By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The most conservative Supreme Court in the past four decades is poised to overturn the already limited affirmative action provisions in the latter part of this year (after October 1) unless good sense visits one or two of them and they vote in favor of student body diversity instead of against.  Since Bush-appointed justices John Robert and Samuel Alito have joined the court as Chief Justice and Associate Justice, respectively, the court has voiced hostility to government uses of race.

The case, Fisher v. University of Texas, was brought by one Abigail Noel Fisher, a white woman student who did not qualify for the Texas Top Ten Percent plan, which automatically admits the top ten percent of every high school class in Texas to the University of Texas.  Despite this, Ms. Fisher contends that she was denied Fourteen Amendment protection and was discriminated against because of her race.  Her reasoning – though more than eighty percent of UT students are admitted under the Top Ten Percent Plan, others are admitted based on talent, leadership qualities and family circumstances as well as race.

This seems to meet the Grutter v. Bollinger standard that race may be one, but not the only, factor in determining college admissions.  However, Abigail Fisher is one of a long line of relatively mediocre white students who might or might not have been admitted to UT, regardless of race.  The student, who seems unable to accept her own academic shortcoming, is blaming the fact that she didn’t get into UT on African American students, instead of blaming it on herself.

Ms. Fisher was hardly disadvantaged by the fact that she didn’t get into UT.  She was scheduled to graduate from Louisiana State University this year.  Lower courts have found in favor of the University of Texas, though the Firth Circuit decision not to review the case was decided narrowly, at 9-7.  With two reversals, one would have thought that the lawyers at Wiley Rein would have given up.  But with a conservative, race-hostile Supreme Court, these folks were able to convince the court to review this case.  Understand that this isn’t a case the Supremes had to take.  They could have taken a pass and decided to let the lower courts speak.  One must think that there is an agenda to dismantle affirmative action, because the court chooses its cases.  In any case, this matter may be decided anytime after October 1, and affirmative action in college admission may be outlawed at all public universities.

While many organizations, on both sides of the table, have filed amicus briefs, I am concerned that the Fisher case is generating much less publicity than either the University of Michigan cases or, the thirty-five year old Bakke case.  One might argue that things have changed so significantly that communities of color do not find affirmative action necessary, or that we are so used to being attacked that we will not fight back.  But the data make it clear that there are still major gaps in college completion between African Americans, Latinos and whites.  While 29 percent of the US population over 25 has a college degree, the number for African Americans is 14 percent.  It is 8 percent for Latinos.

Policy makers are remarkably short sighted when it comes to affirmative action matters. By 2040, our nation will be majority minority, and our nation’s economic survival will depend on this population being well educated and able to provide the services our nation will need. We need more black and brown physicians, nurses, computer programmers, professors, and so many others.  We won’t have them unless we educate them.  Let’s face it – the average age of white Americans is 42, while the average age of Latinos is 25.  African Americans fall somewhere in between, at around 31 years of age.  As whites age, who will replace them in the labor market.  If we don’t educate the diverse in the US population, we may see everything from the reading of medical tests, to the programming of our computers done abroad.

Our method of delivery educational services has not improved in 40 years.  We have not taken demographic differences into account when we look at education.  Some say we should base college admissions solely on merit, but when has that ever happened.  We admit legacy students, whose parents attended a college, preferentially.  We admit athletes simply because they can play.  With women representing more than 55 percent of our nation’s undergraduates, I’ve actually attended meetings about affirmative action for men (and that probably means white men since the number of African American men attending college has declined).

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, DC based economist and writer.

By James Clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Do you believe Black people should work together in support of one another?  Do you believe that Black people should better utilize more of our $900+ billion annual aggregate income to start and grow businesses?  Do you believe Black people should share our information and experience with one another to build a brighter future for our children?  If your answers are “Yes,” and I am sure they are, then you will join thousands of others in the Black Unity Movement.

The mission of the Unity Movement is to unite, educate, and economically empower Black people nationwide.  Its goal is to unite a minimum of 2 million people that represent $100+ billion in buying power and intellectual capacity, which will be used to open new businesses, create more jobs, educate our youth, and move billions of dollars into Black owned banks.

The brainchild of Mike Moore, of Cincinnati, Ohio, the Unity Movement will provide a foundation of knowledge, contacts, and power from which Black people can move collectively toward the realization of the tremendous potential within our ranks.  The Unity Movement, in conjunction with other such initiatives across the country, will create opportunities for Black people to leverage our intellectual resources as well as our financial resources to gain reciprocity in the marketplace.  It will also provide an additional networkof like-minded folks who are willing to share and work together toward a common goal.

Mr. Moore stated, “I truly believe we already have the knowledge and the economic means to create a better future for ourselves and our children. The only thing missing is the unity that brings us together.”

The current environment in this country, and the world, makes it incumbent upon each one of us to do whatever we can to help build a solid future for our children.  They will need all the tools available to be able to survive and thrive in this global economy.  They need to see us, the adults, acting in concert with one another and doing what we want them to do as they grow older.  They need to see us connected and responding unselfishly to the demands of this world especially when it comes to sharing, collaborating, and being willing to help one another.

Ever since the Million Man march in October1995, I have participated and helped establish several initiatives whose purpose was to empower our people, mainly economically but also educationally, socially, and politically.  All but a couple of those initiatives eventually faded away, not because they failed to address many of our problems, but because we simply did not sustain them.  Support and sustainability are keys to the survival of any movement, and no matter what we call it, no matter how enthusiastic we are at the beginning, and no matter how much we understand the need for any initiative, it will not last if we do not bring the commitment and dedication to support it and do whatever it takes to sustain it as well.  The Unity Movement, just one of several initiatives up and running now in 2012, is certainly worth our commitment and participation.

All you have to do to join is go to the website and add your information.  That’s it.  Before we can accomplish the goals of the Unity Movement we must have critical mass, and Mr. Moore has determined that number to be 2 million. So, please go to the site: myunitymovement.com and get on board.

One more thing:  Let’s not get hung-up on the usual things that keep us from supporting something that someone other than “I” brought forth.  I know brothers and sisters across this nation that are doing some fantastic things to help solve our problems, but with all the problems facing Black folks in this country and around the world, there are never enough answers, and there is definitely not just one answer.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “My thing is better is than his thing,” or “My thing was here first,” or “I was doing that years ago.”  That’s a prescription for continued failure with the Black community of this country.  There is room for more than one initiative and we can all walk and chew gum at the same time.

A little more love, a little more trust, and a little more respect for one another will bring the unity we need to move forward, no matter what the local, national, or international environment may bring.  The Unity Movement will give us the boost we need to achieve that love, trust, and respect.  It will also provide us with a knowledge base, an economic foundation, and an educational platform from which can launch other much needed initiatives.  Get on Board!

For more information go to myunitymovement.com or contact the Unity Movement at 1-888-93-UNITY

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - If only I could load up a bunch of bad kids across the nation and bus them to Pastor Creflo Dollar’s church in Atlanta for a good old fashioned smack down, I would certainly do it.

From his pulpit Sunday shortly after being arrested and jailed for allegedly beating his 15-year-old daughter, the mega-church pastor denied intentionally hurting her adding: “I should have never been arrested.”

Dollar was arrested after his 15-year-old daughter called 911 at about 1 a.m. last Friday and told a Fayette County sheriff’s deputy that she and her father argued when he said she couldn’t go to a party. A police report says the girl told a deputy her father charged at her, put his hands around her throat, began to punch her and started hitting her with his shoe. The deputy noted a scratch on her neck.

The pastor countered that the scratch on her neck was actually a 10 year-old mark from a skin condition called eczema. He denied punching her but did admit “the conversation over her going out became emotional and things escalated from there.”

Let’s just say that the truth lies somewhere between the police report and the pastor’s view of what happened and that he smacked or spanked or jerked his daughter around to keep her from what could have been a bigger threat. If all that happened was a smack-down, I unashamedly agree he should not have been arrested.

I have attended his church in Atlanta, watched his TV broadcast daily and as a fan I did not like his being arrested and paraded in the media in an orange prison jump suit on misdemeanor charges stemming from disciplining his daughter.

When you think of all the trouble that can happen to a young girl out after midnight, the pastor should be applauded for trying to stop her from defying his rules instead of being treated like a criminal. What if his daughter had wound up in trouble?  Can’t you see the headlines this father’s day blasting Dollar, the father of five children, as an unfit dad as a moral leader with millions of followers who can’t keep his own daughter in check.

Too many kids these days do not respect nor fear us as parents.  Situations like the arrest of Dollar only reinforce beliefs among the young that parents will be punished for disciplining them much harsher than they ever will be for misbehaving.

I’m not saying all kids deserve a smack down, but it shouldn’t be ruled out either as a last resort.  Some parents can enforce order simply by taking away privileges, such as denying trips to the movies, locking up their X-Boxes or snatching their ubiquitous cell phones. That might not work, however, for the hardcore knuckleheads, who curse their parents, hang-out in the streets late at night and walk around disgustingly with their pants hanging down showing their underwear or the girls wearing tattoos on low hanging breasts.  Smack-downs at home might prevent them from getting in the kind of trouble that would warrant more serious beat downs from police or prison guards later on.

Parents need to establish more spiritual and moral authority in our homes just as I believe Pastor Dollar was trying to do.  Up to seventy percent of African-American homes are headed by women. It is tough trying to be both nurturer and disciplinarian. We need more men in the home not only to love our children but also to help us discipline them, especially the disorderly males, who often get away with too much because of how many women raise our daughters to be responsible but pamper and over-indulge our sons.

As a single mother who reared a son, I tried everything to keep him in check, ranging from praying, switching, paddling, spanking and threats. When that didn’t work I sent him to boarding school until he decided to comply with my rules. Now a college graduate with a career in law enforcement I think I found the proper balance.

One of the best ways to control our bad kids is to scare them half to death. If your child is convinced you are capable of being a serial killer or your former job was torturing prisoners at Guantanamo, they are more likely to obey. While the love of my grandmother who reared me, inspired me, her hard knocks kept me in line. On Sundays at church she was a proper lady wearing white gloves and a nice hat, but at home my antics could turn her into a domestic terrorist.

I attended Catholic school. It was not unusual for the nuns to throw us over a desk and beat us with a belt if we did not complete our homework or whack our knuckles if our assignments were late.  Later in life I found that fear factor worked for my advantage. To this day I have a built-in reluctance to miss deadlines or procrastinate.

My parenting advice, however, is hotly refuted by some doctors, such as board-certified pediatrician and psychiatrist, Dr. Jan Hutchinson.  “According to the American Society of Pediatricians it is never OK to strike your child.  The only modification I would add is it could be acceptable in self-defense, if a life is being threatened.  But this is rare and unusual.”

Referring to a major study of 2,500 mothers by Tulane University in April, Hutchinson said, “Not only is spanking children of limited effect, it has long-term negatives.  The study showed that children who are spanked twice monthly at age 3 are twice as likely to become destructive, aggressive and mean -spirited by the time they are five. There is a great correlation between hitting a child and increasing aggression. It is important that children are disciplined, but it should be done in the framework of love and support and not harshness and cruelty.”

To spank or not to spank if that is the question, it looks like Pastor Dollar chose the smack down.  If that act has taught his daughter a valuable lesson about honoring her father, who apparently has provided and cared for her all her life, perhaps jail was not too hard a price to pay.

By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Last week, legislators led by my son Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (I write with some pride) called on the Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, back to the levels it reached in 1968, and index it to inflation so it doesn’t lose value over time. Republicans in Congress will block a vote on this measure. Democratic leaders can’t figure out where they are on it. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will unleash a horde of lobbyists to oppose it. But the reality is that this would be a no-brainer. And it is time for the president and sensible leaders in both parties to push for its passage.

The current federal minimum wage is set at $7.25 an hour. Eighteen states have higher mandates. The federal minimum wage was last raised in 2007 in a two-stage process to get to current levels. Because it is not indexed to inflation, the minimum wage has lost ground over time. In 1968, the floor was set at the equivalent of more than $10 an hour in today’s terms.

Raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour would lift the wages of 30 million Americans, more than 20 percent of the work force. It would not only affect the wages of those who work for less than $10 an hour but also of those who make a little more, as employers would raise their pay to retain good workers. A staggering 40 percent of the work force falls within that range.

These are poor people, but they aren’t lazy. They work hard every day that they can. They take the early bus. They do the dirty jobs. They wait in job lines. They shower when they come back from work, not before they go to work.

Raising the minimum wage would help the economy, putting money into the pockets of low-wage workers who would spend it. At a time when businesses are looking for customers, raising the floor under families just makes sense. And it would represent a measure of justice. As Rep. Jackson said: “We’ve bailed out banks, we’ve bailed out corporations, we’ve bailed out Wall Street, we’ve tried to create sound fundamentals in the economy. Now it’s time to bail out working people who work hard every day and they still only make $7.25. The only way to do that is to raise the minimum wage.” As consumer advocate Ralph Nader noted at the news conference, “A single Wall Street executive’s compensation of $15 million would pay the annual wages of over 700 workers working at a minimum wage of $10 per hour.”

Opponents of the minimum wage increase argue that it would cost jobs, forcing small businesses to lay off workers. However, repeated academic studies have shown that, even in a recession, raising the minimum wage has little effect on jobs. In fact, by putting money into the pockets of working families who will spend it, it helps generate demand, not reduce it. That’s part of the reason more than 1,000 business owners from across the country, led by the CEOs of Costco and the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, supported the last minimum wage increase.

President Barack Obama should lead this drive, fulfilling the promise he made in 2008 to push for a higher minimum wage by 2011. Usually, minimum wage bills are coupled with tax breaks for small business. But in a reflection of how skewed our politics have been, small business has already gotten 17 tax breaks under Obama, while low-wage workers have yet to get a raise.

With wages declining, one-third of homes with mortgages underwater, and businesses sitting on record profits looking for customers, America needs a raise. Let’s start by raising the floor.