Opinion
The War on Women Harms Children, Too
I
n President Barack Obama’s
State of the Union address, he
appealed to our nation’s
employers to raise wages from the
current minimum of $7.25 an
hour to $10.10 an hour. He has
already signed an executive order
that requires federal contractors to
be paid $10.10 an hour, an only
appropriate move since so many
workers on federal contracts are
living in poverty.
The plight of federal contract
workers at the bottom is especial-
ly galling, given that CEOs at the
top have no limits in what they can
be paid. Many earn more than
president Obama’s $400,000
salary. They are awarded con-
tracts by coming up with a
minimum bid, which too often
means paying people the lowest
possible wage.
There are many consequences to
workers earning so little money
that they often work at a level
below the poverty line. The feder-
al government through food
stamps, subsidized health care,
and a number of other well-
deserved benefits subsidizes those
with families surviving on low
wages. They are also stigmatized
B ENNETT
C OLLEGE
Julianne
Malveaux
by receiving government help.
Why not pay these folks enough to
make it on their own, instead of
railing about those who “depend”
on the government?
When women with children earn
a minimum wage, they are chal-
lenged to take care of their
children. If there is not affordable
childcare, or a family support sys-
tem, many of these women are
desperate to figure out a way to
work and find someone to take
care of their children. In Henrico
County, Va., which is part of the
Richmond metropolitan are, 23-
year-old Brittney R. Downing
admitted her role in the deaths of
her two children, aged 3 months
and 20 months.
Brittney Downing left her chil-
dren in a parking lot, inside her
vehicle, while she went to work at
a Henrico hotel. Both of her chil-
dren were killed by heat strokes.
She is charged with involuntary
manslaughter and can spend as
many as 25 years in jail.
Brittney’s children are collateral
damage in the war against women
and minimum wage workers. As
President Obama noted in the
SOU address, women are the
majority of minimum wage work-
ers. All of them aren’t teens;
to choose ought to consider the
consequences of choices, especial-
ly when they aren’t supported.
Why don’t we have a work/family
policy that makes child care acces-
sible and affordable? Given these
provisions, or a living wage, Brit-
tney Downing may not have found
the need to bring her children to
work with her, and to keep them in
the car.
Some employers provide on-site
Why don’t we have a work/family
policy that makes child care
accessible and affordable?
many are rearing children. Too
many of them don’t earn enough
to sustain themselves. Brittney
Downing’s children, Jelani and
Jade, died partly because their
mother didn’t earn enough to put
them in an affordable child care
program.
Some will say that Brittney
Downing should have had better
sense than to leave her children in
a locked car. I would say that
those who value life so much that
they rail against a woman’s right
childcare, allowing employees
with the same challenges that Brit-
tney Downing faced to drop their
children off and come back for
them at the end of their shifts.
While many provide this childcare
at a small fee, others are willing to
subsidize low-wage workers.
These employers are more the
exception than the rule. Do they
understand their productivity loss-
es when they do not institute
policies that are friendly to the
work of women who have chil-
dren?
There have been spates of cases
where mothers have left their chil-
dren “home alone.” Not all of
them have been cases similar to
Brittney’s, when a woman leaves
her children because she has no
childcare support system. Some
of the cases happen to be women
who have walked out to buy a
soda or get a stamp. That’s likely
to be a woman, cooped up with her
children, with not enough support
to take a break. Other women
have left their children “home
alone” while they engaged in
social activities. While their
actions are foolish, the lack of a
support system is still quite evi-
dent.
There are no excuses for putting
a child in danger, or are there?
When a woman must work and
has no child care, what is she to
do? When the research on post-
partum depression suggests
irrational behavior on the part of
some mothers, why are they vili-
fied?
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Obama Vows to Help Young Black Men Succeed
P
resident Barack Obama served notice
in his State of the Union speech that
he intends to make 2014 a year of
action on his “opportunity agenda” for all
the people of the United States. For mil-
lions of Black Americans and others who
yearn for a better quality of life, it was
refreshing and good to hear President
Obama affirm that he would act independ-
ently of the Congress, when he can, on
issues of minimum wage increase for feder-
al contractors, improving the quality and
access to education, job preparation, and
Young Black men in
the U.S. are the most
disproportionately
incarcerated, the
victims of homicides,
the largest
percentage of the
unemployed, and
represent the highest
percentage of high
school drop outs
innovations in economic development.
After watching suffering disrespect and
an all-out attack on him by conservative
Republicans, it was way past due time for
President Obama to finally stand up to his
political opponents. He stated, “After five
years of grit and determined effort, the Unit-
ed States is better-positioned for the 21st
century than any other nation on Earth. The
question for everyone in this chamber, run-
ning through every decision we make this
year, is whether we are going to help or hin-
der this progress.”
While the national and international
media focused on the President Obama’s
announcement that by executive order, the
E DUCATION
S ERVICES
Benjamin F.
Chavis Jr.
munities. It is not just up to the president,
governor, mayor or members of congress
alone to fix the problems that confront our
communities. We must also assume greater
and more consistent responsibility for the
empowerment of our people.
We are, therefore, pleased that our Histor-
ically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs) have stepped up to the plate of
self-responsibility on the issue of helping
young Black males and have endorsed a
remarkably successful pilot effort led by
Ronald Mason, President of the Southern
University System in Louisiana entitled
“Five Fifths Agenda for America.”
minimum wage for federal contract workers
would be raised to $10.10 an hour, there
was another important, but little-noticed
part his address that potentially could have
a positive impact on the Black American
community. President Obama emphasized,
“And I’m reaching out to some of Ameri-
ca’s leading foundations and corporations
on a new initiative to help more young men
of color facing especially tough odds stay
on track and reach their full potential.”
Young Black men in the U.S. are the most
disproportionately incarcerated, the victims
of homicides, the largest percentage of the
unemployed, and represent the highest per-
centage of high school drop outs. But with
the responsive leadership and commit-
ments, allocation of resources, and
outreach, encouragement, nurture and care,
the negative socioeconomic situation of
young Black men can be turned around.
President Obama also said, “The bottom
line is, Michelle and I want every child to
have the same chance this country gave us.
But we know our opportunity agenda won’t
be complete, and too many young people
entering the workforce today will see the
American Dream as an empty promise,
unless we also do more to make sure our
economy honors the dignity of work, and
hard work pays off for every single Ameri-
can.”
In the past, President Obama has been
roundly criticized when he spoke candidly
about the plight of the Black family. Much
was the criticism was because the president
seemed to focus Black imperfections while
failing to hold up the same mirror to Whites.
In that respect, the criticism is understand-
able.
But even so, the truth is we all must take
a greater responsibility for the uplift of all
women, men and children in all our com-
o
ti
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February 5, 2014 The Portland Skanner Page 5