“Straight Outta Compton” is still #1 at the box office after three weeks. The film is striking a cord with Americans — particularly young Americans — for reasons beyond iconic music and good filmmaking.
It gives mainstream audiences a glimpse of some of the harsh realities of the economic challenges facing young black Americans and the shortfalls of our criminal justice system.
Instead of denying that these racial problems exist, our elected leaders and 2016 candidates ought to show they have real answers for these at-risk communities. Instead of ignoring or even fighting the #BlackLivesMatter movement, our leaders should champion new policies to empower those who have struggled in America for generations.
With black youth unemployment at 27 percent, Senator Bernie Sanders is running on a $5.5 billion plan to create temporary government jobs for those unemployed young people. But a temporary spending program is not the sort of permanent change this community needs.
Any effective effort to uplift this population must include education reform, long-term economic development and criminal justice reform.
On education, we can increase graduation rates and performance by introducing school choice and voucher programs, giving parents an option of where to send their children. The largest known test of this type of program worked and received bipartisan praise: The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.
Kevin Chavous, a Democratic former Washington D.C. Council member and chairman of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, has praised the results and said the vouchers were “making a difference for students who need our help the most.”
Studies show that the low-income, predominantly black students in the D.C. program have a graduation rate 12 percent higher than those not able to use the vouchers, and also achieved measurable improvements in their test scores. Parents were also significantly more satisfied with the safety of their children. This program should be used as a model for cities across the nation.
Beyond education, we need to bring economic development and jobs to struggling communities. Instead of using government spending for temporary jobs, the best way to encourage businesses to move into depressed areas is to create economic freedom zones.
The basic concept of economic freedom zones is to slash business and income taxes in localities with high unemployment, providing a strong incentive for job creators to move to these areas.
We have seen crude versions of this policy work when sports stadiums relocate to impoverished areas. Localities offer money or massive tax breaks to the team, and in many cases the economy in the area surrounding the stadium flourishes. But instead of governments favoring one business — which can easily turn into cronyism — economic freedom zones offer these opportunities to all businesses and individuals.
Ultimately, the power of entrepreneurialism is the true cure for poverty, and these policies unleash that ingenuity. Using education and the modern digital economy, young people can become instant entrepreneurs if given the tools to succeed.
But in order for that to happen, America must pass serious criminal justice reform. We have to break the cycle of incarceration so non-violent offenders can reenter the workforce as productive members of society. Too many breadwinners land in prison for long sentences with mandatory minimums because they have no avenues available to make an honest living.
Here are a few reforms to make our system fairer: Allow judges to expunge the records of non-violent criminals so they can find jobs; allow judges to have discretion on mandatory minimums, and restore voting rights to all non-violent felons.
These reforms, along with new economic development and education laws, would empower vulnerable communities and depart from many of the stale “war on poverty” programs. Temporary government assistance programs have failed to fix the decades-long stagnation in these communities.
When looking at the 2016 field, Americans should support leaders who are willing to try new ideas — not just retreads of the same failed approach. Our leaders have the chance to make millions of lives better if they commit to engaging these impoverished communities, acknowledging their hardships and working together with them to enact a new platform for economic empowerment.
Charlie Kirk is the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
