People are realizing that the issues important to the Latino community are the same that others value: education, a good economy, quality of life and safe neighborhoods. Those are the dreams that are shared by everyone else in North Carolina.

—Rosalind Gold, research director for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials

African Americans and American Indians have improved their status in society since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, but they continue to struggle for economic equality. Indian tribes in North Carolina are also trying to preserve their culture and reclaim their languages. Other groups, including immigrants, people with disabilities, older Americans, and gays and lesbians, are demanding equal rights in many areas, often confronting strong opposition. This section highlights some of these continued and new efforts.

• Regaining Lost Ground
• New Struggles
• Other Civil Rights Advocacy Groups in North Carolina
• Related Links
• Assignment 5

The Algebra Project
Robert Moses, a parent, math educator, and Civil Rights activist, created the Algebra Project (AP) in Massachusetts in 1982 to help low-income students and students of color achieve mathematical skills needed for the college preparatory math curriculum in high school. AP students are expected to complete algebra by eighth or ninth grade and either pre-calculus or calculus by twelfth grade. In the 2002–2003 school year AP served more than 4,000 families across the country.

Moses believes that the Algebra Project is a continuation of the Civil Rights struggle, a fight for equality using the power of math literacy. “The main goal of the Algebra Project,” he states, “is to impact the struggle for citizenship and equality by assisting students in inner city and rural areas to achieve mathematics literacy. Higher order thinking and problem solving skills are necessary for entry into the economic mainstream. Without these skills children will be tracked into an economic underclass.”

Moses's 2001 book on the Algebra Project.

AP’s interactive curriculum is designed to help students grasp mathematical concepts through personal experience and intuitive understanding. Teachers use a five-step process in which physical surroundings serve as tangible references for mathematical ideas. In the first step, the student experiences an event such as a train ride or a field trip. The student creates a model or pictures of the event and writes about it informally and creatively. He or she then formalizes the language, describing the event so that it accurately depicts the activity. Finally, the student develops a symbolic representation of the event using mathematical concepts.

Several school districts in North Carolina have participated in the Algebra Project, the most successful being Weldon City Schools in Halifax County. In the 1995–1996 school year, twenty-two eighth-grade students at Weldon City Middle School requested that algebra be taught. When they were told that no algebra teacher was available, the students and their parents met with tutors from the Algebra Project. Parents and community members joined together to support the project, and several university-based consultants were brought in to teach algebra after school and on weekends. Eighty-five percent of the students in the program scored at or above the state standard for proficiency on the Algebra I exam.

In 1995 twenty-five sixth-grade students began the AP program. In 1998 every student passed the Algebra I exam at the end of the year. Seventeen of those students went on to take pre-calculus in the tenth grade, a significant increase over the average of five students generally seniors. All but one student went on to college, and over half received academic scholarships.

For more on the Algebra Project, read Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project by Robert Moses and Charles E. Cobb Jr. (Beacon Press, 2001) or visit http://www.algebra.org/index.html.

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American Indian Languages Lost—and Found
When English explorer John Lawson visited North Carolina in 1700, he expressed surprise at the number of indigenous languages he encountered. “The Difference of Languages, that is found amongst these Heathens, seems altogether strange,” he wrote in A New Voyage to Carolina. “For it often appears, that every dozen Miles, you meet with an Indian Town [with a language] quite different from the others you last parted withal.” Other early explorers and colonists in the Southeast noted a large number of languages, but only a few, including Lawson, recorded them. Many tribes in the state and across the country gradually lost their native tongues as a result of disease, warfare, tribal consolidation in the 1700s, and the federal government’s suppression of Indians in the 1800s and early 1900s.

We do not know how many indigenous languages existed at the time of European contact or how many were subsequently lost. Today interest in surviving languages is growing. Children and adults are learning them through live instruction, tapes and CD-ROMs, and online courses. Dictionaries and grammar books aid this exciting renewal movement. Linguists are studying and recording languages at risk of extinction. By initiating and promoting language preservation programs, Indian tribes are safeguarding an important part of their heritage.

Two of North Carolina’s eight state-recognized tribes, the Occaneechi and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, are trying to revive their languages. The Occaneechi secured a federal grant to study and disseminate the language of the Tutelo tribe, whose language is similar to that of the Occaneechi but was better recorded during the Contact period. Researchers have collected all available information on the language, and linguists and tribal members are now trying to convert it into a spoken dialect. “We want to be able to speak the old language so that the next generation will know that there is a separate language and so we’ll be able to teach it to them,” said John Blackfeather Jeffries, former Occaneechi tribal chairman.

The Cherokee language is fairly well documented, but it is heard less often as elders die. In addition, few young people are learning it in school or from family members. Only about 10 percent of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians speak the language fluently today. James “Bo” Taylor, an archivist at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, teaches the Giduwah dialect. Taylor created a series of online language lessons that include audio clips of pronunciation. He stresses everyday conversation, often choosing a common word or phrase and building a lesson around it. “There’s a picture in the words,” he says. “Cherokee is a vivid language and, when used correctly, you will be able to see the world in a whole new light.”

In May 2004 the tribe initiated another program to help revitalize its language. Four hundred street signs in both English and Cherokee are being installed in the town of Cherokee. According to Renissa Walker, supervisor of the tribe’s Cultural Resources Department, the signs are part of a mission to undo the federal government’s past efforts to eradicate the Cherokee language and culture.

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Same-Sex Marriage
In recent years cities, counties, and states across the country have taken up the controversial issue of same-sex marriage. Since Canada became the third country (after Belgium and the Netherlands) to allow the practice on June 28, 2005, and President George W. Bush announced his support for a constitutional ban on gay unions, the debate has become a hot topic nationwide. North Carolina has entered the debate.

In May 2004 state senator Jim Forrester (R-Gaston) proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would, in effect, ban same-sex marriage. An equivalent bill was introduced in the House. The legislature did not vote on the bill within the term. (Go to http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2003/Bills/Senate/HTML/S1057v1.html to read the bill and track the status.)

In 1996 the legislature passed a law, sponsored by Forrester, asserting that the state does not recognize gay marriages performed in other states. Forrester says that a constitutional amendment defining marriage will further fend off legal challenges from same-sex couples who obtain marriage licenses in other states and demand the same status in North Carolina.

But many North Carolinians are on the other side of the debate. In March 2004 Richard Mullinax and Perry Pike, for instance, requested a marriage license at the Durham County Register of Deeds. After being denied a license, they filed a lawsuit against the county. In May a district court judge dismissed the case after determining that it had constitutional implications and was better suited for superior court. Mullinax and Pike had planned to continue working within the system to press their case, but in late June announced they had given up their fight for the time being due to the mounting cost of legal fees.

Employers across the state and country are divided on a related issue, domestic partner benefits. A recent survey found that more than 7,000 corporations and universities in the United States now offer benefits to employees’ partners—both homosexual and heterosexual—a 39 percent increase in two years. Many more employers, however, have not addressed the issue, some finding it too controversial and others saying there is little pressure to change. The City of Durham was on the forefront of change in this area. In October 2002 the city council voted to extend health and dental benefits to partners of gay employees and their children, becoming the largest city in the state to do so. Durham County followed suit less than a year later.

Advocates of same-sex marriage argue that legalization will ensure equality under the law for gay and lesbian Americans. Opponents believe that gay marriage will weaken traditional family values, and some contend that it is not a civil rights issue. How will the issue turn out? With upcoming local, state, and federal elections, the debate is sure to heat up even more.

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Equality for Latinos
North Carolina’s Latino population has exploded. From 1990 to 2000 the state’s Hispanic community grew from 76,726 to 378,963—an increase of nearly 400 percent. Wake, Mecklenburg, Forsyth, Guilford, and Durham Counties have all seen record-breaking surges. Raleigh, Greensboro, and Charlotte have three of the four fastest-growing Latino populations in the nation. These new residents of the Tar Heel State face many challenging issues.

• Education. In May 2004 MDC Inc., a research group in Chapel Hill, released "State of the South," a study on public education for African Americans and Latinos. That report concluded that young adults from both groups are receiving substandard educations. Demographic, economic, and social factors force many low-income and minority students to attend isolated schools without adequate resources, resulting in de facto segregation. The study also found that nearly half of all Latinos lack high school diplomas and only 12 percent hold college degrees. “A new apartheid is gripping Southern education, less visible but just as lethal as the old form,” stated the report, which was tailored to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. The study puts forward three measures for improving public education: eliminate high-poverty schools through student assignment and redistricting; offer alternative schools to ensure that no child leaves high school unprepared for college; and require that more certified teachers work in high-poverty, high-minority schools.
  Latino families consider bilingual education an important need. El Pueblo Inc., a Raleigh-based advocacy group for Latinos in the state, wants the state to (1) increase funds for teaching students with limited English proficiency to $1,000 per student per school year; and (2) extend in-state tuition status to Latinos who are not citizens but who graduated from a U.S. high school and meet North Carolina’s state residency requirements.
  
• Workers’ rights. On-the-job fatalities have fallen significantly statewide but are rising for Latinos, who typically work in construction, food processing, agriculture, and other dangerous fields. Twenty Latino workers died on the job in 2001; in 2002 the number rose to twenty-five. In May 2004 state legislators proposed a bill that earmarks $100,000 for construction safety training at community colleges for non-English-speaking workers. For a history of the bill go to, http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2003&BillID=H1627
  

• This article appeared in the March 28, 2004 issue of the Raleigh News and Observer. The photo caption reads, "At the American Tobacco project site in Durham, Cesar H. Gil wears a safety harness and hard hat. Last year, the site's contractor, Bovis Lend Lease, was honored by the state after more than 350 workers at the site went the entire year without any lost-workday injuries, evidence that an emphasis on safety can bear fruit."

  
  Latinos often tolerate poor working conditions because of discrimination. Some employers pay low wages, deny breaks and workers compensation, intimidate employees, and oversee unhealthy work environments. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), a union representing migrant farmworkers, has made the news in North Carolina in the past by calling for a boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Company products. FLOC claims that migrant workers who pick cucumbers on eastern North Carolina farms for the company endure unsafe working conditions, illegal labor practices, and substandard wages.
  
• Driver’s Licenses. On February 2, 2004, the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) stopped accepting several forms of identification, including birth and marriage certificates from countries other than the United States and Canada; tax records; Mexican voting cards and military IDs; and matricula consular, cards provided by Mexican consulates and often carried by illegal immigrants. The state enacted the rule to prevent fraud, as these IDs had been used to establish false identity. Many Latinos oppose this new restriction, arguing that the DMV’s earlier stance encouraged immigrants to learn to drive safely and to acquire insurance.
  
• Health care. As North Carolina’s Latino community grows, so does its need for health care. Health care providers report that language is the most significant barrier to providing adequate care. In 2002 the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) reviewed the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to determine compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which states: “No person in the U.S. shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The OCR concluded that the DHHS failed to “provide adequate language assistance to Hispanic/Latino, Hmong and other national groups who speak a primary language other than English.” In April 2002 the North Carolina Institute of Medicine teamed with El Pueblo to establish the Latino Health Task Force to study and address Latino health issues in the state. El Pueblo has proposed that the DHHS hire more medical interpreters and bilingual health care providers statewide; ensure Latinos equal access to mental health services; and address the health care needs of uninsured low-income Latinos.
  
• Stereotypes. Latinos in the United States are sometimes perceived as poor, uneducated, unskilled, illegal immigrants. Activists and advocacy groups are working to fight these stereotypes, which will help ensure the civil rights of the Hispanic community.

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The Algebra Project
http://www.algebra.org/index.html
An extensive site detailing the mission, history, and programs of the Algebra Project.

Cherokee Language Lessons
http://www.thepeoplespaths.net/Cherokee/CherokeeRecordings/language/Taylor-CherokeeLanguage.html
A few of Bo Taylor's online Cherokee language lessons, complete with audio.

El Pueblo, Inc.
http://www.elpueblo.org/
Web site of the statewide advocacy and policy organization dedicated to strengthening the Latino community.

Poll Shows Opinions Differ About Same-Sex Marriage, Civil Unions
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/109080/
Report on a February 2004 statewide poll conducted by Elon University.

Complete one of the following:

Option 1
What do you think is the most pressing civil rights issue in North Carolina or the United States today? Why? State your case on the workshop’s Bulletin Board.

Option 2
What do your students think is the most pressing civil rights issue in North Carolina or the United States today? What would they do to improve the situation? Develop a lesson plan or larger project to find out their answers.

Submit your lesson plan via e-mail to jessica.humphries@ncmail.net.

Option 3
Does the term civil rights applies only to racial groups or to any group denied equality? Is equality under the law a civil right or a human (constitutional) right for people with disabilities, immigrants, older Americans, and other groups? Create a lesson plan in which your students define civil rights. Tailor it to the grade level and subject you teach.

Submit your list via e-mail to jessica.humphries@ncmail.net.