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IISSSSNN ## 1155225511229922  VVOOLL.. ## 115552  NNOO.. 1XXTYKOUCTOUVBEERINLFILNUEENHCEERRES TKTKMELIEDCTTEIORNMSTTEEXEuVTiKdpeHoAsEf,YRirntEoeTrancKtivte amtlasBCaaOnEdgPaYlamWTaznHaRAci,TnaInTNdeEmTEu.ccDEhSmoNoTrmeOat MAUOGNUTSHT0209,, 22002212     $$55.1.515 THE NEWSMAGAZINE FOR TEENS www.upfrontmagazine.com AFTER THE WAR What has happened to Afghanistan since American troops left a year ago and the Taliban took over? p. 6 This is a deck in here p. 00 Caption TK in this space here Agnatus, es voles preius. Porem aut expelessit An Afghan mother and child beg for food on a road outside Kabul, Afghanistan, in January.

08.29.2022 upfrontmagazine.com Watch Online Advertising on social media 10 Features COVER STORY COVER: SCOTT PETERSON/GETTY IMAGES. CBC KIDS NEWS TOC ; NASA, ESA, CSA, AND STSCI COSMIC CLIFFS ; NORTHROP GRUMMAN/NASA JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE 6 Afghanistan One Year Later The Taliban takeover of this poor and long-struggling nation has meant a new round of hardships for Afghans, especially women. VIDEO ‘My Dreams Died’ MEDIA LITERACY 10 Your Favorite YouTube Star Is Trying to Sell You Something Influencers and companies are teaming up to market products to young people. Here’s what you need to know. VIDEO How Do Influencers Make Money? NATIONAL 12 Will Biden Pass His Midterms? The elections this November will decide which party controls Congress and shape the remainder of Joe Biden’s presidency. VIDEO Spring 2022 Harvard Youth Poll NATIONAL 16 Reclaiming Their Ancestors Colleges around the country have held on to the remains of Native Americans for centuries. Now Indigenous people are working to rebury them. VIDEO The Rematriation of Sophia Tetoff TIMES PAST 18 The Little Rock Nine When nine Black teenagers tried to integrate a high school in Arkansas 65 years ago, they came up against a vicious mob. PRIMARY SOURCE President Eisenhower’s speech DOWNLOAD Q&A with Carlotta Walls LaNier Departments 2 The Big Picture 4 News & Trends Moon crimes, the world’s most remote post o ce, who’s hitting the gym, and more 22 Debate Is it fair to pay teens less than adults? VOTE in our online debate 24 Cartoons Some lighter looks at the news Subscribe Write to us The James Webb Space Telescope is expected to orbit the sun for at least five years. Go to our website THE NEW YORK TIMES UPFRONT or call toll free: 557 BROADWAY • NEW YORK, NY 10012 [email protected] 1-800-SCHOLASTIC

This image, taken with the world’s most powerful telescope, shows stars forming 7,600 light-years away. That means the telescope is seeing what happened 7,600 years ago, so we’re actually peering back into the distant past. NASA says Webb will be able to see light emitted from stars and galaxies billions of years ago. A Star is BornTHEBIGPICTURE This glimpse into the cosmos is unlike anything capture an unprecedented amount of detail, and scientists humans have ever seen before. In July, NASA released plan to use it to study the first stars and galaxies, look for some of the striking first images taken by the James potentially habitable worlds, and uncover other secrets of Webb Space Telescope (inset), the most powerful and space. But right now, many people are just marveling over largest space observatory yet built. This image shows the the astonishing scale of these early images and what they Carina nebula, a vast, swirling cloud of dust about 7,600 might teach us about life on Earth. “We humans really are light-years away from Earth. There, you’ll find young stars connected to the universe,” says Amber Straughn, deputy that are just forming as well as some of the most luminous project scientist for the telescope. “We’re made out of the and explosive stars in the Milky Way. The Webb telescope— same stuff in this landscape.” For more about how our views which took 30 years and nearly $10 billion to make—can of space are changing, see News and Trends. • AUGUST 29, 2022 3

News&Trends Reported by Chrisanne Grisé and Lucia De Stefani, with additional reporting by Rebecca Zissou and The New York Times. SPACE ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES BERNARDIN; SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE BENJAMIN CHOI ; JULIE CLOPPER/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM SOUP CAN ; ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC./ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY ARS , NY; CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES MARILYN MONROE Moon Crimes? Canada is taking a stand against crime—in outer space. Politicians recently passed an amendment to the criminal code that allows the prosecution of crimes committed by Canadians on the moon. Although international treaties governing aspects of space do exist, experts say, they were written when few people expected to travel there. Now that flights are more frequent, more countries will likely follow Canada’s lead. The issue of space crime first came up in 2019, when a U.S. astronaut was accused of improperly accessing bank records while on the International Space Station. NASA cleared her of wrongdoing, but the case highlighted the need for stronger laws. “As humanity approaches a time when humans may realistically be living and working in space,” says Ram Jakhu, a law professor at McGill University, “an international centralized space governance system will be needed to bring all nations, individuals and institutional entities . . . under a common legal system and jurisdiction.” • Q&A Corner BY CHRISANNE GRISÉ Lending a Hand Benjamin Choi, of McLean, Virginia, once saw a report on 60 Minutes about a woman who controlled her prosthetic arm with her mind, using sensors implanted in her brain. Now Choi, 18, has invented a new mind-controlled arm that’s thousands of dollars cheaper and requires only sensors that stick to the head. His work earned him a spot as a finalist in this year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search. Q: Why did that 60 Minutes A: I went through like 75 Benjamin Choi report interest you? different iterations of the demonstrates how he controls A: I was really amazed by physical design, and the his prosthetic arm with his mind. the potential impact of code took probably a couple mind control technology, thousand hours. I would accessible option to people, A: I actually didn’t take any but I was also alarmed that race through my homework although there still are quite classes. Artificial intelligence it required this really risky so I could work on it. a few steps before I can get sounds complex, but there open brain surgery and that Q: What’s your goal? to that point. are so many tutorials and it was incredibly expensive. A: I’d love for this to be Q: How can other teens free online programs that Q: How long did it take to something that actual get involved in working will help you get started. make your prosthetic arm? amputees can use and it’s an with this technology? (This interview was edited and condensed for length and clarity.) $195 329 4,500 years million YEARS it took for lawmakers AGE of the world’s largest plant, PRICE Andy Warhol’s 1964 portrait of to pardon Elizabeth Johnson Jr., a sea grass recently discovered Marilyn Monroe fetched last spring. That’s the last woman to be exonerated off the coast of Australia. Experts the highest price ever for an American work after being wrongly accused in of art at auction. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES believe a meadow of 77 square miles 1693 of practicing witchcraft of the grass is all from one plant that during the Salem witch trials. has been cloning itself for millennia. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES 4 UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/GETTY IMAGES POST OFFICE ; ISTOCKPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES HAT ;Gentoo penguins The Dilemma BY PHILIP GALANES LJSPHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO GUITARIST ; HEMANSHI KAMANI/REUTERS WEIGHTLIFTING ;outside the post office SHUTTERSTOCK.COM ALL OTHER IMAGES on Goudier Island Dude, Where’s My Bandmate? COUNTRY The PenguinANTARCTICA Post O ce I play in a band. All of the bandmates are on a group Would you work at the world’s most remote post office? It’s text chat. One of our members—a guy who has been more than 700 miles from the nearest hospital, electricity is in the band for a long time—has stopped responding limited, and summer temperatures in the area can dip to 20 degrees to texts about practices, gigs, etc. When pressed Fahrenheit. Well, hundreds of people want to do just that. Each year, about his behavior, he retreats even further. How do the U.K. Antarctic Heritage Trust hires four postmasters to live on we handle this ghosting situation? We don’t want to Goudier Island in Antarctica from November to March, maintaining just give him the boot. —James the historic British site while serving thousands of tourists. Duties include sorting mail, selling stamps, greeting visitors, and collecting SOMETIMES when people have personal difficulties, environmental data, including tallying the number of local penguins. broadcasting them over group chat is uncomfortable. Working at the “Penguin Post Office” isn’t glamorous; there’s no If you haven’t yet, call or talk with your bandmate directly and ask how he’s doing. He may have a running water, internet, or cellphone reception, and the private explanation for his unresponsiveness, or team sleeps in bunk beds in a small lodge. But however he may simply have cooled on the band. It will be easier to figure out which it is one-on-one. harsh the conditions, applications came in this year from people all over the globe. This opportunity requires —Adapted from “Social Q’s” in hard work, says Sarah Blythe, communications and The New York Times Magazine engagement lead of the trust, but participants get a GuitarGrrrl chance to have a big impact on the island: “By working FWried’avye. gWohtearegiagreonyou? there, you are actively trying to protect, preserve, and share the stories of Antarctica heritage.” • RockerJim dDroumwme enre?ed a new HEALTH Who’s Hitting the Gym? This graph shows the percentage of people in selected countries who said they had a gym membership in the 12 months prior, according to a recent survey. Roughly 1 in 10 Americans said they paid for a membership. How do you think the Covid-19 pandemic might have affected those numbers? INDIA 24% SOUTH AFRICA 21% 20% CHINA 19% AUSTRALIA 14% UNITED KINGDOM 13% UNITED STATES 11% 10% GERMANY 9% CANADA 4% ITALY FRANCE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WITH GYM MEMBERSHIPS Pumping iron SOURCE: STATISTA GLOBAL CONSUMER SURVEY in Mumbai, India AUGUST 29, 2022 5

COVER STORY Afghans in Kandahar wait for food handouts in April. Afghanistan The Taliban takeover of this poor and long-struggling nation has meant She could hear the roller The Taliban, she was told at the gate, a picnic in the park today,” she says. coasters but not ride on had barred women from entering the Women’s exclusion from the park them. park during the holiday. To celebrate the end of on a day when men are allowed is the Muslim holy month of “We’re facing economic problems; among a growing list of restrictions things are expensive; we can’t find that Afghan women have faced under Ramadan in May, Zulhijjah Mirzadah, work; our daughters can’t go to the second era of Taliban rule. A few 25, had prepared a small picnic school—but we had hoped to have days before Mirzadah’s derailed family of dried fruit, packed UZBEKISTAN KYRGYZSTAN Afghanistan picnic, the Taliban had JAVED TANVEER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES KANDAHAR ; JIM MCMAHON MAP her five children into a decreed that women minibus, and navigated TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN At a Glance must cover themselves for two hours through head to toe when they the congested streets of Herat H I N(MDOUUNKTAUISNSH) CHINA Per Capita GDP venture outside their Afghanistan’s capital, INDIA $2,000 homes. The edict, which Kabul, to visit a bustling Kabul (U.S.: $60,200) also urged women to stay amusement park. ASIA home unless they had a IRAN AFGHANISTAN EUROPE Life Expectancy compelling reason to go The entrance was as 53.7 years out, followed soon after far as Mirzadah could get, Kandahar an order requiring women however—close enough to (U.S.: 80.6 years) who travel more than 45 hear the joyous screams of PAKISTAN Area of detail miles from their homes others enjoying the rides. Literacy Rate 0 100 MI AFRICA INDIAN 37.3% 0 200 KM OCEAN (U.S.: 99%) Arabian Sea SOURCE: WORLD FACTBOOK C.I.A. 6  UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

WATCH A VIDEO ‘My Dreams Died’ at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM Taliban fighters in Kabul last September, just after the takeover ONE YEAR LATER a new round of hardships for Afghans, especially women BY PATRICIA SMITH to be accompanied by a male relative. Now, a year later, Afghanistan says Athena Rayburn, who works in The Taliban have also barred girls from attending middle school and is struggling with an intensifying Afghanistan for the aid organization high school. economic crisis in addition to the Save the Children. “We seem to be “The Taliban are reneging on all their promises about an open and inclusive tightening constraints on teetering on somewhat of a society,” says Bruce Hoffman, an Afghanistan expert at the Council on women and girls. Because ‘The knife’s edge. All the money Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. most Western nations situation in that was propping up the consider the Taliban to be Afghanistan entire public infrastructure Economic Crisis a terrorist group, they’ve of this country—about After 20 years of fighting, the United halted foreign aid and is not 80 percent of the budget States withdrew its last troops from frozen the Afghanistan sustainable.’ was funded by foreign aid— Afghanistan a year ago, on August 30, 2021. The U.S. departure ended Central Bank’s assets. That all that money is gone. One the longest war in American history and left the Taliban, an extremist has destroyed the country’s fragile of the most heartbreaking things is group that had long been fighting to overthrow the Afghan government, economy. The government has no the level of food insecurity. About half once again in charge. VICTOR J. BLUE/THE NEW YORK TIMES money to pay salaries, including for the population is not getting enough teachers and doctors. With a growing to eat.” number of Afghans unable to find Suffering is nothing new for work, more families are going hungry. Afghans. The country has been “What’s clear from being here wracked by war and upheaval since the in Kabul is that the situation in 1979 Soviet invasion (see Key Dates, Afghanistan is not sustainable,” p. 8). The Taliban first came to power AUGUST 29, 2022 7

in 1996. Their radical interpretation of Islam led them to oppress religious minorities, bar women from working, and prohibit girls from going to school. Afghanistan became a pariah state. U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan in 2001, in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. Al Qaeda planned the attacks in Afghanistan after the Taliban gave the terrorist group safe haven. After the invasion, the U.S. quickly ousted the Taliban and set up a new Afghan government. Afghan women protest for their rights in Kabul, October 2021. But the Taliban forces simply melted into the civilian population and became desperate to flee crowded the airport in get access to Afghans living in more insurgent fighters. For two decades, as Kabul. The 10-day airlift evacuated tens remote parts of the country that had the U.S. and its allies worked to rebuild of thousands of Afghans, but that was a been off limits. Afghanistan, the Taliban continued fraction of those who wanted to leave. But peace hasn’t brought attacking and slowly regained territory. prosperity. The economy has collapsed More than 2,300 Americans died in the Peace, Not Prosperity because anyone who works for the fighting, and the ongoing violence killed Today, Afghans can travel more safely government—the nation’s largest tens of thousands of Afghan civilians. on highways that are finally free of employer—is no longer getting paid. In 2020, the U.S. signed a gunfire, roadside bombs, That includes teachers and the country’s VICTOR J. BLUE/THE NEW YORK TIMES PROTEST ; SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES 9/11 peace deal with the Taliban The U.S. and dangerous checkpoints. entire health-care system. Desperate to clear the way for a troop hoped the The terrifying drone of families are taking their children out of withdrawal. Officials hoped warplanes overhead is gone. school and sending them out to work. the Afghan government would Afghan negotiate with the Taliban to government “There’s an element of a Rayburn says she frequently hears end the fighting and let them silver lining,” says Rayburn reports of families having a proper participate in elections. But as would of Save the Children. She meal only every three to four days U.S. troops withdrew in 2021, negotiate a explains that it’s a lot because they can’t afford to eat more peace deal safer for children now often. Beyond that, she says, they’ll the Afghan military collapsed with the that parents don’t need to mush a piece of bread with water and the Taliban took control of Taliban. worry about them getting to stretch it so the whole family can the entire country. caught in a conflict on share. Save the Children’s mobile The final weeks of the American their way to school or stepping on an health-care site in Kandahar has troop departure were filled with chaos: improvised explosive device (I.E.D.). seen its caseload quadruple since the Hundreds of thousands of Afghans It’s also easier for aid organizations to Taliban takeover. Afghanistan Key Dates 1979 1996 2001 2021 Soviet Invasion The Taliban U.S. invasion U.S. Withdrawal The Soviet Union invades Seven years after The 9/11 attacks, planned A year after the U.S. signs a Afghanistan to prop up the Soviets withdraw, by the Al Qaeda terrorist peace deal with the Taliban, a Communist-leaning the Taliban, a radical group in Afghanistan, the U.S. military withdraws its government in Kabul. Islamic group, seize prompt the U.S. to invade last troops from Afghanistan, In 1984, the U.S. begins power after years and oust the Taliban. ending a 20-year-long war— arming the mujahideen, of civil war. They the longest in American Islamic guerrillas impose a harsh The 9/11 attack on the World history. As U.S. troops depart fighting the Soviets. The interpretation of Trade Center in New York, 2001 in August, the Western-backed Soviet occupation lasts Islamic law. Afghan government collapses until 1989. and the Taliban take charge. 8  UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

U.S. soldiers return home in 2020, after a nine-month deployment in Afghanistan. ATfhgehaUn.Sis.tainn 800,000 “People are walking two to three “Women now are not like the NUMBER of American military personnel who served in Afghanistan. hours because our site is the only women of 20 years ago, and the Taliban 2,325 place to get health care,” she says. should understand that,” says Fatima NUMBER of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan. Farahi, 55, a women’s rights activist in More than 20,000 were wounded. A Bitter Pill Herat, in western Afghanistan. $2.26 trillion When the Taliban seized Kabul last year, In Kabul, a 24-year-old university AMOUNT the war in Afghanistan cost the U.S. they promised less-restrictive policies student who wore a head scarf (also SOURCES: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, toward women than during their previous known as a hijab) but no face covering BROWN UNIVERSITY COSTS OF WAR PROJECT rule in the 1990s. But in a matter of to a popular recreation area said she had questioned them, then released them with warnings not to do it again. months, they’ve imposed onerous been struck on the head by a rifle butt “If we don’t protest, the world decrees that have dragged women from wielded by a passing Taliban gunman won’t know how badly Afghan women are oppressed,” Hassanzada says. the relative freedoms achieved over the who shouted at her to cover her face. Zakia Zahadat, 24, another past two decades to a harsh interpretation Taliban gunmen have pointed protester, says she won’t give up. of Islamic law that smothers weapons at female protesters, “I won’t stop protesting,” she says. “We’re facing an economic crisis, a women’s rights. ‘I won’t stop sprayed them with pepper social crisis, and a political crisis, but the “We’re not seeing stadiums protesting,’ spray, and called them Taliban only care about the hijab? Does “whores” and “puppets this mean if we wear a hijab all our filled with people watching says one of the West,” says Human individuals being stoned to problems will be solved?” • death,” says Hoffman of the Afghan Rights Watch, a human rights With reporting by David Zucchino, Yaqoob Akbary, Christina Goldbaum, and Safiullah Council on Foreign Relations, woman. group. Padshah of The New York Times. referring to the kinds of In May, Maryam scenes that were common when the Hassanzada, 24, joined a dozen other Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan. women protesting the Taliban restrictions JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES “It’s much more behind the scenes. in Kabul. With their faces uncovered, the It’s a much more quiet and insidious women chanted “Justice! Justice!” and oppressiveness.” “Stop tyranny against women!” After 10 For a generation of women who’ve minutes, Taliban gunmen roughly broke grown up with more opportunities, up the demonstration. Security officials that’s a bitter pill to swallow. held the protesters for about two hours, AUGUST 29, 2022 9

MEDIALITERACY YIoYsouTurryFSiaonvmgoertSitotthaeiSrnegll Influencers and companies are teaming up to market products to young people. Here’s what you need to know. BY LAURA ANASTASIA During a recent YouTube video, While such partnerships benefit When creators reach about 200,000 26-year-old lifestyle influencer advertisers and influencers, they may subscribers, companies typically start Katy Bellotte modeled her not always be in the viewers’ best paying them for such promotions, new wardrobe with delight interest, experts say. explains Joe Gagliese of Viral Nation, to her 470,000 subscribers. an influencer marketing agency. The “These things are very deliberate, more engaged fans are—regularly sharing and commenting on the “Guys, I’m speechless,” she said, and people are making a lot of money influencer’s content—the more money the creator can earn, he says. gushing over the clothing brand she off of them,” says Christine Elgersma Many of these influencers may was wearing and proceeding to try on of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit genuinely like the brands they work with. multiple looks before moving on to talk focused on media and kids. “Of course I only want to be sponsored by brands and endorse about her plans for the evening. products that I use and like,” Bellotte told Business Insider, “but then even Bellotte is one of many influencers How Influencers Get Paid if I like the product, if the brand itself doesn’t have a strong foundation and who get paid by companies to show off Some ads on social media are easy doesn’t have the values that I look for, I don’t work with them.” their merchandise. You’ve probably seen to spot. On YouTube, for example, Hidden Ads plenty of YouTube videos or social media commercials pop up at the start, The problem is that many influencers don’t broadcast their sponsorship posts raving about a particular product. middle, and end of many videos. deals. Instead, they disguise the ads in their normal content—a technique Although you might be watching to Creators with enough subscribers and called product placement. be entertained or to learn views can get paid for those An influencer who does trick shots VIA YOUTUBE YOUTUBERS ; SHUTTERSTOCK.COM ALL OTHER IMAGES ads—but reportedly only might use just one brand of sports something, the YouTuber didn’t ‘Word of about 2 cents per ad view. equipment. Another might center create this video just to amuse mouth is the challenge videos around a specific best form you. Often, they’re trying to That’s why influencers get you to buy the products of marketing also seek out brand featured, and advertisers are ever.’ sponsorships. Companies paying the influencer to do it. give creators with many Surprised? Many influencers with fans free merchandise in exchange for large followings on social media earn promoting the company’s products in money by marketing companies’ their posts and videos. As a result, a products through their videos and family channel might always unbox posts. Their content helps companies a certain brand of toys, or a food influence the spending habits of influencer might suggest ingredients millions of people, including teenagers. made by a particular company. 10   UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

WATCH A VIDEO How Do Influencers Make Money? at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM Many influencers, including MrBeast (left), ZHC (below), and SSSniperWolf (below left), show products in their videos. “Influencers are just word of mouth magnified.” product—painting it, destroying it, Elgersma says. “It’s easy to make Spotting the Sales Pitch or giving it away. And some product something not look like a commercial.” So how can you tell if creators really placements can be as simple as a love a product or if they’re just getting gamer always wearing a certain logo Seeing your favorite influencer using paid to promote it? One big tip-off that or sipping a specific sports drink or wearing a product can make you more influencers are making money is that whenever they’re on camera. likely to buy it yourself, experts say. One the product appears prominently—such research firm found that 56 percent of as in the title image of a video—or the “I think kids are pretty used to 13- to 38-year-olds have purchased a product, its packaging, or the company seeing traditional commercials, but if product after seeing a social media post logo pops up multiple times in the post. you have a person that they look up about it from someone they follow. to and trust and watch very regularly Ask yourself: Why might the endorse something, it’s really powerful,” “Word of mouth is the best form influencer be promoting this product? of marketing ever,” Gagliese says. What claims are they making about it? CCROWAETAAH$YTHEOSRIRNS SELLING MERCH Many influencers And get feedback before you buy. Ask friends and family for opinions or check PHOTO CREDITS sell custom T-shirts, hoodies, decals, out reviews from people who haven’t and more. They promote their merchandise been paid or given the product for free. by wearing it on-screen. If your favorite creators are pushing SHARING LINKS Creators may products, it doesn’t mean you have to stop watching them. Just watch with a recommend a product and provide a critical eye. If you’re able to recognize sponsored link for you to purchase it. how companies are sneakily trying to They receive a percentage of the sale when sell you something, you’ll have a choice someone buys the product through the link. about how to respond, Elgersma says. SHOWING ADS Some YouTubers with That way, she adds, “you’re able to make an informed decision, rather 1,000 subscribers or more receive a small than being a passive pawn in all of the payment for each pop-up commercial that people watch at the start of and during tactics that are being used.” • their videos. A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 2 2   11

NATIONAL Will Biden Pass The elections this November will decide which party controls Congress and shape how the remainder of Joe Biden’s presidency plays out BY PATRICIA SMITH Ben Rock, 18, spent three politically engaged.” “But in some ways, they’re more CARTOON BY DAVE GRANLUND; SAUL LOEB-POOL/GETTY IMAGES BIDEN months last spring registering his high school classmates to The extent to which teens—and important than presidential elections, vote and trying to convince them that it’s important to older Americans—vote this fall could because all the laws are written by cast a ballot this November. determine which party controls Congress,” says Mark Rom, a political “I’ve lived in Nevada my whole life,” says Rock, who graduated in Congress and what the next science professor at June from Incline High School, in Incline Village, Nevada. “It swings two years of President Biden’s The youth Georgetown University back and forth from Republican to term will look like. Typically, vote in Washington, D.C. Democratic almost every year. That’s midterm elections—so called why it’s so important to get teens because they fall halfway could be A Republican Takeover? through a president’s four-year a deciding All 435 seats in the House term—don’t draw as much factor in of Representatives are up attention or turnout at the the election. for election, along with 35 polls as presidential elections. out of 100 U.S. Senate seats 12   U P F R O N T   •   U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M

WATCH A VIDEO Spring 2022 Harvard Youth Poll at UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM His Midterms? President Biden delivers the State of the Union address to Congress in March 2022. Congress By the Numbers Democrats control both the House and the Senate. Republicans need to win one additional Senate seat and 7 in the House to gain control of each chamber. SENATE* 50 50 *Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, provides the DEMOCRATS** REPUBLICANS tie-breaking vote, so Democrats control the Senate. **Two Independents caucus with the Democrats. SOURCE: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AS OF JULY 14, 2022 WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES CONGRESS ; SHUTTERSTOCK.COM CAPITOL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES and 36 state governorships. Most of the 435 seats in the House are safely 220 4 211 controlled by one party or the other, thanks to gerrymandering (the drawing DEMOCRATS VACANT REPUBLICANS of political districts to benefit the party in power) and political polarization. With Democrats narrowly controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, experts consider it likely that Republicans will do well in November. The most likely place for Republicans to pick up seats is the House of Representatives. Currently, Democrats A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 2 2   13

hold 220 seats and Republicans hold 211. low 30s, and pollsters are forecasting the Center for Politics at the University of (see “Congress By the Numbers,” p. 13). To take control of the House, Republicans a tough election for Democrats. Virginia. “Unfortunately for the president, need to win the seats they already have plus seven additional ones. If Democrats do manage to hang that judgment is often negative.” The Senate is evenly divided: on to their majority, Biden stands In fact, the party out of power Republicans hold 50 seats, and Democrats hold 50 (counting the a better chance of enacting often makes large gains in two Independents who caucus with them). But because Vice President his domestic agenda, which Typically, midterms. In 37 of the 40 Kamala Harris is a Democrat and, as includes action on climate the party midterm elections since 1862, the president of the Senate, casts the change, immigration reform, out of power the president’s party has lost tie-breaking vote, Democrats control and protecting voting rights. makes big seats in Congress. Those the chamber. Five of this year’s Senate If Republicans take over, gains in numbers suggest that voters races are considered close enough Biden could spend the next midterms. often want Congress to act to go either way: Arizona, Georgia, two years facing a very as a brake on the president’s Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. tough road for passing new authority, says Kondik. President Biden has a lot of reasons to worry about his party losing control legislation and congressional of Congress: Voters are angry about sky-high gas prices, soaring inflation investigations by his political opponents. Implications for 2024 rates that are making everything more expensive, a lingering pandemic, and “Midterms are an important way for Even if they do, that doesn’t necessarily a spate of mass shootings (see “What’s on Voters’ Minds,” below). Over the voters to weigh in at the halfway point mean Biden won’t be re-elected if he summer, Biden’s approval rating ranged from the low 40s to the in a president’s term and render some decides to run again in 2024. kind of judgment,” says Kyle Kondik of “Midterms historically are not Sticker shock: Americans have been suffering with much higher than usual gas prices. What’s on Voters’ Minds A look at four key issues that could affect the election Inflation Crime/Guns Abortion Rights Pandemic LISA F. YOUNG/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM PUMP ; GADO/GETTY IMAGES PRICES The rate at which prices The U.S. has recently The Supreme Court’s While many Americans rise is higher now than it experienced a rise in ruling overturning Roe have largely resumed their has been in four decades, violent crime and a series v. Wade has empowered prepandemic lives, Covid-19 and many Americans feel of deadly mass shootings. states to make their own continues to sicken and kill the pinch every time they Both trends contribute decisions about whether people. More than 1 million go to the grocery store or to a feeling among many abortion should be legal or Americans have died of fill up their gas tanks. Most Americans that the banned. At least 10 states Covid, and hospitalization economists say this has to country is on the wrong quickly made abortion rates surged in many parts do with lingering supply- track. But after years of illegal. The ruling and the of the country over the chain problems caused political gridlock over resulting bans have made summer. Because the virus by disruptions during the gun control, lawmakers abortion a big issue in has become so adept at pandemic and shortages did compromise in June the midterm elections, mutating and re-infecting created by the war in on a new law that will, with Democrats vowing people, researchers now Ukraine. These are the among other things, beef to protect access to estimate that it could be kinds of issues that make up background checks on abortion and Republicans another two years before voters want change. those under 21 seeking to talking about a possible Covid becomes just another buy guns. nationwide ban. illness. 14   U P F R O N T   •   U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M

predictive of presidential elections,” Presidential Report Cards Kondik says. “Even if the Democrats get slaughtered this November, it How the last four presidents did in their doesn’t mean much for 2024.” first midterm elections and their re-election bids That was the case for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both Democrats who President/Election Year Midterm Results Next Presidential endured terrible midterm defeats during Election their first terms and then bounced Donald 2018 Anger at President Trump’s back to get re-elected (see “Presidential Trump 2020 Report Cards,” right). However, in (R) policies help drive the highest midterm Biden’s case, there’s the additional issue 2016 turnout in 108 years and help Democrats Not of his age. If he runs for re-election, win a majority in the House. re-elected he’ll be 82 by the time the winner of the 2024 race is inaugurated. That’s Senate: Republicans gain 2 seats and maintain control. House: Democrats gain 40 seats and take control. AURELIEN MEUNIER/GETTY IMAGES TRUMP ; RON SACHS-POOL/GETTY IMAGES OBAMA ; BROOKS KRAFT/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES BUSH ; RENAUD GIROUX/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES CLINTON prompted talk about whether he should Barack 2010 Opposition to the passage of 2012 step aside and let someone else run as Obama the Democratic candidate. (D) Obamacare and the rise of the Tea Party Re-elected 2008 “The presidency is a monstrously Pudictomovement help sweep Republicans 2004 taxing job, and the stark reality is the George president would be closer to 90 than W. Bush to victory in the House. Re-elected 80 at the end of a second term, and (R) that would be a major issue,” says 2000 inum quuntSenate: Democrats lose 6 seats 1996 David Axelrod, the chief strategist laborerobut maintain control. for Barack Obama’s two winning Re-elected presidential campaigns. House: Republicans gain 63 seats The other issue for 2024 is whether and taekeacronutrnol.t.Obis former President Donald Trump will 20e0s2cHiiigsh avppirotvaal ramtings for run again. Trump has endorsed a fugiaecto quiPresident Bush in the aftermath of the 9/11 bunch of midterm candidates and is hoping to show that he’s still the most attacks help Republicans defy history and powerful force in the Republican Party. maintain control of both chambers. Youth Turnout Senate: Republicans gain 2 seats. House: Republicans gain 8 seats. Bill 1994 Frustration with President Clinton Clinton (D) and a unified national message known as the 1992 Contract With America help Republicans win big in both chambers. It’s the first time since 1952 that Republicans control the House. Senate: Republicans gain 8 seats and take control. House: Republicans gain 54 seats and take control. One question that could have a big impact on midterm results is whether victories, according to John Della midterms, and that’s a mistake,” says young people vote in meaningful Volpe of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Rom, the Georgetown political scientist. numbers. Some polling Institute of Politics. “If younger voters want to have a say indicates that youth turnout ‘You don’t “They have been leaning in the outcome—whether they want to could match the record- have a to the left a lot more than protect abortion rights or expand gun breaking levels set in the older generations, so when rights—you don’t have a chance to have 2018 midterms: 36 percent chance to you have a tight race, young an influence if you don’t vote.” of 18- to 29-year-olds say have an people’s turnout is really they will definitely vote in influence if pivotal,” says Kei Kawashima- That argument resonates with November, according to the you don’t Ginsberg, who studies youth 17-year-old Charlotte Tragos, a senior at Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles. Spring 2022 Harvard Institute vote.’ civic engagement at Tufts “For our electorate to be representative of Politics youth poll. University in Boston. of the people in America, we have to That may not seem like strong The hard part is getting voters— have young people at the table,” she turnout, but compared with historical whether they’re Republicans, Democrats, says. “We’re the largest voting bloc, trends, it is. Between 1984 and 2014, or Independents—to understand that but we don’t act like it.” • youth voter turnout averaged Congress has a real impact on their 19 percent and never topped 21 percent. lives by making laws and deciding how With reporting by Reid J. Epstein, In both 2018 and 2020, high youth to spend taxpayers’ money. Jennifer Medina, and Michael D. Shear turnout was responsible for Democratic “Young people tend not to vote in of The New York Times. A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 2 2   15

NATIONAL RECLAIMING Colleges around the country have held on to the remains of A student does a ceremonial dance at U.T. Austin to raise awareness about Indigenous remains (left); an altar erected to symbolize remains still stored in cardboard boxes. F or four years, members of was only the beginning. The agreement MICHAEL MINASI/KUT U.T. AUSTIN ; INDIGENOUS CULTURES INSTITUTE ALTAR, THE MIAKAN-GARZA BAND the Miakan-Garza Band, an covered just three of the school’s 2,400 Indigenous group in Texas, sets of remains—and two years later, had been asking the the Miakan-Garza Band is still waiting University of Texas at to receive those three sets. Austin to return the remains of three of their ancestors. The remains had U.T. Austin isn’t the only institution been dug up and brought to the holding on to remains and artifacts school decades before, and now the from Indigenous people. Colleges band wanted to rebury them. around the country—including Harvard University, Vassar College, U.T. Austin, however, had denied the University of California, Berkeley, the request. So the community began and many more—are increasingly campaigning to change the school’s coming under fire for their collections. mind, spreading the word through in-person and online events. Then, in “This is first and foremost an issue September 2020, a group of Indigenous of Indigenous rights,” says Veronica students met with university officials. Pasfield of the Bay Mills Indian Afterward, school president Jay Hartzell Community in Michigan. “The right to promised to return the remains. protect the graves of your ancestors and relatives is one of the most fundamental “The University of Texas at Austin human rights on the planet.” respects the Indigenous people who live and have lived in Texas and ‘Deeply Spiritual and Emotional’ recognizes the spiritual and cultural In the 18th and 19th centuries, many significance of internment of their anthropologists began digging up ancestors,” he wrote in a letter. Native American graves to study the bones, often using skull measurements It was a victory for the group, but it 16   U P F R O N T   •   U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M

WATCH A VIDEO The Rematriation of Sophia Tetoff THEIR ANCESTORSatUPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM Native Americans for centuries. Now, Indigenous people are working to rebury them. BY CHRISANNE GRISÉ to try to prove that White people were superior. As time passed, many of those remains eventually ended up at colleges or museums, sometimes shoved into boxes and forgotten in storage. U.S. institutions possess more than 116,000 sets of Native American remains today, according to the National Park Service. “We believe that if you disrupt somebody’s remains from the earth, then that halts their spiritual journey,” says Emi Aguilar of the Miakan-Garza Band. “They’re in limbo and can’t be in peace.” The Miakan-Garza Band after a reburial ceremony in 2020. The Native American Graves University, for example, began working Protection and Repatriation Act with tribal nations to establish a NAGPRA review board last year. And (NAGPRA), passed by Congress in institutions are exaggerating. They argue many institutions have in recent years announced new policies that prohibit 1990, set criteria under which federally that the age and location of the burial site research on Indigenous remains. recognized Native American tribes could should make it fairly simple to identify “Historically, U.C. Berkeley has seen repatriation and NAGPRA as a reclaim remains and sacred objects from who the remains belong to. process that conflicts with the research interests of the university,” Thomas institutions such as public ‘This is When remains are returned, Torma, the school’s NAGPRA liaison, colleges and museums, a first and tribes often hold poignant says. But now, he adds, the school has process know as repatriation. reburial ceremonies. In transferred hundreds of remains back to tribes because of policy changes. More than 30 years later, foremost 2014, when the University of some officials acknowledge that an issue of Michigan repatriated 94 sets The Biden administration has also said the law hasn’t been effective Indigenous of remains to the Saginaw it will enforce NAGPRA more strongly. enough. To reclaim artifacts, Chippewa Indian Tribe, And last fall, Deb Haaland, secretary tribes undergo an expensive rights.’ members endured freezing of the Interior Department and the first Native American to hold a cabinet post, process overseen by the very institutions temperatures to commemorate the event. announced plans to strengthen the law. they’re petitioning. It can be difficult to “It’s a deeply spiritual and emotional Though a lot of work remains to be done, many Indigenous people say provide proof that the remains belong to thing that comes from the heart,” Tony they’re determined to continue the fight. a group, as many Indigenous people track Perry, who took part in the ceremony, “It’s a national movement,” says Mario Garza, cultural preservation their history orally. Plus, NAGPRA applies told the Tribal Observer at the time. officer of the Miakan-Garza Band. “We will never give up until the last only to federally recognized tribes, and remain is repatriated.” • about 400 tribes, including the Miakan- Improving the Process With reporting by Zachary Small of The Times. Garza Band, don’t have that recognition. Some schools are trying to improve A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 2 2   17 Institutions are not legally required the repatriation process. Indiana to meet with nonfederally recognized 9,500 Indigenous groups. ESTIMATED NUMBER Institutions argue that identifying the of Native American remains at U.C. Berkeley, cultural affiliation of remains can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. one of the largest collections in the U.S. They need multiple types of evidence beyond geographical information, they 71 say, creating a significant research hurdle. NUMBER of tribal nations that recently But some tribal officials believe the consulted with the federal government about the return of ancestral remains. SOURCES: U.C. BERKELEY, U.S. DEPT OF THE INTERIOR

TIMES PAST 1957 Rock LittleTHE Nine When nine Black teenagers tried to integrate a high school in Arkansas 65 years ago, they came up against a vicious mob BY JOE BUBAR Carlotta Walls their chests. She thought the ©DR. ERNEST C. WITHERS, SR. COURTESY OF THE WITHERS FAMILY TRUST LITTLE ROCK NINE ; ©COURTESY: CSU ARCHIVE/AGE FOTOSTOCK BACKGROUND ; BETTMANN ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES ECKFORD LaNier woke up on soldiers had come to protect September 4, 1957, the Black students, but little with the typical first- did she know, the guardsmen day-of-school jitters. had been ordered to prevent Questions raced through the them from entering. 14-year-old’s mind as she put Though they didn’t make on her brand-new dress and it into school that day, prepared to walk over to Central LaNier and eight other Black High School in Little Rock, students, who became known Arkansas. Would she make as the Little Rock Nine, new friends? Would she get lost refused to back down. Their looking for her classes? Would efforts to integrate Central she have a lot of homework? High—three years after the But when LaNier, who Supreme Court had ruled in was then just Carlotta Walls, Brown v. Board of Education approached the school that that segregated public schools day, she came face-to-face were unconstitutional— with something far more played out for weeks in upsetting than anything she’d front of a national audience, ever imagined: a vicious mob. The Little Rock Nine made history by integrating Central High. eventually forcing President LaNier was part of a small Carlotta Walls (back row, far right) was the youngest of the group. Dwight D. Eisenhower to take military action. Sixty-five group of Black students who’d been selected, based on their academic records, to years later, the showdown in Little Rock is remembered as a integrate Central High. But a crowd of more than 1,000 angry civil rights milestone. segregationists—including many White students and their “These young people stepped forth,” says Jeanne Theoharis, parents—had gathered outside the school that morning to try author of several books on the civil rights movement, “and put and stop them. They chanted, “Two, four, six, eight, we ain’t a face on the courage and determination it was going to take to gonna integrate!” They spat on the Black students, hurled racist enforce Brown.” epithets at them, and threatened to lynch them. With her heart racing, LaNier tried not to let the crowd Brown v. Board of Education get to her as she and some of the other Black students When LaNier was growing up, segregation was deeply marched together toward the school. entrenched throughout the United States. That was “I just ignored it,” LaNier, now 79, says. “I just figured these especially the case in the South, where Jim Crow laws and were a bunch of ignorant people. And they were.” local customs kept Black people separate from White people Up ahead, at the school entrance, LaNier was relieved to in public spaces, including in public schools such as Central see Arkansas National Guard troops with rifles slung across High. Although the Supreme Court ruled in Brown in 1954 18   U P F R O N T   •   U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M

AT UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM: DOWNLOAD Q&A with EXPLORE A PRIMARY SOURCE Carlotta Walls LaNier President Eisenhower’s speech Elizabeth Eckford of the Little Rock Nine walks past an angry mob on her first day at Central High, September 1957. “These young people stepped forth and put a face on the courage and determination it was going to take to enforce Brown.” —Jeanne Theoharis A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 2 2   19

Timeline SCHOOLS & RACE An integrated school in Washington, D.C., in 1954 A protest in Arkansas against racial integration, August 1959 1896 1954 1956 1957 Plessy v. Ferguson Brown v. Board of Ed “Massive Resistance” The Little Rock Nine The U.S. Supreme Court In a 9-0 decision, School districts throughout After a White mob prevents establishes the principle of the Supreme Court the South resist Brown; the Little Rock Nine from “separate but equal” public reverses Plessy, ruling Virginia’s policy of “massive integrating Central High facilities for Black and White that segregation resistance” denies funds to School, President Dwight people, providing the legal in public schools integrated public schools Eisenhower orders federal basis for segregation in the is unconstitutional. and closes some to keep out troops to escort the South, including public schools. Black students. students inside the school. that segregated public schools violated accounts of the ordeal sent shockwaves through a side door. But a White mob BETTMANN ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES 1954 ; BUYENLARGE/GETTY IMAGES PROTEST ; GEORGE TAMES/THE NEW YORK TIMES CARLOTTA WELLS Black people’s 14th Amendment right across the nation—and around the began rioting outside, and the police to “equal protection of the laws,” world—beaming a spotlight on the evacuated the Black students after a the ruling was vague regarding how discrimination against Black Americans. few hours, fearing for their safety. schools should go about desegregating. ‘Mob Rule Cannot Be Allowed’ Facing pressure, President Eisenhower Many Southern school districts The Little Rock Nine stayed home for finally stepped in. On September 24, moved slowly—if at all. In Little Rock, more than two weeks, while Thurgood he sent more than 1,000 troops from the school system called for a plan of Marshall—head of the Legal Defense the Army’s 101st Airborne Division gradual integration, beginning with and Education Fund at the National to Little Rock and placed all 10,000 a small number of Black students Association for the Advancement of Arkansas National Guardsmen under entering Central High in the fall of 1957. Colored People (NAACP)—fought for federal control. It was the first time since them in court. Finally, on September Reconstruction that a president ordered LaNier had long wondered what it 20, a federal judge ordered Faubus to armed federal troops to the South to would be like to go to Central High. recall the troops. protect Black people’s civil rights. Her school, Paul Laurence Dunbar, was considered one of the best for Black Three days later, city police escorted In a nationally televised speech, students in Arkansas, and its teachers the Little Rock Nine into Central High Eisenhower declared: “Mob rule cannot were well-regarded. But, like the other be allowed to override the decisions of all-Black schools in town, it received far Carlotta Walls (left) less funding than the White schools. walks into Central High School. She passed by Central High and its state-of-the-art facilities every day on her walk to school. In the spring of 1957, when one of LaNier’s teachers passed around a sign-up sheet for students to apply to go to Central High, she eagerly wrote down her name. But when school started up in the fall, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the Black students from entering the building. News 20   U P F R O N T   •   U P F R O N T M A G A Z I N E . C O M

James Meredith walks to class President at the University of Mississippi. Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act. 1962 February 1964 July 1964 1971 Ole Miss School Boycott Civil Rights Act School Busing James Meredith becomes Nearly half a million New York The Civil Rights Act In Swann v. Charlotte- the first Black student at City students—most of whom bans discrimination on Mecklenburg Board of Education, the University of Mississippi. were African American and Puerto the basis of race, color, the Supreme Court rules that When campus riots break Rican—boycott classes to protest religion, sex, or national students may be bused to schools out, President John F. school segregation, in what origin, and strengthens to achieve integration. Districts Kennedy sends federal became the largest civil rights federal enforcement of across the U.S. adopt busing, troops to protect him. demonstration of the decade. integration. despite widespread opposition. the courts.” The next morning, armed being taunted, and she was later expelled “I needed that to validate all that I soldiers and military jeeps cleared out a crowd of 1,500 White people. Troops for standing up to a White girl. But the had gone through,” she says. with bayonets ushered the Little Rock Nine up the steps of Central High rest of them finished the year, and in The Little Rock Nine inspired further and in through the front door. LaNier remembers it as one of the proudest May 1958, Ernest Green became Central civil rights demonstrations, eventually moments of her life. High’s first Black graduate. leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “That said to me, ‘You over there, you’re wrong. These kids have a right to The following year, Governor which outlawed segregation in all go to school,’” LaNier says. Faubus closed all of Little Rock’s public places (see timeline, above). Harassment in the Hallways Getting inside the school didn’t end public high schools down to avoid LaNier went on to graduate from the ordeal of the Little Rock Nine. Throughout the year, many White integration. LaNier went to live with college, and in 1999, she and the rest of students harassed them. Each of the Little Rock Nine was assigned a National a host family in Cleveland the Little Rock Nine received Guardsman as an escort through the BUYENLARGE/GETTY IMAGES JAMES MEREDITH ; AKG-IMAGES/NEWSCOM CIVIL RIGHTS ACT halls, but the guardsmen couldn’t be to continue high school. ‘I want the Congressional Gold with the students at all times. They were The next year, Central High [young Medal. But, she says, there’s shoved and tripped, their lockers were reopened after a federal people] to still more work to do. broken into, and they faced relentless court declared the closings know that name-calling. unconstitutional, and LaNier they have Today, 65 years after decided to return for her a voice.’ the Little Rock Nine Few of the White students who senior year. She was one of integrated Central High, terrorized them were punished, but a schools around the country Black student who retaliated might get kicked out of school. One of the Little only two of the remaining remain highly segregated. Rock Nine, Minnijean Brown, was suspended for dumping a bowl of chili Little Rock Nine to do so. The others About three-quarters of Black and on a White boy’s head in response to continued high school elsewhere. Hispanic students nationwide go to schools where most of their peers are Using Your Voice students of color, according to a recent Back at Central High, LaNier faced study by the University of California, more harassment. One night, someone Los Angeles. bombed her home with dynamite as Despite these setbacks, LaNier she slept, leaving her unharmed but believes young people today still have deeply shaken. Still, she remained the power to make a difference. determined to graduate. On May 30, “I want [young people] to know that 1960, she walked across the stage they have a voice,” she says. “I tell them, at Central’s football stadium and find what they’re passionate about. And accepted her diploma. then put your efforts into that.” • A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 2 2   21

Debate upfrontmagazine.com TPIshaIyatnTFeAaeidrnustlotLse?ss ANALYZE THE ARGUMENTS Between inflation, supply chain problems, and the lingering effects of the Cast your vote, and see Covid-19 pandemic, businesses have had a rough time lately. On top of instant results that, a tight labor market has made it hard to find enough workers, so many businesses have had to raise wages. But in some states—including Teen Workers Michigan, Colorado, California, Rhode Island, and Nebraska—employers BY THE NUMBERS are allowed to pay teen workers a lower minimum wage. 10.2% UNEMPLOYMENT RATE* A lawyer for a business association and a policy director for an economics for 16- to 19-year-olds in April 2022. institute square off about whether that’s fair. Except for a few months last year, when it was even lower, that’s the lowest teen unemployment rate since 1957. *The unemployment rate measures the share of people who are actively looking for work but are unable to find jobs. 36.6% PERCENTAGE of 16- to 19-year-olds who had jobs in April 2022. That’s a lot lower than the 51.2 percent average teen workforce participation rate between 1962 and 1980, when Baby Boomers were teenagers. 16.4 million NUMBER of working-age teens in the U.S. in 2021. SOURCES: FORTUNE, PEW RESEARCH CENTER YES You need experience to get hired, Plus, your average teen doesn’t have the same kinds but unless you get hired, you can’t of skills that workers in, say, their 20s have. When get experience. employers have to pay everyone the same starting wage, Many young people across the country face this it often makes more sense for them to hire older, more- dilemma. A lower minimum wage for teens would skilled workers instead of teens. encourage businesses to hire them. That would give But that’s not just bad for teens. A high youth teens more opportunities to unemployment rate is also bad for society. gain work experience and A high youth Research shows that unemployed teens are learn valuable life and career unemployment rate more likely to drop out of high school and skills, such as the importance become involved with the criminal justice of showing up to work on time is bad for teens— system. and how to be professional and bad for society. Studies have also found that students with and reliable. part-time jobs are more likely to earn higher Federal law limits what wages in the future compared with their teens can do while on the job. classmates who don’t work. At grocery stores, for example, teens under 18 can bag The bottom line is that lowering the minimum wage for goods, but they aren’t allowed to operate a cardboard- teens makes it easier for them to find jobs. And putting ISTOCKPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES box compactor. When young people can’t do parts of the all Americans back to work will ultimately help improve job, employers have to hire someone else to do those our nation’s economy. • —BOB BATTLES tasks. If there are going to be legal restrictions on what teens are allowed to do, then it makes sense that their General Counsel & Government A airs Director pay is lower as well. Association of Washington Business 22   UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM

Many teens work in restaurants and stores. NO Why should someone be paid less because hire a rotating series of teens because it would be cheaper. they happen to be a teenager? If they’re There’s already a lot of pay inequality in the United performing the same tasks as a 20-year-old, States. For example, the B.L.S. estimates that in 2021, they should earn the same money. a woman earned just 83 cents for every dollar a man Teens often need jobs as much as any other workers. made. And an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute Some help support their families; others live on their found workers of color are far more likely to be paid own. All are facing higher costs for poverty-level wages than White rent, food, and fuel. And if you’re a We shouldn’t pass workers. We shouldn’t pass laws that young person saving for college, that’s laws that encourage encourage more wage discrimination. nothing compared to cost increases There’s also a broader economic for higher education. more wage reason not to pay teens less: If young From 2001 to 2021, tuition and fees discrimination. people earn less, they won’t spend as much. On average, young people spend increased an average of 178 percent at public four-year institutions, according to $2,360 each year, according to a recent the College Board. That far exceeds overall inflation of survey, and about 5.5 million U.S. teens have jobs. That 54 percent during the same period, as reported by the Bureau works out to about $13 billion in teen consumer spending of Labor Statistics (B.L.S.). Research shows people who this year—which sounds pretty good for business. graduate from college typically earn higher wages. Forcing Every hardworking American deserves fair compensation, teens to take lower wages will mean fewer can afford college. and that includes teens. After all, isn’t paying people an honest Young people aren’t the only ones who would be wage for honest work a fundamental American value? • affected by creating a lower teen wage. It could also —AARON KEATING displace older workers. Some employers might prefer to Managing Director, Economic Opportunity Institute A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 2 2 23

Cartoons SEE p.12 JOEL PETT • CARTOONIST GROUP SEE p.6 SEE p.22 CLAY BENNETT • COUNTERPOINT SYNDICATION • CARTOONIST GROUP FRAN • CARTOON STOCK SEE p.12 JOE HELLER • HELLERTOON.COM JACK OHMAN • COUNTERPOINT SYNDICATION • CARTOONIST GROUP POSTAL INFORMATION: The New York Times Upfront (ISSN 15251292; in Canada, 2-c, no. 9226) is published biweekly: October, January, and April; monthly: August, September, November, December, February, March, and May; 13 issues, by Scholastic Inc., 2931 East McCarty Street, Jefferson City, MO 65102-3710. Periodical postage paid at Jefferson City, MO 65101 and additional offices. POSTMASTERS: Send notice of address changes to The New York Times Upfront, 2931 East McCarty Street, P.O. Box 3710, Jefferson City, MO 65102-3710. PUBLISHING INFORMATION: U.S. prices: $9.99 per school year for each of 10 or more subscriptions to the same address. A 10% shipping and handling charge will be added to the total subscription order. (For Canadian pricing, write our Canadian office, address below.) For communications relating to subscriptions, write The New York Times Upfront, Scholastic Inc., 2931 East McCarty Street, P.O. Box 3710, Jefferson City, MO 65102-3710, call 1-800-SCHOLASTIC, or contact us at www.scholastic.com/custsupport. Canadian address: Scholastic-Canada Ltd., 175 Hillmount Road, Markham, Ontario L6C 1Z7. Indexed in Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature. Available on microform through UMI Inc., 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Also available on microfiche through Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division, Old Mansfield Rd., Wooster, OH 44691. ©2022 Scholastic Inc. Scholastic, Upfront, and associated logos are trademarks/registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved. Materials in this issue may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form or format without special permission from the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.