Should Felons Be Allowed To Vote?

Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote After They Have Served Their Time?

By MICHAEL GONCHAR

Almost six million Americans have been stripped of their right to vote — many for the rest of their lives. Most states prohibit prisoners in jail from voting, but some states bar felons from ever voting, even decades after they are released, unless they receive clemency from the governor. Felonies can include violent crimes like murder and assault, but also nonviolent crimes like tax evasion, drug dealing and check fraud.

Should people convicted of felonies ever be allowed to vote?

In “Holder Urges States to Lift Bans on Felons’ Voting,” Matt Apuzzo writes:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. called Tuesday for the repeal of laws that prohibit millions of felons from voting, underscoring the Obama administration’s determination to elevate issues of criminal justice and race in the president’s second term and create a lasting civil rights legacy.

In a speech at Georgetown University, Mr. Holder described today’s prohibitions — which in some cases bar those convicted from voting for life — as a vestige of the racist policies of the South after the Civil War, when states used the criminal justice system to keep blacks from fully participating in society.

“Those swept up in this system too often had their rights rescinded, their dignity diminished, and the full measure of their citizenship revoked for the rest of their lives,” Mr. Holder said. “They could not vote.”

Mr. Holder has no authority to enact the changes he called for, given that states establish the rules under which people can vote.

The Times Editorial Board also weighs in on the subject in “6 Million Americans Without a Voice”:

The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy, yet nearly six million Americans are denied that right, in many cases for life, because they have been convicted of a crime. Some states disenfranchise more than 7 percent of their adult citizens. …

State laws that disenfranchise people who have served their time “defy the principles — of accountability and rehabilitation — that guide our criminal justice policies,” Mr. Holder said in urging state lawmakers to repeal them. “By perpetuating the stigma and isolation imposed on formerly incarcerated individuals, these laws increase the likelihood they will commit future crimes.”

NOW YOU GO: Read both articles, then tell us …

— Should people convicted of felonies ever be allowed to vote?

— Does someone give up the right to participate in our democracy by committing a felony at any point in life? For example, passing a $100 bad check carries a lifetime ban from voting in Mississippi. Does that seem right or fair?

— After prisoners are released from jail and have fulfilled the terms of their parole, have they paid their debt to society? Should they be given a second chance to the rights of being a citizen?

— In Florida, Kentucky and Virginia, more than one in five African-Americans cannot vote because of a conviction. Mr. Holder said that today’s prohibitions “echo policies enacted during a deeply troubled period in America’s past — a time of post-Civil War repression” — when states kept freed blacks from fully participating in society. What is your response to Mr. Holder’s comments?

— What argument do you think someone could make to support a lifetime ban on voting for felons? Do you think those arguments are persuasive? Why?

Parents' Expectations

Do Parents Have Different Hopes and Standards for Their Sons Than for Their Daughters?

By MICHAEL GONCHAR

Parents want all their children, whether they are boys or girls, to be happy and successful. Yet a recent study of Internet search data suggests that American parents do in fact hold different expectations for their children based on sex. For one, they want their boys to be smarter and their girls skinnier.

What is your experience? Do mothers and fathers have different hopes and standards for their sons than for their daughters?

In the Opinion article “Google, Tell Me. Is My Son a Genius?,” Seth Stephens-Davidowitz writes:

More than a decade into the 21st century, we would like to think that American parents have similar standards and similar dreams for their sons and daughters. But my study of anonymous, aggregate data from Google searches suggests that contemporary American parents are far more likely to want their boys smart and their girls skinny.

It’s not that parents don’t want their daughters to be bright or their sons to be in shape, but they are much more focused on the braininess of their sons and the waistlines of their daughters.

Start with intelligence. It’s hardly surprising that parents of young children are often excited at the thought that their child may be gifted. In fact, of all Google searches starting “Is my 2-year-old,” the most common next word is “gifted.” But this question is not asked equally about young boys and young girls. Parents are two and a half times more likely to ask “Is my son gifted?” than “Is my daughter gifted?” Parents show a similar bias when using other phrases related to intelligence that they may shy away from saying aloud, like, “Is my son a genius?”

Are parents picking up on legitimate differences between young girls and boys? Perhaps young boys are more likely than young girls to use big words or otherwise show objective signs of giftedness? Nope. If anything, it’s the opposite. At young ages, when parents most often search about possible giftedness, girls have consistently been shown to have larger vocabularies and use more complex sentences. In American schools, girls are 11 percent more likely than boys to be in gifted programs. Despite all this, parents looking around the dinner table appear to see more gifted boys than girls.

NOW YOU GO: Read the entire article, then tell us …

• Do parents hope for different things for their sons and daughters?
• Do mothers and fathers hold different standards for girls and boys? Do they want their sons to be smarter? And their daughters skinnier?
• Do parents treat their children differently based on their sex? Do you feel you are treated differently than your siblings because of gender? In what ways?
• If you are a parent someday, will you have different hopes and standards for your sons and daughters? Why?

Do You Apologize Too Much?

By SHANNON DOYNE

Most of us say things like “um,” “you know” and “like” as meaningless conversational filler, but in a recent essay, one woman writes in The Times about realizing how often she said “sorry” — and how she broke the habit.

Do you apologize constantly without noticing you’re doing it? Do you know others with this habit?

In the article “How to Suppress the Apology Reflex,” Audrey S. Lee writes:

I would often start and end my conversations with the word “sorry” — sorry for bothering you, sorry for the bad news, sorry this issue came up, sorry for asking questions.

As the youngest girl in the family, I felt that I didn’t have as much to offer as my elders, and that what I had to say wasn’t worth a whole lot. Blame and shame usually trickled down the hierarchy in my family, and usually landed at my feet. A broken vase? Spilled milk? Mistakes? All eyes were on me. So from early on, I started apologizing first, just to get it out of the way. I found that it often mitigated heated situations.

But that approach didn’t work as well when I entered the workplace, especially in my job at a high-tech company where I had to interact with many teams and senior managers. I remember skulking around corners on the way to my boss’s door and then knocking sheepishly:

“Very sorry to interrupt you. Can I ask a question about this project? Sorry.”

“Sure come in. No need to apologize.”

“O.K. Sorry.”

I heard similar reassurances from a product manager, who told me that I should stand up for myself and stop apologizing. And, finally, I heard this exclamation from an executive: “Stop saying ‘sorry’! You don’t need to unless you really did do something wrong, O.K.? The team and customers will think that you aren’t confident when you always apologize!”

Change didn’t happen right away. It took a long time to internalize their message. Much of one’s worth is equated to compensation and promotions in the workplace. And for years, bringing up these topics and taking credit for my own work were still uncomfortable and even embarrassing.

…As I examined my background and core values, I discovered that having a perpetually apologetic stance didn’t necessarily represent true humility. I found that I could offer an honest self-portrait without being arrogant, so others would see how I could make a difference. This was a style of confidence that felt congruent and authentic to me. The process of self-examination gave me a framework that has allowed me to go outside my comfort zone and to work in an increasingly diverse workplace.

Now You Go: Read the entire article, then tell us …

• Have you ever been in the situation Ms. Lee describes, either as the speaker or listener?
• Why do you think some people fall into the habit of constantly saying they are sorry?
• What are the drawbacks to this habit? Can you think of good things about it?
• What are your own bad speech habits? Have you ever broken yourself of one? How?
• What do you think speech habits like this say about us? Why?
• How do you know when an apology is truly in order?

Who Does Hip-Hop Belong To?

By MICHAEL GONCHAR

After Sunday’s Grammy Awards, Macklemore sent a public apology via text to Kendrick Lamar, whom he had just beaten out for best rap album. Macklemore, who is white, bested four black musicians, including Mr. Lamar, in winning his award in this historically black music genre. Should Macklemore be apologizing? Did he “rob” the other award contenders? Is this just another example of whites appropriating and profiting from historically black music, as some might sayElvis Presley and other early rock ’n’ roll musicians did in the 1950s? Can music transcend race or ethnicity to belong to its fans? Or is our history too scarred by inequality?

Who does hip-hop belong to?

In the article “Finding a Place in the Hip-Hop Ecosystem,” Jon Caramanica writes about Macklemore’s text, and the complex context in which it lives.

A couple of hours after the Grammys on Sunday night, Macklemore sent a text to Kendrick Lamar, whom he had just beaten out for best rap album.

“You got robbed,” the text read. “I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird.” He added, “I robbed you.”

As a private act, this was a love letter, a way for an artist to honor a peer. As a public act — Macklemore posted an image of the text on his Instagram account, although it’s unclear whether it was with Mr. Lamar’s knowledge — it was a cleansing and an admission of guilt. Not only did Macklemore want to show respect to his fellow rapper, he wanted the world to know that he understands his place in the hip-hop ecosystem and that he is still careful where he steps.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, the Seattle duo that has spent the last year upending the rules about how hip-hop interacts with mainstream pop, won four Grammys on Sunday night, for best new artist and in three rap categories (best performance and best song for “Thrift Shop” and best album for “The Heist”).

The rap awards were the most tortured, for artists and observers alike. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have experienced a very peculiar sort of hip-hop fame, one that has little to do with approval from the center of hip-hop, and it has unfolded largely without black gatekeepers, a traditional hallmark of white rappers through the years. Instead Macklemore & Ryan Lewis jumped straight from the independent hip-hop underground to the pop charts, which has left them scrambling to shore up their bona fides retroactively.

So when he bests Mr. Lamar — and Jay Z, Drake and Kanye West — for a rap award, he makes sure he kisses the ring. “I robbed you” is a strikingly powerful phrase in this context: a white artist muscling into a historically black genre, essentially uninvited, and taking its laurel. This is the entire cycle of racial borrowing in an environment of white privilege in a nutshell: black art, white appropriation, white guilt, repeat until there’s nothing left to appropriate.

Now You Go: Read the entire article, then tell us …

• Who does hip-hop belong to?
• Are white artists who prosper in hip-hop robbing from black musicians? Or is music fair game for all true fans?
• Is the history of white privilege — think of Elvis Presley and the birth of rock ’n’ roll in the 1950s — continuing with Macklemore’s Grammy Award for best rap album?
• Should Macklemore be apologizing? Is his apology sincere? Is it appropriate?
• Can rap music ever transcend race and class? Or is it too indelibly tied to black urban culture?