most people in our country have no idea how much power they hold in deciding the direction of their city, county, state and country. Even sadder still is the fact that there are people out there who need to use the power (given by the founding fathers) more than most, but because of the constraints that come with making ends meet, raising children , etc, they most often opt out of the process believing: 1) That someone else will take care of it or 2) That it doesn't matter anyway because no one cares about what they have to say because they're not rich or they're a minority.

I cannot count how many times I have heard people of all walks of life, education , class, religion and race express both of these sentiments, and each time it reminds me just how far we have fallen as a country, society and a democratic republic. Now, I'm not gonna even start on things like accountability and responsibility because that could go on forever and I 'm hoping to be have this blog for a while, but I will take a line from one of my favorite musical artists, Harry Connick Jr.

"Honestly now, either you stand for somethin' or get knocked down for nothin' "

There are so many reasons why everyone needs to be a part of this experiment we call a Democratic Republic, but one of the simplest is that those who show up make the decisions and if you don't show up, you're leaving the fate of you and your loved ones in the hands of people you don't know and may not agree with.

If you have children, imagine allowing a complete stranger to decide who your daughter or son dates or where he or she will go to college. For those without children, imagine allowing a complete stranger to decide where you will go and what you will do today. That doesn't make a lot of sense does it? Neither does choosing not to be a part of the process which determines what roads will get fixed, how many police officers and fire fighters will be hired or fired in your town or what children will (or won't) be learning in their classes next year.

For far too long, the same small group of people have been showing up and making decisions for the silent majority and this has to stop. If it doesn't our Democratic Republic will literally be history, as in, they'll be teaching classes that will talk about a time in U.S. history that the country had a democratic form of government.

If you want to be a part of ensuring that Democracy thrives in this country, I encourage you to contribute to this conversation and use it as a spring board to more conversation with friends, family and acquaintances. My hope is that discussion will spur thought and thought will then become positive action. So, let the conversation begin before Democracy ends.

CW