Hillary Clinton at Black Girls Rock.

Not sure where this fits so I put it here.  Hillary Clinton talks at this year's Black Girls Rock award show.  She mentions barriers and system racism that is holding back black women.


http://www.bet.com/video/blackgirlsrock/2016/highlights/hillary-clinton-introduces-black-girls-rock-founder-beverly-bond.html

However, I found this on Black Twitter (I didn't even know this existed!) with their view on Clinton's appearance.

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2016/04/black-twitter-wasnt-feeling-hillary-clintons-blackgirlsrock-appearance/

Black Lives Matter.

It has been 10 years of this show (I've only watched the last 3) and coincidentally on this one the founders of The Black Lives Matter movement get an award.



http://www.bet.com/video/blackgirlsrock/2016/acceptance-speeches/community-change-agents-award-black-lives-matter-founders.html

Promotion of Racial Tolerance Through Music

The "King of Pop," Michael Jackson (1958-2009), released the album Dangerous in 1991, which featured the hit song "Black or White." The song hit number one on the billboards top 100 on December 7, 1991 and remained on the charts for 20 weeks. The single received the "Billboard Music Award for No. 1 World Single" in 1992. This prestigious award was won by Whitney Houston for "I Will Always Love You" (1993),  Bryan Adams for "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (1991), and Sinéad O'Connor for "Nothing Compares 2 U" (1990).

The song's lyrics speak to the issue of racism, a system of prejudice and discrimination. Through this song, Michael made the statement that regardless of someones race or ethnicity, we are all the same. Rather than discriminating against one another, we should be embracing different cultures, promoting equality, and opposing racist remarks. Do not simply acknowledge the problem, but do something about it.
Some important lines from the song include:
"It don't matter if you're black or white"
"I ain't scared of your brother, I ain't scared of no sheets"

"I'd rather hear both sides of the tale. See, it's not just about races"

"Don't tell me you agree with me, when I saw you kicking dirt in my eye"

New Opportunities on the Horizon for Minority Tennis Players

Tennis has historically been a progressive sport in several ways.  It is a leader in gender equality, offering equal pay for men and women at grand slam tournaments, but continues to prevail as a predominantly white sport.  Although four out of the five highest ranking American women (Serena Williams, Madison Keys, Venus Williams, and Sloane Stephens) are African-American, we rarely see this fact being acknowledged.  This is punctuated by the lack of media coverage of Keys and Stephens.  The Men’s side is even worse, with only one African American player, Donald Young, currently breaking the top two-hundred men’s players and only two black men ever winning a grand slam title.  Despite the impact that the Williams sisters have had on African American recognition and diversity in tennis, we are still not seeing a large increase in minority participation.  This is largely due to the high costs of the sport, but there are other forces at play in this as well.

Martin Blackman, the U.S.T.A’s current head of player development, has spoken out on how the U.S.T.A is trying to increase opportunities for minorities in tennis.  To aid in this effort, the U.S.T.A. identifies promising players and provide the resources to fast-track their development through placement on “excellence teams.”  This strategy has seen some backlash due to suspicions of the system continuing to favor white players.  Blackman negates this notion and explains that the U.S.T.A. “want[s] to see the best American Players doing as well as they can” and “the only way we can do that is to deepen and widen the talent pool” through “reach[ing] out to more nontraditional tennis families, especially in minority communities” (Blackman).        

With the recent placement of Katrina Adams as the first African American president of the U.S.T.A., tennis is sure to see a shift in diversity the near future.  The Williams sisters are a great example of the untapped potential of kids with atypical tennis backgrounds (i.e. children from low income families) and how making efforts to support them can result in athletes that raise the bar for their peers across the globe.  Blackman, in his role, hopes to create new ways for the U.S.T.A. to invest in the development of young tennis players across the nation, regardless of economic background, so that more minority athletes will gain access to opportunities in the sport.

Rhoden, W. (2015). Beyond 2 Black Champions, a Void for the U.S.T.A.. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2 May 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/sports/tennis/beyond-serena-and-venus-williams-a-void-for-the-usta.html

Analyzing African American Appearences on Sports Illustrated Covers in the 90s

The study cited below looks at the correlation between the participation of African Americans in sports to their presence on Sports Illustrated covers over the course of time between 1990 through 1999.  Lumpkin sought to prove the existence of a connection between the levels of participation of African Americans in different sports to the number of cover appearances.  The results reveal that African American men were pictured on the cover more often for sports like basketball, boxing, and track, than their Caucasian counterparts.  These sports were also the ones with the highest African American participation at the time.  The study shows how higher participation rates in sports increases the visibility and opportunity of African American athletes.  Unfortunately this is also a reason that they have a harder time being recognized for their accomplishments within sports that are dominated by other groups.  Being able to get more endorsements in certain sports, discourages participation in others from increasing.

Lumpkin, A. (2007). A descriptive Analysis of Race/Ethnicity and Sex of Individuals Appearing on the covers of Sports Illustrated in the 1990s. Physical Educator, 64(1). 29-37.

http://bryant.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24808525&site=ehost-live

Muslims for Trump have a message and it’s not what you think.

Posted April 13^th this video is a must-watch whether you support Sanders, Trump, or Kim Kardashian. Keep in mind the video uses emotional stimulation and psychological triggers, but there is still an important message behind all of that.

               The reason why Trump is gathering so many supporters is because Americans are sick of being taken advantage of. While we work our tails off in a college we’re overpaying for, to get jobs which underpay us, our money is being taken from us and spent on foreign wars in order to make politicians and billionaires like Trump even richer. Americans seem to believe Trump is above the politicians because he doesn’t take donations or need lobbyists, but it’s only because he has the money himself. The 400 Americans who possess the majority of the nation’s wealth are destroying the country, and Trump is the embodiment of that 1%. ‘Make America Great Again’ resonates within so many of us, but Trump isn’t the answer. Building a wall isn’t the answer. “If we want to make America great again, we have to do it by caring about each other as much as we care about ourselves.” Socialism isn’t the answer either, it is a recipe for disaster, but it is time the citizens of the country came together, apart from politics and the media dramatics, and decided what is actually best for us.

Mexicans are not our enemies. The reason why so many of them are coming to America is because of free trade agreements which have destroyed their economy. Our war on drugs in Mexico has killed more civilians than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. We’ve been conditioned to fear radical Islam’s, but you’re more likely to be crushed by your furniture than to be killed by an Islamic terrorist. Yes, Chinese are coming and taking our jobs but it’s because so many of America’s huge corporations are going overseas to avoid paying taxes here and chase higher profits. Our misplaced anger is being directed to people who are just like us. Whether Mexican, Asian, African, white, black, or green, what we all have in common is that we all want what’s best for ourselves and our families. It goes back to age-old morals and values. As our generation grows up, many of us will be having kids within the next 8 years. We need to take a step back and ask ourselves. Is Trump the kind of man we want our kids to aspire to grow up and be like? It seems that he stands for the opposite of almost everything I’ve ever learned about being a good man. After we neglect kindness and morality, wisdom and intelligence will be soon to follow, and without wisdom our country is doomed.

https://www.facebook.com/ArmyAnonymous/videos/651047031717913/

A Historical Perspective of the Criminal Justice System

When looking at racial disparities in the criminal justice system, it is important to think about the historical context which has led us to the world that we live in today. Looking back all the way to the 1860’s when slavery was abolished in the United States. W.E.B. DuBois believed that “with the end of slavery, the number of black convicts in the South rose substantially, in large part because of vagrancy laws passed in the aftermath of emancipation” (Golash-Boza, 2016, p. 220). This was just the beginning of the unequal distribution of minorities incarcerated.

Jumping ahead to the 1970’s this disparity worsened after President Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs. This war resulted in the mass incarcerations of drug users, which overcrowded the prisons and awarded the US one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Golash-Boza writes that the “zealous enforcement of drug laws disproportionately affects people of color, even though whites are actually more likely to use and sell drugs” (p. 220). Police are targeting crack cocaine users over powder cocaine users, because the majority of crack cocaine users are predominately poor and black, where the majority of powder cocaine users are white. The incarceration rate for crack cocaine to powder cocaine is reported to be 18:1 (Palamar, Davies, Ompad, Clealand, & Weitzman, 2015). Reinforcing the stereotype of increased drug use by minorities, the police have also targeted the neighborhoods where minorities reside rather than white neighborhoods, which results in more and more blacks and Hispanics being incarcerated than whites. 

Prisons were and are still today overcrowded with non-violent drug offenders. From the 1970’s to today, crime rates have remained the same to some decline, while incarceration rates have skyrocketed. This is the root of the disparity in the criminal justice system, because minorities are automatically expected to break the laws and be sent to prison. It has occurred throughout the United States’ history and it does not appear that anything has been done to change this mindset today, so what can be done to combat this inequality?

Golash-Boza, T. M. (2016). Race & Racism A Critical Approach. New York: Oxford University Press.

Palamar, J. J., Davies, S., Ompad, D. C., Clealand, C. M., & Weitzman, M. (2015, April 1). Powder cocaine and crack use in the United States: An examination of risk for arrest and socioeconomic disparities in use. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 108-116. Retrieved from: http://www.drugandalcoholdependence.com/article/S0376-8716(15)00049-6/abstract

The Whitewashing of Hollywood

Have you ever been watching a movie and noticed that a white person was portraying a character of a different race? If you haven't, then you haven't been to the movies recently because it happens all the time. In an article written by Tom Brook for BBC, he explored the countless times that white people have taken on the roles of Native American characters, Asian characters, even black characters over the course of Hollywood's dominance. 

My first question was, why? This problem has a simple solution, cast people in roles who share the background of the character they are portraying. Alas, it is not that simple. Hollywood is run (primarily) by old, white men and they create the stories that they want to see. These generally feature a white male hero. Yawn.

The arguments that are in favor of whitewashing Hollywood are kind of pathetic. These are some of the ones stated in the article. "White stars in Hollywood have the biggest pull at the box office, therefore a producer will cast a white actor in order to maximize returns." "Many argue that the preferred course of action would be for the industry to cast the most qualified actor for the role." Are you joking? These arguments serve the sole purpose of perpetuating white power. I have a hard time believing that whites make a movie more valuable. Representation is a huge issue here. If an Asian woman saw a movie that featured a strong Asian female lead character, I firmly believe she would be more inclined to go see this movie (which sounds awesome, by the way) than if it were featuring a run-of-the-mill white woman. 

Bottom line, Hollywood has no excuses for continuing to whitewash movies. Everyone deserves to see people they can relate to in movies. 

Where are all the black women?

Recently, we watched a video regarding black women in society today. It features three Bryant students, Charde Hunt-Jeanty, Christina Watts, and Desire Marshall. This video is described by the creator, Kevin Martins, as, "A tribue to black women. Too often overlooked and under appreciated, too often left out of history lessons in classrooms across America, and too often asked to bear society's burdens without acknowledgement." To fully understand the remainder of this blog, please watch the video.

The conversation our class had with the three women was as eye-opening as the video. As a white woman in American, I cannot truly understand the plight of African-American women. What the women in the video shared with us in our conversation helped me to understand a little bit better.

One of the women said something that really stuck with me. When asked what it was like to be a black woman in America, her response was that she feels her black everywhere she goes. She's fully aware of her surroundings and recognizes what is necessary for her do in order to succeed as a black woman in America. She also went on to say that she worries about the black men in her life, such as her brother. It is interesting because it sounded like black people, in a way, operate as one and look out for each other. You do not see that with white people. We are not united by the color of our skin, we compete and aren't afraid to tear each other down to hoist ourselves up. It is an interesting juxtaposition that I hadn't realized occurred.

To me, I define white privilege as not having to think about the fact that we are white. I am able to go about my day without having to worry about whether a shopkeeper will think I am stealing. I am able to be angry and be validated in my anger. I am able to know that I can get the goods and services that I need without worry. That is white privilege. Each woman spoke of a different aspect of being black that a truly would have never considered if they did not mention in. Not because I am ignorant, but because it never had to cross my mind. I feel bad that I did not realize so many things about being black. That leaves me with the question, how do we fix this? I am not sure of the answer to that.

Trump Rally full of racism right here in our backyard.

Last Tuesday, April 26, 2016 Rhode Island held its Democratic primary. I was at the polls early in the morning, proud to be a African American woman who is able to cast my vote.

Later that day, I was scrolling through social media and I come across a post that my niece posted. She was sad that there was such hatred and prejudice shown right in our area.  She had posted a video that was from a Trump rally the day before at the Crown Plaza here in Warwick, RI.

Well the video was taken down to protect the victim, but feel free to click on the link below to see an edited version and read the article posted in the Providence Journal.   No matter what your political party is, I hope that it would still be disturbing to you when you come to the realization that in this year, 2016, after we have had seen our first African American President be elected into office, twice in fact, there is still such hatred.

Listening to the chants "Build the wall", "ten feet higher" made my blood boil under my colored skin. You see, the reference though I am African American, still hits home as I am married to a Mexican born man.  He is a citizen.  His whole family are legal citizens who work and pay taxes just as the white man next to me.  However, we still have to deal with this kind of thing.  Something that a white person doesn't have to experience, ever. Maybe this can be added to Peggy's McIntosh's list of examples of  white privilege, Having to explain our origin.

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160428/two-charged-with-assault-after-altercation-at-trump-rally-in-warwick

Stereotype threat

This article talks about the experience that Steele described as stereotype threat. Fascinating and difficult.

Goguen, Stacey. (April 18, 2016) How Can a Stereotype You Don't Believe Affect You? The Brains Blog. Retrieved May 3, 2016 from
http://philosophyofbrains.com/2016/04/18/how-can-a-stereotype-you-dont-believe-affect-you.aspx

NAACP Leader Ratted Out as Not Black

In the summer of 2015, NAACP President Rachel Dolezal was brought to the public eye when her parents classified her as actually being a white woman and not African American. As many know, NAACP stands for "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People." As the leader of the association, Rachel appeared to look African American. Though actually German and Czech, Rachel changed her appearance. Her parents state "Rachel has wanted to be somebody she's not. She's chosen not to just be herself but to represent herself as an African-American woman or biracial person. And that's simply not true" (USA Today). The issue here is not Rachel's activism or willingness for change, but she lied to the association, society, and her family. The USA Today article reveals before and after pictures of Rachel and it is apparent that she changed her hair, skin color, and past life. Rachel stated that she "does not consider her biological parents her real parents" (USA Today). Though it is hard to pinpoint why Rachel went through this racial transformation and began classifying herself as partially African American, it is ethically wrong. As the leader of national association, she may have taken the position away from another African American who truly was being ethical and honest. It is great that Rachel Dolezal feels passionate about equal justice for all, but she most definitely went about it in the wrong manner.

USA Today Article

Works Cited

Viydo, Shawn Chitnis Taylor, and Lindsay Nadrich KREM-TV Spokane Wash. "Parents out 'black' NAACP Leader as White Woman." USA Today. Gannett, 12 June 2015. Web. 03 May 2016.

Their Moving and Powerful Words...

What Charde Hunt-Jeanty, Christina Watts, and Desire Marshall had to say in the video and in class was extremely moving and powerful. Their voices were full of strong emotion. I was able to feel the anger, yet passion, they felt towards the issue at hand. However, that leads to one of the topics that they brought up during the discussion: black women and the anger they carry and voice. One of the guest speakers was explaining how black women are not "allowed" to be angry, where if they were to try to strongly address a matter, they are often told to "calm down." Further, one of the guest speakers was describing her childhood: her mother raised her to never express her anger and to always stay calm because it had a strong association to being an African American and her mother wanted to assimilate her into a "white" lifestyle. I can't help but feel so angry at this and how wrong it is that an individual would not want to express her real emotions just because society says she can't, or that society will judge her if she does. I truly believe that everyone should be able to freely express themselves in whatever manner they desire, especially if they feel strongly about a certain matter.

History of White Privilege

According to Golash-Boza, white privilege is defined as "advantages associated with being categorized as white" pg 51.  

In the 1930s W. E. B. Du Bois wrote about the "wage of whiteness." But the concept really came into its own in the late 1980s, when Peggy McIntosh, a women’s-studies scholar at Wellesley, started writing about it. In 1988, McIntosh wrote a paper called “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through Work in Women’s Studies,” which contained forty-six examples of white privilege. (No. 21: “I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.” No. 24: “I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the ‘person in charge,’ I will be facing a person of my race.”).  

She came up with these rules as she would ask herself daily what did she have that she didn't earn?  These examples have since been read by countless schoolkids and college students.    

At age 79, McIntosh still works at Wellesley and is founder of organization called SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity). 

http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-origins-of-privilege

Possible Solutions for Privilege

In the simplest form, privilege refers to unearned advantage; something that you are born with rather than something that you must work for. Arguably, the most common form of privilege is white privilege which refers to the specific advantages associated with being categorized as white. In the United States,“whiteness is an unmarked identity; whereas blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans are constantly reminded of their race” (Golash-Boza 52). This concept derives from earlier work by W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963), who observed that "white workers in the United States over time came to see themselves as white like their bosses, as opposed to developing working-class solidarity with recently freed black slaves" (Golash-Boza 51). Overtime other historians and sociologists have built upon his original observations. When mentioning race in the modern day United States, people are referring to non-whites because the idea of "whiteness" has become normalized. In order to propose solutions to combating white privilege, we must recognize why it is important to think about. Race & Racisms provided the following reasons:

1. If we want to understand racial oppression, it is crucial to understand how it looks from the other side.
2. White privilege often remains invisible, and by bringing it to light we can develop a better understanding of how racism works in our society.
3. It is important to keep in mind that not all whites experience privilege in the same way (53).

After reading the class textbook and numerous articles in the news about real instances of white privilege in effect, I have come up with a few probable solutions to this issue.

1. Include education about race and ethnicity in school curriculum to help prevent the development of racial prejudice. Possibly in a workshop form that is mandatory for all students. 
2. Improve workplace culture by implementing the laws designed to counter racial discrimination. Increase consequences for those that do not follow legislation.
3. Draw attention to racial issues in the United States, as opposed to neglecting them. Encourage discussion about privilege and racism to improve understanding about how this is embedded in our society instead of avoiding the "uncomfortable topic."
4. Encourage people to become active/observant bystanders and stand up for fairness when there is clear racial bias.
5. Use social media to publicize racial inequality and inspire others to promote equality through movements such as "Black Lives Matter."

Golash-Boza, T. M. (2016). Race & Racisms: A Critical Approach. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Zenit St. Petersburg and the Russian Fanbase

Zenit St. Petersburg is a soccer club that within the last couple of years has become a Russian powerhouse in the sport. The financial takeover of the team saw more talented and diverse players come to the club. Russia is composed of a predominantly white population and is also not the most accepting society. These introduced players were and still are victims of racial abuse from both the other players and fans. In the case of Zenit, they are not only targeted by the opposition’s fan base, but their own as well. In 2012, fans of the club wrote an open letter to the team demanding them to not buy any non-white or homosexual players. This does not seem like a real fan base to me. Sports fans come together as a community to support their team; these fans accept others that are supporters of their club. They win, together. They lose, together. Celebrate, together. Stand, together. Yet this morale is lost when the color of skin or sexual identity of their players is not accepted. Fans watch soccer because it is a beautiful game, the talent of the players awe’s everyone and brings chills to their spines. Instead of respecting and applauding these marginalized players (because some of them are brilliant), they are booing and taunting them. Hulk, a Brazilian who is arguably one of the best players in the league, has been subject to these racist acts for over three years and it is not likely to stop. His responses have been to blow kisses back at the crowd which shows that he will not pay attention to their narrow-mindedness. These discriminatory acts are contradictory to the movements of UEFA (Union of European Football Association) by promoting fair play and their “No to Racism” campaign. These culprits do not realize what they have got, the resurgence of quality in the league will quickly dwindle as players will not want to be subject to this intolerance. It will be interesting to see the conduct of the fast approaching Euro 2018 held in Paris this summer.

“Zenit St Petersburg’s Hulk accuses Spartak Moscow fans of racist abuse”. The Guardian. (September, 2015). Retrieved May 2, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/27/zenit-st-petersburg-hulk-spartak-moscow-accuse-racist-abuse

One Solution to Police Violence is Training

Training of police officers is becoming increasingly difficult in a time of ever increasing budget cuts. Police training could help police to understand the significance they have in our society and how their actions affect us all. Training has been reduced and trimmed down to focus only on life and death self-defense skills that police may need in the worst case scenario situations. When all police are trained in is how to shoot and handcuff individuals, it is no surprise that these are the actions that are carried out most frequently on the job. An officer will always resort to a skill that they know.
To further demonstrate the issue, the state of Florida allocates just 67$ per officer, per year for training. a recent study found that the Justice Department has reduced grants to local police forces by 43 percent since 2010. This inadequate funding for police training leads police to acting out the things they are trained in. Those things are generally the violent self-defense that police are taught for life-threatening situations. In all probability police do not need to use their weapons as often as they do, but this is all they have been taught. The heart of the issue lies in the lack of funding to adequately prepare officers for non-violent altercations. Changing this could have massively positive impact in police encounters with all members of society.

Swarts, P. (January 13, 2015). Washingtontimes.com. Police Need Better Training and Community Relations, Presidential Task Force Is Told. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/13/police-brutality-solutions-are-training-community-/?page=1

Shake it Off, Or Not? - Taylor Swift Video Seen as Racist

Taylor Swift, one of the biggest names in pop culture was accused of being racist all because of her music video Shake it Off. There is major debate over the topic- some find offense while others think the whole thing is straight up blown out of proportion. The Washington Post published an article of Swift's mishap and weigh out both sides of the problem. The article states that there's been an "ongoing and interesting debate about white pop stars (Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, etc.) and whether they've misappropriated black culture in their music videos" (Washington Post). Is it appropriate for white pop stars to have fun and dress up in their music videos, or is it taking it too far when they decide to French braid their hair and wear big hoops? Is it reverse racism and / or a little harsh for these white pop stars to be considered racist? Taylor Swift is definitely not the only white female to be seeing doing this in her music videos, so who is to blame? These are deep questions and sometimes can never be answered. It is hard to decide who is right or wrong, or if there is even an issue here at all.

The Washington Post article along with the video are listed below in this post. I would really like to see people's comments and opinions on this topic!

Washington Post Article
Shake it Off Video

Works Cited

"Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ Music Video Offensive? That’s What People Say, Mmm Mmm." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 02 May 2016.

TaylorSwiftVEVO. "Taylor Swift - Shake It Off." YouTube. YouTube, 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 02 May 2016.

In Class Presentation - Where Are All the Black Women?

On Thursday April 28th, 2016, three young Bryant University students presented an outstanding video to the Race & Ethnicity class. These three women, Charde Hunt, Desire Marshall, and Christina Watts, all three who are African American women, spoke out on the constraints that occur when being both African American and a woman. By starring in this video "Black Woman," these three young ladies spoke with passion, intellect, and strength, revealing why it can be conflicting at times to be both a lady and darker skinned. Though these women have such strength in the video, they also reveal soft emotion which reflects their hardships. The video speaks for itself and all three women did an outstanding job both in the video and in the presentation on Thursday. The video is listed below:

Click Here for Video "Black Women"