March 7, 2018
Page 13
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O PINION
Lasting Effects of Shirley Chisholm’s Legacy
Black women
taking aim at
the status quo
by k elly d ittMar and
g lynda C arr
Fifty years ago, Shirley
Chisholm campaigned suc-
cessfully to become the first
black woman in Congress.
Four years later, she became
the first woman of color and
the first African American to
win delegate votes at a major
party presidential convention.
Throughout her presidential
campaign, she attracted voters
to the “Chisholm Trail” with
her motto and reputation of be-
ing “unbought and unbossed.”
But Chisholm’s trailblazing
didn’t end with her presidential
defeat. She served in Congress
for another decade and left a
legacy with lasting effects to
this day.
The 2018 elections will mark
another stop on the Chisholm
Trail, where black women are
poised to build on Chisholm’s
legacy of leadership, determi-
nation, and desire to disrupt the
status quo. Amidst reports of
the “surge” of women running
in 2018 are lack women can-
didates at every level, includ-
ing some with the potential to
make history. Perhaps most no-
tably, 2018 could see the elec-
tion of the first black woman
governor in the United States.
The potential to harness and
expand black women’s politi-
cal power is not limited to can-
didates this year. Black women
voted at the highest rates of any
race and gender group in both
the 2008 and 2012 presiden-
tial elections, and again in the
2017 special U.S. Senate elec-
tion in Alabama. If that race is
any guide, black women voters
appear mobilized to turn out in
high numbers again in 2018.
But before we can measure
progress for black women in
election 2018, we need to take
stock of black women’s current
political power. That’s why the
Center for American Wom-
en and Politics and the High-
er Heights Leadership Fund
teamed up again to release
“The Chisholm Effect: Black
Women in American Politics
2018.”
The report outlines the status
of black women in American
politics today. Despite being
7.3 percent of the U.S. popu-
lation, black women are less
than 5 percent of officeholders
elected to statewide executive
offices, Congress, and state
legislatures. Black women are
5 of the mayors in the nation’s
top 100 most populous cities.
Since Chisholm served as
the sole black woman in Con-
gress, 38 black women have
served in Congress from 16
states, including 2 black wom-
en senators. Over the same
half-century, 12 black women
have been elected to statewide
executive office. These num-
bers are small when considered
within the 50-year context, but
the pace of advancement in re-
cent years marks momentum to
build upon.
Ten of the 12 black women
who have served in statewide
elected executive office have
held office in the past two de-
cades. In 1990, just one Black
woman served in Congress; 18
years later, that number is up
to 19. In just the last 5 years, 8
black women have been elect-
ed mayor in the 100 most pop-
ulous cities in the U.S. And just
this year, Sheila Oliver became
the first Democratic black
woman lieutenant governor na-
tionwide.
This momentum will only
continue - and increase - with
work. Black women are doing
the work every day to engage
their communities in the po-
litical process, to make their
own voices heard, and to take
their seats at the tables of gov-
ernance. Organizations like
Higher Heights are working to
amplify those voices and hold
political leaders accountable
for inclusion. And, with Higher
Heights, the Center for Ameri-
can Women and Politics is con-
tinuing to conduct research and
programs that both identify and
tackle barriers to black wom-
en’s political progress.
But the work doesn’t stop
with us. Recognizing the im-
perative of black women’s
political inclusion is a respon-
sibility we all share. When
Chisholm was campaigning
amidst war, social unrest, and
crises of leadership, she ar-
gued, “At present, our country
needs women’s idealism and
determination, perhaps more
in politics than anywhere
else.”
Those words ring especial-
ly true today, as our country
confronts significant challeng-
es at home and abroad. In this
moment, the opportunities for
meeting this demand while in-
creasing black women’s politi-
cal power, especially in elected
office are great. And we’ve got
some guidance on how to do it
in 2018: Follow the Chisholm
Trail.
Kelly Dittmar is an assistant
professor of political science
and a Center for American
Women and Politics scholar;
and Glynda Carr is co-founder
of Higher Heights for America.
Workers See Minimal Impact in Take Home Pay
The tax scam
starts to sink in
J osh h oxie
It’s no fun be-
ing scammed.
I distinctly re-
member looking
for my first big
city apartment
and finding an ad
that looked perfect. Beautiful
picture, cheap rent, great loca-
tion. It sounded too good to be
true and, sadly, it was.
Just send a check in the mail,
and don’t forget to send over
your Social Security number,
they said. We’ll mail you a key.
Fortunately, I didn’t take
the bait. I’ve also managed to
dodge the countless “Nigerian
royalty” looking to make me
rich via e-mail, and the endless
robo-calls about lowering my
by
utility bills.
Not everyone is so lucky. If
there’s one constant of scams,
it’s that given enough opportu-
nities, they’ll get somebody
to give up the goods.
Today, that somebody is
the United States.
As their W-2s arrive in
the mail, U.S. workers are
starting to see the mini-
mal impact of the new tax
changes passed by Congress
late last year. While the bud-
get-busting package was a
boon for millionaires, it means
next to nothing for ordinary
people.
Still, there’s a massive pub-
lic relations campaign being
waged right now by Republi-
can donors backing the Trump
tax cuts. Make the rich richer,
they say, and we’ll all benefit.
And while you’re at it,
they’ve got some swampland
in Florida for sale.
The Koch Brothers alone
will spend $20 million on ads
selling the tax bill. This is a
drop in the bucket compared
to the $1.4 billion they stand to
gain every year in tax breaks.
It’s also a tiny fraction of their
overall campaign spending on
the 2018 midterms elections,
which is projected to reach
$400 million.
The Kochs have their work
cut out for them. A new poll
from Politico shows most work-
ers report seeing no increase in
their take home pay after the
new tax laws took effect.
This is important.
The whole premise behind
adding $1.5 trillion to the debt,
giving massive handouts to the
ultra-wealthy, and giving a tax
break to the nation’s most prof-
itable corporations was that
working folks would also get a
bit of cash.
Turns out, they’re not seeing
that money. But the PR push is
having an impact.
While majority of the Amer-
ican people never supported
the bill, most polls have shown
an uptick in support since De-
cember. The most recent poll
— from GBA Strategies —
found that 44 percent of voters
oppose the law, compared to
just 40 percent who support it.
The GBA study had anoth-
er interesting finding: Voters
are incredibly susceptible to
messaging on this issue. That’s
why the GOP donor class is
spending unprecedented sums
on ads.
The tax law is also getting a
boost from corporations’ pub-
lic relations departments, who
are making splashy announce-
ments about bonuses for their
workers.
Many of those bonuses, it
turns out, are being doled out
to garner political support for
the tax bill, not for the benefit
of the business or as a thank
you to workers. They’re also
supposed to distract the public
from the massive onslaught of
layoffs that came in the wake
of the tax cuts — from Walmart
to Coca-Cola to Comcast and
many more.
The Trump tax cuts are a
scam, benefiting the wealthy
at the expense of everyone
else. If you happened to find
yourself caught up in the scam,
don’t blame yourself. The sales
pitch was mighty impressive.
But also, don’t get scammed
twice.
Josh Hoxie directs the Proj-
ect on Taxation and Opportu-
nity at the Institute for Policy
Studies. Distributed by Other-
Words.org.
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