Inequality https://www.morningsidecenter.org/ en Is Our Tax System Skewed? https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/our-tax-system-skewed <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Is Our Tax System Skewed?</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>&nbsp;</p> <h3><strong>Introduction</strong><br> &nbsp;</h3> <blockquote> <p>“There’s been class warfare going on for the last 20 years, and my class has won.”<br> <em>– Warren Buffett (fifth-richest American)</em><br> &nbsp;</p> </blockquote> <p>Ask students:</p> <ul> <li>What do you think Warren Buffett means by this statement?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Tell students that today we’ll be diving into a new report about how much America’s richest people pay in taxes – and what that might mean for the rest of us.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt="Taxes" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6ad2d686-f92c-4640-b90b-a0648711fa85" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/dollarsimage.jpg" width="1920" height="1079" loading="lazy"></p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3><strong>Reading 1:<br> What do the richest Americans pay in taxes?</strong></h3> <p><br> In June 2021, the non-profit investigative journalism project ProPublica revealed the income taxes paid by the twenty-five richest people in America for fifteen years (complete data for 2012-2018).</p> <p>Personal tax information reported to the IRS is not public and ProPublica will not reveal how they obtained the files. They published the information, despite its probable illegality, because they believed it was important for Americans to know.</p> <p>The data, they write, “demolishes the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most. The IRS records show that the wealthiest can — perfectly legally — pay income taxes that are only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions, if not billions, their fortunes grow each year.”</p> <p>What they found was astounding. The richest people in the country pay less in income taxes than most middle-income Americans. In fact, they sometimes pay no income tax at all. Among the findings:</p> <ul> <li>In 2007 and again in 2011, Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, who is now the world’s richest person, did not pay any federal income taxes.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Businessman/politician Michael Bloomberg, investor Carl Icahn, and investor/philanthropist George Soros each managed to pay no federal income tax in past years.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>According to Forbes Magazine, the 25 people ProPublica retrieved records for saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. IRS data show that collectively they paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years.</p> <p>While that’s a huge sum, it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4%. By contrast, the&nbsp;median American&nbsp;household paid 14% in federal&nbsp;taxes.</p> <p>ProPublica notes that some billionaires don’t avoid paying income taxes: In 2018, nine of the 25 wealthiest Americans reported more than $500 million in taxable income and three more than $1 billion. But even in this case, billionaires have many ways to reduce the taxes they pay, such as taking deductions for charitable donations.</p> <p>Have students view the first graphic that appears in the ProPublica report, which is entitled “The Ultrawealthy by the Numbers”:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax">https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax</a></p> <p>Note that this graph, and the entire ProPublica report, uses data as of 2018. This does not take into account the massive gains that billionaires have made during the Covid epidemic. According to Forbes, the wealth of billionaires increased by $1.2 trillion from January 2020 to April 2021.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Discussion:</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>What stands out for you in this chart?</li> </ol> <ol start="2"> <li>Does the information surprise you? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How much IS a billion dollars? How much is it compared to a million?</li> </ol> <ol start="4"> <li>Imagine that someone is going to give you a billion dollars by paying you one dollar every second. You’d be “earning” $3,600 an hour!&nbsp; At this rate, how long would it take for you to get your one billion dollars?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><em>Answers:</em></strong></p> <blockquote> <p><em>3. A thousand millions</em></p> <p><em>4. About 33 years</em></p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3><strong>Reading 2:&nbsp;<br> How Does This Happen?</strong></h3> <p>&nbsp;<br> One big reason that billionaires are able to avoid paying income taxes is that the income tax is a tax on salaries or&nbsp;wages, not on wealth or on increases in wealth.</p> <p>As we saw in the chart, even if your wealth increases by $100 billion, you might end up paying taxes on only a tiny portion of that money, because you did not receive it as a payment. You own those new billions, but they don’t count as income.</p> <p>This system of taxing income but not wealth doesn’t work out so well for the majority of people, who survive mainly on the wages they earn. As the ProPublica report notes, many Americans live paycheck to paycheck, amassing little wealth and paying the federal government a percentage of their income in taxes. If they earn more, their tax rates rise. The federal government considers almost every dollar workers earn to be “income” to be taxed.</p> <p>The median American household currently earns about $70,000 a year and pays 14% of that in federal taxes. Couples earning above $628,300 or more pay the highest income tax rate, 37%.</p> <p>But Jeff Bezos and other billionaires don’t need to be paid a salary. Bezos’ salary at Amazon is &nbsp;around $80,000 a year. Other founder-CEOs earn even less, notes ProPublica. Steve Jobs took $1 in salary when he returned to Apple in the 1990s. Facebook’s Zuckerberg, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Google’s Larry Page have all done the same.</p> <p>But, says ProPublica, “this is not the self-effacing gesture it appears to be,” because the wealth of the ultra-rich derives from the rising value of their assets, like stock and property – not wages. And unlike wages, the U.S. does not define those assets as taxable income.</p> <p>According to the IRS, the top 25 wealthiest Americans reported $158 million in wages in 2018. But that’s just 1.1% of what they listed on their tax forms as their total reported income. The rest mostly came from dividends and the sale of stock, bonds, or other investments, which are taxed at much lower rates than wages.&nbsp; ProPublica states that “Under current U.S. tax law, the ultra-wealthy don’t have to break the law to avoid paying taxes.”</p> <p>If many of the ultra-rich are earning only modest wages, if any, how do they get access to cash without selling their stock – which would require them to pay significant taxes? As the ProPublica report documents, many very rich people just borrow it from the bank. The interest they pay on loans is much less than the taxes they would owe if they took in their earnings as salary:</p> <blockquote> <p>The tax math provides a clear incentive for this. If you own a company and take a large salary, you’ll pay 37% in income tax on the bulk of it. Sell stock and you’ll pay 20% in capital gains tax — and lose some control over your company. But take out a loan, and you’ll pay a single-digit interest rate and no tax. Since loans must be paid back, the IRS doesn’t consider them income. Banks typically require collateral, but the wealthy have plenty of that.</p> </blockquote> <p>What about corporate taxes? Does that form of taxation make up for the enormous gap in tax payments between billionaires and the rest of us?</p> <p>As ProPublica notes, corporate taxes have dropped in recent decades. Further, many companies – including Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple – send their profits abroad to countries&nbsp;such as Bermuda&nbsp;that have no corporate tax. When companies do pay corporate taxes, that liability is often passed on to workers and consumers.</p> <p>How about estate taxes – the tax on wealth that is passed on after a wealthy person dies? Officially, the estate tax rate is relatively high: 40%. However, according to ProPublica, IRS data, tax research, and other evidence suggests that many of the richest people bypass the estate tax by creating foundations that provide large charitable tax deductions during their lifetimes:&nbsp;</p> <blockquote> <p>“The result is that large fortunes can pass largely intact from one generation to the next. Of the 25 richest people in America today, about a quarter are heirs: three are Waltons, two are scions of the Mars candy fortune, and one is the son of Estée Lauder.”</p> </blockquote> <p><br> <strong>Discussion:</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>What stands out for you in this reading?</li> </ol> <ol start="2"> <li>Does the information surprise you? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Can you think of valid arguments for why wealthy people should pay lower taxes than the rest of us? What is the evidence to support those arguments?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Activity</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Write down at least three possible changes in the law or tax policy that could ensure that the rich are taxed as high a percentage of their total income as the rest of us.&nbsp; If you’re not sure, take a guess.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3><strong>What Could Be Done?</strong></h3> <p><br> The current top tax rate on income in the U.S. – 37%&nbsp; – is&nbsp; not very high by historical standards.</p> <p>Ask students to view <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates">this chart</a> of U.S. top tax rates since 1913.&nbsp; Then ask:</p> <ul> <li>What do you observe about this chart?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you know about why tax rates went up dramatically in certain periods?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you know about why they might have gone down again?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Next ask: What do you think the current top tax rate should be today? Why?</p> <p>Share with students that the Biden administration has proposed a slate of changes in our tax code. They include raising the tax rates on people making over $400,000 and bumping the top income tax rate from 37% to 39.6%. The Biden administration is also proposing to increase corporate tax rate.</p> <p>Members of Congress have proposed other reforms:</p> <ul> <li>Sen. Ron Wyden has proposed taxing unrealized capital gains on assets owned by “millionaires and billionaires.” He proposes that this levy would kick in at the same rate as all other income.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Sen. Elizabeth Warren has proposed taxing wealth itself. Her “Ultra-Millionaire Tax” calls for a 2% tax on wealth over $50 million and a 6% tax on wealth over $1 billion.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed a graduated wealth tax starting with a 1% tax on wealth of over $32 million, going up to an 8% tax on wealth exceeding $10 billion.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Financier Warren Buffett, who paid the lowest “true tax rate” among the 25 billionaires examined in the ProPublica report, supports higher taxes for rich people, including through a tax on capital gains. But Buffett has also argued, in response to the ProPublica report, that “the money will be of more use to society if disbursed philanthropically than if it is used to slightly reduce an ever-increasing U.S. debt.''</p> <p>Indeed, Warren Buffett has pledged to donate 99.5% of his wealth to charities before he dies. Bill Gates, like his predecessors John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, has donated massive amounts to his own foundation. These foundations and the philanthropy of most other billionaires have benefitted society in numerous ways: disease prevention and cures, libraries,&nbsp; colleges, orchestras, museums, hospitals.</p> <p>But Anand Giridharadas criticizes Buffett's point of view in his New York Times opinion “Warren Buffett and the Myth of the 'Good Billionaire'” (June 14, 2021):</p> <blockquote> <p>But as America slouches toward plutocracy, our problem isn't the virtue level of billionaires. It's a set of social arrangements that make it possible for anyone to gain and guard and keep so much wealth, even as millions of others lack for food, work, housing, health, connectivity, education, dignity and the occasion to pursue their happiness.<br> &nbsp;</p> </blockquote> <p>Giridharadas argues that society’s rules should not permit such massive disparities in wealth. Fighting infectious diseases is wonderful, but the accumulation of wealth (and its dispersal to pet causes), denies a nation’s citizens the democratic right to create their own priorities. Even “good,” generous billionaires should not get to decide those priorities, he maintains.</p> <p><br> <strong>Discussion</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>What stands out for you in this reading? Why?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you think the ultra-rich should pay more in taxes? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think of the tax reform proposals advanced by Biden and other elected officials?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you agree with Warren Buffett that money is better spent in philanthropy than by governments?&nbsp; Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think of&nbsp;Anand Giridharadas' argument that citizens should be the ones to set priorities, not the ultra-rich?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How can ordinary people affect decisions about how we are taxed?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <hr> <p><br> <strong>Extension Activity</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Ask students to read the entirety of the ProPublica report and write a short essay about what, if any, changes they think&nbsp;should be made to U.S. tax policies - and how they thing such changes could be achieved.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p><br> <strong>Sources</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax">https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates">https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/13/opinion/warren-buffett-billionaire-taxes.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/13/opinion/warren-buffett-billionaire-taxes.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/ultra-millionaire-tax">https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/ultra-millionaire-tax</a></p> <p><a href="https://berniesanders.com/issues/tax-extreme-wealth/">https://berniesanders.com/issues/tax-extreme-wealth/</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Laura McClure</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-06-27T15:08:47-04:00" title="Sunday, June 27, 2021 - 15:08">June 27, 2021</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 27 Jun 2021 19:08:47 +0000 Laura McClure 1596 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org The Minimum Wage - and the Value of a Billion https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/minimum-wage-and-value-billion <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>The Minimum Wage - and the Value of a Billion</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h3><br> <strong>Introduction</strong><br> &nbsp;</h3> <p>Tell students that the minimum wage has been in the news.</p> <p>Ask students:</p> <ul> <li>Why is the minimum wage in the news?</li> <li>What is the current federal minimum wage?</li> </ul> <p>Today we’ll be discussing the minimum wage and it’s comparative value. We’ll also grapple with the true value of a million, a billion, and a trillion dollars.</p> <p>Either have students read the backgrounder below, or share the information with students. See this <a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/sites/default/files/documents-pdfs/Minimum%20Wage%20%26%20A%20Billion%20handout.pdf">pdf version</a> of the two readings below.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'filter_caption' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/filter/templates/filter-caption.html.twig' --> <figure role="group"> <img alt="by Joe Brusky" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="75c95724-28a4-468c-9d92-8c373a62d2c2" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Fast%20Food%20Strike.jpg" width="800" height="532" loading="lazy"> <figcaption><em>Fast food workers struck for higher wages in Milwaukee in 2014 as part of the Fight for 15. Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40969298@N05/14191985265/in/album-72157644271088280/">Joe Brusky</a>.</em></figcaption> </figure> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/filter/templates/filter-caption.html.twig' --> <p><br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><br> <strong>The Value of the Minimum Wage – or Lack of It</strong></h3> <p><a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/sites/default/files/documents-pdfs/Minimum%20Wage%20%26%20A%20Billion%20handout.pdf"><strong><em>pdf version</em></strong></a><br> <br> <br> On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion “rescue plan” to help Americans and the economy recover after a year of pandemic.</p> <p>While many who had been calling for a substantial aid package were happy with the scale of the bill, one thing was noticeably absent: a provision that would raise the federal minimum wage from the present $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour by the year 2025. The version of the passed by &nbsp;the House of Representatives had included this raise. But when the bill got to the Senate, it was removed.</p> <p>The first minimum wage, established during the Great Depression, was 25 cents per hour. That’s probably not as low as it sounds. At that time, you could buy a house for under $4000. A loaf of bread cost 9 cents and tuition at Harvard was $420 a year. As we look at the increases in the minimum wage over the past eight decades, we also have to notice the increase in prices.</p> <p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-us-minimum-wage-and-its-value-has-changed-over-time#1938-1">Business Insider</a> provides a handy comparison of the minimum wage standards in today’s dollars—taking into account that everyday expenses also usually rise in price.</p> <ul> <li>That 25 cents per hour in 1938 would be the equivalent of $4.60 today. As the minimum wage rose, the buying power of that wage rose even higher.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>When it was raised to one dollar in 1956, that was the equivalent of $9.62 an hour in today’s dollars.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>By 1968, when the minimum was $1.60 per hour, that wage would be worth $12.06 per hour today.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>It’s been downhill ever since. The last time the minimum wage was raised, in 2009, the wage per hour became $7.25. Median house prices had risen to $214,000; (white) bread to $1.37; and Harvard, $32,557.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Beginning in 2012, groups of workers and their allies started pushing hard for a significant rise in the federal minimum wage, to $15 an hour: the “Fight for 15.” At the time, leaders of both major political parties – and much of the public – viewed this demand as extreme, or at least politically out of reach.</p> <p>But the movement persisted. Workers and unions organized strikes&nbsp;by childcare and homecare workers, fast food workers, and others, demanding increased wages and also the right to form a union. The movement helped win minimum wage increases at the state and local level, with California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, and Florida all passing laws that gradually raise their state minimum wage to at least $15 per hour. The Democratic Party adopted the $15 minimum wage as part of its platform in 2016.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><br> <strong>Quiz</strong></h3> <p>1. How much (by what percent) has the buying power of the minimum wage fallen since 1968?<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>2. Calculate how much a person would make in a year working 40 hours per week making &nbsp;&nbsp;minimum wage.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>3. Which is the&nbsp;best reason to learn mathematics?</p> <blockquote> <p>a. To get higher grade point average<br> b. Because math skills will be useful for my future job/career<br> c. Because knowing basic math will make me a more informed citizen<br> d. Because I always do what I’m told<br> e. Because it’s fun for me</p> </blockquote> <p>4. Which would you prefer?</p> <blockquote> <p>a. Get a dollar for every second that you’ve been alive<br> b. Get a billion dollars</p> </blockquote> <p>5. How many minutes does it take Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to make the median yearly salary of an Amazon employee ($28,000)?</p> <blockquote> <p>a.&nbsp; 1<br> b.&nbsp; 2<br> c.&nbsp; About 9.5<br> d.&nbsp; About .15<br> e. 60</p> </blockquote> <p><br> <strong>Answers</strong></p> <ol> <li>39%</li> <li>$15,080 (for 52 weeks, not accounting for taxes, Social Security, etc.)</li> <li>Entirely up to you</li> <li>Depending on how old you are, you’d probably get twice as much money with the billion choice</li> <li>d)</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><br> <strong>How Much is A Billion – and Why Should We Care?</strong></h3> <p><a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/sites/default/files/documents-pdfs/Minimum%20Wage%20%26%20A%20Billion%20handout.pdf"><strong><em>pdf version</em></strong></a><br> <br> <br> While the minimum wage has been losing value, the income of the wealthiest Americans has risen steeply in the past decade.</p> <p>In 2009, the annual income someone would need to be part of the top one percent in income was $343,000. In 2019, the minimum income to be included in that top one percent was $422,000.</p> <p>By comparison, people earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 make about $15,000 a year – less than 4 percent of what one percenters make.</p> <p>When discussing the minimum wage, it’s pretty easy to imagine the dollar amounts. We know what $7 looks and feels like and we know about how much it will buy. But when numbers get really large, they tend to get beyond our grasp.</p> <p>When we first learn about numbers, we rely on our fingers. They’re handy:&nbsp; they’re always around, they come in bunches of the very useful “five,” they require the memorization of only ten numbers, they can be used for addition and subtraction (and even multiplication and division). As we get older, we use other everyday objects to learn mathematical concepts – weight, distance, jellybeans, time, blocks, and money. Money is an especially good way to learn and practice math because its practical value is obvious.</p> <p>But all the learning devices for math somehow seem inadequate for really huge numbers. We can be told that there are a trillion stars or a million stars, how could we know the difference? Things that come in such numbers—stars, cells, atoms, or grains of sand—are not humanly countable.&nbsp;</p> <p>Here are some ways to visualize millions and billions:</p> <ul> <li>Tap a pencil on your desk, once each second. If you continued the tapping without stopping for 12 days, you’d get to a million.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>If you had nothing else to do with your life and didn’t need to eat or sleep, you could tap your poor pencil every second for 31 years to get to one billion.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Take a walk for exactly one mile. Now walk around the earth 40 times to approximate one million miles. Some quick math: how many times around the earth for one billion miles?</li> </ul> <p><br> Let’s get back to money and one of the possible answers to the question about why we should learn math. What effect does math literacy have on our society as a whole?</p> <p>Think about how much of our lives depend on how the government taxes and spends. When we earn money working at a job, we pay taxes on that income. The amount we pay depends on how much we earn, but also on the tax rate set by our representatives. That rate is not fixed. Congress sets the tax rates, and they change frequently.</p> <p>Similarly, the amount of money allocated for education, or housing or food stamps, or military hardware and operations is also not fixed. Legislatures at all levels of government are constantly changing their budgets. These, and thousands of other money decisions that affect almost every aspect of our lives are made by the people we elect to lead us. Understanding math might well help us decide which candidates will make money decisions that improve our lives and the quality of life for everyone.</p> <p>Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, has immense wealth—estimated at around $184 billion dollars as of March 2021.</p> <p>Note: It’s important to consider and distinguish between income (which includes wages or salaries as well as investment income per year) and wealth, which is the total value of all a person’s assets minus their liabilities.</p> <p>Bezos’ mind-boggling fortune invites frequent comparisons and equivalencies, as well as ammunition in fight against wealth and income inequality in the U.S. But can we really grasp just how much money he, and other billionaires, have?</p> <p>Here are some measures of the value of the estimated $150 billion in wealth Bezos possessed last year (his wealth has jumped since then):</p> <ul> <li>That $150 billion could buy 17 of the U.S.’s Fortune 500 companies, or the financial giant Goldman Sachs. It’s equal&nbsp; to the GDP of Ukraine’s entire economy.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In the two months from mid-March to mid-May 2020, Bezos increased his wealth by $34 billion. That’s the equivalent of the annual salaries of about 850,000 elementary school teachers.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Bezos, along with two other billionaires, own as much wealth as the bottom one half of the American population (about 160 million people).<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>On days when Amazon stock goes up and Bezos makes $1.5 billion, that amounts to $17,000 every second of the day.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Because of the staggering numbers, the philanthropic giving of billionaires may seem more generous than it actually is. When Jeff Bezos gave $15 million&nbsp; to the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, that charity was about equivalent to that of a $10 gift from an American with the median household wealth of $100,000. Bezos buying a private jet would be like that median-wealth American buying a fitbit.</p> <p>If it’s hard to conceive of Bezos’s billions, is a trillion beyond our grasp entirely? One trillion dollar bills arranged end-to-end would stretch to the sun and back. And Jeff Bezos probably won’t become a trillionaire for another six years.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3><strong>Discussion&nbsp;</strong><br> &nbsp;</h3> <ol> <li>What most strikes you about what we read? Why? Did anything surprise you?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>People and organizations working to end poverty in the United States often talk about a “livable wage”—pay that would take care of basic needs. What do you think are “basic needs”? Why?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Refer to the <a href="https://livingwage.mit.edu/">chart provided by MIT economists</a> calculating a living wage for every state and county in the country. Find the minimum wage, poverty level wage, and livable wage for your own location and discuss. What is the usefulness of the concept of a livable wage?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Senator and (then) presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren proposed a 2-cent tax on every dollar over $50 million dollars of an individual’s wealth. Knowing what you know about wealth inequality in the U.S., does this seem like a good idea? Does this sound like an unfair tax?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The reading refers to the median U.S. household wealth of approximately $100,000. However, this figure obscures a catastrophic <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/02/27/examining-the-black-white-wealth-gap/">racial disparity in wealth</a> in the United States: The median wealth for white households is $171,000, nearly ten times greater than that of Black families ($17,150) in 2016.&nbsp;Were you aware of this gap? What can be done about it?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Billionaires, or the top 1%, have increased their wealth far more than other income groups. How do you think this happens?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Can you think of political issues that revolve around massive sums of money that most people struggle to grasp?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you think the incapacity of many of us to understand what a billion dollars really is affects our political views or ideas about what should happen in this country? Why or why not?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <hr> <h3><br> Sources</h3> <p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/11/09/the-3-richest-americans-hold-more-wealth-than-bottom-50-of-country-study-finds/#10b40c033cf8">https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/11/09/the-3-richest-americans-hold-more-wealth-than-bottom-50-of-country-study-finds/#10b40c033cf8</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/21/american-billionaires-got-434-billion-richer-during-the-pandemic.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/21/american-billionaires-got-434-billion-richer-during-the-pandemic.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/02/08/wealth-concentration-returning-levels-last-seen-during-roaring-twenties-according-new-research/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/02/08/wealth-concentration-returning-levels-last-seen-during-roaring-twenties-according-new-research/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-amazon-how-much-donations-charity-2019-5">https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-amazon-how-much-donations-charity-2019-5</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-us-minimum-wage-and-its-value-has-changed-over-time#1938-1">https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-us-minimum-wage-and-its-value-has-changed-over-time#1938-1</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/income-family-top-1-percent-every-state-2019-4#:~:text=A%20family%20in%20the%20United,more%20than%20%24700%2C000%20in%20Connecticut">https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/income-family-top-1-percent-every-state-2019-4#:~:text</a></p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States</a></p> <p><a href="https://livingwage.mit.edu/">https://livingwage.mit.edu/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/02/27/examining-the-black-white-wealth-gap/">https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/02/27/examining-the-black-white-wealth-gap/</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Laura McClure</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2021-03-19T11:38:07-04:00" title="Friday, March 19, 2021 - 11:38">March 19, 2021</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:38:07 +0000 Laura McClure 1562 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Varsity Blues: College Admissions Scandal https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/varsity-blues-college-admissions-scandal <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Varsity Blues: College Admissions Scandal</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>On March 12, 2019, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling announced the result of a nationwide probe into a massive bribery scheme that had enabled a range of wealthy people to get their children into elite colleges. Fifty people were indicted, including parents, coaches, standardized test administrators, and the alleged ringleader. They were charged with racketeering, money laundering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud, and other related crimes.The investigation was known internally as&nbsp;<em>Operation Varsity Blues.</em><br> &nbsp;</p> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'filter_caption' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/filter/templates/filter-caption.html.twig' --> <figure role="group"> <img alt="Ivy League Flags" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="de878105-5fc2-495d-ae83-8743cb6f1142" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Flags_of_the_Ivy_League.jpg" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy"> <figcaption>By&nbsp;<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kzirkel">Kenneth C. Zirkel</a></figcaption> </figure> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/filter/templates/filter-caption.html.twig' --> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>What do you know about how family wealth enables students to get into top-rated colleges? Take this quiz.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Quiz</h3> <ol> <li>True or false: Students with high enough grades have the same possibility of getting into the college of their choice—regardless of their family’s income.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="2"> <li>What percent of the top 100 colleges in the U.S. give preference in admission to relatives of alumni?</li> </ol> <blockquote> <p>a.&nbsp; &lt;5%<br> b.&nbsp; 13.8%<br> c.&nbsp; Virtually all<br> d.&nbsp; 75%<br> e.&nbsp; Most colleges deny that there is any preference.<br> &nbsp;</p> </blockquote> <ol start="3"> <li>How much did it cost parents caught in the scandal to bribe athletic coaches?<br> <br> a.&nbsp;between $5,000 and $10,000<br> b.&nbsp;between $10,000 and $30,0000<br> c. two&nbsp;tickets to the Super Bowl<br> d.&nbsp;between $100,000 and $6 million<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="4"> <li>What is a “legacy admission?<br> <br> a.&nbsp; a&nbsp;confession of wrongdoing given to a grandchild (or great grandchild)<br> b.&nbsp; tales parents tell children about the great colleges they got into<br> c.&nbsp; getting into a college because your parents went there<br> d.&nbsp; free tickets to Legacy movie theater<br> e.&nbsp; on&nbsp;the West Coast, it refers to historical crimes; in the Southeast to an heirloom worth at least $100,000<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="5"> <li>Which of the following is illegal?<br> <br> a.&nbsp; Donating money to a college and having a child admitted to that college<br> b.&nbsp; Donating money for the construction of a college building and demanding it be named after you<br> c.&nbsp; Studying very hard, getting great grades, perfect SAT scores, tons of excellent recommendations and extracurricular activities and not getting admitted to an elite college<br> d.&nbsp;&nbsp;Paying a college coach to request your child be admitted as a champion water polo player (when they’ve even played the sport)<br> e.&nbsp;&nbsp;All of the above<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="6"> <li>What percent of the Harvard Class of 2021 has relatives who graduated from Harvard?<br> <br> a.&nbsp;&nbsp;3%<br> b.&nbsp;13%<br> c.&nbsp;&nbsp;63%<br> d.&nbsp; 29%<br> e.&nbsp; 50% to 55%<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What is the meaning of “meritocracy”?<br> <br> a.&nbsp; a government in which there is equality of power among all the people<br> b.&nbsp; a creation of JRR Tolkien in which the overlords are called “Merrits”<br> c.&nbsp;&nbsp;a system in which people get ahead based on their talents and ability<br> d.&nbsp; a government or organization ruled by the wealthy</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Answers:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ol> <li>False (Complete this lesson and see why it’s not True)</li> <li>d) &nbsp;According to a study by the Century Foundation</li> <li>d) Actually in one case the payment was $6.5 million</li> <li>c)&nbsp; in some cases, grandparents or other close relatives</li> <li>d)&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li>d) According to a survey by the Harvard Crimson</li> <li>c)</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Reading:&nbsp; Operation Varsity Blues</h3> <p><br> Here’s how the college admissions scam worked, according to the federal charge: A man named William Singer formed a company called The Edge College &amp; Career Network. He recruited a network of people in pivotal positions in the admissions process who were willing to lie and falsify documents, for money. Singer then found wealthy parents who just had to have their children attend the best universities in the country.</p> <p>Using a variety of illegal means, Singer guaranteed the parents that their child would get into the school they wanted.<br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Singer was able to arrange for the students to take their SATs/ACTs in specific locations so that his corrupted test proctor could administer the exam—and change the answers to achieve a specified grade. Singer also helped parents obtain (fake) disability accommodations for the students so they could take the exam alone and with extra time.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Singer arranged bribes for a handful of athletic coaches at select colleges who would then recruit the students to their teams. In order to create a plausible soccer or tennis or swimming&nbsp; history, they invented participation in teams and competitions and even altered photographs to make the application appear convincing. They were not actually expected to join the team or compete once they were admitted.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The bribes were substantial. Parents paid at least $10,000 for falsified tests and from $100,000 to $6 million for a sports admittance.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The payments to Singer were channeled through a phony non-profit organization, which allow the parents to make the bribes and then claim a tax deduction.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p><strong>Legal ways that&nbsp;wealthy families game the admissions system</strong></p> <p><br> Coverage of this criminal conspiracy has prompted some public discussion &nbsp;of the many legal ways that wealthy or well-connected parents ensure that their children attend prestigious universities, and so continue to uphold the family’s high status and social connections.</p> <p>The bribery scandal is making it difficult for colleges to maintain the fiction that students are admitted solely on the basis of merit. Critics point to the many successful high school students who are not admitted to the most selective schools because their families are unable to provide the costly (illegal or legal) boost to their college applications.</p> <p>A note that despite the unfairness and outright corruption that makes it easier for rich or even middle class students to get into elite colleges, some lower-income students<em> are</em> accepted, and those who aspire to go to elite schools should not be discouraged from trying. Further, there is growing awareness and opposition to these unfair policies, and with continued pressure, these policy may change, at least somewhat. (More about that opposition later in the reading.)&nbsp;</p> <p>That said, the legal advantages that come with membership in a wealthy family are pervasive and are largely taken for granted in our society. They can be thought of as affirmative action for the already advantaged. When it comes to college admissions, wealth benefits families in several ways.<br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Legacy Admissions. Some families maintain a relationship with elite schools over many years and multiple generations. As alumni (and expected to be generous alumni), wealthy individuals count on “legacy admissions” for their children. Most of the top universities give preference to legacy students. Harvard, for example, admits about 33 percent of legacy applicants while admitting only about 6 percent of non-legacy students. &nbsp;A sociologist at Princeton found that being a legacy applicant is the admissions equivalent of adding 160 points to a student’s SAT.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Development Cases. For even more consideration from a college admissions office, simply donate $10 or $20 million for a new building or department. President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had unexceptional grades in high school but was admitted to Harvard nevertheless, after his father donated several million dollars in 1998.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Children of “well-connected” parents sometimes get into selective public universities with the help of state officials. When the chancellor of the University of Texas at Austin was found to be exerting influence in admissions, his response was that “Everybody does it.”</li> </ul> <p><br> Even as they are getting their child into a top school, the wealthy are gaining an additional perk. Their donations to colleges are deductible on their income taxes. So people who are able to donate large amounts to colleges get double benefits: Their children get into elite schools and they pay less in taxes. For those families unable to afford large donations, the disadvantages are doubled: Their children have a lower chance of admittance and they pay some more in taxes to make up for the tax deductions of the wealthy.</p> <p>In an article for Forbes Magazine, Josh Freeman wrote:</p> <blockquote> <p>Elite education is predominantly for the rich. And because these institutions disproportionately serve as feeders for positions of wealth, power, and influence, they perpetuate existing social and income disparities. Yet these schools ardently try to claim that they are instead tools for social mobility and equalization.</p> </blockquote> <p>Freeman’s &nbsp;article, titled "The Farce of Meritocracy: Why Legacy Admissions Might Actually Be A Good Thing," goes on to argue that maybe we should just let the elite schools do what they want, but remove the tax subsidies—including the tax deductions for donations, the schools’ non-profit tax status, and the federal aid the schools receive for students and federal research grants.</p> <p><br> <strong>Middle Class Families Have&nbsp;Advantages&nbsp;Too</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <p>It’s not just rich families who can game the system. There are also advantages that students of middle class families may employ in their college pursuit.</p> <ul> <li>Test prep courses are often helpful in boosting SAT or ACT scores, but low-income families often can’t afford them. Free courses are not always available.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>College admissions consultants provide help in all aspects of the application process—from choosing the right schools to choosing the “right” classes and activities to perfect a student’s application essay. They generally cost about $200/hour.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Early admissions policies sometimes make it difficult to maximize financial aid awards, making it riskier for low-income students.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>College recruiters are more active in affluent areas. According to a report from NPR, colleges don’t recruit much from rural areas. One reason is that students from rural areas are more likely to need a lot of financial aid.</li> </ul> <p><br> The advantages that accrue to affluent families in helping their children get into the top schools don’t begin with the college application process. People living in prosperous suburbs or able to afford private education are already advantaged by having better-resourced schools. This is due to the way we finance education in America:&nbsp; through property taxes, which are based on the value of one’s home. So wealthy suburbs generate more money for schools because the property values are much higher. They are also more able to help their children build their college “resume” with summer and afternoon opportunities for enrichment.</p> <p>The impact of non-merit admissions to Ivy League and other elite schools goes beyond the immediate consequence of some worthy students not being admitted because their families lacked proper wealth or connections. Graduation from a top school eases the entry into the top strata of graduate schools, government positions, and corporate leadership. A Yale or Harvard &nbsp;graduate has access to a social network and elite connections that will give them opportunities to make more money and increase their power for the rest of their lives. The admissions policies of these schools play a significant role in maintaining the continuity of a wealthy elite in the United States – a wealthy elite that is generally interested in maintaining a status quo that benefits them.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Activist Opposition is Growing</strong></p> <p>However, there is growing opposition to policies that maintain the stratified status quo and reduce the ability of low-income students to earn more than their parents. Students at highly ranked universities have organized to change admissions policies at their schools. Cornell First Generation Students Union, Socioeconomic Diversity Advocates at the University Chicago, and First-Gens@Brown (along with groups at Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and a host of other top schools) are planning referenda at their schools to demonstrate student opposition to legacy priority.</p> <p>EdMobilizer Coalition is a national organization that includes representatives from over 30 colleges that advocates for low-income students. Their mission is to “to increase post-secondary opportunities for first-generation, low-income, and/or undocumented students through tackling systemic barriers, changing policy, and building coalitions for change.”</p> <p>Over a year ago, they began a campaign for transparency around legacy admission policies. Other groups like Harvard College First Generation Student Union, and Hidden Minority Council at Princeton are working to make it easier for low-income students to stay in school after being admitted. IvyG, a coalition of first-generation student groups, has organized a campaign to eliminate application fees, making it easier for low-income students to apply to multiple schools.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>For Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h3> <ol> <li>Do you think colleges should end legacy admissions?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Colleges might lose large sums of money if they didn’t give preference to children of donors or alumni. &nbsp;How would you address this concern?</li> </ol> <ol start="3"> <li>Should the students who were admitted to college through bribery be expelled? What if they were unaware of the scheme?</li> </ol> <ol start="4"> <li>If you were designing a whole new system of education in the U.S., how would you make sure that students in all communities had the opportunity to attend quality schools?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Elite colleges typically offer smaller classes and&nbsp;more attention and support for students. Do you think every college student should have these advantages -- perhaps particularly students who come from low-income or working class families?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What can students do to help make the education system more fair?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What can be done to increase the number of low-income students or students of color in college?&nbsp;</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Sources<br> &nbsp;</h3> <p><a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/13/investigation-finds-ut-austin-president-influenced-admissions-decisions">https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/13/investigation-finds-ut-austin-president-influenced-admissions-decisions</a><br> <br> <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/under-20percent-of-americans-think-the-college-admissions-process-is-fair.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/20/under-20percent-of-americans-think-the-college-admissions-process-is-fair.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/college-admissions-scandal-fbi-targets-wealthy-parents/584695/">https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/college-admissions-scandal-fbi-targets-wealthy-parents/584695/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/colleges-rarely-recruit-students-from-rural-high-schools/550149/">https://www.educationdive.com/news/colleges-rarely-recruit-students-from-rural-high-schools/550149/</a></p> <p><a href="https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-much-do-college-donations-help-college-applications">https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-much-do-college-donations-help-college-applications</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/6/20/admissions-docs-legacy/">https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/6/20/admissions-docs-legacy/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/02/when-affirmative-action-benefits-the-wealthy/553313/">https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/02/when-affirmative-action-benefits-the-wealthy/553313/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Why-meritocracy-is-a-myth-in-college-admissions-13690858.php">https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/Why-meritocracy-is-a-myth-in-college-admissions-13690858.php</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/02/when-affirmative-action-benefits-the-wealthy/553313/">https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/02/when-affirmative-action-benefits-the-wealthy/553313/</a></p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Laura McClure</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2019-04-05T12:32:45-04:00" title="Friday, April 5, 2019 - 12:32">April 5, 2019</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:32:45 +0000 Laura McClure 1303 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Roots of Racial Injustice: Housing https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/roots-racial-injustice-housing <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Roots of Racial Injustice: Housing</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Gathering</h4> <p>What is the racial makeup of your neighborhood?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>&nbsp;</h4> <h4>Introduction</h4> <p><br> Write this fact on the board:</p> <ul> <li>Black families have less than one-tenth the wealth of white families in the U.S.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p><br> Note: Wealth is different from income. Household wealth is the measure of the total assets a family has (their home, savings, a car), minus any liabilities, such as a home mortgage and other debt.</p> <p><br> Share that:</p> <ul> <li>The median wealth for black households in the U.S. in 2016 was:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $13,460</li> <li>The median wealth for white households in the U.S. in 2016 was: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $142,180&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p><br> Median means that half of people fall above this number, half below.</p> <p><br> Ask participants:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What impact might it have on a family to have one-tenth of the wealth of another family?&nbsp; Consider the impact on the family’s housing, education or health. &nbsp;</li> <li>What might be the impact on future generations of this family?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p><br> List participants’ responses on the board.</p> <p><br> Share that:</p> <ul> <li>About two-thirds of the average family’s wealth comes from the value of their home.</li> <li>Black families are much less likely to own their own home than white families (41% vs. 64%), and home values are lower in Black communities that white, on average.</li> </ul> <p><br> Today we will discuss some reasons why things came to be this way.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Small Group Reading and Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Ask participants to break into groups of 3-5.&nbsp; Give each group copies of this handout: <strong><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/sites/default/files/documents-pdfs/A%20LIttle%20History%20of%20Housing.pdf">A Little History of Housing</a></strong>. The handout is also included at the bottom of this lesson.</p> <p><br> <strong>1. </strong>Ask participants to read Part One, and then, in their small groups, discuss the question at the end of part 1:</p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Do you think we still see evidence of these early policies today? Where?</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p><br> <strong>2. </strong>Ask participants to read Part Two, and then, in their small groups, discuss the question at the end of that section.&nbsp; Next, ask participants to report back to the whole class on their discussion about this question: &nbsp;</p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>The Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” Do you think the FHA’s policies violated the 14th Amendment? Why or why not?</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Note: The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments (the “Reconstruction Amendments”) were all passed after the Civil War in an effort to establish equality for African Americans. The amendments are included at the bottom of the reading.</p> <p><br> <strong>3.&nbsp; </strong>Ask participants to read Part Three, and then, in their small groups, discuss the question at the end of that section. Next, ask participants to report back to the whole class on their discussion about this question:</p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Which policy do you think has the greatest impact on us today? Why?</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Tally responses, and see if the group has a consensus on this.</p> <p><br> <strong>4. </strong>Ask participants to read Part Four, and then, in their small groups, discuss the question at the end of that section:</p> <ul> <li>If you know the story of previous generations in your family, do you know if they were affected by policies we have read about? How?<br> <br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Whole-Group Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Reconvene the whole group.&nbsp;</p> <p><br> Read aloud this quote by David Callahan of the public policy group Demos, which challenges those who have privilege and wealth to consider where this wealth came from:&nbsp;</p> <blockquote> <p>“….Family wealth can take generations to build – and confers advantages that grow over time. If your great-grandparents bought a home, chances are that your grandparents inherited at least some wealth from them. Which maybe means that your parents didn't have to take out loans to go to college and got a helping hand with a down payment for a house early in life in a neighborhood with top schools. Which means that you got a great public education instead of a lousy one, allowing you to get into a good college and set yourself up to confer advantages on your own kids. And so on.”</p> </blockquote> <p><br> Discuss some or all of the following questions:<br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>Given the generational “multiplier effect” Callahan describes, how do you think the housing policies we have been discussing may have either benefited or harmed your family?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="2"> <li>Are most of the students at your school predominately from one racial group or ethnicity? If so, do you think discriminatory housing policies may have affected this? How?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="3"> <li>Is your neighborhood or community primarily made up of people from one racial group or ethnicity? If so, do you think discriminatory housing policies may have affected this?&nbsp; How?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="4"> <li>If your community and/or school are racially segregated, has this resulted in fewer interracial friendships? What are some of the consequences of missing out on cross-racial friendships?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="5"> <li>If your school and/or community are diverse, how do you think this came to be?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="6"> <li>If you don’t know your community’s racial history, how might you research it?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="7"> <li>How would you respond to someone who argues that segregation results from the prejudiced actions of individuals (real estate agents, individual homeowners, lenders, and landlords)?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ol> <ol start="8"> <li>In his book The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein explains how governments at all levels used laws, ordinances, procedures, and non-enforcement to keep black people from buying or renting in white neighborhoods – and how these government policies harmed African American citizens. Rothstein believes that federal housing policy violated the U.S. Constitution’s protections against discrimination under the law, and that “if there's a violation of those constitutional provisions, there's a constitutional obligation to remedy it, to reverse that violation.”</li> </ol> <blockquote> <p>Discuss:</p> </blockquote> <blockquote> <ul> <li>What do you think of Rothstein’s reasoning?</li> <li>What might we propose to remedy this situation?</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Closing</h4> <p><br> What is one thing you’d like to better understand about your home or community and how you came to live there?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>&nbsp;</h4> <h4>Sources<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/">https://www.epi.org/publication/the-color-of-law-a-forgotten-history-of-how-our-government-segregated-america/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america">https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-federal-government-intentionally-racially-segregated-american-cities-180963494/">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-federal-government-intentionally-racially-segregated-american-cities-180963494/</a></p> <p><a href="https://thenib.com/america-s-shameful-history-of-housing-discrimination">https://thenib.com/america-s-shameful-history-of-housing-discrimination</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.demos.org/blog/11/11/13/how-gi-bill-left-out-african-americans">http://www.demos.org/blog/11/11/13/how-gi-bill-left-out-african-americans</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.asu.edu/courses/aph294/total-readings/silver%20--%20racialoriginsofzoning.pdf">https://www.asu.edu/courses/aph294/total-readings/silver%20--%20racialoriginsofzoning.pdf</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2016/12/15/294374/the-united-states-history-of-segregated-housing-continues-to-limit-affordable-housing/">https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2016/12/15/294374/the-united-states-history-of-segregated-housing-continues-to-limit-affordable-housing/</a></p> <p><a href="https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/national-housing-act-1934/">https://livingnewdeal.org/glossary/national-housing-act-1934/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/05/17/528822128/the-color-of-law-details-how-u-s-housing-policies-created-segregation">https://www.npr.org/2017/05/17/528822128/the-color-of-law-details-how-u-s-housing-policies-created-segregation</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/preeti-vissa/how-the-us-government-pro_b_1005228.html">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/preeti-vissa/how-the-us-government-pro_b_1005228.html</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.asu.edu/courses/aph294/total-readings/silver%20--%20racialoriginsofzoning.pdf">https://www.asu.edu/courses/aph294/total-readings/silver%20--%20racialoriginsofzoning.pdf</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/press/release/2018/02/21/447047/release-new-cap-report-concludes-black-white-wealth-gap-widening-targeted-policies-necessary-close/">https://www.americanprogress.org/press/release/2018/02/21/447047/release-new-cap-report-concludes-black-white-wealth-gap-widening-targeted-policies-necessary-close/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2015/12/08/census-shows-modest-declines-in-black-white-segregation/">https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2015/12/08/census-shows-modest-declines-in-black-white-segregation/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/5/17080218/school-segregation-getting-worse-data">https://www.vox.com/2018/3/5/17080218/school-segregation-getting-worse-data</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/the-racial-wealth-gap-how-african-americans-have-been-shortchanged-out-of-the-materials-to-build-wealth/">https://www.epi.org/blog/the-racial-wealth-gap-how-african-americans-have-been-shortchanged-out-of-the-materials-to-build-wealth/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/reconstruction-amendments/">http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/reconstruction-amendments/</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Reading:&nbsp; A Little History of Housing</h3> <p>(<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/sites/default/files/documents-pdfs/A%20LIttle%20History%20of%20Housing.pdf">Click here for the pdf version</a>.)</p> <h4><br> Part One: After Slavery</h4> <p><br> In 1900, 35 years after slavery ended, four-fifths of African-Americans in the South lived in rural areas. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, many African-Americans began moving from rural areas of the South to southern cities.</p> <p><br> City governments in this part of the country, reacted by passing laws to promote racial segregation.</p> <p><br> On May 15, 1911, the mayor of Baltimore, J. Barry Mahool, signed into law the country’s first racial segregation ordinance. The law prohibited blacks from buying a house on a block that was majority white. The mayor explained:&nbsp;</p> <p><br> “Blacks should be quarantined in isolated slums in order to reduce the incidents of civil disturbance, to prevent the spread of communicable disease into the nearby white neighborhoods, and to protect property values among the white majority.”</p> <p><br> During early 1900s, in what came to be known as the Great Migration, some 6 million African Americans moved north to escape the violence and terror they experienced in the rural south.&nbsp; As blacks began to move into northern cities, many of these cities followed Baltimore’s lead in legislating where blacks could and could not live.</p> <p><br> The Supreme Court ruled against these laws in 1917. However, cities continued to encourage segregation with city planning language that was less overtly racial.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Discuss:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about what you just read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Do you think we still see evidence of these early policies today? Where? How?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <h4>Part Two: The federal government legislates housing<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>During the Great Depression of the 1930s, millions of people were unable to pay their mortgages and lost their homes. The banks that survived virtually stopped lending money for home purchases. In 1934, Congress passed the National Housing Act to resuscitate the housing industry and make it possible for people to obtain mortgages once again.</p> <p><br> The newly created Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulated and revamped the mortgage process, and most importantly, insured home mortgages so that the banks were able to lend money without fear of not getting paid back.</p> <p><br> Unfortunately, the help the FHA provided went almost entirely to white people. FHA policies excluded and segregated black people:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>The FHA refused to insure mortgages in or near black neighborhoods.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The FHA subsidized the construction of huge housing developments that explicitly excluded blacks.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The Home Owners Loan Corporation (a federal agency) produced maps that designated white neighborhoods as safe for loans and black neighborhoods as unsafe for loans.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>These maps were then used by other agencies insuring home loans like the FHA and the Veterans Administration.<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>New housing projects were segregated by race—sometimes bringing segregation to areas that had been integrated racially before.</li> </ul> <p><br> The FHA based their discrimination on the theory that blacks moving into white areas would reduce property values and thereby put the loans at risk. However, there were no studies to support this idea. In fact, African American home buyers often increased the property values because they were willing to pay higher purchase prices to move into a white neighborhood.</p> <p><br> The Underwriting Manual of the FHA was quite explicit:&nbsp; "Incompatible racial groups should not be permitted to live in the same communities." The manual also recommended that highways be used as a physical divider between black and white neighborhoods. These barriers continue to divide city neighborhoods today, often cutting off black neighborhoods and depriving them of growth.</p> <p><img alt="FHA Manual" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ee7c0988-7cd9-4177-9845-56035d04dd02" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/FHA%20Manual.jpg" width="715" height="233" loading="lazy"></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Discuss:</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about what you just read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>The Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees all citizens “equal protection of the laws.” Do you think the FHA’s policies violated the 14th Amendment? Why or why not?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Note: The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments (the “Reconstruction Amendments”) were all passed after the Civil War in an effort to establish equality for African Americans. The amendments are included at the bottom of the reading.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <h4>Part 3:&nbsp; After World War 2<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>The segregation policies continued through the 1940s and 1950s.<br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>During World War II, the FHA would not approve a new housing development for whites until a six-foot wall was built to separate the development from a black neighborhood. Detroit’s “Eight Mile Wall” (named for its location, not for its length) still exists, though it is no longer a racial housing barrier.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>From the end of the 1930s to the mid 1950s, the FHA supported over 60% of home purchases in the U.S. Only 2% of these loans went to black Americans.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>The GI Bill (also known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944) was a law that provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans, including low-interest housing loans and college aid. It was enormously successful in helping returning white veterans get a leg up in society after the war. But black vets were largely excluded from the benefits. For example, of the first 67,000 mortgages supported by the Veterans Administration under the GI Bill, only 100 went to blacks. This was largely because the FHA would not guarantee mortgages for black families.<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul> <li>The late 1940s and 1950s saw many large-scale suburban housing developments supported by the FHA. The houses were inexpensive and the down payments were small. Most excluded blacks.</li> </ul> <p><br> <strong>Discuss:</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about what you just read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Which policy do you think has the greatest impact on us today? Why?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Part 4:&nbsp; What the Civil Rights Movement Won<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>In 1968, as a result of a massive civil rights movement, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, which made overt racial discrimination less prevalent. But it included only weak enforcement provisions and no measures to reverse or mitigate past government-sanctioned segregation or compensation for victims of those discriminatory policies.</p> <p><br> Under the Fair Housing Act, black Americans could buy a house wherever they wanted (at least officially). But at that point, houses were nowhere near as affordable as they had been in the 1940s and 1950s. And home prices have continued to rise since then. FHA-financed suburban homes that whites bought in the 1950s for about twice the median income now sell for about 6-8 times the median income. The post-World War II FHA-financed houses in Levittown, NY, which were not available to blacks, sold for $8,000. Today, they sell for $400,000.</p> <p><br> <strong>Discuss:</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about what you just read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>If you know the story of previous generations in your family, do you know if they were affected by policies we have read about? How?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>The 'Reconstruction Amendments'<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p><strong>The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Article XIII</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> Ratified December 6, 1865</p> <p>Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.</p> <p>Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Article XIV (Section 1 of 5 sections)</strong><br> Ratified July 9, 1868</p> <p>Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Article XV</strong><br> Ratified February 3, 1870</p> <p>Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.</p> <p>Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Laura McClure</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2018-05-19T12:22:37-04:00" title="Saturday, May 19, 2018 - 12:22">May 19, 2018</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sat, 19 May 2018 16:22:37 +0000 Laura McClure 1202 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Intersectionality: What Is It? How Can It Help Us? https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/intersectionality-what-it-how-can-it-help-us <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Intersectionality: What Is It? How Can It Help Us?</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>To the Teacher:<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Feminism was Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2017.&nbsp; The dictionary’s definition of&nbsp;<em>feminism</em>&nbsp;is twofold:</p> <p>1. “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”</p> <p>2. “organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.”&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Intersectionality</em>&nbsp;was another word recognized by Merriam Webster in 2017. Merriam Webster called it a “<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/intersectionality-meaning">word we’re watching</a>.” The Merriam Webster definition of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intersectionality">intersectionality</a>&nbsp;is:</p> <p>“the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.”&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>The word was added to the dictionary in April of 2017, even though it’s been around since the late 1980s, when civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term in a paper to help explain the oppression of black women. While all women are oppressed as women, Crenshaw argues that it is important to recognize that some women’s oppression is compounded by racism.&nbsp; This compounded oppression, moreover, disproportionately places women of color in the ranks of the working class and poor.&nbsp; Crenshaw and others have argued, as a result, that race and class must be central to the movement of women’s liberation if it is to be meaningful to women who are most oppressed.&nbsp;</p> <p>Of course intersectionality was a lived reality before Crenshaw coined the term in 1989. But creating a term for the interconnected and compounded oppressions of gender, race and class and allowed the dynamic to come into focus and be discussed in ways it hadn’t before.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Gathering<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Write the word intersectionality on the board.&nbsp; Ask students if they’ve heard of the term.&nbsp; Do they know what it means? &nbsp;Consider taking it apart into “inter” and “section.”&nbsp; Consider what an intersection in the road is.</p> <p>Elicit and explain that intersectionality refers to the “complex, overlapping effects of multiple forms of discrimination, such as racism, sexism, and classism.”&nbsp;</p> <p>The term was coined in the late 1980s by civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw to help explain the oppression of women of color, as different from the oppression of women in general (including white women), and different also from the oppression of people of color in general (including men of color).&nbsp; Crenshaw and others since her have pointed to the compounding oppressions experienced by women of color.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Video Clip: Explaining Intersectionality<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Show the following Teaching Tolerance video clip to introduce intersectionality to your students:&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6dnj2IyYjE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6dnj2IyYjE</a></p> <p>Invite students to turn to a neighbor to discuss the video using some or all of the following questions:</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about this clip?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How did Kimberlé Crenshaw come to coin the term “intersectionality?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What are your thoughts about the term?&nbsp; Why do you think it’s important to have words to describe people’s experience?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>According to the video “intersectionality refers to the reality that we all have multiple identities that intersect to make us who we are.”&nbsp; What are some of the identities portrayed in this video?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How do these intersecting identities work out for Jerry, Fatima and Gretta?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>According to the video “intersectionality” gives us a way to talk about the “oppressions and privileges that overlap and reinforce each other.” &nbsp;Why could this be useful?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How does it relate to the video we just watched?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How do you see intersectionality relating to the people in your life/the people in your community?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Intersectionality &amp; the Women’s March in 2017 and 2018</h4> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Reading 1</strong><br> <br> <br> Distribute the first handout and invite students to read it. (<a href="/sites/default/files/files/Handout%201%20Womens%20March%202017.pdf">Download the pdf handout here</a>, or see it below.)&nbsp;</p> <p>Split your class into small groups of 3-5 students and invite them to discuss the handout after reading it, using some or all of the following questions:</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about the article you just read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How does it relate to the notion of intersectionality we’ve been exploring today?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about feminism?&nbsp; White feminism?&nbsp; Black feminism?&nbsp; Intersectional feminism?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How did different women feel unwelcome or excluded from the march?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about longer-term goals of the march?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about solidarity and unity?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about opportunities for learning and growth?</li> </ul> <p>Reconvene the class and ask students from each group to share their responses to some of the questions. Clarify any misconceptions you can, and record any questions that need further exploration.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Reading 2</strong></p> <p><br> Distribute the second handout and invite students to read it. (<a href="/sites/default/files/files/Handout%202%20Womens%20March%202018.pdf">Download the pdf handout here</a>, or see it below.)&nbsp;</p> <p>In the same small groups of 3-5 students, invite them to discuss the handout after reading it, using some or all of the following questions:</p> <ul> <li>What are your thoughts and feelings about the article you just read?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How does it relate to the notion of intersectionality we’ve been exploring today?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>How does the article compare the Women’s March on Washington from last year with the Power to the Polls chapter of the movement this year?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about feminism?&nbsp; White feminism?&nbsp; Black feminism?&nbsp; Intersectional feminism?&nbsp; Do different groups have different responsibilities?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>What does the article say about strategic organizing?<br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>Again reconvene the class and ask students from each group to share their responses to some of the questions. Clarify any misconceptions you can, and record any questions that need further exploration.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Closing</h4> <p><br> Ask students to turn to a partner to discuss what they learned about intersectionality today.&nbsp; Ask a few students to share out.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Handout 1:&nbsp;<br> The Women’s March, January 2017</h4> <p><br> The notion of intersectional feminism received increased attention early in 2017, as energy around the Women’s March on Washington picked up. The march, which began organically as a grassroots effort on Facebook, was criticized almost immediately for failing to include women of color among its organizers.&nbsp;</p> <p>This changed as a more diverse team of women stepped up to help coordinate the effort. After the initial criticism, organizers took care to highlight the experiences of women of color and undocumented immigrant women.</p> <p>But all this opened up discussions about race, racism, and the often unexamined privileges that white women enjoy. What would true solidarity and unity in the women’s movement really mean?</p> <p>The march, which took place just one day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, brought up strong feelings, especially among women of color, about the fact that 53% of the white women who voted, had voted for Trump. A vocal segment of black feminists questioned the march organizers’ call for solidarity across racial lines, when white women hadn’t made enough of an effort to even win over a majority of their own ranks in the election.&nbsp; And where was the solidarity when, in the words of Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garcia, “our people are being killed in the streets, jobless, homeless, over-incarcerated, undereducated”?</p> <p>The discussion and debate caused some white women to voice discomfort. But the march’s national organizers saw the conversation as an important one that needed to be had.</p> <p>“This was an opportunity to take the conversation to the deep places,” said Linda Sarsour, a march organizer who is Muslim and who heads the Arab American Association of New York. “Sometimes you are going to upset people.”</p> <p>Said Anne Valk, the author of “Radical Sisters,” a book about racial and class differences in the women’s movement:&nbsp;</p> <p>If your short-term goal is to get as many people as possible at the march, maybe you don’t want to alienate people… But if your longer-term goal is to use the march as a catalyst for progressive social and political change, then that has to include thinking about race and class privilege.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Despite the changes in the march’s leadership and stated focus, the 2017 march was still seen by many as centering mostly on cisgender, straight, white, middle-class women and their issues. These issues include breaking the glass ceiling in corporate America (that is, getting more women promoted to executive positions), and getting a women elected President. &nbsp;(Note: the word “cisgender” or “cis” refers to people who exclusively identify with their sex assigned at birth. The term is used to call attention to the privilege of people who are not transgender.)</p> <p>Said Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA:</p> <p>In times like this, there is a real danger that feminism itself can function in an exclusionary manner by marginalizing less powerful and less privileged women and allies – the very people who most need feminism today.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>That said, the 2017 women’s march on Washington, and sister marches around the country, packed a massive punch of resistance.&nbsp; Along the way, there were opportunities for learning, for growth, and for harnessing the power of that punch in the run up to the 2018 women’s rallies and marches that followed.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>&nbsp;</h4> <h4>Handout 2:<br> The Women’s March &amp; Power to the Polls, January 2018</h4> <p><br> Throughout 2017, Women’s March organizers worked to keep the momentum going and make the movement more inclusive.&nbsp; That momentum was helped along by the powerful #MeToo movement, which caught fire in October 2017, leading millions of women across the world to expose and demand an end to sexual harassment and abuse.</p> <p>The 2018 Women’s March events, which once again drew masses of people into the streets in cities across the U.S. (and beyond), called not only for an end to sexual abuse and violence against women, but also for reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, worker’s rights, civil rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, and environment justice.&nbsp; Women of color once again led the way. “This is a movement where we're trying to get people to understand that we must follow women of color, where trans folks and indigenous folks and other marginal people must be at the center,” said Women’s March co-chair Carmen Perez. “It can be hard for the people used to being in charge to step back.”&nbsp;</p> <p>The events also kicked off the next chapter of organizing, which activists called “Power to the Polls.” The aim: to get women and their allies out to vote in the 2018 midterm elections to support progressive candidates running for seats in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and state and local government.&nbsp; (The mid-term elections include primary elections in each state, followed by a national general election on November 6, 2018.)</p> <p>Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour told Elle: “<a href="http://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a15755101/power-to-the-polls-one-year-after-the-womens-march/">We’re working</a>&nbsp;on a ten-city tour of voter engagement and registration to bring training, momentum, and capacity building to local communities.”&nbsp; The goal, she said, “is to see headlines on November 7 reading … ‘It was women's political strategy that won back the House and the Senate.’” &nbsp;She added: &nbsp;"We are going to the polls to support progressive candidates who uphold our platform and values. Everyone will be held accountable to that progressive platform … even Democratic women.”</p> <p>For strategic reasons, the main event this year was held in Las Vegas, in the key battleground state of Nevada. &nbsp;The Women’s March organization sponsored a “Power to the Polls” rally in Las Vegas on January 21, 2018. Organizers said they aimed to mobilize disenfranchised communities in other battleground states like Nevada. Speakers at the event, including Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza and Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (who coined the term “intersectionality”), emphasized the particular struggles of immigrants, members of the LGBTQIA community, and women of color.</p> <p>“Stand up for me, white women. Come to my aid,” Women’s March leader Tamika Mallory said in a speech. “You say you want to be my friend? I don’t want to hear it from your mouth. I want to see it when you go to the polls at the midterm elections.”</p> <p>And so as people marked the anniversary of the historic Women’s March on Washington, intersectional feminism took center stage in events across the country.&nbsp; Women of color took charge and led the way.&nbsp;</p> <p>Said Sarsour:&nbsp; “We need all tactics, all strategies, all hands on deck. And this is a moment where we have to all come to the place that, unity is not uniformity. But we can all still be aligned by mission, and hopefully we'll meet on the other side where there's justice.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>Sara Carrero</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2018-01-28T09:30:44-05:00" title="Sunday, January 28, 2018 - 09:30">January 28, 2018</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 28 Jan 2018 14:30:44 +0000 Sara Carrero 1147 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Bathrooms & Transgender Students https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/bathrooms-transgender-students <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Bathrooms &amp; Transgender Students</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>To the Teacher:</h4> <p><br> Please carefully review the lesson in advance, consider the topic, and assess your students’ readiness to engage in a discussion of this issue.&nbsp; These <a href="http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/discussing-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-identity-and-issues.pdf">guidelines</a>&nbsp;for discussing transgender issues from the Anti-Defamation League might be helpful. &nbsp;You might also review our guidelines for discussing <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/teaching-about-controversial-or-difficult-issues">controversial issues</a>.</p> <p>Before opening up the discussion with students, familiarize yourself with transgender identity and issues (if you aren’t already familiar), and read this <a href="http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/terminology-related-to-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-identity.pdf" target="_blank">glossary of terms</a>&nbsp; from ADL, which is included in the lesson below.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Learning Objectives</h4> <p><br> Students will:</p> <ul> <li>learn about transgender identity and issues, including the controversy about public bathrooms</li> <li>brainstorm how to make their school safe and welcoming for transgender students</li> <li>take action toward transgender equity</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Introduction</h4> <p><br> Tell students that public bathroom use has recently become a controversial political topic. Ask them what they have heard or read about laws regarding public bathroom use. Accept student answers and write them on chart paper or the board. If you see inaccurate items or items that suggest a lack of understanding, explain to students that throughout the lesson they will return to this list and correct any inaccuracies or misunderstandings.</p> <p>Before students can engage in meaningful discussion about transgender issues, they need to be familiar with the meaning of "transgender" and other related terms. &nbsp;The Anti-Defamation League defines "transgender" this way:&nbsp;</p> <p class="rteindent1">An umbrella term for people whose gender identify differs from the sex they were assigned at birth and/or whose gender expression do not match society’s expectations with regard to gender roles.... Transgender people may or may not choose to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically.</p> <p>You might also share with students this <a href="http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/terminology-related-to-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-identity.pdf">glossary of terms</a>, either by printing and distributing it, or by posting it on a chart in the classroom. If you think it would be useful for your students, read aloud each term and definition, clarifying any confusion. &nbsp;The definitions may be helpful in dispelling misconceptions that students expressed earlier. &nbsp;Make the corrections on the chart you made with students at the beginning of the lesson.<br> <br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>The News &amp; our Reactions</h4> <p><br> Explain that on May 13, 2016, the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Education issued a directive to public schools across the country to allow students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, even if that identity does not match the gender identity they were assigned at birth.&nbsp;</p> <p>The directive is not a law, so schools are not required to abide by it. But those who support transgender rights see it as a strong show of support from the Obama administration. &nbsp;Officials said&nbsp;they issued the guidelines in response to inquiries from educators, parents and students asking for clarity on the issue. &nbsp;Many schools across the country, including New York City's public schools, have had similar guidelines in place for several years, with few if any problems. But some politicians, education leaders and others opposed the new guidelines, arguing that the federal government had overstepped its authority.&nbsp;</p> <p>If students would like more information about the guidelines, give them the opportunity to read this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/us/politics/obama-administration-to-issue-decree-on-transgender-access-to-school-restrooms.html?_r=0">New York Times article</a> about it.</p> <p>Give students a chance to react to the guidelines by writing for one or two minutes. Explain that they do not need to share what they have written; the writing is just for them to clarify their responses.</p> <p>Ask volunteers to share their thoughts or feelings. Accept everything students share, taking time to provide information that may clear up misunderstandings.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> The Controversy in North Carolina<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Now expand your focus from the directive about school bathrooms to the bathroom situation in North Carolina.</p> <p>In a recent speech, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that the laws defining who may use which public bathrooms and the Justice Department’s responses to those laws are "about a great deal more than just bathrooms."</p> <p>Ask students what else the issue is about. Urge them to think about access to public places as a right that people have in the United States. Again, if something comes up that corrects a misconception on the chart the class compiled at the beginning of the lesson, make the correction.</p> <p>Then share the rest of Lynch’s statement about the larger issues involved in the controversy:</p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them - indeed, to protect all of us.&nbsp; And it’s about the founding ideals that have led this country - haltingly but inexorably - in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans.</p> <p>Ask students to reflect on their knowledge of history and current events. What steps has the country taken to ensure "fairness, inclusion and equality"?<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Class Brainstorm</h4> <p><br> Ask students to brainstorm answers to this question: &nbsp; How can we make our school safe, respectful, and welcoming for transgender students?</p> <p>List the actions that students identify. &nbsp;Ask students to consider both actions they could take together and actions they could take as individuals. Discuss the steps they need to take to put these ideas into practice. Tell students that the class will return to this action list in the coming weeks to see what progress they've made in improving the school climate for transgender students.</p> <p>Return to the chart with which you began this lesson. Ask students to change any remaining questions or misunderstandings, and add any new information they have learned so that the chart is accurate and complete.<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Exploring In More Depth</h4> <p>The following activities have students look in greater depth at North Carolina’s law, known as HB2, and the Justice Department’s response to it.</p> <p><br> <strong>1. North Carolina House Bill 2</strong></p> <p>If you would like your students to learn more about the bathroom controversy, summarize North Carolina’s HB2 law this way:</p> <p>North Carolina passed a law, known as HB2, that requires people to use the public bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. Ask students to use their understanding of the term "transgender" to answer the question: &nbsp;How do you think HB2 will affect transgender people?</p> <p>Remind students that once the government passes a law, it is also responsible for enforcing it. Ask: How do you think the government will enforce HB2?</p> <p>If you want to make this a civics/primary-source activity, instead of explaining HB2, have students read it at <a href="http://ncleg.net/Sessions/2015E2/Bills/House/PDF/H2v1.pdf">this link</a>. Have them use the following to guide their reading of the law.</p> <ul> <li>Summarize the "Whereas" section of the bill.</li> <li>What does the term "biological sex" mean in this bill?</li> <li>What does the law say about who may use which bathroom?</li> <li>Use your understanding of the term "transgender" to answer the question: How does HB2 affect transgender students?</li> <li>How do you think the government will enforce HB2?</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>2. The Justice Department on North Carolina’s HB2</strong></p> <p>The U.S. Justice Department announced that it will file a civil rights suit against the state of North Carolina because of HB2. Watch this video of Attorney General Loretta Lynch explaining why. Show the<a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/05/09/loretta-lynch-north-carolina-bathroom-bill-lawsuit-entire-statement.cnn"> 7-minute video</a>, or have students read the text <a href="http://www.wcnc.com/news/politics/national-politics/full-remarks-from-loretta-lynch-on-hb2/182944341">here</a>.</p> <p>Provide the following questions before students watch the video or read the speech to help provide direction to their listening or reading.</p> <ul> <li>After Attorney General Loretta Lynch summarizes HB2, what does she say about how it relates to U.S. federal law?</li> <li>Why did North Carolina sue the Department of Justice?</li> <li>How is the Department of Justice responding?</li> <li>What historical examples does Lynch cite as evidence that this kind of backlash against civil rights progress has happened before?</li> <li>What does Lynch say to the people of North Carolina?</li> <li>What does she say to the transgender community?</li> </ul> <p><br> Divide the class in half. Assign each group one of the following quotes from Lynch’s announcement. Have each group discuss the meaning of the quote, and respond to it based on their knowledge of transgender identity and issues, civil rights, and American history. Ask each group to share its main ideas with the rest of the class.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Quote 1:</strong></p> <p>By passing HB2, "the legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security - a right taken for granted by most of us."</p> <p><br> <strong>Quote 2:</strong></p> <p>"Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself. Some of you have lived freely for decades. Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead. But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. Please know that history is on your side. This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time. It may not be easy - but we’ll get there together."</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-05-16T17:09:36-04:00" title="Monday, May 16, 2016 - 17:09">May 16, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Mon, 16 May 2016 21:09:36 +0000 fionta 395 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Global Shockwave: The Panama Papers https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/global-shockwave-panama-papers <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Global Shockwave: The Panama Papers</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>Quick Quiz</h4> <p><br> <strong>Question: </strong>Which "papers" have recently been in the news?</p> <p><br> 1) Pickwick Papers</p> <p>2) Pentagon Papers</p> <p>3) Panama Papers</p> <p>4) Federalist Papers<br> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Answer:&nbsp;</strong> 3)</p> <p><br> Ask volunteers to read the following out loud, or ask students to read silently.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>2.6 Terabytes of Tax Avoidance</h4> <p><br> Unless you were hiding a massive amount of money in a phony company, you'd have no reason to know about a Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca.</p> <p>But on April 3, 2016, that changed. On that day, a coalition of over 100 media outlets made public a project they all had been working on in secret for over a year.</p> <p>Someone leaked or hacked an enormous number of documents from the Mossack Fonseca law firm--over 11 million documents. The documents were leaked to a German newspaper called the Suddeutsche Zeitung, which shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The ICIJ describes itself as "a global network of more than 190 investigative journalists in more than 65 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories." &nbsp;</p> <p>ICIJ helped organize hundreds of journalists from around the world to read the documents, organize them and put them in searchable form.</p> <p>The documents revealed how Mossack Fonseca had been using a variety of shady and perhaps illegal schemes to hide hundreds of billions of dollars for its wealthy customers. This allowed thousands of very rich people to shelter vast sums of money not only from scrutiny, but from taxes that could have been used to fund human needs in countries around the world.</p> <p>As massive as the leak is, the tax avoidance revealed in the Panama Papers represents the tip of an iceberg.&nbsp; Mossack Fonseca is only one of many companies that serve to shelter money for the wealthy and corporations.&nbsp; And Panama is just one of the countries that serve as a tax haven. The UK-based <a href="http://www.taxjustice.net/" target="_blank">Tax Justice Network</a> estimates there are over 80 tax havens in the world, hiding somewhere between $21 trillion and $32 trillion.&nbsp; The annual economic output of all the world’s countries combined comes to about $62 trillion.</p> <p>Mossack Fonseca’s customers include politicians, their relatives and associates from more than forty countries. In just one week, we've seen a blizzard of news stories highlighting some of the individuals named in the leaked papers. Here is a sampling of headlines from around the world:</p> <ul> <li>India's Rich and Famous Named in Panama Papers (Forbes)</li> <li>'Panama Papers’ company set up 1000+ businesses in USA (rt.com)</li> <li>Panama papers: Mossack Fonseca offices in El Salvador raided (BBC)</li> <li>American executives' names surface in Panama Papers (USA Today)</li> <li>Swiss police raid UEFA as Panama Papers scandal spreads (Reuters)</li> <li>Panama Papers: British Banker Helped North Korea Sell Arms, Expand Nuclear Program (Newsweek)</li> <li>Panama Papers open new chapter in Argentina corruption drama (Financial Times)</li> <li>Heads roll in European banks, protests in Paris after Panama Papers leak (Toronto Star)</li> <li>Panama Papers Tie More of China’s Elite to Secret Accounts (NY Times)</li> <li>Iceland PM steps aside after protests over Panama Papers revelations (Guardian)</li> <li>Panama Papers: David Cameron embroiled in tax avoidance row after details of father's Bahamas business interests are leaked (Telegraph)</li> <li>Panama Papers show Syria regime circumvented sanctions (The National)</li> <li>Panama Papers: How family that runs Azerbaijan built an empire of hidden wealth (Irish Times)</li> <li>Panama Papers: Hundreds of Israeli Companies, Shareholders Listed in Leaked Documents Detailing Offshore Holdings (Haaretz)</li> </ul> <p><br> The thousands of stories in media around the world have resulted in numerous investigations, the fall of Iceland's leader, promises of indictments, frantic denials and an unmeasurable amount of embarrassment.</p> <h4><br> How Does It Work?</h4> <p><br> Mossack Fonseca and many other companies like it, specialize in hiding money. The reasons for hiding vast fortunes can include:</p> <ul> <li>to avoid paying taxes</li> <li>to enable leaders to profit from their political positions without getting caught</li> <li>to launder money from criminal activities like selling drugs</li> <li>to avoid international sanctions (for example, trading with Syria or Iran)</li> </ul> <p><br> What the law firms do is create fake ("shell") companies with fake directors to own the money. The money is held in banks and investment firms in "tax havens" like Panama that collect no taxes, have big tax loopholes, and/or have little regulation and oversight. Mossack Fonseca alone created over 200,000 such shell companies.</p> <p>Mossack claims that their work is entirely legal. &nbsp;In one of the leaked documents, one of the firm's partners says: "Ninety-five per cent of our work coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes." (A "vehicle," in this context, is not a car, but a financial strategy or entity.) &nbsp;In many cases tax "avoidance" is legal, but tax evasion is not.</p> <p>But legalities aside, citizens around the world have expressed outrage that the wealthiest among them are finding ways to avoid paying taxes that could be used to reduce poverty and help pay for schools, hospitals, libraries, and other needs in their countries. The Panama Papers shine a light on one way that the most affluent people in the world have managed to increase their share of wealth, widening the gap between rich and poor.</p> <p>"The victims are ordinary people, like you and I," John Christensen, director and co-founder of the U.K.-based Tax Justice Network told&nbsp;Newsweek. "It goes back to the simple rule of law—if the rich and powerful pay less tax, then the rest of us end up paying more."&nbsp;</p> <p>The impact of tax dodging is perhaps greatest in poor countries. A spokesman at Oxfam notes that "As much as 30 per cent of all African financial wealth is estimated to be held offshore in tax havens, costing an estimated $14 billion in lost tax revenues every year. This is enough money to pay for healthcare for mothers and children that could save four million children's lives a year and employ enough teachers to get every African child into school."</p> <h4><br> What about the U.S.?</h4> <p><br> Most of the headlines have highlighted Mossack's big-name clients in other countries. Why aren't there more from the US—which has more than its share of super-wealthy people?&nbsp; The answer might surprise you.</p> <p>The United States is itself a tax haven country. "If a company in the U.S. can do the exact thing for you as this company in Panama, then you might as well do it right here in the U.S. And its perfectly legal, which is the issue," said &nbsp;Ana Owens from the advocacy group Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).</p> <p>According to the Tax Justice Network, the United States ranks third in the world as a haven to avoid taxation. TheStreet (a financial media company) cites the U.S.’s many tax loopholes, lack of disclosure regulations, and the ability of individual states to set their own low standards to attract more banks. Only Switzerland and Hong Kong are easier places to hide money.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Discussion<br> &nbsp;</h4> <p>Read the following anecdote told by John Bogle, an investment fund founder who was named by Fortune Magazine as one of the investment industry's "Four Giants of the Twentieth Century."</p> <p class="rteindent1">&nbsp;At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, the late Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, the author Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch 22 over its whole history. Heller responds, "Yes, but I have something he will never have . . . Enough."</p> <p><br> Discuss:</p> <ol> <li>Why do the super-wealthy avoid (or evade) taxes?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Heller seems to imply that there's something in the psychological make-up of billionaires that drives them to accumulate ever more wealth. What do you think? If you agree, does that argue for stricter regulations to ensure that everyone pays their share of taxes?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Some millionaires become philanthropists and give huge amounts of money to charities. Is this comparable to paying taxes? What is the difference between donating your money and paying taxes?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>In what ways could the injustices revealed in the Panama Papers be addressed?&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Wealth inequality has become a national issue, including in the 2016 presidential race. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the chances of meaningful changes to reduce the ever-widening gap? What do you think it would take?<br> &nbsp;</li> <li>Wikileaks and Eric Snowden have revealed massive amounts of leaked information to the public. This leak is many times larger. Do you think leakers should be punished? If you think it depends on the circumstances, what circumstances warrant punishment, and what circumstances don’t?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Sources</h4> <p><br> <a href="http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/en/">http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/en/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/">http://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.thestreet.com/story/13518601/1/10-biggest-tax-havens-in-the-world-going-beyond-the-panama-papers.html">http://www.thestreet.com/story/13518601/1/10-biggest-tax-havens-in-the-world-going-beyond-the-panama-papers.html</a></p> <p><a href="http://time.com/4280302/panama-papers-leak-vladimir-putin-mossack-fonseca/">http://time.com/4280302/panama-papers-leak-vladimir-putin-mossack-fonseca/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/08/fallout-from-panama-papers-revelations-so-far-country-by-country">http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/08/fallout-from-panama-papers-revelations-so-far-country-by-country</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/lessons-panama-papers-yes-rich-are-different-us-they-stole-our-money?akid=14153.292806.fw6ABD&amp;rd=1&amp;src=newsletter1054253&amp;t=6">http://www.alternet.org/economy/lessons-panama-papers-yes-rich-are-different-us-they-stole-our-money?akid=14153.292806.fw6ABD&amp;rd=1&amp;src=newsletter1054253&amp;t=6</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/panama-papers-mossack-fonseca/476727/">http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/panama-papers-mossack-fonseca/476727/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.investopedia.com/articles/wealth-management/040616/panama-papers-tip-iceberg-congress-aids-tax-cheats-terrorists.asp">http://www.investopedia.com/articles/wealth-management/040616/panama-papers-tip-iceberg-congress-aids-tax-cheats-terrorists.asp</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/panama-papers-names/476688/">http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/panama-papers-names/476688/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vanguard.com/bogle_site/sp20070518.htm">https://www.vanguard.com/bogle_site/sp20070518.htm</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers">http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.newsweek.com/panama-papers-who-are-real-victims-tax-avoidance-and-evasion-444144">http://www.newsweek.com/panama-papers-who-are-real-victims-tax-avoidance-and-evasion-444144</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/panama-papers/why-are-americans-not-included-panama-papers-n551081">http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/panama-papers/why-are-americans-not-included-panama-papers-n551081</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2016-04-10T10:21:52-04:00" title="Sunday, April 10, 2016 - 10:21">April 10, 2016</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 10 Apr 2016 14:21:52 +0000 fionta 402 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Wealth Inequality in America https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/wealth-inequality-america <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Wealth Inequality in America</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>To the teacher:&nbsp;</h4> <p>This activity has your class divide up into groups of five or six. &nbsp;Each of these groups will need:</p> <p>1) Five sheets of paper, each a different color, ideally dark blue, light blue/light green, dark green, yellow, and red. &nbsp;<br> 2) 100 small objects that will represent wealth. These might be paper clips, skittles, plastic chips, coins, monopoly money, or whatever else you have available.</p> <p>You will will need a way to view a video. For a version of this lesson that does not use video, our lesson&nbsp;<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/wealth-taxes-whats-fair">Wealth &amp; Taxes: What's Fair?</a></p> <p>Timing for the lesson assumes a 45-minute class period.</p> <hr> <h4>How is wealth distributed in the US? &nbsp;</h4> <p>(10 minutes)</p> <p>Break students into small groups of five or six. Give each group five sheets of colored paper, and your 100 "wealth objects."</p> <p>Tell students that each paper represents one quintile (fifth) of the US population. &nbsp;Ask them to write the following headings at the top of the sheets:</p> <ul> <li>Dark blue paper heading: Lowest (bottom) 20% of wealth in the US</li> <li>Light blue paper heading: Second lowest 20% of wealth in the US</li> <li>Green paper heading: Middle 20% of wealth in the US</li> <li>Yellow paper heading: Second highest 20% of wealth in the US</li> <li>Red paper heading: Highest (top) 20% of wealth in the US</li> </ul> <p>Explain that in their groups, students will now distribute their 100 units of wealth according to how they think wealth is <strong>currently distributed </strong>in the US, dividing the population into the five percentiles represented by the five different colors of paper they were given.&nbsp;</p> <p>Ask students to lay the papers down on desks in order (from lowest wealth to highest wealth). Then have each group place the wealth units on top of each sheet to represent how they think wealth is currently distributed. How many units of wealth does the top 20% of the country own? How many units of wealth does the bottom 20% of the country own? And how much do the three categories in between own?</p> <p>When students are done, ask them to walk around the room to see how other groups distributed their wealth. &nbsp;(Alternatively, ask each group to report their numbers and record them on the board.) Then ask students to return to their groups.</p> <p>Ask students these questions:</p> <ul> <li>Did you mostly agree in your group about how wealth is actually distributed?</li> <li>How much did the other groups differ in how they allocated wealth?</li> </ul> <hr> <h4><br> How <em>should</em> wealth be distributed in the US?&nbsp;</h4> <p>(15 minutes)</p> <p>Next, repeat the process. But this time ask students to distribute the wealth units according to what they think the distribution of income in the US <em>should </em>be. &nbsp;</p> <p>How much should the top 20% have? How much should the bottom 20% have? &nbsp;Give students a little more time than before to try to agree to the best distribution of wealth. &nbsp;</p> <p>Then have students walk around the room to see how other groups thought wealth should be distributed.&nbsp;&nbsp;(Alternatively, ask each group to report their decisions and record them on the board.)</p> <p>Now bring the whole group back together. &nbsp;Ask students:</p> <ul> <li>Was it hard to come to an agreement on how wealth should be distributed in the US?</li> <li>What kinds of issues came up in your group? What were arguments for making the distribution more equal? Less equal?</li> <li>What did they notice about how other groups chose to distribute wealth? Were their similarities/differences?</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Wealth Inequality in America</h4> <p>(7 minutes for video, 10 minutes for discussion)&nbsp;</p> <p>Now have students view the following 6.24-minute video, entitled "Wealth Inequality in America." &nbsp;(For sources, see the bottom of the lesson.)&nbsp;</p> <p>The video is available on:</p> <ul> <li>Youtube:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=QPKKQnijnsM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;v=QPKKQnijnsM</a></li> <li>Bill Moyers' website: <a href="http://billmoyers.com/2013/03/06/income-inequality-goes-viral/">http://billmoyers.com/2013/03/06/income-inequality-goes-viral/</a></li> </ul> <p>After the video, ask students:</p> <ul> <li>How did the actual distribution of wealth in the U.S. match your group's approximation?</li> <li>Were you surprised by the way wealth is actually distributed? Why or why not?</li> <li>How did your group's ideas about how wealth <em>should</em> be distributed compare to what most Americans thought? &nbsp;</li> <li>What do you think about the wealth distribution in this country?</li> <li>Can you think of examples of times in history when the distribution of income in the US changed dramatically? &nbsp;Why did it change? &nbsp;(You may want to assign students to research this question for homework or in small groups.)</li> <li>What do you think we can do to make the reality of wealth distribution match what we think it should be? &nbsp;What would need to change?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p>If the class is concerned about wealth inequality, work with them to come up with one immediate action step they can take to address this problem or to call attention to it. Consider a class project aimed at researching this issue and/or raising awareness about it.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>SOURCES for both the activity and video include:&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="http://www.people.hbs.edu/mnorton/norton%20ariely%20in%20press.pdf">Building a Better America—One Wealth Quintile at a Time,</a> by Michael I. Norton, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, and Dan Ariely, Department of Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC</p> <p><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph">It's the Inequality, Stupid: Eleven charts that explain what's wrong with America</a>, by Dave Gilson and Carolyn Perot, Mother Jones magazine, March/April 2011 issue</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2013-03-22T14:10:14-04:00" title="Friday, March 22, 2013 - 14:10">March 22, 2013</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:10:14 +0000 fionta 591 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org U.S. ECONOMIC HARDSHIP & What to Do About It https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/us-economic-hardship-what-do-about-it <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>U.S. ECONOMIC HARDSHIP &amp; What to Do About It</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><strong>To the Teacher:</strong></p> <p>Economic hardship continues for millions of Americans. The first student reading below includes portraits of four struggling Americans as well as an alarming report on hunger from Feeding America. The second reading presents some staggering budget and deficit figures, an outline of where budget money goes, and President Obama's explanation of the nation's financial situation. The third reading considers what needs to be done, especially for job creation.</p> <p>Discussion questions and suggestions for further inquiry and citizenship projects follow.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3>Student Reading 1:</h3> <h2>Real people: the jobless and the hungry</h2> <p>Six months ago US officials announced the end of the recession. But while the big banks that had been bailed out by US taxpayers had speedily returned to making huge profits, millions of ordinary Americans were still out of work. Many more millions needed help putting food on the table.</p> <h4><strong>Four jobless Americans</strong></h4> <p><strong>Curtis McKenzie</strong>, 40, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, "has been out of work since he was laid off from a $60,000-a-year job at a small technology company last March," reported Paul Wiseman in USA Today (2/8/10). "'The only jobs I have been offered won't even allow me to cover bills,' he says. 'You build a lifestyle around the job you think you're going to have forever.' McKenzie, his wife and two boys don't go out much anymore. They think twice about visiting friends to watch football, which would mean spending money on gasoline, beer and snacks.</p> <p>"Millions of Americans are sharing McKenzie's pain: In January, a record 6.3 million people — 41.2% of the unemployed — had gone without jobs at least 27 weeks. The average unemployed American has been jobless more than 30 weeks, another grim record, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday....</p> <p>"The Economic Policy Institute figures there are 6.4 jobless people for every job opening.</p> <p>"<strong>Rob Phipps</strong>, 49, of Sandwich, Ill., thought he had braced himself for the worst. When he lost his job as a software engineer for a big telecommunications company, he figured it would take six to 12 months to find another job. That was 17 months ago. He gets up every morning and looks for work.</p> <p>"Phipps keeps busy by reading up on the latest technology, watching movies and playing Scrabble with his wife....You start climbing the walls. You've been solving problems for 25 years, and your mind is sharp. You want to get back to work." (Paul Wiseman, "Long-term unemployed still wait for recovery to arrive," <a href="http://www.usatoday">www.usatoday</a><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/">.com</a>, 2/8/10)</p> <p>"'I lost my job in March, and from there on, everything went downhill,'" said <strong>Vicky Newton</strong>, 38, of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, a single mother who had been a customer-service representative in an insurance agency." (<em>New York Times</em>, 12/14/09)</p> <p>"'After struggling and struggling and not being able to pay my house payments or my other bills, I finally sucked up my pride,' she said in an interview....'I got food stamps just to help feed my daughter.''"</p> <p>"<strong>Tammy Linville</strong>, 29, of Louisville, Kentucky, said she lost her job as a clerical worker for the Census Bureau a year and a half ago. She began seeing a therapist for depression every week through Medicaid but recently has not been able to go because her car broke down and she cannot afford to fix it.</p> <p>"Her partner works at the Ford plant in the area, but his schedule has been sporadic. They have two small children and at this point, she said, they are 'saving quarters for diapers. Every time I think about money, I shut down because there is none,' Ms. Linville said. 'I get major panic attacks. I just don't know what we're going to do.'"</p> <p>(Michael Luo and Megan Thee-Brenan, "Poll Reveals Trauma of Joblessness in US," New York Times, 12/14/09)</p> <p><strong>Hungry people</strong><br> Feeding America, a national network of food banks, conducted a study which found that 37 million Americans, including 14 million children, are now getting emergency food help from agencies affiliated with Feeding America. The study on interviews with 61,000 clients and surveys of 37,700 feeding agencies.</p> <p>The new report "shows that hunger is increasing at an alarming rate in the United States." Feeding America food banks are "feeding 1 million more Americans each week than we did in 2006."</p> <p>Almost half of those receiving food from this network "report having to choose between paying for utilities or heating fuel and food. More than one in every three say they are forced to choose between paying for rent or a mortgage and food, or between paying for medical bills and food, or between transportation and food... Nearly half of our adult clients report that they have unpaid medical and hospital bills." (<a href="http://www.feedingamerica.org">www.feedingamerica.org</a>)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>For discussion</strong></p> <p><strong>1.</strong> What questions do students have about the reading? How might they be answered?</p> <p><strong>2.</strong> What are the causes of the joblessness? Why do people need food from food banks? If you don't know, how might you find out?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3>Student Reading 2:</h3> <h2>President Obama's explanation of the financial situation</h2> <p><strong>Some trillion dollar numbers</strong><br> $3,800,000,000,000: This is the total amount to be spent in President Obama's budget for the 2011 fiscal, or financial year (October 1. 2010 through September 30 2011).</p> <p>Obama told reporters on February 1: "Our fiscal situation remains unacceptable." A few additional figures help to explain why.</p> <ul> <li>$1,560,000,000,000: This is the budget deficit—the gap between revenue and spending in the new budget.</li> <li>$1,300,000,000,000: This is the gap projected for the following year that forces the government to borrow more than forty cents for every dollar it spends.</li> <li>$12,400,000,000,000: This was the borrowing authority approved by Congress on December 24, 2009.</li> <li>$14,300,000,000,000: This is the new borrowing authority approved already this year by Congress because what it approved last December is no longer enough.</li> </ul> <p>The people of the United States are in debt to the tune of $14.3 trillion, more of it to China than to any other nation. The Obama administration predicts this debt will continue to rise for the next 10 years.</p> <p>There is general agreement that the biggest driver of budget deficits is the relentlessly rising costs of healthcare. But Congress has yet to do anything about these rising costs. A rule permitting a minority of 41 senators to block passage of any legislation—even if all 59 of the remaining senators approve of it—has resulted in a frequently impotent U.S. Senate. This means that it has been extraordinarily hard to take legislative action to cut healthcare costs and to pass a 2,400-page budget.</p> <p><strong>Trillion-dollar "untouchable" budget items</strong><br> Many parts of the US federal budget are very hard to cut. Among them.</p> <p><em>1) National defense and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: $741 billion.</em></p> <p>This figure does not include additional hundreds of billions for defense-related programs including:</p> <ul> <li>Homeland Security</li> <li>care of wounded veterans</li> <li>veterans' pensions</li> <li>nuclear weapons stockpile maintenance and development</li> <li>military aid to allies</li> <li>interest on national debt for past wars</li> <li>funding for secret defense projects.</li> </ul> <p><em>2) Medicare: $489 billion and Medicaid: $290 billion</em></p> <p>Medicare is the government health insurance program for about 45 million Americans aged 65 and over and others with disabilities.</p> <p>Medicaid is a program administered by states (with support from federal tax dollars) that provides health insurance for low- income Americans with children and for those who are pregnant or disabled.. The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), also a federal-state funded program, costs an additional $13.2 billion annually.</p> <p><em>3) Social Security: $617 billion</em></p> <p>Social Security payments go into the Social Security trust fund and are not part of the government's general fund, which comes from taxes. For years Americans have been paying more into the Social Security trust fund than is being paid out. The government has been "borrowing" this "extra money," which then becomes part of the budget deficit, but is owed to the Social Security trust fund, not foreign investors.</p> <p><em>4) Interest on national debt: $499 billion</em></p> <p>The rest of the federal budget is for "discretionary" spending: education, medical and scientific research, school meals, low-income housing assistance, child-care assistance, help in paying home energy bills, and other programs, including job stimulation and extended unemployment insurance.</p> <p><strong>Obama's budget analysis</strong><br> "It's a budget that reflects the serious challenges facing the country," President Obama said on February , 2010. "We're at war. Our economy has lost 7 million jobs over the last two years. And our government is deeply in debt after what can only be described as a decade of profligacy.</p> <p>"The fact is, 10 years ago, we had a budget surplus of more than $200 billion, with projected surpluses stretching out toward the horizon. Yet over the course of the past 10 years, the previous administration and previous Congresses created an expensive new drug program [as part of Medicare], passed massive tax cuts for the wealthy, and funded two wars without paying for any of it—all of which was compounded by recession and by rising healthcare costs. As a result, when I first walked through the door, the deficit stood at $1.3 trillion, with projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade.</p> <p>"If we had taken office during ordinary times, we would have started bringing down these deficits immediately. But one year ago, our country was in crisis: We were losing nearly 700,000 jobs each month, the economy was in a free fall, and the financial system was near collapse. Many feared another Great Depression. So we initiated a rescue, and that rescue was not without significant cost; it added to the deficit as well.</p> <p>"One year later, because of the steps we've taken, we're in a very different place. But we can't simply move beyond this crisis; we have to address the irresponsibility that led to it. And that includes the failure to rein in spending, as well as a reliance on borrowing — from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street—to fuel our growth. That's what we have to change. We have to do what families across America are doing: Save where we can so that we can afford what we need."</p> <p><strong>Where to cut?</strong><br> The Obama budget freezes some domestic spending for three years to reduce the deficit. It reverses a Bush administration tax cut for wealthy Americans; ends subsidies for wealthy farmers and oil and gas companies; and ends tax breaks for multinational corporations that ship jobs overseas and make profits there to avoid paying US taxes. The budget also axes funding for NASA's plan to send astronauts to the moon. Such cuts save only about $250 billion in a deficit of trillions.</p> <p>Senators Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, and Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat, object to farm subsidy cuts. Both Chambliss and Lincoln come from states with voters who profit from farm subsidies. This is "a telling illustration of why it is so hard to control federal spending," Carl Hulse wrote in <em>The New York Times</em>. "Every federal program has a constituency, and even lawmakers who profess to be alarmed by rising deficits will go to the mat to preserve money that provides jobs and benefits to their constituents." ("Spending Cuts Meet Selective Support," <em>New York Times</em>, 1/7/10)</p> <p><strong>For discussion</strong></p> <p><strong>1.</strong> What questions do students have about the reading? How might they be answered?</p> <p><strong>2. </strong>How would you explain why certain budget items are regarded as "untouchable"? Should they be? Why or why not?</p> <p><strong>3.</strong> What is a major factor in the legislative failure to curb rising healthcare costs? Why?</p> <p><strong>4.</strong> The president said that the country is suffering from "a decade of profligacy." According to him, why? What acts of "irresponsibility" does he cite? If you need more information, how might you find it?</p> <p><strong>5. </strong>What acts of the Bush administration does Obama criticize? Are these fair criticisms? What do you think and why? If you need more information, how might you find it?</p> <p><strong>6.</strong> What makes spending cuts so difficult to achieve?<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3>Student Reading 3:</h3> <h2>Competing views on what to do</h2> <p><strong>Close the deficit</strong><br> The budget revealed that deficits would continue to rise for at least 20 years, "potentially threatening the country's economic stability." (<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com">www.washingtonpost.com</a>, 2/2/10)</p> <p>"More spending, more taxes and more debt," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) of the budget. Republican Senator John McCain (Arizona) said, "Just a three-year spending freeze, frankly, won't do it, although I think it's good to do."</p> <p>Jeffrey Pfeffer wrote in <em>Newsweek</em>, "There are currently 14.8 million unemployed, and when you count 'discouraged workers' (who've given up on job seeking) and part-time workers who'd prefer a full-time gig, that's another 9.4 million Americans who are 'under-employed.'" In the same publication, Evan Thomas said, "'Jobs, jobs, jobs!' is that standard political refrain. But Obama failed to explain that there is only so much the federal government can do to create jobs, and it's already done it." Newsweek, 2/15)</p> <p><strong>Provide jobs</strong><br> <em>New York Times </em>op-ed columnist Bob Herbert disagrees. He has called repeatedly for the Obama administration to worry less about the deficit and more about the suffering of the jobless. He has focused on "the structural employment problems in the US" He calls for "a quality public education for the next generation of American workers, scientists, artists and entrepreneurs....a new saner, more sustainable economy....powered by cleaner fuels." Herbert also notes that the American Society of Civil Engineers has warned of "broken water mains, gridlocked streets, crumbling dams and levees, and delayed flights" because we have failed to pay to repair our infrastructure. ("Time Is Running Out, <em>New York Times</em>, 2/6/10)</p> <p>"If anything, deficits should be bigger than they are because the government should be doing more to create jobs," Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman echoed. "The deficit threatens economic recovery, we're told; it puts American economic stability at risk; it will undermine our influence in the world. These claims generally aren't stated as opinions....Instead, they're reported as if they were facts, plain and simple.</p> <p>"Yet they aren't facts," and are "much less frightening than the public is being led to believe," Krugman wrote. He said, "many economists take a much calmer view of budget deficits than anything you'll see on TV."</p> <p><strong>The Keynes Prescription</strong><br> When families lose jobs, they sensibly move to cut spending, save, and use money only for essential items. But John Maynard Keynes, an influential 20th century British economist, said governments aren't like families and should take very different actions in a downturn.</p> <p>In <em>The General Theory of Employment</em>, Interest and Money, published during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Keynes wrote that hard times crippled businesses just as they caused families to suffer. He argued that governments should fill the business role during such hard times. Businesses, he maintained, should borrow to put people back to work on public works projects and temporarily forget about balanced budgets.</p> <p>President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal administration in the 1930s largely followed this advice. The administration created many public employment projects. One of them, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) created 8 million jobs to build or repair schools, hospitals, parks and highways. The WPA also hired writers, artists, and entertainers—many of whom created art that had a lasting impact.</p> <p>The Obama administration has not followed in Roosevelt's path. "This isn't even within hailing distance of where the current administration is now as it frets about the deficit and pledges to freeze domestic spending," wrote Steve Fraser, a labor and community studies researcher. ("The New Deal in Reverse," <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com">www.tomdispatch.com</a>, 2/11/10)</p> <p>In 1937, when unemployment began to fall, FDR decided that big federal spending was no longer needed and reduced it. The resulting business downturn and renewed joblessness meant a year-long recession that economists today regard as one of that president's biggest mistakes.</p> <p><strong>Do something, anything, to create jobs</strong><br> Economist Paul Krugman, like Keynes, argues against "deficit hysteria." Washington, he said, gets "its priorities all wrong: all the talk is about how to shave a few billion dollars off government spending, while there's hardly any willingness to tackle mass unemployment. Policy is headed in the wrong direction—and millions of Americans will pay the price." ("Fiscal Scare Tactics," <em>New York Times</em>, 2/5/10)</p> <p>Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy Research agrees. Keynes, he says, taught us that in an economic downturn, "The government has to do something—anything—that would increase demand for goods and services.... [But] deficits have become an overriding concern even as the unemployment rate hovers in the double-digits, just as was the case in the Great Depression. Politicians think that we are somehow helping our children by leaving their parents out of work rather than issuing more government debt." ("No Way Out: The Political Constraints Obstructing a US Recovery")</p> <p>Baker also argues that we could "adopt policies that encourage people to work fewer hours. Germany and the Netherlands have aggressively pushed 'work-sharing' policies that have kept unemployment from rising in the downturn. Thanks to work-sharing, the unemployment rate in the Netherlands is less than 4.0 percent...." ("The Second Great Depression Bogeyman," (<a href="http://www.cepr.org">www.cepr.org</a>, 2/1/10)</p> <p>Meanwhile, voters want it both ways, according to <em>New Yorker</em> financial writer James Surowiecki: "People want the government to help provide jobs, but they also want it to cut the deficit....They want the government to tighten its belt and fight unemployment at the same time....If Democrats pass a stimulus package, they'll be lambasted for increasing the deficit; if they don't pass a stimulus, they'll be attacked for not caring about jobs." (<em>The New Yorker</em>, 2/15 &amp; 22)</p> <p>Key Democratic and Republican senators achieved rare bipartisan agreement in mid-February on an $85 billion plan. It included tax breaks for businesses that hire workers who have been unemployed for at least 60 days and increased public works projects. But about half of the bill had nothing to do with putting people back to work. Urged by Democrats dissatisfied with this result, Senate majority leader Harry Reid cut the plan to $15 billion. Now Republicans were dissatisfied.</p> <p>Even if it passed, however, the legislation would create no more than 250,000 jobs, a tiny fraction of the number needed. It does nothing to help state and local governments already forced since 2008 to cut 151,000 jobs because of sharp drops in tax revenue. It does not include an extension of unemployment benefits, the only income for many families today.</p> <p>Dissatisfaction with Congress' inaction is widespread. A CBS/<em>New York Time</em>s poll in early February 2010 found that 81% of respondents do not think that legislators running for another term of office later this year should be reelected. Only 5% think they should. Only 15% approve of the job Congress is doing, while 75% disapprove.</p> <p><strong>For discussion</strong></p> <p><strong>1. </strong>What questions do students have about the reading? How might they be answered?</p> <p><strong>2. </strong>Americans seem to agree that 1) the US deficit cannot keep rising forever, that there must be plans for its reduction and 2) government action to put people back to work is essential. Why does Surowiecki think these requirements are in conflict?</p> <p><strong>3.</strong> Has the government already done all it can to create jobs, as Evan Thomas wrote? Why or why not? If you don't know, how might you find out?</p> <p><strong>4. </strong>What is Keynes' theory about what should be done when an economic downturn throws many people out of work? Why is this theory the opposite of what seems to be common sense? What supporting evidence is there for Keynes' theory? Why might some oppose it?</p> <p><strong>5. </strong>Is Obama employing Keynesian methods? If so, how and to what extent? If not, why not? If you don't know, how might you find out?</p> <p><strong>6. </strong>How would you explain the very low approval ratings for the job Congress is doing?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><strong>For inquiry</strong></h4> <p>Consider with students possible small-group and independent investigations of issues and questions raised during class discussion of the readings. The class might also consider an investigation into the economic situation in their own town or city. For instance:</p> <ul> <li>What is the local unemployment rate?</li> <li>What is known about how long individuals have been jobless?</li> <li>How many people are working part time but want full time work? How many have given up looking for work?</li> <li>What evidence is there that some people need food?</li> <li>How many home foreclosures have there been?</li> <li>How many homeowners are "underwater"?</li> <li>What town or city programs are there to help the jobless, those needing food, those who have been foreclosed or are facing foreclosure?</li> </ul> <p>Sources of information include: the local newspaper, radio station, TV channel; town or<br> city records and websites; local nonprofit organizations; interviews with reporters and officials.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4><strong>For citizenship</strong></h4> <p>What might be done in the students' community to help others during this longlasting economic downturn?</p> <p>After investigating this question, students might develop an action program. See "<a href="http://morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/teaching-social-responsibility">Teaching Social Responsibility</a>" for suggested approaches.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em>This lesson was written for TeachableMoment.Org, a project of Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. We welcome your comments. Please email them to: <a href="mailto:lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org">lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org</a>.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2011-07-23T14:39:12-04:00" title="Saturday, July 23, 2011 - 14:39">July 23, 2011</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:39:12 +0000 fionta 714 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org What will President Obama do about AMERICA'S ECONOMIC NIGHTMARE? https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/what-will-president-obama-do-about-americas-economic-nightmare <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>What will President Obama do about AMERICA&#039;S ECONOMIC NIGHTMARE?</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p class="byline"><b>To the Teacher:</b></p> <p>Every day we see new signs of the economic crisis into which America has plunged. How will President-Elect Obama handle it? The first student reading below provides a brief report on the economic crisis. The second reading summarizes Obama's most recent prescriptions for addressing it. Discussion questions follow.</p> <p>Each of the following sets of materials on this website provide additional background on the economic crisis: "<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/election-2008-inequality-america">Presidential Election 2008: Inequality in America,</a>" "<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/election-2008-financial-crisis">Presidential Election 2008: Financial Crisis,</a>" "<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/financial-crisis-bailout-or-rescue">Financial Crisis: Bailout or Rescue,</a>" "<a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/election-2008-second-debate-financial-crisis">Presidential Election 2008: Second Debate: Financial Crisis.</a>"</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3><b>Student Reading I:</b></h3> <h2>The bad news</h2> <p>"THE ECONOMY SHRINKS WITH CONSUMERS LEADING THE WAY"</p> <p>This was the headline over the top news story in the <em>New York Times</em> on the last day of October 2008, the month that saw the American economy plunging into crisis and taking the rest of the world with it.</p> <p>The story reported that "the economy contracted from July through September. In a stark indication of national distress, consumer spending dipped for the first time in 17 years." Consumer spending "makes up more than 70 percent of American economic activity."</p> <p>If people cut back on buying at Macy's, Circuit City, Home Depot, Gap, Stop &amp; Shop, Ford show rooms and the neighborhood store, these businesses make less money and cut back on buying more inventory. They will probably also cut workers' hours and maybe their entire jobs-leaving them with less to spend themselves. And so the economy contracts.</p> <p>"Economy" and "contracts" are fairly abstract terms. For a more concrete picture of what is happening, imagine Ford cutting back its production because of declining car sales. Then imagine the resulting layoffs for the workers who put the cars together and the staff who try to sell the cars. An "economy" comes down to Fred Smith, a single individual who has until now earned a living selling Ford cars. He is part of a larger system that runs on people producing and servicing, distributing, buying and consuming. Next time you buy a pack of gum, you are part of that process.</p> <p>Whenever the economy contracts, the consequences are felt by very real people, such as:</p> <p><b>1.</b> the men and women who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers, a Wall Street investment<br> banking firm, after it was forced out of business, overwhelmed by debt.</p> <p><b>2.</b> 760,000 Americans who lost their jobs between January and September.</p> <p><b>3.</b> hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their homes to foreclosure, 107,000 of<br> them in September alone.</p> <p><b>4.</b> countless investors, among them retirees, who have lost life savings in the stock<br> market.</p> <p><b>5.</b> the people of Duluth, Minnesota, which lost $2.25 million of an investment of<br> $3 million at Merrill Lynch when that firm went out of business. This will result in cuts in the services that every city provides-such as police, fire, garbage collection, street cleaning, libraries. (Exactly what will be cut and by how much is not yet known.)</p> <p><b>6.</b> Mark Snyder, a small businessman near Denver, who cannot get a loan for his new<br> medical supply company at less than an impossible 30 percent interest rate.</p> <p><b>7.</b> the tens of thousands of workers at General Motors and Chrysler. These companies are asking the federal government to support them in merging-or else they will both face bankruptcy.<br> <b>8.</b> the estimated one in five homeowners whose mortgage payments exceed the reduced<br> value of their homes—an unprecedented situation that could add to vacant homes across<br> America</p> <p><b>9.</b> about 700 employees at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut who lost their jobs as a result of the economic downturn.</p> <p><b>10.</b> and, on the lighter side, the customers of the Azena Nail Spa in Westport, Connecticut, where the median income is twice that of the rest of the state. Customers who used to come in every two weeks for a manicure and pedicure combo can now afford to come in once every two months.<br> Is there any <em>good</em> news? Yes, oil prices are down — and that's because worldwide economies are contracting, so people are driving less. It has also become slightly easier for consumers to get a bank loan to buy a car or a home. And, as of the last day in October, stocks have won back a portion of their losses. But nobody knows what will happen to the stock market next.</p> <p>The financial markets in the U.S. and worldwide are extremely volatile. Consumer spending is down because many people have less money to spend and those who have money are being more conservative with it.</p> <p>Consumer confidence in the economy is shaken. People are not at all sure that the government's efforts to bolster the economy will work — for example, the government's $700 billion bailout to buy bad debts held by financial institutions. Or the government's decision to lend money to banks so their executives will feel freer to lend money themselves. Uncertainty leads to a loss of trust, a loss of confidence, and fear.<br> Across America almost everyone is being affected by a monumental financial collapse that continues to ricochet through the economy and probably will worsen. A new worry is that "goods will pile up waiting for buyers and prices will fall, suffocating fresh investment and worsening joblessness for months or even years. The word for this is deflation, or declining prices, a term that gives economists chills. Deflation accompanied the Depression of the 1930s. (Peter Goodman, "Specter of Deflation Lurks As Global Demand Drops," <em>New York Times,</em> 11/1/2008.)</p> <p>The economic collapse has also struck across the world. The word "globalization," like the word "economy," is quite abstract. That abstraction comes down to earth when one learns that every bank in Iceland, a tiny nation of 304,000 people, declared bankruptcy this past month The major cause: the same bad debt from mortgage-backed securities that brought down Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions in the United States.</p> <p>And so we learn that we are connected economically to one another, as we are in so many other ways.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold">For discussion</p> <p><b>1.</b> Start a discussion of the economic crisis through a "micro lab." You might ask students to discuss what signs of the crisis they have observed or know about. See a short description on conducting a micro lab in "<a href="https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/engaging-your-class-through-groupwork">Engaging Your Class Through Groupwork</a>," at <a href="http://www.teachablemoment.org">www.teachablemoment.org</a>.</p> <p><b>2.</b> Invite comments and general discussion after you conclude the micro lab.</p> <p><b>3.</b> What questions do students have about the reading? How might they be answered?</p> <p><b>4.</b> Explain the headline the reading begins with.</p> <p><b>5.</b> Consider each of the ten examples of a "contracting economy." Why did Lehman Brothers go bankrupt? If you don't know, how might you find out? Loss of jobs and homes are two key signs of the crisis. Why is each happening and likely to continue, even grow worse?</p> <p><b>6.</b> Why are financial markets volatile?</p> <p><b>7.</b> Why is deflation a concern?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h3 style="font-weight: bold; ">Student Reading 2:</h3> <h2>Obama's proposals</h2> <p>The #1 problem and the first major test facing Barack Obama's presidency, beginning on January 20, 2009, will be the nation's financial and economic crisis. Through his leadership, executive orders and legislative proposals for Congress, Americans will expect prompt and effective action, especially on jobs, credit, and home foreclosures.</p> <p>In an October 13 speech in Toledo, Ohio, Obama spoke in some detail about what he would do as president to immediately address the financial crisis. Of course, presidential candidates often make proposals that are never implemented once they are elected. Sometimes, circumstances change, requiring a change of plans. Sometimes the president changes his mind. Very often a proposal requires congressional approval, which the president can't get-or not get in the form he wants.</p> <p>However, Obama's proposals are still worth examining. They include:</p> <ul> <li>A $3,000 tax credit for employers for each new person they hire — a measure intended to encourage job creation</li> <li>Allowing Americans to borrow from retirement savings without a tax penalty</li> <li>Eliminating income taxes on unemployment benefits</li> <li>Doubling the $50 billion in loan guarantees that the government has given to automakers</li> <li>Enabling the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve to lend money to city and<br> state governments</li> <li>Expanding government guarantees for financial institutions to encourage a return to<br> more normal lending</li> <li>A 90-day moratorium on most home foreclosures</li> <li>Forbidding financial institutions that get government help from foreclosing on<br> homeowners who are making some payment, even if not the full amount</li> </ul> <p>In the 10 weeks before Obama is inaugurated, it is certain that he and his economic and legislative advisers will work further on these proposals and they will probably develop new ones as well.</p> <p>According to Obama's economic adviser, Jason Furman, Obama has "no plans to change" another proposal he has talked about for months — the repeal of the Bush tax cuts for all Americans with incomes above $250,000 and tax cuts for people who make less than that.</p> <p>Obama's advisors say the cost of his economic stimulus plan will be $175 billion. They also say that many of Obama's proposals could be passed even before he is inaugurated. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not agreed, since she thinks President Bush would veto them.</p> <p>In his Toledo speech Obama said of his proposals: "I won't pretend this will be easy. George Bush has dug a deep hole for us. It's going to take a while for us to dig our way out. We're going to have to set priorities as never before." (Jackie Colmes and Jeff Zeleny, "Obama Details Plans To Aid Victims of Fiscal Crisis," <em>New York Times,</em> 10/13/2008)</p> <p>In an interview on PBS' Bill Moyers Journal, economist Peter Galbraith underlined Obama's words. "What needs to be stressed," he said, "is that we've seen a breakdown of an entire system. The consequence of the failure of regulation, of supervision of the banking system over the past eight years, has been to cause a collapse of trust, a poisoning of the well." Galbraith is a professor at the University of Texas and once served as the executive director of Congress' Joint Economic Committee. (<a href="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal">www.pbs.org/moyers/journal</a>, 10/24/2008)</p> <p style="font-weight: bold">For discussion</p> <p><b>1.</b> What questions do students have about the reading? How might they be answered?</p> <p><b>2.</b> Which of Obama's proposals is supposed to promote employment and why? Which is aimed at helping homeowners in trouble and why? Why does the plan include lending money to city and state governments? How much difference might this make for you and/or your family?</p> <p><b>3.</b> Why does Obama want to repeal the Bush tax cuts? If you don't know, how might you find out? What do you think President Bush's reactions to repeal would be and why?</p> <p><b>4.</b> Why does Obama think that "George Bush has dug a deep hole for us"? If you don't know, how might you find out? Do you think this criticism is fair? Why or why not?</p> <p><b>5.</b> What does "failure of regulation" have to do with the crisis? What do you think Galbraith means by his metaphor "a poisoning of the well"?</p> <hr> <h4>For citizenship and writing</h4> <p>After students have discussed Obama's proposals, ask them which proposals they think are most important and why. Do they have any other proposals for easing the economic crisis?</p> <p>Then have each student draft a letter to the president-elect on the proposal that he or she favors (either Obama's, their own, or another student's). Once students have drafted their letters, organize the class into groups of four to six students. Ask each group to discuss and provide constructive criticism of their letters and to select the letter they regard as best. Ask a spokesperson from each group to read the letter to the class. Have the class discuss each letter.</p> <p>Give students another crack at drafting their letters now that they have heard criticism of them. Collect and comment upon these drafts, then invite students to prepare a final copy for mailing to president-elect Obama.</p> <p><em>This lesson was written for TeachableMoment.Org, a project of Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. We</em> <em>welcome your comments. Please email them to: <a href="mailto:lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org">lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org</a></em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2011-07-23T14:39:07-04:00" title="Saturday, July 23, 2011 - 14:39">July 23, 2011</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:39:07 +0000 fionta 759 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org