Race, Millennials and Reverse Discrimination | The Nation: The most commonly said thing about the “Millennial” generation is that it’s more diverse and more tolerant than its predecessors. Millennials are more likely to be persons of color, more likely to show acceptance of same-sex relationships and more likely to have diverse social connections. With that said, none of this means that we’re somehow immune to problems of racism, prejudice and privilege.
Indeed, you don’t have to look far for examples of young people acting with an eye toward ignorance. There’s the “ironic racism” of Girls writer Leslie Arfin, the incredible outpouring of hate toward African-American actors in The Hunger Games and the annual stories of kids who throw blackface parties or complain about Asian students for existing.
All of this is lead in for a new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute, which polled adults aged 18 to 24 on everything from religion and morality to economic issues and the 2012 election. They also posed questions on race and ethnicity: Does government pay too much attention to the problems of blacks and other minorities? Is “reverse discrimination” a problem in today’s society? Is demographic change a good thing for American society?
Monday, April 30, 2012
Study: Black children are less likely to get pain medication in ERs | The Raw Story
Black children are 39 percent less likely to receive the same medicine as white children with similar problems. Since little is known about children’s pain expression and perception, the PAS is searching for a direct reason for the findings.
The study’s lead researcher, Dr. Tiffani J. Johnson, expressed her concerns about what she discovered.
Morehouse, Spelman Announce Partnerships with KIPP Charter School Network
The first-of-its-kind partnerships were developed out of a desire to get more students from low-income backgrounds “to and through college,” says KIPP spokesperson Steve Mancini. Each college will guarantee spots to 15 KIPP graduating students for the 2013-2014 school year, and 20 students each year thereafter. Additionally, the KIPP Metro Atlanta schools will serve as expanded work-study sites for students at Spelman and Morehouse.
Making Diversity a Priority at Purdue
“Two candidates were women, and one was Black,” says Cordova, who as university president moderated the debate. “Yet, as all five of them went through their debate points, it became clear they each had in their platforms improvement of diversity and inclusion. They had various ideas, such as getting minorities and international students more involved in clubs on campus. I’m pleased they had this attitude because it shows the climate on campus is getting better.”
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Walter L. Gordon Jr. dies; practiced law in L.A.'s black community for 65 years - latimes.com
The newspaper's location proved fortuitous. It was on Central Avenue, "the city's black thoroughfare," Gordon later said, and he benefited from being one of the first black lawyers to hang a shingle in the city's African American community.
He kept his practice in the neighborhood for 65 years, defending the famous — jazz singer Billie Holiday was a steady client — and untold lesser-known names often facing criminal charges.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Shelby County Juvenille Court Racism: Report Finds Memphis African-American Children Treated Unfairly
A review of 66,000 juvenile court cases in Memphis, where numerous abuses drew Justice Department investigators in 2009, revealed "serious and systemic failures" in the way youthful offenders were treated, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said.
"We found African-American children treated differently and more harshly," Perez said, summarizing the findings of the department's report in a conference call with reporters.
'White Hispanic' not an agenda, a reality – USATODAY.com
'White Hispanic' not an agenda, a reality – USATODAY.com: In the aftermath of Trayvon Martin's death, several news outlets identified his alleged killer George Zimmerman as a "white Hispanic." Although "white Hispanic" is an unfamiliar phrase, it is an accurate description of Zimmerman — and the Martin case shines a light on how multiracial identity is becoming more commonplace in our society.
In 2000, for the first time, the Census Bureau gave Americans the option to identify themselves by marking more than one race. The 2.9% who chose more than one box in 2010 might not seem high, but the multiracial population younger than 18 has grown almost 50% since 2000, making it the fastest growing U.S. youth group.
Maybe use of "white Hispanic" has been met with skepticism by some — especially conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh— because the U.S. is used to thinking about race in black and white terms. Perhaps these conservatives are accustomed to thinking of "white" as meaning descended from Europeans, or not being a member of a minority group.
Teaching The LA Riots At Two City Schools : NPR
Most history books used in LA schools end at the Civil Rights era of the 1950s and '60s, so 11th grade history teacher Anthony Lawson, who was 10 at the time of the riots, has to improvise. Lawson teaches at Animo Locke High, a charter school. Everyone in the class is 16 or 17, black or Latino, and lives in the neighborhood, which isn't far from flashpoint of the riots.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Why Engineering, Science Gender Gap Persists | PBS NewsHour
"He'd spend an hour trying to explain the concept," she said. "He'd gesture wildly with his hands. He was trying to get my brain to wrap around the idea that everything we see and touch is made up of tiny, tiny parts. He had so much passion and enthusiasm for it." She was 6 then; he was 8.
Now 18 and a senior in Fort Worth Texas, Bose swept the prestigious national competition - and scored $50,000 -- for tackling ovarian cancer. She discovered a protein that keeps cells from growing resistant to the chemotherapy drug cisplatin. Among the five finalists in her age group, she was the only female.
U.S. News - Letters threaten North Carolina Muslims with Klan-like abuse
U.S. News - Letters threaten North Carolina Muslims with Klan-like abuse: Law enforcers in Charlotte, N.C., are looking for the writer of a threatening letter sent to regional mosques detailing ways that an anti-Islam "network" would make life miserable for Muslims, and warning that the writer would not hesitate to kill them if they tried to retaliate.
"On face value it's really a threatening letter. It’s like they took a page from the Klan’s playbook," said Jibril Hough, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Charlotte, which received the four-paragraph letter early last week. "Who knows if this person is part of a greater network, a clandestine conspiracy or just someone who has an active imagination?"
The letter claims to represent a network of people in business, government and schools who plan to make life difficult for Muslims by denying them jobs, loans, medical attention and other services.
"On face value it's really a threatening letter. It’s like they took a page from the Klan’s playbook," said Jibril Hough, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Charlotte, which received the four-paragraph letter early last week. "Who knows if this person is part of a greater network, a clandestine conspiracy or just someone who has an active imagination?"
The letter claims to represent a network of people in business, government and schools who plan to make life difficult for Muslims by denying them jobs, loans, medical attention and other services.
Mexican immigration falls for first time in four decades | World news | guardian.co.uk
A survey from the Pew Hispanic Center finds that the largest wave of immigration in American history to have taken place from a single country has now been brought to a virtual standstill. In the five years from 2005 to 2010, about 1.4m Mexicans immigrated to the US – exactly the same number of Mexican immigrants and their US-born children who quit America and moved back or were deported to Mexico.
By contrast, in the previous five years to 2000 some 3m Mexicans came to the US and fewer than 700,000 left it.
Young men in Mexico say the US no longer offers them a better future | World news | guardian.co.uk
"For years, we dreamed of America, but now that dream is no good," says 18-year-old Pedro Morales, sitting in the elegant Spanish colonial square of Comala under the shadow of the spectacular Volcan de Fuego. "There are no jobs and too many problems. We don't want to go."
In an historic shift, the tide of immigration from Mexico to the US has stalled. Villages that were empty of young men are now full. A report published by the Pew Hispanic Center this week confirmed what was already anecdotally clear: the largest wave of immigration in US history has stalled and is now close to slipping into reverse.
Black Man's Killing in Georgia Eludes Spotlight - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
He grabbed the .22-caliber pistol he kept next to his bed and went to investigate. He found two young brothers who had been secretly invited to party with an 18-year-old relative he had raised like a daughter and her younger friend. The young people were paired up in separate bedrooms. There was marijuana and sex.
Over the course of the next confusing minutes on a January morning in 2011, there would be a struggle. The young men would make a terrified run for the door. Mr. Neesmith, who is 62 and white, fired four shots. One of them hit Justin Patterson, who was 22 and black.
The bullet pierced his side, and he died in Mr. Neesmith's yard. His younger brother, Sha'von, then 18, ran through the onion fields in the dark, frantically trying to call his mother.
Culture, Not Biology, Shapes Human Language : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR
There's no innate language organ or module in the human brain dedicated to the production of grammatical language.
There are no meaningful human universals when it comes to how people construct sentences to communicate with each other. Across the languages of the world (estimated to number 6,000-8,000), nouns, verbs, and objects are arranged in sentences in different ways as people express their thoughts. The powerful force behind this variability is culture.
So goes the argument in Language: The Cultural Tool, the new book I'm reading by Daniel Everett. Next week, I'll have more to say about the book itself; this week, I want to explore how Everett's years of living among the Piraha Indians of Amazonian Brazil helped shape his conclusions — and why those conclusions matter.
In Southern China, A Thriving African Neighborhood : NPR
The Tangqi wholesale mall in Guangzhou, China, is a labyrinth of tiny clothing shops. They look more like storage units, each one crammed full of T-shirts and jeans.
From morning well into the night, traders pack hundreds of T-shirts and jeans into boxes. Then comes the packing tape — a rip that echoes through the halls. This is the rhythm of Tangqi: pack and tape, pack and tape.
Fans unleash racial garbage at Joel Ward - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post
I can’t really repeat much of the racial garbage that was tossed in Ward’s direction after he scored that dramatic game-winning goal Wednesday night, but suffice it to say there was a whole lot of vile stuff going on, in multiple platforms, on multiple sites.
If you have a stronger stomach than I, you can read some of the horrific comments that have been collected at Capitals Outsider, or at SB Nation, or at Chirpstory, or at Black Sports Online, or I’m sure dozens of other places.
Here are just two of the vile things turned up by Caps Outsider late Wednesday night:
* “The only reason Joel ward is playing hockey is because he got cut from the basketball team in high school #gorilla”
* “Warning to Joel Ward. Your one of three black guys in Canada. I will find you…and I will kill you.”
And those are on the mild side, if you can believe that.
Hard to turn all those smiles into a depressing moment. Well done, awful people. Yuck.
Number of biracial babies soars over past decade - The Washington Post
More than 7 percent of the 3.5 million children born in the year before the 2010 Census were of two or more races, up from barely 5 percent a decade earlier. The number of children born to black and white couples and to Asian and white couples almost doubled.
“I think people are more comfortable in identifying themselves, and their children, as mixed race,” said William H. Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer who analyzed detailed census data on mixed-race infants. “It’s much more socially acceptable, more mainstream, to say, ‘That’s what we want to identify them as.’ ”
The District, Maryland and Virginia all lag behind the national average in multiracial children, but that is changing rapidly.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Live Chat: Why Aren't There More Female Scientists and Engineers? | PBS NewsHour
Live Chat: Why Aren't There More Female Scientists and Engineers? | PBS NewsHour: This week on the NewsHour, we take a look at why more women aren't pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), with reports beginning Wednesday online and on the broadcast.
Join us for a live chat this Friday, April 27, at noon ET with Judy Woodruff on what can be done to encourage and support more young women to pursue careers in STEM fields. Submit your questions below or tweet them to @NewsHour using the hashtag #WomenInSTEM.
The participants scheduled to join us are*:
Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco and winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work in the field of telomere biology.
Dr. Angela Bielefeldt, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder
Shree Bose, high school senior and winner of the 2011 Google Science Fair. Watch her TEDxWomen Talk below on how, at age 15, she delved into ovarian cancer research.
Join us for a live chat this Friday, April 27, at noon ET with Judy Woodruff on what can be done to encourage and support more young women to pursue careers in STEM fields. Submit your questions below or tweet them to @NewsHour using the hashtag #WomenInSTEM.
The participants scheduled to join us are*:
Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, professor of Biology and Physiology in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco and winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work in the field of telomere biology.
Dr. Angela Bielefeldt, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder
Shree Bose, high school senior and winner of the 2011 Google Science Fair. Watch her TEDxWomen Talk below on how, at age 15, she delved into ovarian cancer research.
NCAA Meeting Expected to Consider HBCU Concerns
Details of the ideas on the board’s agenda were not disclosed by NCAA officials. However, the idea of boosting aid to academic programs aimed at student-athletes has been a widely debated topic among HBCU presidents, athletic directors and some NCAA Division I officials since it was advanced last year by Hampton University President Dr. William Harvey.
Proposed Federal Legislation Seeks to Boost Minority STEM Education
“When we look at researchers, engineers, we don’t see America, the diversity,” Johnson said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference and roundtable hosted by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering Inc., or NACME.
To illustrate the point, Johnson cited statistics that show only 22.1 percent of Latino students, 18.4 percent of African-American students and 18.8 percent of Native American students in STEM fields complete their degree within five years, versus 33 percent and 42 percent for White and Asian students, respectively.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Obama Honors National Teacher of The Year - ABC News
“When kids finish a year in Rebecca’s class, they’re better readers and writers than when they started. But even more than that, they know how important they are, and they understand how bright their futures can be, and they know that if they work at it, there’s no limit to what they can achieve,” the president said at a White House ceremony.
Obama noted that the seventh grade English teacher from Burbank, Calif., has “high expectations” for her students and for herself, but that she also “knows that school can be fun.” The president highlighted Mieliwocki’s enthusiasm and her efforts to engage parents, including hosting family nights and offering class updates on Facebook.
Tennessee senior banned from prom for Confederate flag dress | The Raw Story
Tennessee senior banned from prom for Confederate flag dress | The Raw Story: A senior at Gibson County High School in Tennessee was kicked out of her prom last Saturday for wearing a dress that resembled the Confederate battle flag, according to The Jackson Sun.
School officials told 18-year-old Texanna Edwards that she could not wear the “offensive and inappropriate” dress, but she could change and come back to the event. However, Edwards refused to change out of her custom made dress and consequentially was not allowed to attend prom.
A teacher had advised Edwards not to wear the dress. But Edwards thought that she would still be allowed to attend prom, even though it might offend some people, she told The Jackson Sun. Students at the high school had regularly worn Confederate flags without incident, she said.
School officials told 18-year-old Texanna Edwards that she could not wear the “offensive and inappropriate” dress, but she could change and come back to the event. However, Edwards refused to change out of her custom made dress and consequentially was not allowed to attend prom.
A teacher had advised Edwards not to wear the dress. But Edwards thought that she would still be allowed to attend prom, even though it might offend some people, she told The Jackson Sun. Students at the high school had regularly worn Confederate flags without incident, she said.
Longtime Volunteer to be Recognized for Lifetime of Service - MCPS Staff Bulletin article
The award, established in 1998 to honor volunteers aged 60 and older, was renamed in 2009 in memory of former County Councilmember, County Executive, and longtime civic activist Neal Potter.
Rubens comes from a family with a long tradition of helping others, especially the young, the elderly, and those less fortunate. Her extensive volunteer work in the area of education includes being a member of the founding committee of Blacks United for Excellence in Education and the countywide Saturday School, which provides tutoring and mentoring to enhance the academic achievement of African American students in Grades 1 through 12. She also has served as program coordinator for the Study Circles program; community coordinator for the National Council of Negro Women’s (NCNW) after-school program for more than 100 African American teen girls; and assisted in the development of the MCPS’ Success for Every Student Plan.
Waiter Racism Survey Shows 40 Percent Of Waiters Discriminate Against Black Customers
The study, published in the Journal of Black Studies, found that 40 percent of waiters admit they discriminate against black customers because of a perception they don't tip as much as white patrons, according to the Daily Mail.
"Many people believe that race is no longer a significant issue in the United States,’ Sarah Rusche, co-author of a paper describing the study, told the Mail. "But the fact that a third of servers admit to varying their quality of service based on customers' race, often giving African-Americans inferior service, shows that race continues to be an issue in our society."
Video: Crossing the line at the border | Need to Know | PBS
Video: Crossing the line at the border | Need to Know | PBS: In partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute, Need to Know investigates whether U.S. border agents have been using excessive force in an effort to curb illegal immigration. Eight people have been killed along the border in the past two years. One man died a short time after being beaten and tased, an event recorded by two eyewitnesses whose video is the centerpiece of the report. Both eyewitnesses say the man offered little or no resistance. One told Need to Know that she felt like she watched someone being “murdered,” and the San Diego coroner’s office classified the death as a “homicide.”
The report raises questions about accountability. Because border agents are part of the Department of Homeland Security, they are not subjected to the same public scrutiny as police officers who use their weapons. It also questions whether, in the rush to secure the border, agents are being adequately trained. And it raises the question: why aren’t these cases being prosecuted?
The report raises questions about accountability. Because border agents are part of the Department of Homeland Security, they are not subjected to the same public scrutiny as police officers who use their weapons. It also questions whether, in the rush to secure the border, agents are being adequately trained. And it raises the question: why aren’t these cases being prosecuted?
Latinos have better lung cancer survival than non-Latino whites, blacks - latimes.com
It's the same for lung cancer, said scientists at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami in a paper published online Monday by the journal Cancer.
Querying a vast database that tracks U.S. cancer cases, the researchers looked at 172,398 patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, a common subtype of the disease, in the U.S. from 1988 to 2007.
Overall, the 18,206 Latino patients had a 15% lower risk of dying during the study than the non-Latino white patients. Black patients were slightly more likely to die than non-Latino white patients.
Towson: Mission trips give Notre Dame students a sense of true value - baltimoresun.com
But if you want to know just how affected the 36 girls who took part in the 20th annual service trips to each location were by their experience, just ask them about prom.
"All the other girls are still talking about dresses, shoes and nails," said Jen Mallinoff, 17, of Glen Arm.
Not them, though. After coming from a place where the people had so little materially — but were spiritually rich — Mallinoff and the 19 other NDP students have found little time in their lives for the extravagances of that particular rite of passage.
Amnesty International: Muslims in Europe face discrimination | The Raw Story
In a report focusing on Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland, Amnesty urged European governments to do more to challenge negative stereotypes and prejudices against Islam.
The report was particularly critical of countries that have brought in outright bans on face-covering veils or on the wearing of religious symbols in schools.
“Rather than countering these prejudices, political parties and public officials are all too often pandering to them in their quest for votes,” said Marco Perolini, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination.
LeRoy Walker Dead: First African-American To Lead U.S. Olympic Committee Dies At 93 (VIDEO)
LeRoy Walker Dead: First African-American To Lead U.S. Olympic Committee Dies At 93 (VIDEO): LeRoy Walker, the first African-American to lead the U.S. Olympic Committee and the first black man to coach an American Olympic team died Monday. He was 93.
Walker's death was confirmed by Scarborough & Hargett Funeral home, but no cause of death was given.
The grandson of slaves raised in the segregated South before he moved to Harlem, Walker led the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1992 to 1996, both shepherding the summer games played in Atlanta and leading the group when the 2002 Winter Olympics were awarded to Salt Lake City.
The Atlanta games were widely panned across the globe, and Walker warned his fellow countrymen the U.S. was not likely to host another games for a long time after Salt Lake City. He repeated his warnings after a bribery scandal threatened to derail the 2002 winter games, and so far, his prediction has been true.
Walker's death was confirmed by Scarborough & Hargett Funeral home, but no cause of death was given.
The grandson of slaves raised in the segregated South before he moved to Harlem, Walker led the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1992 to 1996, both shepherding the summer games played in Atlanta and leading the group when the 2002 Winter Olympics were awarded to Salt Lake City.
The Atlanta games were widely panned across the globe, and Walker warned his fellow countrymen the U.S. was not likely to host another games for a long time after Salt Lake City. He repeated his warnings after a bribery scandal threatened to derail the 2002 winter games, and so far, his prediction has been true.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Black Gender Inequality and Female-Headed Households
In the 21st century, gender inequality is even more concentrated among African-American female-headed families with children younger than 5 years of age. This group accounts for the majority of American families in poverty. The condition of these female-headed families is more acute than that of the African girls in antebellum America, who made up the 70 percent of the work force that started working by the age of 7.
Today’s African-American female family heads do not live in nuclear families, they do not hold down steady full-time jobs and, unlike their antebellum African female family counterparts, they are more likely to have given birth to the first of their seven children before they graduated from high school and before they cast their first vote to elect any government officials to represent them.
Tobacco marketing targets low-income, black youth, researchers say | UTSanDiego.com
Academic researchers funded by the state’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program found that there was greater visibility of menthol cigarette advertising at retailers near high schools where there are larger African American student populations.
According to the most recent statistics issued by the Federal Trade Commission, the tobacco industry spent $10 billion on marketing in 2008.
“There is a systematic targeting (of disadvantaged communities) by the tobacco industry, which is an extraordinary public health problem,” said Lisa Henriksen of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who presented the research at a legislative briefing in Sacramento last week. “The addition of menthol to cigarettes makes it easier to smoke and more difficult to quit.”
Research Tipping: Survey Shows Differing Attitudes by Race
Research Tipping: Survey Shows Differing Attitudes by Race: When African Americans dine out, the service had better measure up if the server is expecting a good tip.
That's among the findings of a recent poll by The Root on attitudes and habits regarding tipping. African-American respondents were much more likely than whites (30 percent vs. 15 percent) to say that one should tip as a "reward for good service." They were less likely than whites to cite the low wages that waitstaff earn (33 percent vs 42 percent) as the reason they tip.
These findings were among a number of differences in tipping habits across cultural lines revealed in The Root's online survey. The 10-question survey generated a total of 842 responses between July 14 and July 19, 2011, including answers from 646 blacks and 121 whites.
That's among the findings of a recent poll by The Root on attitudes and habits regarding tipping. African-American respondents were much more likely than whites (30 percent vs. 15 percent) to say that one should tip as a "reward for good service." They were less likely than whites to cite the low wages that waitstaff earn (33 percent vs 42 percent) as the reason they tip.
These findings were among a number of differences in tipping habits across cultural lines revealed in The Root's online survey. The 10-question survey generated a total of 842 responses between July 14 and July 19, 2011, including answers from 646 blacks and 121 whites.
Essence Shifts White Male Managing Editor
The hiring of Michael Bullerdick last July created an uproar, partly because the title of "managing editor" implied to many a major role for a white man in the editorial process of a magazine for black women.
In his LinkedIn profile, Bullerdick lists "Edit stories for tone and style" among his duties, even though editor-in-chief Constance C.R. White insisted when he was hired, "Michael is responsible for production and operational workflow. He has no involvement in editorial content."
Freeman Hrabowski Interview: Reading Is Fundamental to Math and Science
For 20 years now Hrabowski, a native of Birmingham, Ala., has been at the helm of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a college with about 13,000 students -- 40 percent minority. At age 12 Hrabowski was jailed in the children's marches in downtown Birmingham during the civil rights movement after coming face-to-face with Bull Connor, the infamous segregationist police commissioner, who spat in his face.
Those experiences, the 61-year-old Hrawbowski said, are part of the tapestry woven into him that created an even stronger resolve to succeed. Last week Time magazine named Hrabowski one of its "100 Most Influential People in the World." He's one of only four African Americans on the list this year, which also includes actress Viola Davis from The Help, President Barack Obama and singer Rihanna.
More Mexicans returning home, fewer immigrating to U.S. – USATODAY.com
More Mexicans returning home, fewer immigrating to U.S. – USATODAY.com: Mexican immigration to the United States is on the brink of a historic reversal: More Mexicans may be going back to Mexico than coming in, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report Monday.
The influx of Mexicans, which has dominated U.S. immigration patterns for four decades, began to tumble in 2006 and 2007 as the housing bust and recession created a dearth of jobs. At the same time, the number of Mexicans returning to their native country along with their U.S.-born children soared.
Stricter border enforcement, more deportations and tough state immigration laws such as the Arizona statute being challenged before the Supreme Court on Wednesday probably also contributed to the shift, says Jeffrey Passel, lead author of the report. The study analyzed data from censuses and a variety of other sources in both countries.
U.N. to investigate plight of Native Americans for first time | The Raw Story
The human rights inquiry led by James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on indigenous peoples, is scheduled to begin on Monday.
Many of the country’s estimated 2.7 million Native Americans live in federally recognised tribal areas which are plagued with unemployment, alcoholism, high suicide rates, incest and other social problems.
The UN mission is potentially contentious, with some conservatives almost certain to object to international interference in US domestic matters. Since his appointment as rapporteur in 2008, Anaya has focused on indigenous people in Central and South America.
A UN statement said: “This will be the first mission to the US by an independent expert designated by the UN human rights council to report on the rights of the indigenous peoples.”
Dark skin is also a problem among African-Americans - CNN.com
Dark skin is also a problem among African-Americans - CNN.com: Acura found itself in a bit of hot water this week when it was revealed that a casting agency in Los Angeles only desired light-skinned African-American actors for the company's Super Bowl commercial featuring Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld.
The company apologized, but that hasn't stopped a lot of the chatter criticizing Acura for not doing more to keep the casting agency in check. This really isn't a new story considering how many times in the past we've heard similar stories, including that advertising agencies have non-urban dictates like refusing to buy advertising space on black-focused radio, TV, magazine and online properties.
Worldwide, nearly $500 million is spent on bleaching products, an effort for people with darker skin to lighten their skin. This is pretty laughable considering the lengths some whites go to darken their skin through tanning beds or even spray painting a bronze look in order to appear darker. (I'm still trying to figure out the skin tone of Speaker of the House John Boehner.)
The company apologized, but that hasn't stopped a lot of the chatter criticizing Acura for not doing more to keep the casting agency in check. This really isn't a new story considering how many times in the past we've heard similar stories, including that advertising agencies have non-urban dictates like refusing to buy advertising space on black-focused radio, TV, magazine and online properties.
Worldwide, nearly $500 million is spent on bleaching products, an effort for people with darker skin to lighten their skin. This is pretty laughable considering the lengths some whites go to darken their skin through tanning beds or even spray painting a bronze look in order to appear darker. (I'm still trying to figure out the skin tone of Speaker of the House John Boehner.)
Sunday, April 22, 2012
‘The Grey Album,’ by Kevin Young - NYTimes.com
‘The Grey Album,’ by Kevin Young - NYTimes.com: From the first slave ship arriving in harbor, America stole and judged blacks. Black life that didn’t fit into white logic was commercially exploited or lynched. Slave bodies lied to their masters. Denied dancing and musical instruments, slaves expressed a hidden tradition of musicality and poetics by tongue and signal. The trickster was born. In his new work of literary and cultural criticism, “The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness,” the accomplished poet Kevin Young unearths, orchestrates, improvises and imagines lies and more lies — in short, American history.Young places the trickster near the axis of black American culture. “A tradition of counterfeit and fiction, of storying,” he writes, “has just as much place in African-American letters as our rituals of church or prayer or music.” Separated from their families, blacks created a communal story from fragments. Condescended to, suppressed, effaced, ripped off and covered, black artists have resorted throughout American history to subversive styles of artistic expression largely revolving around the “trickster” as mask and music. How much of Young the Author is in the trickster tradition? He’s escaping even as he’s explaining. “The desire to escape America is as American as you can get,” a friend warns him.
Are dating shows behind the curve when it comes to inclusion? - CNN.com
Are dating shows behind the curve when it comes to inclusion? - CNN.com: Reality programs have long featured contestants of color in their casts.
Competition shows like "Amazing Race," "The Biggest Loser" and "Dancing with the Stars" have featured diverse contestants since their inaugural seasons in 2001, 2004 and 2005, respectively.
But while African-Americans, Asians and Latinos can be seen racing around the world, losing weight and dancing the paso doble on TV, dating shows continue to be far less inclusive.
Two African-American men filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, accusing ABC as well as other companies involved with the production of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" and creator Mike Fleiss of racial discrimination.
The complaint alleges that, in 16 seasons of "The Bachelor" and seven seasons of "The Bachelorette" (the eighth season is slated to begin airing in May), the defendants have never featured "a single person of color ... in the central role." The suit also alleges that the few people of color who have been chosen to compete are often eliminated after the first few rose ceremonies.
Competition shows like "Amazing Race," "The Biggest Loser" and "Dancing with the Stars" have featured diverse contestants since their inaugural seasons in 2001, 2004 and 2005, respectively.
But while African-Americans, Asians and Latinos can be seen racing around the world, losing weight and dancing the paso doble on TV, dating shows continue to be far less inclusive.
Two African-American men filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, accusing ABC as well as other companies involved with the production of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" and creator Mike Fleiss of racial discrimination.
The complaint alleges that, in 16 seasons of "The Bachelor" and seven seasons of "The Bachelorette" (the eighth season is slated to begin airing in May), the defendants have never featured "a single person of color ... in the central role." The suit also alleges that the few people of color who have been chosen to compete are often eliminated after the first few rose ceremonies.
Baltimore neighborhood watch beating trial to begin amid fury over Trayvon Martin killing - The Washington Post
Baltimore neighborhood watch beating trial to begin amid fury over Trayvon Martin killing - The Washington Post: Two brothers accused of beating a black teenager while patrolling an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood are set to go on trial Monday in a case with similarities to the Trayvon Martin shooting.
The brothers, who are white and Jewish, have claimed self-defense, saying the teen was holding a nail-studded board. Local civil rights activists hope the Martin case will draw more attention to what they believe was racial profiling by neighborhood watch vigilantes.
Eliyahu and Avi Werdesheim are accused of beating a 15-year-old boy who was walking through a Baltimore neighborhood in November 2010. The brothers pulled up next to the teen in a vehicle, then got out and “surrounded him,” according to charging documents. The passenger threw the teen to the ground and the driver hit him in the head with a hand-held radio and patted him down.
The teen remembered the driver yelling, “You wanna (mess) with us, you don’t belong around here, get outta here!” according to court documents, which do not identify which brother was driving.
The brothers, who are white and Jewish, have claimed self-defense, saying the teen was holding a nail-studded board. Local civil rights activists hope the Martin case will draw more attention to what they believe was racial profiling by neighborhood watch vigilantes.
Eliyahu and Avi Werdesheim are accused of beating a 15-year-old boy who was walking through a Baltimore neighborhood in November 2010. The brothers pulled up next to the teen in a vehicle, then got out and “surrounded him,” according to charging documents. The passenger threw the teen to the ground and the driver hit him in the head with a hand-held radio and patted him down.
The teen remembered the driver yelling, “You wanna (mess) with us, you don’t belong around here, get outta here!” according to court documents, which do not identify which brother was driving.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Federal officials investigate discipline practices at Anne Arundel schools - The Washington Post
Federal officials investigate discipline practices at Anne Arundel schools - The Washington Post: Federal officials are investigating racial disparities in school discipline in Anne Arundel County, where the issue has been a longtime concern for African American leaders.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will probe allegations made in a complaint filed by the Anne Arundel branch of the NAACP that African American students are treated unequally in school discipline referrals and suspensions.
The NAACP raised similar issues in a 2004 federal complaint, which led to an improvement plan that addressed academics and discipline in the 76,000-student district. But little progress has been made on discipline, the 2011 complaint says, and in some cases discipline actions involving African Americans have increased.
Jacqueline Boone Allsup, president of the Anne Arundel branch, said she hopes the new federal action, described in a March 29 letter, will produce concrete changes.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will probe allegations made in a complaint filed by the Anne Arundel branch of the NAACP that African American students are treated unequally in school discipline referrals and suspensions.
The NAACP raised similar issues in a 2004 federal complaint, which led to an improvement plan that addressed academics and discipline in the 76,000-student district. But little progress has been made on discipline, the 2011 complaint says, and in some cases discipline actions involving African Americans have increased.
Jacqueline Boone Allsup, president of the Anne Arundel branch, said she hopes the new federal action, described in a March 29 letter, will produce concrete changes.
Tuskegee Airman gets replacement medal - chicagotribune.com
The Gary resident received the medal during a ceremony at Gary City Hall that was held especially to honor him with a replacement medal because the original was stolen from his home last August.
"I feel resolved and completed," said Smith, 93. "And I feel great because it is a community thing and not just for me and the medal."
Smith, a fixture in the area after a 50-year-career as an educator in the Gary Community School Corp., belonged to the Tuskegee Airmen, a unit of African-American fighter pilots who flew during World War II. He served from 1942 to 1946.
D.C. Public Schools introduce flag football as a girls’ varsity sport - The Washington Post
According to DCPS figures for the 2010-11 school year, girls made up 51 percent of the total high school enrollment (6,058 of 11,988) but only 39 percent of the athletic participants (1,060 of 2,743). To improve those participation numbers, DCPS officials surveyed high school girls last year and adopted the two most-requested sports. Flag football was the overwhelming No. 1 choice followed by bowling, which was introduced as a varsity sport this past winter. Alaska and Florida are the only states that currently offer flag football as a varsity sport.
In online video, minorities find an audience - The Washington Post
...“A lot of U.S. marketers are leaving minority audiences on the table,” said Seneca Mudd, the director of industry initiatives at the Interactive Advertising Bureau. “Advertisers would ignore that trend at their own peril.”
Among the 20 most-subscribed-to channels on YouTube, eight feature minorities. Most are Asian American. Many more black and Latino shows populate the top 50. These producers are also finding an audience that has been largely neglected by Hollywood. Nearly 80 percent of minorities regularly watch online videos, compared with less than 70 percent of whites, the Pew Internet & American Life Project says.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Md. black jockeys are scarce, but Malcolm Franklin perseveres - Rosenwald, Md. - The Washington Post
“It can be hard and isolating,” Franklin, 22, from Orangeburg, S.C., said from inside the Laurel Park jockeys locker room, known as “the jock’s room.”
A room, Franklin said, that on average is filled with 30 other sustenance-sacrificing jockeys all fighting for the same prize money.
“There’s definitely some jealousy and hate,” Franklin said.
There are a few who make racial comments, some under muddled breaths, some over raised voices, Franklin said.
But Franklin tries his best to move forward.
“I’ve learned to blow it off and not let it bother me too much,” he said, quickly pointing out he’s accepted by most.
But in a sport where death is merely a misstep away, the pursuit of prize money can breed dangerous maneuvers on the track.
In February, Franklin competed at West Virginia’s Hollywood Casino at Charlestown Races.
Judge: Race played role in NC racial justice case - seattlepi.com
Judge: Race played role in NC racial justice case - seattlepi.com: FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A condemned killer's trial was so tainted by the racially colored decisions of prosecutors that he should be removed from death row and serve a life sentence, a judge ruled Friday in a precedent-setting North Carolina decision.
Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks' decision in the case of Marcus Robinson comes in the first test of a 2009 state law that allows death row prisoners and capital murder defendants to challenge their sentences or prosecutors' decisions with statistics and other evidence.
Only Kentucky has a law like North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, which says the prisoner's sentence is reduced to life in prison without parole if the claim is successful.
"The Racial Justice Act represents a landmark reform in capital sentencing in our state," Weeks said in Fayetteville on Friday. "There are those who disagree with this, but it is the law."
Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks' decision in the case of Marcus Robinson comes in the first test of a 2009 state law that allows death row prisoners and capital murder defendants to challenge their sentences or prosecutors' decisions with statistics and other evidence.
Only Kentucky has a law like North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, which says the prisoner's sentence is reduced to life in prison without parole if the claim is successful.
"The Racial Justice Act represents a landmark reform in capital sentencing in our state," Weeks said in Fayetteville on Friday. "There are those who disagree with this, but it is the law."
Officer shouted racial slur before 2nd cop killed black man – USATODAY.com
Officer shouted racial slur before 2nd cop killed black man – USATODAY.com: WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – An officer named in a police-brutality lawsuit shouted a racial slur at a black man before another officer killed him, a lawyer for the dead man's family said.
City Police Officer Steven Hart can be heard on audiotapes using the N-word as he stood Nov. 19 at the apartment window of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., 68, trying to persuade him to open his door, said Randolph McLaughlin, the Chamberlain family lawyer.
"He's outside, at the window, tapping, tapping, tapping, and you hear him say, 'Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Chamberlain. Stop. We have to talk, n-,' " McLaughlin said Thursday.
Chamberlain, a retired Westchester County corrections officer and former U.S. Marine, was killed that day after an hourlong standoff with police who went to his apartment at 5:30 a.m. when his medical alert alarm went off, apparently by accident. Family members said Chamberlain, who had a chronic heart condition, told police he had no emergency and that he was all right, but officers insisted on coming inside.
Lillian Lowery: Delaware schools chief named Maryland state superintendent of schools - baltimoresun.com
Lillian Lowery: Delaware schools chief named Maryland state superintendent of schools - baltimoresun.com: Delaware Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery will move to Maryland to become the state's new school chief, the state school board announced Friday morning.Under Lowery's leadership, Delaware was the first state to win a federal Race to the Top grant, which provided dollars in exchange for education reforms. Maryland was chosen in a second round.
Before her appointment to her current position in 2009, Lowery was the superintendent of schools in Delaware's largest school district. She also has experience as an assistant superintendent in Fairfax County, Va., and Fort Wayne, Ind. She taught English in Virginia and North Carolina.
Florida State University Celebrates 50 Years of Integration
Two years later in 1965, Fred Flowers became the school’s first Black athlete as a member of FSU’s baseball team. He was also one of the first members of a Black fraternity on campus. Flowers’ sister, Doby, was one of the school’s first Black students to participate in a homecoming parade, the first member of a Black sorority and became in 1970 the first Black woman to be voted homecoming queen.
These and other firsts were celebrated Thursday and will continue today and tomorrow during Florida State’s 50th anniversary of racial integration. The school is partnering with the Tallahassee community on events to commemorate the anniversary.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
City's black, male leaders organize around literacy - baltimoresun.com
City's black, male leaders organize around literacy - baltimoresun.com: With books in hand, hundreds of prominent black male city leaders and community members will descend on classrooms around the city Monday to read to students, part of an initiative to promote literacy and positive male influences in the lives of city youth.
The effort called the "Michael Penny Carter Men Reading in Baltimore City Schools Initiative," was introduced in the city by Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, president of the local the National Action Network, last fall. The program was inspired by a similar one in Chicago, and has drawn the support of local political, education, and religious leaders across the city.
This year, and from here on out, the program is being named in honor of Michael Carter, a well-known community leader in Baltimore whose vocal support for students led him to lead the school system's Office of Parent and Community Engagement.
The effort called the "Michael Penny Carter Men Reading in Baltimore City Schools Initiative," was introduced in the city by Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, president of the local the National Action Network, last fall. The program was inspired by a similar one in Chicago, and has drawn the support of local political, education, and religious leaders across the city.
This year, and from here on out, the program is being named in honor of Michael Carter, a well-known community leader in Baltimore whose vocal support for students led him to lead the school system's Office of Parent and Community Engagement.
Baltimore City Teacher of the Year: KIPP Ujima math educator named teacher of the year - baltimoresun.com
Baltimore City Teacher of the Year: KIPP Ujima math educator named teacher of the year - baltimoresun.com: A mathematics educator whose students have consistently scored among the highest in Baltimore and Maryland on state assessments was named the city's 2012 Teacher of the Year.
Bradley Nornhold, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at the high-performing charter school KIPP Ujima Village Academy, was surprised with the honor Wednesday by a visit to his classroom — which immediately erupted in cheers — from city schools CEO Andres Alonso.
Alonso called Nornhold a "tremendous educator," saying that he was told that to watch Nornhold teach is "like magic." "I was told that that I should walk into his classroom if I'm having a bad day because his teaching is like alchemy," Alonso said. "So I'm just very happy for him."
Bradley Nornhold, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at the high-performing charter school KIPP Ujima Village Academy, was surprised with the honor Wednesday by a visit to his classroom — which immediately erupted in cheers — from city schools CEO Andres Alonso.
Alonso called Nornhold a "tremendous educator," saying that he was told that to watch Nornhold teach is "like magic." "I was told that that I should walk into his classroom if I'm having a bad day because his teaching is like alchemy," Alonso said. "So I'm just very happy for him."
Jim Crow Museum Of Racist Memorabilia In Michigan Showcases Segregation-era Artifacts
That's the idea behind the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, which says it has amassed the nation's largest public collection of artifacts spanning the segregation era, from Reconstruction until the civil rights movement, and beyond.
The museum in a gleaming new exhibit hall at Ferris State University "is all about teaching, not a shrine to racism," said David Pilgrim, the founder and curator who started building the collection as a teenager.
Education For Poor Students Threatened By Exclusionary Housing Policies, Report Says
Education For Poor Students Threatened By Exclusionary Housing Policies, Report Says: Tanya McDowell, a Connecticut mother, made headlines last year when she was accused of stealing -- specifically, of stealing an education for her son.
McDowell, who was homeless, was accused of felony larceny by authorities who said she sent her child to a stronger school in Norwalk, instead of the one she was zoned to in Bridgeport, her last permanent address.
"Who would have thought that wanting a good education for my son would put me in this predicament?" McDowell said in court last month, according to The Connecticut Post. Her eyes downcast, McDowell pleaded guilty to fraudulently enrolling her son in the wrong school district and selling drugs. She was sentenced to five years in prison.
A new Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program report released Thursday lists which metropolitan areas' housing policies most severely impede low-income students from attending high-performing schools, and found that zoning laws preventing the construction of affordable housing in wealthier neighborhoods are still widespread.
McDowell, who was homeless, was accused of felony larceny by authorities who said she sent her child to a stronger school in Norwalk, instead of the one she was zoned to in Bridgeport, her last permanent address.
"Who would have thought that wanting a good education for my son would put me in this predicament?" McDowell said in court last month, according to The Connecticut Post. Her eyes downcast, McDowell pleaded guilty to fraudulently enrolling her son in the wrong school district and selling drugs. She was sentenced to five years in prison.
A new Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program report released Thursday lists which metropolitan areas' housing policies most severely impede low-income students from attending high-performing schools, and found that zoning laws preventing the construction of affordable housing in wealthier neighborhoods are still widespread.
Panel Discussion: Enlightened Leadership, Favorable Culture Key Campus Factors for Minority Undergraduate STEM Success
That was one of the major institutional changes recommended Wednesday at a panel discussion titled “Bridging the Gap: STEM Diversity and U.S. Higher Education, Recruiting, Retaining and Reinvigorating College STEM Programs.”
Panelists heavily criticized institutions that adopt practices meant to “weed out” students from the STEM fields.
Dr. S. James Gates, a physics professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Working Group on Undergraduate STEM Education, said colleges and universities should take an approach more in line with the military’s approach of “we will not leave our people behind.”
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Seinfeld Super Bowl Acura Ad Faces Controversy Over Casting Call For Black Actors: 'Not Too Dark'
The gossip site TMZ obtained a casting sheet specifying that the actor playing the African-American car dealer in the Acura commercial be "nice looking, friendly, not too dark."
Someone connected to the ad's casting told TMZ that the skin tone restriction was to avoid problems with lighting and special effects.
Acura on Wednesday issued a statement: "We apologize to anyone offended by the language on the casting sheet used in the selection of actors for one of our commercials. We sought to cast an African-American in a prominent role in the commercial, and we made our selection based on the fact that he was the most talented actor. The casting sheet was only now brought to our attention.
Time Magazine: UMBC president named among world's most influential - baltimoresun.com
Hrabowski will join a renowned crowd of dignitaries, foreign heads of state, celebrities, activists and other reformers on Time magazine's 2012 Top 100 Most Influential People, due to be released Wednesday.
The 61-year-old mathematician, who has led UMBC for two decades, will join the ranks of notable figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, and the Baltimore-born creator of "Mad Men," Matthew Weiner, who all made the list last year.
DC's Gender Pay Gap Revealed - Local News - Washington, DC - Washington D.C. - msnbc.com
DC's Gender Pay Gap Revealed - Local News - Washington, DC - Washington D.C. - msnbc.com: A new report by the American Association of University Women shows that women of all ages, races, ethnic backgrounds and education levels in almost every line of work earned less than men in 2010.
According to the report, women earned 77 cents to every dollar men earned in 2010. Women made a median of $37,000, while the median for men was $48,000.
However, the District came in as the "state" with the smallest gender pay gap. Women working full-time earned 91 percent of what men earned.
Yesterday was Equal Pay Day, a day that symbolizes the day that women "finish" earning what men earned in the previous year. In other words, a hypothetical woman would have worked from Jan. 1, 2011 to April 17, 2012 to earn what a hypothetical man earned in 2011.
According to the report, women earned 77 cents to every dollar men earned in 2010. Women made a median of $37,000, while the median for men was $48,000.
However, the District came in as the "state" with the smallest gender pay gap. Women working full-time earned 91 percent of what men earned.
Yesterday was Equal Pay Day, a day that symbolizes the day that women "finish" earning what men earned in the previous year. In other words, a hypothetical woman would have worked from Jan. 1, 2011 to April 17, 2012 to earn what a hypothetical man earned in 2011.
Spelman College - Women of Color Leadership Conference
While the role of leader brings tremendous opportunities, perks and sometimes power; it also comes with tremendous responsibility, accountability, and often, self-sacrifice – especially for women. Join us as we bring together a distinguished list of speakers to provide practical solutions on how to lead with purpose in ways that are effective, sustainable and rewarding, professionally and personally.
Iowa - Ruling for State in ‘Implicit Bias’ Suit - NYTimes.com
Iowa - Ruling for State in ‘Implicit Bias’ Suit - NYTimes.com: A judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit on Tuesday that claimed that the state government systemically discriminated against black job applicants by allowing subtle racial bias to creep into virtually every hiring and promotion decision. District Judge Robert Blink said the plaintiffs failed to prove their “unique legal theory,” which was based on research that suggests that Americans inherently prefer whites to blacks, even if they are unaware they do. The lawsuit, considered the largest of its kind against a state’s civil service system, covered up to 6,000 blacks passed over for jobs or promotions since 2003. It sought millions of dollars in lost wages and court-ordered changes to state hiring practices.
At Brooklyn’s I.S. 318, the Cool Kids Are the Chess Champs - NYTimes.com
At Brooklyn’s I.S. 318, the Cool Kids Are the Chess Champs - NYTimes.com: The classroom at Intermediate School 318 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was filled on Tuesday with the thumping and clattering of a half-dozen high-speed chess matches, played with a rambunctious energy more reminiscent of a hockey game than of Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue.
The school’s conquering heroes — its chess players — were blowing off steam. On Sunday, in Minneapolis, they became the first middle school team to win the United States Chess Federation’s national high school championship. The team, mostly eighth graders, beat out top high schools like Stuyvesant in Manhattan and Thomas Jefferson in Alexandria, Va.
The victory burnishes what is already a legend in the chess world. At I.S. 318, more than 60 percent of the students come from families with incomes below the federal poverty level. Yet each stairwell landing bristles with four-foot chess trophies, and the school celebrities are people like James A. Black Jr. A 13-year-old with twinkly eyes and curly eyelashes, James is not a football hero or a valedictorian, but a certified chess master who gently corrects his teachers on the fine points of strategy.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Experts: Equipping Students With Questions Is Next Best Thing to Stricter Regulations of For-profit Institutions
That’s one of the main points that higher education experts made Monday at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 2012 Young Latino Leaders Summit during a panel discussion titled “Latinos in Private For-Profit Institutions and College Completion.”
“I think the for-profit sector definitely has a role in getting us to where we need to get as a nation,” said Jose Cruz, Vice President for Higher Education Policy and Practice at the Education Trust, a D.C.-based group that advocates for closing the achievement gap, in reference to the Obama Administration’s college completion agenda of making the United States the most college-educated nation in the world.
White House Promotes Entrepreneurship Focus for HBCUs ad MSIs
“These are institutions that have a great opportunity to prepare a new generation of entrepreneurs and, in the process, to leave no community behind,” said Marie Johns, deputy administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) at the White House Forum on Entrepreneurship for HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Real Jackie Robinson Tribute Would Be More Blacks in Management - NYTimes.com
Real Jackie Robinson Tribute Would Be More Blacks in Management - NYTimes.com: On Sunday, Major League Baseball celebrated another Jackie Robinson Day. Sixty-five years ago, Robinson broke the majors’ racial barrier.
Since 2004, Jackie Robinson Day has been a national day of introspection and respect. The celebration has also become an outlet for hand-wringing about the “problem” of the diminishing African-American presence in the major leagues.
We’ve all seen the numbers: African-Americans made up about 8.5 percent of the players in the majors last year, down from 18 percent 20 years earlier. There are fewer African-American starting pitchers now than there were 50 years ago.
The decline is often explained away by a combination of cultural shifts and economics.
¶ Baseball is a father-son sport. Many black fathers, for a variety of reasons, are not in their sons’ lives.
¶ Baseball, with the cost of equipment and travel for competition, is an expensive sport.
¶ Baseball is a sport of skill more than athleticism, and the skills must be learned early on in youth systems that may be beyond the reach of those who live in economically depressed areas.
¶ Basketball and football have siphoned off top black athletes.
Watch NewsHour Interviews With 2012 Pulitzer Winners | PBS NewsHour
Poet Tracy Smith won the 2012 Pulitzer for poetry. Speaking to the NewHour in May, Smith said:
For me, a poem is an opportunity to kind of interrogate myself a little bit. See in what ways I'm complicated by situations like that, or even -- I don't know -- like somehow connected to in ways that might be uncomfortable.
NewsHour also pulled from a few of the journalism Pulitzer winners' reports -- highlighting reporters' exemplary coverage and providing viewers with some additional on-the-ground perspective.
Ruling expected soon in Iowa employment discrimination lawsuit – In America - CNN.com Blogs
Another applicant had a bachelor's degree in a preferred field, but was still taking courses toward a master's degree in human resources. A third person seeking the job had no degree, no specific job experience and none of the listed computer skills. These last two applicants – both of them white – were offered the job. Woods, who is black, was never granted an interview.
A class action suit filed in 2007 on behalf of Woods and up to 6,000 other African-Americans who were passed over for jobs or promotions with the state of Iowa alleges that they were victims of discrimination.
- The Washington Post
He was a slave, owned by the foundry’s owner, Clark Mills, and the statue he was working on was a symbol of freedom. He is the only slave known to have participated in the gigantic project, the so-called Capitol Extension that, between 1850 and 1865, added new Senate and House wings and a cast-iron dome. The addition would transform the too-small Capitol of antebellum Washington into the majestic seat of government we know today.
D.C. Emancipation Day 2012: Schedule For Parade, Street Festival, Discussions
D.C. Emancipation Day 2012: Schedule For Parade, Street Festival, Discussions: This year, the rest of the nation may know Emancipation Day as that day that gives you a little bit more breathing room to file your tax returns, but many District of Columbia residents know better.
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln -- nearly nine months before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation that liberated slaves in rebellious states -- freed those living in slavery within the boundaries of the nation's capital.
One hundred and fifty years later, the D.C. government will mark Emancipation Day by giving city employees and public school students the day off.
There are a handful of Emancipation Day events set for today.
First off is a new smartphone-based commemorative scavenger hunt from Cultural Tourism DC. After competitors download an app and follow specific instructions designed for the festivities, the top 30 participants will win prizes.
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln -- nearly nine months before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation that liberated slaves in rebellious states -- freed those living in slavery within the boundaries of the nation's capital.
One hundred and fifty years later, the D.C. government will mark Emancipation Day by giving city employees and public school students the day off.
There are a handful of Emancipation Day events set for today.
First off is a new smartphone-based commemorative scavenger hunt from Cultural Tourism DC. After competitors download an app and follow specific instructions designed for the festivities, the top 30 participants will win prizes.
Three in elite NYPD anti-gun unit accused of treating black suspects like 'animals' - NY Daily News
The explosive charges appear in sworn depositions from three members of the firearms suppression unit: two current NYPD detectives and a retired first-grade detective.
Their testimony, part of a federal discrimination lawsuit, details how Capt. James Coan and Lt. Daniel Davin created a hostile environment for both their black detectives and suspected minority-group gun traffickers, said the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Eric Sanders.
Goldman Sachs and MetLife to Disclose Staff Diversity Data - NYTimes.com
Goldman Sachs and MetLife to Disclose Staff Diversity Data - NYTimes.com: At the behest of New York City’s public pension funds, two of the biggest financial companies with headquarters in the city, Goldman Sachs and MetLife, have agreed to publicly disclose information about the racial and gender breakdowns of their staffs.
The disclosures could lead to changes that would benefit shareholders of those companies, as well as their current and future employees, said the city’s comptroller, John C. Liu, who is to announce the agreement on Monday. The public pension funds, whose assets exceed $118 billion, have large stakes in Goldman and MetLife.
“Studies have shown the benefits of a diverse work force on company performance and long-term shareowner value, and many companies say they are making serious efforts to recruit, retain and promote women and minorities,” said Mr. Liu, who is a trustee of the pension funds. “But without quantitative disclosure, shareholders have no way to evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts.”
Young, Black, Male, and Stalked by Bias - NYTimes.com
Your response to the look — and to this trio on the subway — depends in part on the context, like the time of day, but especially on how you feel about young, male blackness.
If it unsettles you — as it does many people — you never get beyond the first impression. But those of us who are not reflexively uncomfortable with blackness can discern the clues that tell who these kids are. They may be tall, but their hormonally pockmarked faces, narrow hips and the cartoon-patterned underwear show that they are probably 15 years old, at most. The grimy black book bags, barely visible against the black hoodies, make them students on the way to school.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Baseball pays tribute to pioneer Jackie Robinson | MLB.com: News
April 15 was dedicated as Jackie Robinson Day in 2004, to honor the anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His number has been retired league-wide since 1997, but starting in 2009, Major League Baseball has requested that all on-field personnel don that special jersey for one day.
The number is only one facet of the celebration. MLB also is releasing a new national public service announcement voiced by Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, who once called Robinson's games.
Jackie Robinson deserves more than one day – USATODAY.com
Jackie Robinson deserves more than one day – USATODAY.com: Sunday is Jackie Robinson Day in major league ballparks, where the ballplayer and his legacy will be remembered with tributes and testimonials. All big-league players will wear Robinson's number 42 on their backs, the only number in sports retired in perpetuity.It is important to remember that Robinson broke major league baseball's color line on April 15, 1947. But if we restrict Robinson's influence to baseball, we do both him and what he accomplished a tremendous disservice. He was arguably the most important civil rights figure, and the integration of baseball the most important civil rights story, in the years immediately after World War II.
When he played his first game for the Dodgers on April 15, 1947, he carried the hopes and dreams of millions of blacks. If Robinson succeeded in baseball, as civil rights leader Roy Wilkins had earlier said, it meant blacks "should have their own rights, should have jobs, decent homes and education, free from insult, and equality of opportunity to achieve."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)