There Goes My Social Life (22 page)

May my story encourage all Americans—no matter their color, sex, background, or political persuasion—to gather up the small amount of courage it takes to open their mouths and use the liberty purchased for us with blood.

Sure, it might impact your social life. But it also might take you places you never dreamt possible.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
never knew how much went into making a book!

A big thanks to these people for making my first literary experience so much fun: Regnery publisher Marji Ross and editor in chief Harry Crocker; Elizabeth Kantor, my wonderful editor; Maria Ruhl, my excellent copy editor; John Caruso, for the great jacket design; Henry Pereira, who made the pages look good; Deborah Anderson, for a cover photo I love.

And to my collaborator Nancy French, for believing in my story and helping me tell it.

I'd also like to thank my agent Chris Park for her hard work finding just the right home for this book. I couldn't have done it without you.

A big thank you to Gina Benavidez, who takes care of everything—you are like family to me.

To Patrick, for making this possible.

To Austin and Lola, for showing me what love looks like. I love you more than you will ever know—you've made my life complete.

NOTES

THREE: WHY BLACK PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE REPUBLICAN EVERY TIME

  
1
.
    
Steve Berman, “ESPN's Stephen A. Smith: Why Every Black Person in America Should Vote Republican for 1 Election,” BizPac Review, March 19, 2015,
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2015/03/19/espns-stephen-a-smith-why-every-black-person-in-americashould-vote-republican-for-1-election-188128
; see also Trent Baker, “ESPN's Stephen A. Smith: For One Election, Every Black Person Should Vote Republican,” Breitbart, March 18, 2015,
http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/03/18/espns-stephen-asmith-for-one-election-every-black-person-should-voterepublican/
.

FIVE: THE DECISION MAKER

  
1
.
    
Drug Policy Alliance, “Drug War Statistics,” no date,
http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics
.

  
2
.
    
Matt Taylor, “The War on Weed: Still Expensive, Racist, and Failed,” Vice, June 4, 2013,
http://www.vice.com/read/the-war-on-weed-stillexpensive-racist-and-failed
.

  
3
.
    
Emily Badger, “The Meteoric, Costly, and Unprecedented Rise of Incarceration in America,”
Washington Post
, April 30, 2014,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2014/04/30/the-meteoric-costly-and-unprecedented-rise-of-incarceration-inamerica/
.

  
4
.
    
Tygen Tsai and Paola Scommegna, “U.S. Has World's Highest Incarceration Rate,” Population Reference Bureau, August 2012,
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/us-incarceration.aspx
.

SIX: EDUCATION, THE GREAT INTEGRATOR

  
1
.
    
“Youth More Likely to Be Bullied at Schools with Anti-Bullying Programs, UT Arlington Researcher Finds,” University of Texas Arlington News Center, September 12, 2013,
https://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2013/09/jeong-bullying.php
; Allie Bidwell, “Study: Anti-Bullying Programs May Have Opposite Effect,”
U
.
S
.
News
&
World Report
, September 13, 2013,
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/09/13/study-anti-bullying-programs-mayhave-opposite-effect
.

  
2
.
    
Ibid.

  
3
.
    
“A Playbook for the Youngest Learners: Educators and Policymakers Work to Assure a Strong Start and Sustained Momentum from Preschool Onward,”
Education Week
, January 2, 2015,
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/01/08/a-playbook-for-the-youngest-learners.html?intc=EW-QC15-LFTNAV
.

  
4
.
    
Reid Wilson, “Education Spending Balloons, but Students in Some States Get More Money than Others,”
Washington Post
, January 26, 2014,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/01/26/education-spending-balloons-but-students-in-some-states-get-more-money-than-others/
.

  
5
.
    
“The Nation's Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress 2012,” National Center for Education Statistics, June 2013,
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2012/2013456.aspx
.

  
6
.
    
Philip Elliot, “Study: US Education Spending Tops Global List,” Associated Press, June 25, 2013,
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/study-us-education-spending-tops-global-list
.

  
7
.
    
Erika Johnsen, “The DOJ Drops Its Suit against Louisiana's School Voucher Program, Kind Of. Not Really,” Hot Air, November 19, 2013,
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/11/19/the-doj-drops-its-suit-against-louisiana-school-choice-program-kind-of-not-really/
.

  
8
.
    
Hollie McKay, “Stacey Dash: The Obama Administration Is ‘A Bunch of Bullies,'” Fox News, September 27, 2013,
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/09/27/stacey-dash-obama-administration-is-bunch-bullies/
.

  
9
.
    
W. Bradford Wilcox and Elizabeth Marquardt, “The State of Our Unions 2010: When Marriage Disappears,” The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and the Center for Marriage and Families at Institute for American Values, 2010,
http://stateofourunions.org/2010/SOOU2010.php
.

10
.
    
Fifty-four percent of all births to never-married women between fifteen and fourty-four years old. Ibid.

11
.
    
Nick Schulz,
Home Economics
:
The Consequences of Changing Family Structure
(AEI Press, 2013), 17.

12
.
    
Jason L. Riley, “Race Relations and Law Enforcement,”
Imprimis
44 (January 2015): 1,
http://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/race-relations-and-law-enforcement/
.

13
.
    
Ibid.

14
.
    
Eduardo Porter, “A Simple Equation: More Education = More Income,”
New York Times
, September 10, 2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/business/economy/a-simple-equation-more-education-more-income.html
.

15
.
    
“11 Facts about Education and Poverty in America,” DoSomething. org, no date,
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-education-and-poverty-america
.

16
.
    
“Earnings and Unemployment Rates by Educational Attainment,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2, 2015,
http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm
.

17
.
    
Katie Furtick, “Annual Privatization Report 2014: Education,” Reason Foundation, April 2014,
http://reason.org/files/apr-2014-education.pdf
.

18
.
    
Greg Foster, “A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on School Choice,” Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, April 13,
http://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2013-4-A-Win-Win-Solution-WEB.pdf
.

19
.
    
Ibid.

20
.
    
“Teachers Union Exposed: Protecting Bad Teachers,” Center for Union Facts, 2015,
http://teachersunionexposed.com/protecting.php
.

21
.
    
“Use of Dues for Politics,” Center for Union Facts, 2015,
https://www.unionfacts.com/article/political-money/
.

SEVEN: THE POWER OF FAMILY

  
1
.
    
Nancy A. French, “New Study: Casual Sex Depresses Teens, Raises Risk of Suicide,” Rare, December 3, 2013,
http://rare.us/story/new-study-casual-sex-depresses-teens-raises-risk-of-suicide/#2zZu2hCdxKW5TKmi.99
.

EIGHT: SEARCHING FOR A FAIRY TALE

  
1
.
    
“American Community Survey, 2007–2009,” U.S. Bureau of the Census, at
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_09_3YR_S1702&prodType=table
, from Robert Rector, “Marriage: America's Greatest Weapon against Child Poverty,” The Heritage Foundation, September 5, 2012,
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/marriage-americas-greatest-weapon-against-child-poverty#_ftn1
.

  
2
.
    
James Alan Fox and Richard Moran, “Sex Assault Surveys Not the Answer: Column,”
USA Today
, August 10, 2014,
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/08/10/sexual-assault-rapesurvey-college-campus-column/13864551/
; Christopher P. Krebs, Christine H. Lindquist, Tara D. Warner, Bonnie S. Fisher, and Sandra L. Martin, “The Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) Study: Final Report,” Department of Justice, December 2007,
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/221153.pdf
.

  
3
.
    
Christina Hoff Somers, “5 Feminist Myths That Will Not Die,”
Time
, September 2, 2014,
http://time.com/3222543/5-feministmyths-that-will-not-die/
.

  
4
.
    
Ibid.

  
5
.
    
Katie Sanders, “Mika Brzezinski Repeats Myth That Super Bowl Sunday Has ‘Highest Rate of Domestic Violence,'” PolitiFact, September 18, 2014,
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/18/mika-brzezinski/mika-brzezinski-repeatsmyth-super-bowl-sunday-has/
.

NINE: LIFE AND DEATH

  
1
.
    
“History,” Colt Manufacturing, 2015,
http://www.colt.com/Company/History.aspx/
.

  
2
.
    
Michael A. Memoli, “Eric Holder: Gun Lobby ‘Simply Won' by Killing Sandy Hook Reforms,”
Los Angeles Times
, February 8, 2015,
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-holder-guns-20150208-story.html
.

  
3
.
    
David French, “My Family's Safety Is More Important than San Francisco's Crazy Gun Laws,”
National Review
, June 10, 2015,
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/419572/san-francisco-gunlaws?target=author&tid=1048
.

TWELVE: YOU SHALL TWEET THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

  
1
.
    
“Who Doesn't Pay Federal Taxes?,” Tax Policy Center, no date,
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/federal-taxe-shouseholds.cfm
.

THIRTEEN: LOVE

  
1
.
    
Jesse Washington, “Blacks Struggle with 72 Percent Unwed Mothers Rate: Debate Is Growing inside and outside the Black Community on How to Address the Rising Issue,” NBC News, November 7, 2010,
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39993685/ns/health-womens_health/t/blacks-struggle-percent-unwedmothers-rate/#.VUpuxxPF-rw
.