COMMENTARY: There has been a lot of talk recently in New Mexico political circles about the extremely touchy issue of “racism” or “institutional racism.” As a Catholic I remain outraged by Allen Sanchez, the lobbyist for the archbishops in New Mexico, asserting that “racism” was behind the opposition to his preferred means of funding pre-K by raiding the state’s “Permanent Fund.”
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Paul Gessing
He went on to soften his statement while not really backing away from it by saying the issue was “institutional racism.” This claim has been made in subsequent columns including by prominent Democrats in the Legislature.
Racism exists. Racist policies have impacted people in New Mexico in ways that have negative impacts in our state and nation to this very day. And, while it is much harder to define, there can be no doubt that “institutional racism” is also a reality.
It has been asserted by Allen Sanchez and others that pre-K and other early childhood programs are sure-fire means to mitigate the impacts of “racism.” They assert that such programs will have great impacts on minority educational and social outcomes.
While a wide range of experts question the pros and cons of using the “Permanent Fund” to finance these new programs, by calling their opponents “racist” or supporters of “institutional racism,” these advocates and politicians are attempting to shut down a very important debate.
For starters, even if academic studies seem to support these programs, this is New Mexico, where the existing public schools are not doing a great job. Our state consistently ranks among as the worst or among the worst performers. Should we be doing more to improve our existing education systems (including federally-funded Head Start) before we put millions of dollars annually into new programs?
Other initiatives, including getting high quality teachers in the classroom and providing for a program of teacher mentoring, have far bigger impacts on student performance than more costly pre-K.
And then there is personal responsibility, which is too often ignored in favor of government-driven solutions. Racism and poverty are real issues in this state, but according to the liberal Brookings Institute’s 2013 report “Three Simple Rules Poor Teens Should Follow to Join the Middle Class,” if teens “finish high school, get a full-time job and wait until age 21 to get married and have children” they almost always manage to escape poverty.
Again, according to Brookings, “of American adults who followed these three simple rules, only about 2 percent are in poverty and nearly 75 percent have joined the middle class.”
Government has a limited impact in these three areas. Surely, more plentiful jobs make good-paying work easier to obtain, and a high-performing education system will help students perform better in the classroom and stay in school, but each of the three goals outlined by Brookings are both attainable by and the responsibility of the individual.
As both a Catholic and someone who is deeply concerned about his community and state, I wish the Church (and their aligned activists and legislators) would stress these simple goals (and other means of achieving them, like marriage, two-parent families and reading to children) and not spend all its time and political capitol pushing costly and complicated solutions — when, to a great extent, the solutions are free and available to everyone.
Racism (institutional or otherwise) is a knotty problem. We can all agree that racism is bad and that when we see it we will attempt to stop it. But New Mexico children can’t wait for the last vestiges of racism to be rooted out or for another government program to save the day. They need tools right now to solve problems in their own lives.
Imparting the approach outlined by the Brookings Institute should form the basis of all our efforts to break the cycle of poverty. It would be great if the Church and other state leaders would recommend and advocate this basic approach to poverty reduction.
Paul Gessing is the president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation, an independent, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? We welcome your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here.