A NY DREAM that Costs Less than a Slice of Pizza
The cost of a slice of pizza is $1.99. For the average tax payer, the New York State DREAM Act wouldn’t even cost this much. It is a small price to pay for a bill that would provide all New York students, regardless of immigration status, equal access to state financial aid for college.
According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, the DREAM Act would cost the New York State Tuition Assistance Program an estimated $17 million. This may seem like a large sum, but it is only 2% of the annual state education budget. To put this number into perspective, people who earn an income of $60,000-$75,000 would contribute an extra $1.34 in taxes annually. Folks who earn $100,000-$200,000 would contribute an extra $3.44 in taxes. Those who earn around $20,000 would contribute an extra 8 cents in taxes.
In return for these few extra dollars, students will not only be able to afford a college education, but also be able to more fully contribute back to their communities. As stated by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a bachelor’s degree increases the median earned income of a New York State worker by $25,000 per year. Higher incomes also means higher taxes paid to state and local governments. In sum, for the price of a slice of pizza, we will be educating students who will be able to contribute back boxes of pizza a year.
Ultimately, the question of whether or not to pass the New York State DREAM Act should not be solely based on a cost-benefit analysis. Passage of this legislation will help DREAMers like Kim who was brought from South Korea to New York at the age of 8 by her single mother who wanted a better life for her daughter. They have relatives in New York who are U.S. citizens and green card holders to sponsor them but because of delays in our dysfunctional immigration system they have been undocumented for the past 12 years. With all her close family and friends in New York, Kim cannot imagine calling any other place home. Kim sees herself as an American and her American dream is to one day become an immigration lawyer.
To those who argue that there is no point in educating undocumented students because they will not be able to get a real job upon graduation, she says, “If I had listened to those people, I wouldn’t have done anything with my life. I found out that I was undocumented during my senior year of high school, but I never let that interfere with my education. Even though I have had to work multiple jobs to pay for college, I think going to college is worthwhile because a college education is not just about getting a job. Being a college student is what I am. At this stage in my life, it helps me feel like I am no different my peers.”
Kim’s story is not an uncommon one in New York. According to the Urban Institute, 86% of immigrant families are of mixed status with a combination of green card holders, citizens and undocumented individuals. Parents strive to get naturalized, but sometimes in the process, something goes wrong or the children age out and as a result, become undocumented. Despite these difficult circumstances, students like Kim do not give up on their college education because having a college degree will help them realize their goals.
All of us at one point were dreamers with hopes to one day become a culinary chef, a doctor or even an ambassador. We ask you to look back at your high school years when your future seemed wide-open with endless possibilities. Now we ask you to imagine graduating high school only to face a brick wall. To realize that you cannot afford college and that the only jobs available to you are at the corner grocery stores because you lack a nine digit social security number.
We ask Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Skelos and Assembly Speaker Silver this question: is the cost of a slice of pizza too high to help these students realize their dreams?
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The MinKwon Center for Community Action is a non-profit based in Flushing, Queens that works to empower and serve the Korean American, Asian American and immigrant communities of New York City. We view young people as potential leaders, both now and in the future. Our Youth Empowerment Program provides the opportunity for local Asian-American high school and college students to develop the social, life, and leadership skills that will allow them to become assets to the community, by educating them on critical issues and having them organize their own advocacy campaigns on behalf of the community.
http://www.minkwon.org/
My relationship with a certain pickled cabbage, you could say, is complicated. Kimchee became symbolic of my Korean identity, for obvious reasons and otherwise. But my personal journey mirrors the evolution of the Korean American experience overall, too.
My father was on a plane to where America's day begins, the day my life was about to start in 1986. I'm told my mother was in labor at a Seoul hospital, while appa was en route to Guam. He once told me I am synoymous to his leap of faith that we could have a better life away from my place of birth. Of course, I'd still grow up eating kimchee on an island, two thousand miles southeast of the motherland.
Kimchee is made via fermentation - much like beer, sauerkraut and yogurt. My maternal grandmother in the small, southern city of Jinju used to store kimchee in those traditional jars. Sometimes, we would dare to sneak in kimchee through our travel bags through airports on our visits back and forth from Korea - but the security guards knew. They could smell it, and in the nineties, they just let us pass. I mean, it wasn't going to pose any real danger! Do you remember when some crazy Koreans claimed they didn't get the SARS virus back in 2003 because their immune systems were hardened by kimchee? You can even learn to make your own kimchi, a la blog recipe. Nowadays, everyone's got a H-mart around the corner and a kimchee fridge in the kitchen. Most people who live in cities have likely seen the likes of the reddened, garlicky vegetable. In all cases, they say it's good to have a healthy dose of chili pepper in your system, much like it's good to watch scary movies to let out a scream. For me, it served as a lesson I would never forget.
For the most part, I don't remember what I exactly ate for lunch at school when I was little. I would take my quarters to the snack shop for a popsicle during recess on a hot day (it was almost always hot) at my private school on Guam. My childhood on the island was filled with lunar new year celebrations, barbeques called fiestas and chicken wings by the pool - a little bit of everything, and looking back, I loved it. And as a foodie (or fat fourth grader) I've had many a good meals, yet one memory sticks out like a sore thumb - a particular lunch period in third grade.
It was ticking closer and closer to 12:15 p.m. My teacher asked, "what's that smell?" I knew in my heart - my quietly but quickly pounding heart - it was the pungent kimchee my mom had packed for me inside my lunch pail. Why, as guilt and shame creeped into my consciousness, I thought, couldn't she have given me a baloney sandwich with carrots instead? When it came time to let out a Pandora's box and open the kimchee compartment, my teacher either asked or told (it's almost hard to remember since I may have tried to block this memory) to go outside the classroom and eat on the bench instead. I was stunned, but being the good tiger daughter I was, obeyed. Amazingly, a few of my classmates felt sorry and joined me. It wasn't until I came home and told my mom the story did I realize at a young age what audacity the teacher had! My angered father went to the principal of what's actually quite a diverse school and so forth came an apology.
Not the stellar student before, I made straight A's that year. My parents started believing in me, too - and so the dreams of becoming a fashion designer were gone. Lawyer? Doctor? Well since then, I also became an honor student and graduated from not one, but two, Ivy League universities. Something to make my parents doubly proud! But, I think I found a part of my voice that third grade day. Sure, I didn't speak up to my teacher (I was meek or respectful, no doubt) but discovered how much words could mean to a person, how much they could make a difference in someone's life. So, I also become a leader throughout my young life. A president of one club or another, a writer for the local newspaper - and now, a local broadcaster who speaks up at 6 p.m. on the tube, sometimes for those who might not have a voice. I hope that my ability to empathize with others make me a good journalist.
Like the smell of kimchee though, the embarrassment from that day lingers. But again, I think that's when I learned that I could stand for something and became acutely aware of my culture, upbringing and heritage. Sure in high school I would only eat kimchee in the morning then ask my mom to bring Burger King for lunch but I still crave it - no red pepper flakes, tabasco or ginger can replace that red, fermented vegetable. They say kimchee is healthy for you, like doses of humility and life experiences. Through the years, I developed a bold personality after that incident. I'll have kimchee with my pizza, so what?!
Now kimchee has become an ingredient in Asian American fusion cuisine. From what I ate growing up - kimchee soup with spam, kimchee fried rice with spam (the obsession with spam will have to hold for another story) to what's nouveau now - kimchee tartar sauce. But change is interesting, mixing things up can be good. And Koreans, as well as kimchee in America, is here to stay, in one form or another.
