Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism.
The Dartmouth
July 15, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Goldberg speaks on urban problems

Los Angeles Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg called for more government programs to help the poor.

Goldberg, the first openly homosexual candidate to win office in the city,said more people should run for office with the honest intent of changing government in her speech titled, "Re-examining Race, Class & Gender in Urban America."

"I'm the freest politician in America," she said, "because I don't care if I'm not reelected. I can say whatever I want."

Goldberg previously served as president of the Los Angeles School Board. Prior to heading the Board, she was a teacher in Compton for 18 years.

In order to understand how government works now, she said, we should "follow the money." As an example, she said California spent more money on prisons than education this year.

"For the money it takes to keep a young African-American in prison, send him to Dartmouth or Harvard or Stanford," she said. "It's not like [the government doesn't] want to spend the money."

Goldberg said the presence of other groups at higher education institutions precludes women and minorities from being granted privileges.

For example, in 1993, she said Dartmouth admitted 53 percent of "legacy" applicants, while only 27 percent of students who did not have relatives associated with the College were accepted.

She said only the wealthiest Americans can afford to live with less government services, and lower and middle-class people vote to support the rich because "we think we're going to join them one day."

Goldberg said corporations eliminated over 200,000 jobs this year. The cutbacks were done to increase the value of corporate shares, according to Goldberg.

The end result of the cutbacks will be the rise of permanent unemployment, rather than unemployment based on the cyclical nature of the economy, Goldberg said.

She said the current trend of decreasing property taxes and increasing sales taxes puts the burden of government revenue on the poor.

The speech was sponsored by the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies 1995 Summer Symposium Series.