Two Cases For Civic Education

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the National Urban League's, "State of Black America" address. During the presentation, National Urban League President Marc Morial offered many observations, accolades, and warnings in relation to the current state of African Americans in the U.S. Something else that he and the Urban League offered was what he called, The Main Street Marshall Plan, based on the famed Marshall Plan enacted by the U.S. post-WWII in an effort to help rebuild the most war torn parts of Europe that hadn't yet recovered. The Main Street Marshall Plan is the Urban League's attempt to get needed aid and programs to some of the most war torn parts of our nation, only instead of traditional war, the war these places are recovering from are the "War on Poverty" and the "War on Drugs" and some might additionally offer the war on the middle class.

So many wonderful ideas were offered by Mr. Morial during his presentation, such as job placement programs, job skills programs, business incubators, pre-K education, etc. All of these types of programs are no doubt needed by the areas that the Urban League wants improved, unfortunately, none of these initiatives are very new and most are centered on one thing, money. Money is an important resource and one that, for many Black communities and neighborhoods, is in far too short supply. However, there is another resource is even more precious than even money when it comes to Black America, civic education.

In an alternate universe where Black America does not suffer such economic inequality with whites, but everything else stays that same, over time, economic inequality would once again rear its ugly head. Why? Because money does not equal power, knowledge and relationships do, and civic engagement is where knowledge and relationships intersect. Whites on average understand much better than Blacks how to monopolize on the benefits of civic education and civic learning opportunities. Learning comes from practice and practice comes from opportunity to practice and an understanding of the value of practice, the inequality between whites and Blacks when it comes to civic learning opportunities is on par, if not worse, than that which exists when it comes to economic opportunities and unfortunately until organizations like the Urban League make addressing this inequality a priority, beyond voter registration drives and voter access, Blacks America will continue to find itself trying to ice skate uphill.

During the 2016 Presidential Primary, voters on both sides of the aisle have cried foul, feeling "cheated" and that "the system is rigged" after discovering the rules of various state primaries and caucuses run by their respective parties. The most recent coming in Nevada, with supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders causing borderline chaos to ensue as the Nevada Democratic Party sought to deal with delegate allotments. Trump supporters also raged against the Republican machine during that brief moment when Sen. Ted Cruz seemed to be gaining delegates even as he was losing contests. One of the most ballyhooed aspects of this Presidential election cycle has been all of the "new" blood that has entered the fray of political involvement and I completely support as may people joining the conversation as possible.

Here is the issue, so many of this new blood are coming to the conversation with a very limited vocabulary and understandably are getting angry because eventually they find themselves left out, and this is where excitement alone is not enough to make a long term difference when it comes to our system of government. I admire many of our government's forefathers like Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Washington, and Franklin, but these were very learned men and it only stands to reason that the government that they would create would require a higher than basic education from it's participants in order for them to be truly effective practitioners.

The average person doesn't even know when his or her school board meets or where his or her polling place is, so without a commitment to civic education, how can any of them be expected to understand the structure and rules of their respective party's primary or caucus process. We have a government of the (educated) people, by the (educated) people and for the (educated) people. Those in control of government already know this, but it will take a commitment at both the state and federal level to sufficiently educate its citizens on the necessity and practice of civic life, before ours is a government of ALL people, by ALL people and for ALL people.

An Honorable Death...

It's been a while since my last post and SO much (yet nothing at all) has happened in my four year absence. The GOP embraced their more moderate side in choosing Mitt Romney as their Presidential nominee, Obama still wound up the victory after the dust settled, and since then the GOP has done an about face and gone hard right, completely abandoning the "autopsy" done post-Romney destruction. By measurable accounts, the economy is better, the deficit has been reduced, unemployment is down and Obama has an approval rating three times higher than Congress. That said, we've seen a hotter spotlight and critical eye on racial inequality as shown through police violence or mass shootings, since Trayvon Martin was killed in February 2012. We have seen the rise of the "Black Lives Matter" movement in the aftermath of the public reaction in Ferguson, MO to the acquittal of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed Michael Brown during a confrontation. Subsequent campaigns "All Lives Matter" and "Blue Lives Matter" were created in response, but are seldom heard from now. Gay marriage is now the law of the land and the push back has come in the form of legislation in the South in an attempt to "protect" religious liberty as well as innocent girls using the bathroom from the transgender community.

Now, the stage is all but set for one of the most intriguing political battles in recent history. No, not between Trump and Clinton, but between the GOP and its soul. What started as a punchline at diner parties and other conversations, became an engaging novelty, grew into an alternative to "politics as usual", rose into a tidal wave of anger and devotion which presently threatens to destroy the once dominant fortress of conservative values that was the Grand Ole Party. Just this week, as some people's nightmare of President Donald J. Trump became a real possibility with the bowing out of the last conservative resistance of Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich submitted to the Borg like force that is Trump and his soldiers, the GOP's former standard-bearers Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush announced they would not be public faces during the general election and furthermore would not be attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, OH. Former GOP moderate crash test dummy Mitt Romney, earlier this year, publicly voiced his dissent to Trump's candidacy, and his former running mate, now House Speaker, Paul Ryan told the press that he could not yet support Trump for President.

The real-life nightmare that the GOP finds itself in right now was crafted eight years ago as its leaders decided it would be better to work solely towards making Barack Obama a one-term President instead of standing on its values and representing those values to the best of its ability through legislation and communication. The GOP used to represent the "establishment" and while it still currently has plenty of members who call the establishment home, republicans absolutely abandoned its beliefs in success through hard work, gaining power through virtuous effort, and working through the system because the system rewards those who follow the rules. Now, it stands as the champion of the zero-sum game, you're either first or you're last, you're right or you're wrong, you're either with us or against us. In an attempt to win this "game" the GOP recruited the Tea Party as Emperor Palpatine did Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars Saga, and just as Anakin did (as Darth Vader) to the Emperor in Return of the Jedi, the Tea Party (now exponentially more powerful as Darth Vader/Donald Trump) has turned on the GOP with death its only goal.

In the movie, Darth Vader dispatches of the Emperor, but what would have happened had the Emperor realized at some point earlier that his twisted plan to use Darth Vader to achieve world domination was a horrific mistake? What would have happen if the Emperor had understood that the he turned the pawn into a king and one way or another he was going to die? As I type these words, the GOP finds itself at both a terrifying and powerful choice point. It could try to talk with Darth Vader/Trump and hope to find some semblance of reason that existed in Anakin/the Tea Party, but the chances of that working are the same as anyone seeing Jar-Jar Binks in any future Star Wars movies.

There is another choice, a more difficult, yet honorable way that could ensure the legacy of the GOP goes forward with an opportunity re-discover the conservative values that served as an important counter-balance to the left. Star Wars is based, in part, on Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" and as was the custom for any samurai who was captured by the enemy, had dishonored himself or clan or committed serious offense, I offer to the GOP, the ancient ceremony of Harikari. Choosing to stand behind a man in Donald Trump, who forsakes so much of what made the GOP the measured, steady voice during some of our nation's most turbulent times, would only serve to bury the once proud party in the most fantastically awful ways. However, choosing to be accountable and ending the cycle which created the monster set on the GOP's destruction, let Trump (and his angry horde) walk alone and perish, resetting its path in line with the conservative values that were at the core of the party, would be a death, but a temporary and most honorable one.

I suspect that the GOP may be too far gone to recognize what's best for it, even if William F. Buckley came back through some time portal and hand delivered it, but for its sake and for the sake of our most fragile Federal Democratic Republic, I hope it decides to change the ending of this dramatically ironic movie playing before the nation right now. I liked Return of the Jedi, but government is not a science fiction fantasy movie, and its time we had some balance in the force.