Stephanie Ezenagu
What issue, challenge, or problem did you discover?
A recent report by Brookings Institution discovered that four North Carolina metro areas-Winston-Salem, Greensboro-High Point, Raleigh, and Charlotte were among the top 10 in the nation for both growth in poor population and growth of poor neighborhoods. Furthermore, from 2008 to 2012, the poverty rate in the state of North Carolina rose from 14.6% to 18%. Apart from Arkansas, Georgia, and Wyoming whose minimum wages are $6.25, $5.15, and $5.15 respectively, North Carolina is next on the list at $7.25. This wage level merely satisfies the Federal minimum wage requirement of $7.25. Therefore, it did not come as much as a surprise to discover that the issue of employment and horrible wages was a challenge that most of the community members that I spoke to were facing. I chose this issue out of the several problems that the individuals that I spoke to mentioned because my classmates and I might be affected by it post-graduation. If any of us should have problems with obtaining an adequate job after getting our degrees, such a person might be forced to take a minimum wage job until they are able to find a suitable position in their field. According, Mrs. Jones whom I spoke with, her three kids were unable to find jobs after graduating from college, eventually, one of them had to take a job at Burger King just to help out with the bills at home. That is a minimum job that her child could have gotten without a college education, and they are now stuck with their college loans on a minimum wage job.
What has been done so far to address this issue?
In order to understand what solutions might be necessary for this issue, a little background might be beneficial. There are two incidents that could be argued are huge reasons for this issue. In 1994, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada agreed on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As a result, the state of North Carolina lost extensive numbers of manufacturing and agricultural jobs, and most residents were forced into unemployment or taking significantly lower paying jobs. Then the housing collapse and a recession occurred in 2008, and this further crippled any efforts towards eliminating the high poverty rates.
Rather than embarking on several community development plans or actions that would boost the economy, the State of North Carolina has made several head scratching moves that would have the opposite effect of a boost among low income residents. In 2012, North Carolina was one of 20 states that decided not to expand Medicaid coverage to low income resident, according to the Advisory Board Company. Furthermore, the state also cut unemployment benefits to a `14 week maximum, which is the shortest amount in the US- the previous maximum was 19 weeks. As if that was not enough, North Carolina became the only state to eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit which reduced income for low to moderate income people. Therefore, it seems as if rather than boosting the economy and providing well-paying jobs for their constituents, the State is rather intent on driving away poor residents or forcing them to accept highly regulated minimum wage jobs. The strategy being used here by the State does not fit any of the community organizing models we have learned so far in class. This is because rather than developing the communities and helping alienate poverty and minimum wages, the State is doing the opposite. It is essential to understand that not everyone will be comfortable with working a minimum wage, and most with their college education will turn their intelligence to crime or other illegal means in order to earn a living. This in turn will cause more problems for the State down the line with allocating more funds for fighting crimes, when they could have used these funds initially to boost the economy and provide moderately paying jobs.
What community organizing approach would you use to address this problem? Is it different than what is being done now? If so, how? Why would you use this strategy?
While it would not alienate poverty overnight, the first step to solving this issue is by increasing minimum wage, and offering benefits to companies so that they can bring back jobs to the state for college graduates and other unemployed professionals. This will boost the economy, and put money in the pockets of low income households, who will in turn spend this money on grocery and other necessities, which will in turn boost the economy. However, since the state of North Carolina is taking the opposite track of eliminating unemployment benefits and tax breaks for low to middle income households, it can be assumed that the self-help and technical assistance model will not work in this case. At this stage, there is only one suitable model for this issue, and that is the conflict model.
According to Green & Haines (2012), the conflict development is probably one of the most established traditions in community development, and is most often identified with Saul Alinsky (1996). Practitioners who adopt this approach assume that the fundamental source of most community problems is the lack of power. (Green & Haines, 2012). Community leaders should organize their communities and rally them around the issue of low minimum wage. They should then hold non-violent protests and use embarrassing tactics to force the state’s local political leaders into action for their constituents.
I would use this approach because it seems like the only one plausible at this stage. People who have already graduated from college no longer need the self-help model, because they have already helped themselves by acquiring a college education, and yet are stuck with either being under-employed or under-paid. The technical assistance model might not also be helpful here, unless it involves returning the unemployment benefits and task breaks that the state took away from low income residents. This issue is very important to me, because if I am unable to find a suitable job in my field, then I might be unemployed and stuck with a minimum wage job and high student loan payments. Which would really be a slight upon the government, since I have done my part by avoiding illegal activities, and acquiring a college education.
Reference
Green, G.P., & Haines, A. (2012). Asset Building and Community Development (3rd ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
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