Page 6
May 25, 2016
HEALTHCAREERS
O PINION
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Bathroom Bills’ Don’t Help Women at All
Stop trying
to legislate
discrimination
J ill R iChaRdson
The time has come
for me to play my
Woman Card.
A male Republi-
can politician in my
state of Wisconsin has
introduced a “bath-
room bill” like the one
passed in North Carolina, which
requires transgender people to use
the bathroom of the gender they
were assigned at birth.
He says it’s to “protect women
and children.”
Oh, knight in shining armor,
by
thank you for trying to protect me
and my fellow women. But I fear
you misunderstand the real issues
women have in restrooms.
Here are a few laws you might
propose instead to help us out:
Ban men from leaving
the toilet seat up, so we
don’t fall in. Mandate
that public restrooms
never run out of toilet
paper, so we’re not left
stranded in stalls, ishing
through our purses on
the off chance we’ll ind
some tissues. Require establish-
ments to make more bathrooms
available for women, particularly
in places like theaters — where
everyone gets up to use the re-
stroom at the same time, and men
hurry in and out while women
spend 10 minutes or more in line.
But those are, relatively speak-
ing, all quite trivial.
Perhaps instead, you’d prefer
to help with the bigger issues we
women face. In that case, my big-
gest concern is that I will, on aver-
age, earn less than a man, even for
doing the same job.
If you’re still intent on legis-
lating values, though, how about
weighing in on some of these?
If I assert myself the way a man
does, I’ll be seen as shrill. Pur-
suing a PhD, as I’m doing, hurts
my dating prospects among men
intimidated by my education —
even as higher education is seen
to make men prime marriage ma-
terial.
I was raised in a culture that
communicated to me continuous-
ly that my role as a woman is to
be thin, beautiful, and passive, so
that a man can rescue me. And
when dating, I’m forced to choose
between seeming prudish or pro-
miscuous — both of which carry a
social penalty.
I want to live a world where
young girls are taught to be strong
and capable, just like little boys.
Where a woman’s self-worth is
not equal to her clothing size, or
her sexual availability.
And then there’s sexual assault,
which brings us back to those
bathroom bills. I can provide some
womanly advice there as well.
I’ve been sexually assaulted
four times. On all four occasions,
I was with a man I knew. None of
these assaults occurred in a bath-
room, and none of the assailants
was transgender. They were sim-
ply people who wouldn’t take no
for an answer.
If you want to prevent sexu-
al assault, dear knight, support
comprehensive sexual education
and other programs to teach men
about consent. Have a talk with
your male peers about not treat-
ing women like objects. Bullying
transgender people will have no
effect other than harming an al-
ready marginalized group.
In short, stop trying to legis-
late discrimination in the name of
“helping women.” Instead, pass
laws that actually help women.
OtherWords columnist Jill
Richardson is the author of Recipe
for America: Why Our Food Sys-
tem Is Broken and What We Can
Do to Fix It. OtherWords.org.
High-Performing Schools for Every Student
The best
gateway to
success
b Rian l. P auling
As the school year
winds down, one
can’t help but think
of graduations and
where and how stu-
dents will embark
upon the next phase
of their lives. Unfor-
tunately, the opportunities for far
too many will be limited because
of disparities in graduation rates
and in opportunities for students
at high-performing schools com-
pared with their counterparts at
low-performing schools.
Although U.S. high school
by
graduation rates have signii-
cantly improved, U.S. Depart-
ment of Education statistics
show that African-American and
Hispanic/Latino students are still
graduating 5 to 10 points
behind the national av-
erage. Further, students
from low-income fam-
ilies are graduating at a
rate that’s 14.4 percent-
age points below that of
their peers from wealthi-
er backgrounds.
For students to be
competitive in post-secondary
education and career, they have
to be properly prepared. Wheth-
er competing for admission to
college or entering a career,
the student graduating from the
high-performing school invari-
ably has the advantage over the
one from the low-performing
school. And although each may
have a diploma in hand, the
student from a low-performing
school will more times than not
require remedial courses and
start behind the curve when try-
ing to achieve long-term success.
100 Black Men of America,
Inc. strongly believes the remedy
to this situation is advocating for
and demanding high-performing
schools for all students – and
particularly African-American
and poor students. We feel that
high-performing public schools,
whether traditional or charter,
are the best gateway to higher
education. Coupled with strong
parental involvement, quality
education options – ones that
ensure every child has access to
the high-performing school best
suited for him or her – will help
them achieve long-term career
success.
Sadly, many of the nation’s
low-performing schools are in
minority and low-income neigh-
borhoods. Far too many of these
public schools have inadequate
resources and their classrooms
are overcrowded. They often
lack the things higher-perform-
ing schools take for granted –
experienced teachers, counsel-
ors, special education services,
current-edition textbooks, and
access to technology, to name
a few – and their students suf-
fer. When those conditions are
allowed to continue, students’
paths can deviate from higher
education and career to paths
of overwhelming struggle, eco-
nomic challenge and potentially
he Law Oices of
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
Patrick John Sweeney
KIC Ministries
presents
Sunday, 11am - 12:30pm
Living Heart Faith Community
Location: 8219 NE Glisan St
Pastor Antonio L. Thomas
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon
Portland:
Hillsoboro:
Facsimile:
Email:
(503) 244-2080
(503) 244-2081
(503) 244-2084
Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
prison.
This is why we must implore
our school administrators on the
neighborhood, district, city, state
and national levels to do their
level best to make public edu-
cation more equitable in every
school. In a Washington Post
article, former Education Secre-
tary Arne Duncan called on cities
and states to rethink their cur-
rent incarceration practices and
proposed funneling an estimat-
ed $15 billion in savings from
incarcerations to substantially
raise teacher pay in high-pov-
erty schools. He reasoned that
higher salaries could attract bet-
ter teachers to low-performing
schools where the help is most
needed.
“With a move like this, we’d
not just make a bet on education
over incarceration, we’d signal
the beginning of a long-range ef-
fort to pay our nation’s teachers
what they are worth,” Duncan
said. “That sort of investment
wouldn’t just make teachers
and struggling communities feel
more valued. It would have rip-
ple effects on our economy and
on our civic life.”
He gets it. We want to make
sure everybody else gets it as
well. High-performing schools
are the best gateway to success.
When our children have access
to high-performing schools, it
exponentially increases their
chances to achieve their full po-
tential.
Brian L. Pauling is president
and CEO of 100 Black Men of
America, Inc., a global nonproit
mentoring organization.