tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/birmingham-southern-college-1739/articlesBirmingham-Southern College 2022-06-17T12:34:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1851862022-06-17T12:34:37Z2022-06-17T12:34:37ZPeople couldn’t look away from the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial – the appeal of a relationship drama held true in the 1700s, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469368/original/file-20220616-16-7lsch0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=229%2C141%2C3700%2C2474&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Amber Heard and Johnny Depp appear in a Virginia courtroom on May 16, 2022 during their trial. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/actors-amber-heard-and-johnny-depp-watch-as-the-jury-leaves-the-at-picture-id1240715203?s=2048x2048">Steve Helver/Pool/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial-broke-viewing-records-law-crime-network-court-1714247">attracted record-breaking numbers</a> of viewers who closely followed the heated exchanges between the two celebrities on YouTube and social media.</p>
<p>The trial’s popularity was in odd company. </p>
<p>Historically, <a href="https://www.grunge.com/886814/the-most-watched-court-cases-in-tv-history/">murder trials are the most-watched court cases</a>. </p>
<p>Despite a <a href="https://www.today.com/news/lindsay-lohan-faces-march-trial-probation-remains-revoked-1B8178657">few exceptions</a>, a trial detailing a private relationship hasn’t captured as much live coverage since President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1999.</p>
<p>But the legal spectacle of the Depp-Heard trial is actually a return to the norm. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bsc.edu/academics/faculty/gevlin-rachel.html">My research</a> focuses on the legal and literary history of marriage and divorce. In other words, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IjwvF8MAAAAJ&hl=en">I</a> work on the history of legal proceedings around romantic relationships gone bad. </p>
<p>While the public frenzy surrounding the Depp-Heard case may seem linked to social media’s power to make salacious incidents go viral, there is a long history of trials that publicize sexual details of relationships to threaten women with humiliation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing from the 1700s shows a woman lifting her dress, sitting next to a man, while other men appear surprised." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469288/original/file-20220616-11-589nnf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&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 depiction of adultery featured during divorce trials is shown in a 1700s book detailing divorce trials in London.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pbagalleries.com/images/lot/1505/150571_2.jpg">Trials for Adultery: Or, The History of Divorces.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Looking backward and publicizing humiliation</h2>
<p>When the Depp-Heard trial verdict was announced <a href="https://deadline.com/2022/06/watch-johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial-live-1235005764/">on June 1, 2022,</a> I was working my way through salacious accounts of 18th-century divorce trials in a Los Angeles library.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/01/1102118755/depp-heard-trial-verdict">jury ruled mostly</a> in Depp’s favor, awarding him US$15 million in damages. The jury also gave Heard $2 million. The verdict came at the end of a six-week defamation trial that unearthed graphic stories of alcoholism, domestic violence and sexual assault. </p>
<p>Many observers, including Heard herself, described the trial’s verdict as <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-06-02/amber-heard-johnny-depp-verdict-defamation-trial-appeal-bredehoft">a broader loss</a> for women and domestic violence survivors. </p>
<p>But it was the publicity around this trial – the scandal, the spectacle of a celebrity relationship breaking down – that perhaps resonates most with viewers.</p>
<p>There wasn’t television and social media in the 18th and early 19th centuries. But even then, trials focusing on intimate relationships were widely publicized in newspapers and <a href="https://austenvariations.com/gossip-and-scandal-in-jane-austens-world/">other publications</a>. Readers, including author Jane Austen, who loved to skim newspapers for scandal, were hungry for gossip. </p>
<p>Broadly speaking, it was almost impossible in both the <a href="https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-divorce-law-in-the-usa/">U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/heartbreaking-history-of-divorce-180949439/">England</a> to get a divorce before the 20th century unless you were a wealthy man whose wife had committed adultery. </p>
<p>This meant that these trials always uncovered private sexual details – and almost always revealed secrets of the extremely wealthy.</p>
<h2>A means to an end</h2>
<p>As the Depp-Heard trial emboldened millions to chime in with their takes on Twitter and the short-form video platform <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/arts/amber-heard-tiktok-johnny-depp.html">TikTok</a>, people similarly took commentary into their own hands before the age of social media.</p>
<p>One self-styled anonymous “civilian” and “faithful Historian” of the 18th century, for instance, attended all public divorce proceedings in London throughout the 1760s and 1770s. This person then compiled witness testimony in the book “<a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/trials-for-adultery-or-the-history-of-divorces-being-select-trials-at-doctors-commons-for-adultery-fornication-cruelty-impotence-c-from-the-year-1760-to-the-present-time-including-the-whole-of-the-evidence-on-each-cause-together-with-the-letters-c-that-have-been-intercepted-between-the-amorous-parties-the-whole-forming-a-complete-history-of-the-private-life-intrigues-and-amours-of-many-characters-in-the-most-elevated-sphere-every-scene-and-transaction-however-ridiculous-whimsical-or-extraordinary-being-fairly-represented-as-becomes-a-faithful-historican-who-is-fully-determined-not-to-sacrifice-truth-a-the-shrine-of-guilt-and-folly/oclc/233160934">Trials for Adultery: or, the History of Divorces</a>.”</p>
<p>Around this time, financial and legal barriers kept most women from pursuing divorce. Married women weren’t allowed to own anything until the mid-19th century in the U.S. and the 1880s in England, making it nearly impossible for them to pay for a divorce.</p>
<p>But the loss of reputation during a trial was also a big factor that discouraged divorce. Being known as an adulterous woman was not only humiliating, but could also be a serious financial threat. </p>
<p>The author of these volumes used this reality to his advantage. The primary objective of this civilian’s pet project was to humiliate his subjects. </p>
<p>He introduces these volumes by stating his hopes that his project will “effect what the law cannot: the transactions of the adulterer and the adulteress will, by being thus publicly circulated, preserve others from the like crimes, from the fear of shame, when the fear of punishment may have but little force.” </p>
<p>Public shaming, this writer is well aware, will reinforce the status quo where the law may fail to do so. </p>
<h2>‘It’s been agonizing’</h2>
<p>More than 200 years later, Heard reflected on her embarrassment at the trial, after detailing her alleged abuse at the hands of Depp. People on social media who called her <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/13/amber-heard-johnny-depp-social-media-interview">testimony a hoax</a> worsened this experience, she said. </p>
<p>“It’s been agonizing,” <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/amber-heard-johnny-depp-humiliated-1235278584/">Heard told jurors</a> in May. “This is humiliating for any human being to go through. Perhaps it’s easy to forget that, but I am a human being.”</p>
<p>Studies show this long-practiced method using public shaming to control people in society can have “unpredictable” outcomes and can “<a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/cmctre5&i=182">work at cross-purposes with the forces of law</a>,” particularly when this shaming becomes a form of entertainment. </p>
<p>This means that public shaming can not only work to influence trial verdicts – <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amber-heards-lawyer-says-lopsided-social-media-frenzy-influenced-jury-rcna31578">as many are saying it did in the Depp-Heard case</a> – but can also <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/femcrim5&i=277">keep victims from discussing or reporting</a> their abuse. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Johnny Depp's lawyer, Camille Vasquez, stands in a white dress, in front of two images of Amber Heard that show bruising on her face" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469284/original/file-20220616-24-krukno.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">Johnny Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez argued that Amber Heard photoshopped images of her face to appear like she had bruising on her cheek.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/johnny-depps-attorney-camille-vasquez-gives-closing-arguments-at-the-picture-id1240934433?s=2048x2048">Steve Helber/Pool/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next for #MeToo?</h2>
<p>Advocates for the #MeToo social movement, which launched in 2017 as women publicly spoke out about sexual harassment and abuse, have suggested that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/podcasts/the-daily/depp-heard-me-too.html">the outcome of the Depp-Heard trial could harm victims of abuse</a>. </p>
<p>Heard called the verdict a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amber-heard-verdict-blasted-setback-women-domestic-violence-survivors-rcna31752">“setback” for women</a>, writing in a public note on social media: “It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly humiliated.” </p>
<p>Some observers have said that Depp’s success in suing his accuser for defamation paves the way for people accused of domestic violence to take similar legal <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/arts/depp-metoo-defamation.html">tactics in the future</a>. </p>
<p>Regardless, it’s clear that the widespread exhibition of this particular case multiplied the cost of humiliation in a way that echoes pre-20th-century modes of seeking justice. </p>
<p>Whether news spreads via TikTok or its 18th-century counterpart, widespread exhibition of domestic cases never ends well for women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185186/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Gevlin currently receives research funding from The Huntington Library. </span></em></p>Intimate details of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s marriage – including sex abuse – featured during their defamation trial. There’s a long history of popular trials showcasing relationships gone bad.Rachel Gevlin, Assistant Professor of English, Birmingham-Southern College Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/498642015-11-13T10:52:43Z2015-11-13T10:52:43ZCan listening to music help you fall asleep?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/101765/original/image-20151112-9374-yosv7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does listening to certain songs help us slip into the ether?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-105823463/stock-photo-full-moon-at-its-perigee-during-the-supermoon-of-may.html?src=cCAqBFhasqBJp-5wc396Ew-1-24">'Clouds' via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>By now, you’ve surely heard that <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/">Americans aren’t getting enough sleep</a>. </p>
<p>In our always-on society, a solid chunk of nightly rest seems, well, like a dream. We shave the edges of sleep to keep up, exchanging extra waking hours for compromised <a href="http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/2/380.short">health</a>, <a href="http://media.mycme.com/documents/20/drake_2004_4856.pdf">productivity</a> and <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/">safety</a>. </p>
<p>Despite this, <a href="https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-tools-tips/healthy-sleep-tips">we actually know how to sleep better</a>; the list of empirically supported, low-cost, simple behavioral tweaks is extensive, whether it’s avoiding alcohol as bedtime approaches or just going to sleep at a regular hour. Though changing habitual behavior is <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hea/13/1/47/">easier said than done</a>, one of these tweaks may be as simple as putting in your earphones and pressing play.</p>
<p>Recently, British composer Max Richter released an eight-hour-long composition titled <a href="http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20987-sleep/">Sleep</a>, which <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/music-to-sleep-by">he has described as a lullaby</a>, meant to be listened to while sleeping. </p>
<p>The composition ranges from sweeping, airy selections called Dream to the heavy, trance-inducing Space sequence. Indeed, it is an ambitious, impressive piece of conceptual art. But could it actually improve your sleep?</p>
<h2>Conflicting results</h2>
<p>Research on improving sleep with music is filled with methodological mistakes. </p>
<p>Self-reported sleep quality – the metric of choice for many music studies – often doesn’t correlate with objective measures of sleep: people will often think they’ve gotten a good night’s sleep (best defined as an unmedicated, uninterrupted night somewhere between seven and ten hours). But in many cases, they haven’t.</p>
<p>On the other hand, when objective measures <em>are</em> used (like the industry standard <a href="http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1188764-overview">Polysomnography</a>), true control groups (like a placebo group in a drug trial) are often left out. </p>
<p>With these drawbacks in mind, it’s easy to understand why the literature reads as equivocal. <a href="http://lib.semmelweis.hu/sepub/pdf/2008/a18426457">Some studies</a> claim music can have a positive effect on sleep quality, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17123654">while others</a> cite no objective benefit.</p>
<p><a href="http://bit.ly/1WUjT6n">A recent, methodologically sound meta-analysis</a> reported an overall positive effect of music for improving sleep in those with a sleep disorder. This is promising, but even the article’s authors admit that more precise work is needed to reach a clear conclusion.</p>
<h2>A carefully choreographed cycle</h2>
<p>Perhaps the answer is hidden in a more basic question. Given the way sleep is structured, can music even influence it to begin with? </p>
<p>The answer is yes and no.</p>
<p>Sleep is not a gentle slide into unconsciousness. Rather, it’s a complicated ride into an alternate conscious state, where reality is actively created from internal information, rather than external sensation. </p>
<p>That transition from “outside” to “inside” happens in four distinct steps. The sleep process manifests as a non-REM (NREM) phase (which is divided into three parts: NREM 1, 2 and 3) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM).</p>
<p>Imagine you’ve turned on Richter’s full Sleep composition and have just gotten into bed. As your eyes get heavy and your attention wanders, you are entering early NREM 1 sleep. You are deeply relaxed. This lasts for a few minutes. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8dvpT0hA0Lk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A selection from Sleep’s Dream sequence.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At this point, the research suggests that Richter’s work may be having an effect; anything that contributes to your relaxation will help induce NREM 1 sleep. Richter’s Sleep certainly has relaxing qualities, like many of the classical pieces often used in music and sleep research.</p>
<p>As you continue to relax, your brain begins to exhibit what are called “organized theta waves,” which slowly switch attention channels from the outside environment to internal cues. At this point, you may feel as if you’re floating or lightly dreaming; if someone says your name insistently enough you may still respond. This lasts about 10 minutes, after which K-complexes and sleep spindles appear in your brain wave pattern. </p>
<p>This is where it gets tricky. K-complexes and sleep spindles – brief bursts of high activity on an otherwise slowing brain wave pattern – actively shield external stimuli. That is, during this stage your brain purposefully blocks the reception of and response to outside sensory information. </p>
<p>This hallmark of NREM 2 sleep means that, for all intents and purposes, you are no longer hearing Richter’s work. The auditory cortex is still receiving the sounds, but the thalamus – essentially the call center of the brain – stops the signal before any memories or sense can be made of the music.</p>
<p>NREM 2 lasts for about 20 minutes. Then your brain waves become very slow and very organized. These are called delta waves, and they indicate NREM 3: a state of near-complete nonresponsiveness to the external world. After 30 minutes of NREM 3, you briefly travel back up into the lighter stages of sleep, at which point you may again hear the composition. In fact, if it’s loud enough, unusual ambient noises at this point may actual wake you up, disturbing the carefully choreographed cycle. </p>
<p>If you remain asleep, however, you quickly slip into the REM portion of the cycle: your body becomes paralyzed, and your external senses get rewired to pay exclusive attention to your memories. You are essentially awake, but feeding off an internally derived reality to create the crazy dreams associated with REM. At this point I could walk into your room, call your name loudly and leave without you even knowing I was there. In other words, the external world – including what is being piped through your headphones – doesn’t matter for those amazing few minutes of REM sleep.</p>
<p>As the night goes on, the cycle will repeat itself many times, and each time the proportion of REM will become greater. By the end of the night, you are spending most of your time in your own internally created universe, for which the current external world has no bearing. For a grand total of 60 minutes of the eight-hour period, you will be able to hear Mr Richter’s beautiful work. The rest of the time, only your memories matter.</p>
<p>So for all its merits, can Max Richter’s Sleep help you sleep? The answer is probably yes: it could make falling asleep easier. But you’ll be missing most of the show.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph F Chandler 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>Composer Max Richter – with his epic, eight-hour-long piece Sleep – aims to be an auditory sandman.Joseph F Chandler, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Birmingham-Southern College Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/437392015-06-24T10:08:19Z2015-06-24T10:08:19ZLet’s talk race: a teacher tells students not to be ‘color-blind’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86138/original/image-20150623-19371-2jm7yv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If you can't see it, does race not exist?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=143507156883316950000&search_tracking_id=AjelgxbkwTX3tWv0bDqE0w&searchterm=eyes%20coverec&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=89337400">Woman image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following the recent events featured in the media such as the riots in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/baltimore-police-credible-evidence-of-gang-threat-to-officers/2015/04/27/68aca83a-ecf3-11e4-8666-a1d756d0218e_story.html">Baltimore</a> that came after the fatal shooting of Freddie Gray, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/16/us/rachel-dolezal/">Rachel Dolezal</a> stepping down as the Spokane Washington NAACP president, and the tragic shootings in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/17/white-gunman-sought-in-shooting-at-historic-charleston-african-ame-church/">Charleston, South Carolina</a>, public discussions have primarily focused on issues surrounding individual responsibility and mental illness.</p>
<p>I read these conversations with disappointment and frustration. </p>
<p>The dominant approach to understanding racial inequality in the US today is “color-blind racism.” This is the belief that racial inequality can be attributed only to issues considered to be <a href="http://www.miller3group.com/Articles/What_Does_It_Really_Mean.pdf">“race-neutral”</a>. In other words, because racial discrimination is now illegal, everyone is born with an <a href="http://ann.sagepub.com/content/634/1/190.full.pdf">equal opportunity</a> to achieve the “American Dream,” no matter their race.</p>
<p>In comparison to the overt and legal racism prior to the Civil Rights movement, this “new” transformed type of racism is seemingly invisible, making meaningful societal discussions near impossible, and in turn <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442220546/Racism-without-Racists-Color-Blind-Racism-and-the-Persistence-of-Racial-Inequality-in-America-Fourth-Edition">perpetuating</a> racial inequality, which then expresses itself, as we have seen, in these recent incidents. </p>
<h2>Conversations with students</h2>
<p>What about classrooms? Are adequate conversations around race taking place in that space? And how can scholars shape some of the discussions?</p>
<p>A clear example of “color-blind racism” unexpectedly arose my first year as an assistant professor of sociology at Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) in Birmingham, Alabama.</p>
<p>Being a “Yankee,” I was warned in advance that my students at BSC would be more politically and socially conservative than what I was used to (coming from the University of New Hampshire).</p>
<p>However, midway into my first semester, I found that the majority of my students were able to critically engage in potentially controversial topics such as LGBT rights, health care reform and the legalization of marijuana. We also discussed the class inequality between them as middle- or upper-class students living within the gated “hilltop” campus and the surrounding lower social class neighborhood immediately outside of the campus gates.</p>
<p>The real challenge arose when it came to discussing race in the classroom.</p>
<p>I struggled to get my students to address the “elephant in the room” – that the majority of the surrounding lower social class neighborhood comprised racial minorities, whereas the majority of my students and BSC professors, including myself, benefited from “<a href="http://ed-share.educ.msu.edu/scan/ead/renn/mcintosh.pdf">white privilege</a>,” the often unacknowledged advantages with which whites are born, based solely on the color of their skin. </p>
<h2>Challenges of talking about race</h2>
<p>I had incorrectly assumed that teaching in Birmingham, Alabama, with its rich social and <a href="http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/9781467110679/Civil-Rights-in-Birmingham">cultural history</a> of the Civil Rights movement and racial heterogeneity, would make discussing racial inequality one of the most engaging and meaningful discussions in the course.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86139/original/image-20150623-19411-c8xuuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86139/original/image-20150623-19411-c8xuuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86139/original/image-20150623-19411-c8xuuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86139/original/image-20150623-19411-c8xuuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86139/original/image-20150623-19411-c8xuuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86139/original/image-20150623-19411-c8xuuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86139/original/image-20150623-19411-c8xuuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=601&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">How can students discuss race in classrooms?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/claremontcollegesdigitallibrary/5097239229/in/photolist-8LqFCZ-cEJChm-cEJrdJ-9sPbkW-4aadNf-nR3LCj-nEMQQK-nELLhN-22UAA8-ni3Aga-6hRRXf-cEHtUN-cEJLoJ-9wrdaK-bxHR3Q-9GNHEB-cEHqS1-9wucEC-9wrd9Z-cEJH2A-MdEE2-aM4MWP-qWSLKX-9GRAoW-9P6yte-nzfebX-k63mSD-k64FHd-9wuMSm-cEJ1Zs-8ETDVC-9PPW9U-82MUon-65BrWg-8phpkD-9wrd8D-cEJDC3-9Puh2K-6s7wWN-8ETDSC-noiki2-63trkz-65BWrb-7d9fg1-8aDAXc-ds1Rsy-cEHT61-nNXqJW-kyPYG-9PNMWA">Claremont Colleges Digital LIbrary</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>My students refused to discuss race beyond a superficial level.</p>
<p>I found the majority of my students, primarily from the South, have been “socialized” to not discuss race because “race doesn’t matter” and we are (or should be) a “color-blind” society.</p>
<p>This was illustrated by student responses such as “there is only one race: human” and “only racists see race” when asked in class whether race still matters. The responses were consistently given by students across my four classes. </p>
<p>Conversations with several of my faculty colleagues across disciplines also revealed that this was a common theme.</p>
<p>What I learned was that in order to get students to more effectively discuss issues of race, I needed to first address one of the most dangerous <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442220546/Racism-without-Racists-Color-Blind-Racism-and-the-Persistence-of-Racial-Inequality-in-America-Fourth-Edition">social myths</a> perpetuating <a href="http://ann.sagepub.com/content/634/1/190.full.pdf">racial inequality</a> in today’s society — that we are a “color-blind” society.</p>
<h2>How to teach race</h2>
<p>I have modified my lesson on race to begin, not end, with a discussion of “color-blind racism.” What I have found to be most critical to this discussion is challenging my students to apply their <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-sociological-imagination-9780195133738?cc=us&lang=en&">“sociological imaginations,” </a> which can enable them to look at underlying social issues behind some recent news events. </p>
<p>As good sociologists-in-training, my students are asked to consider the larger social structural concerns (eg, poverty, institutional racism, the criminal justice system) instead of focusing on individuals (eg, Baltimore police officers, Rachael Dolezal, Dylann Roof).</p>
<p>My experiences in the classroom are by no means an isolated incident. Research consistently indicates this “color-blind” ideology <a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/new-jim-crow">permeates</a> education, politics, the criminal justice system, the media, etc. </p>
<p>This “color-blind racism” is as dangerous as, if not more dangerous than, the overt racism during <a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/new-jim-crow">Jim Crow</a>. It is for the most part invisible and easily overlooked in public discussions on social issues and therefore very effectively perpetuates racial inequality. </p>
<p>If the majority of my college students believe it is wrong to even “see” race, how can they be expected to meaningfully discuss larger issues of institutional racism and inequality? How can we as a society expect more meaningful social discussions and solutions? </p>
<p>As scholars, we need to emphasize to our students that race is a real thing, with real consequences. As long as we as a society continue avoiding “seeing” or meaningfully discussing race, we will continue to have Baltimore riots and Charleston shootings.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43739/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan L Mills has received funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Do academics need to change the way they teach race? What is the impact of students having been socialized to believe that “race doesn’t matter”?Meghan L Mills, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Birmingham-Southern College Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/409952015-05-02T01:11:03Z2015-05-02T01:11:03ZDisaster and recovery: The unexpected shall come to be expected<p>The full extent of the earthquake disaster in Nepal is still being calculated. With so many remote villages, it would be no surprise to see the death toll rise to 10,000 people. Nearly 8 million people are likely to be directly affected, and a long-term, complex humanitarian crisis looms large. The potential for civil unrest and violence is very real.</p>
<p>The media has been focusing on the heart-wrenching human interest, hero-tragedy stories for several days, but what must be emphasized is that this disaster was anticipated. </p>
<p>More importantly, we now have the tools and building technologies to mitigate the impact of even major earthquakes. </p>
<p>What is needed is what the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has been <a href="http://www.unisdr.org/">advocating</a>: an international commitment to disaster risk reduction.</p>
<p>Nepal is in one of the most disaster-prone <a href="http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/static/gshap/">regions</a> of the world and earthquakes much more powerful than a 7.8 magnitude event will eventually occur. This due to the same forces that have produced the Himalayas, which have been created by the pressure of the India subcontinent slowly wedging itself under Tibet and Nepal. These geological stresses will continue to generate frequent earthquakes in the region. The region is also prone to floods, landslides, and droughts.</p>
<h2>A disaster predicted</h2>
<p><a href="http://news.fiu.edu/2015/04/nepal-was-ripe-for-disaster-fiu-experts-say/87645">Experts</a> have assessed the hazards and vulnerabilities and knew with a high degree of confidence what would happen if a large magnitude earthquake struck the Kathmandu Valley. A <a href="http://www.unisdr.org/archive/2975">2012 UNISDR</a> news article, “Nepal’s tragedy in waiting,” was alarming:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Conservative estimates are that the next big earthquake could result in 100,000 dead, 200,000 injured and one to two million people displaced in the fabled Kathmandu Valley where memories live on of the 1934 earthquake which took more than 8,000 lives.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Risk assessments were conducted, recommendations made, and some buildings seismically retrofitted, and yet three years later there have been so many deaths. Why?</p>
<p>The blame lies primarily on shoddy construction practices such as un-reinforced cinder block construction and failing to adequately secure roofs to support beams and walls and to a solid foundation, as well as the stock of aging, dilapidated structures. </p>
<p>Nepal’s unstable political situation also hampered disaster risk reduction and preparedness efforts. Despite the country’s popularity as a tourist destination, Nepal’s government is dysfunctional and corrupt. The country has been plagued by political violence and currently there is no [constitution](http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/30/an-earthquake-exposes-nepals-political-rot/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=%2AEditors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2015_EditorsPicks_Promo_ACAlliance2RS4%2F30](http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/30/an-earthquake-exposes-nepals-political-rot/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=%2AEditors%20Picks&utm_campaign=2015_EditorsPicks_Promo_ACAlliance2RS4%2F30%20%22%22).</p>
<p>The World Bank Worldwide Governance <a href="http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/pdf/c166.pdf">Indicators for Nepal</a> look eerily similar to those of <a href="http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/pdf/c100.pdf">Haiti</a>;and the <a href="http://www.bti-project.org/reports/country-reports/lac/hti/index.nc">visual representation</a> of Nepal’s state capacity in Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index visual indicates only slightly more capacity than Haiti. </p>
<h2>Retrofitted buildings were more secure – why weren’t there more of them?</h2>
<p>Yet <a href="http://www.earthquakesafety.com/earthquake-retrofitting-faq.html">advanced building practices</a> could have made a difference: the National Museum of Nepal was recently retrofitted, and it is <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/04/27/402514817/in-nepal-aftershocks-keep-people-fearful">still standing</a> – virtually undamaged. The <a href="http://un.org.np/coordinationmechanism/nrrc">United Nations Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium</a> was established in 2012 to highlight what could be done, but its prescriptions have been plagued with implementation challenges.</p>
<p>Doing the most sensible thing is not always easy. Limited resources are always a problem. Competing agendas such as those between historical preservationists and earthquake safety engineers, and clashes between forces of tradition or modernity and those influenced by superstition or science can impede disaster risk reduction efforts. If disasters are seen as “Acts of God,” for example, there tends to be less commitment to prevention, mitigation, and preparedness and less blame falls on political leadership for not anticipating the event.</p>
<p>Welcome to the new normal, especially in the developing world. Here is the recipe for disaster: Population growth and demographic pressures, rapid and unplanned urbanization, environmental degradation, and building codes and zoning regulations that are insufficient, and nonexistent or unenforced, coupled with weak institutions and rampant corruption. </p>
<h2>Haiti and Chile reveal how disasters can be mitigated</h2>
<p>A myriad of factors contribute to earthquake damage, but unsafe building practices can explain why in 2010 so many more people died in Haiti than in Chile in earthquakes that year. The Haiti earthquake (magnitude 7.0) was was potentially less catastrophic compared to the Chile earthquake (magnitude 8.8). <a href="http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/pdf/c41.pdf">Chile,</a> however, is one of the least corrupt and best governed countries in the Americas, and cultivates a disaster risk reduction culture. Building codes and zoning rules are mostly enforced. The toll in Chile was 525 dead, 25 missing, while the estimates of the death toll in Haiti ranged from 230,000 to 316,000. Chile as able to <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-smart-leadership-revived-chile-after-a-historic-disaster/">bounce back</a>. Five years later, Haiti is just as vulnerable, if not more. Like Haiti, it will be difficult for Nepal to bounce back at all.</p>
<p>In poor communities, especially in the developing world, it’s also not unusual for people to erect their own structures with little or no engineering supervision or expertise. Poorly constructed buildings tend to concentrate in densely populated cities, and high population density simply translates into <a href="https://www.ehs.unu.edu/file/get/11895.pdf">more deaths</a>. </p>
<p>When disasters, hazards, vulnerabilities and risks are known to occur with some frequency, governments have a human rights obligation to minimize the loss of life. The latest Nepal earthquake disaster was inevitable given the lack of resources and political will needed to invest in long-term disaster risk reduction.</p>
<p>Poor, vulnerable countries cannot go it alone. They need development assistance to increase community resilience. International organizations must take the lead in ensuring building codes and standards are met. Massive retrofitting campaigns need to receive United Nations and World Bank funding. Retrofitting, which the UNISDR defines as: >“Reinforcement or upgrading of existing structures to become more resistant and resilient to the damaging effects of hazards,” is much less expensive than the costs associated with a large-scale hazard event.</p>
<p>We can expect to see more deadly disasters in the 21st century, especially in the developing world. Millions more people – poor, already vulnerable people – will be more exposed to natural hazards as the population increases from nearly 7.3 billion to more than 9.5 billion by 2050. A catastrophic earthquake disaster with over a million deaths is not science fiction. It is a real possibility. Just look at Roger Musson’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/09/million-death-quake-roger-musson-review">The Million Death Quake.</a></p>
<p>The frequency of earthquakes has not changed over the past few million years, but now millions of people live in vulnerable situations. The news story of thousands of people killed in a remote and “exotic” place like Nepal will not resonate for long in the United States, but it should.</p>
<p>Of course, disaster vulnerability is not limited to the developing world. Due to its size and geophysical characteristics, the United States is actually a very disaster-prone country, with floods, wildfires, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes and even an occasional volcanic event. Moreover, the United States ranks <a href="http://germanwatch.org/en/download/10333.pdf">20th</a> on the 2015 Climate Risk Index.</p>
<p>According to a recent joint report of the US Geological Service, California Geological Survey and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) more than 143 million people in 48 states across the United States are <a href="http://www.seismosoc.org/society/press_releases/SSA_2015_EarthquakeThreat_Press_Release.pdf">at risk</a> from earthquakes,</p>
<p>As many as 28 million people are likely to experience strong tremors in their lifetime, with estimated annual building losses at $4.5 billion. A catastrophic earthquake in the United States is on the horizon.</p>
<p>The unexpected must come to be expected. Much-needed humanitarian assistance must transition into long-term development efforts. Simply put, instilling a culture of disaster risk reduction, investing in hazard mitigation, building as best as we can, and retrofitting what remains, will save lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincent T Gawronski has received research funding from the National Science Foundation and the Associated College of the South. He has also consulted for the USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.</span></em></p>New building techniques can mitigate the impact of even major earthquakes. What will it take to protect infrastructure in places like Nepal?Vincent T Gawronski, Associate Professor, Political Science , Birmingham-Southern College Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/345672014-11-21T18:55:38Z2014-11-21T18:55:38ZThe president’s executive order: what difference will it make for immigrants?<p><em>Editor’s note: On November 20, President Obama announced a <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/20/obama-immigration-full-remarks/70030636/">plan</a> - through an executive order - to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation if they meet certain criteria. His move has caused uproar among the Republicans on Capitol Hill and in many state governors’ mansions.</em> </p>
<p><em>Here scholars from around the country give their reactions as to the impact the president’s decision will have on policy, politics and the immigrants themselves.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Katharine M. Donato, Professor of Sociology, Vanderbilt University</strong></p>
<p>The executive actions on immigration President Obama has just announced provisions to assist some unauthorized immigrants already living here to obtain temporary legal status and avoid deportation. This is action that many families have desperately needed, and I applaud the President for taking the lead on an issue that too many (in fact almost all) of our leaders have shied away from. </p>
<p>Most people who will come out of the shadows and benefit from the temporary legal status described by the President are parents of US born children and have lived here for more than five years. This executive action enables them to register with the government, pay taxes, pass criminal background checks, and pay a fee for this temporary status without fear of being deported. But even more important, it means they will be free to do many things they could not do before, such as open bank accounts and get health insurance, or attend parent-teacher conferences and drive to the supermarket without the fear of deportation. My research shows that doing these activities makes immigrants fearful of deportation and their response is to stay in their homes as much as possible. </p>
<p>Most of us don’t understand how damaging the fear of deportation is. But for the last two decades, many immigrant parents – with children who are US citizens – have lived with this very real fear every day. They know, for example, they are living in a time of uncertainty, as local policing has become influenced by anti-immigrant laws. </p>
<p>My research also shows that police have begun treating immigrants with no criminal record differently than in the past, leading to many deportations for non-violent offenses, such as driving without a license. Imagine how it would feel if one of your parents disappeared, never returning home after work. </p>
<p>After years during which hundreds of thousands of immigrants were deported in this way, the President has now made it possible for millions of our children to breathe deeply and not worry about what would happen to them if their parents disappeared, too. Estimates from <a href="http://www.migrationpolicy.org/">the Migration Policy Institute</a> suggest that between 3 and 4 million unauthorized immigrants live with at least one child who is a US citizen, meaning that the President’s actions will affect millions of US born children in a very big way.</p>
<p>Until Congress can finally pass the legislation necessary to fix our broken immigration system, the President’s actions insure that many of our immigrant families will get some respite from the constant anxiety and fear they have felt every day. Immigration is about families, and the President has targeted for protection those with immigrant parents and US citizen children. I, for one, am pleased with such action because it is the right thing to do.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Alina Das, Associate Professor of Clinical Law and Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at New York University</strong></p>
<p>The President’s announcement was a mixed bag for immigrant communities hoping for a more humane immigration system. </p>
<p>On one hand, millions of American families stand to benefit from the President’s expansion of deferred action, particularly the parents of US citizens or permanent resident children. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the President’s emphasis on increased enforcement at the border and against people who fall under an amorphous “criminal” label will undoubtedly lead to many of the unintended and harsh consequences we’ve seen over the last several years – including family separation, deportation without due process, and abuses at the border. </p>
<p>Good and bad, one thing is clear – the President’s proposals fall well within his executive authority under the law, and it will now be up to Congress to build off these proposals to come up with long term solutions for the broken immigration system.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Vincent Gawronski, Associate Professor of Political Science at Birmingham-Southern College</strong></p>
<p>Republicans are apoplectic, and Congress now has just another reason to not to do any meaningful work. However, President Obama’s Executive “Temporary Fix” Order is a double-edged sword. While it clearly lays out some of the problems with the broken immigration system and challenges Congress to do what it should do -— fix it with a comprehensive reform package —- it puts 5 million undocumented migrants in a quandary. </p>
<p>How many illegal immigrants will actually come out from under the shadows and waltz into an ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) office and turn themselves in? Allowing oneself to be fingerprinted and a background check and providing the authorities with one’s address and personal information is risky business. </p>
<p>Moreover, how temporary is temporary, if there’s no path to citizenship? What happens if Congress passes a mean-spirited law under a new Republican president? Who’s going to pay for the emergency room visits, if these people do not have access to Obamacare? Only about one-third of those eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program actually applied.</p>
<p>Obama’s Executive Order, moreover, really isn’t about reforming immigration policy. It’s only a short-term fix for certain people who are already here. It doesn’t address the absurd visa system at all. One thing is for certain: immigration law will be a growth industry over the next few decades. I’ve been advising my pre-law students to consider it.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>John Logan, Professor of Sociology at Brown University</strong></p>
<p>I see this as a positive, limited step that will improve living conditions in many communities around the country. It seems bold because it affects so many people. However, it isn’t opening the border to new immigrants, and it’s only a temporary measure. Many of the people affected by it are already in the labor force, and legalizing their status will strengthen the labor market by increasing their mobility and giving them a chance to better match their skills to job openings. </p>
<p>I suspect that the psychological effects are even greater. Certainly reducing the stress in their daily lives will positively affect their health and social interactions. Think about the impact for 4 million people, most of whom are embedded in ethnic communities around the country. This means that we should also see positive community–level effects–upholding values of family and community that are widely shared across the political spectrum.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Elizabeth Lee Young, Associate Professor of Law, University of Arkansas School of Law</strong></p>
<p>As an immigration-law clinician and practitioner, I am excited to see that President Obama took action last night to streamline the process of immigration enforcement. The proposal he outlined will bring much-needed prioritization within the deportation process, as well as immediate relief to families of mixed status. I look forward to seeing the prioritization program implemented.</p>
<p>I have heard commentary from both sides of the issue – some arguing the President went too far, others arguing he did not go far enough – but I think the changes he proposed are an ideal execution of the balance of the powers afforded to the head of the executive branch. The changes he proposes are fine for the now, but the country needs a permanent solution for the broken immigration system. Perhaps his call to Congress to finally take action will be heeded in the coming year. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Helen B. Marrow, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Latin American Studies, Tufts University</strong></p>
<p>This is an important moment for immigrant communities. Immigrant rights advocates won this policy shift through relentless organizing efforts that pressured Obama to keep his campaign promises. Their victory is a sign of the policy failures generated by an enforcement-only approach, but also a marker of immigrants’ increasing political strength. </p>
<p>Immigrant communities will need that strength even more looking ahead. Getting several million undocumented immigrants to apply for deferred action will require an all-hands-on-deck effort. Foundations, businesses, government, and the media can play a supporting role to community organizations and legal clinics. </p>
<p>Still, these executive actions are far from a total victory for America’s immigrants. They will leave out just as many people as they will benefit – currently another estimated 5 million or more undocumented immigrants who are not being deemed morally or legally “worthy” enough to qualify for protection from deportation. Immigrant communities have much more work to do as they look ahead to the next stage of reform.</p>
<p>There’s more. Any executive orders the President signs today can always be quickly reversed by the next president. And, while Obama can offer deferral from deportation, only Congress can put in place a long-term pathway to US citizenship. Ultimately, this country needs better long-term solutions, including ones that will address future undocumented migration more holistically. That will require action from the Republicans who now control Congress.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Ben Railton, Associate Professor of English Studies, Coordinator of American Studies, Fitchburg State University</strong></p>
<p>The phrase “My family came here legally” will be heard a lot in the debate over President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. But for millions of Americans, those words are totally inaccurate. Prior to 1875, there were no national immigration laws. From 1875 to about 1920, immigration laws applied to only very specific immigrant groups: suspected prostitutes, convicted criminals, and immigrants from China and a few other Asian nations. If your ancestors came before the 1920s and were not part of those groups, they were not covered by any laws, and so were neither legal nor illegal. This is not just a semantic distinction. The phrase “My ancestors came here legally” implies that they “chose to follow the law”, yet none of these unaffected immigrants had to make any such choice, nor had any laws to follow. For many of us, our ancestors were neither legal nor illegal immigrants. They came, indeed, in much the same way contemporary undocumented immigrants do: by crossing a border.</p>
<hr>
<p>*<em>Jennifer Lee, Professor of Sociology, University of California Irvine
*</em>
The President wisely put a face to undocumented immigrants by offering <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obama-lifts-one-immigrants-story-out-the-shadows">the portrait of Astrid Silva</a>, a young woman whose parents brought her from Mexico to the United States when she was only 4 years old. While Mexican immigrants, like Astrid, will be the largest beneficiaries of the President’s executive action, Asian Americans will also benefit. Under President Obama’s plan, an estimated half a million of the 1.5 undocumented Asian Americans will also be protected.</p>
<p>However, the President’s plan does not address visa backlogs, which is a pressing issue for Asian Americans; there are currently 1.8 million people in Asian countries who have been waiting for decades for a family sponsored visa. Given that immigration is the primary force behind the growth in the Asian American population, addressing this backlog will also provide welcome relief.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Roberto G. Gonzales, Assistant Professor of Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education</strong></p>
<p>On Thursday President Obama announced a series of executive actions that could relieve as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation and offer them work permits–a move that is expected to set up one of the most intense partisan battles of his presidency.</p>
<p>Amidst all the political shouting, it is important to understand what the President’s plan will actually do. Obama’s plan will expand eligibility for the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a program he administered in June 2012, to a larger number of young people who arrived in the United States before the age of 16. It will also expand deferred action to a large group of undocumented adults who have close family ties to either American citizens or lawful permanent residents, usually children.
These actions could have large, immediate, and long-term positive effects on the everyday lives of many families. Enforcement programs that have long been separating families have had a host of deleterious economic, social, and psychological consequences. My research over the first two years of DACA has shown that lifting the barriers of illegality expands youth’s economic opportunities, reduces poverty, and strengthens host communities.</p>
<p>The President’s new plan can build on DACA’s successes. Further expanding this program to the undocumented parents of US citizen children will also help relieve some of the burdens we have seen emerge among teenage and adult children who, even with expanded work opportunities, sometimes end up assuming a disproportionate share of family responsibilities. (Until now, they may have been able to work legally, but their parents still could not). Nevertheless, by not including parents of “DREAMers” the President’s plan leaves out some of the most in need of relief. Ultimately, though, real change will only come through legislation.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Eric Segall, Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law</strong></p>
<p>The President’s executive action is different in degree but not kind than the actions of many Presidents before him. He has the right to allocate resources in the fight against illegal immigration and he has the right to make general policies concerning those resources. What he doesn’t have the right to do, and he has recognized this, is execute the law in a way that violates a clear congressional directive. Nothing in his plan is inconsistent with such a directive.</p>
<p>There is a lot of talk around wild hypotheticals such as a future President Ted Cruz deciding not to collect corporate income tax from any corporations or certain corporations. But, here the President’s policy relates directly to law enforcement. The President may or may not be allowed to make tax collection decisions, but he is definitely entitled to make prosecution decisions involving those who don’t pay their taxes.</p>
<p>Federal law prohibits the sale and possession of marijuana as well as cocaine and other drugs. The President has huge authority to decide to enforce some but not all of the drug laws. He can do that through case-by-case decisions or through general policies.</p>
<p>That is all that he did last night.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Susan M. Akram, Clinical Professor, School of Law, Boston University</strong></p>
<p>Two issues that have been raised in opposition to the President’s executive order– that valuable resources will be spent on deferred action processing instead of on more robust border enforcement, and that it gives a free ride to millions who have violated the law– have been unquestioned. </p>
<p>I want to challenge these two assertions with a few important facts. First, a detailed <a>2013 study</a> from the Migration Policy Institute showed that the Obama administration spent almost $18 billion on immigration enforcement in that year, a figure representing more than the spending on all other major federal law enforcement agencies together. The report also showed that both interior and border enforcement spending increased by 87% between 2005-2013, to almost $6 billion. Detention and removals of non-citizens rose above 400,000 every year in the Obama administration, accounting for the largest numbers of immigration detainees and deportees of any administration in US history. </p>
<p>These figures are important because the establish two facts: first, that this administration has hardly been “soft” on border enforcement; and second, that more money has been spent on border enforcement in the Obama years than is likely to be spent altogether for processing the deferred action program. </p>
<p>On the issue of forgiving free riders, a few facts are also important. Most undocumented people in the US are working and paying taxes even if they are not legally employed. For most employed undocumented people, taxes are withheld from their paychecks, whether or not they have valid residence status. Contrary to the assumption about them, most do not claim tax refunds because of fear of being discovered as undocumented, and at least a dozen studies around the country have shown that undocumented people are a net gain to the country of approximately ten times what they cost–not only because of not claiming tax refunds, but also because they are reluctant to access state and other benefits to which they are entitled regardless of status. </p>
<p>Finally, tying both these issues together and looking at the longer-term impact of a deferred action program, I want to cite a study issued by the <a href="http://bipartisanpolicy.org/events/immigration-reform-implications-growth-budgets-and-housing/">Bipartisan Policy Center</a> in October 2013 which looked at immigration reform from five different scenarios with different assumptions and policy changes. Overall, the study concludes that “immigration reform can produce powerful economic benefits. By adding new, younger workers to the economy, immigration reform can augment the size and strength of the future labor force, resulting in a number of economic benefits.” This study, “Immigration Reform: Implications for Growth, Budgets and Housing,” drew similar conclusions to at least five other similar studies, all of which found that the most important aspect of legalizing undocumented immigrants is the much-needed offset of an aging US workforce. When Congress is seriously considering proposals to cut social security because it can no longer be adequately funded, the need for an influx of younger workers in the US economy is evident.</p>
<p>Once the facts are clear, it is hard to draw any other conclusion but that legalizing a young, hard-working undocumented population is a win-win situation.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Susan M. Akram, Clinical Professor, School of Law, Boston University</strong></p>
<p>Two issues that have been raised in opposition to the President’s executive order– that valuable resources will be spent on deferred action processing instead of on more robust border enforcement, and that it gives a free ride to millions who have violated the law– have been unquestioned. </p>
<p>I want to challenge these two assertions with a few important facts. First, a detailed <a>2013 study</a> from the Migration Policy Institute showed that the Obama administration spent almost $18 billion on immigration enforcement in that year, a figure representing more than the spending on all other major federal law enforcement agencies together. The report also showed that both interior and border enforcement spending increased by 87% between 2005-2013, to almost $6 billion. Detention and removals of non-citizens rose above 400,000 every year in the Obama administration, accounting for the largest numbers of immigration detainees and deportees of any administration in US history. </p>
<p>These figures are important because the establish two facts: first, that this administration has hardly been “soft” on border enforcement; and second, that more money has been spent on border enforcement in the Obama years than is likely to be spent altogether for processing the deferred action program. </p>
<p>On the issue of forgiving free riders, a few facts are also important. Most undocumented people in the US are working and paying taxes even if they are not legally employed. For most employed undocumented people, taxes are withheld from their paychecks, whether or not they have valid residence status. Contrary to the assumption about them, most do not claim tax refunds because of fear of being discovered as undocumented, and at least a dozen studies around the country have shown that undocumented people are a net gain to the country of approximately ten times what they cost–not only because of not claiming tax refunds, but also because they are reluctant to access state and other benefits to which they are entitled regardless of status. </p>
<p>Finally, tying both these issues together and looking at the longer-term impact of a deferred action program, I want to cite a study issued by the <a href="http://bipartisanpolicy.org/events/immigration-reform-implications-growth-budgets-and-housing/">Bipartisan Policy Center</a> in October 2013 which looked at immigration reform from five different scenarios with different assumptions and policy changes. Overall, the study concludes that “immigration reform can produce powerful economic benefits. By adding new, younger workers to the economy, immigration reform can augment the size and strength of the future labor force, resulting in a number of economic benefits.” This study, “Immigration Reform: Implications for Growth, Budgets and Housing,” drew similar conclusions to at least five other similar studies, all of which found that the most important aspect of legalizing undocumented immigrants is the much-needed offset of an aging US workforce. When Congress is seriously considering proposals to cut social security because it can no longer be adequately funded, the need for an influx of younger workers in the US economy is evident.</p>
<p>Once the facts are clear, it is hard to draw any other conclusion but that legalizing a young, hard-working undocumented population is a win-win situation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>None.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alina Das, Ben Railton, Elizabeth Lee Young, Eric Segall, Helen Marrow, Jennifer Lee, Katharine Donato, Roberto G. Gonzales, Susan M. Akram, and Vincent T Gawronski 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>Editor’s note: On November 20, President Obama announced a plan - through an executive order - to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation if they meet certain criteria. His move has…Katharine Donato, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt UniversityAlina Das, Associate Professor of Clinical Law and Co-Director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic, New York UniversityBen Railton, Associate Professor of English Studies and Coordinator of American Studies, Fitchburg State UniversityElizabeth Lee Young, Associate Professor, University of Arkansas School of Law, University of ArkansasEric Segall, Kathy & Lawrence Ashe Professor of Law, Georgia State UniversityHelen Marrow, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Latin American Studies, Tufts UniversityJennifer Lee, Professor Sociology , University of California, IrvineJohn Logan, Professor of Sociology, Brown UniversityRoberto G. Gonzales, Assistant Professor of Education, Harvard UniversitySusan M. Akram, Clinical Professor, School of Law , Boston UniversityVincent T Gawronski, Associate Professor, Political Science , Birmingham-Southern College Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.