Shirley Chisholm, First Black Woman in Congress

Shirley Chisholm, First Black Woman in Congress Shirley Chisholm  (born Shirley Anita St. Hill, November 30, 1924–January 1, 2005) was the first African-American woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress. She represented the 12th Congressional District of New York for seven terms (1968–1982) and quickly became known for her work on minority, womens, and peace issues. Fast Facts: Shirley Chisholm Known For: First African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, from 1968–1982Born: November 30, 1924 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New YorkParents: Charles and Ruby Seale St. HillEducation: Brooklyn College (B.A., sociology, cum laude); Columbia University (M.A., elementary education)Died: January 1, 2005 in Ormond Beach, FloridaPublished Works: Unbought and Unbossed and The Good FightSpouse(s): Conrad O. Chisholm (1959–1977), Arthur Hardwicke, Jr. (1977–1986)Notable Quote: That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black and a woman proves, I think, that our society is not yet either just or free. Early Life Shirley Chisholm was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York on November 30, 1924. She was the eldest of four daughters of her immigrant parents, Charles St. Hill, a factory worker from British Guiana, and Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados. In 1928, because of financial hardship, Shirley and two of her sisters were sent to Barbados to be raised by her grandmother, where they were educated in the islands British-style school system. They returned to New York in 1934, even though the financial situation had not been resolved. Shirley attended Brooklyn College for a degree in sociology, where she won prizes in debating but found she was barred from the social club, as all blacks were, so she organized a rival club. She graduated with honors in 1946 and found work at two daycare centers in New York. She became an authority on early education and child welfare, and an educational consultant for Brooklyns Bureau of Child Welfare. At the same time, she worked as a volunteer with the local political leagues and the League of Women Voters. Deeper Involvement in Politics In 1949, Shirley married Conrad O. Chisholm, a private investigator and graduate student from Jamaica. Together they became increasingly involved in New York municipal political issues, establishing a number of local organizations to bring blacks and Hispanics into politics. Shirley Chisholm returned to school and obtained a masters degree in elementary education from Columbia University in 1956 and became involved in grassroots community organizing and the Democratic Party, helping form the Unity Democratic Club in 1960. Her community base helped make possible a win when she ran for the New York State Assembly in 1964. Congress In 1968, Shirley Chisholm ran for Congress from Brooklyn, winning that seat while running against James Farmer, an African-American veteran of the 1960s Freedom Rides in the south and the former national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. With her win, she became the first black woman elected to Congress. Her first congressional battle- she fought many- was with the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Wilbur Mills, who was responsible for assigning committee appointments. Chisholm was from the urban 12th district in New York; Mills assigned her to the agricultural committee. Apparently, she said, all they know here in Washington about Brooklyn is that a tree grew there.  The speaker of the House told her to be a good soldier and accept the assignment, but she persisted and eventually Mills assigned her to the Education and Labor Committees. She hired only women for her staff and was known for taking positions against the Vietnam War, for minority and womens issues, and for challenging the Congressional seniority system. She was outspoken and uninterested in conforming: in 1971, Chisholm was a founding member of the National Womens Political Caucus and in 1972, she visited the voluble segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace in the hospital when he was recovering from an assassination attempt. He was astonished to see her and she was criticized for visiting him, but the act opened doors. In 1974, Wallace provided his support for her bill to extend federal minimum wage provisions to domestic workers. Running for President and Leaving Congress Chisholm ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1972. She knew she could not win the nomination, which eventually went to George McGovern, but she nevertheless wanted to raise issues she felt were important. She was the first black person and the first black woman to run for president on a major party ticket and was the first woman to win delegates for a presidential nomination by a major party. In 1977, she divorced her first husband and married businessman Arthur Hardwicke, Jr. Chisholm served in Congress for seven terms. She retired in 1982 because, as she put it, moderate and liberal lawmakers were running for cover from the new right. She also wanted to take care of her husband, who had been injured in an automobile accident; he died in 1986. In 1984, she helped form the National Political Congress of Black Women (NPCBW). From 1983 to 1987, she taught politics and womens studies as the Purington Professor at Mount Holyoke College and spoke widely. She moved to Florida in 1991 and briefly served as the ambassador to Jamaica during President Bill Clintons first term. Death and Legacy Shirley Chisholm died at her home in Ormond Beach, Florida on January 1, 2005, after suffering a series of strokes. Chisholms legacy of grit and persistence is apparent in all of her writings, speeches, and actions in and out of government. She was involved in the founding or administration or strong support of numerous organizations, including the National Organization of Women, the League of Women Voters, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), and the National Womens Political Caucus. She said in 2004, I want history to remember me not just as the first black woman to be elected to Congress, not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and dared to be herself. Sources Barron, James. Shirley Chisholm, Unbossed pioneer in Congress, Is Dead at 80. The New York Times, 3 January 2005.Chisholm, Shirley. The Good Fight. New York: Harper Row, 1973. Print.Unbought and Unbossed. Washington, DC: Take Root Media, 1970 (2009).Jackson, Harold. Shirley Chisholm: The First Black Woman Elected to Congress, She Was an Outspoken Advocate against Discrimination. The Guardian, 3 January 2005.Thurber, Jon. Shirley Chisholm, 80; Ran for President, Served 13 Years in Congress. Los Angeles Times, 4 January 2005.

Society is becoming over-regulated

Society is becoming over-regulated Society These Days Does Society Really Need Regulation? It is impossible to make generalizations about whether society is or is not becoming over-regulated, as all societies require some forms of regulation in order to function, but not all regulations are of equal value. Instead, rather than trying to assess whether society as a whole is over-regulated, which is too sweeping an assertion to be either proven or disproven, we should unpack the problem of which sorts of regulations are excessive or superfluous and which are needed, and how the issue of the degree to which regulations are enforced is just as important as their existence on the books. Regulations: from Absurd to Necessary The first category of regulations we might consider are obsolete statutes that still remain part of the legal code despite having been rendered obsolete by either changing customs or new technology. In Missouri, for example, it is illegal to drive with an uncaged bear in ones car. Other laws date back to the time when horses and carriages were common modes of transportation. More relevant to todays students are what are sometimes called blue laws that regulate what is considered moral behavior, including sexual acts, and alcohol and drug use. Many of these, such as those concerning what sexual acts are permitted between consenting adults, are impossible to enforce and anyway seem to many people an intolerable limitation on what should be purely personal decisions. Others, such as the laws against pedophilia, seem to be morally justifiable. Another category of laws that in some peoples view constitute forms of over-regulation are those concerning the private use of alcohol, marijuana, and other addictive or mind-altering substances. While most people would agree that some regulation is needed, especially regulations that prohibit young children from accessing such substances, everything from the age at which people should be allowed to make their own decisions to which substances should be regulated in what manner are matters of controversy. My own position on this is that these substances are both over- and under-regulated. On the one hand, making substances illegal or limiting the days on which one can buy alcohol in stores is ineffective in preventing substance abuse. On the other hand, some forms of regulation, such as laws against drunk driving. have saved many lives and strengthening such regulations along with making public transit affordable and widely available might save even more lives. Legalizing recreationa l drugs but closely regulating them for quality and safety might also save lives; in this case, I would argue that many drugs are both over-regulated, in so far as personal use is criminalized, and under-regulated in the sense that quality and safety are not adequately monitored. The Nanny State While many people have issues with what the British term the nanny state that regulates many aspects of personal choice or behavior, peoples opinions vary on what specific regulations are justified. The attempt of New York City to prohibit the sale of soft drinks in servings of over 16 ounces was eventually overturned but still serves as an example of regulatory overreach. Although drinking a 32-ounce soda is not good for ones health, if someone wants that quantity of soda, that is a matter of personal choice. Moreover, as people could have bought two 16-ounce containers under the law, it would not have been a particularly effective way to encourage healthy eating habits. On the other hand, regulations that insist that accurate nutritional labels be made clearly visible to customers seem a legitimate form of regulation, as such labels allow us to make informed choices about our own health. What these examples show is that regulations in our society can be either beneficial or harmful. Some regulations are excessive or absurd, while others are necessary. In some areas, especially ones relating to health and safety, more comprehensive regulations and stricter enforcement would be desirable. Food should be safe to eat and water safe to drink. In other areas, though, regulations can be intrusive or even harmful. Thus our society can neither be said to be over-regulated or under-regulated, but rather we can conclude that we should look at each individual regulation on its own merits.