I thoroughly enjoyed your town hall meeting in Georgetown, SC today. Had I not been starving and fighting off a heat stroke, I would have stayed around afterwards to shake your eloquent hand, but I couldn't...and so I wanted to ask you a few questions. I mean, hell, everyone else in the world is posing questions, so why not me, right?
For one, now I understand the fact that we are not always in control of our destiny...or our schedules, but as a teacher, tardiness is simply not something I'm fond of. See, I left my house an hour and fifteen minutes before the time you were scheduled to speak. Unfortunately I drank half a bottle of water before I left the house, which meant I had to make a pit stop midway through my trip. And no, I'll never forget the fella at the Shell station who informed me that his bathroom was not in working order! But...regardless, I found myself battling beach traffic and pit stops...and I was running late. So I tore through Litchfield, Pawley's, downtown Georgetown to make a concerted effort to arrive on time. I arrived at 1:32pm. I ran down the street where I had to park...upon my entrance into the union hall...I discovered that you were in fact running about 15 minutes late from your previous engagement. Cool. 15 minutes. That's fine, I thought.
Well, the union hall was flippin' hot. It was packed. And when we were informed that you would be arriving a full hour late...I started to get a bit irritated. So we all stood there, anxiously looking to the door, fanning ourselves silly. Like I said, I understand that things don't always happen exactly as planned, but your tardiness today was unacceptable. (Yes, I'm being slightly dramatic for blog sake). I only feel worse for the people in Atlanta who were next on your journey. Leaving Georgetown at 3:45 and being scheduled for Atlanta at 4:45, well that's just poor planning on the behalf of your crew.
For two, yes, as I mentioned, it was hot. Its SC in late July...and before you arrived, the crowd was alerted to the fact that it was the preference of your people that we not use the frisbees that people were using for fans. Apparently, the fans would look distracting on camera. I suppose my passing out on the floor would have looked okay. Yes, yes, I know I know...you are running for president...but still.
For three, I really enjoyed most of what you said. I like your ideas about social class. I like the fact that you are self-made man. I like the fact that Elizabeth has different opinions from you (primarily on gay marriage). I do have a question for you...and had I not been too star struck and nervous, I would have asked you...
It's about minimum wage. Yes, we all thank the powers to be that there is a slight increase today, and more increases in the years to come. That's awesome. You mentioned you thought it wasn't good enough. I can't agree with you more. You then said you'd like to raise the minimum wage, as president, to $9.25 or $9.50 (my memory is failing me, I blame the heat). I encourage this increase. You then stated by 2012. I'm not sure many people heard this. At least, I'm not sure that the loud applause would have been as loud. So, yes, increases are good. But that will stay with the same pace that its increasing in the next two years. So, is $9.50 an hour really that great? Particularly for 2012? How much will the standard of living increase by that time?
I have my students complete a budget in class. They assume they are single parents with two children. The assume they are making around $11 to $12 dollars an hour. I even allow them to have health benefits from their job, which we know for this type of job is probably not a likelihood. The reason I like doing this assignment is because my students quickly realize how difficult it is to survive in this family type. Most of them immediately give up any source of entertainment. Next they cut their food. Most of them say that even if they had insurance, they wouldn't be able to afford a co-pay. They usually stick their children in some type of childcare, which I could only imagine might be substandard considering they only budget 20 dollars a week for it.
So I can't help but question that in 2012, this minimum wage will still lack what we call "a living wage".
For four, I wanted to ask...and this was my real question. I know you speak quite a bit about social class. Ending poverty is your thing. Quite commendable. As you mentioned, some of your other plans of action all intersect...education, health care. So, you'd be helping the issue of social class in a myriad of ways...but I wonder how you plan to approach issues of race and gender, as they intersect with social class. Of course, social class exists as its own issue, but what about race issues and gender issues outside of social class?
I was surprised during the youtube debate the other night that you said you wouldn't pay reparations to African Americans for slavery. I understand there are bigger issues and that simply making a pay out wouldn't "solve" the problem. Perhaps we could do both? In that some type of reparations would possibly be merely an apology...and then we could also focus on the other issues that affect this group...like education, health care, discrimination...the list could on, now couldn't it? I don't think it necessarily should be one or the other.
Yes, I agree, there are two different Americas for those of us who live here. BUT, there are also many different Americas. There is certainly a different one for me, than for the individuals in poverty. And yes, my America is quite different from the one for someone like you. But there are still many other issues...there are different worlds for African Americans from whites. There are different worlds for women and men. I do admire you pointing out these systems of domination and stratification, but I also don't want to look at the problem and simply believe that its merely just social class. Cause it isn't.
Lastly, I admire you being the first democratic candidate to grace our area. That really means quite a bit to me. I enjoyed getting to see you in person, standing merely 15 feet away from you. You seemed interested. You made eye contact with all the people in the room. I think it certainly shows an interest in South Carolina. You handled the questions well and with a great eloquence, which is a welcome change from some of the candidates.
Thanks for your time,
Katherine
PS Do you think next time you could ask your crew to bring some John Edwards fans for the heat, just in case?
