Caribbean people, as with most immigrants, come to the United States to succeed so that they will not only achieve a better life for themselves but for their families in the United States and abroad. The expectations must certainly have been the case for two ladies, Beverly Hall and Jennifer Carroll. Both Caribbean American women rose to prominence in their government careers since they were elevated to two of the highest positions that anyone could only dream of attaining. To an average American, the perception of these women may simply be that of two Black women who managed to rise up the ladder of success. However, to a typical Caribbean immigrant, the women’s rise to success demonstrated a sense of pride and encouragement that attaining an influential position of leadership in the United States is undoubtedly possible. However, their sudden fall from grace indicates how easy it may be in the United States for even the most successful person to be brought down from a life of power, fame, and ego to a life of shame due to their wrong moral judgment.
Beverly Hall was born in Jamaica, and immigrated to the United States during the 1970s. After attending college, she progressed from a classroom teacher in New York to principal and subsequently became the District Superintendent in Queens, NY. Her future seemed bright as she later rose to the position of superintendent of Newark Public Schools. In 1999, Hall took over the reign as superintendent of the Atlanta Public Schools. During her tenure of a failing school district, Atlanta schools demonstrated significant gains in student achievement over ten years. According to Severson of the New York Times (2011), scholarship money delivered to Atlanta students jumped from $9 million to $129 million. Graduation rates rose from 39% to 66%. This high increase in funding enabled the building of new schools or the renovation of others. So, Dr. Hall was seen as a savior to the people of Atlanta. As a result of these great improvements, Hall was named the National Superintendent of the Year in 2009, an honor bestowed on her by the American Association of School Superintendents. She was lauded all over the nation as an example of excellence, and she became a media darling as she was interviewed on stations such as NPR about her educational philosophy and leadership style. However, everyone would learn later that, under Dr. Hall’s watch, there was conspiracy among educators to guide students during standardized testing and also grades were altered so that there would be opportunities to receive cash bonuses. While not directly charged with cheating, the subpoena indicates that Dr. Hall, as the leader of the district who demanded high achievement, must have been aware of the clear and widespread fraudulent occurrences but did nothing to address the matter. She was indicted by a grand jury for the cheating scandal.
Jennifer Carroll was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and moved to the United States at an early age. She was not only the first Black female Republican woman to be elected to the Florida Legislature but she held many Florida committee leadership positions before she became the first Black woman to be elected to the position of Lt. Governor of Florida. In fact, Carroll was the first Black person to be elected to such a high position in the state of Florida since Reconstruction. After retiring from the Navy, her first bout of controversy began while undertaking the position of the National Commission of Presidential Scholars. She resigned from the position when a CBS news investigation uncovered that her degree was in question since it was obtained from an unaccredited, defunct university. Another controversial issue was that in 2011, the Florida Times-Union reported that Carroll fraudulently provided false documents so that her minority-owned firm would secure a Jacksonville grant. In 2012, a fired former staff member of the Lieutenant Governor’s office made allegations against Carroll that included a sex scandal, lies, and an illegal audio taping incident. Finally 2013, Carroll resigned on the orders of Governor Rick Scott from the office of Lieutenant Governor when a Federal probe uncovered her involvement with racketeering. Her public relations firm was associated with an organization that not only ran illegal slot machine-style casinos but was also was under the pretense that they were contributing to veteran’s issues.
Caribbean people are ambitious, so they will continue to work to achieve influential positions. However, it is important to take Hall and Carroll’s experiences into consideration to avoid being caught in embarrassing and criminal situations. In attaining a position of authority, too often people become accustomed to a lifestyle where they believe that there will be no consequences for their actions since they now have so much money. In addition to the issues noted above, hiring a driver for over $100,000 as Dr. Hall did and the excessive air travel of Ms. Carroll are other examples of such irresponsible actions. In spite of the financial changes in life, it is always important to maintain one’s humility by remembering where one is coming from and the people who contributed to get one to where he/she is today. The home, cars, and other worldly materials may be easily afforded now with the additional income, but it can be quickly lost.
