American Forum Op-Ed

AMERICAN FORUM

By Chandelle Summer

The evening of Jan. 18 began ordinarily enough, my husband and I engaging in our usual, bedroom channel-surfing along with the attendant full-scale, courtroom-worthy debate over which program was to be selected. With 1,150 channels, it's a long and arduous process. Then it happened.

"Two-four-six-eight, we don't want to integrate." Grainy, black-and-white images of throngs of fresh-faced angry teen-agers dressed in crisp white shirts standing at the Arch of the University of Georgia repeatedly screaming in unison, "Two-four-six-eight, we don't want to integrate." We were watching "Eyes on the Prize," a PBS series about 1960s civil-rights struggles.

Five decades ago, young African Americans endured the wrath of the white establishment and subjected themselves to close-range, fire-hosing at water pressures so strong they could rip the bark right off a tree. They endured rock-throwing, face-smashing and arm-twisting arrests. A young woman walked proudly onto the campus of the University of Georgia to the jeers and taunts of an angry mob. Fifty years later, here we go again.

Bills pending in this session of the Georgia General Assembly propose that all institutions of higher education and technical schools in Georgia deny entrance to children of undocumented immigrants. Presently, those without documentation who graduated from a Georgia high school can attend college in Georgia provided they pay out-of-state tuition. But the Georgia Legislature now is considering barring these students altogether. Mind you, these are the same children who have been educated by the state and who have been reciting the Pledge of Allegiance since they were toddlers.

American students are taught the evils of "caste systems" in other countries that allow only a small pool of candidates to receive higher education. Ostensibly, in America the best and the brightest are selected from a well-honed system of competition and opportunity. Merit-based achievement is encouraged, character education is mandated, and students in Georgia are taught that if they study hard, participate and achieve, a bright future is all but guaranteed. Of course, if you are an honor student who happened to have been cradled in your mother's arms when you crossed the southern border, even if you haven't laid eyes on the motherland since, forget it. Your land of opportunity may extend only to the tomato patch in South Georgia, where you will be welcomed with open arms because our agricultural industry depends upon you.

The most common refrain for those who would deny admittance to qualified students regardless of heritage is that those who pay no taxes don't support our institutions of higher learning. That argument must fail since undocumented workers pay sales taxes, property taxes and often pay payroll taxes. And no one is suggesting barring children whose parents don't or can't pay their taxes. If contribution is the standard by which we judge qualification, then clearly all those who fail to buy lottery tickets should be stopped from sending their children to school on the Hope scholarship.

Only a small percentage of undocumented students now attend college in Georgia. Chancellor Erroll Davis said, "Our capacity is not being stressed by thousands of illegal students. Out of 311,000 students in our 35 colleges and universities last fall semester, we found 501 undocumented students, or less than two-tenths of 1 percent. These 501 students all pay out-of-state tuition, which more than fully covers the cost of their education." The students Davis is referring to live in fear. They were powerless over the choices that brought them here and they are powerless over their destiny. Those of us blessed with reason, conscience and heart cannot sit back and watch another generation of children disenfranchised by laws born of prejudice and hate. The wide-eyed stares of those children who have been devalued and dehumanized as though they are somehow responsible for their own predicament will haunt our collective consciousness. We must not repeat the same social injustice that tarnished Georgia two score and 10 years ago.

Summer is an attorney and mother of five. She appears as "loyal opposition" on talk-radio simulcast on WDUN-550 AM and 102.9 FM, live stream on AccessNorthGa.com, and founder of Dream On (www.supportdreamon.com).

Copyright (C) 2011 by Georgia Forum. 3/11

MISSISSIPPI FORUM

By Hazel Gaines, MS, RN

Once again, Mississippi is the state with the highest rate of child deaths in the nation. The average rate for the country, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics available (2007), is 19 child deaths for every 100,000 children age birth to 14 years. The rate for Mississippi is almost twice that: 34 child deaths for every 100,000 children under age 15.

Mississippi’s Child Death Review Panel (CDRP) has been working since 2006 to bring down the number of preventable child deaths by determining why and how Mississippi children die. Operating under the auspices of the Mississippi State Department of Health, the CDRP works with over 20 state agencies, community organizations, and professional organizations to coordinate a review of unexpected child deaths from birth to age 18, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The CDRP issues a report for the previous year each December detailing the causes of the deaths of Mississippi children, and making recommendations for ways to decrease those deaths.

The latest CDRP Report details the causes of 278 deaths of the total 709 child deaths statewide in 2008. The 709 deaths in 2008 are a significant drop from the 745 child deaths reported for 2006 and the 765 deaths reported for 2007. Harrison and Rankin Counties had the highest number of child deaths at 17 and 13 respectively. Hinds County reported 11 child deaths, and Lincoln, Pearl River, Scott, Warren and Washington Counties each reported 8 deaths.

Of the 278 cases reviewed, more than 60 percent of the children who died were boys, 50 percent were white and 47 percent were African American. More than 15 percent of the children who died had an illness or other medical problem.

Of the 38 SIDS deaths, most babies died sleeping on their stomachs rather than on their backs, most had a smoker in the household (which has been associated with SIDS), and 76 percent were under four months of age.


The greatest number of preventable deaths, 76, was caused by vehicular crashes, most of which were car crashes. Forty, or more than half of the children killed in car crashes, were age 15-17. The number of children killed who were not wearing seatbelts has decreased since 2006 when Mississippi’s Primary Seatbelt Law was passed; in 2007 it was less than 40 percent. The overall numbers of children killed has also decreased since 2006, when 87 children were killed.

An increasing number of Mississippi children are killed or maimed in ATV crashes each year. Ten children were killed in ATV crashes in 2008.

Thirty Mississippi children were killed by firearms; 14 of these deaths were homicides, eight were suicides, and seven were accidental. Twenty-five of the children who died were boys, 23 were teens age 15-17, and 17 were killed by handguns. Firearms deaths have been increasing since 2006, when 18 such deaths were reported.

Mississippi has a high rate of fire deaths compared to other states: in 2008, seven children died and 71 percent were under three years of age. In 2007, 19 children died in fires.

Mississippi also has a high rate of child drownings compared to other states. In 2008, 14 children drowned and nine of those were under 5 years old. Most of the drownings happened in a natural setting such as a creek, a river or a pond.

The Child Death Review Panel continues to recommend that child injury and death prevention be a priority for policy makers. The Booster Seat Law of 2008, the Graduated Teen Driver’s License Bill of 2009, and the Jason Flatt Act of 2009 will all help to prevent child deaths in our state. The CDRP now recommends new ATV Safety laws in hopes of reversing the increasing number of children killed and severely injured in roll-overs and other ATV crashes. Too many children dying needlessly is one distinction Mississippi could do without.
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Gaines, MS, RN, is the coordinator of the Child Death Review Panel for the Mississippi State Department of Health.
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Copyright (C) 2010 by the Mississippi Forum 10/10