PostWidely content : Income Disparity

Check out Chicago Lawyers' Committee's open letter to Mayor Emanuel, CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and board of education members urging a stop to the massive proposed school closures.

"The number of Americans in state and federal prisons has quintupled since 1980."

Interesting article on the Pennsylvania lawsuit. Not only does it highlight the problems with voter ID, it touches on race and socioeconomic status in the courtroom.

There have been more challenges to the Voting Rights Act in the past 2 years than in the previous 45 years combined.

According to this article, many experts believe that "the impact of the recession on the young has created a disillusionment about politics in general." It is a heart-breaking read, but it gives rise to very important questions. Why do people who feel oppressed or discouraged by their current circumstances steer away from political activity? What kind of impact will this trend have on politics in the future? Will politics continue to be increasingly a game for the well-off? How do we change it?

Bryan’s death earlier this year on the streets of Chicago left staff and clients alike at The Night Ministry shocked and grieving. Bryan had been on the list of Chicago’s most “vulnerable” individuals on the street: those most likely to die if they were not housed. Tragically, a temporary “bridge” housing unit was available prior to his death; however, Bryan never took the steps to actually visit the apartment. Also, he was eligible for a permanent supportive housing unit whenever one became available.

This week’s cover story features the 100,000 Homes Campaign, its efforts to house the most vulnerable homeless, and how this project came too late for one Chicagoan, (see page 10 of StreetWise Magazine). The person in question, “Bryan,” was a client at a number of social service agencies.

Certain groups, namely ones that tend to have a lower income than other Americans, actually pay more for car insurance. I think this quote sums up the issue nicely: “We are somehow talking about poverty traps. By all appearance, financial benefits seem to stay with those who already have them. The important task is to know the mechanisms and to overcome them; ultimately to join the club of those who are better off. There is no systemic reason why a member of a minority group should not enjoy the same rates as any 'average citizen’. High auto insurance rates should not just be taken as destiny.”

On Saturday, June 23, the Chicago Police Department and the City of Chicago held a gun turn-in event to get guns off the streets. I posted the event last week. As I mentioned, the procedure was as follows: "Turn in your gun and receive a $100 MasterCard gift card. No questions asked. Really. No questions." The event collected 5500 guns, of which only 700 were fake. The slogan for the event was "Don't Kill a Dream, Save a Life."

This is a fascinating race question. Moderate race matching in adoption cases, which is premised on the idea that same-race adoption is more suitable than interracial adoption, is not strictly illegal. It is also an interesting social justice issue insofar as the policy disproportionately impacts black youth, who comprise a large proportion of orphans in the United States and who do not have a sufficient number of black adults willing to adopt them.

This is by far the cutest- and most creative- nonprofit partnership I've ever seen.

Even with housing prices plummeting

Disparate treatment in discipline along racial lines not only negatively impacts educational outcomes but also dramatically affects students' perceptions of justice and fairness.

Diana Thomas is a very unique personality. Her character is just as colorful as her clothing and with her bright eyes and energetic demeanor, she brings life into every room she enters.

Jimmy is a perfect representative and vendor for StreetWise because of his attentive ways to EVERY person; whether they purchase the magazine or not.

StreetWise Vendor Quincy Hunter can be described as a very laid-back, fun-loving type of guy. But when he gets to business, Quincy is extremely driven and working hard to build his life back up brick by brick.

Jimmy has been a vendor with StreetWise for five weeks. He has a regular walking route and a few business locations where he sells the magazine.

Paul Knight has only been working at Streetwise for a few weeks and is still looking for a good location to sell the magazine. This is actually a very important and difficult part of beginning as a vendor. I like to listen as vendors help each other with suggestions and encouragement regarding this important step to selling the magazine.

Stacy Edsall and Leroy Grant are new participants in the Writing Workshop this week. We met at the lunch table and I conducted an interview with them so that we could get to know each other. They ate hot dogs with relish for lunch and wanted to tell their stories (through me) to the readers of StreetWise Magazine.

Many people make light of the problem of homelessness. But homelessness is not a laughing matter. In fact, homelessness is a very serious problem, and yet, each year, the problem gets worse and worse.

Everyone who cares about race and poverty should be reading Deepak Bhargava's essay on Social Justice Movements in a Liminal Age in this month's PRRAC newsletter, Poverty & Race.

Here is an article about our food pantry, the S.O.U.P. Center.

I challenge you to answer this question -- How much has America's first black president changed race relations?

Great article about harsh sentencing of youth and particularly, the reasons that kids often get sentenced more harshly than adults.

Phenomenal work. We need more programs like this- as well as a concentrated, nation-wide push to eliminate questions about whether job candidates have criminal records in roles in which these would not be relevant, to allow them back into the legitimate economy and break the stigma of incarceration.

I'm particularly worried about the disparate impact this will have to further stratify the wealth of US workers and their families. Not everybody can afford the education to obtain a white collar career.

Kristof's comment about property rights brings to mind the research done on how the rule of law and effective property rights regimes make the difference between wealthy societies and underdeveloped ones. But one also notices the lack of a wider critique about reservations' abandonment by the larger society.

The product of a transformative school with transformative teachers. We must explore how these results can be replicated countrywide in all schools.

The disparate treatment of minority students in school discipline is not limited to Connecticut. Across the country, Black and Hispanic students are disproportionately suspended and expelled from school. This problem greatly impacts student achievement and school culture. Schools need to ensure that they are providing safe, welcoming, and nondiscriminatory environments for all students.

The tension of giving or not giving to panhandlers.

Disparate hiring rates post-recession between men and women

One of the top national priorities of Generation X was to make college, and its financial benefits, available to all young adults. But, by tying it to tens to hundreds of thousand dollars of debt upon graduation, the opportunity it normally provides turns into usury.

The Chicago Lawyers' Committee recognizes that minority home ownership has eroded. It is an important fair housing issue that has arisen from the housing crisis.

Chicago Lawyers' Committee recognizes the importance of fighting abusive employment practices such as the ones described here.

Greater income equality will lead to greater opportunities, and a more equal and just society.