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Rich Benjamin: My road trip through the whitest towns in America

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As America becomes more and more multicultural, Rich Benjamin noticed a phenomenon: Some communities were actually getting less diverse. So he got out a map, found the whitest towns in the USA -- and moved in. In this funny, honest, human talk, he shares what he learned as a black man in Whitopia.

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I follow @blklivesmatter on instagram and they post a lot of great information and news. This account is a great example of the positives of social media activism. I appreciate their account and what they spread.

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Black Lives Matter (@blklivesmatter)

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Peoples' Science of Pseudo-Science by Rafter Ferguson

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Peoples' Science of Pseudo-Science by Rafter Ferguson

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https://liberationecology.org/peoples-science-pseudo-science/

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Resilient Community Organizing with Goal Dayaneni

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Resilient Community Organizing with Goal Dayaneni

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Gopal Dayaneni discusses Resilience in Organizations and Social Movements.  He invites us to consider nature's ecological resilience mechanisms and apply them to social movement organizing and strategy.  Gopal is an OAEC Board Member and on staff of the Movement Generation Collective.   This talk was recorded at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center on September 20, 2018.  Please visit www.oaec.org and www.movementgeneration.org for more information and inspiration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAwiGFm2wjk

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Gopal Dayaneni On Resilience in Organizations and Social Movements

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What Really Makes Us Safe - Transformative Justice With Melanie Brazzell

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What Really Makes Us Safe - Transformative Justice With Melanie Brazzell

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http://whatreallymakesussafe.com/en/projekt.php

The What Really Makes Us Safe? Project is a multimedia project created by Melanie Brazzell in collaboration with many others committed to a vision of safety that includes everyone. Understanding that police, prisons, and border regimes spread insecurity rather than safety, the goal of the project is to explore community-based alternatives to punishment, particularly for addressing gender-based violence. The U.S.-based aspect of the project involved interviews with transformative justice activists in North America as part of academic research. The German-based component brought this knowledge back to the Berlin communities where Melanie was working in the form of a university seminar, public events, workshops, an art exhibition, and a toolkit.

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From Banks and Tanks to Cooperation and Cargin

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From Banks and Tanks to Cooperation and Cargin

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This is a great short zine that outlines the strategy and principle of Just Transition towards Ecological Justice. It outlines our current dominant extractive economy and guides of awards creating a regenerative economy. https://movementgeneration.org/justtransition/

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Just Transition strategies were first forged by labor unions and environmental justice groups who saw the need to phase out the industries that were harming workers, community health and the planet, while also providing just pathways for workers into new livelihoods.

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Re:Imagining Change Center for Story Based Strategy

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Re:Imagining Change Center for Story Based Strategy

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"Re:Imagining Change is an inspirational inside look at the trailblazing methodology developed by the non-profit strategy and training organization, Center for Story-based Strategy (formerly smartMeme). Founded in 2002, Center for Story-based Strategy offers tools, training, and strategy support to organizations and movements working for justice, ecological sanity and transformative social change. Re:Imagining Change is a summary of their approach, and a call to innovate our strategies for collectively addressing the escalating social and ecological crisis of the 21st century."  https://www.storybasedstrategy.org/the-book

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Re:Imagining Change is an inspirational inside look at the trailblazing methodology developed by the non-profit strategy and training organization, Center for Story-based Strategy (formerly smartMeme). Founded in 2002, Center for Story-based Strategy offers tools, training, and strategy support to organizations and movements working for justice, ecological sanity and transformative social change. Re:Imagining Change is a summary of their approach, and a call to innovate our strategies for collectively addressing the escalating social and ecological crisis of the 21st century.

"Re:Imagining Change will move our organizing further as we connect to the powerful narrative stories and memes of our culture."

- Chuck Collins, Institute for Policy Studies, author of The Economic Meltdown Funnies

About the Authors

Patrick Reinsborough co-founded the Center for Story-based Strategy (formerly smartMeme) as a vehicle to explore the intersections of social change strategy, imagination and narrative. He lives in California.

Doyle Canning is a co-founder of the Center for Story-based Strategy (formerly smartMeme), strategist, trainer, and organizer with a commitment to building holistic movements for racial justice and an ecological future. She lives in Oregon.

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The Book - Center for Story-based Strategy

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Re:Imagining Change is an inspirational inside look at the trailblazing methodology developed by the non-profit strategy and training organization, Center for Story-based Strategy (formerly smartMeme). Founded in 2002, Center for Story-based Strategy offers tools, training, and strategy support to organizations and movements working for justice, ecological sanity and transformative social change.

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Monoculture of the Mind with Vandana Shiva

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Monoculture of the Mind with Vandana Shiva

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RrX6uizKcU

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Vandana Shiva’s Monocultures of the Mind discussed by Farida Akhter and Sue Hawthorne

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In this article, it shines a light on unequal opportunities and how racism is causing this gap.

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Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education | Brookings

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Brookings Review article by Linda Darling-Hammond (Spring 1998)

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Sterilization laws discriminate against minorities and people with disabilities. This article talks about how ICE sterilized people detained for trying to immigrate to the united states without their consent. And forced sterilization has been going on in the U.S. for decades. This article talks about laws that enabled this to come to be.

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Immigration and Human Rights Law Review | The Blog

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Not Just ICE: Forced Sterilization in the United States | Immigration and Human Rights Law Review

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https://www.newamerica.org/international-security/reports/terrorism-in-america/who-are-the-terrorists/

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A comprehensive, up-to-date source of online information about terrorist activity in the United States since 9-11.

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The Muslim American experience after 9/11

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The Muslim American experience after 9/11

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This article explores some of the experiences of muslim  Americans after the 9/11 attacks. There is a whole generation of Muslim Americans who were born after 9/11 who are dealing with hate and discrimination to this day simply because we have blamed their entire culture for something only a few are actually responsible for.

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NEW YORK - A car passed, the driver's window rolled down and the man spat an epithet at two little girls wearing their hijabs: "Terrorist!"

It was 2001, mere weeks after the twin towers at the World Trade Center fell, and 10-year-old Shahana Hanif and her younger sister were walking to the local mosque from their Brooklyn home.

Unsure, afraid, the girls ran.

As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks approaches, Hanif can still recall the shock of the moment, her confusion over how anyone could look at her, a child, and see a threat.

"It's not a nice, kind word. It means violence, it means dangerous. It is meant to shock whoever ... is on the receiving end of it," she says.

But the incident also spurred a determination to speak out for herself and others that has helped get her to where she is today: a community organizer strongly favored to win a seat on the New York City Council in the upcoming municipal election.

Like Hanif, other young American Muslims have grown up under the shadow of 9/11. Many have faced hostility and surveillance, mistrust and suspicion, questions about their Muslim faith and doubts over their Americanness.

They've also found ways forward, ways to fight back against bias, to organize, to craft nuanced personal narratives about their identities. In the process, they've built bridges, challenged stereotypes and carved out new spaces for themselves.

There is "this sense of being Muslim as a kind of important identity marker, regardless of your relationship with Islam as a faith," says Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist at The University of Chicago who studies Muslim communities. "That's been one of the main effects in people's lives ... it has shaped the ways the community has developed."

A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted ahead of the 9/11 anniversary found that 53 percent of Americans have unfavorable views toward Islam, compared with 42 percent who have favorable ones. This stands in contrast to Americans' opinions about Christianity and Judaism, for which most respondents expressed favorable views.

Mistrust and suspicion of Muslims didn't start with 9/11, but the attacks dramatically intensified those animosities.

Accustomed to being ignored or targeted by low-level harassment, the country's wide-ranging and diverse Muslim communities were foisted into the spotlight, says Youssef Chouhoud, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University in Virginia.

"Your sense of who you were was becoming more formed, not just Muslim but American Muslim," he says. "What distinguished you as an American Muslim? Could you be fully both, or did you have to choose? There was a lot of grappling with what that meant."

In Hanif's case, there was no blueprint to navigate the complexities of that time.

"Fifth-grader me wasn't naïve or too young to know Muslims are in danger," she later wrote in an essay about the aftermath of 9/11. "...Flashing an American flag from our first-floor windows didn't make me more American. Born in Brooklyn didn't make me more American."

A young Hanif gathered neighborhood friends, and an older cousin helped them write a letter to then-President George W. Bush asking for protection.

"We knew," she says, "that we would become like warriors of this community."

___

But being warriors often carries a price, with wounds that linger.

Ishaq Pathan, 26, recalls the time a boy told him he seemed angry and wondered if he was going to blow up their Connecticut school.

He remembers the helplessness he felt when he was taken aside at an airport for additional questioning upon returning to the United States after a college semester in Morocco.

The agent looked through his belongings, including the laptop where he kept a private journal, and started reading it.

"I remember being like, 'Hey, do you have to read that?'" Pathan says. The agent "just looks at me like, 'You know, I can read anything on your computer. I'm entitled to anything here.' And at that point, I remember having tears in my eyes. I was completely and utterly powerless."

Pathan couldn't accept it.

"You go to school with other people of different backgrounds and you realize ... what the promise of the United States is," he says. "And when you see it not living up to that promise, then I think it instills in us a sense of wanting to help and fix that."

He now works as the San Francisco Bay Area director for the nonprofit Islamic Networks Group, where he hopes to help a younger generation grow confident in their Muslim identity.

Pathan recently chatted with a group of boys about their summer activities. At times, the boys ate watermelon or played on a trampoline. At other moments, the talk turned serious: What would they do if a student pretended to blow himself up while yelling "Allahu akbar," or "God is great?" What can they do about stereotypical depictions of Muslims on TV?

"I had always viewed 9/11 as probably one of the most pivotal moments of my life and of the lives of Americans across the board," Pathan says. "The aftermath of it ... is what pushed me to do what I do today."

___

That aftermath has also helped motivate Shukri Olow to do what she is doing - run for office.

Born in Somalia, Olow fled civil war with her family and lived in refugee camps in Kenya for years before coming to the United States when she was 10.

She found home in a vibrant public housing complex in the city of Kent, south of Seattle. There, residents from different countries communicated across language and cultural barriers, borrowing salt from each other or watching one another's kids. Olow felt she flourished in that environment.

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Muslim Americans still facing discrimination 20 years after 9/11

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American Muslims have grown up under the shadow of 9/11 with many have faced hostility and surveillance, mistrust and suspicion, questions about their Muslim faith and doubts over their Americanness.

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Psychological implications of Racism in children.

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Psychological implications of Racism in children.

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The study compares the adversaries of black and white children. It was discovered that black children had more exposure to adversity than white children. The brain regions impacted were related to emotional issues like PTSD, depression, and anxiety. While its not to say black and white children brains are different, the study just shows how the brain is impacted when exposed to more adversity. Its an interesting study and it aims to dispel the idea that black and white people have different brains.

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For this study, researchers at Harvard analyzed thousands of MRI brain scans of children ages 9 and 10. They were able to identify small physical changes in children facing higher levels of adversity. These changes could play a role in mental health issues later in life. They concluded that Black children are more likely to be affected. Nathaniel Harnett is a neuroscientist at McLean Hospital and an assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He's the study's senior author.

Nathaniel, thanks so much for joining us. How did you identify the children facing adversity in this study?

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New study reveals the effect of racism and poverty on children's brains

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Childhood trauma can have lasting psychological effects. A new study has found that early childhood stress from racism, poverty and other traumas can change the structure of children's developing brains. Nathaniel Harnett, a neuroscientist at McLean Hospital and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, joins Laura Barrón-López to discuss the study's findings.

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This article talks about the lasting affects of racial discrimination in the housing market. Specifically, this article dives deeper into how black and latino communities are having a harder time building credit and equity in there homes, as neighbors hoods that are "black" or "hispanic neighborhoods" are valued lower even if the homes are of equal quality.

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Racial Disparities in Home Appreciation

A woman stands on her front porch in the Rosedale neighborhood of Washington, D.C., March 2019. (Getty/Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Introduction and summary

"Where different groups of people live and the homes in which they live are not simply neutral or random demographic phenomena. They profoundly influence the allocation of rewards in the United States." - Gregory Squires, 2007 ¹

Despite the economic and political gains that African Americans have achieved since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, significant disparities still exist between African Americans and non-Hispanic whites in terms of access to homeownership, quality education, and employment, among other assets. These disparities are reflected in persisting residential segregation and a racially segmented housing market-and they have significant implications for African Americans' economic mobility. Segregation, disparate access to credit and homeownership, and the consistent devaluation of homes in black neighborhoods⁶ combine to constrict the ability of African Americans to build equity and accumulate wealth through homeownership.

This report focuses on the residential patterns of black and non-Hispanic white home mortgage borrowers and the racial disparities in home appreciation in neighborhoods where these borrowers purchase their homes. Throughout the report, the author uses the terms "African American" and "black" as well as "non-Hispanic white" and "white" interchangeably. The neighborhoods where homebuyers purchase their homes contribute to their home's worth and its chance of appreciating over time, which has important implications for the long-term financial returns associated with homeownership. Before presenting original analysis of home mortgage lending to black and white homebuyers prior to and after the 2008 financial crisis, this report discusses the government policies and other factors that have led to and continue to contribute to persisting African American segregation. The report also provides an overview of the Fair Housing Act in addressing housing discrimination and segregation. Despite some progress in achieving integration, weaknesses in fair housing enforcement have undermined the ability of the Fair Housing Act to dismantle segregation and combat discrimination. The forms of discrimination that were common in the past have been shifting over time, and housing discrimination-along with persisting residential segregation-continue to hamper African American homebuyers' ability to build equity. African American home mortgage borrowers remain concentrated in residentially segregated areas where homes have failed to appreciate at the same pace as those in neighborhoods where white borrowers more predominantly buy their homes.

The report concludes with recommendations on how to strengthen fair housing enforcement, even as the Trump administration is rolling back fair housing policies and integration remedies. The recommendations include:

Make local jurisdictions once again responsible for planning to achieve fair housing. In particular, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule should be fully reinstated.

Empower federal, state, and local governments and nonprofits to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act. More funding should be appropriated for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) and for staffing in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO).

Catch and stop systematic discrimination, rather than perpetuating it. Specifically, it is essential that HUD firmly enforce-rather than reconsider and dilute-the Fair Housing Act's disparate impact rule.

Residential segregation is not a coincidence

Despite a steady decline since the peak levels of the 1960s and 1970s, residential segregation still persists in U.S. metropolitan areas, and African Americans continue to experience the highest segregation levels among all racial and ethnic groups.⁷ Empirical studies show that today, the typical African American resides in a neighborhood that is only 35 percent white. That is not any better than what was common in 1940, when the average black resident lived in a census tract where non-Hispanic white residents represented 40 percent of the total population.⁸

The patterns of residential segregation observed today have not emerged by chance. As Richard Rothstein wrote in his book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, "the public policies of yesterday still shape the racial landscape of today."⁹ This is particularly true in the housing realm, as legal forms of discrimination and racially biased federal government policies have played a critical role in the creation and endurance of segregated African American neighborhoods during a significant portion of the 20th century.¹⁰ In particular, a two-tier approach to housing policies that emerged as a response to the Great Depression functioned largely in favor of white middle-class families, while intentionally harming people of color.¹¹ On the one side, the federal government sought to stabilize financial conditions for homeownership by establishing the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the secondary mortgage market. The introduction of publicly backed, low down payment, fully amortizing, long-term, fixed-rate home mortgage loans promoted the demand for housing and boosted the construction and lending industries. On the other side, the establishment of the Public Works Administration (PWA) Housing Division programs sponsored public housing construction and slum clearance to improve the housing conditions of low-income families and boost employment in the building trades.

The segregative patterns thus institutionalized were reinforced by the Housing Act of 1937, which introduced the enactment of the first major public housing program . Local housing authorities had discretionary control over where they would develop public housing projects and who those projects would target. This early public housing effort received intense public opposition, especially from the National Association of Real Estate Boards.¹⁶

As a concession to opponents of public housing, the so-called equivalent elimination rule contained in the 1937 Housing Act required housing authorities to eliminate a substandard dwelling unit for each new unit of public housing built. In order to not interfere with the private housing market, public housing was not to increase the overall supply of housing. As a result, public housing projects were built predominantly in inner-city locations to replace preexisting slums and thus helped contain African American and other minority neighborhoods.¹⁷

The two-tier approach to housing policy was consolidated in the postwar years, when the demand for new housing prompted the federal government to buttress existing programs and design new ones. These programs played a key role in the solidification of racially segregated neighborhoods.¹⁸ The FHA and the Veterans Administration loan programs adopted the HOLC rating system. These programs denied credit to inner-city communities of color, served predominantly white buyers, and spurred white flight and suburbanization.¹⁹ The FHA "Underwriting Manual,"²⁰ in particular, provided specific guidelines for the evaluation of properties and neighborhoods in a way that would reinforce racial segregation.²¹ Federal Housing Administration, "Underwriting Manual."] White flight was also supported by massive federal investment in highway construction, which was often deliberately planned to create racial barriers between white neighborhoods and areas featuring a large presence of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities.²² At the same time, the 1949 Housing Act limited public housing to the very low income, and public housing projects became a permanent housing solution for very low-income people of color, who were increasingly separated from mainstream society.²³ The urban renewal program, introduced in 1954 as an amendment to the 1949 Housing Act, was intended to attack blight, stimulate downtown investment, and promote highway construction. As a result of the program, however, entire black neighborhoods in close proximity to key white neighborhoods and institutions-such as newly planned universities and hospital complexes-were bulldozed, and massive public housing projects were built in order to contain displaced black residents.²⁴

The Fair Housing Act at 50

The law was passed at a time of significant turmoil, as cities around the nation were experiencing a wave of race-related unrest due to longstanding discrimination against African Americans. President Lyndon Johnson had already attempted to introduce fair housing legislation in 1966. President Johnson's early proposal for the universal ban of discrimination in the sale and rental of housing, however, was met with significant opposition by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and was prevented by a Senate filibuster.²⁹ It was not until the release of the Kerner Report and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that the first fair housing legislation was enacted. The Fair Housing Act was quickly pulled together behind closed doors following King's assassination, without any Senate hearings, markups, scrupulous debate, or the documentation of congressional intent necessary to guide future courts and litigants.

Rushed negotiations and significant compromise largely shaped the final statute. The Fair Housing Act's coverage was originally limited to race, color, religion, and national origin. It also included an exemption according to which a dwelling was not covered by the statute if it had fewer than five rental units and its owner lived in one of them. Most importantly, the legislation lacked critical enforcement provisions. Civil penalties were missing, and HUD did not have any cease and desist powers to temporarily hold a housing unit off the market during a conciliation process.³⁰ During the first 20 years after the passage of the act, HUD and the DOJ did not have the ability to forcibly seek relief for individual victims of housing discrimination,³¹ in part because they lacked political support, staff, and resources.

To address the inadequacy of the statute's enforcement provision, Congress amended the Fair Housing Act in 1988. The amendments added two new protected classes-disability and familial status-created a new administrative complaint process, and enhanced the penalties that came with violating the Fair Housing Act. In addition, HUD authorized state and local human rights commissions with "substantially equivalent" fair housing laws to perform conciliations.³²

Two major developments in the Fair Housing Act were introduced during former President Barack Obama's tenure. In 2013, HUD published a final rule, entitled "Implementation of the Fair Housing Act's Discriminatory Effects Standard," under which practices with an unjustified discriminatory effect, including those without a discriminatory intent, are deemed liable.³³ Under the legal doctrine of disparate impact, actions can be considered discriminatory if they have a disparate effect on protected classes even if that was not the intent of those actions. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project Inc., ruled that claims of disparate impact are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act.³⁴ Furthermore, in 2015 the Obama administration introduced a AFFH rule that strengthened the AFFH mandate of the Fair Housing Act and made it enforceable.³⁵ Over the years, due to the lack of clear implementation and enforcement guidance, many recipients of HUD funds failed to meet the existing AFFH obligation. The 2015 AFFH rule provided HUD program participants with a tool for analyzing local and regional fair housing issues and identifying patterns of segregation and access to opportunity.

Despite some progress, residential segregation and housing discrimination persist

Some progress in achieving integration and combating discrimination has been made since the passage of the Federal Housing Act. For example, there is greater black-white integration today compared with in 1968.³⁶ Up until the late 1960s, high levels of residential segregation were widespread across U.S. metropolitan areas. Douglas S. Massey and Jonathan Tannen indicate that in 1970, immediately following the passage of the Fair Housing Act, nearly half of the black population in the United States resided in 1 of 40 hypersegregated metropolitan areas.³⁷ Hypersegregation-a notion developed in 1989 by Massey and Nancy A. Denton³⁸-occurs when a racial or ethnic group is highly segregated on at least 4 of 5 dimensions of segregation, including unevenness, isolation, clustering, concentration, and centralization.³⁹ The number of hypersegregated areas dropped to 21 by 2010. Average segregation in these areas, however, had fallen only modestly, and hypersegregation is still common in metropolitan areas that feature some of the United States' largest African American communities. These include Baltimore and Chicago, among other cities.⁴⁰

The root causes of residential segregation have been and continue to be widely explored and debated in scholarly studies. Some argue that residential segregation is the result of nonracial demographic and socioeconomic circumstances, whereas others attribute the separation of racial groups in the residential landscape to racist attitudes and practices such as prejudice and discrimination in the housing market. A comprehensive summary and critique of recent evidence on the causes of black-white residential segregation concludes that although racial prejudice and racial differences in homebuyers' income, taste, and housing information play a role in the perpetuation of residential segregation, these factors contribute to just a small portion of the observed segregative residential patterns that are still visible across the United States.⁴¹ Recent evidence provides more convincing support for a fifth hypothesis, according to which discrimination in the housing market continues to drive black-white segregation and reinforces a vicious structural cycle that puts black homebuyers at a clear disadvantage compared with similarly situated white homebuyers.⁴²

New forms of racial bias in housing have thus emerged. Racial steering, for instance, has become more common. Under this practice, real estate agents deliberately steer African Americans away from desirable neighborhoods and toward areas featuring larger concentrations of people of color, higher poverty levels, and lower housing quality compared with neighborhoods to where whites relocate.⁴⁶ The Urban Institute's 2012 audit study proves that minority homebuyers are consistently offered fewer residential options than white homebuyers. ⁴⁷ In particular, real estate agents tend to favor white homebuyers by providing information on and showing more available homes than in the case of equally qualified black homebuyers. In addition, black homebuyers are 2.4 percent more likely than equally qualified white homebuyers to be denied an in-person appointment. Furthermore, the neighborhoods where white homebuyers are recommended and shown homes tend to be characterized by a larger presence of white residents than the neighborhoods where black homebuyers are recommended and shown homes. The 2012 HUD study indicates that "whites hear more positive comments about white neighborhoods and more negative comments about minority neighborhoods than do blacks, potentially steering them away from mixed or minority neighborhoods."⁴⁸ Recent investigations and litigation cases indicate that housing industry agents-realtors, landlords, and brokers-who intend to violate fair housing laws have become more skillful in disguising their discriminatory behavior in order not to be detected.⁴⁹ Housing providers often do not advertise available units. In particular, with the proliferation of social media and online housing advertising, discriminatory digital marketing has become more common.⁵⁰ After a 2016 ProPublica investigation⁵¹ revealed Facebook's practice of allowing its advertisers to exclude Facebook users from seeing housing ads based on their race and ethnicity, the National Fair Housing Alliance and other civil rights advocates took legal action against the company. As a result of the litigation, in March 2019, Facebook agreed to stop allowing landlords, creditors, and employers, among other advertisers, to discriminate against people of color and other protected classes.⁵² During the same month, HUD also filed charges against Facebook for violating fair housing laws.⁵³

Segregation continues to harm the ability of African American homebuyers to build equity

Discrimination in the housing market reinforces the patterns of residential segregation that have been largely shaped by decades of racially biased housing policies. Most importantly, housing discrimination and residential segregation hamper the ability of African American homebuyers to build equity. Homes in primarily African American neighborhoods typically feature more volatile demand and prices than those in predominantly white areas, where resources such as access to well-paying jobs and quality schools are concentrated and contribute to higher housing demand and prices.⁵⁸ In contrast, past and present racial biases and discriminatory practices in real estate markets⁵⁹-such as redlining,⁶⁰ steering,⁶¹ variations in appraisal methods, and appraisers' racialized perceptions of neighborhoods,⁶² among others-contribute to a lower housing demand in African American neighborhoods.⁶³ A low housing demand in these neighborhoods depresses their home prices. Research shows that, even after taking housing characteristics into consideration, homes in neighborhoods where there is a large concentration of African Americans as well as neighborhoods that are racially transitioning typically are worth less and appreciate at a lower rate than those in predominantly white neighborhoods.⁶⁴ A new study by the Brookings Institution indicates that in neighborhoods where African Americans represent the majority of the population, homes are valued at about half the price of homes in neighborhoods where there are no African American residents.⁶⁵ The devaluation of African American-owned homes is particularly evident in previously redlined neighborhoods.⁶⁶ Further, since the peak of the housing boom, neighborhoods with a large African American population have depreciated more and have been less likely to recover than predominantly white neighborhoods.⁶⁷ Between 2003 and 2009-that is, during the housing boom and the subsequent foreclosure crisis-black homeowners who remained in their homes accrued less home equity than white homeowners and were more likely to end the period with negative equity.⁶⁸

African Americans continue to buy homes in predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods

Mortgage data show that while lending to African American borrowers has continued to expand after the housing crash of 2007, harmful segregation patterns persist.⁷⁵ Specifically, in postrecession years, African American and non-Hispanic white home mortgage borrowers have continued buying properties in separate neighborhoods.

Similar to prerecession years, African American borrowers still predominantly buy homes in neighborhoods with large populations of people of color. (see Table 1) On average, 51 percent of the population in the neighborhoods where African Americans typically buy their homes consists of people of color, compared with only 22 percent of the population in neighborhoods where white homebuyers predominate. These differences hold even after taking borrowers' and census tracts' income levels into consideration.⁷⁶ Across all borrowers' income levels, the presence of people of color in the neighborhoods where African American borrowers are concentrated is much larger compared with the areas where their white counterparts purchase their homes. Across the United States, for example, 44 percent of the population in neighborhoods where high-income black borrowers concentrate consist of people of color, compared with 22 percent of the population in neighborhoods sought by high-income white homebuyers.

Seventy-five percent of black borrowers and 88 percent of white borrowers, respectively, buy their homes in moderate- and high-income neighborhoods. The racial composition of these neighborhoods, however, differs significantly, even after controlling for borrowers' income. Forty-one percent of the population in moderate- and high-income neighborhoods where high-income black homebuyers purchase a home consists of people of color, compared with just 21 percent in moderate- and high-income neighborhoods where white high-income borrowers reside. Furthermore, 16 percent of the population in high-income census tracts where high-income black borrowers purchase their homes is black, compared with only 5 percent of the population in high-income census tracts attracting high-income white homebuyers. (see Figure 1)

Homes in neighborhoods where black homebuyers are concentrated are worth less

African American home mortgage borrowers continue buying homes in neighborhoods where homes have depreciated or have appreciated at a slower pace compared with those in neighborhoods where white homebuyers live.

Table 1 shows that, on average, the neighborhoods where African American borrowers bought their homes during the housing boom from 2003 to 2007 feature prices that are still lower than those before the financial crisis. In 2017, home prices in these neighborhoods were 7 percent lower than in 2006. In contrast, home prices in neighborhoods where average white homebuyers purchased their homes during the same period have recovered; they increased by 2 percent between 2006 and 2017.

Most broadly, racial disparities in home appreciation have persisted nationally even in the aftermath of the Great Recession, despite a general increase in home prices.⁷⁷ In 2017, home prices in neighborhoods where black borrowers have concentrated since 2013 were 6 percent lower than in 2006. Home prices in census tracts attracting white homeowners, in contrast, have increased by 3 percent. Figure 2 illustrates that racial disparities in housing appreciation hold even after controlling for borrowers' income level.

Racial disparities in the largest markets where black homebuyers concentrate

This section considers the six metropolitan areas with the largest volume of home mortgage loans to African American borrowers: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C. These areas feature a larger black population compared with the national average of 13 percent. In Atlanta, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., African Americans represent one-third of the metropolitan area population. Despite the large presence of African Americans and the large volume of loans going to this group, black home mortgage borrowers are underrepresented in these metropolitan areas and, consistent with national trends, they obtain proportionally fewer loans than white applicants do, even when borrower's income is accounted for.⁷⁸ In Baltimore, for example, African Americans represent 29 percent of the metropolitan area population. Only 15 percent of all home mortgage loans, however, have gone to black borrowers in the years after the Great Recession, in contrast to the 60 percent of total loans that have gone to white borrowers. (see Table 2)

Despite a decrease in segregation levels during the past three decades,⁷⁹ African Americans in these metropolitan areas are still highly segregated from non-Hispanic whites. Standard measures of residential segregation⁸⁰ show that well more than half of the African American population in these metropolitan areas-from 57 percent in Dallas to 75 percent in Chicago-would have to live in a different neighborhood in their metropolitan areas in order to achieve a more dispersed geographic distribution and less separation from white residents. (see dissimilarity indexes in Table 2)

Racially segregative patterns are evident in the homebuying outcomes of African Americans and white homebuyers across the six metropolitan areas, particularly in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, and Baltimore. Here, African Americans of all income levels purchase homes in neighborhoods where black residents make up a very large share of the total population. (see Table 2) In Washington and Chicago, for instance, African American homebuyers concentrate in neighborhoods where African American residents represent the majority of the population. In contrast, white borrowers purchase homes in neighborhoods where African Americans represent, on average, a very small share of the total population; in Chicago, this share is only 6 percent.

Figures 3 through 8 illustrate the distribution of black homebuyers in these six metropolitan areas in relation to the geographic distribution of the black population. As the maps indicate, the density of black homebuyers tends to be higher in census tracts where the black population is mostly concentrated compared with predominantly nonblack neighborhoods. This is particularly clear in areas such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago, which feature very high levels of segregation. (see Table 2) The geographic distribution of black homebuyers is more dispersed in Dallas.⁸¹ The figures also show that the distribution of high-income black homebuyers generally mirrors that of all black homebuyers across the selected metropolitan areas.

Consistent with existing research,⁸² a geographic information systems (GIS) analysis of trends in the home price index across census tracts in the selected metropolitan areas pinpoints a general overlap between depreciating neighborhoods and neighborhoods that are characterized by a large concentration of African Americans. ⁸³ Echoing national trends, the six metropolitan areas feature racial disparities in home appreciation in the neighborhoods where black and white borrowers purchase their homes. (see Table 2) In general, neighborhoods where black homebuyers are concentrated have appreciated less than neighborhoods where white mortgage borrowers purchase a primary dwelling, even in areas such as Dallas and Houston, where for both racial groups, homes in 2017 were valued more than in 2006.⁸⁴ In Washington and Chicago, homes in neighborhoods where black homebuyers predominantly purchase feature prices that are still 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively, below 2006 levels. In Atlanta, while home prices in neighborhoods attracting white homebuyers have experienced a 5 percent increase since 2006, home prices in census tracts where black homebuyers are concentrated are still 6 percent below 2006 levels.

It is time to strengthen fair housing enforcement

Make local jurisdictions once again responsible for planning to achieve fair housing

In particular, the 2015 Affirmative Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule should be fully reinstated. In 2018, HUD suspended the obligation of local jurisdictions to file plans under the AFFH rule, despite evidence that the rule has been effective in propelling HUD funding recipients to meaningfully commit to fair housing.⁸⁸ The implementation of the AFFH rule should be resumed and expanded, as it provides a critical tool to combat discriminatory practices and persisting residential segregation patterns while promoting more equitable investment in communities of color across the United States that continue to be devalued and feature a low housing demand.

Empower federal, state, and local governments and nonprofits to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act

While it is important that the FHIP program supports investigations of complaints filed by potential victims, it is also critical that this program supports proactive investigations that are independent of individual complaints in order to uncover systemic discriminatory practices that are difficult for victims to detect; expand scrutiny on actors that are not well covered by existing fair housing laws; monitor discriminatory practices in communities at risk; and explore strategies that are effective in deterring discriminatory practices and reversing segregation patterns. In addition, funding for FHEO staffing should be increased in order to more adequately support the office's ability to perform investigations and to manage the FHIP and other fair housing programs.

Catch and stop systematic discrimination, rather than perpetuating it

Specifically, it is essential that HUD firmly enforce, rather than reconsider and dilute, the Fair Housing Act's disparate impact rule. In June 2018, HUD published a notice⁹² announcing its intention to reconsider the 2013 final rule implementing the Fair Housing Act's disparate impact standard. The disparate impact standard is a very critical tool for detecting and addressing discriminatory housing practices that systematically affect communities of color but are difficult to prove. Even when there is no intention to discriminate, it is very important to hold housing agencies and players accountable for the discriminatory consequences of their actions that ultimately lead to and reinforce systemic racial disparities in the housing market.

Unfortunately, the racial disparities illustrated in this report signal that segregation in the homebuying market is still a reality, with negative implications for equity building and wealth accumulation for African American homebuyers. Further investigation is required to identify and monitor specific entities and practices that perpetuate this destructive process.

Conclusion

The analysis of home mortgage data presented in this report shows that African American homebuyers continue to be concentrated in nonwhite neighborhoods-even when they have the financial resources to afford homes in any neighborhood of their choice, where the opportunities for equity building are similar to those of white homebuyers of comparable socioeconomic status. These patterns are concerning because they reflect and contribute to persisting racial segregation in the residential landscape.

The Fair Housing Act aimed at eliminating overt discrimination and disparities in the housing market and ultimately ending residential segregation. Although the Fair Housing Act has succeeded in eliminating the most blatant forms of discrimination that were common 50 years ago, the U.S. housing market is still highly segmented along racial lines. The legacy of federal redlining and discriminatory housing policies and private practices is still visible today, as housing discrimination has taken different forms and African American neighborhoods continue to be devalued compared with white neighborhoods.

The findings presented in this report provide support for existing evidence on the persistent disenfranchisement of black homeowners in the United States. Not only are African American homebuyers still buying homes in predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods, but home prices in segregated neighborhoods where black homebuyers concentrate are also continuing a trend of slow appreciation compared with those in neighborhoods where white homebuyers purchase their homes. This has persisted even at a time when national home prices have continued recovering after the recent financial collapse. To begin to solve these issues, policymakers should seriously consider the recommendations provided in this report.

About the author

Michela Zonta is a senior policy analyst for Housing Policy at the Center for American Progress. She has extensive research, teaching, and consulting experience in housing and community development. She has published work on the government-sponsored enterprises; mortgage lending practices of ethnic-owned banks in immigrant communities; jobs-housing imbalance in minority communities; residential segregation; and poverty and housing affordability. Zonta holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Milan, as well as a master's degree and a doctorate in urban planning, both from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Gbenga Ajilore, Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Debby Goldberg, Andy Green, Marc Jarsulic, Jason Richardson, Danyelle Solomon, and Christian Weller for their invaluable input.

Appendix

The statistical and GIS analyses discussed in this report were performed with the following data:

Home mortgage data coming from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HDMA) data series. Specifically, the analysis employs data coming from the 2003-2007 and 2013-2017 datasets. While the 2017 data are provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, data for prior years are available through the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and the National Archives. The analysis of mortgage loans focuses on two periods: the prerecession years and the postrecession years. For the prerecession years, the analysis pools HMDA data from 2003 to 2007. HMDA data from 2013 to 2017 are pooled for the analysis of mortgage lending in the postrecession period. The analysis focuses on home purchase first-lien loans for one- to four-family, owner-occupied homes. Data are for the United States, excluding Puerto Rico. HMDA data provide census tract identifiers through which it is possible to merge census tract characteristics coming from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to mortgage lending data.

Annual house price index (HPI) data coming from the FHFA for census tracts from 2006 to 2017. The annual HPI represents a broad measure of single-family house price trends.

The 2012-2016 American Community Survey, which provides detailed census-tract-level information on racial composition.⁹³

The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.

Senior Policy Analyst, Housing Policy

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Racial Disparities in Home Appreciation Introduction and summary "Where different groups of people live and the homes in which they live are not simply neutral or random demographic phenomena. They profoundly influence the allocation of rewards in the United States."

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Anti-Asian Racism Persists in San Francisco

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Anti-Asian Racism Persists in San Francisco

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Anti-Asian racism initially spiked in San Francisco in 2020 and news about this issue was quite widespread. I always found it super strange that this was happening since I always believed Asian-American culture was very appreciated and widespread within the Bay Area, but, nonetheless hate crimes continued to occur. Something that surprised me within this article is that the number of reported cases of racism increased by 500% in 2021 compared to 2020 and there have been 11,500 reported incidents since 2020 which I think is insane.

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Russell Jeung's family was forcibly removed from their homes in Monterey, California, in the late 1800s.

"When the townspeople wanted the Chinese out, the landlord evicted them. When the Chinese wouldn't leave, a fire burned down the entire village," Jeung, co-founder of the Stop AAPI Hate group told ABC News.

"My great grandparents ... saw their entire life's work burned down," he said.

They found a new home in San Francisco's Chinatown, "as the only place of safety against that racism," Jeung said. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, that safe haven became a target of anti-Asian racism.

San Francisco officials received 60 reports of hate crimes against AAPI people in the city during 2021, a more than 500% increase compared to the nine incidents reported in 2020.

In this screen grab from a video, Russell Yeung is shown in a scene from "AAPI Hate."

Between March 2020 and March 31, 2022, Jeung's group Stop AAPI Hate recorded nearly 11,500 reports of hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) persons across the U.S.

This is markedly higher than the number of reported hate crimes during the same period of time, which advocates say are undercounted.

"We have high numbers of elders reporting, even though elders tend to under report," Jeung said. "Our Asian elders, they often don't speak English. They don't have online technology. So the high rate of elders reporting just shows that it is a problem facing them."

Currently, Anti-Asian hate incidents are reportedly down across the country, but the trauma and reality of this hate remains, especially for Susanna Yee, whose 88-year-old grandmother was brutally attacked while exercising one morning in a local park in January 2019.

"Although I have come to a place of forgiveness, there's still pain and feelings of grief that wells up occasionally," Yee, the granddaughter of Yik Oi Huang, said in an interview with ABC News. Her grandmother died a year after the attack.

"I saw this incident with my grandmother as an opportunity to reach out and to connect with people who don't look like me or us and to understand each other so that this incident and other incidents don't happen again," Yee said.

In this screen grab from a video, Russell Yeung is shown in a scene from "AAPI Hate."

The man charged with attacking Huang, 21-year-old Keonte Gathron, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Yee says she is still grieving and has leaned on others in the Asian American community throughout this healing process.

She has embraced Tai Chi, as her grandmother did: "To be in community with a group of Chinese elders is just so nourishing and full of love."

"What happened to my grandmother has impacted the way I move in the world," Yee said.

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Anti-Asian racism still haunts San Francisco community

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Russell Jeung's family was forcibly removed from their homes in Monterey, California, in the late 1800s. "When the townspeople wanted the Chinese out, the landlord evicted them. When the Chinese wouldn't leave, a fire burned down the entire village," Jeung, co-founder of the Stop AAPI Hate group told ABC News.

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This article covers multiple instances of racism amongst high school football teams across the country. One nauseating example took place at a Northern California High school an hour north of Sacramento. The Amador varsity football were active in a group-chat called "Kill the Blacks". After the school was informed of the group chat, the remainder of the football season was cancelled and the Football coach and athletic director were put on leave. It's sad to see that stuff like this happens so frequently. This example felt personal to my because I was born and raised in California. It's terrible to hear and read of racist actions, especially in my home state.

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Superintendent Torie Gibson felt she had no choice but to make the unpopular decision. When learning Amador High's football team had a group chat titled, "Kill the Blacks," filled with derogatory language and racial slurs, she ended the Northern California school's varsity season.

That meant the 100-year anniversary game between rivals Amador and Argonaut was called off.

"We canceled the football season, and we did it for all the right reasons because the behavior is not acceptable," said Gibson, who oversees the Amador County Unified School District. "However, football is an extracurricular activity. It is not a given. It is not a right. It is strictly extra."
READ MORE: Do policies that aim to increase diversity in hiring really work?
The discipline was swift and abrupt. Moments before Amador was to play Rosemont - a predominantly Black and Latino school in nearby Sacramento - the game was called off.

There was more fallout. Amador's football coach, athletic director and principal were put on leave.

In Gibson's mind, the discipline was the easy part. The hard part will be setting the table for real change, and the key will be presentation. The school is based in a mostly white, rural area an hour's drive east of Sacramento. Amador has just four Black students out of about 750.

"I think if we roll it out correctly and we provide the necessary support and we don't shame people for who they are and we work it out so that we celebrate everyone, but really, truly look at our blind spots and our differences, I think it'll make a big difference," said Gibson, who is white.

The incident at Amador was one of several alarming examples of racism against Black people that occurred this fall in high school football around the nation. Athletes in the past were able to leave racism and other issues off the field, but today not even sports settings are immune from real world problems.

Administrators in some cases have used these incidents to start conversations about race that have been hard for them to bring up before and roll out programs they hope will have lasting impact.

A TikTok video created by players at River Valley High School in Yuba City, California, featured a mock slave auction. A social media post circulated showing five white males from West Laurens High School, a central Georgia school a little more than a two-hour drive southeast of Atlanta, at a football game wearing shirts that spelled out a racial slur targeting Black people. And at Guilderland High School in New York, about a half-hour's drive west of Albany, several classmates showed up to a football game wearing black facepaint, prompting about 100 students to walk out of classes days later.

Richard Lapchick, the founder of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida, is using social media to draw attention to weekly examples of racism in sports and elsewhere. He said the institute, also known as TIDES, found 58 articles in its first week of searching, and he highlighted 11 on his Twitter feed.

"White supremacist acts have been unleashed across the nation in the current political climate," Lapchick said. "I don't think the general public knows how extensive it is."

Gibson, the superintendent in Northern California, feels she has to start with implicit bias work in her district. She said she was encouraged by the fact that the school already has strong transgender and gay and lesbian advocacy groups.

"I think we are going to have a great opportunity to really make some change and to do some great work," she said.

The mock slave auction at River Valley was done as a prank, but there was nothing funny about the repercussions. The varsity football team forfeited the remainder of its season after suspensions left it with too few players to continue.

The Greater Sacramento NAACP chapter hosted a meeting calling for systemic change and players apologized for their involvement. During the meeting, a Black player said he did not want to participate in the mock slave auction, but he was the only Black player left in the locker room and everyone focused on him. He said he tried to leave, but could not. He was told the video would not be published, but it was.

River Valley Principal Lee McPeak said the district is working with a professional to implement programs to help learn from the incident.

"There are vital messages about race, discrimination and systemic changes that are necessary to help us turn important corners toward equity, respect and compassion, critical for our schools today," he said.

At Guilderland High in New York, some students were outraged when some of their classmates showed up to a game in blackface. Administrators met with students through small group, roundtable discussions. The school said it was a "culminating moment" for students who had experienced discriminatory issues and injustices.

In the wake of all the incidents, the work toward learning and changing is just starting.

"It's going to take us time," Gibson said. "It's going to be years of work. There's no magic button to just fix it."

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Racist incidents in high school football spark talks and programs

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Superintendent Torie Gibson felt she had no choice but to make the unpopular decision. When learning Amador High's football team had a group chat titled, "Kill the Blacks," filled with derogatory language and racial slurs, she ended the Northern California school's varsity season. That meant the 100-year anniversary game between rivals Amador and Argonaut was called off.

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Rise in Antisemitism in the past few years

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Rise in Antisemitism in the past few years

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Antisemitism is a complicated and insidious hatred that is pervasive in many countries and cultures. As for as modern education goes on antisemitism, the most we learn about is the holocaust and that is not the case for all. The lack of education surrounding this form of bigotry is a major component in its pervasiveness. Antisemitism can be found in most corners of the internet but it happens in person much more often than gets recognition. We tend to think of antisemitism as a thing of the past, but despite efforts, rates of antisemitism are not low. Antisemitic hate crimes made up 63% percent of religious based hate crimes despite jews being 3% of Californias population in 2020(CA DOJ 2020). This number is only rising year by year. The news tends not to cover these individual events, so we don't hear about them often. But they are happening. Shootings, vandalism, hateful rhetoric, and other forms of discrimination are happening across the country and even within our own city.

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ADL Audit Finds Antisemitic Incidents in United States Reached All-Time High in 2021

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New York, NY, April 26, 2022 ... Antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in the United States in 2021, with a total of 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism reported to ADL (the Anti-Defamation League).

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This article covers information about the rumored "Day of Hate". Police departments in lager cities major cities have been warned of a “Day of Hate” against the Jewish community. White nationalist groups and Neo nazi's on social media are told to have been encouraging followers to engage in vandalism and spread antisemitic propaganda. It's heartbreaking to see how prevalent racism is in our society today. I think social media can be both beneficial and negative to helping stop racism and I think this article demonstrates that well. As we are able to read about this potential hate crime we are kind of given a wake up call to how racism is something our society hasn't grown from. However the article states that this was also organized via social media by antisemitic groups and they were able to spread more negative propaganda because of it.

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Police departments across the country are asking people to remain vigilant Saturday as white supremacists plan to target the Jewish community.

NORFOLK, Va. - All across the country, police departments are warning people to stay alert.

Saturday is the so-called National Day of Hate in which extremists hope to target the Jewish community.

Just last week, anti-Semitic flyers were passed around in Norfolk along Belvedere and West Belvedere Roads.

One Jewish congregation in Norfolk plans to focus tomorrow on peace.

"We can't be naive and think that we are as safe as we ought to be in 2023, but at the same time, we can't let any hate stop us from living as joyfully, fully and purposefully as we can as Jews," Rabbi Roz Mandelberg said.

Given the rise in antisemitic behavior nationwide, Mandelberg says her parishioners stay vigilant. Safety is woven into their routine.

"We are doing what we always do to keep ourselves safe. All of our regular security and safety protocols are in place. We've been in contact with all forms of law enforcement. We've run through with what to do with our staff and volunteers. We're ready."

Chesapeake police say they are encouraging people to report any suspicious activity. Any criminal action against a person, property, or place because of religion will be prosecuted as a hate crime.

So far, Chesapeake police are not aware of any threats to Jewish institutions in the community.

The Anti-Defamation League reports startling levels of antisemitic behavior.

In 2021, ADL tracked a total of 2,717 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism. The agency's website state this represents "the largest number of reported incidents against Jews in the U.S. since ADL started recording the data in 1979."

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'Day of hate' will be a day to focus on peace for one Jewish congregation in Hampton Roads

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Police departments across the country are asking people to remain vigilant Saturday as white supremacists plan to target the Jewish community. NORFOLK, Va. - All across the country, police departments are warning people to stay alert. Saturday is the so-called National Day of Hate in which extremists hope to target the Jewish community.

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I choose my post to be about George Floyd. I choose this because I feel like racism is an enormous problem in today's society, and always has been, but this particular case got the entire world's attention. As horrible as it was to hear, see and learn about, it is something that everyone needs to grow from. These things should not be happening in the world anymore, and despite this case having the whole world's eye, and it causing so much grief and sadness, people are still out their committing these awful hate crimes, that no body deserves to go through.

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Topic Summary
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African American man, was killed while being arrested by the police. A bystander video recording of the incident showed that a white police officer pinned Floyd to the ground while he was handcuffed. The police officer's knee pressed into the back of Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, even after Floyd lost consciousness. On the video, Floyd was heard saying, "Please, I can't breathe. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. ... (I need) water or something. Please. Please. I can't breathe, officer. ... I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe."

A video taken by a bystander of the incident was shared widely on social media. This led to community and national outrage, an F.B.I. civil rights investigation and the firing of the officer, Derek Chauvin and three other officers who were also at the scene. On May 29, 2020 Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. On June 3, the charges against Chauvin were upgraded to second-degree murder and the three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting murder.

Trial of Derek Chauvin

The murder trial of Derek Chauvin began on March 29 and concluded on April 19, 2021, when the defense and prosecution delivered their closing arguments. On April 20, 2021, the jury announced a verdict of guilty on all three counts in the murder of George Floyd. Chauvin was denied bail and taken into custody; his sentencing is to take place in eight weeks. After the verdict was read, Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's brother said, "I was just praying they would find him guilty. As an African American, we usually never get justice."

Protests Across the Country

The murder of George Floyd spurred what has been called the largest protest movement in U.S. history; data suggest that up to 26 million people in the U.S. participated in demonstrations. There has also been widespread protest and activism around the world. Proposed legislation followed as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 was introduced in Congress. The bill's stated goal is to "to hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency through data collection, and reform police training and policies."

There is a larger context and history of Black men and boys who were killed at the hands of the police, many of whom, like George Floyd, were unarmed. Since 2014, some high-profile deaths include Eric Garner (2014), Michael Brown (2014), Tamir Rice (2014), Laquan McDonald (2014), John Crawford (2014) Freddie Gray (2015), Walter Scott (2015), Alton Sterling (2016), Philando Castile (2016), Terence Crutcher (2016), Antwon Rose (2018) and others. Black women and girls are also targets of police violence, a reality that sparked the "Say Her Name" movement to highlight how this violence often goes unnoticed. Women who have died as a result of police interactions include Sandra Bland (2015), Deborah Danner (2016), and Atatiana Jefferson (2019) and Breonna Taylor (2020).

Despite having video recordings of many of these deaths, it is very rare for police officers to get arrested, prosecuted or convicted for excessive use of force. This perceived lack of accountability has led to a public outcry for justice.

Black Lives Matter is an activist movement which began as a hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) when in July 2013, white civilian George Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African American teenager killed in Florida. The Black Lives Matter movement became more widely acknowledged and highlighted after two 2014 high-profile deaths of unarmed African American men (Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY and Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO). Neither of the police officers involved in their deaths were indicted (i.e., formally charge with a crime).

Systemic Racism

Racism shows up in all aspects of our lives and society: in interpersonal communication, through discriminatory policies and practices, in biased language, and in our laws and institutions (e.g., education, media, employment, government and the criminal justice system).

Many see Floyd's death as an example of systemic racism, referring to the way race disadvantages people of color in the criminal justice system. Black and Latinx men are disproportionately represented in all levels of the criminal justice system, from arrest to sentencing to death row. Moreover, research shows that African American people are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people.

How Hate and Bias Escalate

On the same day that George Floyd was killed, another incident occurred in Central Park in New York City. Christian Cooper, a Black man, was birdwatching when he encountered an unleashed dog. He asked the dog's owner, Amy Cooper (no relation), to put the dog on a leash, as the park rules require. When she did not, he began to film her on his phone. In response, Amy Cooper said she would call the police, stating "I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life" while pulling out her cell phone and calling 911.

While these two events appear to be unrelated, they both demonstrate a very important concept: when left unchecked, hate and bias can escalate and lead to dangerous, and sometimes deadly, outcomes.

The Pyramid of Hate illustrates how the levels of biased attitudes and behaviors grow in complexity from the bottom to top. Like a pyramid, the upper levels are supported by the lower levels and it becomes increasingly difficult to challenge and dismantle as behaviors escalate. Bias at each level negatively impacts individuals, institutions and society. When bias goes unchecked, it becomes "normalized" and contributes to a pattern of accepting discrimination, hate and injustice in society.

Amy Cooper's anger and bias led her to threaten Christian Cooper with the bias she assumed the police would have when she described the man who was threatening her as African American. This is a situation that could have easily escalated if the police arrived on the scene and engaged in a confrontation, or worse, with Christian Cooper. All too quickly and pervasively, the escalation of bias and hate has led to violence and the deaths of George Floyd and many others.
Age
11 and up
Questions to Start the Conversation

What were your initial thoughts and feelings when you heard about what happened to George Floyd?

How do you feel about the guilty verdict on all three counts for Derek Chauvin?

Do you see people talking about this issue on the news, on social media or among your friends? What impact has that had on you?

Why do you think the movement to stop police violence against African American people is called Black Lives Matter? What does it mean to you? What kind of change are activists and others calling for?

In your own words, how would you describe the connection between the two incidents (the one in Central Park in NYC and the death of George Floyd)?

Questions to Dig Deeper
(See the Additional Information section for articles and information that address these questions.)

Why do you think it is rare for police officers to get arrested, prosecuted and convicted in these cases? What should be done about that?

What are your thoughts and ideas about how we can transform policing and public safety for all?

What can each of us do as individuals to stop the escalation of bias and hate? What can we do on a societal level?

What are other ways that racism (or other forms of injustice) show up in our institutions (education, government, business, media, etc.) and what can we do about that?

Take Action
Ask: What can we do to help? What actions might make a difference?

Talk with others about what happened to George Floyd and others and the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement by sharing information on social media, having individual conversations or organizing an educational event in the school or community.

Learn more about bias and talk together about how our biases may show up, especially on the lower levels of the Pyramid of Hate (i.e., biased attitudes, acts of bias).

Write a letter to your school or community newspaper about your thoughts and feelings about George Floyd and the racial disparities in the criminal justice system. In the letter, explain what you think should be done about it.

Get involved in local activism on these or other issues of injustice that are important to you.

Additional Resources Resumen del tema
El 25 de mayo de 2020, George Floyd, un hombre afroamericano, murió mientras era arrestado por la policía. La grabación en video del incidente por parte de un testigo muestra que un oficial de policía blanco inmovilizó a Floyd en el suelo mientras era esposado. La rodilla del policía presionó la nuca de Floyd durante más de nueve minutos, incluso después de que Floyd perdiera el conocimiento. En el video, se escucha a Floyd diciendo: "Por favor, no puedo respirar. Me duele el estómago. Me duele el cuello. Me duele todo. ... (Necesito) agua o algo. Por favor. Por favor. No puedo respirar, oficial. ... No puedo respirar. No puedo respirar".

El incidente fue captado en video por una espectadora y ampliamente compartido en las redes sociales. Esto provocó la indignación de la comunidad y de la nación, una investigación de derechos civiles del FBI y el despido del oficial, Derek Chauvin y otros tres oficiales que también estaban en el lugar. El 29 de mayo, Chauvin fue detenido y acusado de asesinato en tercer grado y homicidio. El 3 de junio, los cargos contra Chauvin se elevaron a asesinato en segundo grado y los otros tres oficiales fueron acusados de colaboración y complicidad en el asesinato.

Juicio de Derek Chauvin

El juicio por asesinato de Derek Chauvin comenzó el 29 de marzo y concluyó el 19 de abril de 2021, cuando la defensa y la fiscalía presentaron sus argumentos finales. El 20 de abril de 2021, el jurado anunció un veredicto de culpable en los tres cargos del asesinato de George Floyd. A Chauvin se le negó la libertad bajo fianza y fue puesto bajo custodia; su sentencia tendrá lugar en ocho semanas. Después de que se leyó el veredicto, Philonise Floyd, el hermano de George Floyd, dijo: "Solo estaba rezando para que lo encontraran culpable. Como afroamericano, generalmente nunca recibimos justicia".

Protestas en todo el país

El asesinato de George Floyd desató lo que se ha llamado el mayor movimiento de protesta en la historia de Estados Unidos; Los datos sugieren que hasta 26 millones de personas en los EE. UU. participaron en manifestaciones. También ha habido protestas y activismo generalizados en todo el mundo. Después se presentó en el Congreso la propuesta de legislativa Ley de Justicia en la Policía de George Floyd de 2020. El objetivo de este proyecto de ley es "responsabilizar a las fuerzas del orden por mala conducta en los tribunales, mejorar la transparencia a través de la recopilación de datos y reformar la capacitación y las políticas policiales".

Existe un contexto más amplio de hombres y niños afroamericanos asesinados por la policía y muchos de ellos -como George Floyd- estaban desarmados. Desde 2014, algunas muertes muy conocidas incluyen a Eric Garner (2014), Michael Brown (2014), Tamir Rice (2014), Laquan McDonald (2014), John Crawford (2014) Freddie Gray (2015), Walter Scott (2015), Alton Sterling (2016), Philando Castile (2016), Terence Crutcher (2016) y Antwon Rose (2018) entre otros. Las mujeres y niñas negras también son blanco de la violencia policial, realidad que desencadenó el movimiento "Di su nombre" ("Say Her Name") para resaltar cómo esta violencia a menudo pasa desapercibida. Entre las mujeres que han muerto como resultado de interacciones con la policía se encuentran Sandra Bland (2015), Deborah Danner (2016), Atatiana Jefferson (2019) y Breonna Taylor (2020). A pesar de disponer de grabaciones en vídeo de muchas de estas muertes, es muy raro que los agentes de policía sean detenidos, procesados o condenados por el uso excesivo de la fuerza. Esta percepción de falta de responsabilidad ha provocado una protesta pública pidiendo justicia.

Black Lives Matter (Las vidas negras importan) es un movimiento activista que comenzó como un hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) cuando en julio de 2013, el civil blanco George Zimmerman fue absuelto por la muerte de Trayvon Martin, un adolescente afroamericano desarmado que fue asesinado en Florida. El movimiento Black Lives Matter logró mayor reconocimiento y visibilidad después de las notorias muertes en 2014 de dos hombres afroamericanos desarmados (Eric Garner en Staten Island, NY, y Michael Brown en Ferguson, MO). Ninguno de los policías implicados en sus muertes fue acusado formalmente.

Racismo sistémico

El racismo se define como: "la marginación y/u opresión de la gente de color basada en una jerarquía racial socialmente construida que privilegia a los blancos". El racismo se manifiesta en todos los aspectos de nuestras vidas y de la sociedad: en la comunicación interpersonal, a través de políticas y prácticas discriminatorias, en el lenguaje prejuiciado y en nuestras leyes e instituciones (por ejemplo, en la educación, los medios de comunicación, el empleo, el gobierno y el sistema de justicia criminal).

Muchos ven la muerte de Floyd como un ejemplo de racismo sistémico, refiriéndose a la forma en que la raza pone en desventaja a las personas de color en el sistema de justicia criminal. Los hombres afroamericanos y latinos están desproporcionadamente representados en todos los niveles del sistema de justicia penal, desde el arresto hasta la condena a muerte. Además, las investigaciones demuestran que los afroamericanos tienen 2.5 veces más probabilidades de ser asesinados por la policía que los blancos.

Cómo se incrementan el odio y el prejuicio

El mismo día en que George Floyd fue asesinado, ocurrió otro incidente en Central Park en Nueva York. Christian Cooper, un hombre afroamericano, estaba observando aves cuando se encontró con un perro que andaba sin correa. Le pidió a la dueña del perro, Amy Cooper (sin parentesco entre ellos), una mujer blanca, que le pusiera la correa al perro como lo exigen las reglas del parque. Cuando ella se negó, él comenzó a filmarla. En respuesta, Amy Cooper dijo que llamaría a la policía y, mientras sacaba su celular y llamaba al 911, afirmó: "Voy a decirles que un hombre afroamericano está amenazando mi vida".

Aunque estos dos acontecimientos parecen no estar relacionados, ambos ilustran un concepto muy importante: si no se controlan, el odio y los prejuicios pueden incrementarse y llevar a resultados nefastos.

La Pirámide del Odio ilustra la forma en que los niveles de actitudes y comportamientos prejuiciados se hacen más complejos de abajo hacia arriba. Como una pirámide, los niveles superiores se apoyan en los niveles inferiores y, a medida que los comportamientos se intensifican, se hace más difícil desafiarlos y desmantelarlos. El prejuicio en cada nivel afecta negativamente a los individuos, las instituciones y la sociedad. Cuando el prejuicio no se controla, se "normaliza" y contribuye a un patrón de aceptación de la discriminación, el odio y la injusticia en la sociedad.

La ira y prejuicio de Amy Cooper la llevaron a amenazar a Christian Cooper con el prejuicio que asumió la policía tendría cuando ella describiera como afroamericano al hombre que la amenazaba. Esta situación podría haber escalado fácilmente si la policía hubiera llegado a la escena y hubiera enfrentado a Christian Cooper. Con demasiada rapidez y de forma generalizada, la intensificación de los prejuicios y el odio ha llevado a la violencia y la muerte de George Floyd y muchos otros.
Edad
De 11 años en adelante.
Preguntas para iniciar la conversación

¿Has visto a la gente hablando de este tema en las noticias, en las redes sociales o entre tus amigos? ¿Qué impacto ha tenido eso en ti?

¿Por qué crees que el movimiento para combatir la violencia policial contra los afroamericanos se llama Black Lives Matter? ¿Qué significa para ti? ¿Qué cambios están pidiendo los activistas y otros?

En tus propias palabras, ¿cómo describirías la conexión entre los dos incidentes (el del Central Park en Nueva York y la muerte de George Floyd)?

Preguntas para profundizar aún más
(Consulte la sección "Más información" para ver información y artículos que abordan estas preguntas).

¿Por qué crees que es raro que los agentes de policía sean arrestados, procesados y condenados en estos casos? ¿Qué debería hacerse al respecto?

¿Cuáles son tus pensamientos e ideas sobre cómo podemos transformar la policía y la seguridad pública para todos?

¿Qué podemos hacer cada uno de nosotros como individuos para detener la intensificación de los prejuicios y el odio? ¿Qué podemos hacer a nivel de la sociedad?

¿En qué otras formas se manifiesta el racismo (u otras formas de injusticia) en nuestras instituciones (educación, gobierno, empresas, medios de comunicación, etc.) y qué podemos hacer al respecto?

Tomar medidas
Pregunte: ¿Qué podemos hacer para ayudar? ¿Qué acciones podrían marcar la diferencia?

Habla con otros sobre lo que le pasó a George Floyd y los objetivos del movimiento Black Lives Matter, compartiendo información en las redes sociales, sosteniendo conversaciones individuales u organizando un evento educativo en la escuela o la comunidad.

Aprende más sobre el prejuicio y discute la forma en que pueden manifestarse nuestros prejuicios, especialmente en los niveles inferiores de la Pirámide del Odio (es decir, actitudes prejuiciadas, actos prejuiciados).

Escribe una carta al periódico de la escuela o comunidad sobre tus pensamientos y sentimientos acerca de George Floyd y las desigualdades raciales en el sistema de justicia criminal. En la carta, explica lo que crees que se debe hacer al respecto.

Involúcrate en el activismo local sobre estos u otros temas de injusticia que sean importantes para ti.

Recursos adicionales

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George Floyd, Racism and Law Enforcement (in English and en Español)

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Topic Summary On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African American man, was killed while being arrested by the police. A bystander video recording of the incident showed that a white police officer pinned Floyd to the ground while he was handcuffed.

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Indigenous and Black children increasingly experiencing racism 

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Indigenous and Black children increasingly experiencing racism 

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More parents of indigenous and black children are reporting that their children are experiencing racism in their daily lives. Indigenous and black children have been experiencing racism at a higher rate since 2016. While indigenous children have experienced racism at a rate of 10.8% in 2016 to a rate of 15.7% in 2020. In addition, black children have had changing rates of racism as well, as the study shows that black children have experienced more racism since 2016 (9.69%) to 2020 (15.7%). It is astounding and terrifying to see that despite the amount of knowledge we as humans have today, still display racist and prejudiced tendencies. Overall, it is unacceptable behavior that must be fixed no matter what.

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A growing percentage of Indigenous and Black parents in the United States reported that their children have faced racist experiences, according to a study published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine.

The study looked at parental reporting of racist experiences their children faced between 2016 and 2020. Data came from the National Survey of Children's Health, a nationally representative survey directed by groups within the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The researchers, led by Dr. Micah Hartwell at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, and Amy Hendrix-Dicken of the University of Oklahoma (Tulsa) School of Community Medicine, concluded there was an increase in reported racial incidents experienced by minority children from roughly 6.7% in 2016 to 9.3% by 2020.

By comparison, 1% of parents of White children reported their kids had faced discrimination in 2016, and that increased to 1.7% in 2020.

Structural racism is taking a toll on children's mental health

Indigenous children experienced discrimination at rates ranging from 10.8% in 2016 to 15.7% in 2020, and Black children ranging from 9.69% in 2018 to 15.04% in 2020, according to the report.

Hendrix-Dicken says the findings are significant because exposure to discrimination in early childhood can have long-term consequences on health.

"Our study underlines the need for clinicians to expand their anti-racism resources and also highlights the role culturally competent health care can play in lessening the effects of adverse childhood experiences with racism," said Hendrix-Dicken in a news release.

"As an Indigenous person myself, perhaps the most personally significant and surprising finding is the rate at which Indigenous children are experiencing discrimination," added Hendrix-Dicken.

In a phone interview with CNN, Hartwell outlined strategies to mitigate the root cause of the findings.

"There is a ton of stuff minority communities have done if that was better represented within our education and childcare and just overall knowledge of coverage, that would provide a more equal context," Hartwell said.

"Understanding cultural context, historical trauma and providing mental health services from a culturally informed perspective is the best thing the medical community can do," added Hartwell who is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Oklahoma State University.

Covenant Elenwo, a medical student who worked on the study with Hartwell told CNN, "When looking at some of the historical trauma that has come with being Black and Indigenous, we must understand some of the trauma has not been dealt with even now in 2022."

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Indigenous and Black children increasingly experiencing racism, new study shows | CNN

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A growing percentage of Indigenous and Black parents in the United States reported that their children have faced racist experiences, according to a study published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. The study looked at parental reporting of racist experiences their children faced between 2016 and 2020.

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The effects of racism on health care and mental health

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The effects of racism on health care and mental health

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This article talks about how racism has had a negative effect on the access to healthcare and how people of color are treated in hospitals compared to white people. It also talks about how racism when projected on to a certain individual can make that person experience health problems such as lack of sleep, psychiatric disorders, heart disease, and much more.  Overall this article helps cover how even if we do not see it, racism is still present today in our lives, and we have to start noticing it.

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Racism, or discrimination based on race or ethnicity, is a key contributing factor in disease onset. It is also responsible for increasing physical and mental health disparities among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought disparities in healthcare outcomes for different races and ethnic groups into greater focus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that BIPOC in the United States experienced higher rates of hospitalization and death than White populations.

This article looks at how racism can impact a person's body, how it affects physical and mental health, how a person can live healthfully while facing the burden of racism, and how socioeconomic factors that have associations with racism can continue to pose physical and mental health risks.

According to the , racial and ethnic minority populations experience higher levels of poor health and disease across various conditions when compared with their White counterparts.

These stark disparities have driven interest and research into how racism may affect people's physical and mental health.

A 2019 research review found positive associations between reports of racial discrimination and many physical and mental health conditions, as well as preclinical indicators for disease.

These include:

Health inequality and racism

The above research review examined evidence linking mental and physical health outcomes to three key mechanisms of racism. It found that people can experience health inequality through:

Structural or institutional racism: The processes of racism embedded in policies, laws, and societal practices that give advantages to racial groups deemed superior, while racial groups deemed inferior are disadvantaged. For example, structural racism in the criminal justice system can lead to poorer health outcomes.

Cultural racism: The spread of the ideology that certain groups are inferior through language, values, media, and symbols. For example, racist stereotypes can influence the housing decisions of White property owners and lead to racial segregation in neighborhoods. This can create communities of concentrated poverty with worse housing and environmental conditions.

Individual-level discrimination: Where individuals or companies discriminate against racial groups, whether intentionally or without intent. This can result in worse access to employment, education, and medical care.

Learn more about structural racism in medicine here.
A 2015 systematic review collated the results of almost 300 studies to examine how racism affects the physical and mental health of Asian American, African American, and Latinx American people.

The sections below will detail the conclusions of this review, as well as those of other studies.

Physical health

The above review found that experiencing racism has associations with poor mental health and, to a lesser extent, poor physical health.

There is considerable research to suggest that the stress that comes with experiencing racism can have long-lasting physical effects.

Stress can elevate blood pressure and weaken the immune system, which, in turn, raises the risk of developing long-term health conditions.

Racism with higher rates of stress, increasing a person of color's risk of developing high blood pressure. The report that Black people are more likely to have hypertension than any other racial or ethnic group.

Also, a 2019 study found that racist experiences appear to increase inflammation in African American people, raising their risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease and kidney disease.

Another study found that unfair treatment of people of color significantly affects sleep and physiological functioning in midlife.

Many studies have cited structural racism within medical care as a key factor in poor physical health. For example, a 2016 study of racial bias and pain management found a link between undertreating pain in Black patients and false biological beliefs, such as, "Black people's skin is thicker than White people's skin."

A found that compared with other racial groups, Black children with severe pain from appendicitis are less likely to receive medication. This suggests that racial bias is causing medical professionals to use different pain thresholds for different racial groups, either inadvertently or purposefully, before administering care.

Mental health

The 2015 meta-analysis found that the association between racism and mental health is twice as strong as the link between racism and physical health. Of those the researchers sampled, BIPOC who reported experiences of racism also experienced the following mental health issues:

Hate crimes against Asian American people and Pacific Islanders surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a 2021 study found that COVID-19-related racial/ethnic discrimination had links with a greater risk of depression, anxiety, self-harm, binge drinking, and suicidal ideation among Asian American and Pacific Islander students.

A 2018 paper suggested that fear of racism itself is harmful and that it can undermine good mental health characteristics, such as resilience, hope, and motivation. The paper also underlined how verbal and physical assault can cause PTSD.
Learn more about the link between racism and mental health here.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is so concerned about how racism affects the well-being of young people that it released a 2019 policy statement on it.

The statement says that failure to address racism in the United States "will continue to undermine health equity of all children, adolescents, emerging adults, and their families."

Physical health

Researchers have linked racism to poorer birth outcomes, such as infant mortality, for BIPOC. suggest that mothers who report experiences of racism are more likely to have babies with a low birth weight, which can cause further health problems for infants later in life.

Like older BIPOC, young people also experience the ongoing stress of living with and witnessing racism and discrimination. As young BIPOC get older, they risk developing chronic health conditions similar to their parents.
Learn more about maternal health outcomes in BIPOC here.
Mental health

The AAP recommends that young people who report experiences of racism should undergo routine assessment for mental health conditions, including:

The AAP also said that even if children do not directly experience racism themselves, they can be just as significantly affected by witnessing racism as those who experience it firsthand.

Intense and persistent stress can influence how the brain develops, intensifying negative emotions such as fear and impacting learning and memory.

BIPOC alone should not carry the burden of coping with racism. To reduce discrimination, everyone must address structural disadvantage, socioeconomic deprivation, and institutionalized racism.
Learn more about how to be an ally for the Black Lives Matter movement here.
However, there is evidence to suggest that certain factors can help people cope with the negative effects of racism, both physically and mentally.

The sections below will discuss these factors in more detail.

Talk about racist experiences with others

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), talking about racist experiences, instead of bottling them up, can help a person process feelings of distress in the aftermath of racial trauma and stress.

Similarly, engaging with - instead of ignoring - racism is likely beneficial.

A person may feel strong emotions such as anger, distress, or hopelessness when sharing these experiences. Some have suggested that talking about racism can even exacerbate distress and depression for some people.

There is nothing to be ashamed of about these feelings, but if talking about experiences of racism makes someone feel worse, then a counselor may be able to help a person process these emotions.
Learn more about types of therapy here.
Get involved in social activism

Many people find it helpful to channel feelings of anger and injustice into activism and campaigning for racial equality. Being involved in a movement that is working toward progressive change can help people connect with a network of like-minded people and find purpose.

A 2018 study found that political activism served as a protective factor to mitigate the negative effect of racial and ethnic discrimination on stress and depression among Latinx students at a predominantly White college in the U.S.

However, for Black students, higher levels of political activism had an association with more stress and anxiety compared with Black students who were less politically involved.

We need more research to understand the disparities in activism as a coping mechanism for different ethnic groups.

However, a history of law enforcement targeting Black activists, and police violence at more recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, from reports by advocacy group Amnesty International, may explain these greater levels of stress and anxiety.

A 2022 study suggested that social activism might be an important method for coping with emotional distress from watching media coverage of police brutality and protests. But the authors said they need more research to understand how African Americans might engage in social activism without adversely impacting mental health.
Learn more about police violence and its physical and mental impacts on Black Americans here.
Foster a strong sense of racial identity

A study into racial identity and its effects on well-being found that African Americans who identified positively with their racial identity were more likely to have greater self-esteem and fewer depressive symptoms.

Participants who identified negatively with their racial identity, perhaps due to internalized racism, were more likely to have higher depressive symptoms.

Therefore, having a well-developed sense of ethnic or racial identity may help to blunt or buffer the effects of racism. However, research must continue in this area because findings are still limited.
Learn more about the role of family in multiracial identities and resilience here.
Lean on friends and family

A network of people to talk with for support, advice, and comfort can help a person cope with racial discrimination. It can encourage a sense of security and identity and reduce negative thoughts and feelings.

According to the American Psychological Association, socioeconomic status can directly affect physical and mental health. Researchers have linked low socioeconomic status and a lack of economic development to poor health and a shorter life expectancy.

Physical health

According to a 2017 analysis of 1.7 million people, having a low socioeconomic status is harmful to a person's health, alongside other key risk factors such as smoking, drinking a lot of alcohol, or eating an unhealthful diet.

People with low socioeconomic status are also more likely to have avoidable medical procedures, hospitalizations, and conditions that do not receive treatment.

Mental health

Reduced access to housing, employment, and mortgage lending due to low socioeconomic status can adversely affect mental health and increase feelings of depression, stress, and anxiety.

Although Hispanic and African American people seem to have a lower risk of mental health conditions than those in other racial or ethnic groups, those who develop such conditions tend to have more persistent psychological issues.

However, it is worth noting that this perceived lower risk may be due to racial inequities in the healthcare system.

Also, although there is an association between socioeconomic status and race, there is no perfect correspondence between race and low socioeconomic status. Among BIPOC of middle and upper socioeconomic status, the effects of racism on mental and physical health persist.

Racism can be a key factor in the onset of physical and mental health issues in BIPOC.

Research suggests that the stress that develops due to experiencing or witnessing racism can have long-lasting effects, increasing the risk of chronic disease and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression in both children and adults.

Utilizing the support of peers and community, forging a strong sense of racial identity, and talking about racist experiences can all be effective ways of coping with the stress of racism.

Research suggests that low socioeconomic status has a significant harmful impact on physical health. Racial groups with higher levels of low socioeconomic status also tend to have more persistent mental health conditions.

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The effects of racism on health and mental health

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Racism, or discrimination based on race or ethnicity, is a key contributing factor in disease onset. It is also responsible for increasing physical and mental health disparities among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). The COVID-19 pandemic has brought disparities in healthcare outcomes for different races and ethnic groups into greater focus.

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Discrimination Violence and Racism felt by Ukranian POC Refugees

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Discrimination Violence and Racism felt by Ukranian POC Refugees

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The UN article discusses how, while hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fled their country as refugees amidst a war with Russia, those not fitting the description of a "typical white Ukranian" were often discriminated against and not allowed entry as refugees. Many of these people discriminated against were third country nationals who originated in Africa. Because of their skin color or nationality they were denied entry into other countries because they "aren't Ukrainian" despite the fact that they were living in the country as legal residents.

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In a statement issued marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Filippo Grandi said that although he had been "humbled" by the outpouring of support seen by communities welcoming well over three million Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion began, many minorities - often foreigners who had been studying or working there - had described a very different experience.

"We also bore witness to the ugly reality, that some Black and Brown people fleeing Ukraine - and other wars and conflicts around the world - have not received the same treatment as Ukrainian refugees", he said.

Unacceptable racism

"They reported disturbing incidents of discrimination, violence, and racism. These acts of discrimination are unacceptable, and we are using our many channels and resources to make sure that all people are protected equally."

The UNHCR chief noted that the refugee experience is universal, with "the same pain and sorrow; the same loss and anguish; the same relief at finding safety and trepidation of an uncertain future", experienced by everyone on the run, "who also and equally deserve our compassion, our empathy, and our support."

"We can - and must - salute solidarity, while also resolutely condemning acts of discrimination and bias", Mr. Grandi declared.

He said it was important to "sit in the discomfort of recognizing that while our organization exists to safeguard the human rights of people forced to flee, some among us have experienced exclusion and inequity.

'Parallel imbalance'

"We must try to reconcile this internal contradiction as we also witness a parallel imbalance in the world. The war in Ukraine and the devastating humanitarian crisis it has caused also presents challenges and opportunities for continued commitment and diligence in the fight against racism and discrimination."

Mr. Grandi reiterated that many citizens from neighbouring countries - such as Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia and Romania - had provided "overwhelming acts of welcome and compassion", opening hearts and their homes, to Ukrainians.

"A global wave of support has reminded us of our shared humanity and the power of solidarity. And while I and my colleagues at UNHCR see every day how host communities and families around the world exercise this solidarity", he said, "we need to ensure that global responsibility sharing is strengthened for all refugees, no matter where they come from."

Active anti-racism

He added that anti-racism meant "actively identifying and opposing racism and racial discrimination. Today - and everyday - I call on all of us to raise our voices against policies, practices, and behaviours which exclude."

In his message for the International Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said that "realizing the vision of a world free of racism and racial discrimination demands action every day, at every level, in every society."

He called on people every to unite around "our common humanity and speak as one for equality, justice and dignity for all."

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UNHCR chief condemns 'discrimination, violence and racism' against some fleeing Ukraine

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In a statement issued marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Filippo Grandi said that although he had been "humbled" by the outpouring of support seen by communities welcoming well over three million Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion began, many minorities - often foreigners who had been studying or working there - had described a very different experience.

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While at a Film and Television class with 50 students, a NYU student was spotted writing racial slurs in their notebook. Two classmates who witnessed this, notified their professor who asked the student why they were writing racial slurs in their notebook. After being confronted, the student pointed to a Black student sitting near. The student did not give their name to the professor and asked to be withdrawn form the class and left. The student is no longer enrolled at NYU. This happened in late January 2023 in one of the most diverse cities in the world.

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An NYU student was found writing racial slurs in a notebook during a 50-person Film & Television class at the Tisch School of the Arts last week, leaving some students in the class concerned about their safety. The student, who is no longer enrolled at NYU, was escorted to Campus Safety by a classmate, after which a Campus Safety officer asked multiple students in the class about the incident, according to two students who were present.

Some students left the class, titled Senior Colloquium: Exit Strategies, immediately after the incident, according to Addison Knies, a student in the class. Knies said the student was first discovered when two classmates noticed what they were writing in their notebook and alerted the professor, Sharon Badal. Badal then asked the student why they were writing the slurs.

In response, the student pointed their finger at a Black student in the second row of the classroom, according to Knies, who added that the perpetrator did not give their name when the professor asked. Instead, they asked to withdraw from the class and left the room shortly after.

Badal did not respond to questions about the incident, instead referring WSN to NYU's public affairs office.

" Federal law limits the university's ability to share specific information about individual student incidents," NYU spokesperson John Beckman said. "This incident was promptly reported, and the appropriate offices are involved and responding in accordance with university policies and protocols. We are also providing support to the students in the class who may have been affected by the incident."

In cases of student misconduct - including discrimination, bias, harassment and retaliation - on university premises, NYU's Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment policy urges victims to report the conduct, and states that the university will take appropriate investigative and disciplinary action to prevent similar instances in the future.

A Jan. 26 email to students in the class from Devon Pryor, the assistant dean of student affairs at Tisch, and Ezra Sacks, the chair of Undergraduate Film & Television at the school, stated that after the university reviewed the incident, it did not find reason for further concern. The email also read that the university has taken the steps necessary to respond to the incident.

"Our aim - Professor Badal's aim and the aim of many colleagues across the university - has been to ensure you feel supported, cared for, and secure, and that you can carry on your studies comfortably and safely," the email co-signed by Pryor and Sacks reads.

Knies added that a group of around 12 students stayed behind in the classroom after the class ended, and that some of them spoke to Campus Safety officers in the building about what happened.

Another student in the class, who requested anonymity out of fear for their personal safety, said that they did not recognize the student writing in the notebook, nor did any of their classmates. They added that Badal continued to teach the class after the student left and that they immediately left after class was dismissed because they felt uncomfortable.

"I don't think she's ever handled something like that before, so while she may have made the wrong decision to continue in class, she also probably didn't really know what to do," the student said. "I'm sure she's realized that wasn't the right decision to keep the class going, but this is an opportunity for the school to train professors in handling situations like this."
Carmo Moniz contributed reporting. Contact Adrianna Nehme at [email protected] and Bruna Horvath at [email protected]

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NYU Tisch film student caught writing racial slurs in class

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An NYU student was found writing racial slurs in a notebook during a 50-person Film & Television class at the Tisch School of the Arts last week, leaving some students in the class concerned about their safety.

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Although racism is a pandemic, it is sometimes even more shocking to realize how close to home it can be. Recently, I saw a bunch of people posting highly anti-Semitic posters on their snapchat story with captions of disgust. Naturally, I was shocked by the hateful messages of the posters so I decided to look into it further. In doing so, I discovered these posters were placed all around UCSB campus and spread throughout Isla Vista a couple days after National Holocaust Remembrance Day. The article I attached describes the incident that occurred and reminds the public that antisemitism and racism are not things of the past. As disgusting as it is, this incident was somewhat of a wake up call for me because I now realize that although life at home may seem perfect, there is racism and hate all in all parts of the world and that includes right here.

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Antisemitism sends shockwaves through UCSB campus

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More than a hundred fliers circulated around Isla Vista, spreading lies about Jewish people and denying the Holocaust.

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In the image above is a video I watched recently about a woman who results to verbal abuse towards a bilingual cashier after not being able to get a refund. In this video the woman recorded says things such as “I’m not giving my money to some illegal immigrant” and mentioning how she is bothered by the playing of a Spanish show in the background and threatening to search him up and send him out of America amongst other hurtful things. This video is recent as it was only posted February 27 and is a huge reminder that racism in America is still very present.

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This article is about three English soccer players that got racially abused on social media after they missed penalties in the European championship final against Italy.

This is unfortunately very common when it comes to some sports and supporters. When everything goes well, the English supporters in this case, easily praise the players but when things go worse, they like to find something to blame the setback on. In this case they blame and racially abuse players that don't have the typical "english" features and they mean that these players aren't coming from England and therefore don't deserve to play for the national team.

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The online racial abuse of some England players following Sunday's Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy has been described by the team's manager Gareth Southgate as "unforgivable" and "just not what we stand for."

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targeted on social media after they missed penalties in the 3-2 shootout defeat at Wembley Stadium.

"For some of them to be abused is unforgivable," said Southgate, who was speaking at a virtual press conference on Monday. "Some of it has come from abroad, we have been told this, but some of it is from this country.

"We have been a beacon of light to bring people together and the national team stands for everybody. We felt the energy and positivity from the fans and I'm incredibly proud of that," Southgate added.

Before and during the Euro 2020 tournament, the England players have knelt before each of their matches in a display of unity in the fight against racism and inequality.

That was an act that caused anger among sections of the England fanbase, with some supporters choosing to boo as the players knelt.

London's Metropolitan Police said it was investigating the "unacceptable" social media comments on both Instagram and Twitter, while UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned the racist abuse.

"This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media," Johnson said on Twitter.

"Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves."

In recent weeks, Johnson - along with other lawmakers in his government such as Home Secretary Priti Patel - have been specifically asked to condemn the England fans who have booed players taking the knee before kick-off but failed to do so.

Gary Neville, former England international, criticized Johnson for not condemning those who booed the players in their battle for equality when he had the chance.

"Gareth Southgate and the players a few weeks ago, about five days on the trot told us that they were taking the knee to promote equality and it was against racism," Neville told Sky News.

"The Prime Minister said it was ok for the population of this country to boo those players who are trying to promote equality and defend against racism.

"It starts at the very top."

"The fact of the matter is, there is an issue obviously in football, there is an issue in society where we feel it's acceptable basically to criticize players for sporting actions because of the color of their skin," added Neville.

Ahead of Euro 2020, Southgate penned an open letter to the country, outlining why he thought it was important for players to continue using their voice for good.

"This is a special group. Humble, proud and liberated in being their true selves," wrote Southgate in the Players Tribune.

Prince William said he was "sickened" by the discriminatory abuse while the Football Association in England said in a statement it was "appalled."

The English national team's Twitter account tweeted its support for the players on Monday.

"We're disgusted that some of our squad - who have given everything for the shirt this summer - have been subjected to discriminatory abuse online after tonight's game. We stand with our players."

READ: Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 to win Copa America

'Social media companies must take immediate action'

Football players receiving abuse on social media is commonplace.

Savills, a real estate service provider in the UK, tweeted on Monday that it is "committed to eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity amongst our workforce" after one of its employees appeared to be one of those abusing the England players on Twitter.

"A full investigation will be carried out in regards to this unacceptable incident," it said.

"Savills abhors and has zero tolerance to any form of racism and racial discrimination and is appalled by the racist comments in these tweets. Savills is immediately investigating and will take appropriate action."

Rashford has continuously highlighted the racist abuse he's been the target of over the last few years.

"I've grown into a sport where I expect to read things written about myself. Whether it be the colour of my skin, where I grew up, or, most recently, how I decide to spend my time off the pitch," Rashford posted on Twitter Monday.

Rashford, who missed a penalty kick in the final game, wrote that he could take "critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in, but I will never apologize for who I am and and where I came from."

In the hours after England's defeat by Italy, a mural honoring Rashford was vandalized with graffiti in Manchester, United Kingdom.

The artwork commemorated the Manchester United player's work to tackle child food poverty. It features the quote: "Take pride in knowing that your struggle will play the biggest role in your purpose."

After the mural was defaced in the early hours, part of it has been temporarily covered with bin bags. The Coffee House Cafe, where the mural is painted, shared images on Facebook of locals coming out to support Rashford.

Supporters have shared messages such as "hero" on the wall and an image of a card next to it says: "Dear Marcus, please know that you are so admired and people find you an inspiration."

"The messages I've received today have been positively overwhelming and seeing the response in Withington had me on the verge of tears," Rashford tweeted.

"The communities that always wrapped their arms around me continue to hold me up. I'm Marcus Rashford, 23 year old, black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South Manchester. If I have nothing else I have that."

Greater Manchester Police said in a statement it is investigating the vandalism.

The online abuse has led to calls for social media companies to do more to police their platforms.

Earlier this year, former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry deleted his social media accounts following a spate of online racist abuse aimed at Black footballers and what he said was the inability of social media companies to hold users accountable for their actions. A few weeks after Henry had closed his accounts, English football clubs and governing bodies took part in a three-day social media blackout to protest against abuse.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called the racist abuse "abhorrent," and called on social media companies to take immediate action to "prevent this hate."

"Racist abuse of any kind is abhorrent and will not be tolerated on or off the pitch," tweeted Khan.

"MetPoliceUK (The Metropolitan Police) will investigate the appalling online abuse aimed at England players. Social media companies must take immediate action to remove and prevent this hate."

The chair for the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Julian Knight echoed Khan's sentiment.

"Social media companies once alerted to this abuse have an acute responsibility to immediately take it down," Knight said.

"The Government needs to get on with legislating the tech giants. Enough of the foot dragging, all those who suffer at the hand of racists, not just England players, deserve better protections now."

Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement sent to CNN that it was "committed to keeping our community safe from abuse."

"No one should have to experience racist abuse anywhere, and we don't want it on Instagram," a Facebook Company spokesperson said.

"We quickly removed comments and accounts directing abuse at England's footballers last night and we'll continue to take action against those that break our rules. In addition to our work to remove this content, we encourage all players to turn on Hidden Words, a tool which means no one has to see abuse in their comments or DMs. No one thing will fix this challenge overnight, but we're committed to keeping our community safe from abuse."

In a statement sent to CNN, Twitter said it removed over 1000 tweets in the past 24 hours for "violating our rules."

Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videos

"The abhorrent racist abuse directed at England players last night has absolutely no place on Twitter," a Twitter spokesperson said.

"In the past 24 hours, through a combination of machine learning based automation and human review, we have swiftly removed over 1000 Tweets and permanently suspended a number of accounts for violating our rules - the vast majority of which we detected ourselves proactively using technology. We will continue to take action when we identify any Tweets or accounts that violate our policies.

"We have proactively engaged and continue to collaborate with our partners across the football community to identify ways to tackle this issue collectively and will continue to play our part in curbing this unacceptable behaviour - both online and offline."

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Racist abuse directed at England players after Euro 2020 final defeat is described as 'unforgivable' by manager Gareth Southgate | CNN

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The online racial abuse of some England players following Sunday's Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy has been described by the team's manager Gareth Southgate as "unforgivable" and "just not what we stand for." Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were targeted on social media after they missed penalties in the 3-2 shootout defeat at Wembley Stadium.

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Racism causes lasting effects on health 

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Racism causes lasting effects on health 

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This article is from the American Heart Association and talks about how a study shows that African American women have an increase chance of heart disease due to the stress that accumulates over time as a result of dealing with racism in their daily lives. Many people think of the emotional trauma that comes with dealing with racism but having physical harm is I feel, an overlooked aspect of racism.

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(Jon Feingersh Photography Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images)

Interpersonal racism experienced through employment, housing and interactions with police may increase the risk for heart disease in Black women, new research suggests.

The findings, considered preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal, were presented Wednesday at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health conference in Boston.

"Many Black adults in the U.S. are already at higher risk of developing heart disease due to high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes," lead study author Shanshan Sheehy said in a news release. Sheehy is an assistant professor at Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center and Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

"Current evidence shows that racism may act as a chronic stressor in the human body, and chronic stress may lead to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke," she said.

In the new study, researchers scored and analyzed responses to questions about interpersonal racism from roughly 48,000 Black women enrolled in the Black Women's Health Study, the largest follow-up study on the health of Black women in the U.S. The women were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer when they filled out the questionnaires in 1997, and they ranged in age from 22 to 72.

By 2019, 1,036 of the women had developed coronary heart disease.

Perceived interpersonal racism scores were calculated for questions related to everyday life activities and those related to jobs, housing and police interactions. For example, one question asked how often the women felt people suspected them of being dishonest. Employment questions focused on hiring, promotions and firings, while other questions asked about how the women felt they were treated when renting or buying a home and applying for mortgages. They also were asked whether they were stopped, searched or threatened by police.

The analysis showed no association between perceived racism in everyday life and heart-health risks. However, women who reported experiencing racism related to employment, housing and police interactions faced a 26% higher risk of heart disease than those who said they did not experience racism in those areas.

"Structural racism is real - on the job, in educational circumstances and in interactions with the criminal justice system," study co-author Dr. Michelle A. Albert said in the release. Albert is president of the AHA, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and admissions dean for UCSF Medical School.

"Now we have hard data linking it to cardiovascular outcomes, which means that we as a society need to work on the things that create the barriers that perpetuate structural racism," she said.

"Future research is needed to examine the impacts of structural racism on cardiovascular health," Sheehy said, "as well as to evaluate the joint impacts of perceived interpersonal racism and structural racism."
If you have questions or comments about this American Heart Association News story, please email [email protected] .

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Racism in employment, housing, police interactions may raise Black women's heart disease risk

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Interpersonal racism experienced through employment, housing and interactions with police may increase the risk for heart disease in Black women, new research suggests. The findings, considered preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal, were presented Wednesday at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health conference in Boston.

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I read this article about how new data from "The Education Trust" presents that there is a big gap in school fundings between different school districts in the US. It shows that school districts that educates the most people of color receive significantly less local and state revenue than the districts with the fewest people of color. This is a clear example of how structures in society contributes to racism.

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WASHINGTON - Across the country, districts with the most Black, Latino, and Native students receive substantially less state and local revenue - as much as $2,700 per student - less than districts with the fewest students of color. In a district with 5,000 students, this means $13.5 million in missing resources.

In an updated analysis, " Equal Is Not Good Enough" and an interactive data tool, The Education Trust identifies where states fail to provide fair funding to the districts educating the most students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, and English learners. For the first time, the data tool includes newly available school-by-school spending data for schools in each district, with contextual information to gauge whether schools that serve more students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, or English learners are spending more than other schools in the district.

The report's findings point to the urgent need for fair resource allocation, as the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that Black and Latino students experienced larger-than-average dips on fourth grade tests, widening already significant test score gaps compared to White and Asian American students. Gaps on the NAEP tests for Black and Latino students in eighth grade, as well as between low- versus middle- and high-income students in both fourth and eighth grades, remained significant.

"Money matters, and how much a school has affects student outcomes. Yet, school districts and schools that serve large populations of students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, and English learners continue to receive less funding," said Ivy Morgan, director, P-12 data and analytics at Ed Trust. "This data identifies inequities in state and local funding between districts, and, using newly available data, helps us make meaningful comparisons about how funding and other important school resources are being allocated across schools in a district."

Among Ed Trust's findings:

Across the country, districts with the most students of color on average receive substantially less (16%) state and local revenue than districts with the fewest students of color, equating to approximately $13.5 million for a 5,000-student district

The districts with the most English learners receive 14% less state and local revenue, compared with districts with the fewest English learners. That leaves districts with higher needs for resources - including bilingual educators and instructional materials - with $2,200 less per student than districts with lower needs

High-poverty districts receive on average 5% less (about $800 per student) state and local revenue than low-poverty districts. There are 37 states where districts that serve the highest concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds are not receiving substantially more funding than their more affluent counterparts

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School Districts That Serve Students of Color Receive Significantly Less Funding - The Education Trust

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WASHINGTON - Across the country, districts with the most Black, Latino, and Native students receive substantially less state and local revenue - as much as $2,700 per student - less than districts with the fewest students of color. In a district with 5,000 students, this means $13.5 million in missing resources.

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Florida Governor Is Erasing Black History From Florida Schools

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Florida Governor Is Erasing Black History From Florida Schools

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The articles I read:
https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/breaking-human-rights-campaign-on-the-college-board-caving-to-the-will-of-extremist-conservatives-like-ron-desantis-by-censoring-african-american-studies-curriculum

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-south/why-some-florida-schools-are-removing-books-from-their-libraries

New laws have been passed by Florida legislature and signed into law Ron DeSantis have been used to remove books from school libraries across the state. Many of these books deal with topics such as race and important historical figures such as Rosa Parks. Currently, many books are "under review" but students are worried that they might start banning material such as history textbooks. According to one parent "The books they’ve pulled make their political agenda so clear". DeSantis has also rejected the AP African American studies course causing the College Board to rewrite the curriculum to exclude concepts such as Black Lives Matter and many Black writers and scholars.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the College Board released a revised curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies, which attempts to erase Black history by stripping out the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the Black queer experience, and Black feminism. Other topics, like the Black Lives Matter movement, are now optional.

The College Board's decision came after heavy criticism from extremist conservatives like Governor Ron DeSantis, who refused to allow the curriculum in Florida's schools. DeSantis has also pushed to ban the education of critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in state colleges. Last year, DeSantis signed the "Stop WOKE" act (HB 7), legislation limiting protected speech in workplaces and classrooms by censoring honest dialogue about systemic racism, gender, and race discrimination. The legislation also changed Florida's employment discrimination statutes to give employees the ability to file discrimination claims against an employer engaging in trainings or discussions about Black history, LGBTQ+ issues, and other concepts of injustice and discrimination. He also championed HB 1557/SB 1834, which became known as the "Don't Say Gay or Trans" law, which prohibits teachers from acknowledging that LGBTQ+ people exist at all in lower grades and chilling the ability of educators or students to discuss LGBTQ+ issues or history in upper grades.
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson issued the following statement in response to the College Board's announcement today, on the first day of Black History Month:
"We have seen this before. Censoring Black and queer history does not create a stronger nation. It is one of the oldest ways society has tried to vilify and suppress marginalized voices. This dangerous practice has always been used by those who want to stunt progress, sow fear and division, and hide important truths. Black History is American History. Black Queer History is American History. Period.

We cannot cave to the will of extremist conservatives like Ron DeSantis who are trying to whitewash history and use the power of the government to punish, erase, or attack anyone he disagrees with, including the Black and LGBTQ+ communities. We will continue to fight to ensure all students have access to an education that broadens their perspective, helps them learn and grow, and allows them to see themselves in their school's curriculum and society."

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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BREAKING: Human Rights Campaign on the College Board Caving to the Will of Extremist Conservatives like Ron DeSantis by Censoring African American Studies Curriculum

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the College Board released a revised curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies, which attempts to erase Black history by stripping out the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the Black queer experience, and Black feminism.

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This article is about the murder of George Floyd May 25th, 2020, which caused a huge debate about among other things racism. There is still articles written about this murder and this article covers issues about the trial of Chauvin, who killed George Floyd.

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Court is asked to void verdict against ex-policeman in George Floyd's murder

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An attorney for Derek Chauvin asked an appeals court Wednesday to throw out the former Minneapolis police officer's convictions in the murder of George Floyd, arguing that legal and procedural errors had deprived Chauvin of a fair trial.

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This is not the source article I read from when I learned this but non the less, this has some good information about the subject. I remember learning about how bad racism is in Scandinavian countries and Europe in general, and being fascinated by how ignorant I was to it before then. I had always understood racism was everywhere, but had never known the extent to which people living or even visiting these countries struggled with it in their lives.

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The Nordic countries are well known for topping charts globally in education, equality, and happiness levels. Nordic welfare systems provide citizens with myriad state benefits and free healthcare and education from pre-school to university. However, in The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights' "Being Black in the EU" , Finland has also topped the charts for something far more insidious as well: racism.

Based on the study made in 2018, 63 percent of people of African descent in Finland have experienced racially motivated harassment, compared to a group average of 30 percent in the 12 European Union states surveyed. In both Denmark and Sweden, the number was 41 percent.

Besides the EU survey, another showed that the coronavirus death rate in Sweden was 220 percent higher among people born outside the country. In an interview with the HPR, Vesa Puuronen, a researcher on racism and sociology professor at the University of Oulu, commented that "it can be partially blamed on the lack of instructions in minority languages. [Without access to adequate information] those individuals could not act in the appropriate way to be spared from the virus."

A shows that in Finland views on immigration have become less tolerant in the past five years. In 2015, 65 percent of the Finnish population strongly disagreed with the statement that the " white European race must be prevented from mixing into darker races because otherwise, the European autochthonous population will go extinct", but in 2020 the number had decreased to 56.

Segregation problems can be found all across Nordic territories. Iceland recently introduced a custom-designed car to carry out border surveillance, which has been used to disproportionately target Albanians and Romanians; such practices have been criticized as racial profiling. In Denmark, the government has a "ghetto list" of neighborhoods for a decade; new proposals of dealing with the neighborhoods have been identified by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as " hugely troubling and risks heightening racial discrimination against people of migrant origin - further 'ghettoising' them."

In Sweden, segregated neighborhoods have long been considered a major problem, which has also a tool for the right-wing to oppose immigration. Nationalist parties overall have been on the rise in Europe, and the Nordic countries are at a breaking point. If Nordic nations want to keep taking pride in their progressiveness and egalitarianism, definitive steps against racism must be taken now.
Systemic Racism in Academic and Professional Settings
Nordic countries have free and well-working education, but there is inequality embedded in the same system that has been admired worldwide. The 2020 OECD report about Finland criticizes that their education is unevenly distributed. In an interview with the HPR, Michaela Moua, a senior officer at the Office of the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman in Finland, recognizes racially motivated guidance in schools, especially in the Finnish as Second Language studies: "Black and Brown students are often advised to take these classes even if Finnish is their first language."

She adds that "this shows how it is still widely thought that one cannot be a person of color and Finnish at the same time." Even though the original goal of Finnish as Second Language studies was to support equal language learning, downward-guidance deteriorates the development of academic language, which will affect those students' later studies. Often, these same students are also advised downwards in student counseling. Women, in particular, are guided towards care working, even if they are planning on going to university. This kind of downward guidance could affect those individuals' income levels in the future.

In the Nordic countries, university admissions work solely on grades, which leaves no room to account for different student contexts. This creates inequality, as it incorrectly assumes everyone to have the same background and opportunities to receive excellent grades. In the interview, Vesa Puuronen agrees that "the Nordic university admissions system does not include any attempts to level inequalities".

Going from school to the labor market, language skills is one particularly troubling factor. In an interview with the HPR, Fatim Diarra, Vice-Chair of the Finnish Greens Party, noted that the Finnish labor market is not prepared enough to accept people without perfect language skills to "access working life and become beneficial for society", especially considering that Finnish, for instance, is considered one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn.

In the interview, Michaela Moua also mentions study by Akhlaq Ahmad from the University of Helsinki. Five thousand fake resumes were sent out from five different ethnic groups: Finnish, English, Russian, Iraqi, and Somali with the same qualifications and language proficiency. The research shows that a foreign-sounding name is a significant factor in job applications; local sounding names received callbacks multiple times more likely than foreign-sounding names.

Moua recognizes that there are two levels of discrimination in the Finnish labor market: Horizontal and vertical discrimination. In horizontal discrimination, a specific group gets stuck in a low paying field even when they often have much higher qualifications than the job actually requires.

In vertical discrimination, a person that is discriminated against might be hired for a job, but career progress is unfairly challenging because of racially-motivated factors. The job benefits, like salary and access to training by the employer, are lower, but despite that, the person that is discriminated against is reluctant to report their unfair treatment even if they experience clear racist harassment. "It is so difficult to get the job in the first place so those people do not want to ruffle the waves, so to say, even when their peers left and right are going higher up the ladder", says Moua.
Hiding Racism Won't Make It Disappear
Shouldn't the Nordic states that take such pride in their supposed progressive values be above such behavior? Yet, there is still widespread reluctance to accept racism as an actual problem, which is reflected in the current history curriculum.

It is typically thought that one major reason for racial discrimination is that Nordic societies have long been homogenous, blonde-haired, blue-eyed people who have only gone through rapid demographic changes due to increased immigration since the 1990s. However, the idea of homogenous Nordic societies can be contested. Michaela Moua told the HPR that Finland's racist history towards Roma and Sami surprises most people because it has not been written about in the school books and it is not part of common knowledge to know about the extreme measures taken to assimilate those minority groups. The Finnish nation is largely considered homogenous, even though there have been people like Tatars, Sami, and Roma for hundreds of years. "Global nationalistic phenomena have affected how our narrative was switched into a strong belief of homogeneity", comments Moua, but "studying these historical events gives a lot of answers to why things are here how they are now".

Moua adds that based on the reports sent to the Finnish Ombudsman office, Romas are a group that suffers widespread discrimination in Finland: for instance, restaurants and other services refuse to let them in or they are demanded to pay beforehand. Romas often end up changing their name to get a job or an apartment more easily, even though they have been living in the region for hundreds of years and do not typically consider themselves outsiders. According to Moua, "this is a strong example of ethnic profiling happening here."

Diarra said in the interview that "it is dangerous to squeeze the situation in the US straight into our context, and this challenges the activists in the Nordic countries to understand how hundreds of years of oppression elsewhere affect our culture." There are basically no slave owner statues to loot in Helsinki or Oslo, but the thought is prevalent in the region that immigrants come to the Nordic countries just to idle with the state benefits supported by the welfare system.

According to Diarra, studies show that the system currently blocks certain people from truly accessing the supporting net, which entraps people of color in cycles of unemployment and poverty. It must be more widely pondered how the system favors the people born inside the country and fails to give adequate support to minorities who are not able to access the network on their own. Neighborhood segregation has long been a problem in Sweden in particular, but segregation is a threat to the whole region. If that isn't addressed, the supposed multiculturalism of the region will only be lip service as people become estranged from people from different ethnic backgrounds.

A major problem in the Nordic countries is that racism is not properly recognized. Puuronen noted that "the term [racism] is loosely used and there are people who express racist opinions but get away with them by saying 'I am not a racist, but...'" In his opinion, an ordinary citizen's perception and understanding of racism are highly incomplete. According to Diarra, political discussions about racism are outdated and engage in discourse that "had been done in other countries 50 years ago". Moua notes that "in Finland racism is understood only as a conscious and deliberate act, but simply not shouting racist slurs on the streets does not make you an anti-racist." The discourse must be switched from whether there is racism to how to abolish it.
Looking Forward
Recent happenings in the US have brought the issue of racism into wide discourse worldwide, including the Nordic countries. Even though the survey discussed at the beginning of this article shows that trust in police was highest in Finland and happiness appears to be high among immigrants, Black Lives Matter protests in the region demonstrate that things may be more turbulent than the data initially suggests. Policy initiatives to improve workplace equitability have also been spearheaded recently, acknowledging a deep-seated institutional problem. For instance, Helsinki city has introduced an anonymous recruiting policy, meaning that job applications for the city are sent without name, ethnicity, age or gender.

"Globally, we are on the top, but it doesn't mean we don't have things to do", says Michaela Moua. According to her, it is crucial for the Nordic governments to be committed to the human rights programs they are currently pursuing and promote decisions that will affect people's everyday life in a positive way. Vesa Puuronen adds that more well-conducted and comprehensive research should be made in order to understand the current issues deeper. Those who do not have to experience racism themselves must try to consider how others experience it, and the illusion of Nordic exceptionalism must be broken.

The Nordic countries are in a situation where they still can choose their direction, but action must be taken now and it won't necessarily be easy. "Our welfare state system truly can ensure opportunities for everyone, but it should be updated and developed further. We are proud of our society and when someone points out flaws, it challenges us to think critically of ourselves, which is extremely difficult", says Diarra, but "the era of self-reflection has now begun."
All the interviews in this article were conducted in Finnish and translated by the author, Rosanna Kataja, who is a native Finnish speaker. Image Credit: Creative Commons / Backbone Campaign

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The Happiest and the Most Racist: Institutional Racism in Nordic Countries - Harvard Political Review

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Large balloon elephant labelled "racism" at protest. The Nordic countries are well known for topping charts globally in education, equality, and happiness levels. Nordic welfare systems provide citizens with myriad state benefits and free healthcare and education from pre-school to university. However, in The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights' "Being Black in the EU" [...]

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This article discusses how your race can affect your ability to get a job and how race can affect how you are treated in your job.

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You may be familiar with the word "discrimination." But do you know what it really means? And do you understand how it applies in the context of your job?

To "discriminate" against someone means to treat that person differently, or less favorably, for some reason. Discrimination can occur while you are at school, at work, or in a public place, such as a mall or subway station. You can be discriminated against by school friends, teachers, coaches, co-workers, managers, or business owners.

The EEOC is responsible for protecting you from one type of discrimination - employment discrimination because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age (age 40 or older), or genetic information. Other laws may protect you from other types of discrimination, such as discrimination at school.

The laws enforced by EEOC protect you from employment discrimination when it involves:

Unfair treatment because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age (age 40 or older), or genetic information.

Harassment by managers, co-workers, or others in your workplace, because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age (age 40 or older), or genetic information.

Denial of a reasonable workplace change that you need because of your religious beliefs or disability.

Improper questions about or disclosure of your genetic information or medical information.

Retaliation because you complained about job discrimination or assisted with a job discrimination proceeding, such as an investigation or lawsuit.

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You may be familiar with the word "discrimination." But do you know what it really means? And do you understand how it applies in the context of your job?

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According to an external review of the department in Knoxville, almost every black officer has felt discriminated. They feel like they have to work five times harder to be accepted. I can only imagine how frustrating this must feel and it makes me really angry that this is still going on in the year 2023.

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Almost all the 15 Black officers at the police department in Knoxville, Tennessee, have felt discriminated against, according to an external review of the department. And none of them thinks the promotional process is fair, either.

The recently released review was conducted by 21CP Solutions, a consulting firm that specializes in improving policing. It was commissioned by Knoxville Police Department's new chief, Paul Noel, who took over the role in June.

The findings come on the heels of years of allegations, scrupulously covered by the Knoxville News Sentinel, of racist behavior in the department, which serves a town of more than 180,000 people in eastern Tennessee. Last year, the paper reported that department leadership had attempted to conceal an officer's racist comments and deter a Black officer from making a complaint about the incident. The controversy was indicative of a larger problem of racism at the department, multiple officers told Knox News at the time.

The new climate assessment relies on focus groups and an anonymous survey, in which almost all of the department's roughly 360 sworn officers and most of its about 100 nonsworn personnel responded. The survey was open for two weeks at the beginning of August.

The results offer a rare, bare-bones look at the department's internal culture and paint a stark picture of ongoing racial divides.

"If you are a Black officer, you have to work five times harder, and officers will always second-guess you," one anonymous officer says in the report.

Another says, "When applying for posted positions and training, if more than one Black officer applied for a job that has multiple open slots, only one Black officer would get selected, and the other one would be told to wait until the next posting."

Only about a third of the department's 15 Black sworn officers said they felt they have a voice within the organization or that their supervisors are receptive to their concerns or feedback, the report shows. Twelve said they felt the organization discriminated against them because of their race. Black officers were also the least likely to say they felt there was a clear process for de-escalating problems internally.

Despite the lack of Black officers and women in leadership positions at the department - with only nine female officers and one Black officer in the rank of sergeant or higher - the report shows that white male officers believed that minority officers receive preferential treatment in hiring, promotional and assignment decisions.

In an interview with NBC News, Noel said he contracted with 21CP Solutions to conduct the assessment before he was even sworn in as chief because he wanted to hear directly from employees in an honest way. The takeaways from the report, he said, are "pretty clear."

"These are all things that people in the community and the police department anecdotally knew," he said. "But this is the first time we had a jumping off point to actually create change."

The report recommends that the department make a greater effort to ensure that every stage of the hiring process reflects the diversity of incoming recruits, especially among background investigators. It also suggests developing mentorship programs for underrepresented groups.

Federal data released in 2020 suggested most police departments across the U.S. are notably more white than their surrounding communities. In recent years, amid many high-profile deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police, a significant number of Black officers have left some of the country's largest departments.

Noel called the review of his department a "snapshot in time," but that he's hoping for a more full fledged assessment some time in the future of what he called a long-term fix.

"We did not get into this mess overnight, and we're not getting out of it overnight," he said.

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Almost every Black officer at this Tennessee police department says they've experienced discrimination

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Almost all the 15 Black officers at the police department in Knoxville, Tennessee, have felt discriminated against, according to an external review of the department.

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This article discusses about how Black and Latino's have been victimized by being treated differently. Other People used the "N" word for Black people which makes them mad and they make fun of Latino's because they have to find jobs that people don't use them for inappropriate things. Not only Black and Latino's populations are tied but so is racism and colorism.

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Nearly every day, the onetime Ontario warehouse employee said, he was stunned to hear racist slurs from Latino co-workers.

"They said it in English - they said it in Spanish all the time," recalled Leon Simmons, a Black father of four with a deep voice and gentle manner."When they look you right in the eye and call you the N-word to your face, that's dehumanizing."

Thirty-two miles away at a Moreno Valley warehouse, it was the same story. Another Black laborer, Benjamin Watkins, describedhow a Latina co-worker called to him: "'Hey, monkey! Yeah, you!' and waved a banana in her hand. A group of women burst out laughing."

In America's long history, harassment and discrimination against Black workers has usually involved white perpetrators - and that remains the case today. But with the rapid growth of the Latino population, now at 19% in the U.S. and 39% in California, Latinos form the majority in many low-wage workplaces. And instances of anti-Black bias and colorism among them is drawing new scrutiny, even as activists in the two communities forge alliances over criminal justice and economic development.

Latinos certainly are targets of job discrimination as well and continue to struggle for equity in the workplace. But the two largest racial bias cases brought by the federal governmentin California in the last decade alleged widespread abuse of hundreds of Black employees at warehouses in the Inland Empire, the state's booming distribution hub for trade between the U.S. and Asia.

In interviews, Black employees said a torrent of racist insults and discriminatory treatment was mainly inflicted by Latino co-workers and supervisors who composed roughly three-quarters of the workforces at the sprawling facilities in Ontario and Moreno Valley.

"Mayate," a type of beetle and Spanish slang for the N-word, was a common taunt, according to interviews and court filings.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuits alleged that supervisors at the global medical supplier Cardinal Health and at Ryder Integrated Logistics, a subsidiary of the trucking giant - along with their staffing firms - routinely ignored harassment in Spanish and English at their Inland Empire warehouses. They gave Black employees the hardest manual jobs, denied them training and promotions and failed to take action despite dozens of complaints, according to court filings and interviews.

Many of the Black workers were hired through temp agencies. When they complained, managers - both white and Latino - retaliated by disciplining them or abruptly firing them, according to the EEOC. Others felt forced to quit because of "intolerable working conditions created by the hostile work environment," the lawsuits alleged.

Cardinal, Ryder and their temp firms denied the accusations. But as scores of Black employees came forward and the EEOC interviewed witnesses, the companies settled the cases last year rather than face jury trials.

"We are seeing an increase in larger race harassment cases," said Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC's Los Angeles district office. "The nature of them has gotten uglier. There's a more blatant display of hatred with the N-word, with imagery, with nooses. All the violence you're seeing in the news, it is manifesting in the employment context."

In a state as diverse as California, offenders span all races and ethnicities, she said.

"Two decades ago discrimination was viewed as a Black-white paradigm," Park said. "The feeling was minorities can't be discriminating. But it could be Asians discriminating, it could be Latinos discriminating. Regardless of what color you are, you don't get a free pass."

Now about 300 Black workers are gaining compensation, some as much as tens of thousands of dollars, through the Inland Empire settlements. Cardinal agreed to pay $1.45 million. Ryder and Kimco Staffing Services, which supplied workers to Ryder, settled for $1 million each.

The warehouse operators and their staffing firms - including a Glendale temp agency, AppleOne, which supplied workers to Cardinal - must offer extensive harassment training in English and Spanish and submit to stringent monitoring for verbal abuse, bias and retaliation.

The Los Angeles Times contacted more than two dozen current and former Latino workers from Cardinal and Ryder. None agreed to an interview.

Nationwide, EEOC records show prejudice can afflict any race or ethnicity, but Black victims predominate.

Over the last decade, the agency has won settlements in 171 race discrimination suits involving Black workers, 59 cases involving Latino victims, 12 involving Asian victims and six involving white victims.

Though the agency tracks the race and ethnicity of victims, it does not compile official statistics on offenders. Nor are there databases of private cases categorized by perpetrators' race. This makes it hard to gauge the extent of anti-Black hostility from Latino workers.

But court filings, victims' allegations and employer records show that in the last decade, about a third of anti-Black bias suits filed by the EEOC's Los Angeles and San Francisco offices involved discrimination by Latinos, about a third involved white offenders and a third were unspecific.

The suit against Cardinal Health and AppleOne was graphic.

Since at least 2016, the EEOC alleged, Black workers were subjected to the N-word by co-workers and managers "many times per day...including 'n- bitch', 'lazy ass n- ain't did no work all day,' and 'Look at those n-looking like monkeys, working like slaves like they should be.'"

The first worker to file a complaint described being called anti-Black slurs in English and Spanish, facing prejudice from a Latina supervisor and being deliberately run over with a cart by a Latino co-worker.

Photos taken by Black workers showed a women's restroom defaced with graffiti: "N- stink up the aisles" and "Black pipo stink." A men's restroom was defaced with "n-killer."

In a court filing, Cardinal acknowledged "derogatory graffiti," but said it was promptly removed. A spokesman declined to address other worker allegations, citing the EEOC's post-settlementstatement: "Cardinal Health and AppleOne have put in place measures aimed at preventing discrimination and harassment."

AppleOne, which placed 1,000 workers at Cardinal over two years, said in a statement it "did not control the workplace" but has implemented "improvements" to its policies ordered by the EEOC.

On a sunny morning in Rialto, Simmons, wearing a dashiki revealing forearm tattoos of a mermaid and a panther, was perplexed that the abuse at Cardinal Health had come from Latino colleagues. He choked up as he described his ordeal.

Growing up in Compton, Simmons had Mexican American friends. And over decades at other jobs - forklift driver, custodian, security guard - "Hispanics, whether they liked you or not, they kept it to themselves," he said. As for the few white workers at Cardinal Health, "Never no problem with them," he said.

AppleOne hired him to drive a cherry picker at Cardinal for $14 an hour, but he found Black workers were largely kept off the vehicles. Those jobs were given to less experienced Latino workers, even when licensed Black workers were first in line, he said.

Instead, Simmons, in his mid-50s, was given a harder floor picker job for $12 an hour, on his feet loading boxes headed for Kaiser Permanente hospitals. Temperatures inside the warehouse often rose past 90 degrees, he said.

It was six days a week, 14 to 16 hours a day, including mandatory overtime. He saw Latino workers clocking out after eight to 10 hours, but when Black workers asked to leave after 14 hours, they were often threatened with termination, Simmons said.

A Latino supervisor "would make me clean up the trash while everybody else was sent home."

After three months of complaining, Simmons was allowed to drive a cherry picker, but his pay remained at $12 an hour, he said, lower than that of non-Black drivers.

He grew angry and despondent: "They'd write stuff on the bathroom walls - 'gorillas, go back to Africa.' The Black workers would cross it out. Two days later, it would be right back."

Simmons complained to AppleOne and Cardinal managers, he said. "But nobody investigated. Nobody cared." His Latina supervisor said, "If you're up here complaining, the orders are not getting picked."

Cardinal officials testified they received complaints about racial slurs, including graffiti with the N-word, but some emails documenting complaints and their responses were erased due to an auto deletion policy, even after EEOC charges were filed.

Black workers who complained "started disappearing one by one," Simmons said. "We'd find out they were fired." After 11 months, he too was told "your assignment is over." No reason was given, he said.

By then, Simmons had started going to a psychologist. During visits, "I'd start shaking and crying," he said. He was put on antidepressants.

Simmons got another job as a security guard but had to quit. The racism at Cardinal, he said, "messed me up. Something popped in my head. I was still having night terrors - waking up screaming."

Today, diagnosed with PTSD, Simmons is on disability.

Anti-Black prejudice in Latino-dominated workplaces comes as no surprise to scholars of race relations. Tensions between Latinos and Black Americans have ebbed and flowed in Southern California over decades. Researchers point to a shared legacy of slavery in the U.S. and Latin America. An estimated 15 times more enslaved Africans were taken to Spanish and Portuguese colonies than to North America.

Latino attitudes toward Black Americans can be "tied not only to racism but to colorism," said Pew Research Center analyst Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, an issue that also arises among other races. "It goes back to colonial history's caste system. White Spaniards were at the top. Blacks and Indigenous at the bottom. And racial mixtures in between."

In a 2021 survey, Pew asked U.S. Latinos how they identify themselves on a spectrum of skin color from light to dark, and how skin color shapes their daily lives. Four in 10 of those with darker skin said they experienced discrimination or unfair treatment by another Latino - the same portion who reported discrimination by a non-Latino. Nearly half said they heard racist comments from friends and family about other Latinos.

"Some Latinos identify as white, or are seen as white," Gonzalez-Barrera said. "Latinos are a complex community - not one community but many."

For a forthcoming book, "Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality," Tanya Kateri Hernandez, a Fordham University law professor, combed through legal records, interviewed U.S. civil rights leaders and attorneys and traced the history of Latino workplace discrimination against Black people, including Afro-Latinos, highlighting scores of court cases.

"Anti-Blackness is a global phenomenon," said Hernandez, who is Afro-Latina. "It's an uncomfortable truth, but belief in racial hierarchy is common in Latino communities like it is in others."

Her scholarship focuses on the issue, she said, because "opening our eyes to ways Latinos are implicated is a huge step in trying to eradicate racism."

Manuel Pastor, director of USC's Dornsife Equity Research Institute, suggested that tensions can flare between Latinos and Black Americans partly because they compete against each other in low-wage labor markets more than against white or Asian workers.

But, Pastor said, the extent of workplace bias is debatable given "so many instances of Latino and Black workers in relationships of respect."

At unionized workplaces, labor leaders are working to bring Black and brown employees together to push for better treatment, he said. Many warehouses like Cardinal's and Ryder's are nonunion sites with large temp workforces, where employees lack advocates in the event of abuses.

In a recent book, "South Central Dreams: Finding Home and Building Community in South L.A.," Pastor and co-author Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo point to growing interracial acceptance and political coalitions when Black and brown residents live in close proximity.

In the Inland Empire, the Warehouse Worker Resource Center is organizing across racial and ethnic lines to push for labor law enforcement. In Los Angeles, nonprofits such as the Community Coalition have built Black and Latino alliances to address racial disparities. The Los Angeles Black Worker Center joined with the majority-Latino Clean Carwash Worker Center to support each other's economic justice campaigns.

"The fate of Black people and the fate of immigrant people are linked in the fight against exclusion and exploitation," said Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, a Black Worker Center co-founder. "As we look at schools, jobs, housing, the last thing our communities need is to be divided and fighting each other."

EEOC's lawsuit against Ryder and Kimco Staffing was similar to that against Cardinal Health and AppleOne. At Ryder's warehouse, where assemblers packed and shipped medical supplies, Black employees were subjected daily to such slurs as the N-word, "Aunt Jemima," "negra fea" (ugly Black woman), "cochina," (pig) and "cucaracha," (cockroach), according to the lawsuit.

Black workers described restroom graffiti of a person hanging by a noose, according to the EEOC, and a Latina supervisor who would pull Black workers off the production line to "clean the cracks in the floor."

In the wake of the suit, a Ryder investigation found that several Ryder and Kimco employees had used anti-Black epithets and that managers failed to report or document complaints, Ryder acknowledged in a court filing. But the companies denied any widespread issues with discrimination, harassment or retaliation.

A Ryder spokeswoman declined to answer questions, instead citing its statement last year blaming Kimco, which had placed 2,500 workers at the facility over three years.

"The claims in this particular case arose out of unfortunate events between employees of a former staffing vendor," it said. "While Ryder management was not involved... we are taking responsibility because the alleged conduct occurred on our premises."

Kimco did not respond to requests for comment.

Watkins, a soft-spoken, bespectacled 33-year-old, said he often heard slurs in English and Spanish during four years at Ryder. "Hispanic workers had their own production lines, the Black workers had to be on a different line," he said - a setup described to the EEOC by dozens of others.

A former Ryder supervisor, Royce Yamaguchi, who is of Asian and Caucasian descent, said 90% of assembly leads were Latino and would pick Latino workers to be on their lines, often excluding Black workers. Spanish was the dominant language in the warehouse and Latinos were favored for promotions, he said. Black workers were rarely given jobs that could lead to advancement, Yamaguchi said, and some complained to him about being called "monkey," and "boy" by Latino colleagues.

In videotaped testimony, Watkins said Latino supervisors often wouldn't let the Black workers get water or take bathroom breaks. "They'd say, 'You're big and Black, you can keep working,'" he recalled.

Watkins sought to move from temporary to permanent status. "My supervisors had me training the new employees and then I would see the new Hispanic temps be promoted to permanent," he said. "They didn't even consider me."

Finally, he quit. The treatment, he said, "made me feel ... like I wasn't a human being."

Athertwo-story home on a Moreno Valley cul-de-sac, Regina McCorkle described how, at the end of each Ryder shift, employees would be placed on the following day's schedule. But the next morning she and other Black assembly workers would often find themselves dropped from the list.

Excluded workers would line up on standby. "You couldn't clock in," the 40-year-old mother of seven said. "If there were five Hispanics waiting and 10 Blacks, they'd pick the Hispanics first."

McCorkle complained to six Ryder and Kimco managers - all Latinos - about bias and slurs, she said. One dismissed the behavior as just part of the "culture."

After about a year, Ryder promoted McCorkle to a quality auditor job. But name-calling escalated. Latinos "seemed insulted that a Black woman was checking their work," she said.

Within days of complaining yet again, McCorkle was fired for what Ryder said were "performance problems." "No one ever told me about a mistake," she said.

McCorkle was the first to file an EEOC charge. And within a month of EEOC's lawsuit, 115 other Black workers came forward with similar allegations.

One was Leilani Turner, a 52-year-old former homecare nurse. In Ryder's parking lot, she and other Black workers found their vehicles vandalized, she said.

"There would be milkshake all over our cars," Turner said. "Our tires were flat. There would be urine on our tires."

Turner asked managers for security camera footage. "They'd say, 'Oh, it's the angle of the camera, we can't catch your car.'"

Finally, she got permission to park in another part of the lot, far from the workers' entrance.

When Turner was promoted from assembler to shipping clerk, she said, managers neglected to give her the written manual that Latinos got to memorize inventory codes.

"They set you up to fail," she said.

At five warehouses where Turner has worked over the years, "80% of workers were Hispanics, with a small portion of Caucasians and Black people," she said. "The Hispanics stick together - they make sure their people get ahead."

Was there white prejudice? Yes, but not from co-workers, she said, but from top managers who failed to respond.

"You shuffle me off like it's no big deal," Turner said. "You're Caucasian, you don't care."

Federal and state officials often hold companies and their temp agencies to be "joint employers." Executives can't evade penalties by blaming their staffing firms, said the EEOC's Park. "You don't get to stick your head in the sand. You're on the hook because you control the work."

Staffing firms are also at issue in a sweeping lawsuit that California's civil rights agency filed in February against Tesla on behalf of thousands of Black workers. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing cited a decade of complaints of discrimination and harassment at the electric-vehicle maker'sFremont factory,

Racist slurs in English and Spanish were aimed daily at Black employees by co-workers and supervisors, and Black workers were given the most difficult physical jobs, the lawsuit alleges. Tesla hired most workers through 14 temp agencies "to avoid responsibility," it asserted, and declined to investigate complaints from those workers.

Tesla called the suit "misguided," saying the company "strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment."

In a separate case, a federal judge in San Francisco in April ordered Tesla to pay a Black elevator operator $15 million after a jury found his Mexican American supervisor had taunted him with graffiti depicting a large-lipped figure with a bone in his hair, while co-workers frequently called him N-words and other epithets in English and Spanish.

Warehouses and factories are not the only targets. In the last five years, a swath of California employers including a UCLA hospital, a Central Valley vegetable farm, a San Diego college and a Riverside County skilled nursing facility have faced lawsuits over harassment and discrimination against Black employees by Latino co-workers and supervisors.

Lawsuits also target hiring policies. In the last three years, two large Latino-owned businesses, a Fresno ice cream maker and a San Jose cheese manufacturer with factories in California and eight other states, paid settlements after EEOC investigations alleging they refused to employ non-Latinos.

Six million Americans identify as Afro-Latino, 12% of the adult Latino population, and they are more likely than non-Black Latinos to experience discrimination, according to a Pew study this year.

While other Black workers at Cardinal and Ryder said they understood just a few Spanish slurs - and in some cases, none - Barry Bryant, 41, son of a Puerto Rican father and an African American mother, took in much more as he worked at Cardinal Health.

"Their nickname for me was 'pinche mayate,' f-ing June bug," he said. "The first time I heard it, I almost snapped." Supervisors would call to him, "Hey negrito," Black boy. "I'd say, 'Dude, my name is Barry.'" Latinas two feet from his workstation chatted in Spanish about Black people "saying, 'Why is their hair so funky and nasty? They smell because they're Black,'" he said. "It was just vile."

Like Simmons, Bryant had been hired by AppleOne to drive a cherry picker. But despite having three certificates for the job, he was relegated to manual labor on the loading dock.

He asked a Latino supervisor when he would get to drive. "He laughed and said, 'Trust me, never,'" Bryant recalled.

After Bryant filed written grievances with Cardinal and AppleOne over N-word harassment and noose graffiti, a Latina HR official responded, "Man, are you actually doing work or just busy about the gossip?" he said.

Days after Bryant's last complaint, the HR official told him as he arrived at work that AppleOne assignments, including his, were ended. And then she waved in four non-Black Latinas he had just seen at the AppleOne office, he said.

Recounting his experience, Bryant wiped his eyes. "Cardinal made me feel worthless," he said.

Today, Bryant is on disability with kidney disease, cared for by his Mexican American girlfriend, a postal worker.

As for the EEOC settlement, "It would be nice financially if something did fall my way," he said. But mainly he hopes his former co-workers and managers will be "be retrained and taught how to be human beings more than anything."

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In California's largest race bias cases, Latino workers are accused of abusing Black colleagues

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Nearly every day, the onetime Ontario warehouse employee said, he was stunned to hear racist slurs from Latino co-workers. "They said it in English - they said it in Spanish all the time," recalled Leon Simmons, a Black father of four with a deep voice and gentle manner."When they look you right in the eye and call you the N-word to your face, that's dehumanizing."

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This article talks about pushing boundaries within the health care system with the goal of overcoming centuries of racial discrimination in the field. Unfortunately, the entire healthcare system was built upon racist foundations, so there is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of education, awareness, more emphasis on holistic patient care, and stronger connections between clinicians and the communities they treat.

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Derrick Morton was skeptical about working for Kaiser Permanente's Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. The Pasadena, Calif., school hadn't yet opened to students when he was offered a job in early 2020, and it felt risky to work for such a new institution. But Morton, who is Black, was eventually sold by the medical school's mission: to train doctors with a strong focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion and to dismantle health disparities.

After a short time as an assistant professor of biomedical science, however, Morton says it became clear that the reality didn't live up to his "great expectations." In a lawsuit filed Aug. 22, Morton alleges that Kaiser's medical school discriminates against Black faculty, fostering a culture of "anti-Black animus" that is "so pervasive and chilling that [Morton] and his Black colleagues could not associate with each other or with Black students for fear of being blacklisted and rendered professionally non-viable."

At least a dozen times between October 2020 and July 2021, Morton alleges that he complained to supervisors that Black employees were being discriminated against and treated unfairly, including through demotions, discipline, and efforts to "silence" those who spoke out. Morton claims that he personally experienced similar issues-including being appointed to a diversity, equity, and inclusion advisory committee that, he says, was stripped of authority and effectively made secondary to an outside consultant. Morton claims that the toxic work environment at Kaiser caused him to develop panic attacks and insomnia, and to seek out therapy for the first time in his life.

A spokesperson for the medical school said they were "surprised" by Morton's complaint and "strongly disagree with the allegations and characterization of events" within it, but declined to provide further comment on the lawsuit because litigation is ongoing.

The spokesperson stressed that "addressing equity, inclusion, and diversity in medical education and health care is one of our primary objectives at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine." They noted that the school recruits a diverse body of students and faculty; that anti-racism is woven throughout its curriculum; and that Black faculty members hold many leadership and committee positions at the school.

Morton isn't the first ex-faculty member to sue Kaiser's medical school. Last year, former instructor Dr. Aysha Khoury filed a complaint against the school, alleging that she'd been suspended and ultimately terminated-without warning or a satisfying explanation-after leading a classroom discussion on racism in medicine, drawing on her own experiences as a Black woman and physician. Prior to that incident, Khoury alleges she endured microaggressions related to her gender and race, including extra scrutiny and supervision of her work and being reprimanded for failing to greet a white male colleague. Khoury tells TIME she hopes her lawsuit will ensure that "nothing like what I experienced happens to another faculty member." Both Khoury and Morton are seeking monetary damages as well as policy changes to prevent future discriminatory behavior.

In June, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), a federal agency that protects fair labor practices, filed a complaint on Khoury's behalf. School representatives declined to comment on Khoury's complaint and time at the school, citing ongoing litigation. Kaiser's lawyers filed a motion for summary judgment in August, arguing that Khoury had not proven she faced racial or gender discrimination and that her case falls exclusively under the NLRB's jurisdiction.

In interviews with TIME, more than half a dozen current and former faculty members said they consider racism to be a systemic problem at the new medical school despite its progressive veneer. And Kaiser isn't alone. U.S. medical schools both new and old are struggling to live up to their stated goals around diversity and inclusion and cast off the long history of racism embedded in U.S. health care -problems too deeply entrenched for a few well-placed buzzwords to fix.

One of the guiding values of Kaiser's medical school is "advocating for change in medical education, the profession, and the healthcare system"-a proclamation that underscores how deep-seated issues of racism and inequity are in American medicine.

Centuries ago, enslaved Black people were forced into medical research, at times withstanding procedures without proper pain medication so that white doctors could learn about the human body. Modern medicine was "built on bodies that were Black, enslaved, had no autonomy, were abused and misused," says Dr. Rachel Bervell, who runs the Black ObGyn Project, an initiative dedicated to anti-racism in medicine.

That mistreatment didn't end with slavery. During the infamous Tuskegee study, which began in the 1930s, researchers withheld syphilis treatment from hundreds of Black men so they could see what the disease did to the human body over time. And well into the 1900s, it wasn't uncommon for doctors to perform procedures, particularly on patients of color, without informed consent, as in the well-known case of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cancerous cervical tissue was taken without her knowledge during a medical visit in 1951, and later formed the basis for lucrative biomedical research projects. Those are only two of many examples, and they're not ancient history. Even today, studies show that people of color in the U.S. experience poorer health care than white Americans. That's particularly true when they're treated by doctors of a different race-which is likely, since 56% of practicing physicians in the U.S. are white.

A white coat isn't a shield against racism, either. Many physicians of color report experiencing racism from patients and colleagues, studies show, and almost a quarter of medical students who identified as an underrepresented minority say they experienced race-based discrimination during medical school, according to one 2020 study of 27,500 graduates. About 4% of medical students who experience recurrent discrimination or mistreatment ultimately leave medical school, according to 2022 research -and students of color are disproportionately likely to fall in that category.

Inequality is baked into the very structure of modern medical education. In the early 1900s, the Carnegie Foundation commissioned education expert Abraham Flexner to assess the state of U.S. medical schools. Inspired by the German model for educating doctors, which pushed for the advancement of research and biomedical science, Flexner recommended shutting down schools with subpar facilities or underperforming research programs. Almost 100 medical schools closed in the wake of his review, including five of the seven dedicated to educating Black students. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has since acknowledged the harm caused by the Flexner report, but its influence on medical education is still felt today-perhaps most painfully in the shortage of Black physicians in the U.S., who make up just 5% of the doctor workforce. Closed Black medical schools could have trained approximately 35,000 additional Black physicians by 2019, one study found.

Many of medicine's forefathers held racist beliefs that bled into medical training-like the idea that race itself predisposes people to certain ailments, or the false belief that people of color feel less pain than white people. So-called "race-based medicine" has been discredited in recent years, and the AAMC recently introduced new tools for teaching and assessing competency in diversity, equity, and inclusion-but in many cases, the damage has been done.

Kaiser's medical school aimed to address many of these long-standing problems. When it announced in February 2019 that it would soon start accepting applications for its first class, it was explicit about its mission: to train "diverse physicians to serve the needs of society." It would offer free tuition to the first five graduating classes, in order to attract the right students regardless of their ability to pay.

It sounded like "a little slice of utopia," says a current faculty member who asked to go unnamed for fear of retaliation. But for some faculty of color, working at the school has not lived up to the promise.

In 2017, Kaiser hired Victoria Richards, a pharmacologist with experience in medical school curriculum development who has since left the school, to help shape its academic programming before it opened. At first, she says, the school's ethos seemed to match its stated mission. But very quickly, Richards perceived the school's focus shifting toward becoming an elite research institution-just like other prestigious medical schools-and the diversity initiatives started to seem like distant priorities. "I became disillusioned and disappointed," she says, "particularly as the dean was hired and brought in."

That dean was Dr. Mark Schuster, a lauded pediatrician and former Harvard Medical School professor. At least on paper, Schuster shares the school's values. An article he co-authored about the school's founding, published in the journal Academic Medicine in 2020, uses the acronym "EID"-for equity, inclusion, and diversity-49 times. But as Richards saw it, Schuster brought with him what she calls a "Harvard mentality"-one that seemed to value prestige and traditional trappings of academic success above values Kaiser's medical school claimed to hold sacred, such as training community-oriented physicians who could help eliminate socioeconomic disparities in health.

Kaiser representatives did not make Schuster available for an interview. But Dr. Lindia Willies-Jacobo, the school's senior associate dean for admissions and equity, inclusion, and diversity, insists the administration's commitment to those values has never wavered. "It's work, and we are doing the work," she says. "As a Black woman...I will boldly say that I have never before worked at a school that was, in fact, as diverse as our school."

Khoury, however, has a different perspective. She says that none of the 50 students in each of Kaiser's first two classes came from a historically Black college or university (HBCU). And in Richards' opinion, instead of looking for well-rounded students from diverse backgrounds, Schuster and his team appeared to prioritize applicants with excellent test scores- a metric that notoriously favors white, higher-income students-who would make the school look good as it got off the ground. (Willies-Jacobo strongly disagrees with the notion that applicants were not evaluated holistically, and says some HBCU graduates were admitted but chose not to attend. Fourteen percent of students in Kaiser's first class identified as Black, higher than the 2020 national number of 9.5%.)

A former employee with knowledge of the school's internal demographic data also says Kaiser had difficulty retaining faculty and staff of color across roles. (From 2017 to 2021, 11 of 13 voluntary faculty resignations came from people of color, according to Khoury's legal complaint.) But unflattering data about retention were never distributed throughout the school, says the former employee. "Any data that ran contrary to the narrative [the dean] was trying to create, he would dismiss," the former staffer says.

Indeed, a current faculty member, who asked to go unnamed to avoid retaliation, says the leadership team created an "unsafe environment to even just ask difficult questions." Those who critique decisions made by leadership risk professional consequences, including removal from committees and being passed over for promotions, several current and former faculty members say.

Those themes are echoed in Khoury's legal complaint, which cites an email sent to administrators by a faculty member of color who argued the school's commitment to anti-racism was superficial. "We are a racist institution, we are upholding the system of white supremacy that is at the core of our nation, but we do not have to be," the faculty member wrote, according to an excerpt included in the complaint.

Willies-Jacobo declined to comment on other people's statements about how they perceive the school, but strongly defended Kaiser's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She says that members of the leadership team take diversity, equity, and inclusion training sessions and have held "listening sessions" where students, staff, and faculty can share feedback.

Tensions boiled over when Khoury was abruptly suspended, with little explanation, in the summer of 2020. "Here I am thinking that I have the permission to be all of who I am, and that that is appreciated," Khoury says, looking back on the experience. "And for them to not even speak to me is so disabling, traumatic. It strips you of any identity."

The incident was also traumatic for the wider Kaiser community. More than 90% of the first-year class signed a petition demanding Khoury's reinstatement, according to a tweet from the account StudentsofKP, which describes itself as a group of students from the school's class of 2024. Her case also sent ripples of fear through a faculty already on edge, some of her colleagues say. If an instructor could be suspended for leading a discussion about racism in medicine-at a school that had encouraged her to do just that-what else could be considered a fireable offense?

In the aftermath of Khoury's departure, several Black students reached out to Morton and another teacher of color to talk about what had happened, Morton recalls. "'We don't think we can meet with you,'" he told them. "'They may fire us.'" Morton's legal complaint also alleges that a member of Kaiser's leadership team implied in a meeting with Morton that his students could face consequences if they protested Khoury's departure. Morton subsequently advised his students of color to partner with white students if they wanted to speak out against perceived racism on campus, believing the school to be more receptive to the white students' concerns, the complaint says.

Less than a year after Khoury's suspension, Morton took a job at another university and didn't look back-despite a significant pay cut. The "culture and overt racism" at Kaiser, he says, "made it such that I couldn't stay."

Kaiser's medical school opened in 2020, when racial issues were top of mind for the entire country. It had no history to overcome, no statues to tear down or buildings to rename. Yet to many, it's still coming up short.

It's far from the only medical school struggling to tackle issues of systemic racism and inequality. Schools both new and old are learning that breaking the mold created by centuries of medical racism is easier said than done. "We're all cut from the same cloth," a current Kaiser employee says of U.S. medical schools. "We just had the hubris and arrogance to claim that we could be different."

In late 2021, Dr. Princess Dennar, who formerly ran a medical residency program at Tulane University, settled a lawsuit in which she alleged the school discriminated against doctors of color. A representative from Tulane said they could not comment on the lawsuit, but said Tulane has "embarked on a school-wide cultural change that places equity, diversity and inclusion at the center of our recruitment, training, teaching, research, operations and care."

Dennar says she could not talk about her time at Tulane, but overall says she has never seen a medical institution totally overcome its racist foundations. "Medicine is a racialized system," she says, and those historical roots keep inequities in place. "I would be hard-pressed to believe that there is an institution that exists today-if they still practice the same things they've been taught and built upon-that is absolved from having any forms of racism."

But some schools-particularly those founded relatively recently-are trying. Charles Collier, an assistant dean at Quinnipiac University's Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, has run a program that supports students from underrepresented backgrounds on their paths to medical school since 2012, two years after the school was founded. Collier says it was forward-thinking for the school to have such a program, especially a decade ago, but admits there have been "peaks and valleys" in its implementation.

He says he has faced resistance from colleagues who don't see why minoritized students need more support than other prospective applicants-though that pushback melted away after the uprising that followed George Floyd's murder in 2020, he notes. (In a statement, Dean Dr. Phillip Boiselle said the program has always had full institutional support.) Collier says there's been sustained momentum since 2020, and the school recently hired an inaugural associate dean for equity, inclusion, and diversity-a promising sign, he says.

Frank Netter isn't perfect, but Collier believes it is doing a better job at confronting inequality than most U.S. medical schools. That's in large part, he says, because its students are motivated to effect change, forcing administrators to listen. Student pressure, he says, was the "catalyst" for hiring the new associate dean for equity, inclusion, and diversity. Boiselle agrees that student feedback has been "especially vital" in shaping Netter's approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion, a process that he says will continue into the school's second decade.

Similar battles are playing out at older schools, which have considerably more history to overcome. Harvard has been publicly reckoning with its historical ties to slavery, and that's an ongoing process, says Dr. Joan Reede, dean for diversity and community partnership at Harvard Medical School. "Everyone acknowledges that we are not at the end of uncovering," she says.

Still, Reede notes that Harvard Medical School has been engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts for more than 50 years, dating back to when a former dean in 1968 created a committee meant to help diversify the student body.

LaShyra Nolen, president of Harvard Medical School's 2023 graduating class, says Harvard's medical students and residents are widely committed to equity and anti-racism, but it can be hard to inspire the same enthusiasm from veteran figures in medicine. She points to a recent book written by Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a former dean at the University of Pennsylvania's medical school, called Take Two Aspirin and Call Me By My Pronouns: Why Turning Doctors Into Social Justice Warriors Is Destroying American Medicine, which she describes as specifically mocking her anti-racism advocacy. "As we're making strides," Nolen says, "we still have this old guard" that is resistant to change.

Nolen has been encouraged that Harvard now accepts EID work for senior thesis projects and factors it into faculty promotion assessments. Previously, she says, EID was often considered a "volunteer" commitment, rather than academically rigorous work.

That gets at a systemic problem. The medical education system relies heavily on standardized tests and other similarly one-dimensional performance metrics. Even though a growing number of undergraduate colleges are deemphasizing standardized test scores in part because of research suggesting they reinforce racist and culturally biased admissions processes, many medical schools continue to use them. Schools that try to do things differently-prioritizing hands-on learning over exams, accepting students with other valuable medical skills but not-so-great scores-risk producing doctors who can't compare, at least on paper, to their competitors' graduates.

Several current and former Kaiser medical school employees say the numbers-focused system partially explains what they see as the institution's failure to live up to its anti-racism goals. The school is so new that it is still going through the process of accreditation, through which institutions must prove they meet the necessary standards for granting degrees. Since that process is crucial to the school's future, current and former faculty members say leadership is making every effort to present an impressive facade to outsiders-even if it means glossing over internal culture and equity issues that don't show up on an evaluator's spreadsheet.

As of August, Kaiser has been granted preliminary accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. It was also recently included on U.S. News & World Report's list of the most diverse medical schools in the U.S. Willies-Jacobo acknowledges that the pressures of accreditation "are real." But "having said that," she continues, "I would say that we have pushed, and will continue to push, boundaries."

Pushing boundaries within an existing system doesn't go far enough, Dennar says. The entire health care system was built upon racist foundations, and she'd like to see a similarly ground-up approach to remaking it. Starting in medical schools, and continuing all the way through the current health care workforce, Dennar wants more emphasis on holistic patient care, better understanding of how race and health intersect, and stronger connections between clinicians and the communities they treat. She's optimistic, but not delusional: "We have a lot of bandages being put on wounds, and the wound is still festering," she says.

Despite everything, Khoury still wants Kaiser's medical school to live up to its ideals; she believes the school, as described on paper, should and could exist. With "some significant humility, accountability, introspection, and dedication to anti-racism," she thinks it can get there. Changes to the way it deals with racism on campus and commitment to transparency and academic freedom would be good places to start, she says.

But Khoury knows that work takes energy and dedication, and she fears that both may be in short supply at Kaiser. If efforts fall short, she's afraid others will be lured to the school for the same reasons she was, only to be disappointed. "There's a part of me that would rather them just change their mission," she says. "That might be easier to do."

Write to Jamie Ducharme at jamie.ducharme@time.com.

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U.S. Medical Schools Are Struggling to Overcome Centuries of Racism in Health Care

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Derrick Morton was skeptical about working for Kaiser Permanente's Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. The Pasadena, Calif., school hadn't yet opened to students when he was offered a job in early 2020, and it felt risky to work for such a new institution.

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In this article, it discusses the Japanese Americans who were wrongfully imprisoned in internment camps during the wake of WW2, and the compensation they received in 1988. There were African American Lawmakers who fought in support of reparations for the affected communities of Japanese Americans. These same Japanese Americans are now fighting for reparations for African Americans. It is great to see two previously oppressed groups working together to fight for much needed change, this change being reparations for the decades, centuries of affects from slavery and internment camps.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - When Miya Iwataki and other Japanese Americans fought in the 1980s for the U.S. government to apologize to the families it imprisoned during World War II, Black politicians and civil rights leaders were integral to the movement.

Thirty-five years after they won that apology - and survivors of prison camps received $20,000 each- those advocates are now demanding atonement for Black Americans whose ancestors were enslaved. From California to Washington, D.C., activists are joining revived reparations movements and pushing for formal government compensation for the lasting harm of slavery's legacy on subsequent generations, from access to housing and education to voting rights and employment.

Advocating for reparations is "the right thing to do," said Iwataki, a resident of South Pasadena, California who is in her 70s. She cited cross-cultural solidarity that has built up over decades.

Black lawmakers such as the late California congressmen Mervyn Dymally and Ron Dellums played critical roles in winning the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which formalized the government's apology and redress payments.

Last Sunday marked the 81st anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt signing an executive order that allowed the government to force an estimated 125,000 people - two-thirds of them U.S. citizens - from their homes and businesses, and incarcerate them in desolate, barbed-wire camps throughout the west.

"We want to help other communities win reparations, because it was so important to us," Iwataki said.

After stalling for decades at the federal level, reparations for slavery has received new interest amid a national reckoning over the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. Amid nationwide protests that year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that established a first-in-the-nation task force to address the topic of slave reparations.

Other cities and counties have since followed, including Boston, St. Louis, and San Francisco, where an advisory committee issued a draft recommendation last year proposing a lump-sum payment of $5 million apiece for eligible individuals.

In December, the National Nikkei Reparations Coalition, alongside more than 70 other Japanese American and Asian American organizations, submitted a letter calling on the Biden administration to establish a presidential commission.

Japanese American activists in California are studying the landmark report issued by California's task force - and plan to reach out to college students, churches and other community groups to raise awareness about why Black reparations is needed - and how it intersects with their own struggle.

Reparations critics say that monetary compensation and other forms of atonement are not necessary when no one alive today was enslaved or a slave owner, overlooking the inequities today impacting later generations of Black Americans.

Retired teacher Kathy Masaoka of Los Angeles, who testified in 1981 for Japanese American redress and in 2021 in favor of federal reparations legislation, says they are just beginning to educate their own community about Black history and anti-Black prejudice.

She said that starting conversations in her community is "undoing a lot of ideas that people have" about American history and the case for reparations, said Masaoka, 74.

San Francisco attorney Don Tamaki, who is Japanese, is the only person appointed to California's nine-member task force who is not Black.

At meetings, he shared how critical it was for organizers to arrange for former detainees to tell their stories to national media outlets. Redress advocates had to make hard decisions though, such as agreeing to legislation that denied reparations to an estimated 2,000 Latin Americans of Japanese descent who were also incarcerated.

There is no equivalence to the experiences of the Japanese American and Black American communities, Tamaki said, but there are similar lessons, such as the need for a massive public education campaign.

Only 30% of U.S. adults surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2021 supported reparations for slavery, 77% of whom were Black Americans. Support among Latinos and Asians was 39% and 33%, respectively, and white Americans had the lowest rate of support, at 18%.

Some advocates said that the idea of reparations for the World War II incarceration camps was once considered outlandish. But many young, third-generation Japanese Americans were inspired to mobilize from civil rights and ethnic pride movements, including the Black Panther Party and the Brown Berets, who promoted Chicano rights.

Some advocates were outraged by - and threatened to boycott - hearings set up by a 1980 federal commission on Japanese internment, called it a delaying tactic. But the testimonies that came out of public hearings the following year served as a turning point.

For the first time, many survivors shared stories that even their families didn't know, educating not only the younger generation but the broader American public.

"There was not a dry eye in the house at those hearings," said Iwataki, who worked with the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations to arrange transportation to the hearings, as well as meals and translators, for former detainees.

Many young Japanese Americans went from frustration with their grandparents and parents for not fighting back to understanding how vulnerable they were, said Ron Wakabayashi, who was then national director of the Japanese American Citizens League. The average age of second-generation Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in the camps was only 18, he said.

"Probably the more important thing that we got out of that was the generational healing, and the restoration of our identity," said Wakabayashi, 78.

The commission found no military necessity for the camps, saying the detentions stemmed broadly from "race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership," according to a report issued in 1983.

President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing living survivors with a formal apology and $20,000 each for the "grave injustice" done to them. It would cost the U.S. government about $1.6 billion.

Throughout the process, activists said, the Congressional Black Caucus remained a steadfast supporter of reparations. Then-Rep. Dymally authored a reparations bill in 1982 and later, provided his staff and office support so that advocates could lobby other members of Congress.

Another California congressman, Rep. Dellums, delivered a searing speech on the House floor of being a 6-year-old boy watching as his best friend, a Japanese American boy of the same age, was taken away to the camps.

A year after Reagan signed Japanese reparations into law, the late Congressman John Conyers introduced a bill to consider slavery reparations, named after the promise of 40 acres and a mule that the U.S. initially made to freed slaves. The bill has gone nowhere.

Dreisen Heath, an advocate for Black reparations, plans to travel from her home in the Washington, D.C. area to California in coming months to join artist and writer traci kato-kiriyama, whose parents were incarcerated as children, in leading workshops and educational forums.

They hope to engage young Japanese American and Black American students in the current movement.

"Nothing ever worthwhile in this country has ever happened without intergenerational, multiracial (coalition) building," said Heath. "I see the Japanese American community, and by extension the Asian American community, indispensable to realizing reparations for Black people."

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Japanese Americans won redress, fight for Black reparations

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - When Miya Iwataki and other Japanese Americans fought in the 1980s for the U.S. government to apologize to the families it imprisoned during World War II, Black politicians and civil rights leaders were integral to the movement.

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I Am America: Question Culture with Richie Reseda

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I Am America: Question Culture with Richie Reseda

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I came across a post/podcast interview today on instagram related to race, prison and black feminism with Richie Reseda of Question Culture. The image above is of the post on instagram. The YouTube link to the interview can be found here:
• https://youtu.be/qRnbYk5grNw

Richie Reseda, a prison abolitionist and previously incarcerated black male talks about racism and growing up as a black man in Los Angeles and the carceral system. He started Question Culture which does feminist work with men in prisons. It is a great interview and offers a lot of insight into a lot of what we have been exploring in class so far on how racism still permeates our society to this day.

Enjoy!

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This article discusses how a black student at Pepper Tree Elementary School in Upland, California was given racist drawings that also contained racist slurs by her classmates. Other students of color were called racist names by classmates, including one student who was called a slave. Though the president of the school's PTA called it "unacceptable", it was stated that these were not isolated incidents, which demonstrates that children young enough to be in elementary school are repeatedly displaying racist tendencies. This shocking and inexcusable behavior draws attention to the fact that despite anti-racist and inclusive environments being purported as standard in schools, very young children are somehow still being taught that it is acceptable to be racist.

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A series of racist incidents at an elementary school in Upland has sparked outrage from parents, district officials said, after children reportedly targeted classmates with demeaning drawings.

The mother of a girl at Pepper Tree Elementary School said her daughter, who is Black, was given drawings with the messages, "You're my favorite monkey" and "To my favorite cotton picker," according to KTLA-TV Channel 5, which obtained images of the drawings. The mother has since taken her daughter out of school, saying she continued to face harassment from classmates, KTLA reported.

Maylana and Rome Douglas, parents of three children at the school, said their daughter was also targeted.

"They said that they were going to give her [a drawing] that specifically said, 'You're my favorite slave,' and they were going to show her as a slave hanging from a tree," Maylana Douglas told KTLA.

In response, Upland school board president Sherman Garnett said in a YouTube video uploaded Friday that "racially insensitive, unacceptable incidents" had occurred.

"We deeply regret the hurt this behavior has caused our students, families and our community," he said. "I want to make it perfectly clear that we have a strict zero-tolerance policy on any type of hate speech, harassment, discriminatory practices, behaviors, racial slurs, and any reports of these actions will be investigated thoroughly and immediately."

The Upland Unified School District "will implement disciplinary action in these situations without hesitation," Garnett said, though he did not elaborate.

Robin Allen, president of the Pepper Tree PTA, said the association "stands firmly against racism in all forms and the culture of oppression that permeates the United States."

"As an association that represents all children, we must listen, educate and advocate beyond rhetoric and rise to correct all inequities and injustices," he wrote in a social media post. "These recent incidents are not isolated incidents. We do not accept this at Pepper Tree."

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Black students at Upland elementary school reportedly bullied with racist drawings

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A series of racist incidents at an elementary school in Upland has sparked outrage from parents, district officials said, after children reportedly targeted classmates with demeaning drawings. The mother of a girl at Pepper Tree Elementary School said her daughter, who is Black, was given drawings with the messages, "You're my favorite monkey" and "To my favorite cotton picker," according to KTLA-TV Channel 5, which obtained images of the drawings.

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Arine Kim and her friend Elliot were at an In-N-Out Burger when they say they were verbally attacked with racist and homophobic slurs by another customer 

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Suspect’s Racist Rant at In-N-Out Burger 

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Suspect’s Racist Rant at In-N-Out Burger 

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A few ago months ago this video was posted of these 2 friends enjoying a meal, talking to the camera, filming a tik tok when they were approached by a man who started making rude racist comments towards them and threatening them. The two friends did not know what to do but try to ignore and deescalate the interaction. They felt scared to move or get a worker to help at the moment because they believed that this man would try to hurt them if they did and he kept making derogatory comments towards them. After this incident the police arrested the man and charged him with a hate crime.

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Two Asian-Amercian customers at an In-N-Out Burger in San Ramon, California, were filming a TikTok video when a man verbally abused them with homophobic and racist language. The video, posted on Christmas, has since gone viral and led police to arrest suspect Jordan Douglas Krah on hate crime charges.

@arinekim My friend and i were filming his reaction to my in-n-out order when this happened... #arinekim ♬ original sound - arine kim

In the video, Arine Kim and Elliot Ha are seated inside an In-N-Out Burger, filming Ha's reaction to Kim's "light-well fries." Off camera, a man approaches and asks them if they're filming themselves eating, then he calls them "weird homosexuals."

Kim and Ha are taken aback by the comment but continue their review when the man returns to ask about their ethnicity. When Ha tells him he's Korean, the man says, "You're Kim Jong Un's boyfriend, huh?"

Not quite sure how to react, Ha plays along as the man's questioning about his sexual orientation starts to become more aggressive. Kim notices that the situation is escalating and tells Ha to stop engaging and not react. The conversation's tenor suddenly changes - Ha apologizes, and the man off-camera begins to threaten him.

"Normally, I could spit in your face," he says. Then he makes a derogatory remark about Filipinos.

The man returns a few minutes later, harassing them with more homophobic comments before threatening to meet Ha outside. Kim asks nervously, "Do you think he's going to pull a gun on us?"
Related: Woman Throws Computer Monitor at Gate Agent After Missing Flight in Chaotic Footage
Police arrest

Kim posted the disturbing video on Christmas day and immediately received an outpouring of support from TikTok users shocked by the abhorrent hate language used. Some Venmoed money saying the next meal was on them.

Kim's TikTok caught the attention of Chief Denton Carlson of the San Ramone police department, who contacted Kim via Twitter. The next day the police arrested a suspect identified as Jordan Douglas Krah of Denver, Colorado.

As a result of his actions that were captured on video Christmas Eve, @SanRamonPolice personnel have arrested Denver (CO) resident Jordan Douglas Krah (DOB - 5/17/82) for violating California's Hate Crime Laws as described under Penal Code 422.6.

Krah is currently being (1/2)
- Chief Denton Carlson (@DentonLCarlson) December 26, 2022

Krah was later released, but in an update video on TikTok, Kim says she has pressed hate crime charges.

The incident left many wondering what happened after Kim shut off the camera. So Kim made another video a few days later, explaining that Krah waited outside the restaurant for about 10 minutes, glaring at them through the window.

"We just stayed in our seats and didn't move because we were scared if we did move, he would use that as an invitation to harass us more," she said.

She also revealed that she'd been contacted via Instagram by a Filipino family, who claimed that Krah spit and hurled racist comments at them in nearby Danville.

Kim said she and Ha didn't initially go to the police because Krah didn't physically harm them. "I honestly thought our experiences were going to be dismissed," she explained. "We didn't think anyone would care."

But the reaction on TikTok and from law enforcement has been overwhelmingly supportive. Kim said she was grateful to have the platform to shed light on hate crimes and "the atrocities that minorities have to go through on a daily basis."

According to a report published by Stop AAPI Hate, the Asian American community reported more than 10,000 hate incidents in 2020 and 2021, nearly half occurred in public places.

"I hope my situation inspires others to talk about their own experiences," Kim said.

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TikTokers Harassed at In-N-Out Burger With Racist Slurs | Entrepreneur

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Two Asian-Amercian customers at an In-N-Out Burger in San Ramon, California, were filming a TikTok video when a man verbally abused them with homophobic and racist language. The video, posted on Christmas, has since gone viral and led police to arrest suspect Jordan Douglas Krah on hate crime charges.

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This article highlights the use of racial slurs used by Latinx L.A. City Council members. Racism can/is embedded in a lot of cultures that experience racism in their own ways. Hate is generational and will continue to be passed down if the older generations do not own up to their bigotry. Especially if they hold high positions of power advocating for change.

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Opinion

Central Coast BIPOC Response to Racist Comments made by Latinx Members for the Los Angeles City Council

The revelations of the horrific, racist, private conversation by members of the Los Angeles City Council brings up genuine and raw emotions, as well as important realizations that are needed to achieve racial justice in our society.

We have all become painfully aware of the racist comments made in secret by L.A. Council President Nury Martinez, and councilmembers Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo. The comments were caught on an audio recording, including hateful language toward African Americans, Indigenous communities, LGBTQIA+, and Jewish communities. Their 2021 conversation centered on their plans for how they and their allies would politically disenfranchise other people of color, in particular, African Americans in Los Angeles, through the city's redistricting process.

As difficult and painful as these revelations have been for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in Los Angeles, it raises an important reality - these elected officials are not just a few bad apples in L.A. City Hall. There exist Latinx and other BIPOC elected officials and community leaders in Los Angeles and in other localities who have deliberately worked to advance policies from a place of internalized racism - principally anti-Blackness, colorism, and anti-Indigenous racism.

A growing number of Latinx leaders are speaking out publicly about the realities that racism and anti-Blackness are not only pervasive throughout our society but are very real within the Latinx community. Such sentiments have been swept under the rug for too long, and therefore must be exposed and addressed. Representing the efforts to address the realities of colorism and anti-Indigenous racism in the Latinx community, in 2012 the Mixteco Indigenous Organizing Project (MICOP) had to go as far as advocating successfully for a ban in the use of derogatory terms, such as "oaxaquita," in three Latinx-dominated school districts in Ventura County.

One of the problems is that the current political process fails to vet candidates of all races and identities on issues of racism. It fails to examine the stands of candidates on policies that either work to achieve equity, or those that seek to perpetuate inequity, specifically policies that are anti-Black, as well as those that hurt the working poor and immigrants, including recent Indigenous immigrants from Mexico.

District elections have the potential to achieve equitable racial political representation. But the redistricting process has often become a zero-sum game, pitting one racial group against another. Some "progressive-thinking" elected officials narrowly work for one historically underrepresented group, showing no interest in equal representation for the broader BIPOC community. White women in leadership roles, who we would hope would be natural allies, too often, however, avoid sharing power and are driven by what is politically expedient for themselves.

Los Angeles is considered a liberal city. Yet these racist comments shed light on the fact that even in those localities that like to see themselves as liberal or more socially conscious, forms of bigotry are deeply rooted historically. And that bigotry is reinforced through policy decisions made by elected and appointed officials and supported by community leaders both white and BIPOC.

Disturbingly, white supremacist efforts have had some success in undermining and even eliminating school programs that seek to build an appreciation for racial diversity by educating teachers and students about the historical and current realities of racism. It is urgent that we all strengthen our support for school programs, such as ethnic studies, that aid students in valuing their own cultural identity while understanding and appreciating the differences around them.

The Fund for Santa Barbara is heartened by and will continue to put its full support behind anti-racist community efforts. One of these important efforts is the one being led by the NAACP of Santa Barbara and Gateway Educational Services to bring together BIPOC leaders throughout our region for conversations and relationship-building. These efforts are needed more than ever.

Anti-blackness continues to thrive in our community in issues from housing and education to health care and criminal justice reform, and in every sector, from business, K-12 and higher education, government, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector. If you are Black/African American, there is no escaping the toxicity and aggression of the hate.

Racial hatred is saddest when coming from other people of color. However, the exposure of racism among Latinx members of the L.A. City Council must not be allowed to undermine important alliances being built today within BIPOC communities. The realization of these deeply rooted forms of internalized racism, even as they currently exist among other oppressed groups, must be understood in order to inform the hard work of eliminating all forms of racism and bigotry from our society - an endeavor that has room for all of us.
Connie Alexander is the president of the NAACP Santa Barbara. Marcos Vargas is the executive director of the Fund for Santa Barbara and a member of the NAACP Santa Barbara.
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Racism of Any Color Requires a Response - The Santa Barbara Independent

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Opinion Central Coast BIPOC Response to Racist Comments made by Latinx Members for the Los Angeles City Council The revelations of the horrific, racist, private conversation by members of the Los Angeles City Council brings up genuine and raw emotions, as well as important realizations that are needed to achieve racial justice in our society.

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A few months ago a video came out about a Senior at the University of Kentucky yelling racial slurs at a fellow African American student. Along with yelling the slurs she also physically attacked the other student. The video quickly gained speed all through the media blowing up on platforms such as Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Sophia Rosing was under the influence at the time but that is no excuse for her actions. Rosing withdrew from UK and is no longer allowed to attend. The article states that she "has been charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place, fourth-degree assault without visible injury, second-degree disorderly conduct, and third-degree assault on a police officer...". With the power of social media this girl will never have a clean back round which is what is needed.

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University of Kentucky student who repeatedly hurled racist slur at Black student permanently banned from campus | CNN

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The student facing assault charges after she repeatedly hurled a racial slur at a Black student on campus early Sunday morning has been permanently banned from campus and could face additional charges, the University of Kentucky president said.

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In a Miami Preschool daycare, in efforts to "celebrate" Black History month, the teacher decided to paint a couple children's face black as a lesson for the month. The mother pulled both of her kids from the daycare since, and the website of the daycare issued an apology for the "confusion" and that the staff will be trained to avoid issues categorized as such, in the future. The mother added she she presumed there would be more time before these sorts of things (racism) would have to be endured by her children.
That is exactly the sad part, that children have to experience racist things or microaggressions at such a young age in which they have no way to really comprehend or understand what it means.
Additionally, I hate that when certain establishments, companies, corperations etc are under fire for something one of their workers and such have done, its deflected when you use terms like "confusion" when conveying an apology. Truth be told it isn't an apology in which there is a lack of accountability.

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This video surfaced on tiktok when a drunk girl came back from a night out and began getting physical with the front desk attendant who was african american. She then proceeded to continuously chant racial slurs which was all captured on video. She was no longer allowed to attend the university; she was a senior months away from graduating. She blamed her actions on being drunk which is never the answer for mistakes made while under the influence.

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Black and Latino homeless people rank lower on L.A.’s housing priority list

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Black and Latino homeless people rank lower on L.A.’s housing priority list

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This article goes even farther to show that in the homeless community when it comes to race, it is still a large impacted group. It is impacted by the outcome of some people's opportunity of escaping homelessness. In this article specifically we see that in the LA the largest group of homelessness came from Latinos and Blacks. It can be seen as a problem in that there are growth opportunities in that community but these groups of people are never given the chance over the white population of homeless people.

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This is a news article written about the well known actor, Marc Wahlburg, who allegedly is guilt of multiple hate crimes against people who are not white. He supposedly harassed ,verbally and physically, people who come from asian and black decent. This is an example of the false belief that skin color measure one’s intelligence and superiority to others. It’s sad to see people with such uneducated views be idolized instead of held accountable.

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Recently there have been many pushes politically to restrict in public educational institutions, books and discussions in classrooms that are deemed to be “divisive concepts”. This includes topics of race and racism, slavery in American history, and as well as LGBTQ+ issues too. 713 books have already been banned in Texas, and 17 states have already proposed bills and taken other measures to restrict education on these topics. Being educated about history is critical to combating racism and other forms of discrimination. By hiding books about these topics because they're deemed too "divisive" can lead to the erasure of many voices and parts of history that still have an impact on our current society. So it's important that students and future generations have access to knowledge about the past and are able to have open discussions about these issues and the effects they have today without censorship.

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Book Banning, Curriculum Restrictions, and the Politicization of U.S. Schools

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State and local officials' efforts to undermine public education by playing politics with school curricula run against the interest of most American children and families.

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Repetitive police brutality leads to a new era of change

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Repetitive police brutality leads to a new era of change

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Articles about black males getting murdered by police officers has been something that we have constantly been seeing in the USA in specific. In this article it goes to mention the shift that people are needing to take action on to combat racism as a whole.

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The United States is bracing for further details in yet another horrific police killing of a Black man, this time Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee. The fatal beating reminds us of the fundamental changes to policing that are still needed and what is required to foster safety in the US, particularly in Black communities, whose members are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people.

Tyre Nichols, 29, was the youngest of four children and the father of a preschool-age son. He died January 10, 2023 from wounds sustained after police brutally beat him during a traffic stop for alleged reckless driving. Five Memphis police officers and two fire department employees were fired after internal investigations of the incident, which the Memphis police chief described as " heinous, reckless, and inhumane." The police officers were charged with second-degree murder and other charges. The US Justice Department has opened an investigation into the incident and the Memphis police department announced it will release video of the incident on Friday, January 27. Protests are expected after the video's release, the right to which the state has a responsibility to protect.

Some of the officers charged belonged to the police department's Street Crime Operation to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods ( SCORPION) unit, which employs saturation or " flood the zone" policing, sending officers into perceived high-crime areas, who engage in aggressive, " zero tolerance," and pretextual tactics with little oversight or apparent thought to the disruption they cause to communities.

Despite the global uprising against police brutality and systemic racism in 2020, spurred by the police killing of George Floyd, police killed 1,186 people in 2022 - more than any other year this past decade. While some police killings, especially those captured on video, get extensive media coverage, police across the US use force and engage in harmful and pervasive abuse, especially toward Black people, on a daily basis. Studies show that police use force on Black people at vastly higher rates than on white people, including electroshock weapons such as Tasers, dog bites, batons, and beatings. These are often misapplied in situations involving problematic substance use, homelessness, mental health conditions, and poverty.

Nichols' contact with police started off as a traffic stop, which Human Rights Watch and others have shown are disproportionately enforced against Black people. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, for example, we found that traffic stops are not only more frequent in predominately Black and low-income areas but they also last longer and take place with a greater likelihood of removal from the vehicle, search, questioning, and arrest. Data shows police in the US have killed nearly 600 people in traffic stops since 2017.

While authorities have taken action against the officers involved in Nichols' case relatively quickly, this is unusual. Accountability for police abuse remains rare in the US, and the abuse and loss of life shouldn't happen in the first place. Before there is another police killing, state and local governments in the US should question the use of police for traffic stops, and invest in other ways to advance community safety beyond policing.

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Killing of Tyre Nichols Shows Structural Problems in US Policing

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The United States is bracing for further details in yet another horrific police killing of a Black man, this time Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee. The fatal beating reminds us of the fundamental changes to policing that are still needed and what is required to foster safety in the US, particularly in Black communities.

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Hate Crime against Jewish people within Synagogues

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Hate Crime against Jewish people within Synagogues

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Articles like this have become all too common lately. California man Jaime Tran shot (with intent to murder) two people walking out of a synagogue who he assumed to be Jewish. He admitted he did this due to the fact that he thought they were Jewish. These crimes happen because of a lack of understanding towards another culture or individual. Social media can make this worse by enabling the Jaime Trans of the world to see the negatives they agree with, but it can also spread massive awareness that can lead to change.

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The Justice Department announced today charges against a former Riverside resident with two counts of hate crimes for allegedly targeting and shooting two Jewish men as they departed religious services outside two Los Angeles synagogues over the past two days.

According to the complaint, Jaime Tran, 28, targeted the two victims because they were Jewish or he believed them to be Jewish. Because the complaint contains allegations that Tran attempted to murder the two victims, the maximum statutory penalty for each of the two hate crimes is life without parole in federal prison. Tran made his first court appearance this afternoon after being arrested Thursday evening and charged this morning.

The complaint alleges that Tran committed the two hate-motivated attacks this week. Both shooting incidents took place in the Pico-Robertson district of Los Angeles.

In the first incident, which took place on Wednesday at approximately 9:45 a.m., Tran allegedly shot a victim at close range as the victim was leaving religious services at a synagogue. This victim survived the shooting, but he suffered a gunshot wound to the lower back.

In the second incident on Thursday at approximately 8 a.m., Tran allegedly shot a second victim at close range soon after he left religious services at a different synagogue in the same neighborhood. This second victim survived, but he sustained a gunshot wound to his upper arm.

Both shootings occurred in the same predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Los Angeles and both victims were dressed in clothing that visibly identified their Jewish faith, including black jackets and head coverings.

The evidence uncovered during the investigation indicates that Tran located the Jewish neighborhood after searching a popular business-review app for a kosher market in the Pico-Robertson district. After locating the market, Tran allegedly drove to the area, where the first shooting occurred. According to the complaint, Tran returned to the area the following day when the second shooting occurred.

Investigators acted quickly to identify Tran's vehicle, to collect witness statements, and to obtain background information on Tran that is outlined in the criminal complaint.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division and Assistant Director in Charge Donald Alway of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Los Angeles Field Office and the Los Angeles Police Department are investigating the case. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department, the Cathedral City Police Department and the Fountain Valley Police Department provided substantial assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathrynne Seiden and Maria Jhai of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section and Frances Lewis of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section for the Central District of California and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division are prosecuting this case.
A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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California Man Charged with Federal Hate Crimes for Allegedly Shooting and Wounding Two Victims Leaving Synagogues

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The Justice Department announced today charges against a former Riverside resident with two counts of hate crimes for allegedly targeting and shooting two Jewish men as they departed religious services outside two Los Angeles synagogues over the past two days.

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Banned books which lead to ignoring history of race and racism

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Banned books which lead to ignoring history of race and racism

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In Florida, schools are starting to ban more and more books and literature from schools. Not only does this include important books which grasp the experience of POC, LGBTQ+ peoples, and others who have experienced discrimination, but it also is taking away history books and literature which teaches schools about slavery, feminism, and the history of America. The banning of books is teaching children to ignore the extreme racism that happens on a daily basis and the history of America and how America was built on a racist and sexist system.

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ORLANDO, Fla. - As we enter the latter half of the 2022-23 school year, students and teachers are still seeing people pushing to pull certain books from the shelves within districts across the nation.

It's a phenomenon that's also impacting Central Florida's school libraries.

Last year, PEN America, an international group that advocates for literacy freedom, released a report on the banned book movement, highlighting trends in what literature was being challenged.

Of the books banned between July 2021 and June 2022, 41% had LGBTQ themes, protagonists or prominent secondary characters, 40% had characters of color as primary or prominent secondary characters, 21% dealt with race or racism, and 22% contained sexual content.
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News 6 reached out to school districts in Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia counties to find out which books are being banned in the area.

You can find a list of books that have been banned or are currently under review within Central Florida school districts below. We will update the list with more responses as we receive them.

Brevard Public Schools

According to a school district spokesperson, no books have been banned, as a list of challenged books was rescinded by the person who initially filed the objection.

Flagler Schools

A school district spokesperson sent over the status of multiple titles, including several that were removed. The district added that all the books currently under review are from the high schools.

Lake County Schools

A school district spokesperson sent over the status of multiple titles, including several that were removed.

Marion County Public Schools

A spokesperson said no books have been banned and no books are in the challenge process within the school district as of now.

Orange County Public Schools

OCPS keeps a running list of challenged books on its website, and says that list will be updated as needed.

Osceola County School District
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A school district spokesperson said it has not banned any books at this time.

Polk County Public Schools

The school district said it has not banned any books at this time. School officials added in 2022, they reviewed several titles challenged by Concerned Citizens Defending Freedom, and as a result, created an online system allowing parents to opt their child out of checking out certain books from the library.

More recently, the same group objected to several titles being purchased at two new Polk County schools under construction. The school board has since voted 6-1 to move forward with the purchase of those books.

Seminole County Public Schools

A school district spokesperson said it received challenges to eight titles, resulting in six of the books requiring a new parental consent procedure prior to checkout and two of the books being discontinued from high school media centers and classroom libraries.

Sumter District Schools

A school district spokesperson said there have been no requests to ban any books, so none is prohibited at this time.

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Here's a list of books banned, under review in Central Florida schools

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ORLANDO, Fla. - As we enter the latter half of the 2022-23 school year, students and teachers are still seeing people pushing to pull certain books from the shelves within districts across the nation. It's a phenomenon that's also impacting Central Florida's school libraries.

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Asian hate crime -- a woman was attacked

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Asian hate crime -- a woman was attacked

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At approximately 5:39 p.m. on Monday, February 20, an Asian woman was assaulted by two young males at the MBTA's Davis Square Station. The two young racists also shouted a number of racial slurs. In my opinion, these extreme racists are cowardly and hateful because they always like to bully innocent people who are weaker than themselves!

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Awareness & Removal of Racist Passages in Books

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Awareness & Removal of Racist Passages in Books

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I recently read the James Bond series and definitely noticed some racist undertones and multiple uses of slurs, and was very confused and curious as to how it is still such a prevalent and big profit producing series despite the fact that there are some very evident problematic factors at hand with it. A few days later, my aunt sent me multiple articles and headlines discussing how they are apparently rewriting James Bond novels to remove the racist vocabulary, and I think this is a very easy and smart step that can be taken to help combat future readers views and comprehension of the novels going forth.

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Three years ago, the death of 18-year-old Fernando Báez Sosa shook the country of Argentina to its core. A group of rugby players had beat him to death at a nightclub while calling him racial slurs. Argentina currently faces what the US, and almost every other country around the world is having to face: the detriments of perceiving lighter skin color as being the "better", "purer" kind over darker skin color.

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The murder of Fernando Báez Sosa rocked Argentina.

A nightclub altercation turned deadly as a group of amateur rugby players kicked to death an 18-year-old who dreamt of one day becoming a lawyer.

Public outrage was followed by punishment: five of the young assailants were sentenced to life in prison earlier this month, and the remaining three are to serve 15 years behind bars.

But the case carries with it the weight of a much more complex conversation around racism in Argentina - and a stubborn resistance to acknowledging there is a problem.

As the rugby players assaulted Sosa, the son of Paraguayan immigrants, that January night in 2020, some of them screamed racist slurs, calling him a negro de mierda - black piece of shit - and vowing to take him home "as a trophy".

In Argentina, the term negro is also used to refer to people of Indigenous descent and darker-skinned people, and may be used as an insult towards other marginalized groups, including people who are poor or rely on government welfare.

And yet in court, and in coverage of the trial, racism was not the dominant lens through which most people perceived the crime, said Federico Pita, a political scientist and Afrrican-Argentinian activist.

"They talked about youth, sport, masculinity, class," said Pita."The racial element appeared sharing the stage with other variables, but as a subordinate variable."

"The problem is that not everyone is talking about it, not everyone is denouncing it," he said. "That's racism. The one that keeps people blind to the existence of the phenomenon."

Argentina has never had a national reckoning over racism. Like all countries in the Americas, its history is one of colonization, punctuated by campaigns to eradicate Indigenous peoples and the African slave trade.

Government-sponsored mass immigration from Europe in the 19th and 20th century shaped a mythical identity of a homogenous - predominantly white - society. But Argentina's racial makeup has always been much more diverse. And the patterns of racial privilege and discrimination based on skin colour never went away.

To this day, said human rights lawyer Alejandro Mamani, some Argentinians continue to question whether racism exists, even though the evidence is everywhere - in who sits in jails, who is killed by police, who ascends in politics and media, or who gets hired for certain jobs.

A survey published last year by the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism found that almost three-quarters of people surveyed had experienced some form of discrimination, the most common being "ethnic racial".

"Racism, not just in Argentina, but across Latin America, is a topic that is timidly debated and then it disappears," said Mamani, who is a member of the anti-racism collective Identidad Marron, composed of of Indigenous descendants.

Mamani criticised a lack of analysis in the 163-page court ruling on Sosa's murder, in which there are 12 references to testimony about racist slurs uttered during the beating, but "there is no pronouncement with respect to racism", he said.

Nonetheless, Mamani said the case was groundbreaking. It was a rare example in which the public empathized with a racialized body such as Sosa's, the son of working class immigrants who fit into the category of "good boy" with a promising future.

But other narratives of empathy which emerged during the trial were also telling, he said. The press was full of stories about the lives of the rugby players, their conditions in jail and their life plans dashed by the guilty sentences.

"I don't know of any case of a racialized person who was sentenced [for a crime] where they talk about their future," said Mamani. "Racialized people don't have a future that is present. Because there isn't a future that you can fall in love with, that you can fantasize about."

The concern for the rugby players also speaks to a carceral system "that was designed to ensure los negros rot in jail", said Pita - not just in Argentina, but all over the world. "By that I mean what each society considers to be negro," he said. "As long as [the system is] there to control certain people, no one has a problem with it. That's racism."

Anny Ocoró Loango, an anti-racism activist and researcher at Argentina's renowned National Scientific and Technical Research Council, saw some signs of changing attitudes through protests, radio programs and social media campaigns that shape public opinion.

But deep reflection on how race and class factored into Sosa's murder were largely missing from the mainstream, she said. "There are individual responsibilities that we are judging in [this case], but we also have to look at the social responsibility," she said. "We need to speak about the racism that is embedded in this society."

She recalled a cab ride she took during the World Cup, and the conversation she had with the driver about the mess that had been left behind by revelers.

"Because they are negros. They are negros in their soul," he said to her. "That still echoes in me," she said.

"People don't realize that those expressions are racist and discriminatory. And this is an everyday thing in Argentina. So we have to deconstruct these daily phrases that people repeat and point out the racist weight that they carry."

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'An everyday thing': a fatal beating reveals Argentina's racist bias

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The murder of Fernando Báez Sosa rocked Argentina. A nightclub altercation turned deadly as a group of amateur rugby players kicked to death an 18-year-old who dreamt of one day becoming a lawyer. Public outrage was followed by punishment: five of the young assailants were sentenced to life in prison earlier this month, and the remaining three are to serve 15 years behind bars.

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I saw this on Instagram the other day. This post is talking about how republicans voted against the CROWN act in the senate. the CROWN act is an effort to ban all race-based discrimination of different hairstyle and textures in work and educational environment. This is one of many examples of how racism is still affecting our society. There are people in this country voting against other peoples right to fair educational and employment opportunities simply because of hair texture or hair style. this is a race issue because the excuses of someones hair (POC) "not being professional" or "being distracting" is directly correlated with someone "not looking white enough" to have a job, which is blatantly racist.

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Most Americans may assume that racism in Africa against black people isn't really a problem. We assume that as the ethnic majority, they don't have it as bad as places like America, where they are minorities. But, as a country in Arab dominated North Africa, Black Tunisians only make up 10-15% of the population, most being descendants of slaves. Tunisia differs from it's neighboring countries because they have laws in place to prevent discrimination on the basis of race, but that doesn't prevent more casual forms of racism and verbal abuse. The racism and self-hate runs so deep that black Tunisians consider themselves a more superior group of people compared to their black sub-Saharan counterparts.

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Growing up in a working-class Tunis neighborhood, Zied Rouine didn't think much about his skin color. Not when children insulted him at school, or when his football teammates nicknamed him Pele, after Brazil's dark-skinned football legend.

His athletic skills and the fierce protection of his lighter-skinned brother from persecutors were tickets to acceptance. Only years later, while attending an international forum on discrimination, did Rouine realize that something was wrong.

"It was the first time I was around a group of Blacks. And honestly, it was the first time I heard someone talking about racial discrimination in Tunisia," Rouine, now 33, recalls. "At the time, I was in denial, believing we don't have any racism in Tunisia."

Even among the Black people in Tunisia, or elsewhere in the Arab world, such responses aren't surprising, according to a recent survey on discrimination in 10 countries or regions across the Middle East and North Africa: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Tunisia and Mauritania.

Published in October by Arab Barometer, a nonpartisan resource for research on the Middle East, the survey found that while most respondents considered discrimination a problem, only a minority believed prejudice against Black people was an issue.

Tunisia is a rare standout in the Middle East and North Africa to consider racism a problem. In 2018, it became the only country in the region to pass a law criminalizing racial discrimination. Yet even in Tunisia, many rights activists say there has been little progress in turning legislation into reality.

"To me, there's no change," says Kenza Ben Azouz, who researches discrimination in Tunisia. "We don't talk about race. We don't have data based on race. We don't want to acknowledge it."
Multiethnic community
Views on race in Tunisia are complicated, shaped by family values, geography and origin, experts say. The country's Black community is also diverse, counting Tunisians as well as migrants and students from sub-Saharan Africa. The different groups rarely interact, members say, beyond sometimes living in the same neighborhoods.

"Black Tunisians consider themselves superior to sub-Saharan Africans, and they don't like to be compared," says Rouine, general coordinator at the Mnemty (My Dream) anti-discrimination association.

Rouine describes growing up with a Black father and a "white" mother. In Tunisia, people are of various skin colorations, from fair to dark.

"There was complete diversity in my family. We just loved each other," Rouine says. "We didn't talk about color, or why my brother was light skinned and I was not."

Surprisingly, it was his father's family who had the most misgivings about the interracial marriage.

"They would say, 'Never make your father's mistake of marrying a white woman.' They never accepted Mom," Rouine recalls of his Black relatives.
In a box
Roughly 10% to 15% of Tunisians are Black, many of them descended from slaves, analysts say. While Tunisia became the first Arab country to ban slavery in the 19th century, its legacy remains tangled in Arabic slurs that refer to Black people as slaves and in complicated community relationships, especially in the south.

Reem Garfi's maternal relatives came from Sudan, although it is unclear how and when they arrived in Tunisia, she says. Her father's fair-skinned family wanted nothing to do with her parents' marriage. When her mother got pregnant, things only got worse.

"My paternal grandmother used the 'N' word in Tunisian Arabic," says Garfi, now 25 and a freelance translator. "She said she couldn't believe my mother would give birth to a monkey."

Like Rouine, Garfi was teased growing up. Even today, people still wonder about her racial identity.

"When people see me, they can't put their finger on it," says Garfi, who has light skin and curly hair. "Only when they see my mother do they connect the dots and put me in a box."

As in other Arab countries, few Black Tunisians hold top jobs in the media, government, or the private sector. When a Black journalist was tapped as a weather reporter on state TV a few years ago, he told local media he felt a "responsibility" to stand up also against racism.

Tunisia's Law 50 aimed to do just that. Passed after years of campaigning, the 2018 legislation sets prison sentences of up to three years and maximum fines of nearly $1,000 for those found guilty of racial discrimination.

The law also reflects changing mindsets. Today, more than six in 10 Tunisians agree that racism is a problem, according to the Arab Barometer survey, compared to just 6% of Egyptians, for example.

But few racial discrimination cases have been filed, nor has Tunisia developed a national strategy or action plan to fight racism, rights experts say.

Jamila Ksiksi, Tunisia's first Black member of parliament and a member of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha Party, says this year's dissolution of Tunisia's National Assembly by authoritarian President Kais Saied has removed another key check.

"The Tunisian people have no voice without a parliament," Ksiski told the BBC recently, noting the now-dismissed legislators can no longer flag reports of alleged racism to authorities or monitor government efforts to address them.

Tunisian authorities did not respond to a VOA request for comment. But a lawmaker close to Saied's government told the BBC the judicial system continues to apply the anti-racism law.

Mobilizing grassroots action and solidarity against racism, including by Black people themselves, also appears challenging.

Rouine says that Mnemty held a single Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 that garnered only a few hundred people.

"Black Tunisians have been trying to integrate essentially through silence," says researcher Ben Azouz, echoing other observers like Rouine. "It's extremely difficult to get them to acknowledge any difference between them and white Tunisians, and they don't want to be compared to the migrant community."
Sub-Saharans are frequent targets
A recent Sunday market in La Marsa outside of Tunis offered a snapshot of Tunisia's multiethnic reality. Congolese traders plied cheap watches; Ivorians and Tunisians plowed through piles of secondhand clothes.

But for the tens of thousands of sub-Saharan Africans living around Tunis and elsewhere in the country - some studying, and others working in low-paying jobs- the boisterous interaction ends there.

"Life is less expensive here," says Ivorian immigrant Serge Kakou, who helped start Maghreb Ivoire TV, an online TV channel. "But there are lots of attacks, and especially sub-Saharans aren't protected here."

Rights groups say women are especially vulnerable to sexual insults and acts, and Black Tunisian women are also targeted.

Earlier this year, dozens of migrants staged a monthslong sit-in in front of the United Nations Refugee Agency's Tunis office protesting racist acts they endured and demanding to be relocated to another country. The protests ended after the agency relocated them to what it described as "safe shelters."

University student Christian Kwongang from Cameroon says he and other sub-Saharan Africans studying in Tunisia are also frequent targets of racism. They have little or no interaction with migrants or with Black Tunisians, he says.

"We always have to be really careful about when and where we go out," adds Kwongang, who heads the executive board of the Tunisian Association of Sub-Saharan Students (AESAT), which represents some 8,000 African students and interns in Tunisia. "It's a reflection we all develop because things can go bad at any moment."

He described multiple attacks targeting AESAT members, including a machete assault on Nigerian students in southern Tunisia as they returned home from the mosque. They suffered hand and foot injuries, but survived, Kwongang says.

Reporting such incidents to the police can be complicated, Kwongang says.

"Sometimes, they take really long to respond, or make you go around in circles to file charges," he says. "The first thing they'll ask for is your papers."

Over his six years studying mechanical engineering in Tunis, Kwongang has seen little change in attitudes, including since Law 50 was passed. But along with discrimination, he also describes rare acts of support and kindness.

After a long struggle, he landed an internship with a Tunisian business, where he was treated "very, very well."

"When you're around people who have traveled, who have an open mind, you're treated like everyone else," he says.

For his part, Rouine believes time may change mindsets more powerfully, perhaps, than legislation.

"There is another Tunisia now, without the traditions," he says. "Young people are open to the world. I think the issue of discrimination will change."

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Growing up in a working-class Tunis neighborhood, Zied Rouine didn't think much about his skin color. Not when children insulted him at school, or when his football teammates nicknamed him Pele, after Brazil's dark-skinned football legend. His athletic skills and the fierce protection of his lighter-skinned brother from persecutors were tickets to acceptance.

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Hate Crime Against Asian American Family

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Hate Crime Against Asian American Family

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This is a video I saw on instagram of a hate crime that occurred in 2022. A man assaults an Asian American family who was minding their own business and trying to get home. He blocks their car, yells at them, and physically hits and choke multiple members of the family. It is a perfect example of how extremely racist people can be. In my opinion, it is a really good thing that some of these victims were able to get their phones out and record, because one way to stop people from doing this is to spread the word and make it aware to the world what is happening.

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Man seen on video attacking Asian American family charged with hate crime

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Jacob Blake - PTSD, after effects, activism 

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Jacob Blake - PTSD, after effects, activism 

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This article was deeply interesting to me because of the emotions it evoked. It gets very personal and into depth with not just the initial actions of being a victim of police violence, but the trauma and PTSD surrounding the after effects. It talks about the activism that occurred after the shooting as well. I think that the emotions shared of the shooting spark empathy, which is a big catalyst for change.

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exclusive: jacob blake a year later: 'i have not survived until something has changed' - cnn

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Exclusive: Jacob Blake speaks out a year later. 'I have not survived until something has changed'

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During the Fourth of July weekend, Jacob Blake says he called 911 over what he later realized was an anxiety attack.

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Hate crimes against the AAPI community in recent history

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Hate crimes against the AAPI community in recent history

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This article covers the spike in hate crimes towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with a focus on East Asian people since the birth of COVID-19. There is a section of the article that has bulletpoint after bulletpoint of harrowing stories. It is disgusting how people will racistly scapegoat Asian Americans for COVID-19 and the lockdown because it was first found in Wuhan, China. Despite the fact that the argument of "anyone with Asian ancestry is responsible for the pandemic" makes absolutely no sense, some people believe it to a disturbing degree. In San Francisco, where I am from, people had to put together protection teams to walk elderly Asian Americans to the places they needed to go because there have been an extreme amount of physical assaults towards that population.

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US President Joe Biden has signed a law that aims to address a rising number of anti-Asian attacks. What's behind the hatred?

An elderly Thai immigrant dies after being shoved to the ground. A Filipino-American is slashed in the face with a box cutter. A Chinese woman is slapped and then set on fire. Eight people are killed in a shooting rampage across three Asian spas in one night.

These are just examples of recent violent attacks on Asian Americans, part of a surge in abuse since the start of the pandemic a year ago.

From being spat on and verbally harassed to incidents of physical assault, there have been thousands of reported cases in recent months.

Advocates and activists say these are hate crimes, and often linked to rhetoric that blames Asian people for the spread of Covid-19.

What's happening in the US?

The FBI warned at the start of the Covid outbreak in the US that it expected a surge in hate crimes against those of Asian descent.

Federal hate crime data for 2020 has not yet been released, though hate crimes in 2019 were at their highest level in over a decade.

Late last year, the United Nations issued a report that detailed "an alarming level" of racially motivated violence and other hate incidents against Asian Americans.

It is difficult to determine exact numbers for such crimes and instances of discrimination, as no organisations or governmental agencies have been tracking the issue long-term, and reporting standards can vary region to region.

The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate said it received more than 2,800 reports of hate incidents directed at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide last year. The group set up its online self-reporting tool at the start of the pandemic.

Local law enforcement is taking notice too: the New York City hate crimes task force investigated 27 incidents in 2020, a nine fold increase from the previous year. In Oakland, California, police have added patrols and set up a command post in Chinatown.

Celebrities and influencers have spoken out after several disturbing incidents went viral on social media.

Here are some of the recently reported attacks:

An 84-year-old Thai immigrant in San Francisco, California, died in February after being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk

In Oakland, California, a 91-year-old senior was shoved to the pavement from behind

An 89-year-old Chinese woman was slapped and set on fire by two people in Brooklyn, New York

Two Asian American women were stabbed at a San Francisco bus stop; eyewitness reports say the assailant "casually walked away in broad daylight"

An Asian man walking with his 1-year-old child in a stroller in San Francisco was punched in the head and back multiple times

A stranger on the New York subway slashed a 61-year-old Filipino American passenger's face with a box cutter

An Asian American woman in New York City was struck in the head with a hammer by an unidentified assailant who demanded that she remove her mask

Asian American restaurant employees in New York City told the New York Times they now always go home early for fear of violence and harassment

An Asian American butcher shop owner in Sacramento, California found a dead cat - likely intended for her - left in the store's parking lot; police are investigating it as a hate crime

An Asian American family celebrating a birthday at a restaurant in Carmel, California, was berated with racist slurs by a Trump-supporting tech executive

Several Asian Americans home owners say they've been abused with racial slurs and had rocks thrown at their houses

The only Asian American lawmaker in the Kansas legislature says he was physically threatened in a bar by a patron who accused him of carrying the coronavirus

New York police arrested a man who assaulted a woman during a protest against anti-Asian racism

A grieving family received a hateful letter on the day of their father's funeral, telling them to "pack your bags and go back to your country where you belong"

A school board candidate of Vietnamese descent in Portland, Oregon, found a note with the words "Kung Flu" on her doorstep

A medical worker of Filipino descent in Los Gatos, California was shoved to the ground from behind by an assailant who told her to "go back to [expletive] China"

A Thai woman was brutally beaten and robbed of her phone while commuting on a train in San Francisco

What's the situation in California?

Over six million Asian Americans live in California, according to the latest population estimates, by far the most in any US state.

They make up more than 15% of residents in the state.

The coronavirus hit the state hard and early, grinding its bustling cities and businesses to a halt. The virus has already claimed over 50,000 Californian lives.

From March to May 2020 alone, over 800 Covid-related hate incidents were reported from 34 counties in the state, according to a report released by the Asian Pacific Policy Planning Council.

Those numbers have since intensified in Orange County, where anti-Asian hate incidents are up by an estimated 1200%, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

In neighbouring Los Angeles County, hate crimes against Asian Americans are up 115%, CBS News reported.

What's the reaction?

Advocates for Asian Americans say the violence can be linked to rising anti-Asian sentiment in the US.

Some have directly blamed the anti-China rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, who often made mention of the pandemic as the "China virus" or the "kung flu".

During his first week in office, President Biden signed an executive action essentially banning the use of such language within the federal government.

And with Democrats now in control of both chambers of Congress, lawmakers and activists are calling for more attention and resources devoted to the issue.

On 20 May, Mr Biden signed into law the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act, to address the rising rate of anti-Asian attacks.

The bill designates an official at the US Justice Department to expedite reviews of violence and hate crimes related to Covid-19. It also provides grants for state and local governments to improve their own reporting systems.

The bipartisan measure passed through Congress earlier in May with overwhelming approval from both Republicans and Democrats.

"We need to unite as one people, as one nation," Mr Biden said in a bill signing ceremony at the White House. He condemned hate as "an ugly poison which has long plagued and long haunted our nation".

At the state level, California lawmakers allocated $1.4m (£1m) in state funds to expand data collection, advocacy initiatives and resources for victims.

On the ground, there are more local efforts to combat the hate too.

In Orange County, neighbours stepped in to help out an Asian-American family after a group of teenagers repeatedly targeted them for months with little police intervention. Neighbours now stand guard outside the family's home each night, the Washington Post reported.

Why is this happening?

These incidents are best explained by the "widespread omission" of Asian Americans within cultural conversations, according to Amanda Nguyen, an activist and the founder of the Rise civil rights not-for-profit organisation.

Although the Asian population grew faster than other major groups in the last US census, the community's stories are not widely covered in the media and its concerns are not polled by political parties, Ms Nguyen told the BBC.

Some federal agencies do not even include the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in their definitions of racial minorities, she notes.

Ms Nguyen says that the people attacking Asian Americans since the pandemic began "can't really differentiate and don't care if we are X, Y or Z".

"They have made us a scapegoat to enact their violence."

For Ms Nguyen, the more visibility anti-Asian crimes receive, the better. She notes that laws can help solve the problem, but the US needs a cultural shift as well.

"We are in a moment of reckoning right now," Ms Nguyen adds. "We have been systematically erased on every single level and people can start to combat that by educating themselves about us."

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Covid 'hate crimes' against Asian Americans on rise

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President Biden signs a bipartisan law to "stop the hatred and the bias" against Asian Americans.

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I recently watched a documentary discussing the slavery going on in Mauritania. Basically, blacks immigrants are seen as less than cattle.

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* Hereditary racial slavery - similar to the slavery system that existed in the U.S. prior to the civil war - is still widespread in the West African nation of Mauritania, where White Arabs and Berbers have enslaved Black Africans for centuries. In 1981 Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. Though slavery is technically illegal, after being criminalized for the first time in 2007 and again in 2015, abolition is rarely enforced. In a poor country dependant on Western aid, pressure from the United States and its allies can end slavery 'for real' and 'for good' in Mauritania. Email the President and Congress to demand that they apply this pressure.

Mauritania, an impoverished, sparsely populated desert country in North-West Africa has the highest proportion of hereditary slavery of any country in the world. Out of 4.75 million citizens, Global Slavery Index estimates the number living in hereditary slavery in the country to be 90,000 people. In practice, this is descent-based, chattel slavery that treats human beings as property, with violent enforcement. Modern slavery or "slave-like conditions" prevail for up to 500,000 more.

Slavery in Mauritania is also a racial slavery. In a country that has a largely destitute population, Mauritania's Arabic-speaking Arab-Berber elite, an exclusionary and predatory group that self-identifies as White ( Bidan), ruthlessly dominates the country's state and economy. They represent, at most, 30% of the population. The enslaved are Blacks from within Mauritania's Arab-Islamic linguistic and cultural sphere (Black Arabs or Sudan). Blacks freed from slavery, an institution that has lasted many centuries in Mauritania, are called Haratin ( Haratin pl. Hartani, male, Hartania female). Haratin and enslaved Blacks make up 40% of the population. Sometimes the term Haratin refers to both "slaves" and freed Black "slaves." Non-Arabic speaking Black Mauritanians - Halpulaar, Fulani, Soninke, Wolof, and Bambara ethnic groups - were never enslaved by Mauritania's Whites, though they share the same ethno-racial origin as the Arabized Haratin. They make up 30% of the country's population. In general, all Blacks in Mauritania are referred to as ' Abd, 'Abid (slave, slaves).

Mauritanian scholars and activists Zekeria Ould Ahmed and Mohamed Ould Cire describe ongoing, racialized, hereditary slavery in Mauritania:

"Because of the nomadic traditions that were prevalent throughout the country until the late 1970s, exploitation (including sexual exploitation), forced labor in the areas of agriculture and livestock breeding, and the sale and granting of slaves were integrated parts of the local social system. Traditionally, [black] slaves were private property to be loaned, given away, sold, or exploited. They had no right to marry without the consent of their masters, to own or inherit property, or to testify in court. As a result, slaves lived in a condition of "social death" and economic exploitation, especially the women. In the Mauritanian slavery system, slavery is hereditary and passed through the mother's line; therefore, female slaves were expected to be the producers of new slaves for their masters."

"[Because they are considered their master's property] in current Arab- Berber society in Mauritania enslaved Blacks can still be sold, rented, exchanged, given away, lynched, beaten, castrated, raped, and exported into slavery in other countries. There are current slave markets in Mauritania, most notably in the city of Arar. Currently, Black slaves in Mauritania herd animals, collect dates and gum Arabic, and work the oases and cultivable fields in the country."

Hereditary, racial slavery persists in Mauritania despite multiple official attempts to abolish it. The colonial French administration declared an end to slavery in 1905, but never enforced it. With the phrase "equality for all," slavery was constitutionally abolished at independence in 1960. In 1981, by presidential decree, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery. However, no criminal laws were passed to enforced the ban. Under international pressure, in 2007 the Mauritanian government passed a law allowing slaveholders to be persecuted. However that law has rarely been enforced. Far more anti-slavery human rights activists have been prosecuted than the handful of Mauritanian white "masters." In addition, slavers are offered compensation for freeing the enslaved, while the victims of the brutality are offered nothing. In 2015, under international and some domestic mobilization pressure, the Mauritanian government created three special courts to prosecute slavery; but so far they have only tried very few cases.

Despite an obvious reality to the contrary, the white-dominated Mauritanian government and state take the position that slavery is totally finished in Mauritania, and that the talk of it suggests manipulation by the West, an act of enmity towards Islam, or influence from the world-wide Jewish conspiracy.

This paper will attempt to explain why the formal efforts to abolish slavery in Mauritania have failed. Factors include ideology and culture: sharia, fiqh, and white supremacy; traditional social structure: tribalism and caste; the continuing influence of fictive kinship relationships between Whites, Haratins, and Abid (Black slaves); a slave economy in a desert environment; and the intransigence of the Mauritanian state and government. The second part of the paper briefly discusses the Mauritanian economy and the government's official views on slavery before concluding with recommendations to end slavery and slave-like conditions in Mauritania.

Part I: Why Racialized Hereditary Slavery Persists in Mauritania

Ideology and Culture: Sharia, Fiqh, and White Supremacy

Several factors explain how Mauritania's Bidan (Whites) continue to get away with the devastating exploitation and brutal enslavement of Black people despite formal abolition. Ideology and culture play a role. Islam makes a distinction between its divine law, sharia, and the variable (and fallible) human interpretation of sharia: fiqh. Fiqh, in Mauritania, has produced a horrifying interpretation of Islamic law within the Malaki school of jurisprudence that justifies the enslavement of Black people. That version of sharia law is enshrined in the Mauritanian constitution constitution, which white slavers-and agents of the Mauritanian legal system- utilize to justify their rights to the free labor of enslaved Blacks even as state laws declare the contrary. White Arabs and Berbers, Bidan, take on the role of tutors in Islam and deprive enslaved Blacks of the education needed to form their own understanding of the religion (There is a scholarly consensus that Islam has never permitted the enslavement of fellow Muslims, of any color). As a result, for many devout Blacks in Mauritania, leaving their white "masters" would be a sin and enslavement to them is a religious obligation. Thus, the interpretation of religious law ( sharia) by Bidan in Mauritania contradicts state law that guarantees the freedom of all Mauritanians.

Biram Dah Ould Obeid, Mauritania's leading abolitionist and President of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), led a book-burning of the Maliki texts used to justify the enslavement of Black Mauritanians. As an illustration of the perversity of common understandings of Islam in Mauritania, the 2012 "symbolic book-burning" shocked Mauritanian society to the core and led to mass demonstrations against it across the country. Obeid and the IRA countered that two types of laws, that are in contradiction, exist in Mauritania to sustain slavery. The constitutionally enshrined slave codes based on Maliki texts written between the 9th and 16th century tend to trump constitutional guarantees of equality among all Mauritanian citizens. Mauritania's slave codes legitimize and codify slavery. They decree that the Black race is inferior, they authorize the owning of black people, the castration of black men, and the rape of black women. These religious books are currently being used to train Mauritania's imams, their police forces and their judges. Obeid was accused of apostasy and initially sentenced to death for the book burning. Notably, apostasy charges in Mauritania have only been leveled against those advocating human rights, equality, and abolition, never at those that practice slavery and anti-Black racism under the guise of Islam.

Hierarchical Social Structure: Tribalism and Caste

Beyond white supremacy, traditional social organization in Mauritania has tribal and occupational dimensions, with enslaved Blacks ( Abid) and freed slaves ( Haratin) still at the bottom of the hierarchy. Enslaved Blacks across the centuries were added to the bottom rung of white tribes and the country's caste system. Slavery within Bidan society is part of a tribal and hierarchical social structure based on the principle of inequality at birth. In a context in which chances of survival outside the tribal system are remote, across centuries enslaved Blacks in Mauritania became subordinate members of white tribes. A caste system is also part of Mauritanian social structure. Centuries ago, the ancestors of today's Bidan established themselves as the dominant caste of warrior and religious tribes. Violently forced to perform virtually all agricultural, herding, and domestic labor in the country - for free - Abid and Haratine. became the lowest caste in the Mauritanian hierarchy. In between the two castes are White griots, artisans, and herders.

The power of caste is subtle, "as a means of assigning value to entire swaths of humankind, caste guides each of us often beyond the reaches of our awareness. It embeds into our bones an unconscious ranking of human characteristics and sets forth the rules, expectations, and stereotypes that have been used to justify brutalities against entire groups within our species." Caste sets the tenor of the way Blacks are viewed and treated in Mauritania.

Fictive Kinship between Whites and Blacks

"Because of the tribal framework in local society, many relationships are still based on tradition; for example, fictive kinship between former masters and former slaves of the same tribe is still meaningful to both" in Mauritania." Familial sentiment along with a shared Arab-Islamic culture largely operate against the interests of Haratin and enslaved Blacks ( Abid). It has led some to their acceptance of subordination. It helps minority Whites ( Bidan) 30 percent of the population, dominate the country's political economy, because due to deference they largely garner the political and social support of Haratin, who represent 40 percent of the population.

A handful of elite Haratin families, Haratin defined as freed enslaved Blacks from within the Arab-Islamic cultural sphere, have owned "Black slaves" themselves. A token number gain high-level government positions as long as they represent White interests on slavery, anti-Black racism, and other policies. Large numbers of Haratin participated in the 1989-1991 forced expulsion to Senegal of 70,000 non-Arabic speaking Black Mauritanians, despite most of them having no links to the country.

Subordination is still the only position available to elite Haratin who accept the status quo:

"These were freed slaves, legally persons with the corresponding rights to own property, enter into contracts, and bequeath possessions to their children. Nevertheless, they were not equals of the nobles and remained tied in various ways to the families of their old masters. Their responsibilities varied depending upon whether they continued to live as part of those families, or established themselves as independent herders or cultivators. They owed "hospitality to former masters and members of their masters' families, and usually gave them annual payments or presents in kind."

Part II: The Political Economy of Slavery and State Complicity

It's telling that traditional, descent-based chattel slavery in Mauritania is most tenacious in the more isolated rural areas of the desert (The surface area of Mauritania is 90% desert). The labor of enslaved Blacks is central to the economic structure of these areas. Slaves herd the animals, tend the palm trees, and grow the grain under them, that makes life possible. Added to that, isolation and few alternatives to obtain food and water helps enforce social organization based on a racialized hierarchy and hereditary slavery. Due to few alternatives in a desert and a hostile Mauritanian state and government, many enslaved black Mauritanians rightfully fear that they would perish if they left their white "masters" who control nearly all land, oases, water resources, and animal herds.

A large percentage of the contemporary Mauritanian state elite (virtually all white) - government functionaries, presidents, diplomats, ministers, mayors, governors, senators, judges, religious leaders - own "Black slaves" themselves. Local authorities, especially governors and mayors, refuse to register and address complaints filed by enslaved Blacks. Thus, the people who arrest, prosecute, and judge persistent slavery are deeply invested in the institution's continuation.

These slavers utilize their positions in power to sustain their heritage of hereditary slavery targeting black people.

Slavery is tied to other forms of racial oppression in Mauritania. The white Arab-Berber elite utilizes their control of the Mauritanian state to advance their material interests. They treat the country's treasury as their personal bank account. Due to virulent racism, Black Mauritanians are harshly discriminated against in terms of education and economic opportunities - the only real routes to overcoming slave legacies. Haratin are nearly completely locked out of the country's land market, working on farms as slaves or sharecroppers (who, in addition to giving white Moors the largest portion of the harvest, have to pay the Islamic tax for the poor, zakat, 'to their masters').

State violence in support of the oppression, exploitation and enslavement of black people helps to sustain slavery and racism in Mauritania. The white Arab-Berber dominated military, national guard, and police act to sustain the status quo. Revolt against any of the multiple forms of slavery in Mauritania leads to Haratin being dragged to police stations and national guard offices, where they are beaten into submission. There are cities, villages, and desert encampments in Mauritania where torture and lynching take place on a regular basis. In 1999, in Guerrou, a city in South-Central Mauritania, white senators and judges participated in the collective lynching of numerous Haratin.

Mauritania's white state elite deploy an ideology of silence and denial to deflect attention from the racial slavery in their midst. "Anytime the question of the enslavement of Haratin is brought up [to Mauritanian officials], it is confronted with denial and defensiveness that are couched in terms of national security and social cohesion." To preserve the status quo, the Bidan has made it a taboo to discuss slavery. Finally, special courts and laws criminalizing slavery in Mauritania have not been enforced.

Recommendations

Despite its formal abolition multiple times, political, economic, social, and religious factors account for the persistence of racialized hereditary slavery in Mauritania. A two-fold human rights campaign could abolish slavery for good in Mauritania. On the one hand, the campaign must aim at the directly affected people, either freed or in servitude. On the other hand, it should be directed toward the authorities in charge of enforcing legal mechanisms and the international community.

In order to emancipate people in servitude from their "masters", education is key. Reducing illiteracy and educating enslaved Mauritanians about their human rights, and domestic, regional, and international legal protections against forced servitude, would make them more independent. Religious education is equally important. Both activists and educators should be able to counter discrimination and anti-Black racism propelled by slave-owners under the guise of Islam. Education should also target the belief among the enslaved that they are parts of their white master's tribe and family, despite horrific exploitation by them.

It is also critical that freed people have sufficient economic opportunities to live an emancipated life. Development programs or affirmative action - especially access to landownership - benefiting black Mauritanians should be launched or strengthened.

Greater domestic, regional, and international pressure needs to be exerted on the Mauritanian government in order for it to acknowledge the persistence of slavery and oblige it to enforce abolition laws, including using victim support mechanisms that are not in place currently. Diplomacy by neighboring states and Islamic countries with relatively good human rights records could be very effective. Mauritania is a member of the African Union, The AU could use its power as a regional organization to pressure the Mauritanian government to end slavery by naming, shaming, and imposing sanctions on its continued practice.

The UN and the United States must be more forceful in their condemnation of slavery in Mauritania, including through conditionality of aid and other measures.

Pressure on the Mauritanian government to end slavery could also be effectively exerted by mobilizing racial solidarity between African-Americans, who have a history of enslavement by Whites ( Bidan), and enslaved Black Mauritanians.

The views represented in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arab Reform Initiative, its staff, or its board.

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Ending Hereditary Slavery in Mauritania: Bidan (Whites) and Black "Slaves" in 2021

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Mauritania has earned the title of slavery's last stronghold due to the widespread existence of descent-based racial slavery in the country despite successive abolition decrees. This paper seeks to explain why the formal efforts to abolish slavery in Mauritania have failed, discusses the Mauritanian economy and the government's official views on slavery, and puts forward recommendations to end slavery and slave-like conditions in the country.

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Payton Gendron, a 19 year old white male  killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo on May 14, 2022. He specifically targeted people who were black, "Gendron shot a total of 13 people, including 11 Black people and two White people, authorities said. All the victims killed were Black".

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buffalo grocery store mass shooter apologizes for racist attack and receives sentence of life in prison - cnn

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Buffalo grocery store mass shooter apologizes for racist attack and receives sentence of life in prison

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The 19-year-old White man who killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black area of Buffalo last May apologized to the victims' families and was sentenced to life in prison during an emotional court hearing Wednesday.

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I was managing a restaurant downtown and we installed a BLM mural and the same week we had nazi symbols, ALM and other signs spray painted on our building. We had people come in screaming at us and threatening our staff. We took the matters to social media where they were able to gather members of the community to help the business, the artist came and restored the mural and the community really rallied together to get get more representation put up around Santa Barbara. Social media can make us aware of the happenings around our own city.

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Crushcakes & Cafe 🏳️‍🌈 (@crushcakescafe)

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Harvard law student accused of menacing with baseball bat in racist, homophobic attack

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Harvard law student accused of menacing with baseball bat in racist, homophobic attack

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This article was especially interesting to me because it happened just as I was researching this topic. This article covers a Harvard Law student, Naod Nega, who was charged with assault and battery for the purpose of intimidation- a hate crime under Massachusettes state law.

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Naod Nega, a 27-year-old law student, was arrested and charged with assault and battery for the purpose of intimidation following the on-campus attack. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

A baseball bat-wielding Harvard law student was arrested last month for targeting a classmate in a racist and homophobic on-campus attack, authorities said.

Naod Nega, 27, was charged with assault and battery for the purpose of intimidation on Jan. 23 - a hate crime under Massachusetts state law - and pleaded not guilty, the Harvard Crimson reported.

Nega allegedly hurled homophobic and racist slurs at a classmate and threateningly wielded a baseball bat outside the law school library.

"The male...punched a college student in an unprovoked attack, and intimidated them due to their sexual orientation, the Cambridge Police Department said in a statement,

Following the unhinged attack, Nega was involuntarily brought to a local hospital, where he assaulted at least five male employees, according to Cambridge police.

"The male was initially sectioned to a local hospital on Monday, January 23rd after he was threatening students on campus with a baseball bat, used racial slurs, punched a college student in an unprovoked attack, and intimidated them due their sexual orientation," a press release from police read.

According to the police report, Nega had previously been involved in numerous incidents involving "aggressive and violent behavior." He's currently on leave from Harvard Law School, the school's newspaper reported.

Assistant dean Monica E. Monroe and dean of students Stephen L. Ball blasted out an email to students later the same day, condemning the horrifying assault.

"We condemn unconditionally all violence, hatred, and homophobia, and will continue to work to foster a campus in which members of our Law School and University community feel welcome, safe, and included," they wrote.

After Nega pleaded not guilty at a Jan. 27 arraignment, a judge ordered that he undergo treatment and evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital. Nega's next hearing is Thursday.

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Harvard law student accused of menacing with baseball bat in racist, homophobic attack

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A baseball bat-wielding Harvard law student was arrested last month for targeting a classmate in a racist and homophobic on-campus attack, authorities said. Naod Nega, 27, was charged with assault and battery for the purpose of intimidation on Jan. 23 - a hate crime under Massachusetts state law - and pleaded not guilty, the Harvard Crimson reported.

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https://www.independent.com/2023/02/01/two-anti-semitic-incidents-centered-near-ucsb-campus-leave-community-shocked/
Antisemitism is not a thought of the past and has been consistently rising within the past couple of years. These two acts that took place at UCSB are just a few of too many that have taken place in the last months in Santa Barbara. There were the flyers at SBCC passed out, there were people shouting up and down state street about killing "pedos, racists, and homophobes {Jews}". There is a long and painful history of Jews being the scapegoat, can we avoid another travesty?

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Community

Santa Barbara's Jewish Community Responds to Reports of Hateful Flyers, Statements Written on Chalkboard

On Monday, UC Santa Barbara students and staff were shocked to discover anti-Semitic messages scrawled on a chalkboard of an Israeli Politics class on campus. One statement specifically read, "From the river to the sea," referring to a common phrase symbolizing the total elimination of the State of Israel and Palestinian control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

On Tuesday morning, residents and employees of businesses in the neighboring Isla Vista community were similarly shocked to find hundreds of flyers distributed in the area spreading anti-Semitic ideas, denying the Holocaust, and seemingly connecting Jewish people with racism, homophobia, and pedophilia.

A joint statement about the incidents was released on social media Tuesday, signed by Jewish student organizations Santa Barbara Hillel, Chabad at UCSB, End Jew Hatred, Students Supporting Israel, Mishelanu, and the school's Alpha Epsilon Pi-Sigma Beta Chapter, which noted that the events took place within four days of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, saying they act as a reminder "that anti-Semitism is not a thing of the past but something that has become disturbingly common."

"As proud and outspoken members of our Jewish community, we stand in unified opposition to these hateful anti-Semitic acts. UCSB has a vibrant and thriving Jewish population, and we refuse to be intimidated by hatred in any form," the joint statement read. "At this time, we call on the UCSB administration to publicly condemn these anti-Semitic attacks on the Jewish student community of UCSB and Isla Vista, and take action to ensure Jewish students receive the same level of support and protection as is provided to students from any other minority group. We encourage you to share this statement on social media, contact the UCSB administration to express your outrage, and check in on your Jewish friends."

Images of the chalkboard that were posted to Instagram have since been deleted, and showed the phrase "F*** ISRAEL" in large letters, surrounded by other offhand references to Israel and Jewish people.

Photos of the flyers distributed in Isla Vista mirror the anti-Semitic flyers and bags of rocks distributed in other Santa Barbara neighborhoods in December 2022, on the first day of Hanukkah, with references to "Jewish white supremacy," "COVID agendas," and images of other anti-Jewish propaganda released throughout history. The flyers distributed this week and in December both bear the name of the same small, nationally based anti-Semitic fringe group, though it's currently unclear what role if any the group might have played in Monday's chalkboard incident. [Editor's note: The Independent has decided not to publish the group's name or photos of the flyers, which include the group's name, in this story.]

In response to the incidents, UCSB released a statement saying the university "stands firmly against all forms of hate, violence, and discrimination, whether it is on campus or in our community," and that the flyers "targeting the Jewish community" are being investigated by the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office.

"We also encourage members of our university community who are in need of support, or know of someone in need of support, to reach out for help," the statement read. "We want every member in our community to feel at home - welcome, accepted, supported, and safe. As a community, we are committed to fostering an inclusive environment, and to addressing all forms of racism and discrimination."

The Sheriff's Office also spoke out on the incidents with a statement on Tuesday, in which Sheriff Bill Brown said: "The men and women of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office denounce hatred, violence, and racism of any kind. While we are pleased that we have had no recent hate crimes against Jewish victims reported in the communities we police, we want to ensure these types of crimes are reported to us if they occur. All such reports are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. We will relentlessly pursue and apprehend the perpetrators of crimes committed against members of our Jewish community, or any other group of people within our county that is targeted due to their race, ancestry, religion, age, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. We stand strong in Santa Barbara County because we stand together."Anyone with information about the source of these messages is encouraged to contact Sheriff's detectives at (805) 681-4150, or anonymously (805) 681-4171. For those at UCSB, the campus encourages anyone wishing to report a bias incident or hate crime to file a report at studentlife.sa.ucsb.edu/bias.
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Two Anti-Semitic Incidents Centered Near UCSB Campus Leave Community Shocked - The Santa Barbara Independent

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Community Santa Barbara's Jewish Community Responds to Reports of Hateful Flyers, Statements Written on Chalkboard On Monday, UC Santa Barbara students and staff were shocked to discover anti-Semitic messages scrawled on a chalkboard of an Israeli Politics class on campus.

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This article highlights how race and racism continue to colonize our own bodies, casting some physical features as ideal and beautiful and others as harmful and ugly. It is saddening to learn about the harmful products and procedures people will try to lighten their skin tone.

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Why people whiten their skin: Understanding the pressure to be whiter

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Hundreds of CNN readers shared stories about the pressure to be lighter-skinned in their part of the world and how this fuels the use of skin whitening products. Here's what they had to say.