MORSE'S CODE

How Many Children Left Behind?

A study just released by the non-profit organization the Urban Institute shows that people of color are much less likely to graduate high school than their white counterparts.

The study found that:

• African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics have little more than a fifty-fifty chance of finishing high school with a diploma.


• Graduation rates for Whites and Asians are 75 and 77 percent nationally.


• Males graduate from high school at a rate 8 percent lower than female students.


• Graduation rates for students who attend school in high poverty, racially segregated, and urban school districts lag from 15 to 18 percent behind their peers.

To quote:



This study provides the most compelling evidence to date that the nation finds itself in the midst of a serious, broad-based, and (until recently) unrecognized crisis in high school completion. In part, this crisis has gone undetected for a lack of in-depth national investigations into the issue based on solid statistics and methods.


The study used a non-traditional method for calculating graduation rate, focusing on the percentage of kids entering high school that graduate – named the “Cumulative Promotion Index.” According to the report, traditional measures tend to present an overly optimistic picture of graduation rates.
Posted by dmorse at 04:56 PM

Educa-te

The Pew Hispanic Center has done it again, publishing an awesome study looking at Latinos and Education. A total of 3,421 adults were interviewed, about half Latino and half Anglo and African American.

Some of the results:

• Latinos, particularly the foreign born, are generally optimistic about local schools. More so than either whites or African Americans. Still, three in ten rated the schools in their community as either a C, D, or F


• Security issues such as drugs, violence and gangs were cited as the biggest problem facing local schools by Latinos. Whites cited inadequate funding most often while African Americans mentioned a variety of issues – security, funding, teacher quality and undisciplined kids


• Foreign born Latinos tended to feel that schools tended to be accommodating in communicating with them in Spanish, but were much less likely than other parents to say they know a lot about the curriculum and goals of their child’s grade


• Latino parents are actively involved in their kids education, and together with African American parents, were more likely than white parents to report helping with their kids homework


• A majority of all respondents feel that it is important for pubic schools to teach English to the children of immigrants, as well as to help them to maintain their family’s mother tongue. Foreign born respondents were most likely to agree with the latter (93%). Whites were least likely (57%).

There’s a wealth of information in this study, including views on politics and policy, from vouchers to standardized testing to views on President Bush and his No Child Left Behind Act. Click here to educate yourself.

Religious Musings (Or the Best Little Borscht House in Mexico)

The conventional wisdom is that Latinos are Roman Catholics. Most are. But a large number in the United States – about a quarter to be precise – are Protestants or other Christians. It’s what some have called the “Pentecostalization” of America. What is interesting is that although there is a surge in evangelical religion in Latin America, Protestants only make up about 1/8 of the population.

The Christian Science Monitor had an article last Friday that sheds some light on the subject. A multicultural Epiphany, if you will. Here’s a sample:

Today, there are 9.2 million Latino Pentecostals or charismatics in the United States - more than the number of Jews or Muslims in the country. The conversion movement - taking place in the US and beyond - is a shift from the Catholic identity long associated with Latin America. The appeal for new immigrants here is multiple: Services are more expressive, they are typically given in an immigrant's native tongue, and they focus on the individual. The emphasis on social and financial mobility is also appealing. "Protestant churches have a great impact on changing individual lives," says R. Stephen Warner, a professor of sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

For me personally, being introduced to the Jewish community of Mexico City was an eye opener. There are 60,000 Jews in Mexico including the full gamut of Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Hasidic congregations, of the Ashkenazi and Sephardic variety. If it strikes you as funny to encounter names like Jaime Schwartz or Carlos Levine, keep in mind that there are an estimated 500 to 600 thousand Jews in Latin America. My favorite example is my good friend Simon El Hage of the Hispanic advertising agency Lopez Negrete. He's a Mexican Lebanese Jew -- the good looking guy here with the goatee, glasses on.

Incidentally, the best bagels I’ve eaten in my life –excepting New York – were at the Rascal House restaurant in the Tecamachalco district of Mexico City. Not bad borscht either.

Did You Hear The One About the Priest, The Rabbi and The Minister?

If you haven’t heard the noise, there’s a lot of hoopla over an e-mail at the law firm Dewey Ballantine. Responding to a message from someone trying to place a puppy, a partner responded “Don’t let them go to a Chinese restaurant.” Some associates didn’t think the response was very funny, and soon comments began flying on the Internet. An article appeared in the New York Law Journal condemning the message. This past week a group of Asian-American bar associations and 36 Asian-American law student organizations demanded to know what the firm intends to do about things.

I’m reminded of Abercrombie & Fitch’s fiasco a few years back. The company came out with a line of t-shirts that were truly insulting to Asians. One gaffed: “Wong Brothers Laundry Service – Two Wongs Can Make It White.” Another bumbled, “Abercrombie & Fitch Buddha Bash – Get Your Buddha on the Floor.” The company actually thought that Asian Americans would love the t-shirt.

Last year, Vanity Fair magazine succeeded in infuriating a chunk of the Latino community with a piece in a column written by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Humphries plays a cross-dressing, acid-tongue character called Dame Edna, and does a comical “Dear Abby” kind of advice column. Here’s the piece in all its wickedness:

Dear Dame Edna,
I would very much like to learn a foreign language, preferably French or Italian, but every time I mention this, people tell me to learn Spanish instead. They say, "Everyone is going to be speaking Spanish in 10 years. George W. Bush speaks Spanish." Could this be true? Are we all going to have to speak Spanish?
-Torn Romantic, Palm Beach

Dear Torn,
Forget Spanish. There`s nothing in that language worth reading except Don Quixote, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La Mancha will take care of that. There was a poet named Garcia Lorca, but I`d leave him on the intellectual back burner if I were you. As for everyone`s speaking it, what twaddle! Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help? Your leaf blower? Study French or German, where there are at least a few books worth reading, or, if you`re American, try English."

I personally found it to be campy, a satire of racism, intolerance and pretentiousness. Obviously many disagree with me. But it does raise some serious questions. Have we become so politically correct that we’ve lost our ability to laugh at ourselves? I do think we run that risk.

Not that I excuse the dog food memo. That’s a clear case of bad taste (no pun intended). As far as Abercrombie, it seems like they’ve switched gears since the t-shirt blunder. Here’s a photo from the home page of their website today. It looks like they’re targeting a slightly different crowd now…

Journaling in Spanish

The Wall Street Journal will begin to produce inserts for the Tribune Co.’s Hoy Spanish language newspaper, which will appear on Thursdays with information on personal finance, technology, careers and small business. In addition, this alliance will allow Hoy access to some of the Journal’s top columnists. According to this article in the Washington Post the articles will be translated versions of material drawn from Journals in the U.S., Europe and Latin America.

Sexual Preference Matters

The issue of gay marriage promises to be a hot and steamy one this year. Overshadowing the election results in newspapers throughout the country is the report that the Massachusetts high court has ruled in favor of gay marriages. Not civil unions like in Vermont. The court says those would fall short of protecting constitutional rights. To quote its decision:

The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal. The (civil unions) bill maintains an unconstitutional, inferior, and discriminatory status for same-sex couples."

The Massachussets Senate will meet next week to consider a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a woman and a man. But it would take until 2006 to wind up on the ballot, so until then, the court’s decision will be law.

On the other side of the spectrum, Governor Bob Taft of Ohio will be handed a bill outlawing gay marriages, just approved by Ohio’s House that he says he will sign. Ohio would join the ranks of the 37 states that have passed anti-gay marriage laws.

In an act of defiance, the mayor of Cincinnati called on voters to repeal a 1993 city charter that bans enforcement or enactment of gay rights laws. His argument – times have changed and it’s time for the city to show some tolerance. Bravo.

First, Queer as Folk. Then, The Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Now, the L Word. Don’t forget the B Word: Backlash. (Or bigotry?). I’m really wondering how this will all play out.

Here’s a link to the Boston Globe and the Cincinatti Enquirer.

"We're Not in New Hampshire Anymore"

-- David Morse to self, 1983

With 7 primaries voting today, those of us in the multicultural business will be focused on three key states: South Carolina, Arizona and New Mexico. In South Carolina, 40% of the State's registered democrats are African American, and it is largely considered to be a race between Kerry and Edwards, with Sharpton running a distant third. An article in the Arizona Republic today talks about how all the candidates are wooing Hispanic voters in a state that is 25% Hispanic. Wesley Clark, according to the article, after speaking in his reputedly fluent Spanish, told the crowd "I'm one tough hombre."

I’ll be especially interested in how the New Mexico primary pans out. It is the most Hispanic of all the states, 42%, and boasts one of the oldest and most acculturated populations, going back to the days of the Spanish. In the 2000 Census, about a quarter of Hispanics in the state indicated that their ethnicity was “Other” (i.e. not Mexican or anything else) in an assertion of their uniqueness. Check out this story from Sunday’s Washington Post.

Multicultural Metering

The Super Bowl is over and the Patriots won. The commercials are over and the big winner was Anheuser-Busch. At least according to USA Today’s AD Meter, which measures respondent reactions on a second by second basis. The results showed that the beer giant guzzled up six of the top ten spots, and ranked number one for the 6th year in a row. The top ad – the preppy guys with the dogs.

According to the Chinese calendar, this is the year of the monkey. But on Madison Avenue it was simply the year of the animal. They brought us monkeys, donkeys, dogs, bears, and even a feral Honda Pilot owner.

My respects to USA Today, but I had my own meter going. I am (as of this moment) naming it my Multicultural Meter. It’s a simple methodology since I’m both judge and jury. I sit in front of my television and classify all the Super Bowl ads as being either “multicultural”, “white” or “neutral”. Bud Light in hand. (Can you say that on the Internet?). No monkeys, dogs or bears.
As I mentioned in my blog last week, I’m very liberal in my scoring.

The rules are:

1. “Multicultural” means that the ad had some kind of a multicultural theme. Or a non-white person in a leading role. People of color in the background don’t count.


2. “White” means the ad had nothing multicultural about it. And there was no non-white person in a leading role.


3. Neutral includes everything else. I put movie ads into this category (I counted 11). I didn’t count any NFL ads featuring athletes. And I left out CBS ads altogether.

Multiculturally speaking, I’d call this year a disappointment. From kick-off until the post-game show, I counted a total of 72 ads. Of these, I scored only 18 as multicultural, exactly a quarter. Last year, I counted a third. Remember that non-white folks make up about 30% of the population.

The winner of the Multicultural Meter: Pepsi Co. I counted 4 Pepsi ads, 1 for Sierra Mist, and 1 for Frito Lay. (I’m counting grandma and grandpa as Hispanic. The music is Latin and the feel is clearly not Anglo Saxon).

That brings me to another point. Pepsi aside, why were there so few ads targeting the 28 million Latinos in our country? They are big football fans. 60% were born in the United States (84% of those less than 18). According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 60% of the adult population speaks English “very well” or “pretty well.” They certainly all weren’t tuned into Spanish language television.

I give my top multicultural award to the Frito Lay ad. It's got subtle Hispanic overtones, and shows that you can reach this consumer without stereotypes or clichés. It's inclusive, and most importantly, very funny.

Anyway, I’ve said enough for one day. Click here if you want to relive some of the ads. And congratulations, Pepsi Co.