Odetta MacLeish-White
Florida leader and affordable housing advocate
March 2006

Overview: In the March 2006 FIVE QUESTIONS interview, Florida leader Odetta MacLeish-White offers views on challenges and opportunities to improve political participation among Americans, particularly among Southern women. Media organizations are encouraged to reprint the interview in full or part.

BETTER SOUTH: Across the South, political participation is relatively dismal. In most states, only about 25 percent of the people who can vote actually go to the polls. What can be done to boost political participation -- and why is it important to do so?

ODETTA MACLEISH-WHITE: Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to hear Elie Wiesel speak at the University of Florida. He spoke to the audience about personal responsibility, and he explained that the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Informed political participation is so important because when we examine issues and vote, we become invested in the actions and principles of the people we elect to office.

Mr. Wiesel also commended the 21st century to the young people of the world, and it is they who must be convinced that voting and civic engagement is an enjoyable duty. However if we are to engage young citizens, we have to share balanced information with them and allow conversations to range into opinions that may be personally uncomfortable. Finally, I believe it is crucial that citizens bridge the gap between themselves and their local elected officials. Local elections bring to life the connection between every day existence and the people who sit as commissioners or councilmen and women. Working on a campaign, listening to a candidate formulate a platform or participating in a candidate's forum reveals that politics is close, personal and intensely interesting.

BETTER SOUTH: Mr. Wiesel's message surely is important, but we worry about getting through to people about the power of political participation. What practical steps can Southern leaders take to improve participation? In other words, what can be done beyond sharing information to get more people to the polls?

MACLEISH-WHITE: Persuading people to turn out for voting will only happen if they feel that the issues are compelling and personal. People must feel that their daily lives are touched by the decisions of their elected officials. Then we have to show that we think about the challenges of their daily lives. Early voting in convenient locations allows citizens who can't get to the polls on a Tuesday the chance to cast their ballot over the weekend. Address transportation needs - church vans, hired buses and carpools should be provided to take voters to their polling place. We need to take some of the mystery out of the voting process - the League of Women Voters has a Five Things You Should Know palm card that explains the process of casting a ballot, and your rights as a voter.

I think the bottom line is that getting people out to the polls is grassroots activism at its best. It requires lots of people putting in many hours to try and touch people individually and overcome, on a case by case basis, the obstacles that discourage that one person from making it to the voting booth.

BETTER SOUTH: OK, let's move to another subject. What's the greatest challenge faced by Southern states in your viewpoint. And what would you suggest should be done about it?

MACLEISH-WHITE: I think the greatest challenge faced by Southern states is equalizing the educational opportunities across the region. There are public school systems in the South which, while they are doing the very best they can, are not providing their students with the education that will prepare them for either the global economy that rewards higher education and computer proficiency or the skilled labor industry of construction workers, plumbers, electricians who do the work that I know I would happily pay to not have to do.

This gap in education only fuels the widening gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" in our country. It also hardens the generational poverty that afflicts so many - if the parents are not able to educate themselves into a better school district their children's education only prepares them to repeat their parents' struggles.

The school district in Wake County, North Carolina, began using income as a factor in assigning students to schools in 2000. Its goal was to limit the proportion of low income students in any school to no more than 40 percent. This is known as economic integration. Some impressive increases resulted among Hispanic and African American students, who now had the chance to experience well-staffed and well-resourced schools.

While this effort has not gone without challenges and criticism, it is an out-of-the-box idea and the children who have benefited from a better education have been helped in a truly transformative way. Cities and counties in other states (Wisconsin, Florida, California, Massachusetts) are now trying this approach.

Housing developments, specifically affordable multifamily developments, also offer an untapped opportunity to touch the lives of children who need more one on one attention then they are likely to get in a crowded public school. Many affordable housing developments must offer programming to stay in compliance with federal and state funding programs. Tutoring, statewide test preparation, and homework assistance in the clubhouses of these properties brings the help right to the family's doorstep.

I don't want my answer to give the impression that I think America's public schools are failing all the time or across the board. We know they are not. But there are still large pockets of serious educational disadvantage and, if they do not shrink, the South will not be able to move past the fact that many people are too tired and consumed with just getting by to think about other political issues.

BETTER SOUTH: How would you describe the participation of women both as candidates and voters in the modern South?

MACLEISH-WHITE: I just heard Taylor Branch, author of a trilogy biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., speaking to a group in California and he mentioned that women were the leaders of the civil right movement in every way, until a microphone appeared. Then it was all about the men.

In the modern South, I think women are undoubtedly more visible, more vocal, more involved in every level of campaigning and running for office in greater numbers. I also believe there was a time when a woman seeking elected office carried into her campaign and, if elected, her term of service the weight of certain social expectations and definitions - she was going to automatically care more about family and education issues, perhaps certain health care issues. This is not necessarily a bad thing. These issues affect a woman's children and her own physical well-being and such a personal connection bodes well for passionate and attentive advocacy. Today, it is much more common for a woman to run for office, particularly local seats, and they are winning which is a good thing. It also means the voter has to be more thoughtful in examining each candidate's positions. Women candidates, and voters, are taking more nuanced positions and cannot be as easily characterized as focused only on hearth and home issues.

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Engagement has some interesting statistics on youth voting in the 2004 Presidential election. The 2004 election saw greater increases in voting among single young people than among married ones, as turnout for single females age 18-24 increased 12 percentage points, or about a third, since 2000. Single young men also experienced a turnout gain of nearly 10 points, while both married men and women saw increases of closer to five points. Single men 18-24 also turned out more often than married women of the same age group for the first time since 1992. Surely married women are not less interested in the direction of the country. I think they are busier than ever, juggling careers and families and the expectations of doing so effortlessly. Getting to the polls or volunteering on a campaign will be dropped far down on the to-do list when there are deadlines to meet, rehearsals and practices to get to, food to prepare and somewhere in there, a woman's got to sleep.

BETTER SOUTH: What are the obstacles for women seeking political office in the South? Is there a non-partisan approach to remove barriers to participation as candidates?

MACLEISH-WHITE: Running for office is an intimidating thing to think about - running a campaign is not a family friendly activity as it demands evening hours and weekends to walk neighborhoods and attend community meetings, total strangers can ask you to justify your positions and opinions and then you have to ask these strangers for money. Your opponents may take a mudslinging approach which, whether you choose to respond or not, can be upsetting and hurtful. Winning means more long hours and more scrutiny. Then there is the mystery of the whole endeavor - setting up a campaign office, filing to run, observing a myriad of campaign finance rules, preparing for debates, establishing your own platform.

The best non-partisan approach to removing barriers to running for office would start with offering regular workshops for women who are thinking about running. Some local League of Women Voters chapters have had great success with these. The workshop topics cover the spectrum of issues a first time candidate has to think about - developing a volunteer base, raising money, creating a platform.

If someone developed a replicable model for this kind of workshop, including a sustainable funding source to pay for renting space, copying materials, advertising, and food, it could be offered to groups all over the South, both non-partisan and partisan. It would have to be focused on the kind of information every candidate needs to know, regardless of party affiliation - a kind of "Running for Office 101".

Ultimately, a person should run for office from a profound belief that they can help their community from the position of elected official. Women may feel that there are so many ways to contribute to their community - serve on the PTA, support the library, volunteer at church - that the hassles of running for office finally outweigh the potential for making a difference. I'm not sure how to overcome this mentality, other than to peel away the mystery of the situation and allow a woman to "see" herself in that world.

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ABOUT THE FIVE QUESTIONS SERIES

In the Center for a Better South's Five Questions project, staff members to pose challenging questions to Southern leaders for their views on how to deal with public policy issues.

Republication encouraged. Media organizations are encouraged to reprint the Five Questions interview on editorial pages to stimulate conversation and provide people living in the South with a new way of looking at things. No reprint permission is needed, but the Center would appreciate informal e-mail notification of any reprints. Please contact us at: info@bettersouth.org for any questions or comments.

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