May 17, 2017
Page 9
CAREERS EDUCATION
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O PINION
State of Black America: Protect our Progress
With Trump there is
reason to worry
M arC h. M orial
As of this writing, for 102
days our nation has watched as
the Trump administration has
taken shape—and, for many of
us, there is reason to worry.
Recovery from the Great
Recession has been slow, but it has been
real. While high school students of color
and low-income students continue to trail
their peers in high school completion, the
national graduation rate continues to rise.
Republicans are working hard to re-intro-
duce a health care bill that will repeal and
replace the Affordable Care Act, but today,
a record number of Americans have health
insurance. Now all of that progress, and
much more, is under threat.
This year’s State of Black America is a
call to action, a call to unceasing vigilance,
and a call to protect our nation’s hard-
fought-for progress. And as we do with ev-
ery edition of the State of Black America,
we provide the numbers and the narrative
to make our case.
According to National Urban League’s
exclusive 2017 Equality Index for both
blacks and Hispanics, there is progress, but
there is much more progress that needs to
be made.
Tracking racial equality in economics,
employment, education, health, housing,
criminal justice and civic participation,
we find that African Americans share 72.3
percent equality with white Americans (in
2016 the number stood at 72.2 percent).
Hispanics—who stood at 77.9 percent
equality in 2016—shared a greater slice of
the “equality pie” this year, standing at 78.4
by
percent equality with their white peers.
The Trump administration’s priorities
and proposed policies put what so-
cial and economic gains we have
made in urban communities and
communities of color at serious risk.
Guest contributors to the State of
Black America remind us of what is
at stake. Sen. Cory Booker tackled
our broken criminal justice system,
lamenting that just as modest, bi-
partisan agreement on fixing our broken
system was being cultivated, the Trump
administration and Attorney General Jeff
Sessions seemed, “intent on turning back
the clock—threatening to increase the use
of mandatory minimum sentences, criti-
cizing consent decrees that improve po-
lice-community relations, and expanding
tory voting practices,” understanding that
we cannot claim to be a democracy while
snatching the right to vote away from el-
igible citizens. Rep. Robin Kelly reminds
us that as we, “drive toward the goal of an
equitable health future for communities of
color, we cannot afford to take our foot off
the gas. The Affordable Care Act put us on
the right road and we are seeing progress.”
To that end, the National Urban League
has also published “The Main Street Mar-
shall Plan: Moving from Poverty to Pros-
perity.” The plan—which proposes solu-
tions, including increasing federal funding
for public schools, enacting a living wage
of $15, and fully funding Medicaid and
Medicare—is a bold, strategic investment
in America’s urban communities that pro-
tects our progress by addressing our na-
Make no mistake, the Trump
administration’s priorities are not
a blueprint to make America great
again, they are a blueprint for a sick,
scared, uneducated, homeless and
unemployed America...
federal use of private prisons.”
Rep. Terri Sewell called for the pas-
sage of the Voting Rights Advancement
Act, “which restores and advances the
VRA [Voting Rights Act] by providing a
modern-day coverage test that will extend
federal oversight to jurisdictions with a
history of voter suppression and protects
vulnerable communities from discrimina-
tion’s persistent social and economic dis-
parities.
Passing a health care plan that no longer
protects people with pre-existing condi-
tions, charges the sickest the highest premi-
ums, and would leave an estimated 24 mil-
lion people without lifesaving coverage,
will trim the equality pie for Blacks and
Hispanics—and put all Americans at risk.
Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty
Executive order
does neither
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
(EMO) strongly supports religious free-
dom, free speech and the separation of
church and state. However, we oppose
President Trump’s Executive Order enti-
tled, “Promoting Free Speech and Reli-
gious Liberty.”
This latest executive order neither pro-
motes free speech nor religious liberty. By
instructing the Internal Revenue Service to
exercise “maximum enforcement discre-
tion” of a law banning electioneering by
houses of worship and other tax-exempt
organizations, the order threatens to under-
mine the prophetic voice, moral and finan-
cial independence, and much-needed civil
discourse in our nation’s faith communities.
Last month, EMO joined 98 other reli-
gious and denominational organizations
from across the country opposing the
weakening of protections that prohibit
houses of worship and other tax-exempt
organizations from opposing or supporting
political candidates. We stated forcefully,
“The charitable sector, particularly houses
of worship, should not become another cog
in a political machine or another loophole
in campaign finance laws.”
Places of worship should have the pow-
er to critique government actions regarding
moral issues. They should be able to en-
gage in advocacy and encourage the dem-
ocratic right to vote. But, they must not
intervene in political campaigns or endorse
political candidates. Such activities endan-
ger the integrity of our voices of faith, pos-
sibly making some places of worship a tool
for the political system.
Current law prohibiting electioneering
reinforces the separation of church and
state, protecting houses of worship from
being used as mouthpieces for political
candidates in exchange for partisan-driv-
en donations or promises of future social
service contracts. To protect the credibility
and mission-driven focus of our houses of
worship, there should be no doubt in the
minds of congregants or members of the
community in which they reside that faith
communities are forbidden from acting as
conduits of campaign donations or are be-
holden to a given candidate.
President Trump’s decision to not up-
hold the prohibition of electioneering by
nonprofits makes possible abuses to both
the process by which we elect our govern-
ment leaders and the independence of our
houses of worship. We urge our religious
leaders and their institutions that, while
raising moral issues for public debate, they
resist using the pulpit to endorse political
candidates. Our prophetic voice must tran-
scend the partisan divide.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is a
statewide association of Christian denom-
inations, congregations, ecumenical orga-
nizations and interfaith partners working
together to improve the lives of Oregonians
through community ministry programs, ecu-
menical and interreligious dialogue, environ-
mental ministry and public policy advocacy.
Legislating discrimination by signing
into law a travel ban that targets ethnicities
or religions, harms families and our nation
founded and enriched by newcomers to its
shores. Double-digit cuts or eliminating
funding for vital agencies like the Depart-
ment of Education or the National Endow-
ment of Arts, will carve away at the equal-
ity pie for blacks and Latinos—and put all
Americans at risk. Slashing the budgets of
the Departments of Housing and Labor,
will reduce the share of the pie for blacks
and Hispanics—and put all Americans at
risk.
Make no mistake, the Trump admin-
istration’s priorities are not a blueprint
to make America great again, they are a
blueprint for a sick, scared, uneducated,
homeless and unemployed America, and
reaffirm this truth: When communities of
color are strong, America is strong.
I urge you to read, analyze, share—and
act on—the findings of the 2017 State of
Black America at stateofblackamerica.
org. Now in its 41st edition, it remains
one of the most highly-anticipated bench-
marks and sources for thought leadership
around racial equality in America across
economics, employment, education,
health, housing, criminal justice and civic
participation.
The fight for racial equality in our coun-
try is a struggle that neither began during
the Obama era, nor will it end in the Trump
era, but with time and the constant pressure
of like-minded people pressing for justice,
we have made a steady climb toward im-
provement—and we are determined to
keep moving forward to protect our prog-
ress.
Marc H. Morial is president and chief
executive officer of the National Urban
League.
Letter to the
Editor
Stand Up for Women
The Republican administration’s pro-
posed health care bill is nothing more
than a blatantly political attempt to do
whatever it takes to attack women’s
health and rights and take health care
away from the people who need it most.
If Congress cuts funding to Planned
Parenthood, millions of people will be
left without access to birth control, life-
saving cancer screenings, and other basic
care. Many of them will have nowhere
else to go for the health care they need.
I’m counting on Oregon’s Congress
members to do the right thing and stand
up for the Planned Parenthood patients
in our community and across the country
who are counting on those health centers.
Alison Dunfee
Southeast Portland