Diversity: Segregation IS Natural

Diversity: Segregation IS Natural

By Shannon Mouton

 

segregate (v): to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; isolate

It is time to be really real with each other...we are more comfortable with our own kind, and it is okay. It is natural.

Look at nature, lions roam the plains with lions, wolves run in packs with other wolves and even ants build highly structured colonies with other ants. Segregation is natural. It is only in the most complex ecosystems, such as a rain forest, where multiple species co-exist, interact and depend on each other. For them, integration is natural. 

 

As we are all homo sapiens, shouldn't it be easier for us to co-habitate?

This is where the rubber meets the road...we have to move above and beyond what is natural and comfortable for our own ever-increasingly complex ecosystem to survive and flourish. The troubling part is the breadth and depth of segregation, it permeates every part of American society and culture. For most of us it is an unconscious way of life. Consider Sunday, it the most segregated day of the week. Monday through Friday we labor side-be-side, have lunch together and my imbibe at a happy hour with each other. On Saturday, our children play soccer together, we shop, go the movies and co-mingle throughout the afternoon. But Sunday is a very different thing for most of us. Race-based denominations, congregations and conventions abound:

• The African Methodist Episcopal Church
• St. Augustine Catholic Church, "the Mother Church of African American Catholics"
• The National Baptist Convention, "the nation's oldest and largest African American religious convention"

This is in no way meant as an indictment of religion, faith, denominations, congregations, etc. These organizations and their founders were forced to segregate because of prejudice and fear in the 18th and 19th centuries, and while they are open to all, the members are still predominantly Black. And there are countless unforced examples in our lives:

• white music (country, bluegrass, metal) and Black music (R&B, hip hop, neo-soul)
• white entertainment (Everybody Loves Earl and opera) and Black entertainment (Meet the Browns and go-gos)
• white sports (hockey, lacrosse and swimming) and Black sports (basketball, football and boxing)

There are the so-call exceptions for each of these categories, you know who they are, the "blue-eyed soul brother" or the "Black diva."

 

Yes, yes, yes...let's just admit it, put it out in the open...we prefer being with others like us. We feel welcome, safe and empowered; we are in our comfort zones with others like us. However, consider this, "If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness." ~Les Brown

 

How will you move beyond your comfort zone?

What one thing can you do to make your life more integrated?

How Did This Happen?

Social Justice: How Did This Happen?

By Shannon Mouton

Last month, the DNC announced the hiring of "Greg Hinton as its first-ever Chief Diversity Officer."

Really? The Democratic Party needs a Chief Diversity Officer? Really? Does anyone else see the irony in this?

I don't get it. The Democratic Party is the party of the people...Black, brown, white, Jew, Protestant, GLBT, women, etc. Almost any and every marginalized group has been able to find some political refuge under the Democratic umbrella. This is why I'm disheartened to learn the party has hired a CDO; it shouldn't need to hire one.

I was there, 20 years ago, and it was great. Ron Brown was the first Black chairman of a major political party. Alexis Herman was there, along with a slew of men and women representing every facet, shade and angle of America. The consultants and contractors also represented different slices of the American pie. The DCCC and the Convention Committee were equally diverse.

There wasn't a need for a CDO, people understood the headquarters for a political party had to look like the people in the party. How did Democratic leaders forget that most basic principle?

I'm sad, oh so sad.

We are the 90%

We are the 90%

By: Llenda Jackson-Leslie

We’ve all heard of the 99%. Most of us are in the 99%-- in New York there’s also the 90% that’s the percentage of New Yorkers who are stopped for no good reason whatsoever and are innocent of any crime or suspected criminal act or behavior.

What’s even more astonishing of the 3 million New Yorkers who have been stopped, questioned or searched between 2004 and 2010--- 90 % of them--- were you guessed it Black and Latino. The New York ACLU did an exhaustive report—using the figures from NYPD records. Yes, the police department admits that 90% of the people they stop are completely innocent. So why hasn’t NYPD cleaned up its act. Maybe the Justice Department needs to step in. Read the report here.

The prison industrial complex is also one of the key issues undermining the stability of communities of color, and we are more likely to be focused on Attica or San Quentin than Wall Street, unless the linkages are made. Occupiers must pay attention to occupants.  

What about the 13%

That’s the percentage of African American men who are permanently barred from voting by felony disenfranchisement

Nationally, an estimated 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote because of laws that prohibit voting by people with felony convictions. Felony disenfranchisement is an obstacle to participation in democratic life which is exacerbated by racial disparities in the criminal justice system, resulting in an estimated 13% of Black men unable to vote.  Sadly, in the all-out assault on voting rights by right wing extremists financed by the Koch brothers, several states have rolled back paths to enfranchisement for former prisoners.

Sotomayer dissents from SC refusal to hear death penalty appeal

The Supreme Court refused to hear controversial death penalty case—from our nation’s leading executioner-Texas. That’s the case where death row prisoner Duane Buck appealed his sentence arguing his right to a fair trial was violated when an expert witness testified that African Americans pose a greater risk of "future dangerousness." In Texas, a jury must find that a defendant poses a continuing threat to society in order to recommend a death sentence. Justice Kagan joined the dissent. Read Sotomayer’s dissent here here.

Diversity: Keeping DC Walmart Free

Local rapper Head-Roc has a message for Walmart

Diversity: Keeping DC Walmart Free

By: Tamara Braunstein

Local rapper Head-Roc released a new track last week calling out the social justice issues of allowing Walmart to infiltrate some notoriously impoverished neighborhoods in DC.

The video, produced by Empower DC, is shot in black and white and relies heavily on imagery reflective of the Chocolate City moniker, especially small, minority-owned and operated businesses. Subtitles are provided, but one of the most interesting moments occurs around the 1 min. 23 sec. mark, when Dr. Jared Ball, “the Funkinest Journalist,” cuts into the track with the “Three Walmart Commandments”:

1. Move in and crush competition by underselling
2. Pay workers nothing and block unionization
3. Take all that money, put it into the Walton Family Foundation, and turn that into political influence to protect yourself and make even more

Mr. Head-Roc goes on to rap that “the Walton families are big contributors to bigoted representatives and senators…results in Black and Brown casualties.” Despite Walmart’s conspicuous self-promotion to win our approval, it’s clear from this video that some residents are aware and wary of the big-box’s intentions. But what does it mean on a broader scale?

Has Walmart become just another embodiment of DC’s classic racial socio-economic disparities debate?

The original 99 percent

By Shannon Mouton

The 99% are frustrated, fed-up and downright angry.

They are angry for several reasons,

We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent. [from We Are The 99 Percent]

And while they are entitled to their feelings, many people of color, especially Blacks and Latinos, have had these feelings for decades or longer. People of color are the original 99 percent. For the majority of the 20th century, we were locked out, kicked out, held down, beat down, pushed aside, put asunder and so on, while a majority of the American majority prospered under the guise of the American Dream.

It isn't that people of color don't agree with the movement or support its principles, we're wondering what took you so long to join the fight? So when people wonder and speculate why the #OccupyWallStreet movement isn't more the diverse, for many of us the answer is simple..."It's your turn, I'm taking a break."

HPV Vaccine: A Diversity Issue?

Gardasil is currently the only FDA-approved HPV vaccine for both males and females.

HPV Vaccine: A Diversity Issue?

By: Tamara Braunstein

This week, a CDC panel endorsed males ages 13 to 21 receive the HPV vaccine, previously recommended for females between the ages of nine to 26.

Backlash against the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ decision is anticipated, mostly due to the fact that the Human Papillomavirus is contracted via sexual transmission. However, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and about 75 percent of sexually active women will contract it during their lifetime:

“Most will overcome the infection with no ill effects. But in some people, infections lead to cellular changes that cause warts or cancer, including cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancers in women and anal cancers in men and women. A growing body of evidence suggests that HPV also causes throat cancers in men and women as a result of oral sex.” (The New York Times)

Whether or not people want to acknowledge that children and teens are engaging in sexual behavior (they are, and it’s not always safe), the risks that accompany those decisions persist. And the consequences, it seems, are not equally distributed.

According to the CDC’s own data, Hispanic and Black women have the highest rates of cervical cancer and resulting death rates in the country. Most recent data from 2007 indicates that compared to a national rate of 7.9 percent of females with cervical cancer, 7.5 percent of White women, 10.5 percent of Black women and 11.5 percent of Hispanic women contract the disease.

Not all female-specific cancer is a result of HPV. But from 1998 to 2003, HPV-associated vaginal cancer rates were also significantly disproportionate against Black and Hispanic women as well. The numbers are less skewed for men. During the same time period, HPV-associated anal cancer rates for men reached 1.2 percent for Black men, 0.8 percent for Hispanic men and 1.0 percent for White men.

Even if the new recommendations do prove a “hard sell,” it bears mentioning that in a study among low-income children, boys reported their first sexual experience at a younger age (average 12.48 years old) than girls (average 13.16 years old). And by the way, aren’t low-income youth considered a high-risk population for contracting STDs? So aren’t low-income minorities even more at-risk? I thought so.

Instead of discussing the moral dilemmas in advocating that youth – regardless of gender or sexual orientation – receive a vaccine that can play a significant role in preventing the spread of a serious infection and potential disease, maybe we should be discussing how to make the vaccine more accessible and affordable for the populations already disparately affected?

Diversity: How Are Food Deserts Really Affecting Us?

Photo caption: Map showing percentage of households throughout the nation currently living in a food desert.

Diversity: How Are Food Deserts Really Affecting Us?

By: Tamara Braunstein

If you’re following our blog, you know that this week we’re doing a series to prepare for National Food Day, which is next Monday. According to the website, the movement is designed to “push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way.” To sponsors and supporters this includes advocating for “food labeling, better nutrition, and safer food,” which sound like great ideas anybody can get behind.

But what good does all of that do if access to those labeled, nutritious and safe foods doesn’t improve?

The dilemma of food deserts isn’t new, but with First Lady Michelle Obama shining the spotlight on gaps in communities’ access to healthy food – access meaning “the food is available and affordable” – the discussion is becoming a hot topic.

Much of the conversation surrounding food deserts involves their distribution and effect. While some organizations, like the National Association of Convenience Stores, challenge the view that food deserts significantly affect health and nutrition in a surrounding area, others, like the US Department of Agriculture, have found that 3.2 percent of all US households live between ½ and 1 mile from a supermarket without access to a vehicle. In low income urban areas, that figure jumps to 22 percent. In a city like DC, where our nation’s outrageous socio-economic gaps are starkly illustrated across racial lines, the issue transcends health and food.  

Once you set foot in a grocery store, what food you buy is ultimately your decision. You choose whether to eat natural, healthy food or sugary, processed food. But if getting to a grocery store is in and of itself a daunting endeavor, how likely are you to care whether the food you buy is labeled or produced “safely”?

Where Will We Go From Here?

Where Will We Go From Here?

By: Tamara Braunstein

As the global technology community collectively mourns the loss of one of its greatest visionaries, Steve Jobs, many are already wondering what lies ahead for his brainchild company and mobile technology in general.

There's no denying the impact and reach of Jobs' innovation and drive. From the Apple fans who own every iProduct out there, to those still trying to figure out how to download an ap, it's safe to say that his role in the modern mobile technology era has effectively changed society as we knew it.

So now what? Sad as it may be to say goodbye, Jobs himself was aware of the opportunity that comes from death:

"Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life change agent." (2005 Stanford Commencement Speech)

Instead of focusing on what is lost, now more than ever may be the time to look at opportunities for improvement. Where Jobs reinvented and perfected the notion of product designed to fit function, maybe it's time to think about designing our products' functions to fit our lives.

Even as the skyrocketing use of mobile technology spans cultural and racial divides, there remain gaps in how different social groups interact with it. While African Americans and Latinos "are more likely than the general population to access the Web by cellular phones...Researchers have noticed signs of segregation online that perpetuate divisions in the physical world. And blacks and Latinos may be using their increased Web access more for entertainment than empowerment."

So the question remains: where will we go from here? Jobs may have left some big shoes to step into, but he also achieved major headway toward tremendous opportunities begging to be fulfilled.

What’s In A Name...A Heck Of A Lot

What’s In A Name...A Heck Of A Lot

By: Shannon Mouton

Whether Governor Rick Perry saw the stone, whether he or his father had it painted over or whether or not it was done before or after he got the lease is really inconsequential to me. What does matter is the heart and mind of those who live in that community and across this country who believe, “It’s just a name....”

For anyone to say it is “just a name,” as Haskell County Judge Davis asserts, ignores my history, condescends to my intelligence and dismisses my feelings. It is easy to be dismissive and say, “he doesn’t get it and he’s not trying to get it;” however, as a person of authority in his community, he has to “get it.”

He, and so many white men in positions of authority, with the literal lives of people of color in the balance have to “get it” if no one else does. Judge Davis, are these acceptable names as well?

Camel Jockey Junction
Chink Channel
Cracker Crossing
Dago Desert
Dyke Depot
Dink Hill
Faggot Forge
Guido Gulf
Half-breed Highway
Honky Outlook
Hymie Crossing
Mick Mountain
Polack Passing
Raghead Road
Spic Pass
Wetback Waterway

If not, then why is Niggerhead?

If so, then we clearly understand who and what you are your honor.

Diversity: Affirmative Action Myths

Affirmative Action Myths

By: Tamara Braunstein

 

 

As we pointed out yesterday, students at Berkeley have drawn a lot of fire this week for their purposefully racist bake sale, meant to draw attention to a state Senate bill (SB 185) awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature. The bill “would allow California public universities to take race into consideration during the admissions process.” (Berkeley Patch)  

While the Berkeley College Republicans, the group that sponsored the “Increase Diversity Bake Sale,” may view its activity as “no more racist than giving an individual an advantage in college admissions based solely on their race or gender,” opponents of the BCR and its views have been quick to point to common misconceptions surrounding Affirmative Action and similar policies, including:

Effectiveness – “Several studies have documented important gains in racial and gender equality as a direct result of affirmative action”

Relevance – “Despite the progress that has been made, the playing field is far from level…without affirmative action the percentage of Black students at many selective schools would drop to only 2% of the student body”

Reverse Discrimination – “Even if every unemployed Black worker in the United States were to displace a White worker, only 1% of Whites would be affected.”

Those figures may be more than a decade old, but even as recently as last year, this video from MSNBC proved that the conversation surrounding Affirmative Action hasn’t really changed:

[video caption: Is Affirmative Action Still Needed? MSNBC April 2010]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/36630542#36630542

  

So what do you think – Are policies like Affirmative Action and SB 185 still relevant? Are they inherently discriminatory? Are those two views mutually exclusive?

Did Berkeley College Republicans Go Too Far?

Did Berkeley College Republicans Go Too Far?

The adage goes, any press is good press, and the Berkeley College Republicans (BCR) have definitely received their share this week:

Madame Noire

The Huffington Post (had multiple articles)

Reuters

The Daily Californian (had multiple articles)

Right Wing News

News One

The Berkeley Daily Planet

CNN (had multiple articles)

The New York Times

LA Times

The BCR wanted to bring attention and awareness to CA SB185. Did they succeed in bringing attention to the bill or did they jump the shark? Are people discussing the bill? Are people weighing the pros and cons of affirmative action?

They wanted our attention...now what?

The Execution of Troy Davis: A Turning Point for US Justice?

The Execution of Troy Davis:

A Turning Point for US Justice?

By Tamara Braunstein

“We simply cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment." Senator Russ Feingold on Civil Rights as a Priority for the 108th Congress, Senate, January 2003

Whether or not you believe an innocent man has been unjustly, legally murdered, one thing is undeniable in the aftermath of Troy Davis’ state execution: our country is at a potentially pivotal point in its adoption of capital punishment.

In the months, weeks, days and hours leading to Troy’s death, demonstrators both in the U.S. and abroad rallied not just to advocate for Davis, but to protest the U.S.’s death penalty.

Underlying the protest is a significant concern surrounding racial disparities in capital punishment enforcement.

According to Amnesty International, despite the fact that African Americans make up about half of homicide victims nationally, since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, just 15 percent of death row defendants have been executed for killing a Black victim, and “the overwhelming majority [77 percent] of death row defendants have been executed for killing White victims.”

When it comes to interracial murders, the disparities are even more appalling:

-          17 cases of a White defendant killing a Black victim have resulted in a death sentence

-          254 cases of a Black defendant killing a White victim have resulted in a death sentence

Troy Davis’ supporters argue his innocence for reasons penetrating far more broadly and deeply than race. Nevertheless, his execution has brought to the forefront one of the most controversial and inexcusable atrocities in this country’s embattled and racially charged history. It has also created one of the most advocacy-ripe atmospheres our country has seen, and for better or for worse that cannot be ignored.

Diversity: Obama’s Judicial Diversity

[photo caption: In 2009 Justice Sonia Sotomayor became the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court bench]

Obama’s Judicial Diversity

By: Tamara Braunstein

Earlier this week the Associated Press reported that since taking office in 2008, about 70 percent of Obama’s judicial nominees have been “non-traditional,” making him the first president to “not pick a majority of white males for the judiciary.” (Politico)

Obama’s achievements include becoming the first President to place three females on the Supreme Court bench, including the first Latina judge, and appointing the first openly gay male to a federal judgeship. What’s more, 21 percent of his nominees have been African American, and one of the 55 nominees currently awaiting approval, Arvo Mikkanen, could become the nation’s only sitting federal judge who is Native American.

Why is this important? In 2009 Black non-Hispanic males were incarcerated at a rate six-times higher than White non-Hispanic males and one in every 300 Black women was incarcerated, compared to one in every 1,099 White women (US Bureau of Justice Statistics). That same year, Blacks made up just 28.3 percent of the arrested population; Whites made up 69.1 percent of the arrested population (FBI Criminal Justice Information Services).   

So while it’s important to applaud President Obama’s achievements of improving diversity among the judiciary, our country’s historical and ongoing conviction disparities should serve as a vivid reminder that these changes have been a long time coming.

Divided We Fall

By T. Braustein

Centuries later, Aesop’s famous quote still holds true, yielding inspiration for unity even as our patriotic sense of community ebbs and flows: “United we stand, divided we fall.”

But our nation is falling.

Children return to school, resuming daily recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance, but the notion of our country being “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” seems illusory at best.

A report released Tuesday shows that the country remains starkly divided in outlook toward one of its most distinguishing qualities: diversity.

According to the report, “What it Means to be American,” only 17 percent of Whites believe discrimination against minorities is a critical issue. Contrarily, 51 percent of Whites believe discrimination against them is as big a problem as it is against minorities. Meanwhile, 42 percent of Hispanics and 53 percent of Blacks believe discrimination against minorities is a critical issue.

In our determination to amend our nation’s past racial indiscretions, have we instead created a setting ripe for vain accusations?

Granted there are grave statistics to support some claims of discrimination – take the recent finding that Black men are more at risk than any other demographic to fall out of middle class, or the report that Hispanics make up more than half of all people sent to prison for felony crimes so far this year, for example.

It’s hard to imagine a country that is truly indivisible, serving justice for all when everyday reminders of our racial differences become negative reinforcements of stereotypes rather than uplifting foundations for growth.

Indeed, just “10 years after September 11, 2001, we seem far less united as a nation.”

Video: MLK Memorial Emerges From Stone on National Mall

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Video: MLK Memorial Emerges From Stone on National Mall

This past weekend marked the unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial on the National Mall. However, due to inclement weather (Hurricane Irene) the ceremony was canceled.  Many were disappointed when they heard the news. Yet it didn’t stop them from venturing out after the stormed passed.  PBS, Hari Sreenivasan had an opportunity to reflect and report.