Chicago columnist forgets the power of racialization

How fitting that a mere three days before I move to Chicago I am reminded of the plethora of blog coverage in my hometown city.

Last week, Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Mary Mitchell (at right) wrote a column titled, "Ghetto parenting dooms kids." In this column, she listed the components of said "ghetto parenting," including brawling with your significant other in front of your child, cursing at your child, and putting your child off on family and friends so you can "hang out on the street."

As one might imagine, the column invoked some strong reactions. Lisa Belkin of the New York Times blogged about Mitchell's use of the word "ghetto" as a term for lousy parenting, asking readers to offer their thoughts. Many said Mitchell's writing was downright racist, while others said Mitchell was merely misguided and still another replied (rather rudely I'd say,) "Ghetto is as ghetto does."

Mitchell eventually wrote a follow-up column, "C'mon, you know ghetto when you see it," in which she insisted, "it's not about race or poverty, it's just plain foul behavior." She cited Britney Spears as an example of ghetto parenting and Lindsay Lohan as an example of ghetto behavior. Mitchell asserted that the ghetto is no longer a place where poor black people live, "trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair."

While Mitchell may not have intended for "ghetto" to link up with race so plainly, she failed to recognize and take into account the tremendous historical racialization of the ghetto. Just because she herself does not think the ghetto refers to Chicago's housing projects does not mean others do not conjure up racialized images when they hear or read about "ghetto parenting." As commenter 12 on Belkin's blog stated:

"Mitchell is overlooking a very important point in this discussion: the word 'ghetto' has a history and a meaning; she may have attempted to coin the phrase 'ghetto parenting' but she didn't coin the word 'ghetto' and it is simply not at her whim to decide what it means."

If Mitchell is correct that the definition of ghetto has expanded to include Spears and Lohan, it certainly hasn't departed from its former designation to poor black families and neighborhoods. Typing "ghetto" into a Google search yields the following Wikipedia explanation:

"Recently the word 'ghetto' has been used in slang as an adjective rather than a noun. It is used to indicate an object's relation to the inner city or black culture, and also more broadly, and somewhat offensively, to denote something that is shabby or of low quality."

(I know, I know, Wikipedia is not the most reliable, but many people get their facts from the site. Furthermore, because Wikipedia is user-generated/edited, the information presented can be said to be a consensus on a given topic.)

A Google image search is even more off-putting, as a majority of the photos feature black men and women.

I believe that Mitchell had good intentions. I don't think she intended to speak in racialized (or worse yet, racist) terms. Mitchell's hope that ghetto does not equal black is well and good, but it is idealistic and untrue: Society has yet to decouple ghetto and black.

And if the issue of "what ghetto means" is beyond the scope of Mitchell's intended argument, perhaps she should not have tried to reinvent poor parenting in such a racialized way.

Photo Credit: Chicago Sun-Times

Russell Simmons sends conflicting messages to poor and minorities

Hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur Russell Simmons took to Capitol Hill last month in an effort to help low-income consumers. Simmons successfully lobbied for changes in the financial services reform bill--changes that would exempt prepaid debit cards like his RushCard from fee regulation by the Federal Reserve.

Sound complicated? It is. Robert Schmidt and Patrick O'Connor over at Bloomberg Businessweek do a nice job of summing up the bill, but the shorthand version is this:

When a consumer pays by debit card, the retailer pays a small "interchange fee" to the consumer's bank. The retailer then shoulders that cost, which retailers estimate to be almost $20 billion annually.

Illinois Senator Richard Durbin has been pushing to reduce these interchange fees for years, and he recently won an amendment to cap the fees and let the Federal Reserve, rather than the debit card companies, set the fee rates. This all boils down to more profit for retailers and less for Simmons' RushCard. (Sold by Cincinnati-based UniRush, this card is just a prepaid Visa.)

Now for Simmons' involvement. The mogul argued, both on Capitol Hill and in a Huffington Post blog, that low-income people rely on prepaid debit cards, as they cannot afford checking accounts and are often denied for credit cards. Allowing the feds to set the fees, Simmons said, would force him to charge higher fees to already-financially vulnerable RushCard holders. Simmons said in his blog he doesn't "give a damn about the profits of big banks" and that he "has no hidden agenda." He just wants to protect the poor.

I wholeheartedly applaud Simmons for using his fame and notoriety to give voice to low-income groups and minorities (who too often fall into the former group). Any time a Bentley-driving celebrity comes out in favor of the little guy, I think we're getting somewhere.

But a deeper dig into this issue reveals Simmons' efforts would be better spent elsewhere. First, as the Washington Post's T.W. Farnam points out, the RushCard is not free. Cardholders pay a $3 activation fee, a $9.95 per month "membership" fee, $2.50 for an ATM withdrawal, $1 per debit card transaction and 50 cents to check their balance at an ATM.

Looking at the costs of the prepaid card, one begins to wonder if this card is really the best option for non-checking/credit account holders. And the resounding answer in my mind is "no." Prepaid cards, like payday loans, can be helpful at times, but as a lifestyle they delay the inevitable. Simmons' efforts, it seems, would be better spent helping low-income consumers get to a place where they could afford a checking account and could avoid monthly membership fees. Surely he has some real estate he's not using. I say sell the yacht and start a financial literacy program.

I also can't ignore the contrast between what Simmons says he stands for and what he does. I know, I know, a business has to make money, but are $62 Phat Farm jeans and $40 T-shirts really helping the little guy? Simmons participates in the "marketing of hip-hop"--buy this to attain this hip-hop star lifestyle filled with gorgeous women, money and cars (for further proof, watch Simmons and his ex-wife Kimora in the reality show, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane)--which can only land the poor in deeper debt and further from financial stability.

I believe that Simmons has good intentions. I don't think his trip to Capitol Hill was a publicity stunt in the slightest. However, the hip-hop mogul would do well to look to the root of the problem his RushCard claims to address: A consumer culture based on the attainment of a star-studded lifestyle much like his own and a lack of financial skills to boot. Prepaid debit, fees or no fees, is merely a BandAid.

Photo Credit: NewsOne