tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/detroit-4319/articlesDetroit – The Conversation2024-03-19T12:23:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238362024-03-19T12:23:06Z2024-03-19T12:23:06ZHow ghost streams and redlining’s legacy lead to unfairness in flood risk, in Detroit and elsewhere<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580202/original/file-20240306-26-nqkhke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Detroit River inundated Detroit's Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/HighWaterDetroitFlooding/35df93ae560e4e13912b5f36456d2e8d/photo?Query=detroit%20flood&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=74&currentItemNo=18">AP/Corey Williams</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2021, metro Detroit was hit with a rainstorm so severe that President Joe <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/15/president-joseph-r-biden-jr-approves-michigan-disaster-declaration/">Biden issued a major disaster declaration</a> at state officials’ request. </p>
<p>Nearly 8 inches of rain fell within 24 hours, closing every major freeway and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2YshMbUeo0">causing massive damage to homes and businesses</a>. The storm was of a severity historically seen in Detroit every 500 to 1,000 years. </p>
<p>But over the past decade, the region has experienced <a href="https://grist.org/cities/how-many-500-year-floods-must-detroit-endure-in-a-decade/">several other storms only slightly less destructive</a>, one <a href="https://www.freep.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2023/08/24/storms-bring-metro-detroit-heavy-rains-flooding/70669298007/">in August 2023</a>.</p>
<p>As the planet warms, severe rains – and the flooding that follows – may become even more intense and frequent in cities like Detroit that have aging and undersized stormwater infrastructure. These extreme events put enormous pressure on communities, but <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flooding-disproportionately-harms-black-neighborhoods/">low-income urban neighborhoods tend to suffer the most</a> </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qyHbWY0AAAAJ&hl=en">geomorphologist at the University of Michigan-Dearborn</a> specializing in urban environments, water, historical mapping and flood-risk equity.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2023.100134">recent research</a>, conducted with graduate students <a href="https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/pain-research/catherine-sulich">Cat Sulich</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RQkzvOQAAAAJ&hl=en">Atreyi Guin</a>, has identified a hidden contributor to flooding in older, low-income neighborhoods that have seen a lack of investment: ghost streams and wetlands.</p>
<p>Although we studied Detroit, our research has implications for cities across the United States.</p>
<h2>Historic decisions have an impact today</h2>
<p>Ghost streams and wetlands are waterways that previously existed but, as urban areas built up, were either buried below the surface or filled in to support development. Detroit has removed more than <a href="https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/A_century_of_stream_burial_in_Michigan_USA_cities/3483827/1">85% of the total length of streams</a> that existed in 1905. Most major cities in the United States and Europe have removed similar numbers of streams. </p>
<p>Detroit is also a city deeply <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/redlining/detroit">affected by redlining</a> – <a href="https://metropolitics.org/Before-Redlining-and-Beyond.html">a now-outlawed practice</a> once used by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144203029004002">Home Owners’ Loan Corporation</a>, a government-sponsored corporation that was created as part of the New Deal, that graded neighborhoods on perceived financial risk.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The 1939 Home Owners' Loan Corporation map of metropolitan Detroit showing redlined areas in the inner city." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580178/original/file-20240306-27-ji0i6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A 1939 Home Owners’ Loan Corporation map of metropolitan Detroit shows formerly redlined areas that now experience disproportionate flooding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwilson1949/50077016761">David Wilson/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People living in communities labeled as “high risk” were disproportionately people of color, immigrants and residents of lower socioeconomic status and were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2024.2321226">systematically denied loans and opportunities to build generational wealth</a>. </p>
<p>These neighborhoods received <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2021.1888702">fewer community investments</a>, including interventions such as stormwater infrastructure and landscape modification, than did higher-wealth neighborhoods. </p>
<p>We looked at whether these decades-old decisions have had any impact on flood risk today and learned that they do.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cacint.2023.100134">this study</a>, we correlated present-day flood risk in metro Detroit with former Home Owner’s Loan Corporation boundaries’ grades. Flood risk was mapped using the <a href="https://firststreet.org/research-library/flood-model-methodology">First Street Foundation’s Flood Factor</a>, which scores every parcel in the U.S. on a scale of minimal (1) to extreme (10). </p>
<p>We then correlated flood risk to the presence of ghost streams and wetlands, which we extracted from old topographic maps from the United States Geological Survey. The goal was to determine whether a history of waterway burial and/or redlining influenced the overall flood risk of communities today.</p>
<p>We found that flood risk was disproportionately distributed, with historically redlined neighborhoods bearing the greatest brunt of flood risk.</p>
<p>Residents living in communities that were graded as “hazardous” (D) or “declining” (C) in the 1940s are today more susceptible to flood risk than the more affluent A and B communities. Over 95% of parcels classified at extreme flooding risk occur in C and D communities, with less than 4% in A and B communities. </p>
<p>Flood risk increases with the presence of ghost streams and wetlands, with C and D communities having a higher risk. In C communities, the presence of a ghost wetland increases flood risk tenfold, while ghost rivers also increase risk, although by a smaller amount. </p>
<p>The percent of properties in D-graded communities that are located adjacent to the 32-mile-long Detroit River and classified at extreme or severe flood risk is 99.9% if they have ghost wetlands or 95% if they have ghost rivers. </p>
<p>In other words, the combined history of redlining and landscape alteration may still contribute to increased flood risk today. When communities received poor grades, banks, lenders and municipalities neglected those areas’ stormwater infrastructure.</p>
<h2>Invest resources where the risk is greatest</h2>
<p>If communities want to protect residents from flooding, it’s crucial for them to map and understand their “hidden hydrology.” Few cities have the data to inform residents that they are at greater flood risk because they are living on a ghost wetland or river. </p>
<p>In Detroit, residents of most of the neighborhoods that show a major to extreme flood risk are not required to purchase flood insurance because they are not near an active river. This means residents are unknowingly at risk.</p>
<p>Another benefit to mapping ghost wetlands and rivers is that stormwater management is most effective if it follows natural pathways and processes. </p>
<p>Stormwater engineers frequently refer to this as “nature-based interventions” or “green stormwater infrastructure.” </p>
<p>During a flood, water occupies the lowest areas of a landscape, such as an abandoned stream valley or filled wetland. Those low areas are a good place to build green stormwater infrastructure, such as rain gardens that absorb water or <a href="https://www.asla.org/bioswales.aspx">bioswales</a> that convey moving water. </p>
<p>Some solutions can reflect culture or embrace art: Detroit’s <a href="https://www.thewright.org/">Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History</a> installed <a href="https://detroitstormwater.org/projects/chw-sankofa-porous-pavers-project">permeable pavers</a> with a unique West African-inspired design to minimize and manage floodwater following major flooding in Detroit in 2014. </p>
<p>In my view, marginalized communities need to have a strong voice in the search for solutions. Discrimination against these communities helped create the current problem. Listening to them now is key to both minimizing flood damage and beginning to right a historical injustice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob Napieralski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mapping where water once flowed is important for managing flood risk today in Detroit and elsewhere.Jacob Napieralski, Professor of Geology, University of Michigan-DearbornLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2258362024-03-15T12:53:39Z2024-03-15T12:53:39Z‘Gross negligence’: why a parent like James Crumbley can be found guilty for their child’s crimes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582010/original/file-20240314-20-jx2q3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1203%2C53%2C1791%2C1940&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">James Crumbley appears in court on March 13, 2024, during his trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/james-crumbley-the-father-of-oxford-high-school-school-news-photo/2074373220?adppopup=true">Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a case of what prosecutors described as “gross negligence,” a Michigan jury convicted James Crumbley on charges of involuntary manslaughter <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/13/us/james-crumbley-school-shooter-father-trial/index.html">for his role</a> in his son’s deadly rampage at Oxford High School nearly three years ago. </p>
<p>Crumbley’s conviction follows the similar fate of his wife, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jennifer-crumbley-trial-verdict-rcna136937">Jennifer Crumbley</a>, who was convicted on Feb. 6, 2024, for her role in the slayings that left four high school teenagers dead and another seven injured.</p>
<p>Both face a maximum <a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2021/12/04/oxford-shooting-heres-what-charges-potential-sentences-suspects-parents-are-facing/">prison sentence of 60 years</a> and fines up to US$30,000. </p>
<p>In December 2023, their son, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/michigan-shooting-suspect-ethan-crumbley-b1975865.html">Ethan Crumbley</a>, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting in which he killed four people and wounded seven others. </p>
<h2>Were the parents responsible?</h2>
<p>Many were surprised when <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2021/12/14/court-hearing-parents-accused-oxford-high-school-shooter/6470468001/">the Crumbleys</a> were charged for their alleged role in the tragedy.</p>
<p>Criminal law, unlike civil law, is less likely to hold defendants liable for the actions of a third party, even if that third party is the defendant’s child. This is because in criminal law defendants face incarceration and the associated stigma that comes with a conviction. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Ethan Crumbley, as seen in a police mug shot." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ethan Crumbley was convicted of fatally shooting four students at Oxford High School.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-undated-handout-photo-provided-by-the-oakland-news-photo/1237057035?adppopup=true">Photo by Oakland County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the rare instances that <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/9-years-after-sandy-hook-oxford-shooting-sees-parents-prosecuted-unprecedented-move-1659265">parents of school shooters are prosecuted</a>, they were normally charged with crimes such as child abuse, child neglect and the failure to properly secure a firearm. The charge lodged against the Crumbleys, <a href="https://www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/homicide/involuntary-manslaughter/">involuntary manslaughter</a>, also known as gross negligent homicide, was even more uncommon. </p>
<p>But it’s not without precedent. </p>
<p>In 2000, <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/02/20-years-after-kayla-rolland-the-fatal-first-grade-shooting-that-sparked-a-national-gun-debate.html">Jamelle James</a>, a Michigan resident, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for leaving his handgun in a shoebox in his bedroom. At the time, James lived in an apartment that prosecutors described as a “flophouse” that was shared with a number of people, including two young children. </p>
<p>A 6-year-old boy – James’ nephew – was temporarily living in the apartment and discovered the gun, brought it to school and fatally shot his first grade classmate Kayla Rolland. James spent more than two years in prison before he was released on probation.</p>
<p>Prosecutors claimed that James’ conduct was “grossly negligent” and “so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury resulted.” </p>
<p>Arguably, leaving an unsecured gun around very young children demonstrated James’ gross negligence. </p>
<h2>‘Egregious’ behavior</h2>
<p>One of the key questions that faced jurors in the Crumbley case was whether the parents knew that a school shooting would occur or had reckless disregard of this fact. To prove the parents’ <a href="https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=838">gross negligence</a>, the prosecution relied on a series of alleged facts.</p>
<p>Among the most central facts was that the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/us/crumbley-parents-charged-michigan-shooting.html">Crumbleys bought their son the handgun</a> as a Christmas present and later took him to target practice.</p>
<p>Neither parent informed the school that they had bought the gun and that their son had access to it.</p>
<p>After being told that her son was searching for ammo on his phone at school, Jennifer Crumbley told her son <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59523682">via text message</a> not to get caught: “LOL I’m not mad. You have to learn not to get caught.” </p>
<p>Neither of the parents opted to remove their son from school after being told that a teacher found a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/12/05/michigan-school-shooting/">disturbing drawing of a bloody figure</a> in his desk.</p>
<p>Finally, the gun was unsecured.</p>
<p>James Crumbley was “not on trial for what his son did,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/13/us/james-crumbley-school-shooter-father-trial/index.html">during closing arguments</a> on Feb. 13, 2024. Rather, he was on trial for “what he did and what he didn’t do.”</p>
<p>Unlike his wife, Crumbley <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/prosecution-rests-case-james-crumbley-trial-chaos-school-shooting-show-rcna142766">declined to testify</a>. “It is my decision to remain silent,” he said.</p>
<p>His defense lawyers presented only one witness, Crumbley’s sister, Karen. She <a href="https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/james-crumbley-trial-day-5-recap-sister-testifies-jury-instructions">testified that she had visited</a> her brother’s family a few months before the shootings and everything appeared normal.</p>
<h2>Changing the laws</h2>
<p>In the Jamelle James case, the 6-year-old who shot his classmate was never charged with a crime because most jurisdictions hold that children under the age of 7 are <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/9747/chapter/7">unable to formulate</a> criminal intent. </p>
<p>The same cannot be said for Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time of the shootings. He was <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/12/02/oxford-michigan-shooting-charges-ethan-crumbley-explained/8835757002/">charged with four counts</a> of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald answers questions at news conference." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oakland County prosecuting attorney Karen McDonald announces on Dec. 3, 2021, that charges have been filed against the parents of Oxford High School gunman Ethan Crumbley.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/oakland-county-prosecuting-attorney-karen-mcdonald-news-photo/1356998362?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Many people on both sides of the gun safety debate <a href="https://quchronicle.com/75407/opinion/oxford-is-yet-another-example-why-parents-of-school-shooters-should-be-held-responsible/">have applauded McDonald’s efforts</a> to hold people responsible for allowing guns to fall into the hands of children.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/explainer-how-unusual-to-charge-parents-in-school-shooting">According to a 2019 assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security</a>, 76% of the guns used in school shootings came from a parent or close relative, and approximately half the weapons were easily accessible. </p>
<p>At the time of the Oxford High School shootings, Michigan had no law requiring guns to be properly stored away from juveniles.</p>
<p>But two weeks after the Oxford shootings, for example, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, <a href="https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2021/12/15/michigan-rep-elissa-slotkin-introduces-legislation-requiring-safe-storage-of-firearms-in-wake-of-oxford-school-shooting/">proposed a federal law</a> holding parents or other responsible adults liable for failing to secure their firearms. </p>
<p>That federal proposal became part of a state legislative package
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/a-look-at-gun-laws-set-to-take-effect-in-2024/">signed into law</a> April 13, 2023, by Michigan Gov. <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/press-releases/2023/04/13/whitmer-signs-commonsense-gun-violence-prevention-legislation-to-keep-michigan-communities-safe">Gretchen Whitmer</a>.</p>
<p>The new laws took effect on Jan. 1, 2024. They established universal background checks for all firearm purchases and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/08/13/michigan-gun-laws-background-checks-storage-red-flags-changes/70432935007/">safe storage requirements</a> designed to keep guns out of the hands of children.</p>
<p><em>Some material used in <a href="https://theconversation.com/michigan-mother-convicted-of-manslaughter-for-school-shootings-by-her-son-after-buying-him-a-gun-and-letting-him-keep-it-unsecured-222731">this story</a> was originally published on Feb. 6, 2024.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thaddeus Hoffmeister does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>James and Jennifer Crumbley purchased a handgun for their son as a Christmas present. Ethan Crumbley used that gun to kill 4 of his high school classmates.Thaddeus Hoffmeister, Professor of Law, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238382024-03-07T20:30:56Z2024-03-07T20:30:56ZDetroiters more likely to support local solar power development if they think it reduces energy prices for their community<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579900/original/file-20240305-26-10zpvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solar panels at the DTE O'Shea Solar Park at work in Detroit in November 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MichiganCOP27ClimateSummit/998d530863cf46989bab44e2dc8fbc82/photo?Query=DTE%20O%27Shea%20Solar%20Park&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=8&currentItemNo=1">AP/ Paul Sancya</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Michigan residents overwhelmingly want more solar power. </p>
<p>In the spring of 2023, nearly two-thirds of 1,000 state residents surveyed supported additional <a href="https://ippsr.msu.edu/survey-research/state-state-survey-soss/soss-data/soss-87-spring-2023">large-scale solar development</a>. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://dougbessette.com/">Energy Values Lab</a> at Michigan State University, we study how the public, and specifically community members living near large-scale wind and solar projects, perceive those projects and the processes by which they are approved.</p>
<p>According to a survey <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/people/jake-white">we conducted in the fall of 2023</a> that has not yet been peer reviewed, there may be less support in urban Michigan communities, particularly among those already living close to an existing solar project. Fewer than half of the 158 residents who took our survey supported their local project. </p>
<p>And around the 10-acre, DTE Energy-owned O’Shea Solar Park in Detroit, support was even lower, with only a third of respondents supporting that project. </p>
<p>What predicted residents’ support of their local project? Mainly whether they saw the development process as just and benefiting local communities.</p>
<p>Those who believed the solar project lowered local community energy costs were most likely to support it. Yet rarely do we see evidence of these projects leading to lower electricity bills for immediate neighbors. </p>
<p>Our survey shows that residents living next to three solar projects across Michigan preferred housing over solar development by a 4-to-1 margin. This was even stronger in Detroit, where respondents living near the O’Shea Solar Park preferred housing over solar development by a margin of 18 to 1. </p>
<p>Even among those who supported the O’Shea project, more than half said they would have preferred housing instead of solar panels. </p>
<h2>Local importance: Detroit</h2>
<p>Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration is moving forward with an <a href="https://planetdetroit.org/2024/01/parts-of-detroit-could-be-radically-transformed-by-city-solar-plan-for-better-or-worse/">urban solar initiative</a> to place 33 megawatts of solar panel arrays on 250 acres of mostly, but not entirely, vacant urban residential land in the city. The city proposes six separate solar parks of around 40 acres each that would power 127 city buildings.</p>
<p>Duggan is pitching these solar developments as a way to fight climate change and <a href="https://planetdetroit.org/2023/06/can-detroit-fight-blight-with-solar-panels/">reduce blight and illegal dumping</a> by fencing off areas that will be maintained by third-party solar developers.</p>
<p>The plan proposes <a href="https://detroitmi.gov/news/city-announces-9-finalists-solar-field-host-neighborhoods">one-time benefits</a> for affected residents, including $10,000 to $25,000 per household in “community benefits areas” surrounding each solar park for home energy improvements. For those who would be displaced within the projects’ footprints, the city would offer 18 months of free rent to renters or double the fair market value with a minimum payment of $90,000 for homeowners. </p>
<p>City officials have said they are working to build consensus and document support for these projects within the affected neighborhoods.</p>
<p>These kinds of benefits led to the limited support solar projects got from neighbors in our survey.</p>
<p>Notably, there is no guarantee of ongoing direct economic benefits for local residents. In a statement to the media, the mayor suggested that the O'Shea project might “<a href="https://inovateus.com/motown-goes-solar-oshea-solar-project-to-transform-abandoned-urban-park/">provide power to residents more cheaply</a>,” but cheaper power was not provided to residents living near Detroit’s first urban solar project at O’Shea Park, and it is not currently offered to local residents with this new urban solar initiative. </p>
<h2>Solar development leading to an ‘urban-urban divide’?</h2>
<p>The Duggan administration’s push for urban solar development is situated in a larger narrative, one researchers often call the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12486">rural-urban divide</a>.”</p>
<p>Recent research shows that rural residents prefer solar to be developed on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102597">previously disturbed or developed land</a> and often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12486">oppose solar projects</a> because the electricity generated typically does not stay local but is instead used by cities and urban residents.</p>
<p>Our survey reveals similar sentiments among urban Michigan residents and suggests what may be a growing “urban-urban divide” in solar development between the mayor, city council and residents.</p>
<p>One O’Shea resident explains this trend, noting that residents who live near the solar array continue to pay high electricity bills while facing frequent power outages. </p>
<p>“We have constant blackouts from storms in this area. Our lights may be out up to a week,” the resident said. “There is no compensation for loss of food, heat or lights.”</p>
<p>Yet, while the <a href="https://detroitmi.gov/news/city-announces-9-finalists-solar-field-host-neighborhoods">Detroit states it plans</a> to “leverage the insight and lessons learned from the O’Shea site in developing the current solar energy plan,” their current plan includes demolishing houses and not providing cheaper electricity to those neighborhoods. </p>
<h2>Development concerns</h2>
<p>Michigan has plenty of open land but <a href="https://news.umich.edu/housing-shortages-across-michigan-alarming-local-leaders-according-to-u-m-survey/">severely lacks affordable housing</a>. Demolishing over 100 homes and sending those occupants elsewhere is not likely to improve this situation. </p>
<p>The city of Detroit need not place these projects on city land in order to power city buildings or provide benefits to Detroit residents. They could place solar on land outside the city, as has been done in <a href="https://energynews.us/2023/06/12/largest-solar-farm-in-illinois-will-help-chicagos-city-operations-meet-climate-goal/">Chicago</a> and <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/02/the-biggest-municipal-solar-farm-in-the-us-is-coming-to-cincinnati/">Cincinnati</a>.</p>
<p>In this scenario, residents keep their houses and get the benefits too, but only if the city passes on those savings. </p>
<p>That could, however, run back into the problem of solar’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1856638">rural-urban divide</a>, namely rural residents preferring not to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12486">send their locally generated electricity</a> to cities. </p>
<p>Notably, a strong anti-solar movement among rural Michigan residents may make building solar in more rural areas a challenge. Rural residents have organized to <a href="https://planetdetroit.org/2024/02/whos-behind-a-ballot-initiative-to-repeal-michigans-renewable-energy-siting-law/">overturn a new law</a> that removes solar siting decisions from local control, placing it with state regulators. Currently, the residents of Detroit don’t have any direct say over the mayor’s plan.</p>
<h2>So, what should be done?</h2>
<p>Our research shows that both rural and urban residents want benefits from solar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103375">energy projects to stay local</a>, not sent out of town – or even downtown. </p>
<p>Furthermore, our research suggests solar projects should be developed only in communities where those projects align with existing community values, objectives and land use plans. </p>
<p>Such alignment requires officials and developers to increase their engagement with community members, importantly doing so in person, according to our survey respondents. It also requires them to be transparent about their decisions and explicitly discuss both the positives and negatives of projects so residents can decide whether a project makes sense for them. </p>
<p>Finally, and perhaps most importantly, officials could push for more of the economic benefits from projects to stay local. </p>
<p>This could take the form of allowing neighbors of projects to subscribe to the power generated by the array and providing on-bill credits or by encouraging what have been called “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102597">good neighbor payments</a>.” </p>
<p>These small payments, paid out annually to a project’s closest neighbors, could go a long way to increasing support for solar in the long run.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Douglas Bessette receives funding from the Department of Energy: Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy: Solar Energy Technologies Office and the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jake White receives funding from the Department of Energy: Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy: Solar Energy Technologies Office and the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Detroit’s plan to install solar panels in city neighborhoods may conflict with residents’ desires to see lower energy bills and more housing.Douglas Bessette, Associate Professor for Energy Systems, Michigan State UniversityJacob White, Research Assistant, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2233072024-03-01T13:36:06Z2024-03-01T13:36:06ZRemembering the 1932 Ford Hunger March: Detroit park honors labor and environmental history<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579009/original/file-20240229-25-snzdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Dearborn policeman knocked unconscious was the first casualty of the 1932 Ford Hunger March in Detroit and Dearborn.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wayne.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/vmc/id/35955/rec/1">Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University/Detroit News Burckhardt.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The intersection of Fort Street and Oakwood Boulevard in southwest Detroit today functions mostly as a thoroughfare for trucks and commuters. </p>
<p>However, as you sit idling at the stoplight waiting to cross the bridge over the Rouge River, you might glance to the side and see something unexpected in this heavily industrialized area: A sculpture of weathered steel reaches toward the sky alongside a spray of flowers and waves of grasses and people fishing. </p>
<p>This inconspicuous corner, now the home of the <a href="https://www.motorcities.org/fortstreet">Fort Street Bridge Park</a>, has several stories to tell: of a river, a region, a historic conflict and an ongoing struggle. </p>
<p>If you pull over, you’ll enter a place that attempts to pull together threads of history, environment and sustainable redevelopment.</p>
<p>Signs explain why this sculpture and park are here: to honor the memory of <a href="https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/hunger-march-ford/">protesters who met on this very spot on March 7, 1932</a>, before marching up Miller Road to the massive Ford Rouge River Complex located in the adjacent city of Dearborn. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=K9xPsDgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">sociology professor</a>, I have a strong interest in how the history of labor and industrial pollution have influenced Detroit. </p>
<p>I’m also interested in the potential for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-018-0765-7">environmental restoration</a> or “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.05.002">green reparations</a>” to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.05.002">offer a new way forward</a>.</p>
<p>To understand this potential future, we must first recognize and honor the past.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An iron sculpture commemorates industry and sits as the centerpiece of the Ford Street Bridge Park." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577974/original/file-20240226-24-rb9wdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577974/original/file-20240226-24-rb9wdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577974/original/file-20240226-24-rb9wdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577974/original/file-20240226-24-rb9wdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577974/original/file-20240226-24-rb9wdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577974/original/file-20240226-24-rb9wdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577974/original/file-20240226-24-rb9wdh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Fort Street Bridge Park is located along the banks of the Rouge River in southwest Detroit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Draus</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>14 demands</h2>
<p>In their book “<a href="https://www.ueunion.org/labors-untold-story#:%7E:text=Extensively%20researched%2C%20yet%20highly%20readable,conflict%20from%20the%20workers'%20perspective.">Labor’s Untold Story</a>,” published in 1955, journalist Richard Boyer and historian Herbert Morais quote a contemporary account of the Hunger March: </p>
<p><em>It was early, it was cold when the first of the unemployed Ford workers (many of whom had been laid off the day before) arrived at Baby Creek Bridge. They were a small gray group and they stood slapping their sides, warding off the cold, and wondering if they alone would come.</em></p>
<p>Others soon joined them: Black and white, men and women, immigrants and American-born. They united to deliver a list of 14 demands to the auto tycoon <a href="https://corporate.ford.com/articles/history/henry-ford-biography.html">Henry Ford</a>, whose US$5 daily wage for his workers was once considered revolutionary. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Police with bats follow Hunger March marchers on March 7, 1932." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579052/original/file-20240229-30-qh3912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579052/original/file-20240229-30-qh3912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579052/original/file-20240229-30-qh3912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579052/original/file-20240229-30-qh3912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579052/original/file-20240229-30-qh3912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579052/original/file-20240229-30-qh3912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579052/original/file-20240229-30-qh3912.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hunger March protesters demanded better pay and working conditions at the Ford Rouge plant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wayne.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/vmc/id/37798/rec/1">Detroit News Staff via Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among the marchers’ demands: jobs for laid-off workers, a seven-hour workday without a pay reduction, two 15-minute rest periods a day, an end to discrimination against Black workers and the right to organize. </p>
<p>This crowd of several thousand marched up the road on one of the coldest days of winter. They were greeted at the Dearborn border with clouds of tear gas, jets of cold water and a shower of bullets. </p>
<p>It was then that the Ford Hunger March became the Ford Massacre. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HFEskpjPbfE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Detroit Workers News Special 1932: Ford Massacre via Workers Film & Photo League International.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The seeds of a labor movement</h2>
<p>Beth Tompkins Bates, in her book “<a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469613857/the-making-of-black-detroit-in-the-age-of-henry-ford/">The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford</a>,” wrote that “The response of the Ford Motor Company on that day shot holes in the myth that Ford cared about his workers, that he was different from other businessmen.” </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Black and white portrait of a young man with wavy hair" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578741/original/file-20240228-32-57ksmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578741/original/file-20240228-32-57ksmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578741/original/file-20240228-32-57ksmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578741/original/file-20240228-32-57ksmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=736&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578741/original/file-20240228-32-57ksmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578741/original/file-20240228-32-57ksmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578741/original/file-20240228-32-57ksmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portrait of Joe Bussell, killed by Ford Servicemen during the 1932 Ford Hunger March in Detroit. Bussell’s relatives contributed to the Fort Street Bridge Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://reuther.wayne.edu/node/7269">Walter P. Reuther Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the end of the day, four marchers lay dead, while many others were injured and hospitalized. A fifth would die months later of his wounds. </p>
<p>More than 30,000 people showed up for the dead marchers’ funerals. The violent reactions of Ford security and Dearborn police during the march were widely condemned. </p>
<p>In an effort to address the stain on its public image, the Ford family first commissioned then expanded a major work by <a href="https://www.nps.gov/places/detroit-industry-murals-detroit-institute-of-arts.htm">Mexican muralist Diego Rivera</a> that was to become the centerpiece of the Detroit Institute of Arts, known as the Detroit Industry Mural. Rivera, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X0800678X">a known communist</a>, depicted both ruthless efficiency and the racialized inequality of the industrial process. </p>
<p>Ford’s battle against unions was ultimately a failure. Five years after the Hunger March, the so-called “<a href="https://reuther.wayne.edu/ex/exhibits/battle.html">Battle of the Overpass</a>” led to the organization of the Rouge plant by the United Auto Workers. </p>
<p>The Ford Hunger March, long forgotten by many, is now <a href="https://www.workers.org/2022/03/62190/">acknowledged as an important catalyst</a> in the growth of the union movement. </p>
<h2>Struggle for sustainability and justice</h2>
<p>The fight for sustainability and environmental justice is another major theme of the park, which chronicles the history of the Rouge River, including the day in 1969 when the <a href="https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2019/10/rouge-river-fire-anniversary-great-lakes-moment/">oily water infamously caught fire</a>. </p>
<p>The hellish image of burning rivers helped motivate the signing of the <a href="https://www.boem.gov/air-quality-act-1967-or-clean-air-act-caa">Clean Air</a> and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act">Clean Water acts</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.epa.gov/history">the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency</a>. </p>
<p>The air and water in and around Detroit are <a href="https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/05/once-beset-industrial-pollution-rouge-river-slow-path-recovery/">much cleaner today</a> than they were 1969. But this doesn’t change the fact that the area where the park sits bears a disproportionate burden of the pollution generated by the region’s industrial production, which includes cement plants, gypsum and aggregates processors, salt mining and asphalt storage, as well as a steel mill and petroleum refinery.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.marathonpetroleum.com/content/documents/Citizenship/2018/Sustainability_Report_10_21.pdf">donor to the park</a> is Marathon Petroleum Corporation whose Detroit Refinery occupies the adjoining neighborhood. Though Marathon has invested in the development of green spaces on its own property, the refinery has also expanded in recent years, <a href="https://wdi-publishing.com/product/marathon-petroleum-and-southwest-detroit-the-intersection-of-community-and-environment/">further degrading the local environment</a>.</p>
<p>Research shows that workers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101502">benefit from unionization</a> in myriad ways, not only directly but indirectly. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/2023s-historic-hollywood-and-uaw-strikes-arent-labors-whole-story-the-total-number-of-americans-walking-off-the-job-remained-relatively-low-219903">recent labor victories</a> by the UAW, Hollywood writers and other organizers stand in stark contrast to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-10-us-workers-belong-to-unions-a-share-thats-stabilized-after-a-steep-decline-221571">long-term erosion of union membership</a>.</p>
<p>Today, the Fort Street Bridge Park in southwest Detroit serves to remind us of the complexities of history and how apparent progress in one area may be followed by a setback somewhere else. It also represents how the spirit of community, unbroken, keeps pushing for something better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Draus is affiliated with Friends of the Rouge and Downriver Delta CDC, two nonprofit organizations involved with the Fort Street Bridge Park. He is also the facilitator of the Fort-Rouge Gateway (FRoG) Partnership, a coalition of representatives from nonprofit, community-based, academic and industry that is focused on the sustainable redevelopment of the industrial Rouge region. </span></em></p>On March 7, workers at the Ford Rouge River plant marched for better working conditions, sparking America’s labor movement. Almost a century later, a quiet park honors their memory.Paul Draus, Professor of Sociology; Director, Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Michigan-DearbornLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2245992024-02-28T14:12:22Z2024-02-28T14:12:22ZMore than 100K Michigan voters pick ‘uncommitted’ over Biden − does that matter for November?<p>Joe Biden won the 2024 Michigan Democratic primary, but <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-election-michigan-2024-6e0b9fc18773e975fdfd23f7287ed615">“uncommitted” ran a spirited campaign</a>. </p>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/27/us/elections/results-michigan-democratic-presidential-primary.html">100,000 Michiganders voted “uncommitted”</a> in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, 13% of the Democratic electorate. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.listentomichigan.com/">Listen to Michigan</a> organized the uncommitted campaign in Michigan, promoting it as a way to express dissatisfaction with the Biden administration’s public stance in support of <a href="https://theconversation.com/israeli-siege-has-placed-gazans-at-risk-of-starvation-prewar-policies-made-them-vulnerable-in-the-first-place-222657">Israel’s actions in its conflict with Hamas in Gaza</a>.</p>
<p>The group also set a goal of securing more uncommitted votes than the 11,000-vote margin by which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/president">Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016</a>. The total was nearly 10 times that number.</p>
<p>Biden won Michigan in 2020 by 154,181 votes.</p>
<p>While there were no exit polls conducted with Michigan primary voters, preelection polling just before the primary showed Biden’s weakness among potential <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1234106750/uncommitted-voters-michigan-primary-arab-muslim-dearborn-hamtramck-detroit">young voters as well as Arab Americans</a>.</p>
<p>Michigan has the largest Arab, Muslim and Palestinian population in the United States, currently numbering <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/arab-population-by-state">more than 200,000</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-dearborn-michigan-the-first-arab-american-majority-city-in-the-us-216700">A brief history of Dearborn, Michigan – the first Arab-American majority city in the US</a>
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<p>More than half of the population of Dearborn, Michigan, is Arab, as is its mayor; it is home to <a href="https://theconversation.com/islams-call-to-prayer-is-ringing-out-in-more-us-cities-affirming-a-long-and-growing-presence-of-muslims-in-america-205555">the largest mosque in the United States</a>. One of the leaders of the uncommitted movement is U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib from the 12th District, the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress.</p>
<p>At time of publication, with 98% of precincts reporting a day after the election, <a href="https://cityofdearborn.org/documents/city-departments/city-clerk/elections/election-results/2024-election-results/8310-february-27-2024-primary-election-unofficial-results-as-of-11-30-p-m/file">vote tallies from Dearborn</a>, the city with the highest percentage of Arab American voters in the state, show “uncommitted” leading there – 6,290 votes to President Biden’s 4,517. </p>
<p>It’s not clear that all of the uncommitted voters were part of the protest. In primaries, some voters will vote uncommitted if they have not yet made their choice or don’t want to disclose that choice for any number of reasons. In 2020, 19,106 Democratic voters in Michigan <a href="https://www.wxyz.com/news/national-politics/america-votes/heres-how-many-people-voted-uncommitted-in-past-michigan-presidential-primaries">selected uncommitted, while 21,601 did so in 2016</a> – even though no protest was attached to those decisions.</p>
<p>What makes the 2024 primaries different from previous contests is that uncommitted voters are being reported in exit polls and by election officials because that designation actually appears on the ballot in some states. </p>
<p>Besides Michigan, which added uncommitted to its primary ballots in 2012, there are uncommitted lines on the ballots in New Hampshire, North Carolina and South Carolina; Florida has a “no preference” line. In Oregon and <a href="https://crosscut.com/politics/2024/02/faq-washingtons-march-12-presidential-primary">Washington</a>, citizens will be able to vote for an uncommitted delegate to the convention. </p>
<p>Selecting uncommitted is a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/michigan-democrats-organizers-urge-uncommitted-vote-feb-27-primary-2024-02-06/">way for voters to express dissatisfaction</a> with the candidates whose names appear on the ballot while still participating in the democratic act of voting. </p>
<p>In my view, this form of peaceful protest is an essential element of American democracy and more demonstrative than staying home from the polls. </p>
<p>It is not an option for the fall general election, where the only alternative to a Biden vote for Democrats will be to stay home or vote for Donald Trump. </p>
<p>Given his past <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/28/politics/text-of-trump-executive-order-nation-ban-refugees/index.html">record</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/17/trump-muslim-ban-gaza-refugees">proposals</a> to exclude Arabs from immigration to the United States, I don’t believe that will be a realistic alternative for many of Michigan’s uncommitted voters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Traugott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Organizers of the protest had set a goal of 11,000 uncommitted votes to show dissatisfaction with Biden’s support of Israel in the Israel-Hamas war.Michael Traugott, Research Professor at the Center for Political Studies, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2167002024-02-12T13:25:17Z2024-02-12T13:25:17ZA brief history of Dearborn, Michigan – the first Arab-American majority city in the US<p>Dearborn, Michigan, is a center of Arab American cultural, economic, and political life. It’s home to several of the country’s oldest and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/4462?login=false">most influential mosques</a>, the <a href="https://arabamericanmuseum.org/">Arab American National Museum</a>, dozens of now-iconic Arab <a href="https://halalmetropolis.org/story3">bakeries and restaurants</a>, and a vibrant and essential mix of Arab American <a href="https://www.accesscommunity.org/">service and cultural</a> organizations. </p>
<p>The city became <a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/09/26/census-data-shows-arab-american-population-in-dearborn-now-makes-up-majority-of-people-living-there/">the first Arab-majority city in the U.S.</a> in 2023, with roughly 55% of the city’s 110,000 residents claiming Middle Eastern or North African ancestry on the 2023 census.</p>
<p>One of us is an <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/old-islam-in-detroit-9780199372003?cc=us&lang=en&">author</a> and <a href="https://umdearborn.edu/people-um-dearborn/sally-howell">historian who specializes in the Arab and Muslim communities of Detroit</a>, and the other is a <a href="https://umdearborn.edu/casl/centers-institutes/center-arab-american-studies/faculty-spotlight-amny-shuraydi">criminologist</a> born and raised in Dearborn who conducts research on the <a href="https://umdearborn.edu/people-um-dearborn/amny-shuraydi">experiences and perceptions of Arab Americans</a>. We have paid close attention to the city’s demographic shifts. </p>
<p>To understand Dearborn today, we must start with the city’s past. </p>
<h2>Ford and Dearborn are in many ways synonymous</h2>
<p>Dearborn owes much of its growth to automotive pioneer Henry Ford, who began building his famous <a href="https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/ford-rouge-factory-tour/history-and-timeline/fords-rouge/">River Rouge Complex</a> in 1917. Migrants from the American South alongside immigrants from European and Arab countries settled <a href="https://lebanesestudies.ojs.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/mashriq/article/view/63">Dearborn’s Southend</a> neighborhood to work in the auto plant.</p>
<p>While most early 20th-century Arab immigrants to the United States were Christians, those who moved to Dearborn in the 1920s were mainly Muslims from southern Lebanon.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/726343326" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A history of Dearborn in photos by local photographer Millard Berry.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Life downwind of the world’s largest industrial complex proved challenging. But the real threat this diverse population faced in the 1950s through the 1970s was from a city-led rezoning campaign designed to turn the Southend over to heavy industry. </p>
<p>Most of the white ethnic groups in the neighborhood had churches and business districts scattered around Detroit, which <a href="https://lebanesestudies.ojs.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/mashriq/article/view/63/538">facilitated their departure</a> from the Southend. But for Arab American Muslims, this community, with its mosques and markets, was indispensable as they began to welcome distant kin from the Middle East after <a href="https://immigrationhistory.org/item/hart-celler-act/">U.S. immigration laws</a> relaxed in the 1960s. </p>
<p>Fleeing <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3012042">civil war in Yemen</a> and the <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469630984/the-rise-of-the-arab-american-left/">Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories</a> in 1967, these new Arab immigrants breathed new life into Dearborn. In 1973, they filed a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1791528153904541635&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">class-action lawsuit</a> against the city that eventually saved their neighborhood.</p>
<p>When the <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469630984/the-rise-of-the-arab-american-left/">Lebanese civil war</a> broke out in 1975, the Southend again welcomed a new generation of refugees and migrants. By the 1980s, this mix of first- and second-generation Arab Americans had begun to spill into other neighborhoods in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/4462?login=false">East Dearborn</a>. New mosques began opening in the 1980s, and Arab entrepreneurs began investing in neglected commercial corridors. </p>
<p>But Arab Americans frequently <a href="https://lebanesestudies.ojs.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/mashriq/article/view/63/538">faced discrimination</a> in the housing market and in the public schools, which struggled to address the needs of a large cohort of English language learners. </p>
<h2>Overcoming discrimination</h2>
<p>Tensions came to a head in 1985, when Michael Guido won a mayoral race in which the “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/decades-after-the-arab-problem-muslim-and-arab-americans-are-leading-political-change-in-metro-detroit">Arab problem</a>,” as his <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3040/Arab_Problem_%282%29.pdf?1707574613">campaign literature</a> described it, pitched the interests of the white working class against new Arab migrants. </p>
<p>Arab American activists responded by pushing for more city services in East Dearborn and running for office. Republican <a href="https://findingaids.lib.umich.edu/catalog/umich-bhl-2015006">Suzanne Sareini</a> was the first Arab American elected to the City Council in 1990. </p>
<p>But with at-large elections, those with <a href="https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1047&context=pad">more Arab-sounding names</a> were at a disadvantage. It took another 20 years, when Arabs became the plurality of the population, before other Arab Americans joined Sareini on the council. </p>
<p>Following the al-Qaeda attacks of 9/11, Dearborn became a target for anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/12638">government surveillance,</a> and harassment. <a href="https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/arab-detroit-911">The city became a fixation of national media</a> seeking to make sense of its growing Muslim American minority. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137290076_6">Anti-Muslim activists </a> regularly staged <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/06/02/pastor-bikers-plan-rally-against-mosque/9858613/">Quran-burnings</a>, paraded around ethnic festivals with the <a href="https://www.dearbornfreepress.com/2012/07/01/protestors-disrupt-arab-festival-with-pigs-head-on-pole/">heads of</a> <a href="https://www.dearbornfreepress.com/2012/07/01/protestors-disrupt-arab-festival-with-pigs-head-on-pole/">pigs on spikes,</a> and threatened to <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2011/01/dearborn_mosque_concerned_abou.html">bomb local mosques</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the Arab American community continued to grow and diversify. Iraqi and Syrian refugee populations began to arrive in the 1990s and 2010s, respectively, following wars in their homelands. <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5cd95a380e2646d78b425ca308902458">They settled in Dearborn</a> and on its periphery in Detroit and neighboring suburbs. </p>
<p>Together, this new cohort of Arab Americans joined the established community in fighting back against president Donald Trump’s <a href="https://immigrationhistory.org/item/muslim-travel-ban/">Muslim travel ban</a> and other policies that discriminated against refugees, migrants and Muslims by <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/4/10/us-democrats-introduce-bill-to-repeal-trumps-travel-ban">building alliances with Democrats</a> and engaging the broadening civil rights coalition, represented by groups such as Black Lives Matter and the Women’s March. </p>
<p>Rep. <a href="https://tlaib.house.gov/">Rashida Tlaib’s</a> landmark election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 as the first Palestinian American woman and one of the first two Muslim American women reflects this growing progressive political base for Arab Americans. Her district includes Dearborn and parts of Detroit and other suburbs.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A smiling woman with black hair and glasses claps as she walks down a hallway wearing a lanyard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574778/original/file-20240211-24-o6qb9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rashida Tlaib arrives on Capitol Hill for a new members briefing in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/incoming-representative-rashida-tlaib-arrives-for-a-house-news-photo/1061905936">Brendan Smialowski /AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>New leadership</h2>
<p>Reflecting the increasing demographic and political clout of the Arab population in Dearborn, <a href="https://cityofdearborn.org/government/meet-the-mayor-3">Abdullah Hammoud</a> became the city’s first Arab American elected mayor in 2021. </p>
<p>Hammoud’s priorities have included creating the city’s first <a href="https://cityofdearborn.org/news-and-events/city-news/2483-mayor-hammoud-announces-inaugural-director-of-dearborn-department-of-public-health">Department of Public Health</a>, introducing <a href="https://cityofdearborn.org/2-uncategorised/2642-dearborn-public-health-announces-new-narcan-vending-station-to-address-opioid-crisis?highlight=WyJkaW5nZWxsIiwiZGluZ2VsbCdzIl0=">Narcan vending</a> machines to address the opioid crisis, fighting for <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/city-of-dearborn-files-lawsuit-against-scrap-yard-over-hazardous-air-pollution-violations/">clean air in the Southend</a>, and hosting <a href="https://halalmetropolis.org/story1">Ramadan festivities</a> and an <a href="https://arabamericannews.com/2023/05/01/dearborn-mayor-abdullah-hammoud-hosts-first-eid-al-fitr-breakfast-in-the-city/">Eid al-Fitr breakfast</a>. He’s also shown outspoken support for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ahammoudmi/p/CjB9JfxLz54/?img_index=1">LGBTQ+ community</a>. </p>
<p>Hammoud <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/dearborn-mayor-abdullah-hammoud-responds-after-house-censures-rep-rashida-tlaib-over-israel-comments/">objected publicly</a> to the congressional censure of Tlaib in 2023 following her remarks about the violence in the Gaza Strip. He also <a href="https://twitter.com/AHammoudMI/status/1750961949674762260">called for an unequivocal cease-fire in Gaza</a> at a time when other Democratic leaders were silent.</p>
<p>Dearborn often becomes a topic of global media interest during election years or at times of conflict in the Middle East. That has certainly been true during the ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal recently published an editorial labeling the city as America’s “jihad capital,” which led to public threats against the city that forced Hammoud to <a href="https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/02/03/us/dearborn-michigan-mayor-wsj-opinion/index.html">increase police patrols</a>. </p>
<p>Public officials, from <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2024/02/05/arab-american-leaders-demand-apology-retraction-after-wall-street-journal-piece/72479221007/">local leaders</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1754206954715513083">President Joe Biden</a>, have rallied around the city and asked the paper to rescind the editorial and to apologize. </p>
<p>So far, it has not.</p>
<p>The more interesting story about Dearborn, however, is what happens when the national spotlight is turned off. Then, as we have witnessed decade after decade, <a href="https://twitter.com/AHammoudMI/status/1753926374341915131?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet">the city’s residents</a>, Arab and non-Arab, <a href="https://wdet.org/2023/06/06/detroit-today-how-dearborn-is-growing-its-population-opposite-of-state-trends/">new and old</a>, work to make their home a better, safer, healthier place to raise their families and their voices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216700/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amny Shuraydi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The city often becomes a magnet for anti-Arab sentiment during election years and global conflicts; however, the more interesting story is what happens in the city when the spotlight is turned off.Sally Howell, Professor of History, University of Michigan-DearbornAmny Shuraydi, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Michigan-DearbornLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227312024-02-06T19:49:27Z2024-02-06T19:49:27ZMichigan mother convicted of manslaughter for school shootings by her son – after buying him a gun and letting him keep it unsecured<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573587/original/file-20240205-25-g5p82p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=498%2C94%2C2497%2C1895&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jennifer Crumbley enters the Michigan courtroom during her trial on involuntary manslaughter charges on Feb. 5, 2024.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jennifer-crumbley-the-mother-of-oxford-school-shooter-ethan-news-photo/1981068568?adppopup=true">Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a decision expected to have far-reaching implications for the criminal responsibility of parents of mass shooters, a Michigan jury on Feb. 6, 2024, convicted Jennifer Crumbley on charges of involuntary manslaughter for her role in her son’s deadly rampage nearly three years ago. </p>
<p>Both Crumbley parents have pleaded not guilty to four counts each of involuntary manslaughter. Jennifer Crumbley faces a maximum <a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2021/12/04/oxford-shooting-heres-what-charges-potential-sentences-suspects-parents-are-facing/">prison sentence of 60 years</a> and maximum fines of US$30,000. Jennifer’s husband, James Crumbley, goes on trial for the same charges in March, and, if convicted, faces the same sentencing guidelines as his wife did.</p>
<p>In December 2023, their son, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/michigan-shooting-suspect-ethan-crumbley-b1975865.html">Ethan Crumbley</a>, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting in which he killed four people and wounded seven others. </p>
<p>During the sentencing hearing for Ethan, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwamé Rowe said one of the victims was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/08/us/oxford-shooting-ethan-crumbley-sentencing/index.html">shot at point-blank range</a> after being told by the defendant to get on his knees. Another victim was shot a second time after she was down, Rowe said, “to finish the job by shooting her again.”</p>
<h2>Were the parents responsible?</h2>
<p>Many were surprised when <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2021/12/14/court-hearing-parents-accused-oxford-high-school-shooter/6470468001/">the Crumbleys</a>, were charged for their alleged role in the tragedy.</p>
<p>Criminal law, unlike civil law, is less likely to hold defendants liable for the actions of a third party, even if that third party is the defendant’s child. This is because in criminal law defendants face incarceration and the associated stigma that comes with a conviction. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Ethan Crumbley, as seen in a police mug shot." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437904/original/file-20211215-21-9autxt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ethan Crumbley was convicted of fatally shooting four students at Oxford High School.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-undated-handout-photo-provided-by-the-oakland-news-photo/1237057035?adppopup=true">Photo by Oakland County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the rare instances that <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/9-years-after-sandy-hook-oxford-shooting-sees-parents-prosecuted-unprecedented-move-1659265">parents of school shooters are prosecuted</a>, they were normally charged with crimes such as child abuse, child neglect and the failure to properly secure a firearm. The charge lodged against the Crumbleys, <a href="https://www.justia.com/criminal/offenses/homicide/involuntary-manslaughter/">involuntary manslaughter</a>, also known as gross negligent homicide, was even more uncommon. </p>
<p>But it’s not without precedent. </p>
<p>In 2000, <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/02/20-years-after-kayla-rolland-the-fatal-first-grade-shooting-that-sparked-a-national-gun-debate.html">Jamelle James</a>, a Michigan resident, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for leaving his handgun in a shoebox in his bedroom. At the time, James lived in an apartment prosecutors described as a “flophouse” that was shared with a number of people, including two young children. </p>
<p>A 6-year-old boy – James’ nephew – was temporarily living in the apartment and discovered the gun, brought it to school and fatally shot his first grade classmate Kayla Rolland. James spent more than two years in prison before he was released on probation.</p>
<p>Prosecutors claimed that James’ conduct was “grossly negligent” and “so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury resulted.” Arguably, leaving an unsecured gun around very young children demonstrated James’ gross negligence. </p>
<p>Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has taken direct aim at Crumbley’s parents. Their behavior, McDonald explained, was “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/03/1061190344/michigan-school-shooting-parents-oxford-charged">egregious</a>.” </p>
<p>“I want to be really clear that these charges are meant to hold the individuals who contributed to this tragedy accountable and also send a message that gun owners have a responsibility,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/03/us/michigan-oxford-high-school-shooting-superintendent-message/index.html">McDonald said during a news conference</a> on Dec. 4, 2021, less than a week after the shootings at Oxford. “When they fail to uphold that responsibility, there are serious and criminal consequences.”</p>
<h2>‘Egregious’ behavior</h2>
<p>One of the key questions for jurors was whether the parents knew that a school shooting would occur or had reckless disregard of this fact. To prove the parents’ <a href="https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=838">gross negligence</a>, the prosecution relied on a series of alleged facts.</p>
<p>Among the most central facts was that the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/03/us/crumbley-parents-charged-michigan-shooting.html">Crumbleys bought their son the handgun</a> as a Christmas present and later took him to target practice.</p>
<p>Neither parent informed the school that they had bought the gun and that their son had access to it.</p>
<p>After being told that her son was searching for ammo on his phone at school, Jennifer <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59523682">Crumbley told her son via text message not to get caught</a>: “LOL I’m not mad. You have to learn not to get caught.” </p>
<p>Neither of the parents opted to remove their son from school after being told that a teacher found a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/12/05/michigan-school-shooting/">disturbing drawing of a bloody figure</a> in his desk.</p>
<p>Finally, the gun was unsecured.</p>
<p>During closing arguments on Feb. 2, 2024, in Jennifer Crumbley’s trial, McDonald urged the jury to consider the “really egregious facts” before deciding to convict Crumbley.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald answers questions at news conference." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437893/original/file-20211215-25-cm5btl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oakland County prosecuting attorney Karen McDonald announces on Dec. 3, 2021, that charges have been filed against the parents of Oxford High School gunman Ethan Crumbley.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/oakland-county-prosecuting-attorney-karen-mcdonald-news-photo/1356998362?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“It takes the unthinkable, and she has done the unthinkable, and because of that, four kids have died,” McDonald said.</p>
<p>Though the prosecution’s case appeared compelling, Shannon Smith, Crumbley’s defense attorney, had some very strong counterarguments.</p>
<p>For starters, the weapon was legal to own, and Michigan had no law at the time requiring the gun to be properly stored away from juveniles.</p>
<p>Smith argued that the blame lay not with Jennifer but elsewhere: on her husband for improperly securing the firearm and on the school for failing to notify her about her son’s behavioral issues. Jennifer, in her testimony, appeared to absolve herself of any missteps or negligent acts, stating, “I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have.”</p>
<p>Ultimately, Smith argued, the blame lay on Ethan, who planned and carried out the attack on his own.</p>
<p>As Smith asked in her closing defense argument, “Can every parent really be responsible for everything their children do, especially when it’s not foreseeable?” </p>
<h2>Changing the laws</h2>
<p>In the James case, the 6-year-old who shot his classmate was never charged with a crime because most jurisdictions hold that children under the age of 7 are <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/9747/chapter/7">unable to formulate</a> criminal intent. </p>
<p>The same cannot be said for Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time of the shootings. He was <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/12/02/oxford-michigan-shooting-charges-ethan-crumbley-explained/8835757002/">charged with four counts</a> of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. </p>
<p>Many people on both sides of the gun safety debate <a href="https://quchronicle.com/75407/opinion/oxford-is-yet-another-example-why-parents-of-school-shooters-should-be-held-responsible/">have applauded McDonald’s efforts</a> to hold people responsible for allowing guns to fall into the hands of children. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/explainer-how-unusual-to-charge-parents-in-school-shooting">According to a 2019 assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security</a>, 76% of the guns used in school shootings came from a parent or close relative, and approximately half the weapons were easily accessible. </p>
<p>Prosecuting the Crumbleys may reverse this trend, as may recently proposed state and federal legislation. </p>
<p>Two weeks after the Oxford shootings, for example, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, <a href="https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2021/12/15/michigan-rep-elissa-slotkin-introduces-legislation-requiring-safe-storage-of-firearms-in-wake-of-oxford-school-shooting/">proposed a new federal law</a> holding parents or other responsible adults liable for failing to secure their firearms. </p>
<p>That federal proposal became part of a state legislative package
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/a-look-at-gun-laws-set-to-take-effect-in-2024/">signed into law</a> April 13, 2023, by Michigan Gov. <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/press-releases/2023/04/13/whitmer-signs-commonsense-gun-violence-prevention-legislation-to-keep-michigan-communities-safe">Gretchen Whitmer</a>.</p>
<p>The new laws took effect on Jan. 1, 2024. They established universal background checks for all firearm purchases and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/08/13/michigan-gun-laws-background-checks-storage-red-flags-changes/70432935007/">safe storage requirements</a> designed to keep guns out of the hands of children.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: Some material used in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-parents-criminally-responsible-for-the-actions-of-their-child-in-the-oxford-shooting-case-prosecutors-say-yes-173881">story</a> was originally published on Dec. 20, 2021.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thaddeus Hoffmeister does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty for a school shooting committed by her son; the father faces trial next.Thaddeus Hoffmeister, Professor of Law, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2208232024-02-02T13:20:26Z2024-02-02T13:20:26ZAn independent commission is racing to redraw Detroit’s voting maps under a federal court order − but the change may not elect more Black candidates<p><em>A panel of <a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2023/12/22/bombshell-ruling-requires-13-michigan-districts-to-be-redrawn-before-2024-election/">three federal judges ruled on Dec. 21, 2023</a>, that a few state House and Senate legislative maps drawn by an independent Michigan commission <a href="https://vhdshf2oms2wcnsvk7sdv3so.blob.core.windows.net/thearp-media/documents/MI_122-cv-272_131.pdf">violate the Voting Rights Act</a>. Their ruling, which is currently under appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, says the maps dilute Black voting power in 13 Detroit area legislative districts and those districts must be redrawn.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation interviewed <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UqWM3-8AAAAJ&hl=en">Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Lyke+Thompson&inst=18300112617855595941">Lyke Thompson</a>, professors of political science at Wayne State University who have written about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42749-7_6">the redistricting commission</a>.</em> </p>
<h2>Can you tell us about the commission?</h2>
<p>The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/micrc">Commission was created</a> by a statewide ballot initiative to purge partisan politics from redistricting. The initiative <a href="https://mielections.us/election/results/2018GEN_CENR.html">passed in 2018 with 61% support</a>. The commissioners are citizen volunteers drawn randomly from three pools of applicants: four Democrats, four Republicans and five nonpartisans. Our research found that Michigan’s commission has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42749-7_6">more members</a> not affiliated with a political party than any other state redistricting commission.</p>
<p>The commission created 2022 district maps for Michigan’s U.S. House, state House and state Senate elections that were fair to both major political parties, <a href="https://planscore.org/plan.html?20211109T175635.174698348Z">according to PlanScore</a>, a consortium of legal, political science and mapping technology experts.</p>
<h2>How were Michigan legislative maps drawn before the commission?</h2>
<p>Michigan’s 2010 district maps were drawn by Republican politicians and have been held up as examples of extreme <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/maps-show-how-gerrymandering-benefitted-michigan-republicans">partisan gerrymandering</a>. </p>
<p>These lopsided maps triggered a movement, <a href="https://votersnotpoliticians.com/">Voters Not Politicians</a>. Volunteers collected 425,000 signatures to get a constitutional amendment on the Michigan ballot to take redistricting out of the hands of politicians.</p>
<h2>How did the commission create the new maps?</h2>
<p>The commission’s <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/micrc/meeting-notices-and-materials">process was exceptionally transparent</a>. It was required to hold at least 10 public meetings to gather input prior to drawing maps; it held 16. It had to hold at least five public meetings after publishing its first drafts; it held 38. Citizens made more than 25,000 public comments at meetings or in written form.</p>
<p>The commission’s maps drawn for the 2022 election cycle did eliminate some majority Black districts in both the state Senate and House, but they more <a href="https://planscore.org/michigan/#!2022-plan-statesenate-d2">accurately reflected Michigan voters’ preferences</a> for Republican and Democratic candidates. That year, Democrats narrowly won control of both state legislative chambers <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/michigan/2022/11/09/michigan-democrats-poised-to-win-control-of-legislature-for-1st-time-in-decades/69632790007/">for the first time since 1984</a>, and the U.S. House delegation includes seven Democrats and six Republicans, an outcome that is consistent with total votes cast.</p>
<h2>Why were the new maps challenged?</h2>
<p>In 2022, a group of Detroit voters filed a lawsuit, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23A641/295344/20240109191018938_Complete%20Appendix.pdf">Agee v. Benson</a>, challenging a few districts based on the federal Voting Rights Act. A three-judge panel ruled that 13 districts in the Detroit metro area – seven for the state House and six for the state Senate – are unconstitutional because they violate the equal protection clause, which says <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/">district lines cannot be drawn based solely on race</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A partial map of Michigan shows an irregular pattern of voting districts with numerical labels." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572975/original/file-20240202-15-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The commission’s work is focused on state House districts in Metro Detroit because primaries for the House will be held in August 2024.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.michigan.gov/micrc/mapping-process/final-maps">MICRC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A taupe map is blocked with black lines and boxes numbered 1 to 24." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=648&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572973/original/file-20240202-23-7cr8wt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=814&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">State Senate districts in metro Detroit have been challenged as well, but the next Senate election doesn’t take place until 2026, giving mapmakers more time to work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.michigan.gov/micrc/mapping-process/final-maps">MICRC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The commissioners appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. But on Jan. 22, the high court refused to stop <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/22/u-s-supreme-court-wont-stop-metro-detroit-redrawn/72192857007/">the process of redrawing the maps</a>. The panel now has until Feb. 2 to present redrawn maps for public comment, with final ones due in March. The Supreme Court may still rule on the commission’s appeal – but likely not until after the state’s primary elections on Aug. 6. </p>
<h2>Why did Detroit lose majority Black districts?</h2>
<p>Each new state House district is supposed to have 91,612 residents, a number derived from dividing Michigan’s <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/michigan-population-change-between-census-decade.html">2020 population</a> by its 110 state House districts. According to <a href="https://www.semcog.org/community-profiles/communities=5">the U.S. Census Bureau</a>, Detroit lost 93,361 Black residents over the past decade, while losing only 74,666 people in total, reflecting an <a href="https://www.semcog.org/Community-Profiles">influx of White, Latino, multiracial and Asian residents</a>. </p>
<p>One way the commission adjusted for these population shifts and provided opportunities for Black candidates was to create districts that stretched across municipal boundaries – from Detroit into Macomb and Oakland counties. These new district boundaries combined Black voters in the suburbs and Detroit, creating a large enough percentage to allow minority candidates to win elections.</p>
<p>The decline in majority Black districts in Detroit isn’t unique to the 2022 district maps. In 2012, the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus protested losing <a href="https://www.mlive.com/politics/2011/12/michigan_legislative_black_cau_1.html">two other Detroit state House districts</a>. Those losses were related to the drop in Detroit’s 2000-2010 population. In other words, the declining Black population in Detroit is a persistent demographic trend that complicates applying the Voting Rights Act. </p>
<h2>Why is it so complex to make the Voting Rights Act work in Detroit?</h2>
<p>Under the Voting Rights Act, maps can neither crack nor pack minority voters. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23A641/295344/20240109191018938_Complete%20Appendix.pdf">Cracking is when minority voters</a> are spread across multiple districts, which makes it harder for them to win elections.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23A641/295344/20240109191018938_Complete%20Appendix.pdf">Packing groups more minority voters</a> than are typically needed in a district to elect a minority candidate and also dilutes the number of minorities likely to be elected overall. </p>
<p>Election results demonstrate that in Southeast Michigan general election contests, many Michigan voters care more about whether a candidate is <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/micrc/-/media/Project/Websites/MiCRC/Nov82021TOJan312022/Handley_Final__Report_to_MICRC_with_Appendices.pdf">a Democrat or a Republican than their race</a>. Experts hired by the commission advised them that 35% to 45% is the sweet spot between packing and cracking Black voters in these districts. The seven House districts ordered redrawn by the court have <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/experts-everything-air-now-michigan-districts-must-be-redrawn">37% to 49% Black voters</a>. </p>
<p>Black migration from Detroit to its inner-ring suburbs provided the commission a way to unpack majority-minority districts and avoid cracking Black suburban populations. For example, the Black population of Eastpointe, a suburb immediately north of Detroit in Macomb County, increased <a href="https://www.semcog.org/community-profiles/communities=3035">from 29% in 2010 to 52% in 2020</a>. </p>
<p>Black candidates won 2022 elections in <a href="http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/public-policy/michigan-wonk-blog/redistrictings-effect-black-representation-michigan">five of the seven House districts that the court has ordered redrawn</a>. But the plaintiffs in Agee v. Benson argue that it takes higher percentages of Black voters to win primaries because so many candidates run and end up splitting the vote. In two primary elections where Black candidates lost, <a href="http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/public-policy/michigan-wonk-blog/redistrictings-effect-black-representation-michigan">the votes were split</a>. In District 11, which is 44% Black voters, the ballot had nine candidates. Veronica Paiz, a Hispanic woman, won with less than 19% of the votes cast. In District 8, which has 46% Black voters, Mike McFall, a white man, won the primary with 38% of the vote against two Black candidates.</p>
<h2>So you’re suggesting too many primary candidates, not map boundaries, dilute the Black vote?</h2>
<p>Yes, that is what <a href="http://www.ippsr.msu.edu/public-policy/michigan-wonk-blog/redistrictings-effect-black-representation-michigan">the evidence suggests</a>. For example, three Black primary candidates lost in the 9th House District, which has 53% Black voters. The 5th House District with 57% Black voters attracted five primary candidates; a white woman won with 38% of the votes cast, while two Black men won 40% of the primary votes between the two of them. So changing district boundaries isn’t an effective way to solve the problem. </p>
<p>Other solutions like <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ranked-choice-voting-a-political-scientist-explains-165055">ranked choice voting</a> could increase opportunities for Black primary victories, regardless of how many candidates run. This voting system is gaining popularity in places as disparate as <a href="https://alaskapublic.org/2023/09/19/north-to-the-future-alaskas-ranked-choice-voting-system-is-praised-and-criticized-nationally/">Alaska</a>, <a href="https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/effect-ranked-choice-voting-maine">Maine</a> and <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/03/23/how-does-ranked-choice-voting-work-in-new-york-city/">New York City</a>.</p>
<h2>The new maps must be finalized by March 29. What does this mean for 2024 elections?</h2>
<p>Given the tight deadline for the commission to publish the maps, receive public comments and then vote on the maps, candidates will have a shorter window to organize primary election campaigns. Some incumbents will see their constituents shift again. And it is possible that Black voters will be packed into a smaller number of districts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson gathered signatures for the ballot initiative that put the redistricting commission before voters, and donated $100 to the group Voters Not Politicians.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lyke Thompson helped gather signatures for the 2018 ballot initiative that created the citizen commission.</span></em></p>The commission has tight deadlines to finalize new maps. 2 voting rights experts explain the messy situation.Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson, Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLyke Thompson, Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207692024-01-23T20:02:18Z2024-01-23T20:02:18ZMichigan selects its legislative redistricting commissioners the way the ancient Athenians did<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570410/original/file-20240119-21-bkynf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C38%2C5066%2C3349&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Michigan’s redistricting commission consists of ordinary citizens with no special qualifications. A court has disapproved their initial effort.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RedistrictingMajorityMinorityDistricts/5137b615fc8d46858956d5ec7bff88e1/photo?boardId=c895684284c34868ab222ff6c8ee3ff0&st=boards&mediaType=audio,photo,video,graphic&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=12&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Carlos Osorio</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How well can ordinary citizens exercise a political function traditionally assigned to elected legislators? </p>
<p>Michigan is finding out. The state has assigned the job of drawing election districts to a group of citizens with no special qualifications. Selecting government officials by lot is a procedure <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2016/03/sortition-ancient-greece-democracy/">first employed in Athens 2,500 years ago</a>. This experiment has produced dramatic results – as well as a court challenge. </p>
<p>The Michigan experiment marks a departure from how redistricting has usually been done.</p>
<p>Every 10 years, after the U.S. Census Bureau determines how many members of the House of Representatives are allocated to each state, the states redraw the geographical districts from which members of the House, as well as members of the state legislature, are elected. Historically, state legislatures have been responsible for making these maps.</p>
<p>But throughout U.S. history, the redistricting process has been marred by <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/news/2019/10/01/475166/impact-partisan-gerrymandering/">partisan gerrymandering</a> – drawing election districts to favor the political party that controls the state legislature.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/redistricting-litigation-roundup-0">Gerrymandering has often been challenged in court</a> as a violation of the Constitution’s equal protection clause and on other grounds. But in 2019, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2018/18-422">the U.S. Supreme Court held</a> that federal courts may not hear claims of partisan gerrymandering because they represent a “political question” that is unsuited for resolution by the courts.</p>
<p>The high court held that such issues should instead be resolved by the legislative and executive branches of government. </p>
<p><a href="https://ballotpedia.org/State-by-state_redistricting_procedures">Eight states have withdrawn the authority</a> to draw election districts from legislatures and assigned it to independent commissions. The procedures for selecting the members of these commissions vary, but in most states they are chosen by state legislators or judges. </p>
<p>Michigan’s <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/micrc">Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission</a>, created by a <a href="https://votersnotpoliticians.com/redistricting/">2018 ballot initiative</a>, is unique. As a professor who teaches <a href="https://law.wayne.edu/profile/aj8419">constitutional law</a> and, occasionally, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1020397">ancient Athenian law</a>, I am fascinated by the fact that Michigan’s seemingly novel experiment in governance is based on a process that is thousands of years old. </p>
<h2>Selection by lot</h2>
<p>Unlike any other state, Michigan selected its 13 commission members almost entirely by lot from among those who applied for the position. </p>
<p>All Michigan registered voters who met the eligibility criteria, which excluded holders of political office and lobbyists, were eligible to apply. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-47796-532639--,00.html">From 9,367 applicants</a>, the Michigan secretary of state randomly selected 200 semifinalists. The process resulted in 60 Democrats, 60 Republicans and 80 independents. Following the procedure established by the ballot initiative, the four leaders of the Michigan Legislature then eliminated 20 of those semifinalists. </p>
<p>In August 2020, the secretary of state <a href="https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/08/13-commissioners-randomly-selected-to-draw-new-district-lines-for-michigan-house-senate.html">randomly selected the 13 commissioners</a> from the remaining pool of 180 candidates – four Democrats, four Republicans and five independents, as required.</p>
<p>In a process completed in December 2021, the commission – made up of citizens with no special qualifications for the office – created election districts that were used to elect officials to the Michigan Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2022 election cycle.</p>
<h2>Random selection in ancient Athens</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="In a formal painting, a man stands on a platform addressing a crowd. A classical white building with pillars is in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570739/original/file-20240122-15-jbj453.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In ancient Athens, most government officials were selected at random from among citizens eligible to fill the positions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-F-2001-7-864-5">Philipp Foltz</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the exception of trial juries, the random selection of citizens to fill government office is almost unheard of. But it was not always that way. </p>
<p>Random selection was a prominent <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Athenian_Democracy/">feature of the ancient Athenian democracy</a>. In the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., most important government offices were filled by lottery. The Athenians considered this selection of officials a hallmark of democracy.</p>
<p>These included the <a href="http://www.stoa.org/demos/article_democracy_overview@page=6&greekEncoding=UnicodeC.html">500 members of the Council</a>. This body proposed legislation for the agenda of the Assembly, composed of all free male adult citizens who chose to attend and the centerpiece of Athenian direct democracy. It also handled diplomatic relations between Athens and other states and appointed the members of administrative bodies. </p>
<p>Those selected by lot also included the nine chief officials of the city-state, <a href="https://erenow.net/ancient/ancient-greece-and-rome-an-encyclopedia-for-students-4-volume-set/268.php">the archons</a>, who had executive and judicial responsibilities. About 1,100 officials were selected annually by lot from a citizen population of about 25,000. </p>
<p>The Athenian historian Xenophon tells us that the philosopher Socrates, who was sentenced to death by an Athenian jury for his unorthodox views, thought that the Athenians were foolish to entrust the selection of the bulk of government officials to chance: <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0208%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D9">Nobody would select “a pilot or builder or flautist by lot</a>,” Socrates observed, so why trust to chance the selection of government officials who, if unsuited to their responsibilities, could harm the community?</p>
<p>The Athenians agreed with Socrates to an extent. In Athens, an additional 100 or so officials were elected by the Assembly, not selected by lot. They included the 10 generals responsible for commanding the army and navy. The Athenians thought the generals’ role was too important, and too dependent on skills possessed by few citizens, to allow the choice to be made randomly.</p>
<h2>How did Michigan’s redistricting commission do?</h2>
<p>Like piloting a ship or commanding an army, districting is a complex task. The <a href="http://tinyurl.com/bdfm4yut">2018 amendment to the Michigan Constitution</a> that established the commission says that the districts must be drawn in compliance with federal law. That includes a requirement that voting districts have roughly the same populations. It also requires that the districts “reflect the state’s diverse population and communities of interest” and “not provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party.”</p>
<p>Dividing the map to meet all of these criteria is not within the capabilities of a group of randomly selected citizens. Recognizing this, the 2018 amendment authorizes the commission to hire “independent, nonpartisan subject-matter experts and legal counsel” to assist them. The experts that the commission hired <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/redistricting-experts-tell-court-we-followed-law-michigan-maps">guided its members closely</a> throughout the redistricting process.</p>
<p>The outcome of the 2022 elections supports a conclusion that the commission achieved the goals that motivated its creation. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/post/report-quantifies-michigans-very-real-gerrymandering-problem">2018 report</a> by the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan found that the state’s election districts were “highly-gerrymandered, with current district maps drawn so that Republicans are ensured disproportionate majorities on both the state and federal levels.” In 2019 a <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/25/michigan-gerrymandering/3576663002/">federal court</a> held that Michigan’s gerrymandering violated the U.S. Constitution. That opinion was later vacated, or canceled, for jurisdictional reasons. </p>
<p>This gerrymandering was reflected in election results. In recent elections preceding the 2022 redistricting, Democratic candidates for the Michigan House of Representatives received a majority of the votes cast, yet <a href="https://votersnotpoliticians.com/voters-won-in-michigan-this-year-and-fair-maps-made-the-difference/">a majority of the candidates elected were Republican</a>. But in the 2022 elections, the first held using the redistricting commission’s maps, Democratic candidates for both the Michigan Senate and House won a majority of the votes and were awarded a majority of the seats: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-michigan.html">20-18 in the Senate and 56-54 in the House</a>. Democrats control both houses of the state Legislature for <a href="https://michiganadvance.com/2022/11/09/democrats-wrest-control-of-michigan-legislature-for-first-time-in-almost-40-years/">the first time since 1984</a>.</p>
<h2>Legal challenge to redistricting commission’s maps</h2>
<p>While the redistricting commission can claim success in eliminating the state’s partisan gerrymandering, in December 2023 <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/michigan/miwdce/1:2022cv00272/104360/131/">a federal district court held</a> that the procedure the commission followed in drawing some of the election districts violated the U.S. Constitution. </p>
<p>The court said that the commission violated the equal protection clause when it drew boundaries for seven state House and six state Senate districts in metro Detroit in such a way that <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/experts-everything-air-now-michigan-districts-must-be-redrawn">the voting power of Black voters was diluted</a>. </p>
<p>The commission filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/22/michigan-redistricting-commission-us-supreme-court-redraw-house-senate-district-boundaries/72272380007/">denied the commission’s request for a stay</a> of the lower court’s order. The commission is now working to redraw the districts, and the lower court has ordered it to have a draft of the state House districts ready for public comment by Feb. 2. Time is now of the essence, since under state law the candidate filing deadline is April 23.</p>
<p><em>Portions of this article originally appeared in <a href="https://theconversation.com/michigans-effort-to-end-gerrymandering-revives-a-practice-rooted-in-ancient-athens-143892">an article published on Sept. 30, 2020</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Rothchild does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A battle over the voting districts in Detroit has landed in the Supreme Court, but any ruling may come too late for 2024 state elections.John Rothchild, Professor of Law, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2189912024-01-08T13:34:33Z2024-01-08T13:34:33ZEmergency medicine residencies more likely to go unfilled at for-profit and newly accredited programs<p>The number of unfilled positions in emergency medicine residency programs surged in 2022 and 2023, with the trend most pronounced at programs that were recently accredited or under for-profit ownership. That’s the key finding of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aet2.10902">my team’s recent study</a> of the past two match cycles.</p>
<p>A match cycle is when medical students choose a specialty and learn where they will train. It starts when fourth-year medical students interview at residency programs at hospitals around the country. Then, the students rank their preferred training programs, and the programs rank the students. An <a href="https://www.nrmp.org/intro-to-the-match/#:%7E:text=NRMP%20uses%20a%20mathematical%20algorithm,possible%20match%20for%20all%20participants.">algorithm makes matches</a>.</p>
<p>The proportion of medical students applying for emergency medicine residencies dropped by <a href="https://www.acep.org/news/acep-newsroom-articles/joint-statement-match-2023">16.8% from 2021 to 2022</a> and declined another 18.1% from 2022 to 2023. This abrupt decline may degrade the three-to-four-year clinical training experience of emergency medicine residents and affect how the health care system provides emergency care in the future.</p>
<p>But this waning in demand is only half of the story. Deepening the problem is the fact that the number of emergency medicine residency programs has grown at the same time. </p>
<h2>No checks on the for-profit sector</h2>
<p>Over the past five to eight years, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/02/11/1154962356/ers-hiring-fewer-doctors">more for-profit and private capital-backed firms</a> have bought emergency medicine facilities, taken over staffing contracts in existing hospitals and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.12457">created emergency residency programs</a>.</p>
<p>Since they are for-profit entities, these companies have a responsibility to return money to investors. They have been shown to achieve this by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aet2.10786">paying residents less</a> and charging <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj-2023-075244">higher prices</a> on services like imaging and hospitalization.</p>
<p>Currently, there are no limits on the number of residency programs or positions in emergency medicine. The Review Committee for Emergency Medicine <a href="https://www.acgme.org/specialties/emergency-medicine/overview/">automatically approves all proposals for new residency programs</a> that meet requirements. Despite the fact that positions are already going unfilled, <a href="https://apps.acgme.org/ads/Public/Reports/Report/1">eight new emergency medicine residency programs were accredited</a> during the 2022-23 academic year. This accreditation system is currently under review, but any changes will take years to go into effect.</p>
<h2>More positions, lower demand</h2>
<p>I am a physician <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KVEHBakAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">who studies the state of emergency care</a>. In our recent paper, my team and I calculated the number of emergency medicine residency programs that filled all positions in the past two match cycles. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aet2.10902">study shows that</a> in 2022, 277 emergency medicine residency programs offered 2,921 positions and had 219 unfilled positions. In 2023, 287 emergency medicine programs offered 3,010 positions and 554 went unfilled. In each of these years, about 30 programs had primary clinical training sites under for-profit ownership. </p>
<p><iframe id="2g5pD" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2g5pD/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The drop in interest in emergency medicine may be driven by well-circulated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.05.029">forecasts predicting a surplus</a> in the emergency physician workforce by 2030 and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.05.029">escalating levels of burnout</a> among emergency physicians. </p>
<p>By examining where residents chose to go when there were more than enough programs to choose from, we learned three things. </p>
<p>First, more established programs did better. Emergency medicine residency programs accredited within the past five years had more than double the likelihood of not filling all positions compared with those accredited for more than five years.</p>
<p>Second, in 2023, more opportunities were offered in several metropolitan areas, including Detroit, Miami and Philadelphia, but these programs ended up with many unfilled positions.</p>
<p>Third, emergency medicine residency programs with for-profit clinical sites were less likely to fill all residency positions. These programs had a 50% greater chance of not filling all positions when compared with nonprofit or government-run sites. </p>
<h2>Possible solutions</h2>
<p>It’s not clear whether these trends will continue. In 1996, <a href="https://www.nrmp.org/match-data-analytics/archives/">the anesthesiology specialty</a> saw the proportion of filled residency positions drop to 45%, an all-time low. Yet the specialty rebounded to fill nearly 100% of available positions by 2002.</p>
<p>While it is possible the past two years for emergency medicine are part of the natural ebb and flow of specialty interest among medical students, our findings, the historical literature and the recent <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/kkr-backed-envision-healthcare-plans-chapter-11-bankruptcy-filing-2fff4382">bankruptcy filing of Envision</a> – a large, for-profit emergency medicine group that staffs <a href="https://emworkforce.substack.com/p/state-of-the-us-emergency-medicine">several clinical sites and residency programs</a> – all suggest medical students may be recognizing the disadvantages of for-profit emergency medicine residency programs. </p>
<p>There is little data on the quality of these programs. No research yet has evaluated board exam pass rates of emergency medicine residents graduating from newly accredited or for-profit clinic sites. However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-21-01097.1">residents in pediatric programs</a> with a corporate affiliation had lower board exam pass rates.</p>
<p>In addition to reconsidering the persistent opening of new programs, now may be the time for organizations like the <a href="https://www.emra.org/">Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association</a> and the <a href="https://www.acep.org/">American College of Emergency Physicians</a> to address issues that affect recruitment of emergency medicine residents. </p>
<p>Physician burnout could be addressed by reviewing hospital policies designed to maximize profits. For example, many patients are admitted to the hospital, yet <a href="https://www.acep.org/patient-care/policy-statements/boarding-of-admitted-and-intensive-care-patients-in-the-emergency-department">“board”</a> in the hallway of an emergency department for hours. These patients have routinely been shown to have <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.5961">worse outcomes</a>, yet hospital leadership frequently attempts to <a href="https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.21.0217">prioritize revenue-generating</a> surgeries and procedures in lieu of assigning beds for admitted patients from the emergency department.</p>
<p>Loan forgiveness and increased salaries could draw more residents to emergency medicine, especially in rural areas where distinct physician shortages exist. And more female residents would be drawn into emergency medicine if disparities in pay and concerns over violence in emergency rooms were systematically resolved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218991/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron Gettel receives funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health and the American Board of Emergency Medicine / National Academy of Medicine Fellowship. The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation or approval of the manuscript.</span></em></p>A new study finds more emergency medicine residencies are available, but hundreds of the positions are going unfilled.Cameron Gettel, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Yale UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2125972023-11-28T13:40:17Z2023-11-28T13:40:17ZAfter a pandemic pause, Detroit restarts water shut-offs – part of a nationwide trend as costs rise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551729/original/file-20231003-29-z4w6j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C8%2C5540%2C3631&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department shut off water to thousands of homes after the city declared bankruptcy in 2013.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/worker-from-homrich-turns-off-water-supply-to-a-home-august-news-photo/454251770?adppopup=true">Joshua Lott/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/detroits-water-shutoff-has-been-stopped-for-now-but-need-for-permanent-fix-remains/">Detroit residents got a break</a> from water shut-offs.</p>
<p>In March 2020, just after the coronavirus made hand-washing a matter of public health, the City of Detroit announced a plan that kept water services on for residents for <a href="https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-michigan-water-shutoffs-coronavirus-outbreak/">US$25 a month</a>, with the first payment <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/12/08/duggan-detroit-mayor-water-shutoffs/6489513002/">covered by the state</a>.</p>
<p>Although all Detroiters had access to water during the pandemic, they <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/12/08/duggan-detroit-mayor-water-shutoffs/6489513002/">continued to be billed</a> at the higher standard rates. </p>
<p>In early 2023, Detroit resumed water shut-offs for bill nonpayment. Approximately 60,000, or 27% of Detroit’s 220,000 residential customers, had <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/06/13/detroit-water-shut-off-moratorium-ending/9585754002/">past-due bills</a> last summer, according to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. The <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/06/13/detroit-water-shut-off-moratorium-ending/9585754002/">average customer owes $700</a>, but some owe <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2023/08/09/detroit-water-shutoffs-payments/70550090007/">as much as $10,000</a> due to years of unpaid bills. </p>
<p>Although a variety of factors contribute to large past-due balances, water services in Detroit <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/12/15/water-unaffordable-michigan-report-study/8890089002/">are expensive for many households</a>, and the costs are rising. </p>
<p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=KtmNuMcAAAAJ">geographers</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_qmCDSEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">policy analysts</a> with an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=xxqiHVIAAAAJ">interest in water affordability</a>, and we’ve closely studied access to water in Detroit and around the country.</p>
<h2>Ties to historic bankruptcy</h2>
<p>Water delinquencies are entwined with the city’s troubled financial history.</p>
<p><iframe id="yJPLv" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/yJPLv/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Detroit filed for <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188244106/how-is-detroit-doing-10-years-after-it-filed-for-bankruptcy">bankruptcy in 2013</a>.</p>
<p>A decline in the manufacturing industry that began in the 1950s and racial <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/TBcUAAAAYAAJ">tensions in the 1960s</a> and 1970s resulted in a decline in the city’s population. Foreign competition and bad management in the 1980s <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/bad-management-crippled-auto-industry-big-three/">further damaged the domestic auto industry</a>. By the time of the 2008 financial crisis, Detroit experienced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/01/detroit-michigan-economy-recession-unemployment">soaring vacancy and jobless rates</a>.</p>
<p>The decline in population was particularly problematic for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. The organization had built out infrastructure to the suburbs <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12343">with borrowed money</a>. The reliance on debt, coupled with a shrinking population, resulted in a large number of customers with <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10863-0">past-due balances</a>. </p>
<p>At the time of the bankruptcy filing, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department accounted for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00130095.2015.1116369">one-third of the city’s $18 billion debt</a>. In 2014, the agency shut off water service to thousands of residents to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10863-0">recoup past-due bills</a>. </p>
<p>These shut-offs – as many as 141,000 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/90-us-cities-and-states-suspend-water-shutoffs-to-tackle-coronavirus-pandemic">from 2014 to 2020</a> – predominantly impacted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10863-0">low-income, disadvantaged families</a>.</p>
<h2>Costs are up broadly</h2>
<p>It is not a problem that is limited to Detroit. Water shut-offs are also common in U.S. cities like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X20904431">Baltimore, Philadelphia</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/16/90-us-cities-and-states-suspend-water-shutoffs-to-tackle-coronavirus-pandemic">New Orleans</a>.</p>
<p>In 2016 alone, nearly <a href="https://www.apnews.com/3374e977ec01412da0fbf8a023db248c">1.4 million Americans</a> living in <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/rpt_1810_watershutoffs-web2.pdf">more than 500,000 households</a> experienced a water shut-off for nonpayment.</p>
<p>No running water can cause <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000077">physical</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdaa157">mental health</a> issues – and even accusations of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X20904431">child neglect</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551734/original/file-20231003-23-i8infv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brooklyn’s sewer system dates to the mid-1850s and is the oldest in the United States. Residents in the New York City borough clean up sewage on a flooded street after heavy rains in September 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-clean-up-sewage-on-a-flooded-street-during-a-heavy-news-photo/1697767937?adppopup=true">Yuki Iwamura/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No end in sight</h2>
<p>Neither public nor privately owned utilities have found a way to control costs.</p>
<p>Public utilities, like the <a href="https://bit.ly/3PLhr6k">Detroit Water and Sewerage Department</a>, are managed by local and state governments. A governmental board of directors typically sets public utility rates. They generally reflect the cost of service with <a href="https://efc.web.unc.edu/2016/10/19/public-vs-private-a-national-overview-of-water-systems/">negligible administrative fees</a>. </p>
<p>Private or investor-owned utilities, meanwhile, are managed by investors or shareholders and can be run as for-profit enterprises. About 12% of people in the United States get their water from private utilities. This percentage <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/towns-sell-their-public-water-systems--and-come-to-regret-it/2017/07/07/6ec5b8d6-4bc6-11e7-bc1b-fddbd8359dee_story.html">varies</a>, with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/towns-sell-their-public-water-systems--and-come-to-regret-it/2017/07/07/6ec5b8d6-4bc6-11e7-bc1b-fddbd8359dee_story.html">private utilities</a> more common in states such as Indiana, Ohio and Idaho.</p>
<p>Customers served by private water utilities, on average, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2021.101279">pay more</a> for the same type of service as those served by public providers, even though <a href="https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2002.0034">there is no evidence</a> that private utilities operate more efficiently than their public counterparts.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that both public and private utilities are charging more.</p>
<p>One reason is that federal government subsidies have dropped. In the late 1970s, the federal government paid nearly two-thirds of the total capital spending for water and sewage infrastructure, a figure that is down to <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Drinking-Water-2021.pdf">under 10% today</a>. These additional costs are passed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/23/millions-of-americans-cant-afford-water-bills-rise">directly or indirectly</a> on to consumers. </p>
<p>Aging infrastructure is also driving up costs.</p>
<h2>A huge system in poor shape</h2>
<p>The water and sewage systems in urban America are old. </p>
<p>In all, 2.2 million miles (about 3.5 million kilometers) of pipe make up the U.S. water and sewer system, with many of those pipes well beyond their expected <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/drinking-water-infrastructure/">end of life</a>. Due to the time and expense of replacing individual pipe segments in active water systems, particularly in dense urban areas, many municipalities make repairs or replacements only when a problem like a water main break occurs. </p>
<p>Neglected water systems result in billions of gallons of water lost to leaks every day, while the aging infrastructure was never engineered to support the <a href="https://populationeducation.org/how-is-population-growth-connected-to-sustaining-water-systems/">large populations</a> that now reside in U.S. cities.</p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/arc-x/climate-impacts-water-utilities">climate change</a> is further straining the systems, as wastewater treatment facilities struggle to treat <a href="https://apnews.com/article/floods-climate-change-chicago-storms-urban-nascar-cb70e4f885a5ea083a7dbaadc9c0fb57">excess stormwater</a>, while <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-seawater-intrusion-a-hydrogeologist-explains-the-shifting-balance-between-fresh-and-salt-water-at-the-coast-214620">saltwater intrusion</a> into coastal aquifers decreases water availability and increases the rate of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115153">pipe corrosion</a>. </p>
<h2>Solutions to the problem</h2>
<p>Municipalities have tried several solutions to help households cope with unaffordable water bills.</p>
<p>Customer assistance programs take many different forms, ranging from bill discounts and payment plans to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/waterfinancecenter/compendium-drinking-water-and-wastewater-customer-assistance-programs">forgiveness of past-due amounts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10219789">Individual utilities</a> decide whether to offer these programs.</p>
<p>In Detroit, the water utility launched a payment plan in August 2022 that <a href="https://detroitmi.gov/departments/water-and-sewerage-department/dwsd-customer-service/dwsd-here-help-water-assistance-programs">erases past-due amounts for those who are eligible to enroll</a>. Eligibility is based on income with charges as low as $18 a month. Customers who earn up to 200% of <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federal-poverty-level-fpl/">the federal poverty level</a> can take part. However, the program doesn’t have <a href="https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitmi.localhost/files/2022-08/FAQ%20-%20DWSD%20Lifeline%20Plan.pdf">a long-term source of funding</a>. Detroiters who earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level are not eligible for debt forgiveness and are still subject to shut-offs – as are those who fail to pay their reduced bills.</p>
<p>In Philadelphia, the tiered assistance program creates individualized, affordable bills for <a href="https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10219789">customers enrolled in the program</a>. Under this program, prior penalty charges from past-due amounts are forgiven for customers enrolled in the program who make payments in full for 24 months. The Philadelphia City Council passed a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12830">special bill</a> to make the program possible, so there may be <a href="https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10219789">legislative barriers</a> to offering this type of solution in other cities.</p>
<p>If you live in another American city and feel as if your water costs have gone up, you’re probably not wrong. American water costs are <a href="https://www.bluefieldresearch.com/our-coverage/macro-trends/cost-of-water/">rising steadily</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/water-bills-rising-cost-of-water-creating-big-utility-bills-for-americans/">up 31%</a> on average since 2012.</p>
<p>More accessible data about water costs, how many customers owe money and how much, and <a href="https://affordablewater.mit.edu/sites/default/files/documents/UUSC_water_report_july_2016_update.pdf">the number of shut-offs</a> would help utilities to <a href="https://www.awwa.org/Portals/0/AWWA/ETS/Programs/Benchmarking/2023-Utility%20Benchmarking-PI.pdf">benchmark performance</a>. It would also help consumers and policymakers understand trends in water and wastewater rates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212597/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Mack receives funding from the National Science Foundation grant number: 1444758 and NSF Supplement 1444758</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Helderop and Tony Grubesic do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Detroit residents with past-due bills are facing water shut-offs again after a reprieve during COVID-19. At the same time, providers are also raising rates.Elizabeth Mack, Professor of Geography, Michigan State UniversityEdward Helderop, Associate Director of the Center for Geospatial Sciences, University of California, RiversideTony Grubesic, Professor of Public Policy, University of California, RiversideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2013592023-10-03T13:15:07Z2023-10-03T13:15:07ZI’m working to revitalize an Indigenous language and bring it into the future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551259/original/file-20230930-23-e9cvb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=537%2C0%2C3432%2C3072&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The author captures threads of a dialect by recording words for "Michipicoten" in an open-air meeting with community elders. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John-Paul Chalykoff</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Language is foundational to Indigenous communities, including my own, and a vital connection to our cultures. </p>
<p>It is well documented how <a href="https://nctr.ca/about/history-of-the-trc/trc-website/">residential schools</a> in Canada and <a href="https://boardingschoolhealing.org/education/us-indian-boarding-school-history">boarding schools</a> in the U.S. <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/4-impacts-residential-schools-indigenous-people/">devastated Indigenous languages</a> and severed cultural connections. While our languages are in decline, efforts to sustain them are ongoing, and I am taking part in that work.</p>
<p>Language revitalization efforts, both in <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indigenous-language-revitalization-in-canada">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/effort-to-recover-indigenous-language-also-revitalizes-culture-history-and-identity-190733">U.S.</a>, are opportunities for Indigenous peoples to reclaim their cultural ties. Strategies for revitalizing languages range from <a href="http://languagesindanger.eu/book-of-knowledge/language-documentation/">language documentation</a> and <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315561271-17/master-apprentice-language-learning-program-leanne-hinton-margaret-florey-suzanne-gessner-jacob-manatowa-bailey">mentor-apprenticeship</a> programs to <a href="http://ecdip.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/McIvor-McCarty-Indigenous-bilingual-and-revitalization-immersion-education-in-Canada-and-USA-2017.pdf">immersion language schools</a>. I agree with linguist <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230582491_1">Nancy Hornberger</a>, who writes that language revitalization is not about bringing a language back but bringing it forward. In other words, making sure it can be used by future generations.</p>
<p>These efforts are ongoing in Indigenous communities across the world, including Anishinaabe. Anishinaabe are primarily situated around the Great Lakes and include the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi. </p>
<p>I am Ojibwe, a member of <a href="https://michipicoten.com/">Michipicoten First Nation</a>, and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=I0AzX2UAAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=1">my work</a> focuses on documenting the dialect of our region. After teaching at Michigan State University for three years, I accepted a position in 2022 as assistant professor in Anishinaabe Studies at <a href="https://algomau.ca/about/">Algoma University</a> and <a href="https://shingwauku.org/">Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig</a> in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three white teepees on yellow grass with the sunlight behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545128/original/file-20230828-17-irhj4f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michipicoten teepees by Lake Superior.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brianna Beaupré-Carroll</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A broken link</h2>
<p>In my family, for example, my grandmother was our last family member to speak fluent Ojibwe at home. My grandmother – and her parents before her – were relocated to residential schools, where they were punished for speaking their language. That experience and other <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/k78xyx/intergenerational-trauma-residential-school-survivors-indigenous">intergenerational community traumas</a> caused her to eventually lose much of her language fluency. After her grandmother passed away, my grandmother’s primary source of Ojibwe ended, and that was the end of the <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-cultural-transmission-1689814">cultural transmission of language</a> in our family. </p>
<p>This led to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.347">language shift</a> that many families and communities have faced for decades. This shift involved English becoming the primary language in the household. Most of us who want to learn Ojibwe now have to take on the challenge of learning it as a second language.</p>
<p>To help document more of the local variations of Ojibwe language in Michipicoten, I utilize a number of methods to gather vocabulary. </p>
<p>Gathering includes documenting spoken language through audio recordings and their transcriptions as well as recalling the stories behind phrases I’ve been taught. This ongoing work provides the foundation to not only preserve but to create in the language.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Snow-covered roads bordered by small houses and a curved fence line." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548414/original/file-20230914-19-1qdbbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Michipicoten winter sunset.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John-Paul Chalykoff</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rebuilding Indigenous language</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/anishinaabemowin-ojibwe-language">Anishinaabemowin</a>, the Ojibwe language, is <a href="https://ojibwe.net/nations-map/">spoken</a> by Anishinaabe people from Québec to Alberta and from Michigan to Montana. Given the geographic range of the language, many <a href="https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/wlf/what-are-dialects-oregon-state-guide-grammar">dialects</a> are spoken, and they are often broadly categorized between <a href="https://dictionary.nishnaabemwin.atlas-ling.ca/#/help">east</a> and <a href="https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/">west</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of the United States and Canada, with red dots clustered around the Great Lakes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/551406/original/file-20231002-25-jbrj6s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Red rings show Anishinaabe communities and areas where an Anishinaabe language is spoken.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anishinaabe#/media/File:Anishinaabewaki.jpg">CJLippert/Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They are frequently differentiated by whether short vowels are voiced or unvoiced – like “Anishinaabe” (western) and “Nishnaabe” (eastern). <a href="https://michipicoten.com/community/">Michipicoten First Nation</a> where I am working to sustain Anishinaabemowin, is most likely part of the north of Lake Superior dialect. </p>
<p>Although endangered, Anishinaabemowin is one of the healthier Indigenous languages in North America. Notably, it is one of <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-402-x/2008/50000/ceb50000_001-eng.htm">three Indigenous languages</a> in Canada, along with Cree and Inuktitut, with good odds of continuing into the next generations. </p>
<p>Anishinaabewakiing, or Anishinaabe territory, lies partly in Canada and partly in the U.S. – so we count Anishinaabemowin speakers in both countries together. Together, there are approximately 30,000 Anishinaabemowin speakers in <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2023029-eng.htm">Canada</a> – which includes Michipicoten – and the <a href="https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2011/acs/acsbr10-10.pdf">U.S.</a></p>
<h2>Family ties to language</h2>
<p>Michipicoten is a small Ojibwe community with a <a href="https://fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/FNP/Main/Search/FNRegPopulation.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=225&lang=eng">population of 1,353</a> that is close to the northeastern shore of Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada. Nearly 100 people live on the reserve; most are spread out in other towns and cities. </p>
<p>My ongoing work with Michipicoten is to document the local dialect by working with our elders who still know the language. Because there are not many fluent speakers left in the region, it is urgent to document as much as possible. </p>
<p>I am keeping a record of words I remember my grandmother sharing and extending this work with other family and community members.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A fire burning in a circle of rocks under an open-air enclosure." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548416/original/file-20230914-23-wzc6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An elder keeps the fire stoked at Michipicoten.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John-Paul Chalykoff</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I recall my grandmother sharing little stories about words. One of my favorites was the time when we were sitting around the dinner table and she remembered what the old ones would call beans: “boogijimin” – the farting fruit. Everyone had a good laugh. </p>
<p>This summer, I spent some time with Michipicoten elders William and Myrtle Swanson, who shared stories about Ojibwe nicknames from their childhood, sayings they remember, as well as a song from their youth. </p>
<p>Each word and sound is a treasure to preserve. </p>
<h2>Breathing life into words</h2>
<p>I sometimes think about how I will never fully sound like my family who spoke before me. </p>
<p>Still, I am committed to gathering as much as I can, collecting whatever pieces I can, and trying to put together a puzzle I know I can’t fully complete.</p>
<p>As the respected Ojibwe language instructor <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/patricia-ningewance-indigenous-language-lesson-book-1.5452093">Patricia Ningewance</a> says, “Our language exists today because our ancestors survived great hardships. The dialect we learn is the remainder of that time. Let’s honor the ancestors by learning the language they left behind for us to speak.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201359/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I was an elected councilor of Michipicoten First Nation for two terms, between 2017/2021.</span></em></p>A scholar works to document a dialect of the Ojibwe language that was spoken by his grandmother in the Great Lakes region.John-Paul Chalykoff, Assistant Professor in Anishinaabe Studies, Algoma UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2123242023-08-31T13:56:29Z2023-08-31T13:56:29ZUnited Auto Workers strike – if it happens – should channel the legacy of Walter Reuther, who led the union at the peak of its power<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545293/original/file-20230829-27-rgt0fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=905%2C555%2C3260%2C2298&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">UAW President Walter Reuther, center, shakes hands with a Ford executive after agreeing on a three-year contract in 1967.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/after-announcement-that-agreement-had-been-reached-by-the-news-photo/517772622?adppopup=true">Bettmann via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Auto Workers are engaged in high-stakes labor negotiations that could lead to the union’s first simultaneous strike against all of Detroit’s Big Three automakers: <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/21/electric-vehicle-jobs-uaw-strike-biden">General Motors, Ford and Stellantis</a>, the company that owns Chrysler.</p>
<p>After <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/25/uaw-strike-authorization-vote/">decades of making concessions</a> to their employers, the union’s <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2023/08/12/uaw-negotiations-stellantis-leader-pushes-back/70581896007/">demands for pay increases</a> and better benefits exceed what some <a href="https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/08/potential-uaw-strike-would-cost-billions-analysis-shows/">automotive industry executives say are reasonable</a>. Unless the two sides reach an agreement by midnight on Sept. 14, 2023, <a href="https://uaw.org/97-uaws-big-three-members-vote-yes-authorize-strike/">97% of the 150,000 UAW members</a> employed by the three companies have authorized their leaders to call a strike.</p>
<p>It would be the industry’s first walkout since a <a href="https://www.apnews.com/83b9a7d6f2b04d0da468c97ccf39b095">monthlong GM strike in 2019</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/21/uaw-big-three-automakers-union-contract-negotiations">UAW President Shawn Fain</a>, elected in March 2023, and other new UAW leaders have a decidedly more militant approach than their recent predecessors – some of whom <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/former-uaw-official-sentenced-57-months-prison-embezzling-over-2-million-union-funds">landed in prison</a> after being <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/former-international-uaw-president-gary-jones-sentenced-prison-embezzling-union-funds">convicted of embezzling</a> union funds.</p>
<p>As a labor and business scholar who has studied the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=marick+masters&btnG">history of UAW collective bargaining with the Detroit Three</a>, I believe that whether or not the union does hold a strike against one or more of the automakers in the near future, it would benefit from heeding some lessons from its own past. In particular, it should consider the legacy of <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p066269">Walter Reuther</a>, the labor leader who served as the UAW’s president from 1946 until his death in 1970. By balancing his vision and aspirations with pragmatism, Reuther showed that bold labor leaders can score big wins.</p>
<h2>Miscalculations can be costly for workers</h2>
<p>Although strikes can lead to victories, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.867">workers can end up worse off</a> than they would have been had they not walked off the job. People who go on strike can even end up unemployed. That means unions must carefully calculate whether the risk of going on strike is worth taking.</p>
<p><a href="https://jacobin.com/2021/08/reagan-patco-1981-strike-legacy-air-traffic-controllers-union-public-sector-strikebreaking">Strikes that fail to meet their objectives</a>, often due to miscalculations by unions of their power to win concessions from employers, litter U.S. labor history. </p>
<p>These <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2006.0140">failures were particularly common in the 1980s and 1990s</a>, as companies and other employers demanded concessions and replaced workers during and after strikes.</p>
<p>That trend began with the ill-fated strike by 11,500 air traffic controllers in August 1981. Soon after <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/robert-poli-who-led-air-traffic-controllers-union-in-1981-strike-dies-at-78/2014/09/23/8ccd0e44-4267-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html">Robert E. Poli assumed its presidency</a>, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers went on strike. The union, known as PATCO, underestimated President Ronald Reagan’s resolve and <a href="https://inthesetimes.com/article/the-patco-strike-reagan-and-the-roots-of-labors-decline">overestimated its members own irreplaceability</a>.</p>
<p>Reagan’s swift termination of the striking workers and his success in replacing them with new employees destroyed PATCO and normalized the replacement of strikers by employers.</p>
<p>More strikes would lead to similar failures, including one by <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6mtdg6.15">Hormel meatpackers in Austin, Minnesota</a>, which lasted 13 months starting in August 1985. A <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/1100889856">15-month walkout by International Paper workers</a> at several plants in 1987 and 1988 was also disastrous for the strikers.</p>
<p>In both cases, the local union leaders launched prolonged strikes over corporate demands for wage cuts and other givebacks to compete with their lower-cost nonunion rivals. The unions underestimated management’s resolve and proved incapable of conducting effective publicity campaigns or <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv6mtdg6.15">applying other kinds of pressure to combat the companies</a>. </p>
<p>The companies fired strikers, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1986/02/16/the-hormel-strike-was-doomed/eaf87a1c-b393-44d7-aedd-6316cd8078e9/">replacing them permanently</a> with other workers.</p>
<h2>Lessons from Walter Reuther</h2>
<p>A UAW strike today could also miss the mark, given that Detroit’s Big Three face <a href="https://www.carpro.com/blog/full-year-2021-sales-report-with-most-brands-reporting">relentless competition from foreign automakers</a>, along with <a href="https://evadoption.com/ev-sales/evs-percent-of-vehicle-sales-by-brand/">Tesla and newer U.S.-based companies that only manufacture electric vehicles</a>. What’s more, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/13/ford-vs-gm-same-industry-two-increasingly-different-companies.html">GM, Ford</a> and <a href="https://www.stellantis.com/en/news/press-releases/2023/february/stellantis-announces-155-million-investment-in-three-indiana-plants-to-support-north-american-electrification-goals">Stellantis are spending billions</a> to phase in large-scale EV production.</p>
<p>Here are three lessons that I believe Fain and other UAW leaders should draw from Reuther’s legacy:</p>
<p><strong>1: Articulate a clear vision</strong></p>
<p>In 1945, a year before he became the UAW’s longest-serving president, Reuther led <a href="https://www.apnews.com/83b9a7d6f2b04d0da468c97ccf39b095">320,000 GM workers on a 113-day strike</a> that ended with pay raises, overtime compensation and paid vacation days. The way he spelled out the <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/26295254">philosophy behind the strike</a> helped inspire the workers’ confidence.</p>
<p>After <a href="https://jamesteneyck.com/walter-reuther/">autoworkers had done their part to win World War II</a>, Reuther later said, they struck for “the right of a worker to share – not as a matter of collective bargaining muscle, but as a matter of right – to share in the fruits of advancing technology.” </p>
<p>Like <a href="https://uaw.org/walter-reuther-quote-collection/">many of Reuther’s poignant comments</a>, those words still resonate today as technology upends the automotive industry.</p>
<p><strong>2: Recognize the limits of what’s within reach</strong></p>
<p>In 1950, following a <a href="https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/strikes-lordstown-haymarket-pullman-shirtwaist-uaw-ufw-afl?language_content_entity=en">102-day strike by 95,000 Chrysler workers</a>, Reuther negotiated breakthrough agreements with GM, Ford and Chrysler known collectively as the “<a href="https://jacobin.com/2016/06/uaw-academic-workers-colleges-union-walter-reuther-treaty-detroit/">Treaty of Detroit</a>.” The pacts included big increases in wages, health care benefits and retirement pensions. </p>
<p>But pragmatism tempered Reuther’s determination to achieve all the union’s objectives. He knew when to strike and when to settle. Reuther understood the union’s capacity to hold a strike and how much harm it could inflict upon a company before the costs became prohibitive for both sides.</p>
<p>He used strikes strategically, knew which company to target – and when. Reuther knew to settle when the union’s ability to push a company for further concessions had reached a ceiling beyond which the losses on both sides exceed any possible future gains.</p>
<p>And he realized that worker priorities that could not be won in a current round of bargaining could be pushed to the next. Reuther understood that autoworkers and their employers depended on each other to make progress. </p>
<p><strong>3: Balance competing interests</strong></p>
<p>Reuther also understood the limits of the UAW’s power, and he knew how to bargain for a contract that both autoworkers and automotive executives could accept.</p>
<p>In a speech he made on Labor Day in 1958, <a href="http://reuther100.wayne.edu/pdf/Labor_Day_Address.pdf">Reuther defined
labor’s task</a> as “to cooperate in creating and sharing abundance … [which] requires working out a proper balance between competing equities of workers, stockholders and consumers.”</p>
<h2>New reality</h2>
<p>Reuther’s reign coincided with Detroit’s dominance. <a href="https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/animated-chart-of-the-day-market-shares-of-us-auto-sales-1961-to-2016/">At least 85% of the vehicles U.S. drivers bought</a> through the mid-1960s were made by the Big Three automakers.</p>
<p>Those companies’ total U.S. market share is less than half of that now – a total of about 41%, with <a href="https://investor.gm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/gm-continued-gain-us-market-share-and-extended-its-truck">16% for GM</a>, <a href="https://www.cascade.app/studies/ford-strategy-study">14% for Ford</a> and <a href="https://www.stellantis.com/content/dam/stellantis-corporate/investors/events-and-presentations/presentations/Stellantis_FY_22_Results_Presentation.pdf">11% for Stellantis</a>. </p>
<p>Autoworkers also wield less power today than they did back then.</p>
<p>UAW membership has dwindled to fewer than 400,000 members, including the 150,0000 people directly employed by GM, Ford and Stellantis who may soon go on strike. Some <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/united-auto-workers-union-raises-dues-first-time-47-years-n121586">1.5 million workers belonged to the union</a> at its 1979 peak. Unions represent <a href="https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/united-auto-workers-union-membership-rose-3-in-2022-to-383000/">only 16% of the workers employed in the U.S. motor vehicle and parts industry</a> in 2022, down from nearly 60% in 1983.</p>
<p>GM, Ford and Stellantis have <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2023/08/17/ford-salaried-workers-parts-warehouses-depot-uaw-strike-jobs/70601006007/">vowed to resist any demands they deem unreasonable</a>. Both labor and management could incur potentially substantial losses in a strike, which would compound over time. Even a 10-day strike could cause an estimated <a href="https://www.andersoneconomicgroup.com/10-day-uaw-strike-against-big-three-could-cause-economic-losses-exceeding-5-billion/">US$5 billion in economic damage</a> or more, according to the Anderson Economic Group consulting firm.</p>
<p>I believe that the path to a settlement requires understanding how an avoidable strike would put both sides behind, while their competitors move forward.</p>
<p>And I keep on wondering what Walter Reuther would do – and whether Shawn Fain is doing that too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212324/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marick Masters is the director of Labor@Wayne at Wayne State University. The university has received contributions from the joint training funds from the UAW and the Big Three to support education in labor-management relations. These contributions were used strictly for this purpose.</span></em></p>Reuther was both ambitious and pragmatic, scoring many victories for autoworkers.Marick Masters, Professor of Business and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100372023-08-07T12:41:03Z2023-08-07T12:41:03ZUS autoworkers may wage a historic strike against Detroit’s 3 biggest automakers − with wages at EV battery plants a key roadblock to agreement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538558/original/file-20230720-19-obsn7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C139%2C2236%2C1850&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">UAW President Shawn Fain speaks with General Motors workers on July 12, 2023, in Detroit.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/united-auto-workers-president-shawn-fain-speaks-with-and-news-photo/1528218013?adppopup=true">Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Auto Workers union, which represents nearly <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/business/stellantis-samsung-battery-plant-uaw/index.html">150,000 employees of companies that manufacture U.S.-made vehicles</a>, has been engaged since July 2023 in the labor negotiations it undergoes every four years with the three main unionized automakers.</p>
<p>By late August, it still wasn’t clear that the UAW would agree to a new contract with <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bigthree.asp">Ford, General Motors and Stellantis</a> – the automaker that manufactures Chrysler and 13 other vehicle brands – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uaw-will-open-contract-talks-with-detroit-three-automakers-2023-07-10/">by their impending deadline</a>. The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/auto-workers-union-wage-increase-jobs-bank-b8370b11bd692191d9ee3080001ef358">contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14</a>.</p>
<p>The union’s leaders skipped the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2023/07/13/uaw-detroit-three-handshake-tradition-shawn-fain/70407842007/">traditional handshake ceremonies</a> it usually holds with these automakers, which are often called the Big Three or Detroit Three. The union instead held grassroots photo-ops: UAW leaders greeted rank-and-file members at one Ford, one GM and one Stellantis factory. On Aug. 25, the UAW announced that <a href="https://uaw.org/97-uaws-big-three-members-vote-yes-authorize-strike/">97% of its members had authorized a strike</a> “if the Big Three refuse to reach a fair deal.” It’s a major milestone.</p>
<p>I’m a labor scholar who has studied the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C23&q=marick+masters&btnG">history of UAW collective bargaining with the Detroit Three</a>. Given that the UAW is <a href="https://uaw.org/president-fain-facebook-live-big-threes-record-profits-mean-record-contracts">making major demands</a> at a time of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/03/strikes-2023-summer-unions/">rising union assertiveness and ambition</a>, I believe it’s reasonable to wonder whether U.S. automakers will be the next industry to face a strike.</p>
<p>In 2023, there have been <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/emmys-postponed-due-writer-actor-strikes-rcna96803">strikes by screenwriters, actors</a>, <a href="https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hr/us-healthcare-workers-walk-off-the-job-7-strikes-in-2023.html">health care workers</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taylor-swift-los-angeles-hotel-strike-ff26bbef8cbf37c82469a446ff29f919">hotel staff</a>, as well as vigorous organizing by workers for <a href="https://labornotes.org/2023/07/reform-caucus-rises-sues-elections-amazon-labor-union">warehouse and delivery services</a> at <a href="https://labornotes.org/2023/07/amazon-teamsters-rolling-pickets-hit-facilities-nationwide">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ups-and-teamsters-agree-on-new-contract-averting-costly-strike-that-could-have-delayed-deliveries-for-consumers-and-retailers-210431">UPS</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/business/fedex-pilots-union-vote/index.html">FedEx</a>.</p>
<h2>Strike could stall Detroit GM, Ford and Stellantis</h2>
<p>All three automakers with expiring contracts have amassed nearly <a href="https://uaw.org/new-uaw-video-highlights-big-3s-massive-profits-makes-clear-can-easily-afford-unions-contract-demands/">US$250 billion in reported profits</a> in their North American operations over the past decade.</p>
<p>And <a href="https://uaw.org/new-uaw-video-highlights-big-3s-massive-profits-makes-clear-can-easily-afford-unions-contract-demands/">UAW leaders have pledged</a> to garner what they see as their members’ fair share of those profits through higher wages and stronger job security.</p>
<p>The UAW’s newly elected president, Shawn Fain, frequently denounces corporate greed and has proclaimed the union’s willingness to go on strike. In the past, the union has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/automobiles/auto-strikes-history.html">held strikes against one automaker at a time</a>, most recently in <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/25/20930350/gm-workers-vote-end-strike">2019 against GM</a>. </p>
<p>That could change this time.</p>
<p>“The <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uaw-president-says-union-prepared-strike-detroit-three-2023-07-11/">Big Three is our strike target</a>,” Fain has said. “And whether or not there’s a strike, it’s up to Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.” </p>
<p>The UAW has said it has <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2023/06/21/bank-of-america-analysts-expect-uaw-strike-during-auto-talks-this-year/70343417007/">more than $825 million</a> in its strike fund to <a href="https://uaw.org/strike-faq-2/">help workers make do</a> without pay should they walk off the job. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man carries a 'UAW on strike' picket sign, enveloped in an American flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540915/original/file-20230802-15-h9ccgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Autoworker Ray Dota picketed outside the shuttered General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio, on Sept. 23, 2019, during the most recent UAW strike.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ray-dota-of-austintown-oh-pickets-outside-the-shuttered-news-photo/1178903811?adppopup=true">Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fain’s leadership</h2>
<p>Fain has declared that the union will no longer maintain the somewhat cozy relationship with the Big Three that <a href="https://uaw.org/president-fain-facebook-live-big-threes-record-profits-mean-record-contracts">led to major concessions</a> in the past.</p>
<p>Many of the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/04/1167902956/united-auto-workers-president-shawn-fain">union’s other new leaders also</a> are affiliated with the UAW’s <a href="https://uawd.org/about/">Unite All Workers for Democracy</a> caucus, which launched a successful campaign to require the direct election of the union’s top officials in 2022, with runoff elections held in 2023. They want to prevent a recurrence of a massive scandal that resulted in the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/former-uaw-official-sentenced-57-months-prison-embezzling-over-2-million-union-funds">federal prosecution</a> of more than a dozen <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/former-international-uaw-president-gary-jones-sentenced-prison-embezzling-union-funds">UAW leaders from 2017 to 2022</a>.</p>
<p>Two former UAW international presidents were sentenced to time in prison after being convicted of embezzling union funds. The new slate of leaders <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/04/1167902956/united-auto-workers-president-shawn-fain">assumed control of the UAW under court supervision</a> in March 2023.</p>
<h2>Seeking equal pay for EV workers</h2>
<p>As part of their bolder strategy, the <a href="https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/gm-samsung-sdi-build-3b-ev-battery-plant-us">UAW’s new leaders have criticized the joint ventures</a> between the three automakers and foreign-based electric battery producers.</p>
<p>They want to see Ford, GM and Stellantis paying UAW-level wages and benefits at all joint-venture operated plants in the U.S. making batteries for their EVs. Today, workers at the joint-venture factories earn far less than their <a href="https://electrek.co/2023/06/23/car-wars-ford-gm-stellantis-gain-most-us-ev-market-share/">counterparts who produce vehicles that run on fossil fuels</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://electrek.co/2022/12/09/gms-ultium-battery-plant-votes-overwhelmingly-to-unionize-with-uaw/">UAW has succeeded in organizing one of these joint ventures</a>, Ultium Cells in Lordstown, Ohio. But pay for workers at the former General Motors plant, which is now a joint EV battery venture between GM and LG Energy, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/auto-union-harshly-criticizes-us-ford-joint-venture-battery-loan-2023-06-23/">starts at just $16.50 per hour</a>. In 2019, the year that GM ended car assembly at that factory, workers <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/28/auto-workers-union-and-sanders-blast-gm-for-wages-at-us-battery-plant.html">earned $32 per hour</a>. </p>
<p>The UAW has several other objectives, which <a href="https://uaw.org/president-fain-facebook-live-big-threes-record-profits-mean-record-contracts">Fain first announced in a Facebook live meeting</a> on Aug. 1, 2023.</p>
<p>They include greater job security <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uaw-seeks-double-digit-pay-hikes-detroit-three-contract-talks-2023-08-01/">and steep wage increases</a> for UAW-represented workers covered by the union’s contracts with GM, Ford and Stellantis.</p>
<p>Among other things, it also seeks to end the two-tier wage system negotiated in 2007, under which new hires make much less than veteran workers, and the restoration of cost-of-living allowances, which the UAW also conceded in 2007 to help the companies stay afloat during the Great Recession.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc12.com/news/business/uaw-president-lays-out-list-of-demands-for-big-three-automakers/article_3e76b288-3130-11ee-861e-2365c42aa592.html">Other UAW goals include</a> resuming company-paid retiree health care benefits, adding more paid time off and limiting the use of temporary employees. Fain also says he wants <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_4x-seTCvc&ab_channel=CBSNews">workweeks scaled down to 32 hours, from its current 40</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1686494700331728906"}"></div></p>
<h2>Smaller ranks</h2>
<p>Union membership in the auto manufacturing industry has <a href="https://www.unionstats.com">shrunk from nearly 60% in 1983 to under 16% in 2022</a>. Nonunion competitors with U.S. locations include foreign companies such as Toyota, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen, as well as domestic-based EV rivals Tesla and Rivian.</p>
<p>In 1970, GM employed more than 400,000 workers. In 2001, the Big Three combined employed 408,000. Today, a total of only 146,000 people work for those companies – <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/uaw-show-list-economic-demands-automakers-week-seek-101925455">57,000 at Ford, 46,000 at GM and 43,OOO at Stellantis</a>. </p>
<p>The Big Three’s share of the U.S. automotive market has <a href="https://www.autonews.com/article/20090601/OEM/306019739/detroit-3-domestic-brands-u-s-market-share-history">declined to about 40% from more than 90%</a> in <a href="https://datacenter.autonews.com/data-center/market-reports">the mid-1960s</a>.</p>
<p>But the UAW’s negotiations also directly affect the economic livelihood of the millions who work for the Big Three’s suppliers and in communities dependent on the <a href="https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/press-release/new-data-on-economic-impact">$1 trillion the auto industry contributes to the U.S. economy</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, many union and nonunion employers monitor the wages and benefits of UAW-represented workforces as they set compensation for their own employees. When union members get raises and better benefits, many employers of nonunion autoworkers mirror those changes – <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/unions-and-well-being/">raising pay too</a>. </p>
<p>The shift to electric vehicles poses several related challenges to the UAW.</p>
<p>First, it requires less labor than producing vehicles that burn fossil fuels, which means <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-ev-transition-explained-2658797703">EV manufacturing generates fewer jobs</a>.</p>
<p>Second, autoworkers employed at joint-venture EV-battery factories have to be organized by the UAW on a case-by-case basis. That can prove especially difficult at plants located in such states as Kentucky, Tennessee or Georgia – where unions have <a href="https://www.unionstats.com/">lower membership rates</a>.</p>
<p>Third, <a href="https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-tsla-median-earnings-81-percent-us-average">nonunion electric vehicle companies like Tesla</a> and <a href="https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2022-12-16/why-the-uaw-is-so-hungry-for-a-unionization-win-at-rivian">Rivian generally pay their production workers less</a> than the Detroit Three.</p>
<h2>What the automakers say</h2>
<p>Ford, GM and Stellantis have noted that they have invested heavily in U.S.-based factories to <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2023/06/29/ford-jim-farley-uaw-contract-bargaining/70361242007">preserve UAW-represented jobs</a>. Also, the Big Three point out that they have shared their North American profits in sizable annual payments to their workers.</p>
<p>In 2022, for example, the Detroit Three combined made profit-sharing payments that averaged <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2023/02/02/ford-uaw-hourly-workers-2022-profit-sharing/69865970007/">$36,686 per worker</a>. In addition, the companies pay higher wages and provide more benefits to U.S. autoworkers than foreign automakers, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/business/uaw-contract-talks.html">Toyota and Honda, or domestic EV producers</a>.</p>
<p>Ford CEO Jim Farley and <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2023/07/12/gm-reuss-uaw-contract-talks-detroit-automakers/70401953007/">GM President Mark Ruess have published op-eds</a> in the Detroit Free Press praising their workers and expressing their commitments to do right by them.</p>
<p>“We share common goals” with the UAW, <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2023/06/29/ford-jim-farley-uaw-contract-bargaining/70361242007/">Farley wrote in late June</a>. Both sides want to reach “a new deal that allows us to stay ahead of the changing industry landscape, protecting good-paying jobs in the U.S.”</p>
<p>But both executives have emphasized their need to be competitive.</p>
<p>After seeing the UAW’s demands, GM criticized their “breadth and scope” and said they “would threaten our ability to do what’s right for the long-term benefit of the team.” The <a href="https://www.gmnegotiations2023.com/public/us/en/negotiations/home/negotiation-updates.html">automaker also reiterated</a> its openness to what it called a “fair agreement” and to raise wages.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A very modern-looking concept-car truck beneath the Ram automotive brand name." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540913/original/file-20230802-29-bfgvep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stellantis’ Ram 1500 Revolution battery-electric concept pickup truck was on display in January 2023 at a trade show in Las Vegas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/stellantis-ram-1500-revolution-battery-electric-concept-news-photo/1454496551?adppopup=true">Ethan Miller/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What may happen during a UAW strike</h2>
<p>Halting production for even one big automaker during a strike would directly harm thousands of workers and cost the company money in terms of lost sales and production. Strikers would lose out on wages that would only be partially offset by the union’s <a href="https://uaw.org/strike-faq-2/">striker benefits of $500 per week</a>. </p>
<p>And any strike could further disrupt supply chains that have not fully recovered from the shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters that have sharply <a href="https://www.cargroup.org/auto-supply-chain-update/">curtailed vehicle production</a> since 2020.</p>
<p>Financial losses can be immense for automotive companies when their workers walk off the job. The 40-day <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2020/07/01/uaw-strike-fund-benefits-scandal/5353128002/">strike in 2019 cost GM a reported $3.6 billion</a>. </p>
<p>A weekslong strike would also jeopardize the UAW’s struggle to rebuild its image <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2020/07/01/uaw-strike-fund-benefits-scandal/5353128002/">following a string of corruption scandals</a>. </p>
<p>I believe that it’s up to both the corporate and labor leaders involved to avoid what could turn out to be a costly miscalculation.</p>
<p><em>This article was updated on Aug. 25, 2023, to report the strike vote.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210037/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>As Director of Labor@Wayne at Wayne State University, Marick Masters received funding from the joint training centers operated by the UAW with Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler. Representatives of these organizations served on the external advisory board of <a href="mailto:Labor@Wayne">Labor@Wayne</a>. All money was channeled through Wayne State University for educational purposes.</span></em></p>A strike would shake up the auto industry, even though both the union’s ranks and the share of the US automotive market controlled by GM, Ford and Stellantis have been shrinking for decades.Marick Masters, Professor of Business and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2048872023-05-03T17:21:41Z2023-05-03T17:21:41ZGordon Lightfoot’s music raised awareness of Great Lakes maritime disasters<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/gordon-lightfoot-s-music-raised-awareness-of-great-lakes-maritime-disasters" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>On May 1, the 84-year-old Canadian folk music icon <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/arts/music/gordon-lightfoot-dead.html">Gordon Lightfoot died at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital</a>. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented that <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2023/05/02/statement-prime-minister-death-gordon-lightfoot">Lightfoot’s legacy will live on in the dynamic Canadian soundscape he helped to shape</a>.</p>
<p>In his over 500 songs, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-gordon-lightfoot-the-canadian-bard-wrote-the-tune-for-a-nations/">Lightfoot was one of Canada’s most beloved chroniclers</a>. Upon his death, we can reflect on Lightfoot’s many impacts on Canadian culture and society.</p>
<h2>Music chronicles</h2>
<p>One small aspect of Lightfoot’s broader impact was his skill as a purveyor of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-32353-4_25">popular culture of disaster</a> through music.</p>
<p>One of his most recognized songs was the <a href="https://gordonlightfoot.com/wreckoftheedmundfitzgerald.shtml"><em>Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald</em></a>. That 1976 folk ballad was a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/02/arts/music/gordon-lightfoot-edmund-fitzgerald-song.html">six-minute documentarian’s song</a> about a tragic 1970s Great Lakes shipwreck disaster.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FuzTkGyxkYI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,’ by Gordon Lightfoot.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lightfoot’s work popularized the Great Lakes bulk cargo shipping transport disaster through song, bringing the story of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald to millions of music fans. Without the song, that specific maritime disaster would not be as well known and might have faded into obscurity. </p>
<h2>Lightfoot’s disaster music</h2>
<p>Lightfoot is one of many Canadian musicians, albeit the most popular, who has carried forward the <a href="https://hazards.colorado.edu/uploads/observer/2012/may12_observerweb.pdf">tradition of Canadian folk music providing a reliable narrative about disasters</a>. Lightfoot’s contributions to disaster music include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11457-020-09272-y">a well known and a lesser known ballad about contemporary shipwrecks</a>, along with <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/gordon-lightfoot-s-black-day-in-july-about-detroit-riots-inspires-new-art-1.2980754">a song about a civil disturbance</a>.</p>
<p>On Nov. 13, 1965, the <a href="https://maritimecyprus.com/2016/11/13/flashback-in-history-passenger-ship-ss-yarmouth-castle-fire-and-sinking-13-nov-1965-2/">SS Yarmouth Castle caught fire and sank</a>, killing 90 people while en route from Florida to the Bahamas. The passenger ship — built in 1927 — had a wood superstructure making it dangerously susceptible to fire. In 1969, Lightfoot’s the <a href="https://www.lightfoot.ca/balyarcs.htm"><em>Ballad of Yarmouth Castle</em></a> detailed that maritime tragedy.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I4cAnMZc79U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Ballad of Yarmouth Castle,’ by Gordon Lightfoot.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In June 1967, a police raid on an unlicensed bar triggered a series of racial grievances, leading to the <a href="https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/uprising-1967">Detroit Uprising</a>. From the Canada side of the international border along the Detroit River, <a href="http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/efp/EFP0106100_014.pdf">Windsorites lined the waterfront and watched the riot from afar</a> as Detroit burned.</p>
<p>In his 1968 song, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCQmx_wJH6o"><em>Black Day in July</em></a> Lightfoot memorialized the civil disturbance with his music. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vCQmx_wJH6o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Black Day in July,’ by Gordon Lightfoot.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On Nov. 10, 1975, <a href="https://shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald/">the SS Edmund Fitzgerald broke apart during a Lake Superior storm</a> killing 29 sailors. <a href="https://www.ontarioparks.com/parksblog/edmund-fitzgerald-40-years-later/">Lightfoot was inspired to write the <em>Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald</em></a> after reading an article in <em>Newsweek</em> called “<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/85568639/The-Cruelest-Month-Edmund-Fitzgerald-Newsweek-November-24-1975#">Great Lakes: The Cruellest Month</a>.”</p>
<p>This song was by far Lightfoot’s most popular disaster song. While he took some artistic licence describing the shipwreck, <a href="https://americansongwriter.com/the-wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgerald-gordon-lightfoot-behind-the-song/">the song was factual and timely</a>.</p>
<h2>A special role</h2>
<p>Lightfoot had a special role in contributing to the legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald. In a 2010 interview, he said of the hundreds of songs that he has written, <a href="https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/if-you-could-read-his-mind/Content?oid=2132451">he was most proud of that 1970s shipwreck song</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://shipwreckmuseum.com/">Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, Mich.</a>, holds artifacts retrieved from depths of the Canadian portion of Lake Superior, including the Edmund Fitzgerald’s bell. The museum’s director stated that <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/05/02/gordon-lightfoot-edmund-fitzgerald-song-michigan/70173839007/">if it was not for Lightfoot’s song</a>, awareness of the Edmund Fitzgerald would not be what it is now.</p>
<p>There is scant public awareness that <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shipwrecks-lake-superior-curtis-marvin-180981995/">historically 6,000 vessels have sunk in the Great Lakes, causing an estimated 30,000 deaths</a>.</p>
<p>Lightfoot’s song also highlighted the role of Great Lakes shipping, which is taken for granted. Even in present day downtown Toronto, one can witness <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2015/04/this_is_what_its_like_on_board_a_redpath_sugar_ship/">the unexpected sight of a bulk sugar carrier arriving from South America</a>. </p>
<p>Bulk cargo carriers — servicing the North American industrial and agricultural heartland via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System — <a href="https://greatlakes-seaway.com/en/the-seaway/economic-impacts/">contribute to the $45 billion in economic activity</a> from water transportation activities. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a ship docks at a downtown harbour in Toronto" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524043/original/file-20230503-18-3evdi8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bulk cargo carrier transporting sugar docked in downtown Toronto in October 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(J. Rozdilsky)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Increased awareness</h2>
<p>While shipwreck disasters in the Great Lakes are not frequent, bulk transport by lake is not risk-free. Lightfoot’s ballad highlights the fact that Great Lakes shipwrecks are not only events of the distant past, but they also can have significant human costs in modern times.</p>
<p>In addition to artistic merit, entertainment value, or adding to the <a href="https://disastersongs.ca/">list of Canadian disaster songs</a>, Lightfoot’s contribution to increased public awareness of Great Lakes maritime disaster risk is invaluable. </p>
<p>So significant was his contribution that, upon his death, <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2023/05/02/gordon-lightfoot-mariners-church-detroit-bells/70175392007/">Detroit’s Maritime Church rang its bell in memorium</a>. In the ceremony, the bell rang 30 times: one chime for each of the 29 sailors lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald, and one additional chime to honour the life and legacy of Lightfoot.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204887/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack L. Rozdilsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot passed away on May 1. His legacy includes songs that memorialize tragic shipping disasters and the 1968 Detroit Uprising.Jack L. Rozdilsky, Associate Professor of Disaster and Emergency Management, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1928212022-11-06T11:49:00Z2022-11-06T11:49:00ZCommunity-based economic development is the key to a strong pandemic recovery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493345/original/file-20221103-33202-ir1sye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6048%2C3965&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Community isn’t just important for social recovery from the pandemic — it also provides an important framework for recovering economically.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we emerge from the pandemic, economic recovery is on everyone’s minds. Cities around the world are grappling with the intersecting challenges of <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-economist-explains-what-you-need-to-know-about-inflation-188959">inflation</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-report-half-the-world-is-facing-water-scarcity-floods-and-dirty-water-large-investments-are-needed-for-effective-solutions-175578">climate change</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-inequality-is-growing-in-the-us-and-around-the-world-191642">deep systemic inequities</a>.</p>
<p>Throughout the pandemic, there were calls for change. People across all sectors argued that we <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-back-to-normal-after-covid-19-health-care-should-shift-focus-from-treatment-to-prevention-143260">could not simply “go back” to how things were</a> — we needed to take the lessons learned and begin to reshape our communities. </p>
<p>While the staggering negative impacts of the pandemic should never be overlooked, there were moments of grace that emerged. We all became more <a href="https://theconversation.com/reopen-recreation-spaces-after-covid-19-for-the-good-of-the-public-not-the-individual-144344">aware and appreciative of public spaces</a>. <a href="https://parkpeople.ca/blog/covid-19-and-parks-highlights-from-our-national-surveys/">Parks were full</a>, libraries were never busier and streets were taken over by people and patios. There were <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/knowledge/customer-experience/how-shopping-and-eating-out-has-changed-during-pandemic">movements to shop and eat locally</a>. </p>
<p>We all became increasingly aware of our need to be connected with one another and found creative ways to sustain our relationships. The pandemic reminded us that community is important, that people are important and that places are important. But community isn’t just important for us socially. It’s also important for our economy.</p>
<h2>A community-centred approach</h2>
<p>As we begin our slow economic recovery, we need to bring the spirit of creative problem solving, local engagement and community building into our economic planning. <a href="https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2009/11/25/rethinking-economic-development.html">Traditional approaches to economic development</a> have focused on creating policies and programs to foster economic growth and job creation. This “smokestack chasing” approach prioritized relationships between businesses and governments, leaving communities vulnerable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women smiling at someone off-camera seated in a circle of other people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Economic development approaches like community wealth building aim to keep wealth in communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While municipal incentives to attract corporations into cities <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/governance-powers/economic-development/municipal-business-promotion">still exist in economic development practice</a>, emerging 21st century models of economic development have begun to consider the importance of improving the overall quality of life within communities. </p>
<p>The emergence of <a href="https://ccednet-rcdec.ca/resource/pathways-to-a-peoples-economy/">community or local economic development</a> has added new voices into economic planning and policy making. With community leaders, nonprofit groups and local residents at the table, ideas begin to emerge from the bottom up and work to create more inclusive, equitable and sustainable solutions to social, environmental and economic issues.</p>
<h2>A new approach to economic development</h2>
<p>In the early 2000s, <a href="https://democracycollaborative.org/blog/brief-history-community-wealth-building">community wealth building</a> emerged as a new approach to local economic development. With the goal of taking one-off approaches to local economic development and “supercharging” them, a community wealth building approach is concerned with keeping wealth in communities. </p>
<p>Community wealth building is a direct response to extractive policies that see wealth leaving communities and instead aims to build an economy on the principles of local ownership and control of assets. </p>
<p>The Democracy Collaborative, an American public policy think tank, offers a <a href="https://democracycollaborative.org/publications/new-era-community-wealth-building">five-pillar approach to building local economies</a>. These pillars include progressive procurement, locally rooted finance, inclusive and democratic enterprise, fair work and the just use of land. </p>
<p>From <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/cities-regions/community-wealth-building/">Scotland</a> to <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/3713186-chicago-scotland-take-a-community-wealth-building-approach-to-economic-development/">Chicago</a> to <a href="http://www.pnlt.ca/">Toronto</a>, places around the world are experimenting with this new model of economic development to “take back” their economies.</p>
<p>A community wealth building approach resonates with the perspectives advanced by economist Raghuram Rajan in his book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566369/the-third-pillar-by-raghuram-rajan/"><em>The Third Pillar</em></a>. He argues that is only by creating balance across the three pillars of society — businesses, governments and our communities — that we can build a more just and equitable society. </p>
<h2>Building more resilient economies</h2>
<p>Even before the pandemic, <a href="https://www.evergreen.ca/tools-publications/2018-mid-sized-cities-research-series/">small and mid-sized cities were struggling to build resilient economies</a> in Ontario. With a smaller tax base, fewer knowledge workers and competition from larger urban centres, smaller cities face a number of challenges when it comes to creating sustainable economies. </p>
<p>There are a number of emerging projects that my research team at the University of Guelph is beginning to explore. Our goal is to understand how community wealth building projects can be created and scaled in mid-sized cities. </p>
<p>In partnership with the <a href="https://socialinnovation.org/about/who-we-are/">Centre for Social Innovation</a>, we have launched a multi-city case study (Guelph, Kingston, London and Windsor) to explore how Ontario’s mid-sized cities are transforming their economies through community-led initiatives.</p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://windsoressexcb.ca/our-history/">Community Benefits Coalition</a> began in Windsor-Essex, Ontario, in 2016 with the creation of a <a href="https://www.buysocialcanada.com/learn/community-benefit-agreement/">community benefits agreement with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority</a> in response to the new bridge project. The community believed its members should directly benefit from the building of the Gordie Howe International Bridge — a multi-billion dollar project. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black-and-white photo of a smiling man sitting on a bridge beside a Canadian flag and a U.S. flag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo of hockey great Gordie Howe at the announcement that the Detroit River International Crossing will be named the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ont. in May 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The community benefits agreement has been a game-changer for Windsor-Essex. In addition to new jobs and training, a $10 million fund was created to develop projects in Windsor-Essex that were designed by the community to mitigate the impacts of construction. </p>
<p>Through their experience over the last six years, the coalition has published a <a href="https://windsoressexcb.ca/mid-sized-cities-community-benefits-report/">community wealth report designed to help small and mid-sized cities</a> develop their own community benefits agreements around new infrastructure projects. </p>
<h2>A new way forward</h2>
<p>As communities across the world look to revitalize their economies, a community wealth building approach to local economic development can help point a new way forward as we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>By scaling up and coordinating local economic development projects and expanding collaborations across the three pillars — businesses, governments and communities — we can rebuild an economy that prioritizes sustainability, resilience and equity. </p>
<p>A community wealth building approach includes more co-operatives and locally owned businesses, using the buying power of key institutions like hospitals, universities and municipalities to invest in communities, and preserving land for affordable housing.</p>
<p>We need to build communities that put people first, and community wealth building offers a way for us to accomplish this.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192821/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Audrey Jamal receives funding from Mitacs.</span></em></p>Community wealth building is a direct response to extractive policies and aims to build an economy on the principles of local ownership and control of assets.Audrey Jamal, Assistant Dean, Strategic Partnerships and Societal Impact, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855392022-07-04T16:08:14Z2022-07-04T16:08:14ZWhat happens when your local council goes bankrupt<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472305/original/file-20220704-26-kj7qq3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The ruin of Detroit, Michigan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-famous-abandoned-packard-plant-1177277557">Jacob Boomsma | Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Local government fulfils an essential role in society. It provides fundamental services – from social care and transport to education, water and waste collection. And when it no longer can, when a council goes bankrupt, it is the most vulnerable citizens who bear the brunt of that failure. </p>
<p>In the UK, this has been deftly illustrated by the situation facing the town of Slough, in Berkshire. In 2021, the council issued a section 114 notice, effectively declaring itself <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2021/07/finance-director-praised-over-section-114-notice">bankrupt</a>. The <a href="https://democracy.slough.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=43486">recovery and renewal plan</a> subsequently drawn up laid out how services would be downsized and staffing numbers cut. So far, five care services have been closed and local transport has been reduced, with <a href="https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/slough-set-huge-service-cuts-21558454">more measures</a> likely to be <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/07/treasury-tells-councils-prioritise-core-services-amid-inflation?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=">introduced</a>. The council has also been <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/05/slough-urged-sell-most-its-properties?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_term=">pressured to sell</a> most of its real estate holdings. These cuts will continue to have a significant impact on the lives of local residents for years to come.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The entrance to a city's railway station." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472300/original/file-20220704-20-avurnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When a city is facing bankruptcy, as Slough has since 2021, it is the most vulnerable residents who suffer the consequences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/slough-uk-september-2018-translation-railway-1220701696">Miroslav Cik | Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Our research shows that when a local authority has strict accounting and reporting rules in place, it is less likely to experience financial problems. The national government, in turn, is less likely to have to use taxpayers’ money to rescue it.</p>
<h2>Strict fiscal accounting measures are helpful</h2>
<p>Since 2018, several other local authorities across England, from <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/05/county-issues-section-114-notice">Northumberland county council</a> to <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2020/11/croydon-council-issues-section-114-notice">Croydon</a>, <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2021/12/nottingham-issues-section-114-notice-following-hra-error">Nottingham</a> and <a href="https://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/news/council-news/Pages/northamptonshire-county-council-issues-second-section-114-notice.aspx">Northamptonshire</a>, have followed Slough in running out of cash. The Public Accounts parliamentary committee in the House of Commons has cautioned that <a href="https://www.localgov.co.uk/More-councils-will-be-forced-to-issue-Section-114-notices-MPs-warn/51737">more councils</a> will be forced to issue Section 114 notices, thereby restricting all non-essential spending because of a lack of funds. </p>
<p>Experts have long <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/916217/Redmond_Review.pdf">warned</a> that councils would be <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/3240/COVID-decade-Lessons-issues-sub-national-government-finances-Institute-Fiscal-_TkKE1v8.pdf">facing financial difficulties</a>. But rampant inflation and rising costs related to social care, transport and utility have meant this has <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/2022/06/watch-space-another-section-114-notice-warns-council-finance-director">happened</a> much earlier than anticipated. </p>
<p>To study how local governments across the world deal with financial difficulties, since 2018, we have gathered evidence from cases and legal systems from 20 jurisdictions, including the UK and the US, at times conducting qualitative interviews with managers and politicians. We recently presented a working paper from this <a href="https://royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/law-and-criminology/research/our-projects-and-research-impact/when-liquidation-is-not-an-option-lpes-in-distress/">research project</a> at the <a href="https://royalholloway.ac.uk/media/20718/insol%20international%20academics%20colloquium%20-%20programme.pdf.pdf">INSOL London Academic Colloquium Programme</a>. </p>
<p>We have found that local councils in those countrieswhich have strict accounting rules – including Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the Russian Federation – are less likely to experience financial difficulties. In Japan, <a href="http://www.clair.or.jp/j/forum/honyaku/hikaku/pdf/up-to-date_en7.pdf">strict fiscal accounting measures</a> were introduced in 2007 with the Local Financial Soundness Act. This led to a reduction – from 40 to 0 – in the number of cities facing early restructuring procedures to save costs and avoid bankruptcy. Only one city (down from three per year in 2007), <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/aug/15/yubari-japan-city-learns-die-lost-population-detroit">Yubari</a>, is <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/77970/1/PDF_77970.pdf">still working</a> to become solvent. After filing for bankruptcy in 2007 due to the collapse of the local coal industry, Yubari council is following a complex multi-rehabilitation process, which has involved increasing taxation and reducing staffing and services. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A shuttered restaurant by a lake in a park." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472319/original/file-20220704-22-6aguff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yubari’s decline is attributed to the closure of the local coal mine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/24354425@N03/28143076903">Stuart Rankin | flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Implementing rules is where problems arise</h2>
<p>Having a legal mechanism in place to ensure that money is well spent is another key safeguard. In Belgium, among other countries, the government has developed an online tool for tracking local councils’ financial health. If they deviate from their financial targets, the government can force them to revise their budget allocations, among other coercive measures. </p>
<p>However, this is not enough. In South Africa, despite constitutional mandates on municipal budgeting and financial accountability, the way these rules are implemented <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2077-49072020000100014">has resulted</a> in extraordinarily high number of local authorities in distress. In 2020 alone, about one in five South African municipalities was under administration. </p>
<p>Research shows that in Canada, despite strict accounting and lending rules, during the 1930s several municipalities, including the cities of Windsor, York and Burnaby, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1754-7121.2009.00087.x">defaulted on payments</a>. Today, Canadian local authorities are still intrinsically vulnerable to unforeseen events – a sudden spike in commodity prices, natural disasters, conflicts in neighbouring countries, significant drops in the population and influxes of refugees and migrants – which can cause the most financially sound municipality to go bankrupt.</p>
<p>Detroit, in the US, offers an instructive case study. In the 1930s, the Michigan city was a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/detroits-golden-age-in-photos-2013-7?r=US&IR=T#the-parks-scenic-canal-offered-romantic-boat-rides-and-bands-played-on-the-bridge-4">major centre for commercial trade</a> due to its location in the Great Lakes region. It became the automotive capital of the world and one of the largest and most prosperous cities in North America. However, the gradual collapse of the automotive industry since the 1970s combined with <a href="https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2021/08/12/census-detroit-population-decline-u-s-census-bureau/5567639001/">population decline</a> heightened social and racial issues. Chronic corruption and mismanagement meant that the city which had been famously known as the “<a href="https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/arsenal-democracy">Arsenal of Democracy</a>” for its contribution to the Allies in the second world war <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/151520478.pdf">went bankrupt</a>. </p>
<p>The US is the only country in our study to have a comprehensive set of insolvency rules applicable only to local entities in distress. <a href="https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol10/iss1/4/">This ensures</a> that when cities like Detroit run out of cash, there is a sufficiently tried-and-tested approach to negotiate a way out. In these procedures, creditors must adhere to whatever plan the local government proposes. In this instance, in the so-called “<a href="https://cppp.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/IHI_Digital_2017.pdf">Grand Bargain</a>” negotiated during Detroit’s <a href="https://dc.law.utah.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=ulr">Chapter 9</a> bankruptcy, some philanthropic organisations were <a href="https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/R-HH-0416a.pdf">allowed</a> to protect pensioners’ claims.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A green tram car in a residential area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472341/original/file-20220704-18-xny6ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Croydon council declared bankruptcy in November 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/londonuk-5272013-a212-road-tram-tramline-1432761302">Charles Bowman | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-30877-7_11">European</a> countries – from <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/MAJ-05-2016-1371/full/html">Italy</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221715005561">France</a> to Belgium – opt for special administrative rules. They believe that public law mechanisms, rather than <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/hulr50&div=38&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals">insolvency laws</a>, are better suited to protecting vulnerable citizens. The need to ensure the continuity of essential services justifies departing from more traditional insolvency rules on distribution of assets. This forces creditors to waive a more significant portion of their claims or to accept much longer repayment terms than if these traditional rules applied.</p>
<p>The UK adopts a much less structured approach. Rather than intervening early to minimise disruptions to essential services, our research shows that British councils indirectly support mergers between local councils, and their laws only intervene by replacing local councillors when no money is left in the council. </p>
<p>At that point, the only option left on the table is a government’s bailout with taxpayers’ money, as has happened in <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/03/government-gives-minded-approval-unprecedented-bailout">Slough</a> and in <a href="https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2022/03/government-approves-croydon-capitalisation-direction">Croydon</a>. This over-reliance on government assistance is due to a lack of rules that encourage councils to act at the first signs of crisis, as well as to inadequate financial supervision. As the Japanese and American cases demonstrate, last-minute bailouts of this kind are inefficient and ineffective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded by INSOL International, and Dr. Eugenio Vaccari is part of the INSOL International Academic Steering Committee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded by INSOL International. Laura Coordes is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded by INSOL International.
Yseult Marique is a board member of the British Association of Comparative Law. </span></em></p>When a local authority runs out of cash, it is its most vulnerable citizens who suffer the most from the cuts to services and staffing that follow.Eugenio Vaccari, Lecturer, Royal Holloway University of LondonLaura Coordes, Professor of Law, Arizona State UniversityYseult Marique, Senior lecturer, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1769652022-02-13T13:13:46Z2022-02-13T13:13:46ZWhat the Ambassador Bridge and other ‘freedom convoy’ blockades mean for Canada-U.S. trade<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446084/original/file-20220213-29677-1p9kib.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C33%2C4498%2C2605&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An Ontario Provincial Police tactical officer looks on from the top hatch of an armoured vehicle at the Ambassador Bridge.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Trade between Canada and the United States was hampered for almost a week by <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8615208/ambassador-bridge-police-convoy-clearing/">the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge</a> at the Windsor-Detroit border as part of the so-called freedom convoy protest.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ambassador-bridge-injunction-ruling-1.6348767">A court injunction was secured to end the blockade </a> on Friday, but protesters remained for two days until police <a href="https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/police-begin-second-push-to-clear-protesters-at-ambassador-bridge/wcm/bde4f180-a277-440b-a843-92579e50e2d7">finally began to clear it of people and vehicles.</a> The bridge <a href="https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/ambassador-bridge-reopens-sunday-evening-1.5780041">re-opened late Sunday night</a>.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/peace-bridge-protest-1.6346883">increasing tensions in other parts of Canada, and similar blockades are likely to emerge, including at the Peace Bridge in the Niagara region.</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/world/europe/vaccine-mandate-protests-paris.html">The movement has also gone international.</a></p>
<p>Ontario Premier Doug Ford <a href="https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/premier-rolls-out-emergency-measures-targeted-at-ambassador-bridge-protesters">declared a state of emergency</a> aimed partly at the blockade at the
<a href="https://www.ambassadorbridge.com/">Ambassador Bridge</a>, one of the busiest bridges in North America and the No. 1 international border crossing in terms of trade volume and people each day. </p>
<p>Ford has introduced heavy fines of up to $100,000, the confiscation of vehicles and the possibility of up to a year in prison for anyone blocking border crossings, 400-series highways, airports, ports, railways and pedestrian walkways. </p>
<p>The bridge accounts for nearly <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60320874">30 per cent of annual trade between Canada and the U.S., amounting to a trade value of US$323 million daily</a>. The bridge is used by more than 40,000 commuters, tourists and truck drivers crossing each day.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bridge is shown at dusk with trees in the foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445999/original/file-20220211-23-1rc6gm1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445999/original/file-20220211-23-1rc6gm1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445999/original/file-20220211-23-1rc6gm1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445999/original/file-20220211-23-1rc6gm1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445999/original/file-20220211-23-1rc6gm1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445999/original/file-20220211-23-1rc6gm1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445999/original/file-20220211-23-1rc6gm1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ambassador Bridge, spanning the Detroit River between Windsor and Detroit, is shown in December 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trump trade tensions</h2>
<p>Because of trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada in recent years, the blockade was particularly concerning because it prolonged those tensions. </p>
<p>Former U.S. president Donald Trump created trade uncertainty during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-if-trump-kills-nafta-remedies-for-canada-and-mexico-91129">renegotiation of NAFTA that almost led to the collapse of the only free-trade agreement in North America</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/controls-controles/steel_alum-acier_alum.aspx?lang=eng">imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018</a>, forcing Canada to impose retaliatory tariffs on agri-food products from the U.S.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-trumps-tariffs-are-much-bigger-than-trump-97761">How Trump's tariffs are much bigger than Trump</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Since the Trump years, <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/cpp.2021-028">the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted bilateral trade between the two countries</a> because of border closures and ban of international travel at the peak of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Bilateral trade is highly sensitive to these types of disruptions as businesses factor such risk and uncertainty into cross-border trading decisions. If the risk they are exposed to is substantial, businesses are hesitant to engage in international trade. </p>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cjag.12267">recent research</a> shows that the political tensions between the U.S. and Canada during the Trump administration created significant trade uncertainty, negatively impacting bilateral agri-food trade by reducing trade value between the U.S. and Canada.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three protesters carrying Canadian flags at the Ambassador Bridge." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445996/original/file-20220211-23-101etjp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C4792%2C3247&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445996/original/file-20220211-23-101etjp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445996/original/file-20220211-23-101etjp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445996/original/file-20220211-23-101etjp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445996/original/file-20220211-23-101etjp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445996/original/file-20220211-23-101etjp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445996/original/file-20220211-23-101etjp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Truckers and supporters block the access leading from the Ambassador Bridge, linking Detroit and Windsor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The blockade and increased trade costs</h2>
<p>Canada and the U.S. are natural trading partners by virtue of a shared border and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02722011.2020.1743003?casa_token=8QlcB1oS1XsAAAAA%3Az5CTTmP6ac9BcGk4KuR-FXdq38aAqXY_Dbzr8D7Tqa66FJZN0OySnSKPJt2dPAuWzv4Ksivok1bRIw">similar consumer tastes and values</a>. The two countries enjoy the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cjag.12267">largest bilateral trading relationship in the world</a>. </p>
<p>Annually, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-canada-trucking-idCNL1N2UL1KZ">more than two-thirds of the US$511 billion in goods are transported by road</a>. The Ambassador Bridge blockade increased the costs of this trade directly and indirectly. </p>
<p>The blockade was a direct disruption of an established trade channel, so goods scheduled to be transported had to wait or use alternative routes that were likely more expensive. </p>
<p>Indirectly, it also stirred uncertainty in bilateral trade relations and could have a damaging and prolonged impact. The blockade acted as an additional tariff or tax for businesses exporting or importing between the two countries.</p>
<p>Although there are more than <a href="https://www.geographyrealm.com/interesting-geography-facts-about-the-us-canada-border/">100 alternative land border crossings between the U.S. and Canada</a>, costs can rise due to the expense and sometimes long delays spent determining and travelling to alternative routes.</p>
<p>The protests may also spill over to other U.S.-Canada border crossings that provide alternative routes. Already, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/americas/canada-trucker-protests-covid-thursday/index.html">Canadian protesters have caused border closures at Emerson, Man. and Coutts, Alta</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Trucks and tractors block a snowy highway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446011/original/file-20220211-17-121xzi8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446011/original/file-20220211-17-121xzi8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446011/original/file-20220211-17-121xzi8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446011/original/file-20220211-17-121xzi8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446011/original/file-20220211-17-121xzi8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446011/original/file-20220211-17-121xzi8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446011/original/file-20220211-17-121xzi8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People block Highway 75 with heavy trucks and farm equipment to prevent access to the Canada-U.S. border crossing at Emerson, Man.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Alternative modes of transportation</h2>
<p>A major alternative to land cross-border trade is seaport and air freight trade. </p>
<p>However, changing trade logistics from roads to ships is not an option for many companies or industries, and it’s often infeasible due to the lack of refrigerating systems in containers. </p>
<p>Bilateral trade via ground shipping is also more economical compared to air freight, especially if countries share a common border and have an interconnected road network.</p>
<p>For highly perishable agricultural products like fresh fish or fruits, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/agr.21704">a higher shipment frequency is more important</a> due to the importance of delivery time whereas size or volume is more important for traditional product shipments, since bigger deliveries can reduce transportation costs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A display of bananas, apples, oranges and other fruits at a grocery store." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446020/original/file-20220211-15-18yr9lt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446020/original/file-20220211-15-18yr9lt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446020/original/file-20220211-15-18yr9lt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446020/original/file-20220211-15-18yr9lt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446020/original/file-20220211-15-18yr9lt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446020/original/file-20220211-15-18yr9lt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446020/original/file-20220211-15-18yr9lt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bananas and other fruits are seen in the produce section at an Atlantic Superstore grocery in Halifax in January 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kelly Clark</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trade volume by road</h2>
<p>The U.S. and Canada have established the most enduring and lucrative trade partnership in the world. As of 2019, Canada was the largest export destination of American goods and the third-largest supplier of imported goods in the U.S.</p>
<p>Among all other traded goods, agricultural and food trade is of great importance. Canada is the second-largest U.S. agricultural export market, importing up to <a href="https://www.fas.usda.gov/canada-2020-export-highlights">US$22.1 billion amount goods in 2020</a>. </p>
<p>The perishable nature of agri-food products makes any delay at borders costly to farmers and businesses. The bridge blockade disproportionately affected agricultural products compared to non-agricultural products.</p>
<p>Canada mainly imports processed foods that directly move from grocery shops to dinner tables, such as <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/americas/canada#:%7E:text=Leading%20services%20exports%20from%20the,visual%20and%20related%20products">prepared foods (US$2.1 billion), fresh vegetables (US$1.8 billion), fresh fruit ($1.5 billion), snack foods ($1.3 billion) and non-alcoholic beverages (US$1.0 billion)</a>. </p>
<p>Highly integrated supply chains and logistical advantages allow both countries to be strong trade partners in agri-food trade by ensuring the timely delivery of fresh foods and retail-ready goods. </p>
<h2>Sectors and regions hard hit</h2>
<p>Geographically, border blockades likely have a bigger impact on <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-agricultural-trade-data/state-agricultural-trade-data/#State%20Trade%20by%20Country%20of%20Origin%20and%20Destination%20(Fiscal%20Quarters)">U.S. farming states with economies that are highly dependent on exporting to Canada</a>, including North Dakota, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota and Montana. </p>
<p>Similarly, Canadian provinces such as Prince Edward Island, Manitoba and Saskatchewan that are somewhat more dependent on primary or non-processed agri-food products, including grains, will also suffer heavily from border blockades.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A field of durum wheat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446018/original/file-20220211-25-laxfkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446018/original/file-20220211-25-laxfkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446018/original/file-20220211-25-laxfkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446018/original/file-20220211-25-laxfkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446018/original/file-20220211-25-laxfkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446018/original/file-20220211-25-laxfkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446018/original/file-20220211-25-laxfkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Durum wheat is shown in a field in Saskatchewan in July 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kayle Neis</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The automobile industry across the U.S. and Canada felt the brunt of the Ambassador Bridge protest as major producers such as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/gm-cancels-two-shifts-lansing-plant-following-canadian-trucking-protests-2022-02-10/">Toyota, Ford and General Motors closed down production plants.</a> The auto industry sector in Canada and the U.S. is highly dependent on the North American supply chain in which different auto parts are produced across borders. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/02/09/canada-truck-bridge-protest-autos/">The auto industry also expressed concerns about potential job losses as a result of plants closures if the blockade continued.</a>.</p>
<p>Rising inflation <a href="https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-food/research/canada-s-food-price-report-2022.html">in Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-10/u-s-inflation-charges-higher-with-larger-than-forecast-gain">the U.S.</a>, triggered mostly by COVID-19 and climate change disruptions to supply chains, makes border blockades a major concern.</p>
<p>If not addressed speedily, blockades will cause food prices to soar even higher given <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/01/20/dairy-and-fresh-produce-prices-expected-to-soar-as-canadas-inflation-hits-30-year-high.html?rf">the rise in general inflation is already expected to significantly impact food prices</a>.</p>
<p>It may appear that border blockades are purely a Canadian political issue, but since it constitutes a barrier to two-way trade between the U.S. and Canada, it has implications for both countries. The integrated supply chain across both countries will be disrupted. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1492221118131884034"}"></div></p>
<p>That’s why the U.S. <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/white-house-border-convoy-protest-covid-response-1.6347421">offered its assistance in ending the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge.</a></p>
<p>The Canadian government needs to work with the U.S. to end border blockades, particularly since <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-s-freedom-convoy-attracts-support-from-u-s-and-around-the-world-1.5776238">Canadian protesters are being supported politically and financially by right-wing politicians and media in the U.S</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor receives funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sunghun Lim receives funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA).</span></em></p>The perishable nature of agri-food products makes any delay at the Canada-U.S. border costly to farmers, businesses and consumers.Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor, Assistant Professor, Agri-Food Trade and Policy, University of GuelphSunghun Lim, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1725522021-12-02T16:04:51Z2021-12-02T16:04:51ZCanada must once again grab its share of the auto industry, despite U.S. protectionism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434196/original/file-20211126-23-ft5tcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C842%2C5464%2C2789&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The shift away from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles is not a normal retooling of auto plants, but a full-scale recreation of the auto sector that will reshape the modern economy. Will Canada's auto sector be left in the wilderness?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Marcin Jozwiak/Pexels) </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canada-must-once-again-grab-its-share-of-the-auto-industry--despite-u-s--protectionism" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The news that Tesla <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/25/investing/tesla-stock-trillion-dollar-market-cap/index.html">recently reached the extraordinary valuation of US$1 trillion</a> shows yet again that the automobile industry remains a huge economic force shaping the planet. </p>
<p>Tesla’s growth also reflects how the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) marks the fifth great wave of automotive investment since 1900. Despite not owning any car companies, Canada has benefited immensely from every previous wave thanks to shrewd policy-makers who used every tool possible to gain a fair share of the auto market.</p>
<p>But as the global industry <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/exclusive-global-carmakers-now-target-515-billion-evs-batteries-2021-11-10/">spends hundreds of billions of dollars to completely retool for an EV future</a>, how will Canada ensure it benefits from the current spending spree? </p>
<p>With the threat of <a href="https://www.autonews.com/regulation-safety/biden-spending-proposal-backs-union-made-ev-credit">protectionist measures in the United States aimed at keeping American EV investment at home</a>, a look back at the ways Canadians have adapted economically to secure auto investment shows how a peripheral economy gained a major auto sector — and how it might hold onto it in the electrified future.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-should-look-inward-to-address-american-protectionism-172274">Canada should look inward to address American protectionism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>In the beginning, there was Ford</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ushistory.org/us/46a.asp">The first great auto investment wave, from 1900 to 1930</a>, created <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fordism">what’s known as Fordist (after Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Co.) mass production and consumption</a> and reshaped the world. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a pale suit and dark tie sits on an antique car." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434198/original/file-20211126-1794-82bn4g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this 1942 photo, Henry Ford visits the shop where he built his first automobile in Detroit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canada was in close proximity to Detroit — home of the Big Three automakers, Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Chrysler — and imposed a 35 per cent tariff on American imports, prompting Ford and other American automakers to establish branch plants in Canada to avoid them. </p>
<p>British preferential rules that encouraged the U.S. manufacturers to export to Commonwealth countries also helped to cement the emergence of an <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/foreign-investment">American-owned branch-plant sector</a>. By the 1920s, all of Canada’s domestic producers had perished because of technological and capital requirements that were beyond them.</p>
<p>Ontario’s close proximity to Detroit, along with these policies, made <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/automotive-industry">Canada the world’s second-largest producer of cars by the 1920s</a>.</p>
<h2>The golden age</h2>
<p>Following the Great Depression and the Second World War, the <a href="https://www.motortrend.com/vehicle-genres/american-car-industry-brands-1950s-history/">second great wave of auto investment lasted from the 1950s into the 1960s</a>. Spurred by post-war North America’s auto-brokered labour peace and its baby boom, Detroit’s Golden Age marked the apex of American global economic power and international investment. </p>
<p>Canadians dramatically reoriented <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/canadas-car-industry-before-the-auto-pact">their auto economy</a> to gain a share of this boom <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w1953">via the 1965 Canada-U.S. auto pact</a>. The deal sealed Canada’s American economic fate, but hard bargaining also resulted in smart interventionist Canadian measures that required U.S. assemblers to continue producing in Canada in exchange for cross-border, tariff-free trade.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large cream-coloured car with a brown roof with its trunk and hood open." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434199/original/file-20211126-23-13z42t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434199/original/file-20211126-23-13z42t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434199/original/file-20211126-23-13z42t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434199/original/file-20211126-23-13z42t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434199/original/file-20211126-23-13z42t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434199/original/file-20211126-23-13z42t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434199/original/file-20211126-23-13z42t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1965 Pontiac Acadian is shown at the Motorama 2018 custom car show in Mississauga, Ont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Joe DeSousa)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canadian production was mostly exported south, leading to another investment boom, <a href="https://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatures/20160901/a-brief-history-of-auto-manufacturing-in-canada/">including new plants in Ontario and Québec</a>.</p>
<h2>OPEC complications</h2>
<p>The third wave was caused by <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1830396">1970s regulatory automotive regime changes</a> in the fuel economy (the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/oil-embargo">1973 OPEC embargo</a>), emissions control (the environmental movement) and safety (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/automobiles/50-years-ago-unsafe-at-any-speed-shook-the-auto-world.html">championed by consumer activist Ralph Nader</a>).</p>
<p>Forced to retool their factories to build smaller, lighter vehicles as nimbler foreign competitors devoured North American market share, the Big Three struggled to survive. By the mid-1970s, it looked like they might leave their Canadian branch plants out of the investment wave as they looked to retool their American factories, a dynamic similar to today. </p>
<p>But Canadian policy-makers hit upon a new tool: direct subsidies to manufacturers as investment incentives. In 1978, Canadian governments <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1978/08/04/archives/ford-to-build-new-plant-in-canada-despite-strong-opposition-by-us.html">gave Ford $78 million for an engine plant in Ontario</a>, snatching it away from Ohio and fuelling American anger. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Auto workers assemble a Chrysler minivan." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434201/original/file-20211126-17-nvfl45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1003&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employees work on the newest minivan version on the assembly line in 2008 as Chrysler celebrated the 25th anniversary of the minivan at the assembly line in Windsor, Ont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Dave Chidley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Ford incentive resulted in near-permanent government financial support for the industry, including the 1980s Chrysler bailout, when Canadians demanded new product mandates (including the wildly successful Windsor-built minivan) in exchange for government support. Beneficial health-care policies and exchange rates also helped, and Canada came out of the 1980s disproportionately building nearly two cars for each one it consumed.</p>
<h2>Asian imports</h2>
<p>The fourth wave came in the 1980s, buffeted by a flood of inexpensive and reliable imports. Americans forced Japanese car companies to build plants in the U.S. by <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.89.3.400">imposing export restraints</a>. Ottawa, terrified the Japanese would simply source the Canadian market from their new U.S. factories, used both sticks and carrots to convince the Japanese to build complementary plants in Canada.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=vio1NicC-QYC&pg=RA6-PT81&lpg=RA6-PT81&dq=canada+port+blockades+japan+autos&source=bl&ots=wGSKFv2gfH&sig=ACfU3U0Lpf5DSxJRsjwTWgeaFfdRAu4dbA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwifjsH5p7H0AhVTjIkEHXCtA48Q6AF6BAgXEAM#v=onepage&q=canada%20port%20blockades%20japan%20autos&f=false">Port blockades, aggressive lobbying and threats of punitive content regulations</a> by Canadian policy-makers were paired with financial and infrastructure support as Toyota and Honda ultimately agreed to build facilities in Canada. Billions were invested and thousands of jobs were created.</p>
<h2>Profound recreation of the industry</h2>
<p>The fifth great global auto investment wave is now upon us, but it differs from the previous four in profound ways. </p>
<p>First, the shift away from the internal combustion engine is not a normal retooling of plants, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/wheels/features/electric-cars-overview/">but a full-scale re-creation of the industry</a> that will <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-11-12/there-will-be-jobs-in-the-electric-vehicle-economy-kvwea84s">reshape the modern economy</a>. </p>
<p>EVs are among <a href="https://blog.wallbox.com/9-leading-ev-influencers-discuss-the-innovations-that-will-shape-the-future-of-electric-cars/">the greatest technological upgrades in human history</a> and will affect every aspect of the global political economy, from transportation networks to work, labour and international relations. </p>
<p>Second, EVs represent a huge step towards a decarbonized future and can help humanity avoid the worst effects of climate change. They’ll ideally lead to a system-wide cascade towards decarbonization, a scenario instigated by Tesla, which has proven that EV production is viable, scaleable and profitable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cars charge up at an EV charging station with a solar panel above them and large cedar trees in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434195/original/file-20211126-27-1wz8mi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434195/original/file-20211126-27-1wz8mi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434195/original/file-20211126-27-1wz8mi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434195/original/file-20211126-27-1wz8mi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434195/original/file-20211126-27-1wz8mi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434195/original/file-20211126-27-1wz8mi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434195/original/file-20211126-27-1wz8mi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An EV charging station under a solar panel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Third, if sustained EV spending isn’t secured by Canadians, it may mean the end of assembly production for an already challenged domestic industry. Without ownership of any major car manufacturers and <a href="https://canada.autonews.com/article/20180110/CANADA/180119992/canada-s-auto-production-faces-decreasing-u-s-demand-report-warns">facing a steady two-decade decline in North American production share</a>, Canada has little say in EV investment decisions.</p>
<p>Added to this challenge is U.S. President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better legislation granting American consumers tax incentives for EVs built only with U.S. union labour. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/congress-is-waiting-on-the-cbo-for-its-build-back-better-report-but-how-did-fiscal-scorekeepers-come-to-be-so-powerful-in-politics-171642">Congress is waiting on the CBO for its Build Back Better report – but how did fiscal scorekeepers come to be so powerful in politics?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Automakers pledge Canadian EV investments</h2>
<p>The Buy American measure threatens to divert future EV production from Canada, despite recent <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/canada-s-ev-agenda-is-getting-supercharged-by-biden-ford-and-gm">Big Three promises to make EV investments at its Canadian plants</a>.</p>
<p>Unless Canada secures a share of the EV investment boom, expected to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, it may lose its auto sector and thousands of direct and spin-off jobs. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, Canada’s potential as a source for EV battery components (<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-electric-vehicle-mining-ring-of-fire-1.6238261">cobalt and lithium from Ontario’s Ring of Fire, for example</a>), <a href="https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/auto-auto.nsf/eng/h_am02387.html">its excellent production record</a>, the willingness of policy-makers to provide incentives and union leaders to bargain production mandates may be enough to gain a share of the EV future. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-debt-liability-and-indigenous-action-see-the-sun-set-on-the-ring-of-fire-169311">Will debt, liability and Indigenous action see the sun set on the Ring of Fire?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So far, Canadians have secured some important investment promises, including <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/union-reaches-deal-with-ford-with-nearly-2-billion-in-electric-vehicle-contracts-1.5114774">Ford’s $2 billion announcement to build up to five EVs at its Oakville assembly plant starting in 2024</a> (with $500 million of Canadian government funding), and <a href="https://windsorstar.com/news/windsor-part-of-44-5b-stellantis-plan-to-electrify-offerings-by-2025">a promise by Stellantis (formerly Chrysler) to build electric vehicles in Windsor by 2025</a>. </p>
<p>But the Canadian sector still faces an existential threat. It will take <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/electric-car-retaliation-column-don-pittis-1.6255204">some aggressive diplomacy and innovative policy-making</a> by governments and stakeholders to ensure that Canada doesn’t miss out on the most important wave yet of automotive investment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172552/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitry Anastakis has received funding from SSHRC in the past to study the auto industry in Canada.</span></em></p>A look back at how Canada secured auto investment in the past shows how a peripheral economy gained a major auto sector — and how it might hold onto it even in the face of U.S. protectionism on EVs.Dimitry Anastakis, Professor and LR Wilson/RJ Currie Chair in Canadian Business History, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1701952021-11-02T16:11:07Z2021-11-02T16:11:07ZWarmer, wetter, wilder: 38 million people in the Great Lakes region are threatened by climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429626/original/file-20211101-13-783q3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=102%2C59%2C3492%2C2457&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The effects of climate change are heightened in urban areas and impose a high financial burden to the municipalities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/warmer--wetter--wilder--38-million-people-in-the-great-lakes-region-are-threatened-by-climate-change" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The Great Lakes are getting warmer, wetter and wilder. These atypical conditions are amplifying other threats. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hal.2019.101731">Harmful algal blooms</a> are increasing in
severity and geographic extent, <a href="https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG170105">sewers are overflowing</a> and stormwater is flooding neighbourhoods and parks. Many terrestrial organisms are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1206432">shifting northwards</a> and worsening air quality is <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ES-10.14.20-Fowlie-Walker-Wooley.pdf">disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable people living in cities</a>. </p>
<p>The Great Lakes hold one-fifth the standing freshwater on the Earth’s surface and more than 34 million people live in the basin, <a href="https://www.glc.org/library/2019-glc-glri-fact-sheet">supporting an economy worth US$5 trillion</a> — if it were a country, it would be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2014.11.016">one of the largest economies in the world</a>. And yet shoreline communities are faltering under the weight of billions of dollars in damages — and are worried that climate change will continue to make things even worse. </p>
<p>Like the Arctic’s thawing permafrost, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1169443">Great Lakes basin is a key sentinel of climate change</a>. Climate change has already immensely affected the region and <a href="https://elpc.org/resources/the-impacts-of-climate-change-on-the-great-lakes/">its impacts will continue to expand as the pace of climate change accelerates</a>, bringing new socio-economic and environmental challenges. </p>
<p>With the UN climate conference in Glasgow (COP26) underway, world leaders are discussing what must be done to address the climate crisis and making pledges to take specific actions. Adaptation features heavily in the <a href="https://unfccc.int/documents/304587">COP26 agenda</a>, including the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/the-uk-cop26-presidency-glasgow-imperative-closing-the-adaptation-gap-and-responding-to-climate-impacts/">Glasgow Adaptation Imperative</a> to assess action taken and action needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal on adaptation and promote a more climate resilient future for all, particularly the most vulnerable communities and ecosystems. </p>
<h2>Climate change impacts</h2>
<p>In the Great Lakes, climate change is considered a threat multiplier, meaning it exacerbates other threats to the ecosystem. </p>
<p>All the Great Lakes are warming, but Lake Superior stands out. Still the coldest lake, its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL029021">summer surface water temperatures increased 2.5 C between 1979 and 2006</a>, even faster than air temperatures. Even the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21971-1">deep waters of Lake Michigan are warming at a rate of 0.5 C per decade</a>. </p>
<p>The Great Lakes have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JCLI4066.1">lost more than 70 per cent of their total winter ice cover</a> over the past 50 years. That means more open water during winter, thinner ice and less of the ice fishing that is so popular with basin denizens. Less ice cover will, however, lengthen the commercial shipping season. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A fish pulled out of the frozen lake." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429620/original/file-20211101-27-1ueawj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429620/original/file-20211101-27-1ueawj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429620/original/file-20211101-27-1ueawj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429620/original/file-20211101-27-1ueawj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429620/original/file-20211101-27-1ueawj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429620/original/file-20211101-27-1ueawj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429620/original/file-20211101-27-1ueawj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ice fishing is popular among those living near the Great Lakes. But as air temperatures rise in the winter, the ice is thinner and is in place for a shorter time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Tony Dejak)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overall, warming of the lakes will alter the seasonal patterns of warm and cold water layers and the dynamics of the lakes’ food webs, and it will lead to greater shoreline damage from strong winter storms. </p>
<p>In some areas within the Great Lakes basin, <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/09/30/rising-waters-threaten-great-lakes-communities">water levels have risen by two metres</a>, eroding shorelines, washing away houses, destroying roads, threatening infrastructure such as water treatment plants and disrupting age-old traditions of Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<p>Climate change is one of the leading threats to birds in the Great Lakes and North America. The <a href="https://www.audubon.org/climate/survivalbydegrees">2019 Audubon Report “Survival by Degrees</a>” found that 64 per cent of bird species (389 of 604) across breeding and non-breeding seasons were moderately or highly vulnerable to climate change. As indicator species, birds are telling us the time to act is now.</p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/midwest">climate change will likely alter</a> the range and distribution of certain fish species, increase the frequency and severity of harmful algal blooms, exacerbate wetland loss, create new threats from invasive species, diminish beach health and, in some cases, displace or extirpate native species. </p>
<h2>Urban impacts of climate change</h2>
<p>The effects of climate change are heightened in urban areas and impose a high financial burden to municipalities. Detroit is a good example. </p>
<p>Detroit is an old city with combined storm and sanitary sewers that overflow stormwater and raw sewage during heavy rainfall events. It also has plenty of impervious surfaces that promote runoff. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A house raised on piers with a new concrete block foundation being built beneath it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429611/original/file-20211101-1361-siqs57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429611/original/file-20211101-1361-siqs57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429611/original/file-20211101-1361-siqs57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429611/original/file-20211101-1361-siqs57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429611/original/file-20211101-1361-siqs57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429611/original/file-20211101-1361-siqs57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429611/original/file-20211101-1361-siqs57.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A labourer works beneath a house being lifted to protect it from Lake Erie’s rising lake levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Extreme rainfall events have flooded highways, streets and neighbourhoods. High water levels have frequently flooded Detroit’s Jefferson-Chalmers neighbourhood. In response, the city spent US$2 million in 2020 on “tiger dams,” large, temporary, water-filled berms, to keep the water from flooding houses. </p>
<p>On the 398-hectare Belle Isle State Park, high water levels closed roads, flooded picnic areas and postponed 60 weddings at the popular Boat House, a more than 100-year-old rowing facility, in 2019. They have also delayed a US$5-million habitat restoration project on Blue Heron Lagoon and forced the redesign of the one-hectare, US$4.2-million Oudolf Garden, designed by Piet Oudolf, an internationally renowned Dutch garden designer. </p>
<p>Detroit is also projected to experience a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2021.05.008">significant increase in the number of very hot days</a> by the end of the century, reaching as many as 65 days above 32.2 C. The burden of heat and poor air quality accompanying the climate threat will disproportionately affect the city’s most vulnerable residents. </p>
<h2>Adapting to climate change</h2>
<p>Many municipalities, provinces and states around the Great Lakes have been developing adaptation plans to address local impacts of climate change at a high cost. This decentralized approach comes with its own problems, like unintended cross-border effects of local adaptation or duplication of efforts. The <a href="https://unece.org/environment-policy/publications/water-and-climate-change-adaptation-transboundary-basins-lessons">United Nations</a> has shown that flood risk reduction strategies in one part of a basin may increase flood risks in another portion of the basin that is located in another country.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7JXHPhkqwU8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A small home along Lake Michigan’s shoreline toppled down a bluff in January 2020.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An integrated, basin-wide ecosystem approach could allow for cost-sharing of scientific studies and co-ordinated policy action at national and sub-national levels, leading to better adaptation. Because the Great Lakes are a shared resource among many governments, including those of Canada, the United States, eight states, two provinces and tribes, First Nations and the Métis Nation, transboundary co-operation is needed. </p>
<p>In 2017, the Great Lakes Water Quality Board of the International Joint Commission, an independent adviser to Canada and the United States, recommended that both countries <a href="https://www.ijc.org/sites/default/files/WQB_CCAdaptation_ProjectSummary_20170110.pdf">negotiate and develop a co-ordinated strategy for climate change adaptation and ecological resilience</a>. These recommendations <a href="https://ijc.org/en/2020-TAP-Report">reflect strong public opinion</a>, yet almost five years later no comprehensive binational climate change strategy has been put into place. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://binational.net/2012/09/05/2012-glwqa-aqegl/">Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement</a> calls for strengthened measures to anticipate and prevent ecological harm, by following the precautionary principle — when human activities may lead to unacceptable harm that is scientifically plausible but uncertain, actions shall be taken to avoid or diminish that harm. </p>
<p>There is enough scientific evidence that climate change poses a threat to the entire Great Lakes region — and the 38 million people who live there. As is being discussed and pledged at COP26, all must work together to limit global warming to 1.5 C, including the Great Lakes region, and all must immediately advance climate adaptation and resilience. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="COP26: the world's biggest climate talks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424739/original/file-20211005-17-cgrf2z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><strong>This story is part of The Conversation’s coverage on COP26, the Glasgow climate conference, by experts from around the world.</strong>
<br><em>Amid a rising tide of climate news and stories, The Conversation is here to clear the air and make sure you get information you can trust. <a href="https://page.theconversation.com/cop26-glasgow-2021-climate-change-summit/"><strong>More.</strong></a></em> </p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170195/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Hartig receives funding from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan for a comprehensive assessment of ecosystem health of the Detroit River and western Lake Erie.
John Hartig serves on the Board of Directors of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and serves as the Great Lakes science-policy advisor to the International Association for Great Lakes Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patricia is president of the Board of the Center for Justice and International Law/Brazil. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>R. Michael McKay receives research funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. He is a member of the International Joint Commission's Science Advisory Board serving on the Science Priority Committee.</span></em></p>Shoreline communities are already faltering under the weight of billions of dollars in damages — and worrying that climate change will continue to make things even worse.John Hartig, Visiting Scholar, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of WindsorPatrícia Galvão Ferreira, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of WindsorRobert Michael McKay, Executive Director and Professor, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1586762021-04-22T12:25:08Z2021-04-22T12:25:08ZBest schools often out of reach for disadvantaged students in choice programs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395760/original/file-20210419-21-17ddx3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4019%2C3024&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Just 1 in 10 choice students from Detroit attend high-performing schools.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-attending-summer-school-at-munger-elementary-news-photo/1227984092?adppopup=true">Kayla Ruble for The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Although school choice policies are <a href="https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/helping-school-choice-work">often presented</a> as a way to let families select the best schools for their children, my research found that few students using school choice can <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373721996738">access high-achieving schools</a> far from home. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373721996738">peer-reviewed study</a> – recently published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis – I examine who uses school choice and whether most families enroll their kids in schools with high test scores and graduation rates in Detroit. Ninety percent of Detroit students are economically disadvantaged.</p>
<p>Thanks to state laws passed in the mid-1990s, Detroit students can attend <a href="http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-451-1976-1-6A">charter schools</a>, various Detroit public schools and <a href="http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-388-1705">schools in nearby districts</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373721996738">Over 30% attend Detroit charter schools</a> and <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/motor-city-miles-student-travel-schools-and-around-detroit">20% attend schools outside Detroit</a>. The schools that are located in the school districts surrounding Detroit – and that serve Detroit students – have higher average test scores and graduation rates than Detroit schools.</p>
<p>Using education data for Detroit students during the 2017-18 school year, I found that students from poorer neighborhoods and families without access to a car were less likely to choose schools far from home. Instead, most families chose schools within Detroit that had better student outcomes than other Detroit schools but lower test scores than many schools in the surrounding school districts. Even those who left Detroit were less likely to attend the highest-achieving schools outside the city. </p>
<p>So, the ability to attend the highest-quality schools serving Detroit students is limited by distance even when many different options are available. This is the case even after accounting for other preferences, such as school demographics and programs. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Detroit isn’t unique in its school choice options. Almost all states permit public school students to attend <a href="http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/MBQuestNB2C?rep=CS2001">charter schools</a> or schools <a href="http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/MBQuestNB2n?rep=OE1801">in other districts</a>. These policies allow students to attend schools other than their neighborhood school. </p>
<p>In theory, school choice could raise student achievement by increasing access to high-achieving schools and creating competition among schools for students, forcing schools to do more to improve achievement to attract families. However, there is <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w28477">little evidence</a> that school choice policies broadly result in widespread achievement gains. </p>
<p>My research shows that one reason choice may fail to live up to its promise is that many students are unable to physically access high-performing schools outside their neighborhood. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Little is known about how local differences in school choice rules affect student access. These differences can include enrollment regulations, whether or not transportation is provided or the relative ease or difficulty of the application process.</p>
<p>In surveys and interviews, families report that inadequate transportation is a barrier not only to <a href="https://www.crpe.org/sites/default/files/crpe_how-parents-experience-public-school-choice_1_1.pdf">attending preferred schools</a> but to <a href="https://education.wayne.edu/detroit_ed_research/derp_why_do_detroit_students_miss_school_final.pdf">attending school regularly</a>. A 2020 study shows families choose higher-quality schools <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2020.103607">when they have access to transportation</a>, and <a href="https://www.daniellesandersonedwards.com/workings-papers/another-one-rides-the-bus-the-impact-of-school-transportation-on-student-outcomes-in-michigan/">school buses</a> can increase regular school attendance by as much as 25% for low-income students.</p>
<p>However, fewer than half of states <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED605559">make transportation mandatory</a> for students using school choice.</p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/narrowing-charter-enrollment-gap-8235.html">complex application procedures</a> likely impede enrollment in choice schools, especially for families from underrepresented backgrounds.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>For upcoming studies, my colleagues and I collected data from Michigan school districts concerning local between-district enrollment policies. This includes enrollment caps, transportation provisions and application deadlines. We plan to examine how local school choice rules could allow families to self-segregate on the basis of race or income. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.daniellesandersonedwards.com/workings-papers/all-decisions-are-local-how-district-rules-can-promote-or-restrict-school-choices/">Preliminary findings</a> show, for example, that early application deadlines may restrict access to high-achieving districts for low-income students and students of color.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danielle Sanderson Edwards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Long distances often preclude families in the Motor City from sending their kids to the best schools in the area, new research shows.Danielle Sanderson Edwards, Ph.D. Candidate of Education Policy, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1473342020-11-03T13:25:44Z2020-11-03T13:25:44ZHow schools can reduce parents’ anxiety during the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363767/original/file-20201015-23-p1jc5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=351%2C0%2C4498%2C2799&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents who felt their child's school supported them during the transition to remote learning reported less anxiety and depression, according to a recent survey.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mother-helping-her-son-studying-with-laptop-on-a-royalty-free-image/1254234098?adppopup=true">FG Trade/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Our recent survey found that schools can affect the mental health and well-being of not just students but their parents, too.</p>
<p>From April through June 2020, we surveyed 152 parents – primarily mothers – in Detroit, Michigan, who were managing the new demands of remote schooling for their children. Not surprisingly, <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1295/percentage_rates_across_samples.pdf?1603378320">they reported</a> high levels of anxiety (34%) and depression (27%) during this stressful period, but some indicated that support from their child’s school played an important role in reducing their mental health difficulties. Generally speaking, the more school support parents in our survey felt they had received, the less anxiety and depression they reported. However, this finding did not extend to families that were highly affected by COVID-19 due to lost income, food insecurity or lost access to health care. Our results have not yet been peer-reviewed.</p>
<p>Typically, about 8% of adults experience anxiety, whereas 7% of adults experience depression, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23077">census surveys</a>. </p>
<p>To understand the amount of school support parents received during this transition, we asked about the ease and frequency of contact from their child’s school and whether they felt overwhelmed by their responsibilities to help with their child’s schoolwork. Interestingly, parents who reported high levels of school support also reported having more routines and feeling less chaos in their homes. It may be that school systems, even when students are learning remotely, can help create structure for families, and this has a positive impact on parents’ well-being. </p>
<p>However, schools can do only so much. For parents dealing with significant stress associated with the pandemic, school support might not be a sufficient buffer from anxiety and depression. </p>
<p>Sixty-five percent of parents who completed our questionnaire were Black, 11% were white, 3% Middle Eastern, and others reported another race. Thirty percent of parents had shifted to working from home, and another 22% were dealing with the added stress of job loss due to the pandemic. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>As the pandemic continues, schools will continue to affect children’s and parents’ well-being. When schools communicate clearly, provide adequate educational resources and help parents feel prepared to support their children’s remote learning, our research shows parents are better able to structure their home and their child’s learning experience. </p>
<p>These results have policy implications: Schools need resources to best support families during the pandemic. Moreover, schools in areas where families are hardest hit by the pandemic may need additional support. Community assistance like food banks and health centers in concert with school support may be necessary to meet the needs of the parents and children who are most vulnerable during this global crisis. </p>
<h2>What isn’t known</h2>
<p>Reported results come from one point in time. It may be that parents who are less depressed and anxious are prone to more positive perceptions generally, which also influenced their perceptions of school support. Some parents who participated in our spring study completed a second survey at the end of the summer. Analyzing this data will help us determine if school support continues to relate to parents’ mental health over time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147334/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy (Kathleen) McGoron receives funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Wargo Aikins does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Schools can impact the mental health and well-being of not just students but their parents, too.Lucy (Kathleen) McGoron, Assistant Professor of Child and Family Development, Wayne State UniversityJulie Wargo Aikins, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1437872020-08-23T14:39:22Z2020-08-23T14:39:22ZHeroes, or just doing our job? The impact of COVID-19 on registered nurses in a border city<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353499/original/file-20200818-14-116rlqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=203%2C1%2C868%2C716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some nurses who live in Windsor, Ont. work at hospitals in Detroit, just across the Ambassador Bridge.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.who.int/campaigns/year-of-the-nurse-and-the-midwife-2020">Year of the Nurse</a> brought increased attention to the “heroes of health care”: nurses working on the front lines of COVID-19. However, despite <a href="https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/thank-you-windsor-health-care-workers-feel-the-love-1.4871787">public displays of thanks</a>, it’s becoming clear that many nurses are not getting the support they need to feel safe on the job and to maintain their own health and well-being.</p>
<p>As researchers in psychology and nursing at the University of Windsor, we sought an in-depth understanding of how nurses in a border city felt about working during the pandemic. </p>
<p>Evidence from SARS in 2003 indicated that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agn073">nurses may experience significant, long-term mental health effects from working during the pandemic</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13014">Early research</a> from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.008">China</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113129">Italy</a> found that nurses working during the surge of COVID-19 cases in those countries reported <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.03.018">high rates of depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances</a>. </p>
<h2>Commuting in a border city</h2>
<p>As a border city, Windsor, Ont., is home to nurses who reside and work locally, but also a significant number who commute daily to hospitals in Detroit, Mich. Early in the pandemic, Detroit emerged as a “hot spot” partly due to significant <a href="https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7405">racial inequalities and health disparities</a> in the city’s population. </p>
<p>Detroit hospitals depend on their Canadian nurse employees. In 2016, <a href="https://www.workforcewindsoressex.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Cross-Border-Employment-Report.pdf">20 per cent of the nurses working at Henry Ford Hospital were Canadian, and a total of 1,600 Windsor residents</a> reported working in health-care settings in Detroit. The continued ability of these hospitals to operate during and after the pandemic depends on the retention of Canadian personnel. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Canadian flag and an American flag in the foreground with a suspension bridge over a river behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353478/original/file-20200818-24956-v85r41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353478/original/file-20200818-24956-v85r41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353478/original/file-20200818-24956-v85r41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353478/original/file-20200818-24956-v85r41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353478/original/file-20200818-24956-v85r41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353478/original/file-20200818-24956-v85r41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353478/original/file-20200818-24956-v85r41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Canadian and American flags fly near the Ambassador Bridge at the Canada-United States border crossing in Windsor, Ont., on March 21, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rob Gurdebeke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In May and June 2020, our team interviewed 32 female and five male nurses living in Windsor and working in health-care settings in Windsor (20 nurses) or Detroit (17 nurses). They worked on intensive care units, COVID-specific units, labour and delivery units, in emergency departments and field hospitals, with experience in nursing ranging from 1.5 to 36 years. </p>
<h2>Concerns about family and mental health</h2>
<p>Nurses consistently reported increased mental health concerns, difficulties coping and substantial dissatisfaction with the level of support provided by their hospitals. </p>
<p>The support that nurses felt from their organization and managers varied from workplace to workplace and unit to unit. A few felt well supported, but many reported they were not valued, citing organizations that furloughed them, stopped employer contributions to retirement funds or did not provide adequate PPE. One participant noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I didn’t sign up for not having myself protected, you know, I think I deserve as a nurse to at least have that.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite increasing levels of depression and anxiety, there was a strong sense that referrals to employee assistance plans (EAPs) were not sufficient. Overall, we found that nurses were surprisingly resistant to the idea of formal mental health supports. They felt more comfortable seeking support from their coworkers or “work family” than non-nurse family/friends or organizational supports. Many expressed fears that seeking help from hospital administration would be perceived as a sign of weakness. One participant stated: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Heaven forbid, you say mental health or stress … because then they’ll take you from your unit, and say, put you at the front door as a greeter.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nurses also expressed concerns about their own health and the health of family members. They described difficulties balancing quality patient care with “cluster care,” which limited their time in patient rooms, and the emotional toll of “death over Facetime” as one participant called it: holding electronic tablets as dying patients said their goodbyes to family. </p>
<p>They experienced difficulties navigating rapidly changing hospital policies (sometimes during a single shift), discrepancies between governmental and hospital recommendations, do not resuscitate orders that were either avoided or forced, and inadequate access to PPE. </p>
<p>Many reported sleep issues, nightmares, fatigue, increased irritability, increased alcohol consumption, unhealthy eating habits and use of sleep aids and cannabis. Many self-isolated from their families and missed out on the day-to-day moments and key developmental milestones of their children. One participant recounted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I missed my kid’s entire crawling stage.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many nurses spoke of inequity and moral injury. They expressed frustration about doctors and men with facial hair receiving better PPE, temporary employees (that is, travel nurses) getting better pay and/or hours, being reassigned to multiple units and doing non-nursing tasks like cleaning COVID-19 positive rooms. Nurses felt better prepared to be reassigned if they volunteered, but not if it was forced (and some were). </p>
<p>Some nurses were encouraged to purchase their own PPE to use at work, for example, face shields from Amazon or even dollar store raincoats. Almost everyone we interviewed expressed concern about second and third waves and whether the hospitals would be prepared.</p>
<h2>Heroes … but stigmatized</h2>
<p>Nurses expressed appreciation regarding the community responses (for example, clapping, food donations, skipping lines at businesses) but also felt a lot of stigma as potential “disease carriers.” One participant shared:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“[The public] keep saying: ‘Oh, nurses are heroes. Doctors are heroes. They’re doing so much for us.’ You’re out in scrubs and they’re like, ‘They’re contaminated, get them away, they’re infectious.’” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>There were some differences in responses between nurses employed in Detroit and those working in Windsor. Overall, nurses working on the Michigan side of the border reported greater patient mortality, PPE shortages, community stigma and dissatisfaction with hospital administration. However, these findings are complicated by the much more rapid onset and greater intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic in Detroit compared to Windsor, and therefore can’t be interpreted with confidence.</p>
<p>Most nurses said that they were not planning on leaving nursing, but several are considering changing units or looking to a career change if the pandemic continues for many months or even years. Nurses also highlighted issues that the public may not be aware of: a moratorium on organ donation, decreased quality of care or risk of family-patient online meetings getting hacked.</p>
<p>Rapid intervention and availability of supports are needed to quickly address symptoms of mental health issues and reduce loss in the nursing workforce that has been observed after previous outbreaks, such as SARS, which could exacerbate a pre-pandemic shortage of nurses in Canada. </p>
<p>Nursing is a profession with a reputation for trustworthiness and dedication to quality care. As a community, we need solutions that go beyond a pat on the back and “hero” label, and instead address unsafe working conditions and offer practical effective support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143787/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jody Ralph receives funding from WE-SPARK Health Institute and the University of Windsor. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dana Ménard receives funding from WE-SPARK Health Institute and the University of Windsor.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendall Soucie receives funding from WE-SPARK Health Institute and the University of Windsor.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurie A. Freeman receives funding from WE-SPARK Health Institute and the University of Windsor</span></em></p>Nurses on both sides of the border report that they aren’t getting the support they need to feel safe on the job and maintain their own health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.Jody Ralph, Associate Professor, Nursing, University of WindsorDana Ménard, Assistant professor of clinical psychology, University of WindsorKendall Soucie, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of WindsorLaurie A. Freeman, Associate Professor, Nursing, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1371972020-04-28T12:14:03Z2020-04-28T12:14:03ZKids have a right to a basic education, according to a new legal milestone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/330573/original/file-20200426-163072-1vuvv81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=829%2C0%2C4292%2C2818&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Supreme Court has long avoided weighing in on this question.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/kindergarten-teacher-reading-to-class-royalty-free-image/597316549">Ariel Skelley / Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A federal appeals court has found that children have a constitutional right to an opportunity to <a href="https://apnews.com/e8bec2ad2d52bbc4a688de1c662ed141">learn how to read</a>. </p>
<p>The decision on April 23 in a case involving the Detroit public school system finally answers a question <a href="https://theconversation.com/fight-for-federal-right-to-education-takes-a-new-turn-108322">the Supreme Court has avoided for nearly four decades</a>: Is there a federal right to a basic education in the United States? </p>
<p>Although state constitutions each contain a right to education, state courts interpret these rights in very different ways. As a result, in states like Michigan, children are only guaranteed the ability attend to a public school, not to receive an education of even a minimal level of quality. </p>
<p>As a professor of law and education policy, I have <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=540779">written</a> about <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479893287/a-federal-right-to-education/">this legal debate</a> for years.</p>
<h2>Chronic conditions</h2>
<p>This case began in 2016. <a href="http://www.publiccounsel.org/stories?id=0282">Lawyers representing students</a> attending <a href="https://www.detroit-accesstoliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-09-13-Complaint.pdf">five Detroit public schools</a> alleged that literacy rates in these schools were in the single digits and that the school buildings urgently needed major repairs.</p>
<p>According to to the <a href="https://www.detroit-accesstoliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2016-09-13-Complaint.pdf">lawsuit they filed in 2016</a>, some schools were infested with mice, rats and cockroaches. They lacked enough teachers to educate the students enrolled, and even many permanent teachers were chronically absent. Heating and air conditioning systems in some of the buildings did not work, the attorneys said, and windows often were broken or unable to open. The few books available for students regularly were decades old. </p>
<p>All of these problems were serious. Taken together, they made it hard to imagine how anyone could be expected to learn anything.</p>
<p>Two years after attorneys sued the state of Michigan in federal district court on behalf of Detroit schoolchildren, the district court <a href="http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/michigan/files/opinion_-_gary_b_vs_richard_snyder__16-13292.pdf">dismissed</a> the case. That ruling hinged on the assertion that because the law did not recognize a federal right to get an education, there was no basis for a case. </p>
<p>However, the ruling concluded that the state of Michigan was a proper defendant because of its extensive involvement in the governance of Detroit’s public schools over the course of decades. This was significant. Attorneys had sued the state rather than the school district because they claimed the state was responsible for creating the problems and thus should be on the hook for fixing them. </p>
<p>Additionally, if the Detroit students were to win, state involvement almost certainly would be required for a remedy. These days, <a href="https://theconversation.com/democratic-candidates-seek-a-big-and-unprecedented-k-12-funding-boost-131739">about 8% of K-12 school funding comes from the federal government</a> nationally, with the remainder split between state and local sources. <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/msu-msf012319.php">In Michigan, more funding</a> comes from the state than locally collected property taxes. In addition, state policies about teacher pensions, capital improvements and school choice also have a significant impact on school districts’ finances. </p>
<p>After losing in the district court, attorneys representing the Detroit students <a href="https://www.detroit-accesstoliteracy.org/key-documents/49-2018-11-16-appellants-brief/">then appealed</a> to the <a href="https://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/judges">Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals</a>, a federal court with jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.</p>
<h2>Change at the top</h2>
<p>In the meantime, Democrats prevailed at the polls, resulting in Michigan’s Republican governor and attorney general being <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-democratic-leaders-whitmer-nessel-and-benson-working-concert">replaced</a> by Democrats. </p>
<p>Gov. <a href="https://www.wxyz.com/news/whitmer-gilchrist-sworn-in-at-inauguration-ceremony">Gretchen Whitmer</a>, who took office in 2019, had <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/candidate-whitmer-right-literacy-michigan-guv-no-need-address">supported</a> plaintiffs on the campaign trail. She argued, like her Republican predecessor had done, that the case should be dismissed. However, rather than addressing whether she saw a federal right to education, she asserted that the state had returned control to the school district and that the conditions in Detroit’s schools had improved greatly. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2019/05/13/detroit-public-schools-nikolai-vitti/1163162001/">new superintendent</a> and an influx of state funding had enabled the district to <a href="https://crcmich.org/after-20-years-detroit-public-schools-to-regain-control-of-its-finances">stabilize</a>. School buildings are markedly better. In 2019, <a href="https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2019/8/29/21108743/detroit-district-test-scores-gain-on-michigan-s-but-there-s-a-long-way-to-go">test scores</a> were up more than they had been in years, although they still lagged far behind state averages. </p>
<p>However, Attorney General Dana Nessel opposed the governor in <a href="https://www.detroit-accesstoliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/151_amicus_brief_for_AG_Dana_Nessel__filed_2019-06-07.pdf">a legal brief</a>, instead supporting the Detroit students. An attorney general’s job is to represent the governor, and refusing to do so is <a href="https://www.stateaginsights.com/2017/06/06/whos-the-boss-when-state-governors-and-attorneys-general-clash/">highly unusual</a>, whether or not the two are politically aligned. </p>
<p>The appeals court’s <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca6/18-1855/18-1855-2020-04-23.html">2-1 decision</a> establishing the federal right to education as a legal precedent relied heavily on the history of public education, with its emphasis on preparing people to be good citizens. The majority stated, “without the literacy provided by a basic minimum education, it is impossible to participate in our democracy.”</p>
<p>The majority held that states must ensure that schooling occur in facilities staffed by teachers with materials that, at the very least, give students an opportunity to become literate.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>If Michigan does not appeal this decision, it will become binding law in the four states in the Sixth Circuit. In that case, I would expect education rights advocates who have identified low literacy rates elsewhere to file similar suits across the country because this precedent might apply in other regions too.</p>
<p>Even so, the Supreme Court might consider this issue at some point, especially if other appeals courts reach a different conclusion about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/fight-for-federal-right-to-education-takes-a-new-turn-108322">right to a basic education</a> in other cases, such as one pending in <a href="http://www.cookvraimondo.info">Rhode Island</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the case would go back to the district court and eventually the case would go to trial. Lawyers representing the schoolchildren would move forward to determine whether Michigan acted unconstitutionally. However, the two parties also could reach a settlement which would provide additional support for Detroit schools and allow the state to avoid years of costly litigation.</p>
<h2>Appeal options</h2>
<p>This case could still be appealed in one of two ways, though. If the state of Michigan appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, they would need to do so within 90 days. </p>
<p>Separately, the state could ask <a href="https://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/judges">all 16 judges on the Sixth Circuit</a> to hear the case again. This procedure is <a href="https://www.sixthcircuitappellateblog.com/uncategorized/the-ins-and-outs-of-panel-rehearing-in-the-sixth-circuit/">rare</a> but would not be <a href="https://www.sixthcircuitappellateblog.com">unprecedented</a>.</p>
<p>No matter what happens next, the appeals court’s decision will remain <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3303289">groundbreaking</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristine Bowman filed amicus briefs in the right to literacy case supporting Detroit children and has consulted informally with attorneys in the case.</span></em></p>A federal court with jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee found that the state governments have a legal obligation to ensure that children can learn how to read.Kristine Bowman, Professor of Law and Education Policy, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1302762020-02-04T13:31:59Z2020-02-04T13:31:59ZAt-risk colleges should do what’s best for students, alumni, donors, employees – and local communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312630/original/file-20200129-92964-17j1juy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The College of New Rochelle closed in 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:College_of_New_Rochelle_Plaque_(Back).jpg">DanTD</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The College of New Rochelle <a href="http://www.cny.org/stories/college-of-new-rochelle-closing-this-year,18791">closed in 2019</a>, more than a century after its founding as New York’s first Catholic women’s college. The announcement left students <a href="https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/02/22/the-college-of-new-rochelle-closing/">scrambling to figure out what to do</a>. The college’s land and buildings <a href="https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/armonk/real-estate/college-of-new-rochelle-campus-sells-for-32m-at-auction/779767/">were sold for US$32 million</a>, most of which paid off debts. </p>
<p>All told, about 90 private and public colleges or <a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/tracker-college-and-university-closings-and-consolidation/539961/">universities have closed</a> or merged with other schools since 2016. <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-colleges-are-being-forced-to-close-their-doors-and-what-they-can-do-to-stay-open-126399">Reasons for this</a> include declining enrollment, budget shortfalls and growing competition. What’s more, the number of Americans <a href="https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk#">between the ages of 18 and 22</a> is falling, leading to <a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/adult-learner-enrollment-continues-to-contract/569285/">expectations</a> that <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/college-students-predicted-to-fall-by-more-than-15-after-the-year-2025/">far more closures and mergers are quite likely to follow</a>. </p>
<p>Despite their dire straits, many of these troubled and doomed schools likely will possess significant sums of money and other assets when the end comes. This wealth can include real estate, artwork and philanthropic donations that are <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-tax-on-big-college-and-university-endowments-is-sending-higher-education-a-message-120063">invested in endowments</a>, or pools of assets that support these institutions. </p>
<p>When colleges get into financial trouble, they can’t always tap that money because of a legal requirement that endowments and donations given for a specific purpose be used in ways that honor what donors intended. This complication can stand in the way when school officials seek to use those assets to remain open or pay for an orderly transition.</p>
<p>Students, alumni, donors, faculty and staff are clearly affected when colleges close. In addition, the communities where these schools are located can lose jobs, tax revenue, population and cultural opportunities.</p>
<h2>More closures and worries are coming</h2>
<p>We are scholars who have long examined <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Genevieve_Shaker">higher education and philanthropy</a>. One of us – <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jRXwFcMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">William Plater</a> – is a trustee of <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/05/antioch-university-eliminates-jobs-five-presidents">Antioch University</a>, which has grappled with these challenges in recent years.</p>
<p>In 2019, the Department of Education put <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/school/hcm">nearly 500 colleges and universities on a list</a> of schools on a shaky financial footing. <a href="https://www.edmit.me/">Edmit</a>, a consulting firm, says that nearly <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/11/19/private-colleges-convinced-company-scuttle-release-list-projected-college-closures">twice as many</a> risk closure for financial reasons. The <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2020-01-29/education-department-looks-to-address-sudden-college-closures">federal government</a> is growing more concerned about this problem. </p>
<p>This wave of closures is affecting public colleges and universities, too. Government officials and college administrators in <a href="https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Massive-budget-cuts-to-the-University-of-Alaska-system-could-have-tidal-wave-effects-according-to-the-university-president-512559381.html">Alaska</a>, <a href="https://consolidation.gsu.edu/">Georgia</a>, <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2018/09/13/uw-campus-mergers-5-things-you-need-know/1260813002/">Wisconsin</a>, <a href="https://ctmirror.org/2019/03/07/accreditation-years-away-but-cscu-presses-forward-with-college-consolidation/">Connecticut</a>, <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2018/07/10/university-iowa-bruce-harreld-board-regents/772148002/">Iowa</a>, <a href="https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2019/dec/07/trustees-at-asu-sign-on-to-merger-20191/">Arkansas</a> and other states are either already consolidating some of their states’ campuses or considering whether to take that step.</p>
<h2>Aftershocks when schools close</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.marlboro.edu/">Marlboro College</a>, a small Vermont school with <a href="https://www.marlboro.edu/community/news/whats-next-for-marlboro/frequently-asked-questions/">enrollment that has dwindled to 150</a> students from 350 in 2012, will close at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. It has <a href="https://berkeleybeacon.com/new-financial-documents-detail-marlboro-college-operated-in-the-red-for-years/">lost nearly $20 million of its assets since 2015</a> by spending more than it’s taking in.</p>
<p>The college wants to combine with <a href="https://www.marlboro.edu/community/news/whats-next-for-marlboro/">Boston-based Emerson College</a>, located 120 miles away. This merger calls for transferring the estimated $30 million that would remain at that point in Marlboro’s <a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/emerson-college-explores-absorbing-small-liberal-arts-school/566793/">endowment plus some $10 million</a> derived from shifting its real estate holdings to Emerson. Marlboro college would close its doors and students could transfer to Emerson, where tuition and <a href="https://berkeleybeacon.com/emerson-college-will-not-cover-housing-cost-difference-for-marlboro-students/">housing costs</a> are higher.</p>
<p>The 1,000 residents of Marlboro are pushing back. Town resident and former professor T. Hunter Wilson called the merger and loss of its largest employer “<a href="https://www.boston.com/news/education/2019/12/06/marlboro-college-emerson-merger">devastating</a>,” The Boston Globe reported. Another resident told the paper that he’s worried the closure could cost the town its post office or even its <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-closures-can-hit-rural-communities-hard-128837">elementary school</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312629/original/file-20200129-93023-1kfprdl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marlboro College is poised to close soon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Marlboro_College_campus%2C_Marlboro%2C_Vermont._.jpg">Calebjc</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The fates of towns and gowns</h2>
<p>As colleges struggle to keep the doors open, in our view, they should do more to engage their local communities and funders in their planning processes. This can reduce the impact of <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/the-other-victims-when-colleges-decline-or-close-their-hometowns/">sudden disruption</a> that comes to a local community when it has not anticipated closure, as happened in <a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/when-should-a-college-say-it-might-close/567864/">Newton, Massachusetts</a>, when <a href="https://www.wbur.org/edify/2018/05/16/mount-ida-senate-hearing">Mount Ida College</a> closed in 2018. </p>
<p>Engaging everyone who will be affected by a closure or merger may potentially ease the inevitable pains of transition all around and can result in new facilities and infrastructure that benefit local communities in new ways.</p>
<p>We consider what happened with Marygrove College, a small Catholic institution that first ended its undergraduate programs and then <a href="https://www.wxyz.com/news/marygrove-college-to-permanently-close-after-92-years-in-detroit">ceased operating its small graduate school in 2019</a>, a good example.</p>
<p>Aided by $50 million in funding from the <a href="http://www.ihep.org/about-ihep/partners/funding-partner/kresge-foundation">Kresge Foundation</a>, the school’s final leaders helped create the <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2019/06/12/detroits-marygrove-college-closing/1429771001/">Marygrove Conservancy</a>. The college’s 53-acre Detroit campus was deeded to the new entity, which will house an <a href="https://detroit.curbed.com/2019/6/12/18663239/marygrove-college-close-campus-fitzgerald-kresge">educational program</a> including an early childhood center, a K-12 school operated by the local public school system and a teacher training program.</p>
<p>This arrangement aligns with the values of the Catholic sisters who founded Marygrove College in 1905. It was possible only because school leaders gave their students, alumni, communities and donors plenty of time to forge a plan for a different future than they expected.</p>
<p>We realize that this kind of transformation isn’t always possible. Regardless, what we consider to be Marygrove’s promising future shows why all colleges should be as open as they can when they get into financial trouble.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313078/original/file-20200131-41490-1o52ur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many of now-closed Marygrove College’s buildings will serve a new purpose.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marygrove_College_Liberal_Arts_Building_Detroit.JPG">Dwight Burdette</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Deciding what to do with the money</h2>
<p>In these circumstances, control of remaining assets is usually determined by the concept of “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/cy_pres_charitable_trusts">cy près</a>,” a British common law term drawn from the French for “as near as possible.” It means that a court can redirect property, including endowments and land, from colleges and other nonprofits to a charitable purpose that is similar to the original intent of the donors when they chose to support those institutions.</p>
<p>In real life, these things get pretty messy. Consider what happened when <a href="https://www.eagletribune.com/news/former-chester-college-students-flock-to-another-arts-school/article_fa2fbb4a-2ed7-57e1-9736-2386dcecaff0.html">Chester College of New England</a>, a now-defunct liberal arts college in New Hampshire, folded in 2012. It initially expected most of its remaining students to attend New England College, another school in the state. It promised that school its remaining assets as an effort to honor the intents of Chester’s donors.</p>
<p>When most of the displaced students enrolled instead at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, that school objected. Ultimately the <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/nonprofit-college-endowments-school-closes/">court split the funds</a> between the two schools. But the <a href="https://www.mass.edu/forstufam/diplomas/closed/newenglandinstituteofart.html">Institute itself has since closed</a>. It will <a href="https://www.concordmonitor.com/NEC-New-England-College-Henniker-arts-22504707">become part of New England College</a>.</p>
<p>The legal principle of cy près can complicate matters for colleges that are struggling to keep their doors open. They are bound by law to try their best to honor the wishes of their current and past donors, limiting what they do in emergencies.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312626/original/file-20200129-92969-duhuhr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sweet Briar is bouncing back from financial woes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161025221256/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/86762068">Annette Teng</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sweet Briar</h2>
<p>This legal principle may have helped save <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Sweet-Briar-s-44-Million/242698">Sweet Briar</a>, a women’s college in the small town of Amherst, Virginia. In 2015, the college’s president and trustees were convinced at the time that the institution could not overcome its enrollment and financial management difficulties, despite its $65 million endowment. The <a href="https://www.americaninno.com/dc/amherst-virginia-mayor-requests-sweet-briar-to-reconsider-closure/">mayor of Amherst</a> urged the school’s leaders to reconsider in a letter that emphasized the damage that closure would cause the local community. </p>
<p>Many of its <a href="https://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-student-publications/132/">graduates sued</a> to prevent the closing, as did <a href="https://www.whsv.com/home/headlines/Third-Lawsuit-Filed-Challenging-Closure-of-Sweet-Briar-College-301319221.html">members of the faculty</a> and the <a href="https://wset.com/news/sweet-briar-closing/amherst-co-attorney-files-suit-to-block-closure-of-sweet-briar-college">local county government</a>. The alumni then went on to <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Sweet-Briar-s-44-Million/242698">raise enough money</a> to rescue the school. </p>
<p>But prior to that rescue, Sweet Briar College ran into a different kind of trouble. When it sought to sell some of its assets, <a href="https://www.richmond.com/news/local/education/sweet-briar-case-appealed-judge-blocks-asset-sale/article_e121073d-7796-5909-9645-ddbf6a67b642.html">a judge blocked the sale</a> for being at odds with the directions of <a href="https://sbc.edu/museum/founders/">Indiana Fletcher Williams</a>, whose bequest led to the institution’s founding in 1901. </p>
<p>Happily, the college has now <a href="https://www.newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/sweet-briar-announces-m-raised-in-fiscal-year/article_36657680-1641-5c57-b965-89066b068fb3.html">raised a total of $63.9 million</a>. By <a href="https://www.roanoke.com/news/sweet-briar-bond-ratings-continue-upward-trend/article_ad1d19c7-1e08-519a-9c40-57b88163f8c6.html">many accounts</a>, it’s on the road to what could prove a complete recovery.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Genevieve Shaker receives funding from the TIAA Institute to research higher education and philanthropy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Plater is a governor of Antioch University</span></em></p>It helps when school leaders are open about their financial struggles before it’s too late to forge a good plan.Genevieve Shaker, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUIWilliam Plater, Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs, Philanthropy, and English; Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties Emeritus, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.