The State of the Union is...Unfinished
Young people and their families are waiting for more
In her book, Unfinished Business: Black Women, the Black Church and
the Struggle to Thrive in America, Dr. Keri Day of Princeton
Theological Seminary argues that the unfinished work of the civil
rights movement is the economic freedom of Black people with specific
emphasis on Black women in this country. She researched the ways the
fictitious political images of the Black welfare queen masked the
daily realities of the same Black women who hold together the civic
fabric of communities (and save American democracy every campaign
cycle). Day, an advisor for Children's Defense Fund's
Partnership on Theologies of Child Well-being, calls on justice-loving
people to advocate for public policy to help these women build assets.
This, she suggests, would help to complete the work of this storied,
yet unfinished, movement.
In last night's State of the Union, it seemed President Biden
had taken one of her courses. Nearly halfway through his address, Mr.
Biden shifted into the theme of "finishing the job." His
unfinished homework seemed to be the fulfillment of the American
Families Plan he announced in April of 2021, focused on expanding
opportunities for children and families through affordable education,
economic security and expanded tax credits.
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With the passing of the gavel to a new, opposing House majority, the
President's reprisal of core policy commitments from the Plan
could have been wishful thinking, mea culpa, seeds of promise for a
forthcoming re-election announcement, or three equal parts of each.
Either way, he referenced or alluded to three priorities for children
and youth which the nation cannot afford to leave undone:
* Ensuring comprehensive paid family and medical leave
* Expanding the Child Tax Credit
* Extending the educational continuum, by including universal
pre-K and two years of community college
President Biden made an open-ended invitation to legislators, and
every citizen, to join him completing a job and a journey toward child
well-being. Essential next steps, in his words, are to "make
sure working parents can afford to raise a family with sick days, paid
family and medical leave, and?affordable child care," then
to?"restore the full Child Tax Credit
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,?which gave tens of millions of parents some breathing room and
cut child poverty in half, to the lowest level in
history."
Taking each of these steps will make a powerful difference in the
lives of children and families marginalized in Congressional
deliberations. But overcoming what he powerfully framed as both moral
and economic challenges of educating a rising generation may be most
ambitious and aspirational.
"Twelve years is not enough to win the economic competition for
the 21st Century. If you want America to have the best-educated
workforce, let's finish the job by providing access to
pre-school for 3- and 4-year-olds...Let's finish the job,
connect students to career opportunities starting in high school
and?provide two years of community college,?some of the
best career training in America, in addition to being a pathway to a
four-year degree."
In addition to enhancing the nation's economic competitiveness,
publicly funded and supported education prepares citizens for the
franchise of and protects the democracy so recently paralyzed in the
chamber where the President stood to speak. Adding four more years to
the kindergarten through twelfth grade pipeline by reaching our
toddlers and serving young adults will transform the body politic, as
well as our place in the world.
So, I hope the political environment on the Hill does not make this
the last word on this group of policy throwbacks to the American
Families Plan (bunched into the laundry list that is every State of
the Union). In fact, I'm sure the President's will not be
the last words.
In addition to making an invitation, Biden also started a
conversation. By this I mean more than the inappropriate decorum and
jeers from some of his detractors in Congress. While the pomp and
circumstance of the most consequential political speech of the year is
done, the conversation about the State of the Union is ongoing. The
generation who would benefit from these policies has much to say. Last
night they gathered for the Youth Response to the State of the Union.
Their voices must be heard as a complement to the President's
and over the vulgarities of last night's critics. Next month,
CDF will publish and update of the
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State of America's Children report. Its data on measures of
child well-being should be part of our assessment of the country.
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Until we answer the question, "How are the children?" and
advance the policies that help them thrive, the State of the Union is
Unfinished.
Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
For our children,
Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
President and CEO
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