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Black leaders, DNC blast Trump for ‘racist’ comments

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Black leaders, DNC blast Trump for ‘racist’ comments

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Recently, Trump spoke at the Black Conservative Federation. He made a comment that has stirred the political pot. Trump stated, "I got indicted for nothing, for something that is nothing,” Trump told the crowd. “And a lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.” Many members from the NAACP were outraged at this comment, but not surprised. Derrick Johnson, NAACP president, told The Hill in a statement.

“Donald Trump is delusional to think that his criminality would be an attractive quality to Black voters,” he continued. “He has taken advantage of an inherently racist system, while Black Americans have been abused by it. We are not the same.” What Trump said was racist. He made an assumption of an entire group just because of the color of their skin.

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I chose an article from the UN News website that discusses the United Nations' efforts to combat racism and discrimination globally. I selected this article because it highlights the UN's comprehensive approach to addressing racism at both societal and institutional levels, resonating with the Padlet board's goal of exploring race and racism worldwide. UN Secretary-General António Guterres' call to action against the rise of xenophobia, prejudice, and hate speech underscores the urgency of recognizing and fighting racism in every corner of the globe. This initiative not only aligns with the prompt's intention to share stories and resources for understanding and disrupting patterns of racism but also provides a perspective on how global institutions are mobilizing to create a fairer, more inclusive world. The UN's commitment, as outlined in the article, to urging countries to adopt comprehensive plans to combat racism, informed by evidence and data, serves as a powerful example of how collective action and solidarity can lead to meaningful change. This reflects the true goal to identify patterns and work towards disrupting them, emphasizing the importance of global cooperation and the role of significant organizations like the UN in leading the fight against the pandemic of racism.

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"It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality...to deny people their fundamental human rights", added Secretary-General António Guterres in an address to the General Assembly, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

He argued that racism destabilizes communities worldwide, "undermines democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments, and stymies an inclusive and sustainable recovery from COVID-19."

Commemorated annually on 21 March, he described the day as "both a day of recognition and an urgent call to action".

Unequivocal links

The top UN official drew attention to the links between racism and gender inequality, pointing to overlapping and intersecting discrimination suffered by women of colour and minority groups.

Moreover, he continued, "no country is immune from intolerance, nor free of hate."

"Africans and people of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent, minority communities, indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees, and so many others - all continue to confront stigmatization, scapegoating, discrimination, and violence".

'Bedrock' of societies

This year's theme - "Voices for Action against Racism" - calls on everyone to listen closely, speak out loudly, and act decisively.

" We all have a responsibility to engage in solidarity with movements for equality and human rights everywhere. And we must extend solidarity to everyone fleeing conflict," said the UN chief, urging the world to "speak out against hate speech - offline and online."

He upheld the need to defend civic space by protecting free expression and assembly, describing it is "the bedrock of pluralist, peaceful and inclusive societies".

'Dismantle discriminatory structures'

Mr. Guterres called for a rights-based social contract "to tackle poverty and exclusion, invest in education, and rebuild trust and social cohesion."

"We must listen to those experiencing injustice and ensure their concerns and demands are at the centre of efforts to dismantle discriminatory structures," he insisted.

He made a case for "reparatory justice" to realize racial equality and atone in a substantive way for centuries of enslavement and colonialism.

"Historical injustices manifest themselves in poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, and social instability for entire communities and countries," he reminded. "It is time to recognize and repair longstanding wrongs".

It is time to recognize and repair longstanding wrongs -- UN chief

Repairing the past

A just future, requires mending a discriminatory past, in line with international human rights obligations and commitments, he said.

The UN chief encouraged States to accelerate racial justice and equality through the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Agenda Towards Transformative Change for Racial Justice and Equality; and the UN's Permanent Forum of People of African Descent.

He called for concrete action through policies, legislation, and "more granular data collection" to support efforts at national and global levels.

The UN has launched its own internal strategic action plan on addressing racism, he reminded, that outlines concrete measures to tackle racism in the workplace through accountability - for which a Special Adviser and Steering Group are due to be appointed.

"Together, we are committed to making sure people of every race, ethnicity, colour, gender, religion, creed and sexual orientation, enjoy a sense of belonging and safety, and have an equal opportunity to contribute to the success of our United Nations," he stated

Action every day, at every level, in every society is demanded to achieve a world free of racism and racial discrimination.
"Let us unite around our common humanity and speak as one for equality, respect, justice and dignity for all," concluded the UN chief.

Paying tribute to Ukraine

Hosting the event, General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid, began by expressing his "deepest concerns" over the violence waged against civilians, and particularly women and girls, in Ukraine.

As families continue to seek refuge and security in new locations, he said, "our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine."

A goal not realized

Since the day was established more than half a century ago, the elimination of racial discrimination has continued to elude us, Mr. Shahid reminded the participants.

Despite that the International Convention has reached near universal ratification, he observed, "we continue to see an increase in hate speech, intolerance, and racism, especially against minorities."

" Our moral failure to eliminate racial discrimination is a failure against everything we stand for in the Hall of this Assembly", he declared.

'Overt stereotyping'

The Assembly President drew attention to the long-lasting consequences of racial discrimination, noting that the COVID pandemic has served to exacerbate underlying and long-standing inequalities that plague societies at large, including racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and other forms of intolerance.

Many marginalized and vulnerable people have lost decades of precious gains, especially in their social, economic, civil, and political lives, he said.

We have a moral obligation to tackle racism in all its forms -- UN Assembly President

"Let me be clear: Racial discrimination is an overt stereotyping and prejudice that arises from hate speech and hate propaganda," Mr. Shahid spelled out.

A moral obligation

Rather than acknowledging the beauty of diversity, he maintained that racism gives birth to violence and strengthens inequalities.

"We can and we must do better," said the Assembly president. "We have a moral obligation to tackle racism in all its forms."

Going forward, he encouraged national governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector to "work together to eliminate racial discrimination."

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For equality, respect and dignity we must 'speak as one' against racism: Guterres

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Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life across all societies, the UN chief said on Friday at a dedicated meeting against what he referred to as a catalyst that "normalizes hate, denies dignity, and spurs violence". |

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FBI: Asian hate crimes soared 76% in 2020 due to pandemic.

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FBI: Asian hate crimes soared 76% in 2020 due to pandemic.

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This news tells how the surge in hate crimes in Asia in 2020 was driven in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Xenophobic rhetoric blaming Asians for the spread of the virus, coupled with heightened economic pressures and historical prejudices, have contributed to a hostile environment. Social media amplifies misinformation and anti-Asian sentiment, while underestimation and distrust of authorities obscure the true extent of the problem.

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The FBI republished hate crime data on Monday after an error in Ohio.

Hate crimes against people of Asian descent rose by 76% in 2020, according to newly republished data by the FBI.

The FBI previously issued hate crime data in August, but due to an error in reporting Ohio's statistics, the data was incomplete. The FBI has now corrected the technical problem in Ohio's reporting system.

In 2020, 279 hate crime incidents against individuals of Asian descent were reported, compared to 158 incidents reported in 2019.

More than 60% of hate crimes in the United States were carried out on the basis of an individual's race, according to FBI data released Monday.

"Every hate crime is an attack on the community," Jay Greenberg, deputy assistant director of the FBI's criminal division, told ABC News' Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas.

Greenberg said most hate crimes are directed at African Americans, but acknowledged there was an uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes due to COVID-19.

In total, there were 8,052 single-bias incidents -- crimes motivated by one type of bias -- involving 11,126 victims. Comparatively, there were 7,103 single-bias incidents involving 8,552 victims in 2019.

The FBI said 20% of the hate crimes targeted a person's sexual orientation and 13% of the hate crimes that occurred in 2020 were due to religious bias.

More than half of the offenders were white, and 21% of the offenders were African American.

Greenberg said they are working to make sure there is trust not only in the FBI, but in local communities as well.

"Because a hate crime is defined as a violent or property crime with a bias motivation, that crime could be categorized a number of different ways," he explained. "We would like the public to reach out to us if they believe that they are a victim of a hate crime. It's not for the public to make that determination; we will work with our state and local partners and help determine how best to investigate that."

When someone is a victim of a hate crime, people have different reactions, according to Regina Thompson, the head of the FBI's victim services division.

"Everybody has their own way of reacting and on their own timeline, so sometimes people will react immediately in the aftermath of a crime," said Thompson, who was named head of the unit last year. "Sometimes they'll go immediately into crisis and crisis intervention will be needed. Sometimes the full impact isn't felt for hours, days, weeks, sometimes even months after the criminal event and the way that they react, there's absolutely no normal."

Greenberg said that while they don't discuss the number of cases they are currently investigating, leaders at the FBI "have brought a renewed focus to enforcing the civil rights program consistently across all our offices, and we have seen the number of cases rise in the last year."

The bureau takes a victim-centered approach to hate crimes, the two senior FBI officials explained.

"The FBI does have a victim services division that is focused on assisting and supporting the victims of federal crime and that when they are a victim of a federal crime, we are there to assist them and they can expect us to do that with understanding, dignity, fairness and respect," Thompson said.

Thompson said that hate crimes are especially unique because it is a direct assault on someone's identity and individuality.

"It really strikes at the fundamental core of who the person is, which makes it very different from some of the other violent crimes," she explained. "It is an attack on something that is within the person's identity, something that's very immutable about them and often something that they can't even change. So that has a very deep psychological effect."

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Hate crimes against Asians rose 76% in 2020 amid pandemic, FBI says

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The FBI republished hate crime data on Monday after an error in Ohio. Hate crimes against people of Asian descent rose by 76% in 2020, according to newly republished data by the FBI. The FBI previously issued hate crime data in August, but due to an error in reporting Ohio's statistics, the data was incomplete.

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Concussions have been a growing issue for the NFL as they continually try and downplay the long term effects of playing football as well as do everything they can to mitigate the help that former players receive. Football players are at risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) due to the nature of the sport which can cause a myriad of neurological problems like depression, memory loss and more. In 2015 the NFL promised to pay former players who developed brain diseases. While the NFL has have given out lots of money, they are still cutting corners to save as much money as they can. One of the things they did is known as "race norming", which makes it harder for black families to receive settlement money as the standards for testing assumed that black players started with lower cognitive function which makes it harder to show that they have lost mental capacity. This methodology is rooted in racism and has no scientific legitimacy.

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When Irv Cross applied for money from the NFL concussion settlement in 2018, his dementia was obvious to anyone who spent more than a few minutes with him.

At 78, the former NFL player and trailblazing sports broadcaster struggled to speak coherently, forgot to change his clothes and suffered from urinary incontinence, his wife told doctors. Cross had been diagnosed with dementia by another doctor months before he was evaluated by two NFL settlement doctors, his medical records show.

But the settlement doctors concluded they couldn't diagnose Cross with anything, their reports state. While Cross's symptoms met the standard definition for dementia in American medicine, they agreed, his test scores didn't meet the NFL settlement's definition.

irv cross card

"He does not appear to qualify for any diagnosable conditions through the NFL program,"a settlement neurologist wrote. Cross died three years later, of what his doctors thought was just Alzheimer's disease. An autopsy found he also had suffered from severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease linked to football.

When Al Bemiller filed his settlement claim in 2019, his children hoped for a quick approval and money to help with his care. He had been diagnosed with dementia four years earlier and needed round-the-clock assistance preparing meals, showering and getting dressed.

But a doctor on the NFL settlement's review panel responded to Bemiller's records with skepticism.Perhaps depression was actually causing his dementia symptoms, the review doctor suggested. Claim denied. Bemiller died two years later of dementia.

And when Don Maynard applied in 2019, his doctor was so alarmed he said he would file the diagnostic paperwork right away, Maynard's son recalled. But that paperwork went into a bureaucratic black hole for more than two years. The letter informing Maynard that settlement doctors diagnosed him with dementia arrived in January 2022 - three days after he died of dementia.

Finalized in 2015, the NFL concussion settlement resolved the most serious threat America's most popular and lucrative sports league hasfaced. While the NFL admitted no wrongdoing, it promised to pay every former player who developed dementia or several brain diseases linked to concussions. Players suffering from CTE, the league pledged, also would get paid once they developed symptoms of dementia. The league even agreed to fund a nationwide network of doctors to evaluate players and provide those showing early signs of dementia with medical care.

Irv Cross, a former player and pioneering broadcaster, was diagnosed with dementia but still didn't qualify for benefits. When he died, an autopsy showed severe CTE. (George Rose/Getty Images)

In seven years since the settlement opened, the NFL has paid outnearly $1.2 billion to more than 1,600 former players and their families - far more than experts predicted during settlement negotiations. The league points to these figures as evidence of the settlement's fairness.

But behind the scenes, the settlement routinely fails to deliver money and medical care to former players suffering from dementia and CTE, a Washington Post investigation found, saving the NFL hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more.
Among The Post's findings:
The Post reviewed more than 15,000 pages of documents relating to efforts by more than 100 former players to qualify for settlement benefits, including thousands of pages of confidential medical and legal records. The Post also interviewed more than 100 people involved with the settlement - including players, widows, lawyers and doctors - as well as 10 board-certified neurologists and neuropsychologists for their expertise on how dementia is typically diagnosed.

The settlement's definition for dementia requires more impairment than the standard definition used in the United States. Several doctors who have evaluated players told The Post that if they used the settlement's definition in regular care, they would routinely fail to diagnose dementia in ailing patients."I assumed this was written this way, on purpose, just to save the NFL money," said Carmela Tartaglia, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Toronto.

At least 14 players, including Cross, have failed to qualify for settlement money or medical careand then died, only to have CTE confirmed via autopsy. Eight of these players were diagnosed in life with dementia or a related memory disorder but still failed to qualify for settlement benefits.

In more than 70 cases reviewed by The Post, players were diagnosed with dementia by board-certified doctors, only to see their claims denied by the administrative law firm that oversees the settlement. While the NFL has often blamed denied claims on fraud, none of the denials reviewed by The Post contained allegations of fraud. Instead, records show, settlement review doctors simply overruled physicians who actually evaluated players, often blaming dementia symptoms on other health problems also linked to concussions, including depression and sleep apnea.

The NFL's network of settlementdoctors has been beset by systemic administrative breakdowns since its inception. Former playerssuffering from dementia wait, on average, more than 15 months just to see doctors and get the records they need to file a claim. Maynard was one of two players The Post found who waited more than two years to get paperwork and died before they could get paid.

In total, court records show, the settlement has approved about 900 dementia claims since it opened in 2017. It has denied nearly 1,100, including almost 300 involving players who were diagnosed by the settlement's own doctors.

The collective value of denied dementia claims,based on the average cost of approvals, could exceed $700 million. And that figure doesn't include cases such as Cross's, in which playersdiagnosed with dementia never bothered to file claims because they were told they didn't meet the settlement's requirements.

In August, the NFL and the top lawyer for the players, Christopher Seeger, asked the judge overseeing the settlement to replace the company that managed the league's network of doctors. The change, which the judge quickly approved, came weeks after The Post began discussing its reporting with Seeger. The NFL and Seeger both said the change was unrelated to The Post's reporting.

The NFL declined to make any league executive available for an interview and deferred all questions about the settlement to its attorney Brad Karp, who also declined interview requests. Karp, in an email, disputed The Post's findings and argued the amount the settlement has paid proves it is managed fairly.

"I just don't understand how this is legal," said Scot Maynard, whose dad, Don, received a letter after he died saying he qualified for benefits. (Paul Ratje for The Washington Post)

"Absent the Settlement, many of these now-compensated retired players and their family members would have received nothing at all," wrote Karp, who also emphasized the settlement is overseen by an independent administrative law firm and a federal judge.

Karp claimed the settlement's dementia definition isn't more difficult to satisfy than the standard in American medicine. It's just more objective, he said, which he called a "necessity ... in the context of a compensation-for-diagnosis Settlement Program."

But Seeger, in interviews, contradicted Karp, acknowledging that the settlement's dementia definition is more difficult to satisfy than the regular one used in American medicine.

"It's a notch above," Seeger said. "We explained that to anybody who's ever asked."

This was news to one of the two lead clients in the settlement who helped Seeger build support for it among thousands of former players. Shawn Wooden, a former safety who served as a class representative, said in an interview that neither Seeger nor any other lawyer ever explained that the settlement had its own definition for dementia.

Attorney Christopher Seeger, center right, and class representative Shawn Wooden, center left, in 2014. (Matt Rourke/AP)

"Hell no, I didn't know anything about this," said Wooden, now a financial adviser. "And I would not have been cool with it if he had told me."

The only other class representative in the settlement died in 2016 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

This is not the first time a top client or firm in the case has taken issue with Seeger, one of the nation's leading attorneys in complex settlements, whose firm has collected more than $65 million from the case. In 2018, several firms representing thousands of players asked the judge to appoint a new lawyer to represent them; she rejected the request. And in 2020, Seeger initially dismissed accusations of racial bias in settlement payments raised by other attorneys before reversing his stance and publicly apologizing to Black players for not acting sooner.

In two interviews with The Post, Seeger defended his advocacy for players in the case.

"A whole bunch of people to this day don't understand the victories that we've had in the deal that have caused [the NFL] to now be at almost $1.2 billion," he said.

Two experts in class action settlements told The Post they were troubled by allegations lawyers didn't explain terms to a lead client, and they expressed outrage about administrative breakdowns in the NFL's network of doctors.

"This is a systemic failure, at every level," said Adam Zimmerman, a professor at USC Gould School of Law. "For this to have been going on as long as it has ... and players are dying while waiting for their benefits ... I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around this."

Medical disputes over who qualifies for money in complex settlements are commonplace, these experts said. But they were unaware of another case in which lawyers took a well-known medical condition with a commonly accepted definition - such as dementia - and created their own criteria.

As the NFL and Seeger sold the settlement a decade ago, they often described it as "landmark" and "historic." Some players and their families who have actually gone through the settlement, however, use another phrase to describe it.

One is Sallye Benecke. Doctors diagnosed her late husband, former NFL player Freeman White, with Alzheimer's disease in 2013 and treated him as his condition worsened until he died of cancer five years later. His claim was denied because a settlement review doctor suggested his symptoms were caused not by Alzheimer's but by something else: a vitamin deficiency.

"When we started this whole thing, the lawyers said if you were diagnosed with one of these diseases, you'd get a check," Benecke said. "This whole case feels like a bait-and-switch."

Brad Karp, attorney for the NFL, said in 2018, "Cognitive impairment as a risk of playing professional football is one of those rare existential threats to this particular client." (David Richard/AP)

THE PLAYERS VS. THE NFL

The lawsuits began in 2011. Seventy-five players sued the NFL in state court in California, then seven more in federal court in Philadelphia. Those lawsuits inspired hundreds more involving thousands of players, all accusing the league of deceiving them about the dangers of concussions. The federal court system consolidated the lawsuits and sent the case to Philadelphia, to be heard by U.S. District Judge Anita Brody.

Players blamed a long list of health problems on their NFL careers, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. But the main reason they sued was CTE, the once-obscure disease that had been discovered in the brains of dozens of former NFL players. The lawsuits sought financial damages as well as money for medical care, including for healthy players in case they developed problems later in life.

Publicly, the league dismissed the cases as baseless. But privately, the league's top outside lawyer later acknowledged, he believed they posed a serious threat.

"Cognitive impairment as a risk of playing professional football is one of those rare existential threats to this particular client," Karp explained at Columbia Law School in 2018.

As he rose to chairman of the Paul, Weiss firm, Karp developed a reputation as a trusted adviser to billionaires and corporations in crisis. He steered Wall Street firm Smith Barney through a sex discrimination scandal in the 1990s and Citigroup through entanglements to Enron in the 2000s.

"Many lawyers come to speak in owners meetings," New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft later told Business Insider of Karp. "... He is the only one I know that, when he's up there talking, he commands the respect of the entire room."

NFL lawyer Brad Karp said the settlement's dementia definition is not more difficult than what is typically used in American medicine, just more objective. (Matt Rourke/AP)

In complex cases, judges select lawyers to serve in the crucial - and often lucrative - role of lead counsel, representing the plaintiffs. At a hearing in 2012, Brody announced she wanted two lawyers leading the case for the players. The first could be selected by the top firms involved in the case. But Brody said she had someone in mind for the other: Seeger.

Several firms had hundreds of former players as clients. Seeger represented about 20. But while he lacked clients, Seeger had a wealth of experience leading negotiations in complex settlements.

Seeger's online biography on the website of his firm, Seeger Weiss, emphasizes his blue-collar background and passion for fighting large corporations. The son of a union carpenter, he worked his way through law school and fought as an amateur boxer before entering private practice.

Seeger specializes in class actions and other cases in which he typically represents hundreds or thousands of people against the same defendants. It's a system designed to unburden the courts, but some legal scholars have expressed concerns that a diminished role for clients in these cases can lead to inadequate settlements that deliver exorbitant legal fees.

"In a typical lawsuit, you hire the lawyer and you have oversight. You can get them on the phone, and if you're not happy with the job they're doing, you can fire them," University of Georgia law professor Elizabeth Chamblee Burch said. "Class actions are kind of the other extreme. A lot of times, the clients have no idea what the lawyers are doing."

From left, former NFL player Kevin Turner; Mary Ann Easterling, widow of former NFL player Ray Easterling; and ex-NFL player Dorsey Levens after a 2014 hearing in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke/AP)

A CONTROVERSIAL SETTLEMENT

In August 2013, the NFL and top lawyers for players announced their first attempt at a settlement. It drew criticism from the start.

Some experts had predicted the league would have to pay billions to settle. But the proposed deal would havecost just $765 million, including $675 million that the lawyers claimed would cover payments into the millions for any former player who developed dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or ALS. The deal also included $112 million in legal fees, a figure some experts criticized as excessive.

The news took players, including Seeger's own clients, by surprise. In emails exchanged in August 2013 and obtained by The Post, several complained they were blindsided.

"It is embarrassing that I can't even explain to my own family what this settlement means for me, and my attorney was the lead who settled the case," one player wrote.

"A leak would have ended the talks. ... I had no choice," Seeger replied.

Another client added up cases of players with dementia and CTE and estimated the settlement money would run out in a few years.

"You can't do simple math because it's not simple," Seeger replied. "That's why we spent substantial ... on economists, actuaries and medical experts. There's no guesswork here."

Judge Brody, though, agreed with the skeptical players and sent Seeger, Karp and their legal teams back into negotiations. In June 2014, they announced new terms: This time, the NFL agreed to an "uncapped" settlement. Any player who developed dementia or the other conditions would get paid, no matter how much it cost.

Under the proposed terms, families of players who died in the decade before the settlement opened and were found to have had CTE would get paid. But after the settlement opened, autopsy diagnoses wouldn't qualify for anything. Players who believed they were suffering from CTE would have to see whether they had dementia - as the settlement defined it.

Experts hired by the NFL and top lawyers for players created three definitions related to dementia. Players diagnosed with "moderate cognitive impairment" - pre-dementia - qualified for NFL-funded medical care. "Early dementia," as the settlement defined it, earned payments as high as $1.5 million. And players with "moderate dementia" could earn as much as $3 million.

The settlement itselfdidn't address how these definitions differed from how doctors normally diagnose dementia. And while dozens of players and lawyers argued in objections that the settlement would fail to help those suffering from CTE, Seeger and Karp dismissed their concerns in interviews and court hearings in 2014.

The settlement would not help players suffering from behavioral and mood-related symptoms associated with CTE, such as depression and rage-control problems, the lawyers acknowledged. But once players developed dementia-related symptoms of CTE, they said, they would qualify for settlement benefits.

"People got really hung up on CTE, but, you know, this is all about symptoms," Seeger said during an interview in 2014. "If you're sick and your activities of daily living are being interfered with ... you're going to get paid."

One outside expert - Boston University neuropsychologist Robert Stern, who researches CTE and Alzheimer's - did raise concerns at the time that the settlement's definitions could prove too difficult to satisfy for players suffering from dementia. But the NFL and lead player lawyers, in court filings, argued Stern was wrong, citing experts who defended the settlement's dementia definitions as "fair" and "scientifically valid."

And at the final hearing in November 2014, both Seeger and Karp emphasized how the settlement not only would get money to players suffering from dementia, it would even provide critical medical care to those with early symptoms.

"It is throughout the medical literature the importance of diagnosing these diseases early, getting the treatment and prevention. This is a very important part of the program," Seeger said.

[ Live chat: What questions do you have about The Concussion Files? Ask The Post.]

Karp, meanwhile, invoked the widow of an NFL player who had died of dementia. If only the settlement had been in place earlier, he said, its medical treatment program could have helped him.

"The NFL is proud of this settlement," Karp said. "It provides all retired players ... with the peace of mind that substantial monetary compensation and other substantial benefits will be available, if and when they are needed, without any risk and without any uncertainty."

Brody approved it. And soon, hundreds of retired players and their families met with doctors and began to fill out paperwork. Among them was the family of Glen Ray Hines, who had been diagnosed years before with dementia his doctors suspected was from CTE.

"That's where it started to go off the rails for us," son Glen Ray Hines Jr. said last year. "I think that's where it went off the rails for a lot of people."

Liz Cross, widow of former NFL player Irv Cross, who died in 2021. (Stephen Maturen for The Washington Post)

HOW DEMENTIA IS DEFINED

In interviews with The Post, Seeger repeatedly said "a notch above" to describe how the settlement's dementia definition compares with the standard across the country, from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the DSM-5.

In negotiations, Seeger said, the NFL agreed to adopt the regular definitions for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. But for dementia, he said, the NFL rejected his request to also use the standard definition.

"Their comeback ... was that there are doctors that hand out some early diagnoses that may not be technically accurate," Seeger said. "It's okay to get that person in a treatment program early. But in a compensation program, you're not going to get people to write a $5 million check ... based on some doctor who wants to be a little ahead of the game on the medical treatment."

A decade after he and Karp had touted how the settlement would get medical treatment to players who hadn't even developed dementia, Seeger instead portrayed it as a compensation program designed to get money to those with moderate or severe dementia.

"In a doctor's office, you may get that diagnosis sooner than you would get it in our compensation program," Seeger said.

Karp offered a different recollection of settlement negotiations.

"The NFL's principal goal in negotiating the Settlement was diagnostic accuracy," Karp wrote. "There are not 'more severe' requirements for dementia in the Settlement Program than in clinical practice."

Experts who reviewed the settlement for The Post acknowledged its dementia definition is less subjective than the DSM-5's. But it indisputably requires more impairment, they said.

Doctors evaluating for dementia usually put patients through a battery of tests in several domains, including memory, language and executive function. In everyday practice, one or two impaired results in one domain, with other evidence, are enough for a dementia diagnosis.

But in the settlement, players must have at least four impaired tests across two domains to receive any diagnosis - including for pre-dementia.

The regular definition for dementia also requires symptoms that leave a patient needing assistance with daily activities. In everyday practice, experts said, this requirement isn't strict or severe: Doctors commonly diagnose patients with dementia when they are still living on their own, driving or even working. While dementia is incurable, early diagnoses are important, experts said, because treatment can manage its symptoms.

But the settlement's definition requires doctors totake an additional step, consulting the Clinical Dementia Rating, or CDR, scale. A tool created by Alzheimer's researchers in the 1970s, the scale is designed to grade the severity of dementia, experts said, and is typically used in research, not by doctors in diagnostic work.

The settlement's "early dementia" definition requires players to meet some aspects of what the CDR scale terms "mild dementia" - which calls for patients to be "unable to function independently" at social events and to "need prompting" in personal hygiene activities.

Liz Cross, widow of former NFL player Irv Cross, with their son, Matthew. (Stephen Maturen for The Washington Post)

Memorabilia from former NFL player Irv Cross decorate a room in the home of his widow, Liz, in Roseville, Minn. (Stephen Maturen for The Washington Post)

Liz Cross, widow of former NFL player Irv Cross, shows a photo of the couple on her phone. (Stephen Maturen for The Washington Post)

Irv Cross was diagnosed with CTE during an autopsy. He had failed to get benefits from the NFL concussion settlement. (Stephen Maturen for The Washington Post)

"By the time people meet their 'early dementia' requirements, they've probably been sick for many years, and it's pretty late in the game," said Gil Rabinovici, a neurologist and professor at the University of California San Francisco.

Seeger said he made clear throughout the process to players and their lawyers that the settlement's dementia definition was more difficult to satisfy than how doctors normally diagnose the condition. His co-lead counsel in negotiations, Sol Weiss, declined an interview request but supported this claim in an email.

But they could provide no evidence to support the claim, and The Post was unable to corroborate it through a review of court filings and transcripts of court hearings and interviews with dozens of former players and their lawyers.

In a 55-minute recording of an NFL alumni event in Miami in June 2017 preserved on YouTube, Seeger explained the settlement to former players and discussed the dementia definitions but didn't explicitly mention that players diagnosed with dementia by their own doctors might not meet the settlement's requirements.

Seeger was joined that day by Wooden, a former Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears safety. Along with Kevin Turner, a former fullback for the Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles who died of ALS in 2016, Wooden served as a class representative, acting as liaison between Seeger and the thousands of players. As other players and lawyers had publicly criticized the settlement and challenged it in court, Wooden had pushed back and argued for its approval in interviews, public appearances and op-eds.

According to Wooden, the first time anyone explained to him that the settlement had its own, unique definition for dementia designed, as Seeger said, to be "a notch above" the regular definition, was in September, in an interview with The Post.

Wooden was directly represented in NFL concussion litigation by attorney Steve Marks. Wooden filed an affidavit in court, in 2014, attesting that Marks explained the settlement to him.

But in interviews with The Post, Wooden said Marks never told him the settlement had its own definition for dementia. Marks did not reply to multiple emails seeking comment.

Wooden recalled discussing the settlement at length with Seeger. And he expressed skepticism about Seeger's claim that he repeatedly warned players that, even if their doctors diagnosed them with dementia, they might not meet the settlement's requirements.

"I don't recall anything like that," Wooden said.

Seeger, in a statement to The Post, pointed to public court filings that stated other attorneys briefed Wooden on the settlement.

Several other lawyers for players who closely followed settlement negotiations also said, in interviews, that Seeger never warned them that the settlement's dementia definition was more difficult to satisfy than the regular one used by doctors.

"Absolutely not," said attorney Jason Luckasevic, who represented more than 500 players. "It wasn't until I started filing claims and getting the denials that I realized how difficult this was going to be."

Lawyer Christopher Seeger, left, and class representative Shawn Wooden spoke with members of the media after a hearing on the proposed NFL concussion settlement. (Matt Rourke/AP)

THE DENIALS PILE UP

The first players to experience the impact of what Seeger termed the "notch above" definition were the longest suffering: those diagnosed before the settlement opened in 2017. They were allowed to submit claims filled out by their own doctors.

All claims went to BrownGreer, a Richmond administrative law firm with years of experience managing complicated settlements. Before deciding whether players qualified, BrownGreer employees could consult a panel of expert review doctors who were vetted by Seeger's and Karp's firms.

Glen Ray Hines Sr., a former offensive tackle, was among thousands of players who filed claims in the settlement's first two years. His doctors had diagnosed him with dementia in 2014, and now, at 74, Hines was only getting worse.

glen ray hines card

In college, Hines played alongside future Dallas Cowboys legends Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson on a University of Arkansas team that won a national title. On the field, Hines surpassed them both, playing eight pro seasons for the Houston Oilers, New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers before he retired in 1973.

Hines's cognitive struggles started in his late 60s, his wife later told doctors. By 2014, he was beginning to have trouble expressing himself in conversation and, for the first time, needed help managing his finances. Doctors at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Ark., diagnosed him with dementia - and offered an educated guess about the cause.

"Given his clinical history ... Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) should be strongly considered," neuropsychologist Stephen Gemmell wrote in February 2014.

By 2017, Hines's medical records show, his wife said she needed to explain television programs and newspaper stories to him. In February 2018, Hines's son filled out settlement paperwork. One of his father's doctors signed documents supporting a payment for moderate dementia.

BrownGreer's response arrived seven months later. Hines Jr. recalled in an interview his confusion and anger as he read the words "NOTICE OF DENIAL."

Hines Sr. didn't have moderate dementia, a review doctor wrote, summarizing concerns in a single paragraph. He was still exercising and driving, the doctor noted, activities inconsistent with the settlement's definition for moderate dementia. Hines's doctors had been treating him for years; the review doctor had never met him. But that was it: claim denied.

"Just because my dad could drive and walk on a treadmill didn't mean he didn't have dementia. ... It was reminiscent of those big insurance companies that just automatically deny claims," said Hines Jr., a former federal prosecutor.

Hines Jr. could have appealed to a special master, an independent lawyer appointed by Judge Brody. But it would cost him $1,000, under the terms of the settlement, and hewas skeptical it would be worthwhile.

His skepticism had merits, it turns out: Of the 368 player appeals of denied claims through the end of 2023, according to BrownGreer, 71 - or about 19 percent - resulted in a changed decision and a payment. (The NFL is about as successful at getting approved claims denied, BrownGreer said, winning 29 of 143 appeals, or about 20 percent.)

Within months of getting the denial notice, Hines Sr.'s family moved him into an assisted-living facility, where he died in February 2019 of what his death certificate listed as "end stage Alzheimer's disease." An autopsy found Hines had actually suffered from severe CTE.

Gemmell, who treated Hines, said in an interview that his case illustrates why doctors don't typically use the CDR scale to diagnose dementia. Gemmell has dementia patients who still drive - although he advises them to stop as their conditions worsen - and he recommends they exercise as long as they are capable because physical activity is beneficial for cognitive health.

"It was probably one of the easiest diagnoses of CTE I've ever seen," Gemmell said of Hines. "And you can tell just by looking at the autopsy the diagnosis was correct."

Diagnoses by personal doctors such as Gemmell were overturned routinely, according to reports produced by BrownGreer. Of 1,241 former players who filed dementia claims based on diagnoses made by their doctors, 191, or about 15 percent, were approved. More than 800 were denied, and more than 200 were withdrawn.

Karp and Seeger, in comments to The Post,partly blamed the high rate of denials among these claims on fraud. BrownGreer told The Post it denied 325 claims after it audited them and found evidence of fraud. One California neuropsychologist, BrownGreer alleged in a court filing, ignored obvious signs players were purposely failing tests. And a Florida neurologist, BrownGreer alleged in another filing, diagnosed every player he evaluated with dementia.

But Karp and Seeger also acknowledge that many players simply failed to meet the settlement's standards for dementia. Such as Vaughan Johnson.

In 2016, a doctor diagnosed Vaughan Johnson, seen here in 1991, with dementia. (Mike Powell/Getty Images)

Johnson's claim was denied after a review doctor noted that he was still driving and working. (John Biever/Getty Images)

In 2016, a doctor diagnosed Johnson, then 54, with dementia. The former Saints and Eagles linebacker had been experiencing memory problems for years, he and his wife told doctors, and his cognitive scores showed impairment. BrownGreer denied his claim, though, after a review doctor argued his diagnosis didn't meet the settlement's criteria, in part because he was still driving and working.

Johnson died in 2019 of kidney failure. Weeks before his death, a second neurologist also diagnosed dementia. An autopsy found severe CTE.

"I don't know how they came up with their criteria, but it's clearly not working," said Catherine Hagerty, the neurologist who evaluated Johnson shortly before he died.

In his response to The Post, Karp noted that it is possible to have brain damage consistent with CTE and not experience symptoms.

"The Settlement compensates the significant neurocognitive and neuromuscular impairments that are allegedly associated with CTE. That does not mean that every individual who is later diagnosed with CTE will meet the requirements," Karp wrote.

While much is still unknown about CTE, there is little dispute among scientists that people found with its severe form - what researchers call Stage 3 or 4 - probably suffered significant cognitive problems. In these stages, brain tissue has often visibly shrunk and atrophied.

Of the 14 players The Post found with CTE who failed to qualify for settlement benefits, 11 had severe disease. All 14 complained to doctors of dementia symptoms, records show, most commonly progressive memory loss. Six were never diagnosed with dementia or a related disorder in life, but in interviews, their family members said that doesn't mean they didn't suffer.

Claude Humphrey, a Hall of Fame defensive end for the Falcons and Eagles, told settlement doctors in 2019 that he had been experiencing only "mild memory lapses," but his daughter told The Post he had downplayed his struggles. Humphrey's test scores showed impairment, his records show. But his scores weren't low enough for the settlement, his medical records show, nor were his symptoms severe enough. He died in 2021 of a heart issue, and an autopsy found severe CTE.

Eight of the 14 players were diagnosed in life with dementia or a related condition, such as Alzheimer's.

Irv Cross was among them. As a defensive back, Cross twice earned Pro Bowl honors for the Eagles and Los Angeles Rams in the 1960s. But he was more widely known for his television career. In 1975, he became the first Black full-time analyst for a network sports broadcast, CBS's "The NFL Today," where he worked for 15 years.

Cross's cognitive problems began in the early 2000s, when he was in his early 60s, his wife, Liz, later told doctors. In 2016, a doctor diagnosed him with mild cognitive impairment - often a precursor to dementia - and expressed concern he was suffering from CTE. In 2017, another doctor diagnosed Cross with dementia. The next year, he and Liz met with settlement doctors.

Irv had stopped driving, Liz told doctors, and couldn't do anything around the house more complicated than microwave frozen meals. Her once even-keeled, affable husband had also become "uncharacteristically mean and rude," Liz said, erupting in outbursts of anger and paranoia directed at her and their son.

"She stays with him only because she knows it is not him and rather the disease," a neuropsychologist wrote.

Cross's symptoms met the settlement's definition for dementia, his medical records show, but he didn't score low enough on cognitive tests.Cross died three years later. On his death certificate, doctors cited Alzheimer's, but an autopsy found signs of both mild Alzheimer's and severe CTE.

Ed Lothamer card

Ed Lothamer, a former defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, had been diagnosed with dementia two years before he met with NFL settlement doctors in 2018. By then, Lothamer got lost on routine drives around town so often, his daughter said, his family had attached a GPS tracker to his car.

But like Cross, Lothamer didn't score low enough on cognitive tests, his medical records show. His scores showed severe impairment in one domain - his learning and memory. It was enough to meet the standard definition for dementia but not enough for the settlement, which requires impairment in two domains.

When Lothamer died four years later at a rehab facility, his doctors were unsure whether to list dementia or a heart condition on the death certificate. When the autopsy came back, however, they decided to cite something else as the cause of death: severe CTE.

Lothamer is one of more than 5,000 former players who have gone through the settlement's network of doctors and come away without a diagnosis, court records show.

As hundreds of players and families began to learn in 2017, however, even if Lothamer had gotten a diagnosis of dementia, as the settlement defined it, money would have been far from guaranteed.

Beth Lothamer, widow of former Chiefs defensive tackle Ed Lothamer. (Christopher Smith for The Washington Post)

PROVING DEMENTIA IS DEMENTIA

On stage in Miami in 2017, as Seeger explained the settlement to retired players, he introduced the man whose firm would stand between them and settlement checks: Orran Brown, founding partner of BrownGreer.

"Orran Brown was not brought in by the NFL. ... He is the best of the best," Seeger said.

Brown, in his remarks that day, emphasized his firm's independence and neutrality.

"We work for the people who deserve to get benefits from this program. ... We are not the cable company; we are not an insurance company. We ... want to get this done correctly and get it done quickly," said Brown, who declined an interview request.

One thing players wouldn't have to worry about, they thought, was seeing other health problems related to their NFL careers used against them.

Former NFL players commonly suffer from several ailments that can cause symptoms similar to early dementia, most prominently depression and sleep apnea. Disproving these ailments are causing dementia symptoms requires treating them and then seeing whether cognitive problems worsen, which can take months or years.

But under the settlement, the NFL had waived any arguments about "causation." And as NFL lawyers had explained it, this offered protections to players diagnosed with dementia who had other health problems.

"It would also be difficult for retired players to show that neurocognitive decline resulted from football at all, rather than from aging, poor health, or other injuries," NFL lawyers wrote in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016. "The settlement obviates this problem by conferring benefits on all class members without requiring any proof whatsoever of causation."

But as denial notices began circulating in 2017 and 2018, some players and their lawyers began to think the NFL had misled them.

Jeff Blackshear was among the first players to send in a claim package. An offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens and three other teams over nine seasons, Blackshear retired in 2002, and cognitive difficulties started soon after. A neurologist diagnosed him with Alzheimer's in 2014, at 44. Under the settlement, Blackshear's claim would cost the NFL about $3.5 million.

Blackshear card

But when BrownGreer's response came in October 2017, there was no information about a seven-figure check.

"While there is clear documentation of progressive cognitive decline," the document stated, a review doctor noticed Blackshear also had sleep apnea. Blackshear's diagnosing doctor had failed to prove sleep apnea wasn't causing his symptoms, the review doctor argued. Claim denied.

Blackshear died of pancreatic cancer two years later. An autopsy found severe CTE.

"He had hoped, when they saw his brain, they would understand," said Sheila Blackshear, Jeff's widow. Asked whom she meant by "they," she answered: "The people who denied his claim."

In a statement to The Post, BrownGreer declined to discuss specific cases, citing medical privacy concerns.

"We generally defer to the articulated medical judgment of the diagnosing physician," BrownGreer wrote. "However, we do not defer to the medical judgment of the diagnosing physician if that judgment was clearly erroneous."

In interviews with The Post, several doctors whose diagnoses were overturned disagreed.

In 2018, BrownGreer denied an Alzheimer's claim filed by Freeman White, a former New York Giants tight end, after a review doctor argued his cognitive problems were actually being caused by other ailments, including a vitamin B12 deficiency. Steven Arkin, the neurologist who diagnosed White and treated him for several years, said in an interview that he had specifically ruled out a B12 deficiency by prescribing a vitamin supplement.

A 2017 neurological report shows Freeman White took medicine that ruled out the possibility a B12 vitamin deficiency was causing his dementia symptoms, his doctor said. (Post reporting)

"We spotted that deficiency early on, checked it and treated it," Arkin said. "This just looks like bean counters looking for a way to deny claims." White died the same year, at 74, of multiple myeloma. He never collected any money from the settlement.

When BrownGreer denied former Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Al Bemiller's claim in 2020, a review doctor suggested depression was causing his dementia symptoms. But the doctor ignored that Bemiller had been diagnosed with dementia in 2014 - two years before thedepression diagnosis. And while he underwent treatment for depression, Bemiller's dementia symptoms worsened, his medical records show, as he lost the ability to drive and cook and began needing reminders to shower.

bemiller card

Asked what he would say to the doctor who questioned his father's dementia, Bemiller's son, Todd, replied: "I'd rip their head off. ... My father had dementia. My father died from dementia."

Attorney Gene Locks, who represented more than 1,000 players, said in an interview that he and other lawyersnever contemplated that depression, sleep apnea and other health problems would be used against their clients.

"The original intention ... was you didn't have to worry about other factors," Locks said. "The issue was you did or did not have cognitive deficits, period."

But Karp and Seeger told The Post that their public assurances about "causation" meant only that players wouldn't have to prove their NFL careers caused their dementia. Theystill had to prove cognitive problems were being caused by dementia and not other ailments, the lawyers said.

Former Bills offensive lineman Al Bemiller, second from left, with his children. (Courtesy of Todd Bemiller)

"The causation (benefit)," Karp wrote, "is distinct from the requirement that the impairment a retired player is experiencing must be due to cognitive loss (i.e., dementia) as opposed to other, treatable non-dementia conditions."

Several lawyers told The Post they always expected the first wave of claims to receive the most scrutiny. But the settlement created two networks of doctors vetted by the NFL and Seeger's firm for credentials and evidence of bias. Once these networks were open, these lawyers said, they expected diagnoses to quickly lead to money.

"These were doctors handpicked by Karp and Seeger that the NFL signed off on," said attorney Luckasevic, who represented more than 500 former players. "Why would BrownGreer question them?"

Randolph Evans was terminated from the settlement's network of doctors. (Michael Starghill for the Washington Post)

A DOCTOR PUSHES BACK

By his résumé and credentials, Randolph Evans seemed like an ideal candidate to see patients hoping for settlement payouts. A board-certified neurologist with an expertise in concussions, Evans had been practicing in Houston for more than 30 years when he joined the settlement's doctors networks in 2017.

But a few months after he began seeing players in 2017, Evans said in an interview, he learned many claims based on his diagnoses were getting denied. Ultimately, 38 of 138 claims submitted based on his work were denied, BrownGreer said.

The Post obtained two of these denials, which Evans said were representative of why BrownGreer and settlement review doctors often challenged his diagnoses. In both cases, the players' cognitive test scores met the settlement's dementia requirements. But review doctors argued that Evans had mistakenly diagnosed dementia in players whose symptoms weren't severe enough under the CDR scale because they could still drive or work.

"No neurologist in America uses the CDR like they do in this settlement," Evans said in an interview. "It's junk science."

In May 2018, BrownGreer terminated Evans's contracts to work in settlement networks. The decision was made "after noting the consistent inadequacy of his reports to include sufficient detail," BrownGreer told The Post. In a court hearing, Orran Brown described Evans without naming him, noting that many players traveled hundreds of miles to see him. Brody agreed this was a "red flag"and changed settlement rules to prohibit players from traveling more than 150 miles from their homes for evaluations.

A few weeks after BrownGreer terminated his contract, Evans wrote to Seeger, expressing his concerns about the firm.

"I have been using the same sound medical judgment and best medical practices when seeing retired NFL players ... that I use every day," he wrote. "I am concerned that BrownGreer cannot distinguish between fraudulent neurologists ... and those who are knowledgeable and use sound medical judgment."

Seeger said the letter didn't raise any concerns and criticized Evans for diagnosing dementia in players who didn't meet the settlement's requirements.

Evans is far from the only network doctor BrownGreer and review doctors have overruled, however.

The settlement has denied 290 claims involving players diagnosed with dementia by network doctors, according to reports produced by BrownGreer. And public evidence of fraud in these networks is scant.Karp said there have been cases of fraud he cannot discuss because of privacy concerns. BrownGreer has denied eight claims involving network diagnoses after audits, which typically involve allegations of fraud, according to court records.

But the firm also acknowledges that many denials involving network diagnoses are like the dozens reviewed by The Post: cases in which an anonymous review doctor disputed the diagnosis made by the doctor who actually examined the player. In some cases, records show, players diagnosed by multiple network doctors have still seen BrownGreer deny their claims.

Former offensive lineman Gerald Perry has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's by three different network doctors. But BrownGreer denied his claim after a review doctor argued the three diagnosing doctors failed to rule out other potential causes for Perry's cognitive problems, including sleep apnea, alcohol abuse and bipolar disorder.

"I didn't want this. When I saw those doctors, I was hoping like hell it would turn out there was nothing wrong with me," Perry, 59, said in an interview. "It seems like my life don't matter ... and they're waiting me out, to maybe settle with my kids."

Former player Gerald Perry was diagnosed with Alzheimer's by three different network doctors. But a review doctor argued the three diagnosing doctors failed to rule out other potential causes for Perry's cognitive problems. (Mike Powell/Getty Images)

Review doctors are always anonymous in claim paperwork. But the names of 12 current or former members of the settlement's review panel are identified in court records.

Eleven of the 12 declined interview requests from The Post or didn't respond to requests. One agreed to an interview.

Robert Friedland, a professor at the University of Louisville medical school, served on the panel from 2018 until early 2023 - when he resigned, he said, because of how appalled he was at how some review doctors and BrownGreer employees dealt with claims.

Friedland declined to discuss specific examples, citing medical privacy laws. Some review doctors seemed to enjoy second-guessing doctors who actually evaluated players, Friedland said. And while he never witnessed a BrownGreer employee say the company was motivated to suppress settlement costs, Friedland said, he noticed what he believed was a telling pattern of conduct: If a review doctor wanted to approve a claim, a BrownGreer employee would often ask the doctor to reconsider.

But in five years on the settlement review panel, Friedland said, he never witnessed a BrownGreer employee ask a doctor to reconsider a denial.

"Not once," Friedland said. "I thought BrownGreer was pushing us to get claims denied."

BrownGreer, in response to The Post, did not directly address Friedland's allegations, saying he "did not voice any of these concerns to us." The firm also noted that Friedland had said he was resigning because of an increasing workload at Louisville and that he had told BrownGreer "it was a pleasure to work with you."

"We do not have any incentive to deny claims," the firm said. "We have only an obligation to faithfully implement the Settlement Agreement."

In 2021, complaints among network doctors about BrownGreer and the review panel erupted into public view in a controversy over allegations of racism in the settlement. BrownGreer and review doctors had been denying claims if network doctors failed to "race-norm" the cognitive test scores for Black players. Race-norming is a controversial practice in neuropsychology of adjusting cognitive test scores using formulas that assume Black people naturally perform worse on common tests of cognition than White people. In the settlement, race-norming made it more difficult for Black players to qualify for payments.

Brody dismissed a lawsuit filed over the allegations but ordered Karp and Seeger into negotiations that resulted in removing race-norming from the settlement.

While the lawyers addressed that issue, however, complaints about another long-festering problem in the settlement went ignored.

Scot Maynard, son of Don Maynard, a Hall of Fame wide receiver. (Paul Ratje for The Washington Post)

A BROKEN DOCTORS NETWORK

At the final hearing in 2014 before the settlement was approved, Karp highlighted one of the aspects the NFL was especially proud of: the Baseline Assessment Program, a doctors network funded by the league that would focus specifically on dementia. Players were financially incentivized to see these doctors, as opposed to a second network of settlement doctors whom they would have to pay out of pocket.

To oversee this network, Seeger and Karp had recommended the Garretson Resolution Group, an Ohio-based firm specializing in settlement administration. Like BrownGreer, Garretson had a long résumé of previous settlements, including the 9/11 fund and the BP oil spill settlement.

"Professionalism is critical to us," Seeger said during a court hearing in February 2017. "That ... they're not sitting in a waiting room for two or three hours. ... [Garretson] has assured us that protocols are in place to ensure that things like that don't happen."

But as players and lawyers started trying to schedule appointments, several later complained in court filings, they often encountered waits of several months or more just to see NFL network doctors. And many of these players, after getting evaluated, experienced lengthy, unexplained delays waiting for Garretson to send them the reports they needed to start getting NFL-funded medical care or file claims seeking settlement payments.

Lawyers first alerted Brody to problems in the NFL's network in March 2018.

"Players usually must wait months for an appointment and often much longer to eventually receive a report," attorney Steve Marks wrote. "This is not the efficient, responsive program that the players were promised or the Court approved."

Marks's motion was one of more than 10 filed that week as part of a coordinated effort by several firms to alert Brody to how they believed the settlement was falling short of its promises. Some lawyers asked her to assign a new lead attorney.

"Seeger Weiss [Seeger's firm] has failed miserably in protecting the rights of the players," attorney Russell Berkowitz wrote.

Seeger accused the lawyers of failing to understand the settlement and said his firm was working with Garretson to improve its process. Brody denied the motions and declined to hold a hearing or appoint a new lawyer to work with Seeger,praising the "fine job Seeger Weiss has done."

A month later, Brody awarded Seeger's firm more than $50 million in fees for negotiating the settlement, 10 times more than she gave any other firm. Seeger had asked for $70 million. His firm also would continue to collect millions in yearly fees to oversee the settlement's administration.

In 2019, Garretson was acquired by another firm, Epiq. In court filings that year, Epiq acknowledged it was struggling to hire doctors in several major cities, including New Orleans, Dallas and Seattle. As a result, it was asking some formerplayers to travel - in some cases hundreds of miles - to see doctors. One of the main reasons diagnostic reports got delayed, Epiq suggested in court filings, was because its employees needed to repeatedly ask network doctors follow-up questions to ensure dementia diagnoses met the settlement's standards.(An Epiq spokeswoman declined to comment).

In 2020, Brody again was alerted to problems in the NFL network, this time by a noteworthy source: Hall of Fame coach Dick Vermeil.

When one of former NFL coach Dick Vermeil's players struggled to get benefits, the coach tried to intervene. "The process was really slow. It didn't make any sense to me," Vermeil told The Post.

One of Vermeil's old players, former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Frank LeMaster, had waited two years to get his diagnostic results, only to learn that two settlement doctors disagreed about the severity of his dementia, sending his case to the review panel.

Five months later, LeMaster's dementia was worsening, Vermeil said in a phone interview, and he still hadn't gotten paid.

"The process was really slow. It didn't make any sense to me," he said.

So Vermeil called the judge's office, according to an email from one of LeMaster's attorneys, and someone there referred him to Seeger's firm.

"They said they were working on it. I'm not sure I helped much," Vermeil said.

Days later, LeMaster finally got word: The review doctor had overruled both network doctors. He had failed "validity measures," tests designed to determine whether a patient isn't giving full effort. Research has found some dementia patients can fail validity measures because of the severity of their condition.

LeMaster went through the process again and eventually qualified for a dementia payment. By the time his check for nearly $80,000 arrived in October 2022, he had moved to an assisted-living facility. He died seven months later of a heart issue. An autopsy found severe CTE, which doctors listed as a contributing cause on his death certificate.

"Frank really felt the NFL - and whoever else was in charge of the settlement - was elongating the process in the hopes he would just die," his widow, Marylou Robinson, said in a phone interview.

In April 2021, the judge again received a complaint about the NFL network, this time from LeMaster's lawyer, Gene Locks. Locks had 38 clients, he wrote in a letter to the judge obtained by The Post, who had waited more than one year after meeting with doctors and still didn't have their results.

"Our clients continue to suffer from the ineffectiveness" of the network, Locks wrote.

Don Maynard, a Hall of Fame wide receiver, was one of those clients. In the 1960s, Maynard had helped power a prolific New York Jets passing attack led by Joe Namath. He went to see NFL network doctors in 2019, when he was 84, and they agreed he had moderate dementia. But by April 2021, he still hadn't gotten his paperwork.

Epiq employees, in emails reviewed by The Post, said they needed an unresponsive settlement neuropsychologist to elaborate on how she concluded Maynard's symptoms were severe enough. Maynard's lawyers asked whether a different doctor could review his records, but Epiq rejected that request.

"We are following up with the neuropsychologist ... warm regards," an Epiq employee wrote in October 2020.

Brody did not reply to Locks's letter, he said. She declined an interview request or to answer any questions from The Post about her oversight of the case.

Maynard soon moved into an assisted-living facility, where he died Jan. 10, 2022. The letter from the NFL doctors network informing Maynard he qualified for a dementia payment arrived three days later. His payment, for $52,529, came that September.

"I just don't understand how this is legal," son Scot Maynard said in a phone interview.

Hall of Famer Don Maynard in 2019. (Ben Liebenberg/AP)

Marilyn and Don Maynard in 1968. (Harry Harris/AP)

Maynard worked out at Shea Stadium in 1969. (Spencer Jones/AP)

Maynard in 1968. (File/AP)

Maynard's case was one of two The Post found in which a player waited for more than two years and then died before getting his settlement payment. And these cases are not extreme outliers, according to a report filed in court in June by Epiq. Since the settlement opened in 2017, players have waited, on average, six months to see an NFL network neurologist, the report states. Those diagnosed with dementia have then waited another nine months, on average, to get their reports.

Two widows of other players with severe CTE found at autopsy told The Post backlogs in the NFL's network contributed to them giving up trying to get their husbands evaluated before they died.

"The idea of getting him into a car in his condition just seemed ridiculous," said Deb Sturm, whose husband, former Denver Broncos offensive lineman Jerry Sturm, was suffering from advanced dementia and unable to travel by the time the NFL network offered him an evaluation in June 2018, eight months after she had asked for an appointment.

In August, The Post sent an email to Seeger's office detailing some of these cases. Four weeks later, Seeger and Karp filed motions asking the judge to remove Epiq as the administrator of the NFL's network and replace it with BrownGreer. She approved their request weeks later.

Karp deferred all questions about "perceived historical inefficiencies" of the NFL doctors network to Seeger.

Seeger said the timing was coincidental. "It wasn't until recently that we realized that they just weren't going to get the job done," he said.

Beth Lothamer, widow of former Chiefs defensive tackle Ed Lothamer. (Christopher Smith for The Washington Post)

A PLEA TO RENEGOTIATE

In 2018, Columbia Law School held a panel discussion on the NFL concussion settlement. Seeger and Karp both spoke. Brody attended, and when a moderator acknowledged her presence, the judge stood, smiled and waved to the crowd.

In Seeger's remarks that day, he highlighted one aspect of the settlement he believed was unique: a clause that requires the NFL and lawyers for players to meet at least once every 10 years, over the 65-year life of the settlement, to discuss potential changes to how it defines dementia and the other conditions.

"We have a clause in the agreement that requires us to go back and revisit the science," Seeger said. "That's a critical point. This settlement lives and grows over the 65 years."

Seeger has invoked this clause once, he said, during negotiations over race-norming in 2021. Several surviving relatives of players who failed to get compensated for dementia or CTE by the settlement, in interviews with The Post, said Seeger and Karp should do this again and rewrite how the settlement defines dementia.

When asked about this suggestion, Seeger expressed doubt.

"Look, if I could ... if you have a way to get [the NFL] there, I'm with you," Seeger said. "But you're not going to get them there. And I don't think even the judge can get them there."

Karp, in written responses, rejected the idea of rewriting the definition.

"The Settlement is consistent with medical and expert guidance," he wrote.

A few surviving relatives of players who died with CTE told The Post they are meeting with lawyers to discuss their options. One of them is Ryan Lothamer-Welch, daughter of Ed Lothamer.

Last fall, Lothamer-Welch and her mother, Beth, met with a reporter at Beth's home in Overland Park, Kan., to discuss the case. In their family, they explained, it is a point of dispute whether Ed's career in the NFL actually improved his life. When Ed played, they said, the most he made in one season was about $50,000. After he retired from football, Lothamer built a successful concrete supplies company that provided more money for his family than the NFL ever did.

As they shared photos of Ed over the years, Ryan stopped on one from 2018, the same year he failed to qualify for NFL settlement benefits. Ed is smiling in the photo but stares off past the photographer. His once blue, vibrant eyes seem vacant.

Former Chiefs defensive tackle Ed Lothamer and his family. (Courtesy of Beth Lothamer)

"You can see it there. He's already gone," Ryan said.

A lawyer recently told them they didn't have a strong case, Ryan said, but she remains undeterred. She doesn't need the money, she said, and neither does her mother. But when she considers giving up, she thinks about her father and what he might say if he were still alive.

"He'd tell me to fight like hell," she said. "And don't let the NFL get away with this."

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The broken promises of the NFL concussion settlement

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A 'landmark' settlement promised payouts for suffering players. But loopholes, aggressive reviews and a failed doctors network have led to denials for hundreds of players diagnosed with dementia, including many who died with CTE, a Washington Post investigation found.

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Anti-Muslim Hate Crime towards Children in America

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Anti-Muslim Hate Crime towards Children in America

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This article talks about the hate crime that happened to a young Muslim boy in Illinois. Him and his mother were the victims of a racist attack towards their culture. This happened in part of the "heightened tensions in the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East and at a time when Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. are warning against hate toward their people stateside." The war has caused a ripple effect of hatred towards Muslim people to increase in America. Many people in America already have a negative bias towards Muslim people due to the propaganda after 9/11 and the war has made it harder for people to freely be themselves without the fear of being a target. This family didn't do anything but be who they are. That that was enough for a White supremacist to attack them-- leading to the death of a young boy and a mother severely injured and traumatized.

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A 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed to death in his Illinois home by his landlord, who also critically wounded the boy's mother in an alleged anti-Muslim hate crime, police said Sunday, calling it a "senseless and cowardly act of violence."

Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times at his Plainfield home by Joseph Czuba, 71, Saturday, investigators said. He died at the hospital.

His mother, Hanaan Shahin, 32, was stabbed more than a dozen times, authorities said, adding that she is at a hospital and is expected to survive.

"Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Czuba was arrested and charged by the Will County Sheriff's Office after police say they determined he stabbed the child and mother because they were Muslim and because of the ongoing situation in Israel.

Before the boy's funeral prayer service Monday at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois, the child's father, Odey Al-Fayoume, speaking in Arabic, said he hopes something good can come out of his son's slaying.

"I'm here because I'm the father of the boy, not because I'm a political person or a religious person or anything. I'm here as the father of a child whose rights were taken from him," Al-Fayoume said.

He called his son a "martyr."

"I hope that the families of Gaza accept him from me as such," he said. "The issue of Hamas and Gaza are world issues, not pertaining to individual countries. I'm not big enough to speak of these things. And I hope that my son can be a means by which this issue can be fixed."

At the end of the funeral, a small white casket, which at one point was covered in the Palestinian flag, was carried away.

Hate crime investigation

The brutal killing comes amid heightened tensions in the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East and at a time when Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. are warning against hate toward their people stateside.

The slaying has sparked public outcry and heartbreak, as well as condemnation from the White House.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, based in Chicago, said the office had opened a federal hate crime investigation into the stabbings to determine whether the suspect violated federal law.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Sunday: "I am heartbroken by the abhorrent killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old child who died after being stabbed 26 times with a military-style knife. On behalf of the entire Justice Department, I want to express my deepest condolences to his family and his community as they grieve his loss."

The Justice Department warned the incident may "further raise the fears of Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities in our country with regard to hate-fueled violence."

On Sunday, President Joe Biden denounced the stabbings, saying: "This horrific act of hate has no place in America."

"The child's Palestinian Muslim family came to America seeking what we all seek-a refuge to live, learn, and pray in peace," he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday that she and her husband "grieve with the family of Wadea Al-Fayoume," adding, "We unequivocally condemn hate and Islamophobia and stand with the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American communities. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue working to protect our communities against hate and senseless violence."

The stabbings

The Will County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a residence in Plainfield just before noon Saturday and found the two victims inside a bedroom, both with "multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso and upper extremities."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago held a new s conference Sunday with Wadea's father. CAIR executive director Ahmed Rehab said Shahin sent text messages to Wadea's father recounting what happened, and detailing the anti-Muslim statements made during the attack.

CAIR said she texted, "It all happened in seconds."

She said Czuba allegedly knocked on the door, and when she opened it, he choked her and allegedly yelled "you Muslims must die," Rehab said.

Rehab said the mother and son had lived in the ground floor of the home for two years and had previously. had a cordial relationship with the landlord.

"The father said [the landlord] had built a tree house for the boy and allowed him to swim in a makeshift pool and brought him toys. But it wasn't until he started watching the news and hearing the statements [about the war] that something changed," Rehab said.

The sheriff's office said Shahin called 911 after her landlord "attacked her with a knife" - described as a 12-inch, serrated military-style knife with a seven-inch blade - and she ran into the bathroom and fought off her attacker as she called for help.

Czuba was found sitting on the ground near the driveway with a laceration to his head, the sheriff's office said. After being treated at a hospital he was questioned by detectives but did not make any statements, authorities said.

Court documents filed Monday said that Shahin told detectives that Czuba attacked her "over the conflict in Jerusalem" and that days before the stabbing, Czuba confronted her about what was going on in the Middle East.

At an initial court hearing Monday, Czuba was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two hate crime counts. He was denied pretrial release because of the gruesome nature of the crimes and because he poses a threat to Shahin, who survived the attack.

It was not clear whether he had legal counsel. The county public defender's office and district attorney's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

'He paid the price for the atmosphere of hate'

Wadea loved soccer and basketball and had just celebrated his sixth birthday, Rehab said.

"And he paid the price for the atmosphere of hate and otherizationand dehumanization that, frankly, I think we are seeing here in the United States," Rehab said.

Shahin had come to the U.S. 12 years ago from the Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Wadea's father came to the U.S. nine years ago, and Wadea was born in the U.S.

"I was talking to the father and he said, 'Part of the reason we came here was to escape the settler violence in which situations like this could occur with impunity and it chased us all the way to the United States,'" Rehab said Sunday.

His father said in an interview that aired on "TODAY" Monday: "It's like a dream. I still didn't believe my son is gone."
Tom Namako contributed reporting.

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6-year-old Palestinian American boy is killed in anti-Muslim attack in Illinois, authorities say

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The sheriff's office said a motive for the stabbing of a mother and her son was "them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis."

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Darryl George - suspended for not cutting his loss

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Darryl George - suspended for not cutting his loss

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Darrly George is an 18 year old, who was suspended by a high school in Texas for having "too long" of locs. This is a great example as to how schools find ways to racially discriminate their students through rules and policies in their dress code. This school had a policy that boys hair cannot be past their shoulders. This is such a violation to ones self expression of culture. Texas does not enforce the Crown Act, which is an act to fight against discrimination in schools and workplaces.

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Student’s punishment for locs did not violate Crown Act, Texas judge rules

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A Texas judge ruled a school district’s grooming policy did not violate the state’s law banning race-based hair discrimination because it dealt with hair length, not style.

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I grew up in a small wealthy town in the Bay Area, I remember this occurrence happening during COVID-19 and all of the BLM protests. This was only one of the many occurrences for high school-aged kids.

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Masked men display 'White Lives Matter' sign in Danville

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I'm from a relatively small town called Bend, Oregon. This is a town that although is predominately white, is extremely progressive and heavily advocates for womans rights, the black lives matter movement, and immigrants. However, despite this, a racist man shot and killed an innocent black man, Barry Washington, outside of a night club. This came as a shock to the whole, seemingly progressive, community. I chose this article because it shows you that white supremecy/racism/injustice can and will happen anywhere, no matter how "left/blue/progressive" an area is. How it's still so rooted in our societies despite the growing awareness of it. In terms of the Bonilla and Rosa argument about how social media can "allow for a dispersed audience to enter into a shared experience/public space," I think this article adds to the unity it brings, yet lack of super effective change it can insight. The aftermath of this shooting ignited a passionate rage into the Bend community, and vigils and protests, as well as social media posts, took the town by storm. It brought the community together in a beautiful but tragic way. However, Ian Cranston, the shooter, still didn't get the punishment he truly deserved, and only got sentenced 10 years for manslaughter, despite the endless backlash that sentencing received by community. So yes, digital activism has several pros, but sometimes it can't enact the change people wish it could.

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Barry Washington's family addressed Cranston, saying his actions were motivated by racism

A Deschutes County Court judge on Monday sentenced 28-year-old Ian Cranston to 10 years in state prison and three years of parole for the killing of Barry Washington Jr. outside a Bend nightclub in 2021.

Judge Beth Bagley spoke to Cranston before announcing the sentence, saying she imagined he would have acted differently on the night of the shooting if given another chance.

"I can't imagine how you couldn't want to do it differently," Bagley said. "Everybody here lost, some much more than others."

On Nov. 16, a jury convicted Cranston of five counts related to the shooting, including first degree manslaughter, second degree manslaughter, first degree assault and two counts of unlawful use of a deadly weapon.

Bagley ruled that Cranston's various sentences would run concurrent to one another. Oregon's mandatory minimum laws require that Cranston serve all 10 years of his sentence, with no chance of parole or having the sentence lessened.

Ian Cranston speaks during his murder trial at the Deschutes County Courthouse in Bend, Ore., on Nov. 9, 2022.
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin

The sentencing ends what has been one of Central Oregon's most high profile trials in recent years. It's been more than 14 months since Cranston shot Washington, an unarmed Black man, following an altercation between the two outside the Capitol Bar in downtown Bend. Prosecutors have said a fight began between them after Washington flirted with Cranston's fiancee, Allison Butler.

In the trial, Cranston's defense team argued that their client acted in self defense, noting that Washington had punched Cranston twice in the head before shots were fired, and that Cranston feared significant injury if Washington punched him again.

Prosecutors argued that the single shot that night came 30 seconds after Washington punched Cranston, and criticized Cranston's choice to carry a firearm while he was drinking. They also pointed out that Cranston appeared to be smoking a cigarette immediately after the shooting, which they say showed he did not fear for his safety

Multiple members of Washington's family addressed the court and Cranston on Monday, and shared emotional testimonials of the impact of Washington's life and killing. Washington had only recently moved to Central Oregon from the San Francisco Bay Area; his family spoke about his love for his family, and playing basketball and football.

Lawanda Roberson, his mother, said it was to clear to her that Cranston killing her son was a racist act.

"Does anyone think that Cranston would have even noticed my son if he was not Black?" Roberson said. "What's clear to me is that if my son was white, he would be alive today. You don't have to be Black to know that."

Other members of Washington's family said they did not believe 10 years was sufficient and that Cranston should spend the rest of his life in prison.

Washington's death spurred protests after the shooting and during the entirety of the trial, with many pointing to the similarity between his death and other unarmed Black men killed across the country. A group of protesters Monday marched from the Deschutes County Courthouse to the corner where Washington was killed, just a few blocks away.

Cranston chose not to speak at his sentencing hearing.

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Judge sentences Ian Cranston to 10 years in prison for Bend nightclub shooting

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Barry Washington's family addressed Cranston in court, describing his actions as "evil" and racist."

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This article dissects Brian Jones experience growing up in America and his experience with racism in our educational system, one key example being a teacher describing his as 'amoral' without really any justification or reason outside of racism. This article supports Bonilla and Rosa's arguments regarding social media and the effect it has on allowing people to interact in a digital public sphere, transcending borders and time zones. It supports their claim by directly showing that an individual's experience, such as Mr. Jones here, is so universally relatable that one has to ask where this behavior stems from? Functioning as a spotlight onto a nationwide issue. One great example from their argument is that the use of Hashtags allowed users to organize and create an ecosystem around events, ideas, and things. Looking at what happened to Michael Brown, everyone rallied behind and added to the coverage seen through #Ferguson. While this article is not from social media, this glimpse into Mr. Jones' life and how so many young Americans of color can relate to his experiences wonderfully exemplifies the rallying power and interconnectivity of the internet at large.

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I am a black man who has grown up in the United States. I know what it is like to feel the sting of discrimination. As a middle-class, light-skinned black man I also know that many others suffered (and continue to suffer) a lot worse than me. I grew up around a lot of white people. In elementary school, I remember being told that I was one of the "good ones" - not like the "bad ones" I was meant to understand; I was different.

I remember the way this kind of backhanded compliment stung me, but it took me a long time to understand why it hurt. In truth, though, the comment rings true. I am "good" by America's standards, or at least "better": my skin is light, most of the time I dress like a middle-class professional and my manner of speech betrays a large degree of assimilation in the white American mainstream (for example, I use phrases like "manner of speech").

But as many others have learned, there is no amount of assimilation that can shield you from racism in this country. Throughout my life, something - the kink of my hair or my "attitude" - would mark me as inferior, worthy of ridicule, humiliation or ostracism. In elementary school I got the distinct impression that teachers didn't like me. I got in trouble a lot, and one teacher actually wrote on my report card that I was "amoral". In third grade, I had my first black teacher and the whole dynamic changed. Mrs Brooks decided it was OK if I squirmed in my chair. She taught us about discrimination and injustice and taught us to recite and interpret poetry from the black arts movement. (Thank you, Mrs Brooks!)

As I got older, I observed that my mother saw racism around every corner. She assumed that I would be the object of discrimination in school and maintained an intense, vigilant determination to protect me from it. She monitored everything about my treatment in school, ready to leap at the slightest slight. Sometimes I thought she went too far. I wasn't chosen to give a speech to my middle school's assembly, and so she inquired as to why I wasn't chosen, and she insisted that I be given a shot. So, thanks to my mother raising a fuss I had to give a speech to my entire middle school. (Thank you, mom!)

'Like many young black people, I internalized the idea that I would have be twice as good to get half as much respect.' Photograph: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

In high school I started wondering, as teenagers do, how people go about finding romantic partners. From what I could tell in movies and television shows - my principal sources of information - you had to be a rich and white to be worthy of love. I was neither, so I was worried. Like many young black people, I internalized the idea that I would have be twice as good to get half as much respect. Much to my dismay, my blackness seemed to be the salient thing about me. One of my classmates had a gift for inventing creative ways to make fun of my kinky hair, and he got enough people laughing to send me home in tears for a good part of my freshman and sophomore years of high school.

One year, one of the few black students at my high school found a noose hanging in his locker one day. The culprit - a white student - was quickly discovered, and all he had to do to get out of trouble was issue a lame apology. I thought his punishment should have been more severe. I convinced my best friend to wear black armbands in school to protest. This act earned me no greater respect, and actually greater ridicule. Several of our teachers thought it was funny and even prompted our classmates to laugh at our expense: "Look at Jones," one teacher said, "starting a revolution." (Thank you, Mr I forget-your-name!)

I became so well-practiced in the art of not offending racist white people that I ceased to become outraged by them

Looking back, I realize that, apart from my black armband episode, my survival strategy was to make myself as non-threatening as possible. I became so well-practiced in the art of not offending racist white people that I ceased to become outraged by them, at least when they affected me directly. I knew how to enter a store, to make eye contact with someone who worked there, to smile and say hello as if to say: "Don't worry, I'm not trying to steal anything." Somehow - I suppose from being followed in stores frequently - I learned not to carry books into a bookstore, not to walk through a store with bags that were not sealed or zippered shut, and so on.

Now that I'm older, with a graying beard and significantly less hair on my head, I probably don't need to keep up this routine, as I'm probably the cause of less suspicion, but the habit has stayed with me. While shopping, I still assume that I am suspect. I am a middle-aged man, and yet I still habitually enter the grocery store, the book store, the clothing store, etc looking for the first opportunity to reassure the employees that I'm not going to be a problem.

At some point, I figured out (at least, intellectually) that it doesn't matter how "good" I am - my fate is bound up with all of those who are "bad". There was a moment in my adulthood when I decided that the present order is intolerable and a new world is both possible and necessary. In the grand scheme of things, my experiences of everyday racism are not that important. I am neither the most privileged nor most oppressed. I know that there are people of all stripes who are trying to survive on this planet with fewer resources than I have.

I am consistently inspired by the words of the early 20th-century socialist Eugene V Debs (a white guy!) who famously told a judge, after being convicted of sedition: "Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."

Malcolm X: 'Human rights! Respect as human beings! That's what American black masses want.' Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis / AP Images

I am also inspired by the words of Malcolm X, who summarized the goals of the black movement as: "Human rights! Respect as human beings! That's what American black masses want. That's the true problem. The black masses want to not be shrunk from as though they are plague-ridden. They want not to be walled up in slums, in the ghettoes, like animals. They want to live in an open, free society where they can walk with their heads up, like men and women!"

Eugene Debs and Malcolm X are very different men from very different social contexts, and yet in my mind they are congruent.

Growing up in this country, my experience with everyday racism, although unique to my class and complexion, has nevertheless given me some access to the "second sight" that is a crucial part of black people's gift to the world. To paraphrase WEB Du Bois, I believe that black history has a message for humanity. That message, to paraphrase activist Alicia Garza, is that the kind of equality black people need to be free is the kind of equality that will make everyone else free.

I write this as a black person who also knows the white American world. There is ignorance and prejudice there, but there is also pain, suffering and struggle. I am grateful to my parents and teachers who helped me to notice and name racism and discrimination. They have helped me to understand my personal experience and, just as importantly, to see beyond it. I have become convinced that black liberation is bound up with true human liberation. Look at me, with any luck, starting a revolution.
Brian Jones is an educator and activist in New York. He is the associate director of education at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

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Growing up black in America: here's my story of everyday racism | Brian Jones

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As a middle-class, light-skinned black man I am 'better' by American standards but there is no amount of assimilation that can shield you from racism in the US

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In this article it reveals that the founder of Lululemon, Chip Wilson, chose the name because he believed it was "funny" when Japanese people tried to pronounce it. People are justifiably angry against Lululemon's anti-Asian origins. There are also many other instances where lululemon has rejected diversity and claims it to be "uninspirational" and "unhealthy". https://www.thestreet.com/retail/lululemon-founders-harsh-words-on-diversity-and-inclusion-sparks-outrage

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After a year of pandemic-fueled anti-Asian hate crimes, U.S. corporations have finally started decrying anti-Asian violence. Athletic wear maker Lululemon recently joined the chorus in early March, sharing #StopAsianHate messages on social media. However, it's difficult to take the company's acknowledgement that "there are instances in our history where we let this community down" seriously when one of those instances is the way the company allegedly got its name.

In 2004, Lululemon founder Chip Wilson reportedly said he chose the name because "it was funny to watch [Japanese people] try to say it."

"The reason the Japanese liked [my former skateboard brand, 'Homeless'] was because it had an L in it and a Japanese marketing firm wouldn't come up with a brand name with an L in it ... It's a tough pronunciation for them," Wilson said.

Wilson denied making this comment in a 2015 interview, but it's hard to believe his denial because I've heard "jokes" like that my whole life.

I'm Filipina and white. While "jokes" about Asian people having a hard time pronouncing Ls and claims of COVID-infected "bat fried rice" were aimed at East Asians, they still hit me because Asians are often "otherised" and treated as a monolith in this country. It didn't matter that I wasn't Chinese when the boy I had a crush on in fourth grade called me a chink. Each time I've been told I looked "exotic," it didn't matter what variety of Asian I was. Every single instance stung and contributed to a culture that sees people like me as perpetual foreigners.

I've lost track of how many times white people have asked me, "Where are you from?" People always seemed unsatisfied when I told them I was born in California. They're convinced that I must be from some other country because of the way I look-that they belong here more than I do.

"You don't belong here!" is what the man who attacked a 65-year-old Filipina woman in New York City yelled at her. He knocked her to the ground and then kicked her three times in the head. I doubt he cared which variety of Asian she was. I doubt the bystander who closed the door in front of her while she was lying on the sidewalk cared, either. And when Vincent Chin was murdered in 1982 for being Japanese, the fact that he was actually Chinese didn't save him.

When people commented on Lululemon's #StopAsianHate Instagram posts in March about the origins of its name, the company responded: "We want you to know this is not who we are today nor the future we choose. Our founder has not been part of lululemon for many years. We are focused on expressing our support for the Asian community."

Corporate statements against racism aren't actually useful if they're not followed by concrete action. If Lululemon wants to truly express support for our communities, there is at least one way it can make an active difference: The company needs to change its name.

Lululemon can't pretend its problems with anti-Asian racism left with Wilson, either. Last year while Asian Americans were sounding the alarm about the dangers of anti-Asian and xenophobic rhetoric about the pandemic, a Lululemon art director posted a link to a T-shirt emblazoned with "bat fried rice" and a Chinese takeout container on his personal Instagram account. The company fired him after public outcry.

Was this an isolated incident, or was he part of a toxic culture? I don't know, and that is a problem. A company cannot both fight anti-Asian racism and keep a name that is associated with making fun of Asian people.

It's funny to watch them try to say it. For me, every instance of hearing or seeing the name Lululemon is another tiny racist jab.

Whether the company wants to confront it or not, the name "Lululemon" is already tied to anti-Asian racism, and it won't be long before people start to wonder if the anti-Asian racism of the company name is actually a feature, not a bug, for the brand. If they won't be motivated by a sense of moral obligation to an at-risk community-which includes their customers-maybe they'll be motivated by the threat of losing their customers' money.

Lululemon is a profitable brand that has products that are bought and worn by countless people around the world. However, the company's name is a microaggression that spreads quietly and insidiously. Some people think microaggressions aren't that bad because they're often unintentional. But their impact matters, because they accumulate and enable much larger aggressions, from decades of brutal colonialism in the Philippines and Japanese Americans forced into concentration camps on U.S. soil, to the attacks on our elders all over the country and the murders of six working-class Asian women in Atlanta by a white man who thought they were too much of a "temptation" to live. Microaggressions enable indifference to this violence. People like the bystander who closed the door on the beaten Filipina elder and those who dismissed the Atlanta murderer's actions as motivated by a sex addiction-not by racism-are guilty of this.

I'm tired of seeing people acknowledge that Lululemon's name is problematic, shrug, and keep raving about their yoga pants when we're being attacked by violent racists and our children are being bullied as "COVID carriers."

I realize that in a time of racial violence, ongoing crises of anti-Black police brutality, deportation, a pandemic, and catastrophic climate change that hit communities of color particularly hard, the name of a clothing company is not this country's most pressing race-related problem. But to fight racism, we need changes on both macro and micro levels. This includes understanding the danger of ignoring racist microaggressions and making lasting change to prevent more harm-especially when you're a company as powerful as Lululemon.

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With anti-Asian violence rising, it's past time for Lululemon to change its name

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With anti-Asian hate crimes on the rise, Lululemon needs to confront its complicity in belittling Asians.

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Racism is prevalent in the healthcare system. Due to implicit bias, many healthcare practitioners have a pre-conceptual idea about a patient. Physicians are more likely to provide medication for white patients compared with black patients. In a study, it was revealed that white medical students assumed that Black patients had a higher pain tolerance compared to white patients, their justification for this was that they believed that black people had thicker skin. These biases can be traced back to the 19th century when racist doctors, who used these ideas to justify violence and unethical testing on slaves.

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Racial Discrimination in Healthcare: How Structural Racism Affects Healthcare

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Structural racism afflicts healthcare. Learn more about steps healthcare leaders can take to address discrimination and racism in healthcare today.

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This is an excellent example of racial bias. In this article, a black emergency physician, Khama Ennis, details her encounters with patients. They see a black woman enter their unit and immediately ask for her qualifications, where she was born, and her position. They neglect to ask her white counterparts these same questions. It is hard for these patients to come to terms with the fact that their doctor is a black woman. This physician has even encountered patients demanding to be seen by a "real" doctor or denying that she is a physician. In this case, I believe that social media was largely beneficial. After the death of George Floyd, Ennis noted that some attitudes had shifted. She encountered a patient who cried with her after they had held a moment of silence for one of many victims of police brutality. As Bonilla and Rosa argued, social media provided a way to bring visibility to these matters which otherwise would have not gotten global coverage. The death of George Floyd was largely publicized on social media and helped to open some people's eyes to the cruel reality of modern racism. Hopefully, the use of social media will continue to bring awareness to these realities that POC endure, whether it is in the face of law enforcement or biased patients.

Additionally, the authors highlight the effectiveness of social media when it comes to uniting members of a marginalized community. When I researched cases of racial bias against healthcare providers on a social media search engine, I saw hundreds of individuals recounting similar stories of discrimination in the workplace. Hopefully, social media will continue to unite people in these communities and provide awareness to outsiders of the conditions they are undergoing. Ennis closes out the interview by stating that media coverage of the protests is giving her hope that it could be the "first step of the many to come".

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Khama Ennis, chief of emergency medicine at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Massachusetts, at the hospital earlier this year. (Christine Kellogg)
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The grotesque racism that we witnessed with the killing of George Floyd has made it clear, again, that there is an enormous amount of work to be done in this country. The outcry has been tremendous, but the hardest work is yet to come. Structural racism penetrates our everyday lives and won't be dismantled until it is widely seen. As an emergency room doctor, let me tell you what I see every day.

I decided to become a doctor when I was a small child, shortly after my family moved to the United States from Jamaica. There were no physicians in my family. I don't have a friend or relative who triumphed over a serious illness because of the care of a physician. I only saw my doctor, a white man, once a year for a checkup and vaccines. At the time, I had no idea that only 2 percent of physicians are black women.

Tunnel vision took me through school, undergrad, medical school and public health school. I then completed a residency and confirmed that emergency medicine is the distilled essence of my childhood idea of medicine. I see anyone who enters the building and wants help. I've had patients who were minutes old and patients who are over 100 - every part of the socioeconomic spectrum, every walk of life.

I don't choose my patients and they don't choose me. I'm just the one who happens to be there when they show up - even in the middle of the night with a shoulder dislocation that forced one patient to reveal the four-inch swastika between his shoulder blades.

I start every patient encounter the same way. I'm wearing blue scrubs and a long white coat with my name embroidered on it, and I visibly rub in hand sanitizer so they know I'm careful about spreading germs. A stethoscope hangs on a clip from my scrub pants and I have a name tag on my chest with my photo and a second bright orange tag with DOCTOR in all caps. I say, " Hello, I'm Dr. Ennis, I'm the emergency physician. What brings you here today? " Then I pause. Deliberately.

Unless I've seen the patient before, there's always a moment where things shift. The first thing they saw when I walked in the room was a black woman with natural hair. I wait a moment while they reconcile the cognitive dissonance of who they see in front of them with what they just heard so we can get to the reason they came. For most people, the pause is enough.

But some folks need a bit more help to move forward. There are a few questions I have been asked repeatedly over the years and I have a lighthearted canned response for most of them. The most common is " Where are you from? "

I reply with a disarming grin and then spout off: " I was born in Jamaica, grew up outside of Philadelphia and went to school up and down the Northeast. "

Sometimes we can get to the medical emergency that brought them in, but sometimes there's a follow-up question. "Oh! Where did you go to school?"

So I list: "Undergrad at Brown, med school at NYU, my masters in public health was at Harvard and residency training was at MGH and the Brigham."

That's enough to satisfy most people.

Sometimes, though, people ignore or cut off the introduction and respond to their own internal dialogue. Every now and then, a patient borrows a hospital phone from a nurse in the emergency department. As I walked in to meet a new patient, I once heard: " Ah! Here's the phone girl! "

A recent patient let me get through the introductory ritual and then said, "You don't look like a doctor."

I replied, "What does a doctor look like?"

"Hmmm, taller," he said.

"Well, sir, I'm 5'8" so I'm not sure how much taller I need to be," I replied. "In any case, can we move on?"

A favorite of mine is "You look too young to be a doctor."

In my mind, I say, "Black don't crack," but I just smile and say thank you.

Though melanin and genetics may be giving me an edge on the game of visible aging, I'm pretty sure these questions are based on that which is never said.

Once, as I walked past a patient's room, I heard the family berating their nurse, demanding to be seen by a doctor because they had been waiting for hours. I popped in to reassure them that I was, in fact, their doctor. I'd already been in the room several times. I had done a rectal exam. All I could think was, "Why would you let me do that if you didn't think I was your doctor?"

For the past year or so, I've started to share these moments with colleagues in real time. Most of my physician colleagues in the emergency department are white men, and sadly, these are issues that most of them have never had to deal with - not even once.

So much of my training, both formal and otherwise, has focused on relieving the discomfort of others. People come to me when they are injured or in pain, and my imperative is to relieve discomfort in those moments. That is unquestionable. In a nonclinical setting, however, I still tend toward relieving the discomfort of others, even as it means increasing or ignoring my own.

A few months ago, I had a patient who was absolutely lovely. There was no drama about me being her doctor. She was there with family members and they were equally delightful. I'd been in and out of the room several times, shared test results, a diagnosis and the good news that she wouldn't stay in the hospital overnight. As is my routine, I asked if there were any other questions I could answer.

She looked at me and said: " Are you a U.S. citizen? "

That was a new one for me.

I said, "Yes I am, are you a U.S. citizen?"

She looked a bit flustered and said, "Of course I am."

I replied, "Great, well, I hope you have a wonderful day."

At that point, my job was no longer to make her feel comfortable. I had done that job. So I pivoted and checked her bias. I now find myself less inclined to turn a blind eye to these moments. Many people, including my colleagues, have no idea of the cumulative impact of these interactions. For the patient, it was one conversation. For me, it was the third slight that day. Medicine is challenging enough, especially now with covid-19, without having to expend so much mental energy wondering when I'm going to be blindsided by bias.

Even as people across this country protest brutality and racism, there is fear among my white colleagues of how to approach the subject in our workplace. On a recent day, we ripped off the scab and over 100 people knelt for 8 minutes 46 seconds in front of my hospital in honor of George Floyd. A patient and I cried together.

After I'd finished addressing his medical issues, the patient, who is white, looked at me with incredible tenderness and his eyes filled with tears. He said he was sorry for what was happening in our country and the cancer of racism that has led us here. That was an incredible moment for both of us, and I hope the first step of many to come.
Khama Ennis is chief of emergency medicine at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Massachusetts. Read more: Extra food is rotting on farms while Americans go hungry. This group is trying to fix that. Kids in Navajo Nation have limited Internet access. A woman sent them 1,500 books. A 9-year-old and her friends raised $40,000 for black-owned businesses by selling homemade bracelets Have a story for Inspired Life? Here's how to submit.

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Perspective | As a black ER doctor, I see racism every day. It doesn't have to be that way.

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There are a few questions patients have asked me repeatedly over the years. The most common is "Where are you from?"

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Forced sterilization of those "unfit" to have children

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Forced sterilization of those "unfit" to have children

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Indigenous, mixed-race, people of color, low-income families, those with disabilities, the "insane", and the "diseased" were all subject to forced sterilization--many times the patients had no idea this was happening. Patients thought they were going to get one procedure and the doctor would sterilize them as well. Between 1907 and 1932, 32 US states had laws that allowed the government to legally do this.

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The Long Shadow of Eugenics in America (Published 2022)

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As young girls, the Relf sisters were sterilized without consent. What does the government owe them — and the thousands of other living victims?

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This article is about how racism is still a big issue in professional soccer due to it not being addressed. The idea of racism has been deeply ingrained in society today, but things can be done to advocate against racial injustice. The article brings to attention that soccer's governing bodies have failed to address racism which is why it is a big issue for pro players in the game.

https://sports.yahoo.com/soccers-anti-racism-playbook-is-failing-players--a-wholesale-change-in-approach-is-needed-060427668.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLmdvb2dsZS5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIyST1QN9fpqYEy-Th2et_tZQ_wTz_q0beaAlR59lvxTxDe9lQmFpuZhshnrrNfcbsBq_8FwHToaqqOsQpGo1WtjYf4CQ5uyACdQq6_tW0TCNpjs9YHEm9TzsByUttrlCa0G7Su3EbjYCdL_eNWIpJkL1YlYAiivgcS7YpWvujkH

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Do White People Experience Racism? | Middle Ground

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Do White People Experience Racism? | Middle Ground

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After watching this video it just made me happy that people were able to talk about their views and their opinions without arguing. People were able to voice their thoughts and were given the respect to talk and the others listened. Questions were asked, experiences were shared, and everyone was respectful. I agree with Bonilla and Rosa, social media is a very powerful tool that can help get rid of racism. In the article, page 2, it states that "the hashtag symbol (#) is often used as a way of marking a conversation within this platform." Something so seemingly simple as a hashtag goes so far because the amount of videos, articles, or anything behind one hashtag is endless.

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Do White People Experience Racism? | Middle Ground

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Recently on tiktok people are taking about how Trader Joe’s is renaming some of their cultural frozen dishes.

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Recently on tiktok people are taking about how Trader Joe’s is renaming some of their cultural frozen dishes.

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Earlier this semester we discussed teh difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation. We dicuseed how Trader Joe’s changes their name/ logo depending on the type of food. I thought it was very interesting how people on social media where starting to notice. And after reading this article and watching some TikTok’s to see other peoples opinion, i see that there is a divide in people opinions on this topic. The article talking about how they change the classic Trader Joe’s name/label to trader Ming’s for their orange chicken. Some argue that it is just a creative and fun way to make their brand more unique, while others argue that this is cultural appropriation and racist. The tiktoker Kyi went viral after she posted a tiktok with teh sound “wait a damn minute” referencing how she just noticed the name change on some of the Trader Joe’s products.

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In this video from a movie you can see how the 911 was called over a barbecue (barbocoa) Just because the neighbors were not of "western" decent. As mentions we see how this old lady had called the cops multiple times to complain on mundane things such as party traditions. Because this was a show we didn't really see a real reaction of the cops. But many times than not cops would have not taken the side of the neighbors and would have taken the old lady more seriously. Which is a huge problem that we are cureently facing.

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1.4K Likes, 27 Comments. TikTok video from chemicalrages (@chemicalrages2): "Racist woman calls 911 for them cooking in the ground #911lonestar #fypシ". original sound - chemicalrages.

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This incident is about an elotero being harassed in Long beach after working long days to provide for his family. The individuals mocked the elderly man who was trying trying to sell his elote. He was scared and disgusted by the acts. He was all alone while it was a 3 against 1 fight. The video quickly went viral and caused controversy between the Hispanic and black community. This behavior was outright disgusting and created a negative outlook on a minority community.

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Long Beach Mexican Elotero is attacked by a group of African American men

Social networks explode against this racist attitude

Users join and create a profile to support the Mexican corn seller in a monetary way

Elotero Long Beach: What a controversy that was formed after a Mexican corn seller was attacked in the city of Long Beach by a group of African-American men, causing great disagreement on social networks.

A couple of days ago, a short video circulated on social networks where several subjects of African-American origin attacked and assaulted a Mexican man, apparently elderly, who sold his corn on the streets of Long Beach California.

The video was shared again by the official Instagram account called @ chicapicosa2, where this profile once again showed the indignation towards this act.

In the clip with a duration of 11 seconds it is possible to see how the Mr de los elotes was already preparing his glass of esquites to sell it to him. However, African American men began to harass and harass the merchant, making fun of the product.

Later, the young man who was recording the video at first,

brings the camera closer to the inside of the cooler and together with his friends they begin to mock the Mexican one more time, arguing that the water from the corn was "dirty."

Given this, the corn seller, disgusted by these offenses and harassed by the attitudes of these men, decides to return the corn that he had already prepared to the icebox. The African American subjects in question ran away while laughing and mocking the man who had been taken aback by the attitude of these men.

Social networks quickly turned on and through Twitter and this Instagram account they began to write their disgust at this situation of racism for the Mexican.

Many users asked to find the man and help him sell all his corn, others created a profile to support this merchant Mexican, and some argued that they helped track these subjects to find the culprits.

You can see the Twitter video of the Long Beach elotero .

Account users @ chicapicosa2 They reacted in comments and began to demand justice for the acts of these men against the Mexican elotero who sold his corn on the streets of Long Beach.

Some Internet users argued their indignation and with a couple of rude words said the following: "Children of your pin # $% ma # @%, every day it is more common to see this wow, the truth is helpless."

One user wrote that they should look for their accounts and remove them from the network and thus prevent them from continuing to broadcast more videos like these of the Mexican elotero from Long Beach: "We should get together and take down all the pinch # s accounts of Instagram, because they do everything to upload it to their pinch # s pendej & s accounts, it is not fair and it is not the first time they have done it. "

And it seems that another comment seconded this user as he argued the following: "In Austin Texas they just beat an older man who sold lollipops, they took his money at gunpoint" wrote an Internet user.

To which another follower argue the same, but with a little more detail: "Here in Austin Tx, this past Friday they again attacked a man who sells pallets. They hit him on the head, they left him lying to steal his money. And so they demand respect? What is your life worth more? " release the user.

Other Internet users argued because they did nothing for the seller: "Why doesn't anyone do anything, because if they appear in the video they won't be stopped, what courage. It seems that a Mexican is not worth the same as other races ".

More comments from indignation began to arrive at the publication of the video of the Mexican elotero from Long Beach:
Filed Under: Elotero Long Beach
"What courage, at least they did not beat him", "Where are they from to go for them and give them a lift", "They pass the truth", "How angry the truth", "So miserable is their life", "OMG , that if they pissed me off *, WTF "

Subsequently, some users began to show solidarity with the elotero from Long Beach, where there were even several Internet users who asked that they please give them the address or information in order to help the Mexican.

"What is the @ of the Lord's family? Someone please tell me "," Does anyone know the man? "," I just woke up and it is the first thing I see and even the tears come out of me, how sad they make our people "

It should be noted that also on Twitter some Internet users spoke out against the injustice experienced by the Mexican elotero from Long Beach, where a user explained why the corn soup was dark, which is why African-American men made fun, arguing that the water was "dirty"

"The corn water from the ESQUITE, (it is actually broth) should look darker compared to the corn is different and the" hairs "on the corn stain the water a light brown. Second: it has butter so obviously it looks thick and not clear. Third: it has a lot of herbs and sometimes chicken "
Filed Under: Elotero Long Beach
Subsequently, several users joined, and even created a profile on GoFundMe to support the seller of corn in a monetary way, where other users even tried to track the profile that had published this video where they made fun of the Mexican but that the user in question removed the video from their profile.

The post INDIGNATION! Some African-American subjects make fun of a Mexican elotero who sold on the streets of Long Beach (VIDEO) appeared first on Hispanic World.

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INDIGNATION! Some African-American subjects make fun of a Mexican elotero who sold on the streets of Long Beach (VIDEO)

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Long Beach Mexican Elotero is attacked by a group of African American men Social networks explode against this racist attitude Users join and create a profile to support the Mexican corn seller in a monetary way Elotero Long Beach: What a controversy that was formed after a Mexican corn seller was attacked in the city [...]

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The correlation between race and poverty in the United States is staggering. According to census.gov, black Americans are more than twice as likely to be below the poverty line than their white counterparts. In her article, Michele W Berger illuminates the correlation between historical racism and poverty.

Berger argues that historical racial injustices such as slavery, Jim Crow laws, and segregation have all had a lasting effect that are still felt to this day. Even after these institutions have been officially abolished. To prove historical racism plays into poverty, Berger selected 15 different states and analyzed the correlation between historical racism and poverty. Predictably, she found that all states have historical race based poverty correlations and she found that the states with some of the most recorded historical racism tended to have the highest levels in racial poverty difference.

Even though some states ranked higher than others, it's seldom noteworthy. At the end of the day, every state in America (especially southern states) has a correlation between historical racism and poverty. It's only logical that multiple centuries of abuse, injustice, and exploitation that has only recently ended relative to its history would leave the average black Americans born with an unfair disadvantage. Even with some levels of additional support.

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Inequalities Persist Despite Decline in Poverty For All Major Race and Hispanic Origin Groups

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Black and Hispanic poverty rates reached historic lows of 18.8% and 15.7% respectively in 2019 but inequalities persist.

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This video covers a racsit man on a bus verbally attacking another man simply because of his race. He makes judgements with no knowledge and is humbled by the fellow passengers on the bus when he is confronted. Racsim is violent. It is the attacking of another person and a form of assualt. Stand up for what is right and for anyone experiencing racsim.

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Standing up to racism | "Exit right" - by Rupert Höller & Bernhard Wenger

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Young Gymnast Didn't Receive a Medal Due to Her Skin Tone

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Young Gymnast Didn't Receive a Medal Due to Her Skin Tone

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Ireland Gymnastics doesn't give a young black girl a medal due to her skin tone and only apologizes to the family after 18 months after the incident because "the world wanted them to" believes the girls mother.

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The mother of a black girl who was not given a medal at an Irish gymnastics event ceremony says the apology she has received is "useless".

A video emerged recently showing the alleged racist treatment of a young black gymnast being ignored by an official who was handing out medals at an event in Dublin last year.

The mother said watching the incident unfold at the time was "horrendous".

Gymnastics Ireland apologised on Monday "for the upset that has been caused".

In the statement, the governing body said it was "deeply sorry", that it knew it needed to do more to ensure "nothing like this will happen again" and it condemned "any form of racism".

But the mother of the girl said the sports body only publicly apologised after 18 months "because the world wanted them to".

"[The apology is] almost useless," she said. "There was no empathy shown, I feel like it's not true.

"It's been 18 months and it seems like they were pressured to give me an apology.

"I cried for so long and then millions of people cried with me before I could get this."

The incident occurred at a GymStart event in the Irish capital in March 2022, when children were awarded participation medals but a young black girl did not receive one on the podium.

The judge at the event later apologised to the family for her "mistake" and said that she would "never ever ever be racist".

However, the girl's family believe their daughter was the subject of racism. They have asked for the family not to be named, fearing it would prompt racist abuse.

Her mother said watching the incident play out was "unbelievable".

"I didn't believe in this day and time that this could happen," she said.

"It is painful to actually state the obvious - my daughter was the only black child in that competition, she stood out well, there was no excuse for what happened. She felt very upset about what happened.

"It was almost as if though they blamed her for being black. It's something very uncomfortable for a 10-year-old to go through."

She said she emailed the governing body the following day hoping to get an apology for her daughter.

"All I wanted was an empathetic reply from them," the girl's mother said. "I wanted a show of support for [my daughter]. And really what we wanted was a form of apology to show her. To say this is from them, to make her feel supported."

A year after the incident, the family received a short apology letter from the judge at the event, addressed "To whom it concerns".

But the BBC has found out the judge had written another email apology shortly after the incident and sent it to Gymnastics Ireland to pass on to the family.

In it she apologised to the family for upsetting "you and your lovely child", saying she was very nervous, that it was a genuine mistake. "When I realised my mistake," she said,"I ran back to get your lovely child a participation medal and apologise".

The family said that email was never forwarded to them. They saw it last month when they met with the judge at a mediation session. They expected Gymnastics Ireland would be at the session but it did not send a representative.

The family say it was clear to them after the mediation that the medal refusal was informed by racial bias. We approached the judge for comment but did not receive a reply.

But the family's main issue is with the reaction by the sport's governing bodies.

"They tried to cover up like it didn't happen," the girl's father said. "They probably thought that with time they'll forget about it. It was painful. You have to beg for an apology."

The apology from Gymnastics Ireland, which came last week, after the video had gone viral, was "so useless", said the girl's mother.

"I haven't shown her, to be honest, because it's been well over a year," she said.

She told the BBC she wanted to see a change in policy from Ireland's Department of Sport, adding "we wouldn't want to see this happen to any other black child or whatever race".

Gymnastics Ireland told the BBC it fully accepts that it has taken "far too long to make an apology to the family" and that "the child and her parents have been let down".

It acknowledged its response lacked empathy and said this was the first complaint of racism it had received since its foundation and there had been "many learnings" from it.

"The delays arose for a variety of reasons including human error, threats of legal action, intervention by third parties and our own understanding that this was a complaint from the parents against the official."

After the incident the family's case was taken up by the campaign group, Sport Against Racism Ireland, which informed the American civil rights activist Professor Harry Edwards.

He in turn contacted gymnast world champion Simone Biles, who sent the family a video of support.

"I wanted to let you know that I saw how you were treated at your GymStart event recently. I was completely shocked. I want you to know that you deserve a medal just like the other girls," Ms Biles said.

Receiving that video was a special moment, the girl told the BBC: "I was just jumping around all over the place because she's the best gymnast ever and I was really happy to hear that she's on my side."

And it has inspired her to stay in the sport.

"Yeah, I'm still continuing," she said. "I'm going to keep striving hard."

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Family in gymnastics racism row say apology is 'useless'

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The mother of a black girl not given a medal at a gymnastics event said officials showed "no empathy".

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Africans and African Americans Debate and Discuss 

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Africans and African Americans Debate and Discuss 

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As a white person, this video will educate you on not just the black experience, but on the minority experience in America, it really will open your mind to how much diversity and how many differences there are in what society has labeled one race. There are African-Americans that belong to the LGBTQ community the Republican party Democrat party no party there her mom’s there are young kids, and all of them have equally important experiences and just as interesting of different takes on certain issues. It also really opened my mind to how different the African experience is in America versus the African-American experience in America being that African-Americans many of them are ancestors of slaves that were brought here forcibly against their will. While many Africans in the specific debate came here on their own accord, by their own will. This certainly affects their political and social standpoints on the issues brought up in the debate.

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Did Slavery Affect Your Family? Africans vs African Americans | Middle Ground

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Why Does Japanese Society Overlook Racism?

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"The Japanese government's official position denies the very existence of racial discrimination."

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Who's Fault Is The "Crisis" At The Border

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Who's Fault Is The "Crisis" At The Border

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This video is an analysis of the "Crisis" at the U.S./Mexico border. It opens by challenging the narrative pushed by many different partisan, and supposedly objective forms of news media, and follows into what is actually occurring at the border, and what politicians are actually doing about it. The answer is: for all of the discussion, fear, and outrage, shockingly little is done to address these matters from any meaningful standpoint that would address the root of these problems. Of course, the intention is not to really do anything about these issues, because the U.S. benefits from the chaos of instability, and the ability to blame Mexicans for whatever immigration base issue the politician wants to run on. The video, like hundreds of others on the channel, goes into incredible depths to the root of the problems, delving into US foreign affairs, and into steps to take to actually make immigration safer and easier for everyone involved.

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Whose Fault Is The "Crisis" At The Border? - SOME MORE NEWS

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I saw this a little bit ago and thought of the problem with social media for all that good you can spread through the apps is just at easy for people to send and spread hate. A person like this that is a public figure likes something like this and then after the younger people and kids see him liking this stuff they will then to because they believe its ok our cool which is a very big problem in social media.

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Driver Noah Gragson has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR and Legacy Motor Club due to liking an insensitive meme with a photo of George Floyd's face.

"I am disappointed in myself for my lack of attention and actions on social media," Gragson posted Saturday. "I understand the severity of this situation. I love and appreciate everyone. I try to treat everyone equally no matter who they are. I messed up plain and simple."

Josh Berry will be in the No. 42 Chevrolet in Sunday's race at Michigan International Speedway to replace Gragson.

Floyd, who was Black, died in 2020 after a white police officer knelt on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes. His death sparked mass protests around the world and forced a national reckoning on racial injustice.

In the wake of Floyd's death, NASCAR banned the Confederate flag at events and venues after Bubba Wallace - its lone Black driver - said there was "no place" for it in the sport. Earlier that year, Cup series driver Kyle Larson used a racial slur while playing a video game. Chip Ganassi Racing fired Larson and he was suspended by NASCAR, which required him to complete a sensitivity training course for reinstatement.

NASCAR said Gragson violated the member conduct of its rule book, without providing details.

"His actions do not represent the values of our team," Legacy Motor Club said in a statement.

The 25-year-old Gragson, who is from Las Vegas, is in his first full season in the Cup series and is No. 33 in points.

More from CBS News

First published on August 5, 2023 / 5:38 PM

© 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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NASCAR driver Noah Gragson suspended for liking racially insensitive meme on social media

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Noah Gragson was suspended indefinitely after liking a racially insensitive meme with a photo of George Floyd's face.

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I came across this news article a couple months ago, and could not bear to watch the entire attack that was caught on film by a security camera. The man seen above beat an older Asian woman because of her race. The video is appalling and I cannot even fathom the fear and confusion the older lady must have felt as she was calmly trying to enter a building. This news story is one of countless stories that are published about people being violent towards another human being solely because of their race.

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A man was charged with attempted murder in what police have described as a "brutal hate crime" against an Asian woman in New York state last week, with video of the incident showing the woman being punched over 100 times.

Tammel Esco, 42, was arrested and accused of calling a 67-year-old woman an "Asian b----," following her into a building and severely beating her Friday in Yonkers, just north of New York City.

Esco was detained shortly thereafter when officers saw him still outside the building. Yonkers police announced the arrest and released security video from the building's vestibule area Monday.

The video shows the woman was trying to open the second door into the lobby when she was hit on the head from behind and fell to the ground.

Video shows she was punched 125 times, stomped on seven more times and spat on.

"This is one of the most appalling attacks I have ever seen; to beat a helpless woman is despicable and targeting her because of her race makes it more so," Yonkers Police Commissioner John J. Mueller said in a statement.

The woman, who was not publicly identified, is stable and recovering in a hospital, police said. She suffered facial bone fractures and bleeding on the brain.

Esco was charged with attempted murder as a hate crime and one count of assault as a hate crime. He was arraigned Saturday and remained in custody at the Westchester County Jail on Monday, according to inmate records.

He is being represented by the Westchester Legal Aid Society, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano called hate crimes "intolerable."

"I expect the suspect to be charged to the fullest extent of the law for his heinous actions," Spano said. "I continue to keep the victim and her family in our thoughts and prayers."

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Asian woman punched 125 times in New York attack; suspect charged with attempted murder as hate crime

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A man was charged with attempted murder in what police have described as a "brutal hate crime" against an Asian woman in New York state last week, with video

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In this article, the Washington post explains how black people face systemic racism within prisons. During times of slavery, African Americans were forced to labor in the fields. The Washington Post uncovers the fact that not much has changed in the 200 years since it was abolished. In many prisons where black people are the majority, they are forced to labor in the fields and even "pick cotton." Law officers within the prison were also shown to use excessive force on black prisoners, and deliver them the death penalty much more often than their white counterparts. I think that this article supports Bonilla and Rosa's idea that social media is a powerful and valuable tool to promote awareness and tackle serious issues. Prisoners are stripped of their rights and unable to voice their grievances to the public. The only way that they are able to express their mistreatment is through news outlets such as the Washington Post. People need to read about horrifying stories such as these, and social media is an incredibly valuable outlet for doing so. As Bonilla and Rosa said, most people use social media on the daily, and therefore the best way to get people's attention is through their phones. Without social media, stories such as this one about racism within the prison system would go unnoticed, and an already silenced group would get even less news coverage. We need news outlets/ ect to shed light on ordinary people's experiences with racism, particularly those who do not have the opportunity to share such as prisoners.

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All over the LA area there were different anti Armenian posters supporting the genocide of Armenian people. This type of radical behavior has been happening to Armenians since the genocide of the early 1900s. It is now coming back. Nothing will be done and America will continue to Support the Israeli government and Turkish government in their evil endeavors. Corrupt government and lack of education is to blame.

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Anti-Armenian flyers promoting ‘completion of genocide’ appear in Glendale

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The flyers were posted on light poles near St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church and other areas of the city.

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There are always racism no matter which city, country or state you go to. It is a never ending cycle and it makes me question why are people so racism and like to discriminate other people since they are the same as them. Even in everyday life, you can experience racism and people don't even attempt to stop it. Like in the news at a Tesla factory. People are using racial slurs with no consequence, thus a lawsuit was made against the company.

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The N-word and racist taunts: Tesla allowed racism in its factory, US government lawsuit alleges | CNN Business

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The United States government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla Thursday alleging the automaker allowed repeated and overt displays of racism toward Black employees in its Fremont, California, factory.

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"When Black Women Are Punished for Winning Too Much"

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"When Black Women Are Punished for Winning Too Much"

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At this year's Grammy Awards, Beyoncé Knowles achieved a historic milestone by winning the most Grammys ever. Despite her remarkable talent and critical acclaim (in other words, although she’s BEYONCÉ), she lost the Album of the Year category to Harry Styles. This was the fourth time she had lost this specifically prestigious major category award to a white artist. This sparked outrage and prompted a deeper look at the Grammy voting process. An anonymous Variety article published before the awards ceremony shed light on the voting decisions of some Recording Academy members. Shockingly, these voters admitted that their choices were not based on the quality of the music but on factors like Beyoncé's previous wins and her perceived cultural impact. Some even confessed to not listening to a significant portion of the nominated music, suggesting that they voted based on biases and misconceptions. This controversy goes beyond the Grammys; it exposes the persistent issue of misogynoir. The idea that Beyoncé is "too decorated" or that her cultural impact is "too disruptive" reflects a deeply ingrained bias that seeks to penalize Black women for their success and influence. This pattern is not unique to the music industry. It can be seen in various fields, such as sports, where athletes like Simone Biles and Serena Williams face criticism and bias despite their exceptional achievements. In politics, figures like Kamala Harris are labeled as "too ambitious” or “too outspoken.” Even in academia and the workplace, women of color experience the "pet to threat" phenomenon, where initial support turns into hostility once they excel. The struggle is not limited to high-profile figures; it extends to everyday situations like school valedictorians being forced to share their titles with white classmates or Black job seekers facing salary discrimination. These instances collectively reveal a disturbing societal trend: the constant demand for Black women to be "less" despite their accomplishments. The Grammy Awards' history further illustrates the underrepresentation and undervaluation of Black artists, especially Black women, in major categories. Out of 65 years, only 11 Black artists have won Album of the Year, with just three being Black women, the last being Lauryn Hill in 1999. In conclusion, the controversy surrounding Beyoncé's Grammy losses serves as a stark reminder of the deeply ingrained biases and systemic issues that Black women continue to face across various domains. It highlights the urgent need for greater recognition, equality, and fairness in all aspects of society.

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At this year's Grammy awards, Beyoncé Knowles became the winner of the most Grammys ever, but lost the Album of the Year category to Harry Styles. It was the fourth time she lost that prize to a white artist. As widespread incredulity gave way to outrage, a Variety article that had been published a couple of days before the awards ceremony began resurfacing on Twitter.

Under cover of anonymity, a handful of members of the Recording Academy, the professional association that bestows the awards, had spoken candidly about not just the who, but the why, of their Grammy votes. Beyoncé had been up for nine awards this year, including the coveted trinity: Album of the Year (for 2022's Renaissance), Record of the Year, and Song of the Year (both for the single "Break My Soul"). She would go on to win four, none of them in the aforementioned major categories. And while the opacity of an awards process can be maddening, it doesn't compare to learning that for some academy voters-according to Variety 's small, but nonetheless telling, sample-it's got nothing to do with music.

"I love Beyoncé's album," one voter told Variety, but she didn't choose the singer in "any of the top categories" because she has "already won a lot of Grammys." Another also admitted voting against Beyoncé because she "always win[s]." (Both said the same of Adele.) A third voter, described as an industry "veteran in his 70s," complained that "every time [Beyoncé] does something new, it's a big event and everyone's supposed to quake in their shoes-it's a little too portentous." That same speaker called himself a "bad voter" for not having listened to "a significant percentage" of the music in contention, blithely noting, "But that's my right."

This is not a piece arguing on behalf of Beyoncé's music, which would be pointless considering it was immaterial to how three out of the five interviewed judges voted. Instead, it seems more useful to look at the counterintuitive idea on repeat here, which seems to be that Beyoncé is in danger of becoming too decorated. That she is too meticulously intentional and inventive with every album rollout; too perfectionistic in ensuring that every release feels pull-out-the-stops unprecedented. That her cultural impact has been too outsize, too disruptive. In short, that she should be penalized for taking up too much rarefied space. Once again, it's misogynoir-the intertwined anti-Blackness and misogyny that pathologizes and stigmatizes Black women. Same refrain, different song. Related Article

This is bigger than the Grammys, obviously. Every time we get an unvarnished look-see at how the awards sausages get made, voters unwittingly confirm that racism and misogyny are key ingredients. In 2015, an anonymous Oscar voter declared her offense at the Selma cast wearing "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts to the film premiere in remembrance of police murder victim Eric Garner. Another anonymous Oscar voter in 2018 sniffed that Get Out "played the race card." I honestly cannot remember the last time (never) that an unnamed Academy Award voter complained about overblown marketing for the films of Steven Spielberg, or Meryl Streep's unwillingness to just read her lines.

But you know what I do remember? Judges in the International Gymnastics Federation admitting to repeatedly downgrading the scores of 32-time Olympic and world championship medal winner Simone Biles for executing unprecedented moves, in order "to ensure the safety of" athletes who would fail at trying the same. (This was more than two decades after the French figure skater Surya Bonaly was criticized by judges for landing backflips and intimidating her less able competitors.) I think of Serena Williams, the best tennis player of all time, being constantly masculinized in the press for her physique and how Maria Sharapova, who consistently lost to Williams despite using performance-enhancing drugs, made money off a book in which she expressed alarm over Williams's "thick arms and thick legs" and how "intimidating and strong" she was. I think of the accusations of being "too ambitious" that were hurled at then-shortlisted vice presidential contender Kamala Harris. Or the time when, even after 15 years at ABC as one of its most money-making showrunners, Shonda Rhimes tried to get her sister a $154 ticket to parent company Disney's theme park, only to be asked by an angry unnamed male executive, "Don't you have enough?"

It's not just high-visibility Black women who get this reaction. I also think of Jasmine Shepard, the first Black class valedictorian in her Mississippi high school, who was inexplicably made to share the honor with a white student whose GPA was beneath hers. Four years later, the school's class of 2021 valedictorian, Ikeria Washington, and that year's salutatorian, Layla Temple, were forced to share their titles with two outraged white classmates after their families complained that the school's handbook called for a different method for calculating GPA. In 2013, psychologist Kecia Thomas, now a dean at the University of Alabama, identified the "pet to threat" phenomenon, wherein women of color enter the workforce and are taken under the wing of a cheerleading mentor-usually a white man-only to have that support curdle into hostility once they prove their competency and look to advance. Relatedly, a 2018 study indicates that Black job seekers "are expected to negotiate less than their White counterparts" because their work is devalued. Because employers see them as less deserving, Black workers are punished with "lower salary outcomes" than equally qualified white candidates when they name a starting salary that exceeds the employers' expectations. " Don't you have enough? " indeed.

The hill I am currently gasping for air on isn't about an awards ceremony (which I haven't watched since I was a kid). It's my breathless fatigue at once again seeing a Black woman score the highest, only to have everyone call an unexplained time-out to rewrite the rules. Meanwhile, in 65 years, the Recording Academy has rewarded only 11 Black artists with Album of the Year, only three of whom were Black women. The last was Lauryn Hill, in 1999. Despite that history, the consistent demand remains: that Black women be just a little... less.

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When Black Women Are Punished for Winning Too Much

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At this year's Grammy awards, Beyoncé Knowles became the winner of the most Grammys ever, but lost the Album of the Year category to Harry Styles. It was the fourth time she lost that prize to a white artist.

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Before reading this article I was aware of how bad racism had gotten in this country but I didn't realize the effect it had medically and in organizations around the world. The cries for racial justice in this country are unreal, we cannot keep treating people as if only the color of their skin matters. Its unbelievable the sacrifices people have had to make for justice and how far away we are from getting the equality this country needs.

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Throughout the history of the USA, racism has been a persistent problem. In particular, anti-Black racism in the USA is rooted in the country's dark history of chattel slavery that enslaved millions of Africans (and later African Americans). This history perpetuated severe inequities and racism against Black people that have continued to persist for centuries. Although some gains have been made across time, there is still considerable racial inequality that permeates society.

Such anti-Black racism is prominent and extends to all facets of life, including the workplace (Avery et al., 2018). Race-based discrimination occurs throughout the employment process, including in selection (Pager, 2003), negotiations (Hernandez et al., 2019), leadership (Rosette et al., 2008), and retention (Couch & Fairlie, 2010). Additionally, many organizations have adopted "color-blind" policies to conform to legal compliance issues; however, such policies often ignore the deep-rooted consequences of systemic racism that can lead to negative consequences in many organizational contexts (Plaut et al., 2018). Systemic anti-Black racism extends to the academy, with just six percent of faculty members in the USA being Black (Pew Research Center, 2019). Racism is also present in our science, as the people who are studied in organizational science (i.e., study participants) are predominately White, and many of the publications in psychological science that highlight race have been written by White authors and edited by White editors (Roberts et al., 2020).

The highly publicized racial injustice resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and police brutality during 2020 drew particular attention to the widespread anti-Black racism that exists in our country. Indeed, during a time when people were attending to the news at a high rate, there was a steady stream of information around the increasing racial inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, greater attention was paid to highly traumatic racially unjust incidents that occurred in society. Perhaps the most culminating incident was the police murder of George Floyd-an incident so egregious that it seemed to stir even the most apathetic. Many Black individuals did what they often do-felt exhausted (Avery & Ruggs, 2020; Boykin et al., 2020) and called for more anti-racism resources and actions (McCluney et al., 2020).

Like many people across the USA, we (the three Editors of this Special Issue) also felt compelled to act. We envisioned this issue as a way to focus on anti-Black racism in the USA with the specific goals of (1) highlighting the history and current state of anti-Black racism in general organizational settings as well as in the specific field of organizational psychology and management, (2) showcasing empirical and conceptual work that provides evidence of the manifestation and effects of anti-Black racism as well as responses and solution to anti-Black racism, and (3) and intentionally highlighting the work of Black scholars in the field of I-O psychology.

Our issue kicks off with a curated conversation between four of the five living Black Fellows of the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology-Drs. Derek Avery, Patrick McKay, Quinetta Roberson, and Kecia Thomas-who reflect on the racialized experiences that they have encountered being part of a predominantly White society (Avery et al. 2021). The Fellows describe their experiences with affirming their competence; overcoming bias; gaining access to scholarly development, mentoring, and sponsorship; the importance of institutional and location fit; and identity affirmation. This rare peek into a conversation among Black academics helps provide nuanced context around not only barriers for Black faculty but also the variance in and interpretations of such experiences.

Our issue then presents several studies that focus on reactions to issues related to the racial injustice in society that emerge from the police murder of Black civilians. At the individual level, Ruggs et al. ( 2022) examines the spillover effects of hearing about police lethal violence against Black civilians on employees. They found a moderating effect of race in the relationship between thinking about shootings at work and poor work focus, such that the relationship was stronger for Black (versus White) employees. They also examined the influence of talking about these events with coworkers and found that although some conversations can provide social support, conversations that signal pro-police sympathy during the midst of a racially traumatic shooting can increase negative reactions from both Black and White employees. This study highlights the consequences of indirect racial trauma from societal events on people at work and shows how organizational dynamics can mitigate or exacerbate this trauma.

Next, Wang et al. ( 2022) take an organizational perspective and examine the ways in which Fortune 1000 companies responded after the death of George Floyd by examining the organizational diversity statements released in the months following. These themes include (1) general diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) terms, (2) supporting Black community, (3) acknowledging Black community, (4) committing to diversifying the workforce, (5) miscellaneous words, and (6) titles and companies. Wang et al.'s ( 2022) follow-up study revealed that companies who did (versus did not) release a statement and those emphasizing identity-conscious topics (e.g., supporting and/or acknowledging the Black community, committing to diversifying the workforce) were rated more positively by employees via Glassdoor.com ratings than those accentuating identity-blind topics. This study has implications for the importance of organization's messaging around racial injustice.

The next two articles in this issue highlight the manifestation of anti-Black racism within two specific organizational contexts that serve critical roles in society-police and healthcare. Rizzuto et al. ( 2022) examine anti-Black racism within policing by focusing on the policing decisions used by narcotic enforcement agents, particularly when they operate under different strategies (e.g., crime focus, deterrence focus) for controlling crime. They found that Black men receive more severe charges for the same gram-for-gram narcotic offense than White men. Black offenders also received more severe charges when there is crime-focus policing rather than deterrence-focus policing; however, White offenders received less severe charges under a crime-focused approach. Regarding healthcare, Williams et al. ( 2022) describe Black physicians' experiences with anti-Black racism in healthcare systems. Using Schneider's ( 1987) attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) model as an organizing framework, the authors begin by outlining how discrimination manifests in each stage. Then, they provide strategies to mitigate anti-Black bias in each of the stages, thereby providing practical implications and directions for future research. Given ongoing issues with inequality in both of these vital sectors of society, these studies serve as important work in providing evidence to both understand why issues are occurring and what can be done to mitigate them moving forward.

The next two articles in our issue focus on strategies for reducing anti-Black bias. Corrington et al. ( 2022) examine how perceived norms within an organization influence people's expression of bias against Black individuals. They found that when participants heard another student on campus condone anti-Black bias, they were more likely to condone bias themselves. In a follow-up study with working adults, the authors found that racial attitude norms held by closer co-workers more strongly related to bias expression than racial attitude norms held by people who are in the organization but not as close. This study reveals the important power an individual can have in swaying another persons' Black anti-racist or racist attitudes.

Wessel et al. ( 2022) examine what happens when perpetrators of racial discrimination are confronted. Across three studies, they examined the differential effects of confronting racism in a way that focuses on behaviors of the perpetrator (e.g., "you acted in a racist manner") vs. the internal attributes of the perpetrator themselves (e.g., "you are a racist"). They found that behavior-focused confrontations were associated with more prosocial responses (e.g., self-improvement plans, appreciation) and that person-focused confrontations were associated with more antisocial and withdrawal/avoidant responses (e.g., hostility, avoidance). This study thus provides insight into practical strategies for engaging in the important work of confronting racism when it occurs.

The last two articles in our issue focus on the future of research and practice focused on anti-Black racism in organizations. In the article by King et al. ( 2022), three Black junior scholars and two doctoral students review the research to-date on anti-Black racism in organizations and suggest future areas in which research is critical. Using critical race perspective as a foundation, they present four primary areas where future research is needed including an examination of (1) the persistence of anti-Black racism in organizations, (2) the benefits and challenges to authenticity for Black employees, intersectionality within Black employees, and strategies to combat and reduce anti-Black racism in organizations. They also provide valuable methodological and ethical considerations of pursuing anti-Black racism research. This paper pushes readers to think about the state of research in ways that are inclusive and broadens the understanding of psychological consequences in organizations.

Finally, in McCleary-Gaddy et al. ( 2022), three Black DEI practitioners working inside large organizations discuss the anti-Black racism topics they think researchers should investigate in order to have a meaningful impact in applied settings. These topics include (1) the importance of solving anti-Black racism with long-term effective solutions rather than short-term ones, (2) maximizing the effectiveness of DEI officers, (3) meaningfully engaging White men as allies to Black employees, (4) ensuring fairer selection processes, (5) more effectively leveraging DEI data, and (6) maximizing the utility of employee resource groups. They remind us to remember and act upon our foundational guiding principle as scientist-practitioners as a means to make meaningful change in reducing anti-Black racism in organizations by (1) conducting research on relevant anti-Black racism issues occurring in organizations and by (2) encouraging the implementation of evidence-based solutions in solving practical anti-Black racism issues.

Key Takeaways

When we began thinking about editing a Special Issue in the summer of 2022, we wanted to do something tangible in reaction to the cries for greater racial justice. At the time, two of us were race and diversity scholars, and one was an Associate Editor at the Journal of Business and Psychology. We felt uniting our efforts would be a fruitful way to hold our field accountable for not just talking about equity but walking the talk. We set out to foster awareness in our academic community, showcase the continuous manifestation of anti-Black racism in organizations, and give voice to historically underrepresented people-namely Black scholars. Our ultimate goal was to inspire more support and research attention toward fighting anti-Black racism in the field and beyond, and to model a process that encourages and fosters the development of papers by scholars and practitioners who are Black.

Did we succeed? We think so. This issue provides a number of key takeaways. It highlights consistent themes of racism that permeate society and organizations. Namely, we see that racism within society negatively influences individuals at work. Unfortunately, racism and racial bias within organizations and institutions is not only prevalent, it is also often ignored. As noted by Avery et al. ( 2022) and King et al. ( 2022), there is much work to be done to reduce racial bias and inequity even within our own academic institution. This issue has helped clarify what Black employees often experience in organizations by relying on compelling narratives as well as empirical data, both of which span across many different organizational contexts and settings. This issue provides information about ways that anti-Black bias can be reduced at the individual level (e.g., by setting norms in which racism is condoned, by articulating effective ways to confront people's racism) as well as the organizational level (e.g., developing effective diversity statements). These behaviors are intended not only to avoid being racist but to actually be anti-racist.

We learned a great deal working on this Special Issue. We know from the literature that individuals from marginalized backgrounds often have limited access to mentorship and resources and information sharing and networking (e.g., Thomas et al., 2007). We sought to actively combat this by engaging in recruitment of Black scholars, and we committed ourselves to providing constructive, developmental feedback on manuscripts across multiple rounds of reviews. We were successful in receiving submitted manuscripts from several Black scholars and from people who may not typically get a voice in highly respected academic journals. For instance, we highlight practitioners in multiple papers. Furthermore, we were encouraged by the submissions on anti-Black racism we received from both established and junior scholars.

During this process, we noticed evidence of some junior scholars (of all racial backgrounds) seemingly lacking adequate training in the editorial process. That is, it was clear that some of these scholars had not been given adequate mentorship in the manuscript submission process (i.e., following formatting instructions and deadlines) as well as the typical process for effectively responding to reviewer and editor feedback via a response letter. This may be particularly harmful for junior scholars of color, as it may put them further behind in the publishing process, not due to a lack of skill or good ideas, but rather, because of a lack of information on what editors are looking for in the revision process. As a field, we must do better and ensure that we are giving all scholars, and particularly junior scholars from marginalized groups, access to this critical type of training and experience early in their careers. Good science, which by definition includes representation, depends on it. We encourage editors to continue to look for ways to encourage the submission of work from a diverse set of voices, and to help develop the publishing skills of scholars from historically marginalized backgrounds. We also encourage editors to actively seek ways to publish work on diversity-related topics, including race and racism. One way to do this is to racially diversify the editorial board. Indeed, recent research shows that when journals have an all-White editorial board, race scholars are less likely than non-race scholars to believe their work will be valued and the journal and are also less likely to submit their research to these journals (Auelua-Toomey & Roberts, 2022). These findings suggest that journals can signal their values for racial diversity by illustrating them with who they put in leadership positions. We applaud efforts by the Journal of Business and Psychology, who recently started a pilot mentoring program that aims to increase representation of scholars of color in journal editorship roles, and the Journal of Applied Psycholog y, who holds selective manuscript development workshops with Associate Editors and gives priority to junior scholars from historically marginalized groups. These are some models of taking action to increase representation and inclusion in our science. There are other avenues that can be taken to continue to open gates and clear pathways to provide greater access and opportunity to diversity-related research and research from Black scholars.

Our Special Issue highlights a myriad of ways that anti-Black racism continues to infect organizations and the academic institution and provides some suggestions on ways to begin to reduce racial bias. Anti-Black racism is embedded within structures and systems, and rooting it out requires careful consideration of and systematic attention toward actions that can provide enhanced racial equity. In addition, anti-Black racism occurs at individual levels and can be addressed by individual people as well as more widespread organizational policies. We call upon researchers, practitioners, editorial board members, and others to remember that anti-Black racism and racial inequity regularly perpetuate in organizations, often operating at subtle levels. We can all play a role in reducing the effects of racism and eradicating it by taking evidence-based actions that promote racial equity.

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Fighting the 400-Year Pandemic: Racism Against Black People in Organizations

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Anti-Black racism is a pernicious problem that has plagued the USA throughout history. In 2020, we saw intense moments that highlighted the stark anti-Black racism and racial inequity in America. Namely, the murder of George Floyd coupled with the disproportionate ...

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When I first read this article I was incredibly taken aback by how distorted and inhumane the way doctors thought when treating patients that weren’t white. A stereotype that was perpetuated by doctors back in the 19th century was that Black people could endure more pain than White people, and so they were deprived of anesthesia during certain procedures. It’s incredibly haunting knowing that this stereotype has been carried on throughout medical history and continues to affect people today.

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Medical Racism in History

The health inequities documented in this project have their roots in a long history of medical racism. The AP has collected a small sample of that history related to every phase of life.

Digital Presentation Credits

Producers: Samantha Shotzbarger, Josh Housing

Data Analysis: Angeliki Kastanis

Text Editing: Anna Jo Bratton, Andale Gross

Illustrations: Peter Hamlin

Design and Development: Linda Gorman, Kati Perry and Eunice Esomonu

Audience Coordination and Production: Ed Medeles, Elise Ryan, Almaz Abedje and Sophie Rosenbaum

Creative Development: Raghuram Vadarevu

Project Management: Andale Gross

Project Vision and Development: Kat Stafford

Stafford, based in Detroit, is a national investigative race writer for the AP's Race and Ethnicity team. She was a 2022 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow at the University of Michigan.

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The contemporary health disparities examined in this project have their roots in a long history of medical racism. Five examples are chronicled below.

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A research conducted by Sociologist Regina Baker from Pennsylvania University  talks about historical racism and how it  still  influences modern poverty and racial inequality in the United States. In this article Baker constructed her research in a "novel approach, conceptualizing and constructing a measure of what she called the “historical racial regime,” or HRR".

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A research conducted by Sociologist Regina Baker from Pennsylvania University  talks about historical racism and how it  still  influences modern poverty and racial inequality in the United States. In this article Baker constructed her research in a "novel approach, conceptualizing and constructing a measure of what she called the “historical racial regime,” or HRR".

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To understand modern racial inequalities, historical context is crucial. That's according to new research from Penn sociologist Regina Baker published in the American Journal of Sociology.

Baker found that in southern states with a strong historical racial regime-a notion she conceptualized and then measured using a scale she created-Black populations today experience worse poverty. These states also have a wider poverty gap between Black and white populations.

"In general, Black people are more likely to be poor than white people," says Baker, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology. "Living in a state that has a stronger historical racial context exacerbates that poverty."

'I was meant to dig deeper'

Baker grew up in Georgia, and both her parents came from South Carolina. "The South has always been of interest to me," she says. In graduate school, she knew she wanted to research poverty and inequality, but she didn't home in on what would eventually become this research until one particular news article got her thinking.

The piece ranked states in many categories, from poverty to child well-being and health care. "For nearly every category, so many of the states at the bottom were in the South," she says.

She wondered why, yet looking through the previous literature got her nowhere; little sociological research existed on poverty in the contemporary South. She happened upon a paper from respected sociologist Ronald C. Wimberley making a plea to colleagues to do more research about the South and to use their expertise to better understand social problems like impoverishment through a Southern lens.

"Here I am reading this article. I had all these questions in my mind about why the southern states were coming up in indicators as being worse off. There was this call for work on the South and for sociologists from the South to do more of this work. It just seemed like I was meant to dig deeper," Baker says. "That's what really got me interested in focusing on this topic specifically."

Building an empirical study

Given the dearth of previous research, Baker opted to take a novel approach, conceptualizing and constructing a measure of what she called the "historical racial regime," or HRR. It built on the commonly held sociological notion of the "U.S. racial regime," which Baker describes in the paper as "a system of rule based on race that essentially functions to sustain racial inequality."

The HRR concept went a step beyond. In particular, Baker developed the HRR scale to measure past manifestations of the U.S. racial regime across time. She incorporated various historical state-facilitated institutions that shaped the lives of people who lived there, starting with slavery.

"Slavery itself is one institution, a crucial one, but there are also others that states put into place, mechanisms of inequality that contributed to racial inequality," Baker says. Here, she mentions facets of Jim Crow like sharecropping, disenfranchisement, and segregation. Using historical state-level data around each of these, plus slavery, she built the HRR scale.

"Scholars have said that history matters but rarely test it or show it," she says. "For instance, they may theorize about the role of racism in America or about white supremacy in racial inequality, but then they're not able to test it." Baker decided to change that.

Because Southern states vary in their level of such institutional state mechanisms-which could have implications for their legacy and racial inequality in poverty-Baker set out to assess the relationship between HRR, poverty, and racial inequality in poverty in the contemporary American South.

She incorporated 15 states into her study: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. For each, she tabulated a score using the HRR scale.

To ensure she was focused on modern-day poverty, she selected the time frame from 2010 to 2018. Then she looked at U.S. Census Current Population Survey data for more than 525,000 individuals from the Luxembourg Income Study database. From there, she plotted poverty data and HRR data together to examine the relationship between a state's HRR score, poverty levels, and gaps for people living there today.

What she found, and the implications

Baker says she noticed a link almost immediately. "Plotting those data was telling in and of itself, suggesting there's an association there," she says. "This historical manifestation of a racial regime seemed to matter much more for Black people than white people and especially for the poverty gap between them."

Further, more advanced statistical analysis confirmed the preliminary findings, even after accounting for several individual-level variables like family structure, employment status, and education level. "After controlling for those, some that plausibly mediate the relationship between HRR and poverty, I still found this significance of HRR, where the likelihood of poverty for Black people today and Black-white inequalities in poverty are exacerbated," Baker says.

These results challenge the enduring racial inequality narrative "that it's all about the individual, especially family structure and single motherhood," she says. They also suggest that the steps previously taken to ameliorate poverty that focus primarily on the individual aren't very effective; if they had been, she says, this racial inequality would not endure.

In the future, Baker says she hopes to use the HRR concept to understand the role of historical racism for other outcomes, as well as broaden it to other populations and parts of the country. Ultimately, she envisions such information could help reshape how the United States confronts poverty and racial inequality.

"We can't fully understand the context of modern-day poverty or inequality if we don't consider the role that history played. We can't act like the past doesn't matter if we want to move forward," Baker says. "We can't just think about the individual in a vacuum; we must think about the broader context in which individuals live, not just the micro but also the macro and how they help inform each other. Only then can we think more purposefully and creatively to address these enduring issues."
This research was supported, in part, by the Ford Foundation. Regina Baker is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a research associate at Penn's Population Studies Center and a faculty affiliate at the Center for Africana Studies and the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration.

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How historical racism influences modern poverty and racial inequality | Penn Today

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Sociologist Regina Baker finds that Black people in southern U.S. states with significant institutionalized historical racial practices experience worse poverty today. These states also have a wider poverty gap between Black and white populations.

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Students Speak Out About Racial Incidents at Santa Barbara Schools

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Students Speak Out About Racial Incidents at Santa Barbara Schools

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This article from the Santa Barbara Independent is about multiple students in Santa Barbara school districts who have come forward about racial prejudice they experience while at school. The article aims to shine a light on such issues, which really do occur everywhere, but also highlights how inhumane and isolating this type of treatment of fellow humans can be.

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Education

School Board Hears Draft Report of Anti-Blackness and Racial Climate Assessment and Analysis for S.B. Unified School District

"Being a Latina in an advanced learning environment has been the most discouraging experience," said Elly, a Santa Barbara High School student, at Tuesday's Santa Barbara Unified Board of Trustees meeting. "I've witnessed many incidents where the kids in my class stereotype my community and joke about being racist. I don't say a word. I don't feel I have the power or voice to stand up for myself."

Elly was one of a small group of student ambassadors for Future Leaders of America who attended the late-night meeting on March 14. The students spoke out about racial incidents and attitudes at Santa Barbara's schools, following a draft summary report of the Anti-Blackness and Racial Climate Assessment and Analysis for the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD).

Elly said she is in primarily white classrooms, and that her white classmates do not seem interested in talking to her. She explained that "the first time and only time" one particular classmate spoke to her was to ask her how to say something in Spanish; she said she wasn't offended, but had hoped he would have "trusted [she] was smart enough to help him with a problem."

"To them, I'm just the quiet Mexican girl who sits in the back of the class and fails every exam," she continued. "However, I'm much more than that. I'm the outspoken Latina who gets the highest scores and results on the exams; the Latina who cares about her community and is willing to work to make a change.

"This is just one example of what we minorities face in our school district. We stand in support and unification with our Black student peers at SBUSD. We ask that you consider these experiences and the victims as you address these issues and develop solutions."

The draft report - prepared by educational consulting org Insight Education Group - demonstrates initial findings from the Racial Climate Assessment conducted between October 2022 and February 2023 to take the pulse of the learning environments being fostered at Santa Barbara schools. Insight Education was chosen out of nine organizations in August 2022 to complete the report, which is the first for the Santa Barbara school district. The board asked for the report in response to an incident that occurred months prior, in February 2022, when a student at Santa Barbara Junior High was allegedly called a racial slur and assaulted by other students, and in reaction to other concerns about the district's racial climate brought to the board.

A separate report on Racial Incidents in Schools presented to the board on Tuesday showed that there were six racial incidents across three schools between February 25 and March 10 this year.

"I just want to say that since my time in Santa Barbara Unified, I've heard many speak about the generational trauma related to incidents involving race happening in our schools," said Superintendent Dr. Hilda Maldonado, addressing the board. "It's unacceptable, which is why we worked with you and others to commission this report and with the previous board as well, to really get to the root of what's happening. But we have to be honest and transparent in order to take the actions needed to change the culture."

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According to SBUSD's chief operating officer Steve Venz, the assessment set out to "determine what it is like being in Santa Barbara Unified, at the schools and in the district, specifically as a Black ... student or staff member" in order to inform the district's work to combat anti-Blackness and racism in Santa Barbara schools.

Insight's audit team surveyed and interviewed the district's middle and high school students, staff, and families to gain diverse perspectives and determine district trends in the experiences of students and staff of color. Included in the draft report are 10 key themes identified by focus groups that shed light on the racial climate in the district and highlight areas in need of improvement.

The first theme listed is "Normalized Racism," which is exactly what it sounds like: Overtly racist behavior and microaggressions are seen as "normal" among students and staff who have been conditioned not to respond or deter the events due to the high volume at which they occur.

"A lot of teachers touch my hair. They say my hair is so pretty and would start touching it. It's weird," one unnamed student reported. "They question me [about my hair] and ask if it's real. I have this one teacher who touches my hair in class. I told her I don't usually let people touch my hair, and she said it's okay for her to do it because she's a teacher."

The report addresses both strengths and weaknesses in the district's approach to supporting an anti-racist, equitable environment at schools. Although they enacted a zero-tolerance policy against the use of racial slurs, many staff members surveyed indicated they do not have the adequate training, support, or clear enough protocol needed to effectively respond to incidents when they do occur to prevent them from happening again.

Insight Education Group is still in the process of completing the Anti-Blackness and Racial Climate Report, but Venz said they plan to provide the final report with all details, data, and recommended actions to the district in April after receiving feedback and revising the draft. The initial findings, though, give a picture of the work that lies ahead of school boardmembers.

Board president Wendy Sims-Moten acknowledged the "hard work and commitment" it will take to make real change at SBUSD schools, and said she wants the district to be a model, "not only for other school districts but for other community agencies as a part of Santa Barbara County.

"It's often heard or said that we are products of our environment," Sims-Moten continued. "Well, I think we have this opportunity with this work to create the environment where we're not seeing this, where we don't have the same experiences that happened 50 years ago.... Because it won't matter what class you're sitting in; we're also going to make sure that we're creating a place in space for you to be who you are, no matter who you are."

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Students Speak Out About Racial Incidents at Santa Barbara Schools

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School board hears draft report of Anti-Blackness and Racial Climate Assessment and Analysis for S.B. Unified School District.

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Young black girl was skipped over in a gymnastic medal ceremony is Ireland

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Young black girl was skipped over in a gymnastic medal ceremony is Ireland

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Team USA gymnast was among many who condemned the actions of the official

Gymnastics Ireland is embroiled in a racism row after a video showed a young black competitor being skipped over during a medal ceremony as her white peers were each given an award.

Olympic champion Simone Biles condemned the 'heartbreaking' incident and said she had sent a video of support to the young girl after her parents reached out.

The Team USA gymnast was among scores online condemning the actions of the official, writing on X: 'There is no room for racism in any sport or at all!!!!'

The video, which was taken in March last year, shows a lineup of young gymnasts awaiting their awards, with the little girl excitedly waiting for her medal before being overlooked.

After reemerged footage of the incident went viral this week, Gymnastics Ireland issued a public apology for the incident, after the girl's parents said the alleged snub was due to racism.

The Irish sporting body claimed the issue had been settled in August, but the young girl's mother has denied this, claiming that the family had not received a genuine apology.

The sports body said it 'engaged immediately' with the competitor's parents following their complaint over incident.

Speaking a year after the incident, the girl's mother said the family were 'very upset' at how their daughter had been treated by Gymnastics Ireland and that they believe she was ignored because she is black, the Irish Independent reports.

Many have pointed out that the official walked off with the last remaining medal at the end of the clip, with all the children in the lineup receiving one apart from the girl.

Gymnastics Ireland said that it engaged with the woman, who is now no longer a member of the sporting body after she chose not to renew her membership.

They claim that the issue had been settled following a mediation that concluded in August but this is denied by the mother.

They said she 'accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional'.

'The official concerned said that upon realising the mistake they immediately rectified it and ensured that the competitor concerned was presented with her medal before she left the Field of Play (FoP).

'The official also expressed deep regret for what they described as an honest error and requested the opportunity to apologise in person to the competitor and her family. This request was initially declined.

'A written apology provided by the identified individual has since been issued to the competitor and her family.'

The statement went on: 'Initially we attempted to address the matter through the informal process of our discipline and complaints policy.

'However, following a series of communications with the parents they informed Gymnastics Ireland that they would not be engaging in the process and were seeking legal advice.'

Footage of the presentation in Dublin in March 2022 has since gone viral online.

Gymnastics Ireland was contacted by the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF) last summer, which informed it that it had been contacted regarding the complaint.

'We remained engaged with the GEF through the autumn and winter months during which time our internal process was suspended,' said Gymnastics Ireland. 'In February, we agreed to resume internally and proceed to the next stage of our process.'

Backlash to the video has continued to erupt across the internet.

Olympic silver medallist, USA team member Jordan Chiles, also labelled the incident 'beyond hurtful on so many levels'.

She indicated that she also wanted to get in touch with the young sports star, asking the gymnastics community to help identify her.

After it resurfaced, the clip was slammed by X users as 'disgraceful' and 'hard to watch'.

Biles, who made history by becoming the first black woman to win the all-around title at the 2013 World Championships, has also been a victim of racism in the sport and has been vocal about tackling it.

After she was targeted with a vile racist comment by athlete Carlotta Ferlito, who came third in the contest, Biles spoke out to say that all athletes of colour have shared similar experiences.

'But you just have to keep going for those little ones looking up to us,' she said.

'It doesn't matter what you look like. You can strive for greatness, and you can be great.'

In her video to the young gymnast, Biles said: 'I wanted to let you know that I saw how you were treated at your GymStart event recently.

'I was completely shocked and wanted to let you know that you deserve a medal just like all of the other girls.

'I know you've worked incredibly hard at the sport and I wanted to say I am rooting for you from here. Sending you my very best and know that there are so many of us here to support you.'

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Gymnastics Ireland in racism row after girl skipped in medal ceremony

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Olympic champion Simone Biles condemned the 'heartbreaking' incident and said she had sent a video of support to the young girl after her parents reached out to her.

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Distributing facts

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This heartbreaking video talks about three Black people that were shot dead at a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida. The shooter initially tried to target  a historically black university and chose his victims intentionally because of their color.

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Florida mourns victims of deadly racist shooting

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Police have identified the victims of a racist shooting in Florida over the weekend. Officials say a white gunman killed two shoppers and an employee at a Dollar General store Saturday as a part of a premeditated attack on Black people. CBS News national correspondent Manuel Bojorquez has the latest from Jacksonville.

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I was deeply appalled by the disturbing incident that transpired on August 8, 2023. In this regrettable event, a peaceful situation turned chaotic when a group of white boaters launched an unprovoked attack on an innocent black dock worker who was just performing his job simply attempting to facilitate the docking of a city riverboat.This appalling act of aggression, which escalated into a large-scale brawl, resulted in numerous individuals sustaining injuries. The attack, which saw three individuals targeting the dock worker, has rightfully ignited outrage both online and in our modern-day society. Such incidents continue to underscore the lingering tensions that persist, contributing to division among people. I shared this as i thought it could shed light on the disturbing realities that still persist in our society. Only through awareness and a collective commitment to fostering inclusivity, understanding, and justice can we hope to overcome such incidents and work toward a more harmonious future.

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international relations and national security

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Alabama brawl turns spotlight on Montgomery's racial history | CNN

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Viral video of a chaotic brawl along Montgomery, Alabama's riverfront has renewed national conversations about racial tensions in America.

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Tesla sued by EEOC over racism in the workplace

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Tesla sued by EEOC over racism in the workplace

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Tesla is being sued for racial discrimination at their Fremont factory. This article also explains that this is not the first lawsuit regarding discrimination at Tesla, as they discriminated against those seeking asylum in the U.S. during the hiring process. The article says that the racism that Black workers face at the factory has been happening since 2015, and those who would stand up against the racism were fired, or transferred to a different facility.

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Vehicles line a parking lot at Tesla's Fremont, Calif., factory on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (Noah Berger/AP)

Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla allowed racial harassment of its Black employees to run rampant at its Fremont, Calif., plant and retaliated against some workers who complained, the federal agency charged with enforcing civil rights laws alleged in a lawsuit Thursday.
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Black employees routinely faced racial slurs, including variations of the N-word, at the Fremont site, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and graffiti depicting nooses, swastikas and more were casually drawn across the facility's public spaces. Tesla did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of allegations blasting the billionaire's workplace environments - the Justice Department sued SpaceX, also owned by Musk, last month, alleging the company discriminated against refugees and asylum seekers in its hiring process. Half a dozen women sued Tesla in 2021, arguing that the company fostered a culture of sexual harassment. That same year, a federal court in California ordered Tesla to pay nearly $137 million in damages after an employee said they encountered racist abuse at Tesla's Fremont site. The Fremont plant faced scrutiny again last year, when the state's workplace regulator sued Tesla over similar claims of racial discrimination and harassment.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, since at least 2015, Black employees at the Fremont facility "have routinely endured racial abuse, pervasive stereotyping, and hostility as well as epithets such as variations of the N-word, 'monkey,' 'boy,' and 'black b*tch.'"

"Slurs were used casually and openly in high-traffic areas and at worker hubs. Black employees regularly encountered graffiti, including variations of the N-word, swastikas, threats, and nooses, on desks and other equipment, in bathroom stalls, within elevators, and even on new vehicles rolling off the production line," the EEOC wrote in a press release announcing the suit.

The agency added that employees who objected to the hostility were terminated, transferred or had their job duties changed.

"Every employee deserves to have their civil rights respected, and no worker should endure the kind of shameful racial bigotry our investigation revealed," EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows said in a statement.

Tesla's Fremont site is the company's first manufacturing facility, and where it continues to produce the company's Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y. Tesla has since grown to include facilities in Nevada, Texas, New York, Shanghai and Berlin.

The lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The government seeks compensatory and punitive damages, back pay for the affected workers and measures to reform Tesla's employment practices.

"When you let a standard slip, you've set a new standard. Determining that prolific racial slurs do not merit serious discipline and failing to correct harassing conduct sends an entirely wrong message to employees," said EEOC San Francisco District Office Director Nancy Sienko. "It also violates an employer's legal responsibility to act swiftly and effectively to stop race-based harassment."

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Tesla workers faced slurs, racist graffiti and retaliation, federal suit says

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has alleged that Elon Musk's electric car company allowed racial harassment to run rampant in its workplace.

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I believe we all expect the services and systems offered to us to be equal. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. For a long time, people of color have been unfairly treated by the healthcare system as a whole. This leads to distrust in healthcare/medicine, misdiagnoses, and in extreme cases, even death. This article highlights the way that Black patients have very different experiences than white patients. The study mentioned in the article provides a graph of responses to the mistreatment Black patients face. Some of these responses include seeing other doctors, stopping getting treated, and the delay of medical decisions/diagnoses. The fact that racism can quite literally kill is very disturbing, especially due to how diverse our country is. Everyone has the right to receiving the same medical care, as well as other services, and people's health should not have to suffer due to the faults of the system.

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A new study has found that Black patients often have a different medical experience than White patients due to discrimination and inequities in health care settings.

The survey from health news site Verywell Health reports 32% of Black Americans say they've experienced racism while dealing with the health care system, and 59% say racism caused them to stop or interrupt their treatment, whether that meant changing health care providers, not making a follow-up appointment or delaying making a health decision.

Dr. Jessica Shepherd, Verywell Health's chief medical officer and former director of minimally invasive gynecology at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the survey was intended to focus on the health care experience of Black patients.

"Now, we have a lot of data that shows where those discrepancies and where those health care disparities are, but we haven't really had good data on why that experience is within the Black community and that's what we were able to do with this Black health experience survey," Shepherd said.

Nonprofit organization West Side United is focused on reducing the life expectancy gap between downtown and the West Side of Chicago, and that includes addressing health needs.

"We look directly at maternal child health disparity, where our East Garfield Park community has the highest disparity and we look at hypertension management," said Ayesha Jaco, executive director of West Side United. "So it's really around coordinating care across our six healthcare partners, making sure we standardize care so that no matter if you're a Black woman from Oak Park or the West Side of Chicago, you go in and you get the same level of care."

According to the Black Health Experience Survey by Verywell Health, 36% of Black patients said racism caused them to change health care providers, 28% said it caused them to delay making a health decision, 28% said they didn't make a follow-up appointment, and 24% said they stopped getting treatment altogether.

"Disparities in health outcomes are obviously going to be multifactorial, but when we actually look at those numbers, in looking at the experiences, this has a direct correlation with example, hypertension," Shepherd said. "What does that look like from a treatment perspective and when we're seeing that 24% will stop treatment or 36% will switch their health care provider, which might create a gap in their actual management plan and then 28% not following up with their appointment, that's going to lead to some stops in the care that they're being given, and also what is that management plan and how is it going to carry out in order to have better outcomes of health? So, yes, this is directly correlated with what we're seeing with chronic illnesses."

Jaco says the solution to reducing the health gap and disparities in health outcomes is getting the community involved.

"It's really around starting where people are most impacted so that we don't come in with something that people are not going to respond to," Jaco said.

Shepherd said representation and having more health care providers of color is also a way to bridge the gap and build trust between providers and their patients.

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Racism in Health Care Can Impact Treatment Decisions, Study Finds

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A new study has found that Black patients often have a different medical experience than White patients due to discrimination and inequities in health care settings.

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Offensive TV show characters

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This power point was very interesting to me because we always hear about how the African American community faces inequality and sometimes you do not actually read up on the statistics on it. This power point shows the systemic disadvantages African Americans face in American life. Which allows me to be more informed of the problems they do face. For example one of the points was under Maternal Health and it stated that out of every 100,000 live briths, 42 Black women die due to pregnancy related issues while white women only had 13 deaths. Unfortunately even in health care we see the huge inequality or treatment between the two races. The power point also goes shows more inequality in other areas such as education and the justice system.

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From birth to death, Black people face systemic disadvantages in American life more than 150 years after slavery was abolished.

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How U.S. systemic racism plays out in Black lives

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Racism Pervades College Sports. It’s Taking An Alarming Toll On Athletes

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Racism Pervades College Sports. It’s Taking An Alarming Toll On Athletes

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LOS ANGELES - Sometimes, fans would hurl the N-word. Other times, they'd tell her how much she looked like a man. Occasionally, in less of a low blow, they'd talk down to her, calling her "girl."

The slurs are not uncommon to Koi Love. Playing college basketball in the Southeastern Conference meant traveling to majority white Southern towns. And as a Black woman, the team trips required being in a constant state of high alert.

It's a drop in the bucket of the stress piling onto Black athletes, chipping away at their mental health.

The National Collegiate Athletics Association has long been criticized for profiting from young adults' labor. Modern-day slavery, some say. Keep the fans coming. Cram the arena. Bring in revenue. Sports programs nationwide are pushing young adults to the edge to prepare for game day. And, although rare, the strain has ended in death. The system relies heavily on the money-generating sports of football and basketball where Black athletes make up more than half, and their well-compensated coaches are overwhelmingly white.

Still, the operation is also mixed with extraordinary hopes for young athletes. Seeds - filled with aspirations of jampacked stadiums, stardom and big paychecks - first planted before some started to crawl. That, athletes say, does not come without its unique emotional toll.

It was a Monday morning in May and Love was taking a seat on the stage at the University of Southern California to present her research to an audience of more than 1,440. Black student athletes, along with administrators from over 180 schools nationwide, had already filed into Bovard Auditorium.

As her slides on the state of athletes' mental health progressed, pain dripped off the screen.

"People assume because I'm a Black woman that I'm okay? Like we can take more and tolerate more," one quote read. "I just know that if I break, people will attack that crack when they see it. I can't afford to mess up."

Another read, "The support we receive as Black female student athletes is like putting a Band-Aid on wounds that need stitches."

It is evidence that the machine of college athletics often operates as if it has forgotten its players are human, and the consequences are particularly acute for Black athletes who are battling physical pain, emotional exhaustion, and microaggressions within their athletic departments on top of racial slurs by fans. In the midst of racism, the pressure to perform academically and athletically is relentless. The suffering is pushing Black collegiate athletes to the brink.

"I see a lot of trauma," said Taylor J. Langley, a counseling and sport psychologist. "The kids are unwell."

Glimpses of that bubble to the surface as the Black Student Athlete Summit rolls on.

"Raise your hand if you play a sport," one presenter prompted, before diving into the panel discussion. He told the crowd to keep them raised if they attended a predominantly white institution, then asked if they'd ever experienced imposter syndrome, or unfounded feelings of incompetence and self-doubt.

"Keep them raised if your institution makes an effort to support Black student athletes."

Nearly all the hands that had still been floating above the crowd dropped in an instant, along with the mood in the room.

To be a Black athlete on campus, some said, means always feeling behind on LinkedIn and internships while being an athlete minority among the Black minority in higher education, trying to navigate microaggressions. The pressure to perform on the field lingers, too. They manage injuries, sometimes concealing them to keep a spot. And when they finally seek counseling services, few - if any - therapists look like them.

They wonder if the mental health services their athletic departments provide are truly confidential. Hanging over their heads is the fear that their coach might punish them for how much they're struggling. They juggle a regular course load. And, because most won't go professional, they will eventually be forced to grapple with figuring out who they are beyond their sport.

Rates of exhaustion, anxiety, and depression among student athletes have remained elevated since 2020, according to data from the most recent well-being survey by the NCAA. And the rates among minority groups, such as women, athletes of color, and LGTBQ athletes, were the highest.

There is growing alarm amongst mental health counselors within athletic departments who say they are concerned about suicide among their athletes. Many report feeling alone, they say.

One morning, tucked in a session on the power of faith in sports, was a nod to the frightening realities of what toxic campus cultures can trigger.

"God, if someone here is dealing with suicidal thoughts," the pastor prayed, "I ask that your love will capture their hearts."

Read more: Clinicians Dismiss Black Women's Pain. The Consequences Are Dire.

The survey - conducted by Love and USC's United Black Student-Athlete Association - reveals a troubling truth. Within the more than 100 responses from student athletes from 12 different sports across the country, there was the soccer player who has reported referees multiple times. The first time was in high school when she held up a peace sign and the referee told her, "There is no gangbanging on the field."

Another athlete described being called "you people" by a college volleyball coach, then feeling retaliated against for speaking up.

Another who felt ignored when she complained about being in pain. Even outside of sports, physicians have shown a pattern of distrust when Black patients seek treatment for pain across a wide variety of diagnoses. In the emergency room, Black patients with bone fractures are less likely to receive pain medication.

'Silence ... makes progress really hard'

A lot of the suffering these student athletes endure flies under the radar, then it is exacerbated by media portrayals that depict Black athletes as "classless" and "ghetto" in response to their confidence and competitiveness. Sports are, in many ways, a microcosm of broader social issues. Racism, misogyny, and homophobia cannot help but spill onto the court.

"Silence, which is prevalent in athletics, makes progress really hard," said Reuben Faloughi, a Florida-based psychologist. Faloughi walked onto the University of Georgia's football team as a linebacker in 2009, then joined Mizzou's racial justice protests in the fall of 2015 as he pursued his doctorate in clinical psychology. "The environments aren't set up to humanize Black athletes," he said.

Ashley Chevalier stood on the steps outside the auditorium where the summit was being held. Under California's afternoon sun, she recounted a traumatic freshman year. It was 2020 and she was battling anxiety and depression on top of playing for a white coach who she felt didn't understand her. She couldn't sleep, and dreaded practice because of how harsh the criticism was, she said.

Chevalier sought counseling within the athletic department but what she got was only enough to get back on the basketball court, she felt. There was no focus on long-term wellness and it didn't feel confidential. Her voice was loaded with frustration as she spoke of the time when she had to take a friend who had tried to take their own life to the emergency room, and was expected to go practice right afterward.

It all culminated in her transferring institutions.

When she did, she posted a note to her Instagram in the spring of 2022. "The reality of this decision is that it was life saving," she wrote, after stating she left to take care of her mental health. She goes on to write about feeling destroyed in the environment, then watching teammates cope in "unhealthy and dangerous ways."

She wrote, "I'm sick of seeing all these colleges preach about mental health but do nothing proactive in protecting their athletes." A year later, Chevalier is urging coaches to take more accountability for their impact on players.

The burdens also pile on for LGTBQ folks who may feel isolated, said Resa Lovelace, an assistant athletic director at the University of Maryland. "When we talk about the Black community, LGBTQ folks are often missing from the conversation."

The Black sports psychologists working with these athletes are hoping to slowly chip away at the stigma around seeking mental health care. Many times, the depression and anxiety seen by Langley, the counselor, boils down to a deep-seated pressure to succeed, she said, which might intensify in the coming years now that athletes can earn money through endorsements, social media, and appearances.

She is working, particularly with her Black male athletes, on breaking down the tough exteriors. They are often hesitant to share their feelings, she said. These young men, especially the top performers, are often mistreated and misguided by the institutions they attend, research shows.

"It's okay to have emotions," Langley reminds them. "It's okay to cry."

A safe space to be vulnerable

What started on a napkin has become somewhat of a change agent for college athletics. The first Black Student Athlete Summit materialized in the spring of 2016with less than 80 people on the University of Texas at Austin campus. This year's numbers tower in comparison, with about 600 more than last year, when it was held in Houston.

And it drew big names. Former NBA player Matt Barnes. The National Basketball Association's chief diversity officer. Rich Paul, the founder and chief executive officer of Klutch Sports Group. Voices from the NCAA.

The content is important, but the supportive environment and community building is most valuable, said Leonard Moore, the summit's founder and executive director. When asked why he thinks people keep coming back, Moore replied, "We don't sugarcoat anything."

Tough discussions surface. How much did the student athletes in the room feel their coaches supported them beyond their sport?

One young man spoke about not feeling that his coach had empathy for all the deaths in his family during his freshman year. "He was going to keep kicking me while I was down," the player said of his coach. "If you're not on the field producing, they don't have anything for you."

A young woman spoke about being told she could only be off campus for a day while trying to get home for a funeral. What happens when not showing up to practice means not playing the next three games?

"Who is controlling these toxic environments that students walk into?" said Moore. "No one wants to talk about these coaches that are extremely dysfunctional."

Even as nearly 200 schools send their student athletes to the summit in a show of support, "we cannot assume all is well," said Ajhanai (AJ) Keaton, an assistant professor at University of Louisville studying how race and gender shape norms and experiences withinsports organizations. It's an empowering space that allows those who are the only Black person on their teams to find community and make sense of the racism they face, she said. Keaton sees similar pain to what the student athletes are carrying among Black faculty, staff and administrators who are fighting for equity within athletic departments.

"There's an unloading that happens here," she said. "Some people just need to get it out."

In recent years, Black student athlete affinity groups have been popping up at institutions from coast to coast, giving players a space to express themselves, meet players from other teams, and advocate for their needs to university administrations - an additional burden among the laundry list of pressures and responsibilities.

"It's hard to be pushing a narrative when you're trying to just wake up and be yourself," said Samirah Moody, a sophomore track and field sprinter. "You're trying to remind yourself of your value outside of the sport, but the sport is constantly telling you how much you're worth."

Keaton is concerned that the conversations unfolding at this year's summit are the same as those that took place in its first years. She wonders what accountability looks like for institutions whose students cycle through every four years, maybe even more with the introduction of the transfer portal.

And for the athletes who are on scholarships, many of which renew year to year, Keaton said they cannot come in and question without their money - and key to a college degree - hanging in the balance.

Love, the basketball player, has found a safe space in therapy, where she's learned ways to cope with the racism. It's been nice being on a team with other Black women, she said. "You're on the court with your teammates so when one gets hurt, we all feel it." But getting back up and reassurance from them helps, Love said. She hopes more athletes will continue to speak up.

Basketball is what she does, not who she is. The universities are so big, she said, and they make so much money from fans that it's important not to take the performance pressures and insults from fans personally.

"I leave a lot of it to God," she said, "I leave a lot of it on the court."

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Racism In Collegiate Sports Is Taking an Alarming Toll on Black Athletes

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Students say they're treated more like machines than humans.

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Cole World on Instagram: "I asked Colin @kaepernick7 if I could share this letter with the world. He was reluctant. My argument was that I believe the people and all organizationsshould know the truth about how hard he works and how much he still wants to play. And always has. In the end, he agreed to let me. 

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Colin Kaepernick and his letter to Head Coach Joe Douglass & New York Jets

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Colin Kaepernick and his letter to Head Coach Joe Douglass & New York Jets

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I'm sure all of us remember Colin Kaepernick and his choosing to take a knee during the national anthem at his football games. Before he is a quarterback, he is an American Civil Rights Activist and will not apologize for standing up to a number of corrupt systems. Kaepernick had eventually become a free agent and had remained unsigned for what mostly all people believe is political reasoning. This shows how far we really are to a completely equal society, being this happened from 2016-2019. What I found interesting and encouraging is how rapper J Cole. shared this letter that Kaepernick wrote. This shows that activism has no boundaries  and whether you are in the music industry or an athlete, everyone can come together to stand against racism. This letter shows how hard he has continued to work as well as many reputable references.

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Cole World on Instagram: "I asked Colin @kaepernick7 if I could share this letter with the world. He was reluctant. My argument was that I believe the people and all organizations should know the truth about how hard he works and how much he still wants to play. And always has. In the end, he agreed to let me. 

I wish the @nyjets organization luck. My boy @bas is a big ass fan so I saw the heartbreak of every Jets fan when Arod went down @richeisen Everyone from players, to coaches, to execs are feeling the pressure I’m sure. I hope y’all can turn it around, and I hope there’s a spot out there for my boy Kap. PEACE"

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716K likes, 8,002 comments - realcoleworld on September 26, 2023: "I asked Colin @kaepernick7 if I could share this letter with the world. He was reluctant. My argu..."

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Vikings Running Back Alexander Mattison Addresses the Racist Remarks Sent to him on Social Media.

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Vikings Running Back Alexander Mattison Addresses the Racist Remarks Sent to him on Social Media.

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Unfortunately, there are many aspects of professional athletes' lives that remain hidden from our view when they are off the field. We witness these players engage in the sport we all cherish, but it's only for one day a week, and then the cycle repeats. However, during a specific football game this season, Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison shared screenshots and videos from his personal Instagram DMs, revealing that he had been subjected to racial slurs and offensive comments from some individuals. This unfortunate incident occurred after Mattison fumbled in a game.

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Alexander Mattison on Twitter: "Thank you to everyone that has shown love and support to me and my family during this time. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/9pb6q20HtY / Twitter"

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Thank you to everyone that has shown love and support to me and my family during this time. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/9pb6q20HtY

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Thank you to everyone that has shown love and support to me and my family during this time. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/9pb6q20HtY
— Alexander Mattison (@AlexMattison22) September 16, 2023

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In this article, Devah Pager and Hana Shepard goes into depth about the discrimination that some ethnicities are facing within different factors. The results were shocking to me how there could be discrimination in such things such as housing and credit, things that have to do with businesses and money even. According to studies of employment and wages, Hispanic and African Americans are twice as likely to be unemployed as whites along with lower wages. This is a problem, we should all have an equal chance for employment and especially get the same amount of wages as one another when hired. When it comes to housing, minority races and ethnicities are continuing to get less of a fair chance in some areas then the majority, this has been an ongoing problem since the 1900s. Another discrimination problem that the article highlights is the discrimination in credit markets. It said that in securing mortgages with similar credit characteristics, Hispanic and African Americans face higher rejection rates and less favorable terms. The last specific example of discrimination that the article states is with consumer markets. This example also had to do with Hispanics and African Americans having to pay more than the majority race in the area. It was specifically talking about car dealerships and how the minority race was paying about #339 more than whites with similar credit histories. Discrimination is a problem that everyone is aware of, yes, but now it is a problem that needs to be stopped.

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The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets

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Persistent racial inequality in employment, housing, and a wide range of other social domains has renewed interest in the possible role of discrimination. And yet, unlike in the pre–civil rights era, when racial prejudice and discrimination were…

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Posters for 'whites-only' parent-and-child group in Metro Vancouver 

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Posters for 'whites-only' parent-and-child group in Metro Vancouver 

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It is almost surreal to see something like this present in our time. It feels right out of the 1960s. It is hard to imagine the mentality one must have to think something like this is acceptable.   The way I can see this relating to the Bonilla and Rosa article is in how I found out about it in the first place. I first heard about this incident through social media. At first, the original post I had viewed hadn't gained a lot of traction. It wasn't until later, when I went back to look at the facts, that I saw that the post had over 371.5k views. It goes to show that social media is such a powerful and influential tool for spreading information. Bringing people from different walks of life together to stand for what they know is morally right and wrong. This can be related to the article because it highlights how social media has revolutionized the way people mobilize for causes and how it is used in activism.

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City officials in Metro Vancouver have described signs advertising a "whites-only" social group for mothers and children as "vile garbage."

On Sunday, social media posts about the "Whites-only Moms and Tots" group meant for families of European descent began popping up on Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, with many condemning the posters as racist.

CBC News located some of the signs, which had been partially removed, at the Coquitlam Centre, a shopping mall in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam, B.C.

Officials with the neighbouring City of Port Coquitlam said they had been alerted to the posters over the weekend and directed bylaw officers to search for them and remove them.

Group seeks 'proud parents of European children'

"As soon as it was brought to our attention, bylaw officers immediately searched the area and all bus stops, but no signs were present. Perhaps being removed by someone else," said a joint statement from the city and Mayor Brad West.

"This vile garbage isn't welcome in our community, or anywhere else."

The signs advertise a play group for mothers and children to "join other proud parents of European children as we create an atmosphere in which our kids feel like they belong."

Contact information at the bottom of the posters refers to the group as "White Tri-Cities Parents and Tots." The Tri-Cities refers to the Metro Vancouver municipalities of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.

In its statement, Port Coquitlam condemned the signs and the group they advertise "in the strongest terms," adding that the city "promotes an environment without hate."

Report signs to police, cities say

The City of Coquitlam said in a release that the notices are racist because they "explicitly exclude" certain groups based on their race, and they have no place in the city.

"Coquitlam celebrates its rich diversity and we firmly believe that it is through the embrace of different backgrounds, cultures and experiences that we grow stronger as a community," it said.

The statement said the city encourages spaces that are inclusive of all children, no matter their backgrounds.

"Coquitlam encourages initiatives that promote unity, understanding and appreciation of the differences that make our community inclusive," it said, adding that any posters in the city would be removed.

Census data from Statistics Canada in 2021 says Coquitlam has a population of nearly 150,000 and Port Coquitlam has 62,000 residents, both with dozens of ethnicities represented.

CBC News contacted the group's organizers through the email address provided on the sign, but has yet to receive a response.

On the messaging app Telegram, the group's page has more than 200 subscribers.

WATCH | Anti-racism group's director says poster fosters hate:

Steve September, the executive chair and director of Anti-racism Coalition Vancouver, said a group just for white people would only teach children about exclusion.

"Canada is not a white nation. Canada is a multicultural nation," he said. "This poster you see is excluding everybody except white mothers and their children."

September added that he's encouraged by the swift backlash over the signs on social media and from the cities where they have been found.

Both Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam are asking residents to report other signs to RCMP.

Coquitlam RCMP said they're investigating after receiving reports of "suspicious signs" in both Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam on Sunday. They're asking anyone with information regarding the signs to contact them at 604-945-1550, providing the file number 23-25827.

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Posters for 'whites-only' parent-and-child group in Metro Vancouver draw outrage | CBC News

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City officials in Metro Vancouver have described signs advertising a "whites-only" social group for mothers and children as "vile garbage."

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This article depicts instances of racism through social media during the time of the 2022 World Cup. It is an interesting read as it shows the worlds responses to such hate, both positive and negative ones. It is interesting how social media ensures everyone has a platform to voice their opinions, but at the same time it highlights the dangers of unrestricted speech as it empowers people to spread hate.

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Despite the zero-tolerance principle against all forms of discrimination at the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar, a lot of hate speech was used both on and off the field and on social media.

According to a report by the US-based Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) published on Nov. 21, posts began appearing on social media targeting Black players before the 2022 World Cup started, and social media platforms did nothing to curtail or prevent the abuse.

The report said that no action was taken over 99 of the 100 racist tweets targeting 43 football players including Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka of the England national football team. Only one post was deleted because it was repeated 16 times.

The expression "Negro" (Black) was used to describe the football players in 11 of the posts and a monkey or banana emoji was used for the players in 25 of them, the report said, while 13 of the players were asked to be deported, 25 of them were told to "go to other countries" and in 13 tweets the players were targeted based on their language skills.

Imran Ahmed, the founder and CEO of CCDH, said in a statement on Dec. 11 that Black players participating in the organization were also targeted by racist abuse on Instagram and that these posts were not deleted by the platform.
French players of African descent exposed to racist comments on social media
Players for France's national team, which finished as runners-up in the tournament after losing to Argentina on penalties in the final, were also the target of racist comments.

In addition to Kylian Mbappe, who was named the top scorer of the tournament, expressions containing hate speech were used against African-born French players such as Kingsley Coman, Aurelien Tchouameni and Randal Kolo Muani.

In a statement, French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera expressed her "total support" for Kingsley Coman and all players who are victims of racist comments on social media, which have no place in football or anywhere else.

Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities Isabelle Rome said the racism that national football players are exposed to is "unacceptable."
Racist comments made over Qatari emir's dressing Messi in traditional garment
Racist expressions were used on social media after Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani dressed Lionel Messi in the traditional "bisht" used by men in Gulf countries on special occasions at Argentina's trophy ceremony. Arab social media users pointed out that Sheikh Tamim gave the gift to honor and show respect to the athlete.

Darren Watkins, a popular American YouTuber, streamer and Internet personality better known by his online alias "iShowSpeed," asked "Why are you wearing the Argentina jersey?" to an Asian fan who passed by. After that, he shouted "Konnichiwa!" which means "Hello" in Japanese, to the fan, who said he was not Japanese but Chinese, sparking controversy on social media.

The criticisms included "Stop spewing macro nationalism and racism against Asians and use the platform for positive things" and "You let Asians down. Everyone makes mistakes. Now grow up and do better things."

Watkins removed the video from his account and released an apology.
Racist group targets Moroccan football fans
Moroccan fans faced verbal and physical attacks from some far-right groups in the French city of Montpellier after Morocco's World Cup results.

A 14-year-old Moroccan teenager was killed after the driver of a car ran over him.

According to eyewitnesses, there were two people in the vehicle, and the perpetrators made fun of Moroccan fans and toured Barcelona Street many times.

In Italy, a group of people dressed in black and wearing masks attacked fans who were celebrating in the city of Verona with sticks and chains after a Morocco match on Dec. 6.

A total of 13 people who were members of far-right groups were detained.

Italy's far-right Minister of Transport Matteo Salvini criticized Moroccan fans celebrating their national team's penalty shootout victory over Spain.

"Morocco eliminates Spain, so they 'celebrate' in Milan...I hope that those responsible are identified and pay all damages," Salvini tweeted.
Racist propaganda in Croatia's locker room
The Croatian national team sang songs of the Thompson band, who are known for their neo-Nazi sympathies, in the dressing room before their match against Argentina on Dec. 13.

FIFA also fined the Croatian Football Federation $53,000 in connection with the behavior of Croatian fans. Serbian-born Canadian goalie Milan Borjan faced racist taunts during a match against Croatia on Nov. 27.

Iran national team manager Carlos Queiroz dodged a question from a reporter about ongoing protests in the country, saying he only wanted to talk about the game.

At a press conference Thursday ahead of Iran's game against Wales, Queiroz told a BBC reporter: "Why don't you ask such questions to (England coach Gareth) Southgate?"

"That is the only question I make. Why don't you ask the other coaches? Why don't you ask Southgate 'What do you think about England and the United States that left Afghanistan and all the women alone'?" he added.

FIFA fined the Serbian Football Federation $21,300 after a flag that showed Kosovo as part of their country was hung in the dressing room.

Qatar also faced racist abuse after it won the right to host the FIFA World Cup.

Western media, which said that Qatar should not host the World Cup due to alleged human rights violations, targeted the country with hate language.

*Writing by Selcuk Bugra Gokalp and Emre Asikci

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.

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2022 World Cup marred by racist comments, hate speech

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100 racist tweets sent targeting 43 players, including Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka from England national football team - Anadolu Ajansı

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I decided to share this video because of how much it shocked me. In the video you can hear and see women commenting about how the Uber driver is white. She is shocked that he is white and claims that she rarely has white Uber drivers. After hearing this the driver immediately tells the women to get out of his car and that he is cancelling the ride. This video shows how racism is wide spread through many industries.

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Watch Lyft driver James Bode’s reaction to a passenger’s racist remarks.

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I bring up the #BlackLivesMatter movement since it is a recent and significant hashtag. This hashtag was actually exploited by users on social media, and I say abused because it was used with a picture of a black square. This image of a black square, along with the slogan #BlackLivesMatter, had the opposite effect intended. The objective was to bring this subject to light and have justice served. This combination of black square and hashtag was so overused that information about this movement and useful news was concealed beneath this image of a black square. There was no information when you looked up this hashtag on Instagram, only a photograph. They, like Bonilla and Rosa, observe "the hashtag filtering effect that can dilute information and perspectives as users receive a specific perspective from people in their social network".

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I bring up the #BlackLivesMatter movement since it is a recent and significant hashtag. This hashtag was actually exploited by users on social media, and I say abused because it was used with a picture of a black square. This image of a black square, along with the slogan #BlackLivesMatter, had the opposite effect intended. The objective was to bring this subject to light and have justice served. This combination of black square and hashtag was so overused that information about this movement and useful news was concealed beneath this image of a black square. There was no information when you looked up this hashtag on Instagram, only a photograph. They, like Bonilla and Rosa, observe "the hashtag filtering effect that can dilute information and perspectives as users receive a specific perspective from people in their social network".

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This article was very frustrating to read. It is blatant proof in racism occurring daily. A high school students being suspended for wearing dreadlocks. The school is saying the length of this students dreadlocks being shorter than his eyebrows in length will “benefit everyone”. Taking away a students education for the length of his hair is foolish. I am eager to see how this will be resolved once the judge gets to it

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Darryl George, 17, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, has been serving an in-school suspension since Aug. 31 at the Houston-area school. School officials say his dreadlocks fall below his eyebrows and ear lobes and violate the district's dress code.

George's mother, Darresha George, and the family's attorney deny the teenager's hairstyle violates the Barbers Hill Independent School District dress code and have accused the district of violating a new state law that outlaws racial discrimination based on hairstyles. The new law, the CROWN Act, took effect Sept. 1.

On Tuesday, Darresha George and her attorney filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency, alleging that Darryl George was being harassed and mistreated by school district officials over his hair and that his in-school suspension was in violation of the CROWN Act.

On Wednesday, the agency notified Darresha George and her attorney that it will investigate the complaint.

Political Cartoons

Later Wednesday, the Barbers Hill school district announced it had filed a lawsuit in state district court asking a judge to clarify whether its dress code restrictions limiting student hair length for boys violates the CROWN Act. The lawsuit was filed in Chambers County, located east of Houston.

"Although we believe the new law does not govern hair length, we are asking the judicial system of Texas to interpret," Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole said in a statement.

The superintendent had previously said the dress code is legal and teaches students to conform as a sacrifice benefiting everyone.

Darresha George said the fight to have her son return to class has taken a toll on her mentally and physically. She said she was recently hospitalized after a series of panic and anxiety attacks brought on from stress.

"I try not to show everything because I have to stay strong for my son. I have to stay strong and stay in the fight," Darresha George said. "But it is draining."

Darryl George did return to his regular first-period class on Wednesday morning, was welcomed by his teacher and classmates, and for a moment he "felt free for a little bit," his mother said.

But soon after his return, the school principal pulled him out of class and returned him to in-school suspension over his hair and for allegedly wearing an earring, which his mother said he does not wear to school.

"So (the principal) snatched his freedom right back away," Darresha George said.

In a statement, the school district said it would not enhance the current punishment against Darryl George while it waits for a ruling on its lawsuit.

The CROWN Act, an acronym for "Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair," is intended to prohibit race-based hair discrimination and bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists or Bantu knots. Texas is one of 24 states that have enacted a version of the CROWN Act.

A federal version of the CROWN Act passed in the House of Representatives last year, but was not successful in the Senate.

Darryl George's school previously clashed with another Black male student over the dress code. Barbers Hill officials told a student he had to cut his dreadlocks to return to school or participate in graduation in 2020, which garnered national attention. The student's mother withdrew him from the school and a federal judge later ruled the school district's hair policy was discriminatory.

Darryl George's family has said it plans to file a federal lawsuit against the school district.

"Barbers Hill, the hammer of accountability is coming. You will no longer discriminate or be racist or ignorant to no child on our watch," said Candice Matthews, national minister of politics for the New Black Panther Nation, who is a family spokesperson.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Debate Over a Black Student's Suspension Over His Hairstyle in Texas Ramps up With Probe and Lawsuit

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HOUSTON (AP) - The debate over whether a Black high school student in Texas should be serving in-school suspension for wearing twisted dreadlocks to class intensified this week as the student's family and his school district both took legal action.

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Racial Equity & Support for Underserved Communities

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Racial Equity & Support for Underserved Communities

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I chose this article as I am passionate about equity as well as underserved communities receiving support. An example of restorative practices, equity and justice go hand-in-hand with one another. The author, Beverly Daniel Tatum, is a believer that racism is a system of advantage based on race. Racism affects every person on the earth despite their racial group. For example, a registered nurse of color may be treated differently than a white registered nurse. The nurse of color may experience discrimination by patients through demands to do non-required labor, mocking, and refusing to receive treatment by this nurse. The white nurse could become the new nurse for this patient, which would contribute to social incompetence in the nurse of color, as well as, making the white nurse believe that she does not have to experience racism from a minority perspective, however, this nurse will know she benefits through her racial group by not experiencing the discrimination. If the patient truly treated the nurse of color with disrespect on purpose and treats the white nurse with respect, they are knowingly benefiting to racism’s injustice power.

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Executive Order on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government | The White House

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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy. On my first day in office, I signed Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underse…

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University of Kentucky student seen in racist viral video set to withdraw

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University of Kentucky student seen in racist viral video set to withdraw

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This video from less than a year ago is absolutely heartbreaking. The video shows the student coming home to her apartment building while obviously intoxicated. A fellow student was working the front desk and noticed she was stumbling and asked the girl if she was ok. The drunken girl responded back with violent racial slurs and incredibly harmful remarks.

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A female student who was caught on camera using racial slurs towards a Black student at the University of Kentucky will voluntarily withdraw from the university, according to her attorney.

Sophia Rosing, 22, the senior at the University of Kentucky, plans to withdraw Tuesday or Wednesday, her lawyer, Fred Peters, told ABC News.

The video, which was recorded early Sunday morning, shows Rising apparently drunk and saying derogatory, racial slurs to Kylah Spring, a first-year student who was working an overnight shift at the university's front desk.

This photo provided by Fayette County Detention Center shows Sophia Rosing.

Fayette County Detention Center via AP

"It is our story," Spring said at a demonstration held on campus grounds Monday night.

"This is a recurring issue in and across American school systems no matter what age," she added.

Rosing refused to give her name when authorities were called. She was taken into custody at the Fayette County Detention Center and registered as Jane Doe and has since been released from custody after her parents paid a cash bond of $10,000, according to Peters. Rising pleaded not guilty according to the Fayette County Sheriff's office.

She faces two assault charges, one against Spring and the other towards a police officer. She was also given a disorderly misconduct charge and a public intoxication charge, according to her lawyer.

"She regrets everything and is humiliated and embarrassed," Peters said about his client.

In this screenshot from a video posted to FaceBook, student Kylah Spring is shown during an assault by a fellow student, Sophia Rosing.

Nautica Stamatis/FaceBook

University President Eli Capilouto released a statement following the incident condemning the behavior and said the school "will not tolerate it under any circumstance. The safety and well-being of our community has been - and will continue to be - our top priority."

The University of Kentucky told ABC News they are taking action following the incident.

"A number of courageous conversations already are happening on our campus and those will continue - formally and informally - with students and all members of our community. For some time, we've had a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative on our campus, involving multiple projects and hundreds of members of our community - from what responsible speech should look like to how we ensure the physical landscape and buildings on our campus reflect a more inclusive community of belonging. We have made much progress on creating and sustaining that kind of community. We have never been more diverse as a campus and never more committed," A spokesman for the university said in a statement to ABC News.

Spring assembled a diverse crowd Monday night to address the situation during a peaceful demonstration. Many supporters including her parents surrounded Spring while she delivered a short, emotional speech describing her experience -- encouraging the crowd to follow Michelle Obama's famous philosophy of "when they go low, we go high."

"I was physically, verbally and racially assaulted by Jane Doe, aka Sophia Rosing," Spring said at the protest.

Spring said she was "deeply saddened" about the incident but is "grateful for the justice to come."

"To Ms. Rosing, you will not break my spirit," Spring said. "I only pray that you open your heart to love," Spring said.

Rosing's first court hearing is set for Nov. 15 at 8:30 a.m., according to Peters.

The University of Kentucky has since banned Rosing from campus and will not allow her to re-enroll, according to a statement Capilouto released Wednesday. Capilouto said the university will continue its investigations.

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University of Kentucky student seen in racist viral video set to withdraw

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A University of Kentucky student, Sophia Rosing, is set to withdraw from the school after a video went viral showing her using racial slurs towards Kylah Spring.

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It's no secret the Industry cast more lead roles to white people it's been this way since it started and needs to change. Minorities are left with the stereotypical side characters like the maid or the comic relief funny character. More important main character roles need to be casted to minorities for proper representation.

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How the Entertainment Industry Is Reckoning With Racism

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From TV episodes being removed from streaming platforms to cultural leaders resigning and bands changing their names.

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Racism directed towards Black Americans 

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Racism directed towards Black Americans 

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This article shares the statics of questions on racism in America that directly affects black Americans, answered by black Americans. I found the article insightful on what problems respondents considered more significant threats to their communities and lifestyles. I also found the fact that despite all the effort many have put in or are willing to put in, the majority of respondents are skeptical that the correct adjustments in our society will be made very interesting, as it shows that regardless of the progress made or final outcome they know that what they are pushing for is worth their time effort and emotions no matter what.

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Black Americans Have a Clear Vision for Reducing Racism but Little Hope It Will Happen

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Black Americans support significant reforms to several institutions to ensure fair treatment. Yet even as they assess inequality and ideas about progress, many are pessimistic that society will change in ways that would reduce racism.

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Though this article is brief it displays an example of hidden racism within the social system. It has been a while now since Meghan and Harry decided to step down from the families royal duties due to unbearable intrusions, safety/privacy concerns, and racist attitudes of the British media. This article supports the fact that there was a racist attitude towards the Duchess. Meghan Markel used her platform to expose the racial injustice and the biased behavior she fell victim to. The media flooded with #MeghanandHarry support and made it possible for them to speak honestly about their feelings and experiences. Twitter popped off after spark of this news hit the media. The hashtag serves as an indexing or filter system. It's a symbol that allowed us to categorize a post or person by their use of this hashtag. Hashtags allowed commenters to not simply file the context but to per formatively frame what all the comments were really talking about. When you saw the hashtag you knew it meant social injustice. The hashtaging and media coverage allowed the couple to receive support and to continue to expose the Royal family for their racist attitudes.  I believe social media coverage supports Bonilla and Rosas arguments.

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Asian Racism in The Movie "The Hangover"

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Asian Racism in The Movie "The Hangover"

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The character of Leslie Chow in the R-rated comedy film The Hangover exhibits troubling Asian male stereotypes. Chow is the subject of numerous racist jokes and embodies the trope of the castrated Asian male in Hollywood cinema. In an interview, actor Ken Jeong acknowledged that audiences conflate his comedic persona with representations of the Asian/American community overall, which has faced ongoing stigmatization.

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KEN JEONG AND HIS INTENTIONS AND IMPACT REGARDING RACIAL REPRESENTATION IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA

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I decided to post this article because the length black people have to go to get the same respect as a white person at a hospital. In this article they talk about and describe how many black people alter their behavior when going to the doctor. Most try to signal to their medical worker that they're educated and prepared. Others adjust their clothing or speech to make the medical workers comfortable, to then maybe be taken seriously.

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Black patients adjust behavior to reduce chance of discrimination in health care settings, survey finds

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More than a quarter of Black Californians avoid medical care simply because they believe they will be treated unfairly, according to a survey funded by the California Health Care Foundation.

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I decided to post about issues regarding racism in America. This post discusses the tradgeys that happened to people like George Floyd and Peter Lyoya. It discusses the racial injustices they faced in America. These two innocent men were killed by police officers. It discusses the discrimination that immigrants and people of color face in America. It discusses the fear they have living in America and their fear of authorities in America. It talks about a level of distrust and hate that builds in America because of these negative tensions and situations. People should not have to fear for their lives and face this terrible discrimination.

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The 2020 murder of a black man, George Floyd, by police in Minneapolis shone a spotlight on racism in America. It also made black immigrants wonder if America's ideals of freedom and opportunity could be realised.

Joseph Edghill, 65, has lived in the US for nearly half a century, but the past few years have felt very different to him.

Hailing from Trinidad & Tobago, he followed his mother to America at age 17 to attend college and make a living in a place he thought of as a land of prosperity.

He remembers his homeland as a mixture of races, where school and other aspects of daily life were well integrated.

But in America, it seemed, "it was quite a difference. The whole idea of race was in the news and you'd hear about it so frequently".

Early on, he consciously avoided engaging in it.

"I wanted to succeed in spite of race," he told the BBC. "If somebody else had issues with my race, that was their problem."

Then, on 25 May 2020, George Floyd - an unarmed African American - was murdered by police in Minnesota.

Footage from the incident, in which an officer knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, stunned the world and drew millions of protesters - including Mr Edghill - onto the streets.

"That was the first time I ever went out and protested anything," he said. "Floyd was the first time I felt like that could be me."

Joseph is part of a growing population of black immigrants in America.

Although the majority of black Americans are the descendants of enslaved people brought to the US, one in 10 - close to five million in total - were not born in the US but came here to find a better life, according to the latest data from Pew Research Center.

US Census Bureau projections suggest the black immigrant population will more than double by 2060.

And while many are happy with their adoptive home, Floyd's death and other incidents of violence against black people have shaken the faith of some in the ideals that America represents.

The death of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old who escaped to the US from the Democratic Republic of Congo with his family nearly eight years ago, is another recent case that has struck a chord.

Lyoya was fatally shot in the back of the head by a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during a routine traffic stop last month.

Footage released from the incident showed Lyoya and a police officer wrestling on the ground. Police said the officer fired his Taser twice, but failed to hit Lyoya. Footage showed the officer demanding Lyoya "let go of the Taser" several times before firing the fatal shot.

Reacting to video of the encounter, his parents expressed shock that their first-born had been "killed like an animal" in their adopted home, which was supposed to have been a"safe haven".

Peter Lyoya added that he "didn't know" law enforcement could commit an "execution". Representatives for the police department have rejected the characterisation, saying the officer "has the legal right to protect themselves and community in a volatile dangerous situation such as this".

But to some, Lyoya's death is a worst-case scenario in how black- and brown-skinned immigrants experience life in America.

Silvia Holt said she understood what it was like to be in a new country and afraid of the police.

Her migrant worker parents left impoverished conditions in Guadalajara, Mexico, and smuggled her across the border into California at nine months old. She became a citizen at age 12.

Settling in rural Oroville, Ms Holt, now 43, would accompany her parents through gruelling agricultural work.

"Working in the fields, my mum would always advise me never to run - because then you become suspicious," she said.

"The people that ran away were the ones that would get deported, caught, bruised up."

The father of Ms Holt's son, Timothy, is African American, and she sees his fear, like hers, of the police, she told BBC.

When they were stopped over a traffic issue when he was five years old, he asked: "Is the policeman going to hurt me?"

Lyoya was a refugee with an obvious language barrier who might not have known any better in the moment than to run away, Ms Holt said.

"It's mind blowing that a traffic stop ends in a person dying."

The police officer who shot Lyoya is currently on paid administrative leave, and local prosecutors are set to soon issue a ruling on whether he should be fired and charged with a crime.

Some black immigrants are feeling especially targeted in the wake of a mass shooting this month in Buffalo, New York.

The gunman - a white teenager radicalised over the internet - travelled some 200 miles from his home and targeted a supermarket in a predominantly black area. Ten of his victims were black.

Ahead of his rampage, the gunman referenced "white replacement" conspiracy theories and expressed resentment for immigrants and minority groups in online posts.

For Benjamin Anom, a military veteran who has been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, the events in Buffalo were "a new PTSD".

"It scared me," he said. "It could have been anywhere. A group of people looking at another group like they were aliens to society... It goes beyond hate".

Mr Anom moved to the US from Ghana in 2000 with his wife Lily.

Enlisting in the US Army shortly after his arrival, he served in Iraq and that led to a fast-tracked citizenship process under the Bush administration.

The 51-year-old now has three children, four graduate degrees in various disciplines and a doctorate in biomedical ethics.

That makes him grateful to the country, for him, the "American dream" - working hard and finding success regardless of one's background - remains intact.

"It would not have been easy doing all that in Ghana, with a family and a job," he said. "In most parts of Africa, you inherit the successes of your parents."

But for people like him who pursue their dreams here, there is a need to be hyper-vigilant to "avoid the scenarios we see on TV".

No matter whether he is going on a short walk or an hours-long road trip, he filters through a daily mental checklist.

He rehearses with his kids how they should behave during any given police interaction.

"It's almost a full-time job," he said. "But the precautions are not always enough."

Some years ago, Mr Anom got lost driving alone at night from Texas to Kansas, and pulled over to ask for help. Leaving the high beams of his jeep switched on, he honked at a nearby house from what he believed to be an unthreatening distance and then stood by his vehicle.

The homeowner aimed a gun at him and ordered his hands up - until he mentioned he was a lost soldier in need of directions.

"If you had not mentioned that you were a soldier, I was going to pop you," he claims the man said.

Mr Anom said he typically avoids labelling people as "racist" and gives people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.

But, from Floyd to Lyoya to Buffalo, he said he is not naïve about the level of distrust and hate festering in American society.

"This is how this place has been for a long time," he said.

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America's struggle with racism, as told by immigrants

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The 2020 murder of a black man, George Floyd, by police in Minneapolis shone a spotlight on racism in America. It also made black immigrants wonder if America's ideals of freedom and opportunity could be realised. Joseph Edghill, 65, has lived in the US for nearly half a century, but the past few years have felt very different to him.

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I decided to post about the racism that was recently shown during a football game at the University of Alabama. In the video, we hear the ones recording, calling the black football players derogatory names, being both racist, by saying things like "Go back to the projects" & following up with homophobic remarks. This type of behavior really saddens me because it shows how racism can show itself in really any environment. Something as light hearted, and insignificant as a college football game, has the potential to bring out racist tendancies amongst people. The university has since come out saying that they strictly condemn this behavior, and do not agree with it, but it goes to show how easily these unacceptable beliefs can be show themselves anytime, anywhere.

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University of Alabama condemns racist, homophobic slurs hurled at Texas football players

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The University of Alabama condemned racist and homophobic slurs hurled by fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide at Texas Longhorn players during Saturday night’s game.

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Spanish Soccer Federation addresses Racial abuse

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Spanish Soccer Federation addresses Racial abuse

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I selected this article about racism towards a professional soccer player named Vinicius Junior. What caught my attention about this article is how the Spanish soccer federation is now addressing and taking action against any fan or fans who shows any form of racism. Here is a quote that is acknowledging racism is a problem and needs to be addressed and stopped. “It’s a crucial moment, a moment to take drastic measures,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday. “Now that the issue has visibility, the institutions have to take this opportunity to try to fix this problem.” According to the article, may players in the past have experienced racism by fans and yet no one did anything about it.  Vinicius posted on twitter about what he was experiencing and this brought loads of attention to the matter of racism. He wrote,
“I know who you are,” he said. “Count on me, because the good ones are the majority and I’m not going to give up. I have a purpose in life, and if I have to keep suffering so that future generations won’t have to go through these types of situations, I’m ready and prepared.”  As upsetting as this article is about Vinicius experiences is to me,  I find hope in the last sentence from the Spanish Federation when they said, “The three institutions want to unanimously show their absolute and unequivocal rejection of any racist behavior,” they said in a statement, adding the aim is “to bring together the strength of everyone: institutions, clubs, athletes and fans with the goal of eradicating racism and its agents from our football.” Let’s hope they mean it.

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MADRID (AP) - Spanish police took action Tuesday after the latest case of abuse against Vinícius Júnior, arresting seven people accused of racially insulting the Real Madrid player.

Spanish soccer officials also acted, fining Valencia 45,000 euros ($48,500) and closing part of the team's stadium for the next five games.

Three people were detained in Valencia for alleged abuse against Vinícius in Sunday's match between Valencia and Madrid. Four were arrested in Madrid for allegedly hanging an effigy of the player off a highway bridge in January.

The arrests came after an outpouring of support for Vinícius after he said he was abused in Valencia. The case prompted widespread reaction from sports figures and government officials in Spain and worldwide.

The section of Mestalla Stadium that will be closed is where the insults against Vinícius came from, behind one of the goals. It's also where the club's more hardcore fans usually are located.

The Spanish federation's competition's committee also made the unusual decision to annul the red card shown to Vinícius after an altercation with Valencia players late in Sunday's match. The committee said video review failed to show the referee the entire altercation, including the part in which Vinícius was grabbed from behind by an opponent.

Vinícius had complained that his red card ended up being a reward to the racists who insulted him.

Spain has been criticized for its lack of action in racism cases in soccer. Brazilian government officials, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had publicly expressed their concerns.

"It's a crucial moment, a moment to take drastic measures," Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday. "Now that the issue has visibility, the institutions have to take this opportunity to try to fix this problem."

All seven were arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime, police said. None of them were publicly identified, and police did not discuss the timing of the arrests.

Vinícius, who is Black, has been subjected to repeated racist taunts since he arrived in Spain five years ago and especially this season after he began celebrating his goals by dancing.

The 22-year-old Brazilian has heavily criticized Spanish soccer for not doing more to stop racism. He posted a message on Twitter on Tuesday saying racism existed in Spanish stadiums even before he was born, referring to images of former Real Madrid and Brazil defender Roberto Carlos being subjected to racist insults back in 1997.

"What has changed until today?" Vinícius asked.

The match against Valencia was temporarily stopped after Vinícius said a fan behind one of the goals called him a monkey and made monkey gestures toward him. Vinícius considered leaving the field but eventually continued playing.

The effigy of Vinícius was hanged by the neck on the morning of a derby match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey. Along with it was a banner with the words "Madrid hates Real."

The perpetrators used a black figure with Vinícius' name on it, tied a rope around its neck and hanged it from an overpass while still dark in the Spanish capital.

Police said three of those arrested belonged to one of Atletico's fan groups, and the other was a follower of the group. Some had prior bookings with police for other crimes.

The hate message on the banner is often used by Atletico's hardcore fans, though at the time they denied being responsible for the display.

The men arrested in Madrid are between the ages of 19 and 24. Authorities said some were previously identified during matches considered at high risk of violence. Police showed images of them arriving in handcuffs and escorted by agents on Tuesday.

Spanish media said police had used security cameras to identify the perpetrators but no action had been taken until now. Valencia and authorities worked together to identify and detain the suspects in the match against Madrid. The club said it banned the suspects from its stadium for life.

The lights at the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro were turned off Monday night in a show of solidarity for Vinícius, who did not practice on Tuesday citing a minor injury.

"It's an action of solidarity that is moving," Vinícius said on Twitter. "But more than everything, what I want is to inspire and bring more light to our fight."

Vinícius gave thanks for the support he has received.

"I know who you are," he said. "Count on me, because the good ones are the majority and I'm not going to give up. I have a purpose in life, and if I have to keep suffering so that future generations won't have to go through these types of situations, I'm ready and prepared."

Real Madrid reported the Valencia case as a hate crime, and club president Florentino Pérez said Tuesday his club "will not tolerate any more racist incidents against its players." He called for a restructuring of the refereeing in the country.

The Spanish league has filed nine similar criminal complaints of racial abuse against Vinícius in the last two seasons, with most of them being shelved by prosecutors.

The league said Tuesday it will seek to increase its authority to issue sanctions in cases of hate crimes during games.

Supporters have been fined and banned from stadiums for their abuse against Vinícius, but so far only a Mallorca fan may end up going on trial.

The first trial against a fan accused of racial abuse in Spanish professional soccer is expected this year; the case involved Athletic Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams, who was insulted by an Espanyol supporter in 2020.

The Spanish federation, Spanish league and the government's top sports authorities on Tuesday launched an anti-racism campaign. It will include the messages "racists out of football" and "together against racism" on broadcasts, logos and advertising boards and players' armbands.

"The three institutions want to unanimously show their absolute and unequivocal rejection of any racist behavior," they said in a statement, adding the aim is "to bring together the strength of everyone: institutions, clubs, athletes and fans with the goal of eradicating racism and its agents from our football."

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Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Racial abuse against Vinícius Júnior brings arrests and partial closure of Valencia stadium

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Spanish police say they have arrested seven people accused of racially abusing Real Madrid player Vinícius Júnior. Three have been arrested in Valencia for alleged abuse against Vinícius in a Spanish league match on Sunday. Four were arrested in Madrid for allegedly hanging an effigy of the player off a highway bridge in January.

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This article described a man being freed after 25 years of wrongful conviction.  The woman that was with the man killed uttered the disgusting words, "a black man is going to pay for it".  She said this even though a white man had run from the house her husband was killed in.  A huge portion of this mans life was taken from him, and he will never have those years back.

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SALEM, Ore. (AP) - In the predawn hours of March 20, 1998, a neighbor heard screams coming from the home in Salem of Harriet "Sunny" Thompson and then saw a white man run from the house, leaving Thompson inside dead of stab wounds.

Yet a Black man, Jesse Johnson, was convicted by a jury in 2004 of aggravated murder and sentenced to death. He walked free this week after 25 years behind bars when prosecutors decided to drop retrial efforts, two years after the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed Johnson's conviction.

The jury never got a chance to hear neighbor Patricia Hubbard testify to what she saw and heard that night. After Johnson was convicted, Hubbard told investigators that when she began describing what she had seen to a police detective, he responded, twice using a racial epithet: a Black woman got murdered and a Black man "is going to pay for it."

Johnson's trial attorney never sought out Hubbard, a fact that the appeals court cited when it reversed the conviction in October 2021.

The Oregon Innocence Project, which represented Johnson in his appeal, on Wednesday accused the state of committing a "heinous injustice" in its handling of the case.

Political Cartoons

"There were clear and unambiguous statements of racism by a detective involved in the case who discouraged a neighbor from sharing that she witnessed a white man running away from the scene on the night of the murder," said Steve Wax, Oregon Innocence Project's legal director.

The district attorney's office on Tuesday asked the Marion County Circuit Court to dismiss the case against Johnson, saying that "based upon the amount of time that has passed and the unavailability of critical evidence in this case, the state no longer believes that it can prove the defendant's guilt." The court granted the motion. Prosecutors said no other suspect has been identified in Thompson's murder.

On Tuesday afternoon, Johnson walked out of the jail in Salem. Video showed Johnson, smiling and wearing gray sweats with white socks and black slides, walking next to a sheriff's deputy who was pushing a cart with belongings inside.

"Oh yeah, oh yeah," Johnson said as supporters hugged him.

Johnson's DNA wasn't on any of the tested murder evidence. He repeatedly claimed innocence and refused a plea deal over the years.

Wax, a former federal public defender, said the Marion County district attorney and Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum resisted requests for additional DNA testing of crime scene evidence "that might have shed light on what really happened to Sunny Thompson."

"For 25 years, the State of Oregon has fought to defend their deeply flawed case against our former client, Jesse Johnson," Wax said. "There can be no more heinous injustice imaginable than for Mr. Johnson to have heard a sentence of death pronounced against him all those years ago in Marion County and to then waste away for years on death row."

Asked for comment, Rosenblum said in an emailed statement Thursday: "The Marion County District Attorney's office made the decision not to retry this case due to the passage of time and loss of witnesses. We respect their decision."

The Oregon Innocence Project had asked a court to allow additional DNA testing of crime-scene evidence, but it went unresolved due to the appeals court reversing Johnson's conviction, Rosenblum said.

Hubbard told investigators that she had seen a white man park his van in Thompson's driveway around 3:45 a.m. March 20, 1998, and go inside. Seconds later, Hubbard heard screaming coming from Thompson's house, a thud and then silence. She said she then saw a white man run from the house. A few minutes later, she saw a Black man walk down the driveway. She did not identify him as Johnson.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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A Black Man Imprisoned Since 1998 Walks Free and His Attorneys Raise Concerns About Police Racism

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SALEM, Ore. (AP) - In the predawn hours of March 20, 1998, a neighbor heard screams coming from the home in Salem of Harriet "Sunny" Thompson and then saw a white man run from the house, leaving Thompson inside dead of stab wounds.

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In the article "#Ferguson: Digital Protest, Hashtag Ethnography, and the Racial Politics of Social Media in the United States" We learned how social media is a form of activism, specially for those who are under represented and who fear retaliation. as stated in the article on page 8 "However, it is important to examine how and why digital activism has become salient to particular populations. It is surely not coincidental that the groups most likely to experience police brutality, to have their protests disparaged as acts of “rioting” or “looting,” and to be misrepresented in the media are precisely those turning to digital activism at the highest rates." This shows us that non-American citizens tend to be targeted when they try to stand up for their rights, they get called problematic, aggressive and many negative term even if it is a pacific strike. This is why social media has become an important for of protest as we can reach people from all over the world and not expose ourselves to immediate danger. In this case where Steve Lee interfered with a "federally protective activity", it reminds us that our personal understanding of race is so important, to Steve, this Asian Americans were all immigrants who needed to go back to china, without taking into account that many of these striker were probably Asian American and probably have been for a couple generations, but their physical appearance and their support to stopping Asian Hate Crimes, was seen by this person as a proof of their race status. Thanks to phones an social media there were videos taken of Mr. Lee and his reckless intervention in a peaceful strike to end a hate crime.

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LOS ANGELES - A Diamond Bar man was arrested today on federal charges alleging that he disrupted a "Stop Asian Hate" rally in March 2021 by deliberately running a red light, blocking the path of demonstrators lawfully using a crosswalk and yelling racial epithets at them.

Steve Lee Dominguez, 56, is charged in a federal grand jury indictment with two counts of bias-motivated interference with federal protected activities.

Dominguez is expected to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the indictment that was unsealed today, on March 21, 2021, a "Stop Asian Hate" rally occurred in Diamond Bar. The rally was a protest against the increase in hate crimes and hate incidents against members of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community both locally and nationally - including the murders of six Asian American women five days earlier in Atlanta.

A group of rally participants assembled at the intersection of Diamond Bar Boulevard and Grand Avenue, carrying American flags and large signs in support of their cause. The demonstrators had gathered peacefully and lawfully crossed the streets using the marked pedestrian crosswalk when they had the right of way.

During the rally, Dominguez was driving a black Honda four-door sedan and was stopped at a red light at the intersection. Dominguez allegedly yelled, "Go back to China!" and other racial slurs at the demonstrators. Dominguez then allegedly deliberately drove his car through the intersection's crosswalk at the red light, made an illegal U-turn and cut off the route of several rally participants lawfully crossing the street.

One of the victims was an Asian woman carrying a sign that read, "Stop Asian Hate." Another victim was a minor Black female rally participant who carried a sign that read, "End the Violence Against Asians." Another person who was cut off in the crosswalk was a 9-year-old child, and Dominguez's car narrowly missed coming into contact with her and other victims, according to the indictment. No injuries were reported.

Dominguez allegedly then pulled his car over some distance away from the intersection, got out of the car and continued to yell racial epithets and threats at the demonstrators. He then called the police, identified himself as "John Doe" and falsely reported to police that the rally participants were blocking the street and he had to run a red light "because they were about to trample my car," the indictment alleges. He also allegedly requested that police "get some control out" at the intersection.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted of the two charges in the indictment, Dominguez would face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

The FBI investigated this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department initially responded to the scene and assisted in this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Veronica Dragalin of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section is prosecuting this case.

Any member of the public who has information related to this incident or other hate crimes is encouraged to call the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565 or report tips online at https://tips.fbi.gov.

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Diamond Bar Man Arrested on Indictment Charging Him with Using His Car to Intimidate Demonstrators at 'Stop Asian Hate' Rally

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A Diamond Bar man was arrested today on federal charges alleging that he disrupted a "Stop Asian Hate" rally in March 2021 by deliberately running a red light, blocking the path of demonstrators lawfully using a crosswalk and yelling racial epithets at them.

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Though France identifies themselves as having colorblind equality, citizens flooded the streets protesting about a 17 year old black man who was fatally shot at a traffic stop. This reminds me of the Black Lives Matter protests we have had in America after similar instances have happened. What I find interesting is that since race is so taboo in France its bringing up problems that we don't face . For example in the article it says "such nonspecific language has ranged from supportive too insulting". This event is similar to the Ferguson death that the Bonilla and Rose article talked about, since they were both heavily publicized and documented on social media. In addition, both events used social media - Twitter more specifically - as a tool to challenge the racial profiling happening systemically. In the Bonilla and Rose article it mentions how social media is advertised as a space for disembodied engagement which ends up unveiling how radicalized bodies are systematically stereotyped and targeted. Which is exactly what happened in France when the video went viral on Twitter.

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NANTERRE, France (AP) - The race of the police officer who fatally shot a French teenager during a traffic stop last week hasn't been disclosed, and there's no reason why it would be. Officially, race doesn't exist in France.

But the death of the French-born 17-year-old with North African roots, which sent rioters into the streets, has again exposed deep feelings about systemic racism under the surface of the country's ideal of colorblind equality.

With his killing captured on video, what could be seen as France's George Floyd moment has produced a very French national discussion that leaves out what many Americans would consider the essential point: color.

One can't address race, much less racism, if it doesn't exist, according to French policy. The Paris police chief, Laurent Nunez, said Sunday he was shocked by the U.N. human rights office's use of the term "racism" in its criticism of French law enforcement. The police have none of it, he said.

France, especially white France, doesn't tend to frame discussion of discrimination and inequality in black-and-white terms. Some French consider it racist to even discuss skin color. No one knows how many people of various races live in the country, as such data is not recorded.

"They say we are all French ... so for them, it's racist to do something like that," said Iman Essaifi, a 25-year-old resident of Nanterre, the Paris suburb where the teen, Nahel Merzouk, was killed.

While the subject of race remains taboo, Essaifi believes the events of the past week were a step toward speaking more openly about it. She noted that the people who marched in the streets of Nanterre after Nahel's death were "not necessarily Arabs, not necessarily Blacks. There were whites, there were the 'vrai Francais,'" - the "real French."

France's Constitution says the French Republic and its values are considered universal, meaning that all citizens have the same rights regardless of origin, race or religion.

Trying to discuss racial inequality without mentioning race leads to some linguistic gymnastics. Instead of terms like Black or mixed-race neighborhoods, French people instead often speak of "communities" or "banlieues" (suburbs) and "quartiers" (neighborhoods). They're widely understood to mean often disadvantaged urban areas of housing projects and large immigrant populations.

Amid the unrest after Nahel's death, such nonspecific language has ranged from supportive to insulting. Nanterre's mayor, Patrick Jarry, spoke on Monday of the suburb "in all its diversity." A statement last week by a large police union, the Alliance Police Nationale, described the rioters as "vermin."

Of course there's racism in France, some people said.

"For example, if your parents come from another country, even you are poorly accepted," said Stella Assi, a 17-year-old born in Paris who was passing by the city hall in Nanterre. "If I were white, that wouldn't happen."

The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights in its annual report to the government this week said racism is still "largely estimated and largely under-reported."

France's legacy of colonialism, largely in Africa and the Caribbean, plays out in some attitudes that continue generations later. More recently, migration has caused debate and division. The result is a government that openly addresses certain issues around race, but not necessarily in relation to its citizens' daily lives.

On Wednesday, for example, a court in France is scheduled to review a request for reparations for the descendants of enslaved people. And on a notice board in Nanterre, now scrawled with graffiti saying "Cops, get out of our lives," a city hall announcement from May advertised a ceremony commemorating the abolition of slavery.

Ahmed Djamai, 58, the president of an organization in Nanterre that connects youth with work opportunities, recalled being stopped by police recently and asked for his residence permit. He was born in France.

"Our second-, third- and fourth-generation children face the same problem when they go out to get a job," he said. "People lump them together with things that happen in the suburbs. They're not accepted. So, to date, the problem is social, but it's also one of identity."

The stunning procession of hundreds of men who walked from a mosque in Nanterre to the cemetery for Nahel's burial stood out in France not only because many were Black or Arab, but because even the demonstration of religious identity can be sensitive. In addition to being officially colorblind, France is officially secular, too.

Some people with immigrant roots fear that France's success stories of generations of assimilation under that policy are being lost amid the rioting and criticism.

Gilles Djeyaramane is a municipal councilor , a town west of Paris. His French-born wife is of Madagascan origin. He was born in French Guiana, of parents from India, and moved to France when he was 18.

"I'm always saying to my children, 'Your mom and dad would never have met if France didn't exist," he said. "I'm not at all utopian. I know there's work to do in some areas. But we are on the right path."

Those who knew Nahel, and some who identify with him, said it's not fair to pretend that differences, and discrimination, don't exist. With anger, some pointed out that a funding campaign for the family of the police officer accused of shooting Nahel already topped 1 million euros ($1.09 million).

The frustration and violence in many communities come from other issues as well, including the rising cost of living and policing in general. In 2021, Amnesty International and five other rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit against the French state alleging ethnic profiling by police during ID checks.

Dozens of organizations and political parties are calling for "citizens' marches" on Saturday across France to call for police reforms, saying that long-running tensions between officers and the people are part of a history of "systematic racism that runs through society at large."

Police officers reject accusations that some single out people because of their color. Officer Walid Hrar, who is of Moroccan descent and Muslim, said that if it sometimes seems that people of color are stopped more than others, it's a reflection of the mixed-race density of populations in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods.

In rural France, with fewer people with immigrant backgrounds, police also stop people but "they are called François, Paul and Pierre and Jacques," Hrar said.

But Mariam Lambert, a 39-year-old who said Nahel was a friend of her son, stressed the pressure of feeling that she and others, including fellow Muslims, had to muffle their identity.

"If I put a scarf on my head ... they would see me as from another world, and everything would change for me," said Lambert, who thinks she would be insulted in the streets. She spoke on the margins of a gathering at Nanterre city hall as events were held there and across France on Monday in support of authorities and a return to calm.

Lambert mused about moving to Morocco if France doesn't change. "There are plenty of people leaving," she said. "Because who protects us from the police?"

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John Leicester and Nicolas Garriga contributed to this report from Paris.

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France sees itself as blind to race. After a teen is killed by police, how does one discuss racism?

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France, especially white France, doesn't tend to frame discussion of discrimination and inequality in black-and-white terms.

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This article explains that in order to be treated equally and get quality care, black patients adjust their behavior in order not to be discriminated against by doctors and health care institutions.

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Black patients adjust behavior to reduce chance of discrimination in health care settings, survey finds

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More than a quarter of Black Californians avoid medical care simply because they believe they will be treated unfairly, according to a survey funded by the California Health Care Foundation.

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A few months ago around the area pertaining to San Diego State University, street vendors were making their money by cooking hot dogs by the side of the street. The man, Andres Arguelles Alvarez, was simply doing his job and running his hot dog stand when four college students decided to disrespect his property and touch his ingredients and food. Not only that, but these young four individuals argued his pricing and further called him names and titles, one of them being "illegal". Even as he calmly and politely asked for them to stop touching his food that they have yet to purchase, they continued to treat him with utter disrespect. This goes to show how uneducated and immature individuals continue to be even with racism being such a large social topic. This singular instance is revolting as this should not be happening at all let alone today in the up to date present time.

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Instagram / @enamoradoalex_

Street vendor harassment continues to rise, and one man in San Diego sadly just became another victim.

Andres Arguelles Alvarez was just minding his business one night, working at his hot dog stand near San Diego State University's Viejas Arena. However, four college students decided to harass him, touch his food without consent, argue about his pricing, and even call all vendors "illegals."

mitú spoke to Arguelles Alvarez about the incident, and how luckily, our amazing community is coming together to help him.

After watching the video, members of our community are taking action

The video of the disturbing interaction seems to have been originally posted on TikTok by @rileykaufman9. However, it has since gone viral, propelled by our community demanding action - and accountability. At least one of the students reportedly attends Cal State San Marcos, while another is a former student there.

As the video shows, the four women endlessly harass Arguelles Alvarez, arguing about how his hot dogs are $7. One woman says, "I'm gonna f**k you over, now you understand?" and throws a piece of her food into the stand. Another says, "She's not doing anything to be honest," while they continue to touch all the vendor's unpurchased food.

While the vendor politely asks them to move, they scream "No sir" in his face. The women continue to touch all his food, grabbing and eating his products without consent. They laugh, even when a noticeably distraught Arguelles Alvarez yells, "Hey! Stop!"

The four women spewed racist insults and continued to harass him

While we thought the harassment couldn't get any worse, we were wrong. Another video posted by @enamoradoalex_ shows the women complaining about the $7 price for the hot dogs, saying it should be $5 instead. In the background, one of the women says, "You know what they are? Illegals," and laughs.

They continue to debate the $7 price, and eventually leave after the vendor begs them to. The exchange is absolutely disgusting, and many are calling on the women's college institutions and places of work to take action.

While many social media users pinpointed the women as San Diego State University students, specifically Delta Gamma sorority members there, that has since been disproved. For one, The Daily Aztec reported that the sorority recently explained they have no affiliation with them.

Meanwhile, SDSU has since released a statement reading: "None of the individuals in the video are confirmed to be SDSU students." They said that at least one of the students "reported being misidentified" in the video and was actually not present, and "none of the remaining names shared are SDSU students."

The university said they have "confirmed with university officials that three individuals connected to the video are currently or have been students elsewhere, not at SDSU."

That being said, Margaret Chantung, chief spokesperson for Cal State San Marcos said "The actions in this video are extremely disrespectful to the vendor and go against the university's values," so the dean of students is currently "looking into the matter."

This is what the vendor told mitú about the disturbing moment

Meanwhile, mitú interviewed Arguelles Alvarez about the incident, who said the women "offended him, discriminated against him, and disrespect him and his business."

The vendor explains that they didn't want to pay for the hot dogs, and wanted him to give them the food for free. Calling them clearly "privileged," they began vandalizing his stand, "grabbing the food with their hands" and "stealing."

Arguelles Alvarez also told @enamoradoalex_ that the women went on like this for over 40 minutes. He described how they just wanted "to pick on him," and explained that they would have harassed him even if he gave the hot dogs out for free.

Meanwhile, the vendor told mitú he felt "sad and humiliated" by the incident. The vendor is noticeably still distressed, and undoubtedly lost much of his products after the girls touched much of it.

How to help the vendor get back on his feet

The vendor shared his Venmo account @icecream22 under his name Andres Arguelles Alvarez, where people can donate to him. This will no doubt help him recover lost product supply and get him on his feet again.

Harassment of this nature can be traumatizing in more ways than one, so donations will surely help him immensely.

Notice any corrections needed? Please email us at corrections@nglmitu.com

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How To Help San Diego Street Vendor Harassed By 4 Women, Calling Vendors 'Illegals'

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Our community is helping out San Diego hot dog vendor Andres Arguelles Alvarez after four college students harassed him.

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This article starts by highlighting a truly terrible story of a black man being lynched in Indiana while camping to watch the lunar eclipse, and the men who did so weren't arrested. Traveling to get to outdoor spaces, the woman writing the article explained that she was often uncomfortable by the stares she would get as a POC in white dominated towns. I think that it is important to acknowledge the barriers in the outdoors community for everyone who is a part of it.

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Why People of Color Often Feel Unsafe in the Outdoors

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Racism surrounds some of the most beautiful corners of this country

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Black students experience trauma from racist incidents at school, experts say

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Black students experience trauma from racist incidents at school, experts say

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This is truly sad. This article describes students at colleges telling their racist experiences. The article tells us that the people through many elite colleges go through the same racism as less esteemed schools. The victims make an account where they can share anonymously with a username that begins with BlackAt similarly to hashtags. This shows how badly treated minorities are in a campus environment.

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Saama Sane said that when he was a junior at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts, a white student repeatedly called him the N-word as he sat at a table in the library. Sane said he responded by yelling insults back and ended up on the floor in a headlock, all while five white students, some of them laughing, stood by watching. He reported the incident, and the school, which enrolls just over 600 and charges tuition upward of $58,000 a year for boarding students, took disciplinary action against the student, he said.

But Sane felt suffocated at the school, he told NBC News. And the wounds from that incident and many others seemed to still be fresh even after graduating.

"I stopped loving myself because I realized the community did not love who I actually was," Sane said.

Since he graduated, he feels as though he can finally be himself, said Sane, a rising sophomore at Boston College. He has reclaimed his love for making music, something he felt he had to give up at Nobles, as the school is commonly known, for fear of being made fun of by classmates.

A spokesperson said the school could not comment on the specifics of the incident but said, "Noble and Greenough School takes expressions of racism - spoken or physical - with great seriousness and responds accordingly."

In recent weeks, Black students and alumni of elite private high schools, including Nobles, the Brearley School in New York, Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and Trinity School in New York, have created Instagram accounts where their peers can anonymously share experiences with racism.

The accounts, with usernames that begin with the words "BlackAt," are part of a broader trend of students' exposing racism through social media, Taylor Lorenz and Katherine Rosman reported in The New York Times.

While many schools have released statements vowing to change, in some cases, the damage has been done, students and graduates say. In their posts on Instagram, Black students have described racist incidents, an inability to ask faculty for help and support, a lack of confidence and trust in authority figures and general feelings of being outsiders.

Catherine Hall, head of school at Nobles, said the school is listening to the stories shared by graduates and striving to be more equitable and inclusive.

"We are working with a group of current student leaders and have also established a Graduates of Color Task Force - a group of graduates spanning six decades - to help plan our work ahead," Hall said in a statement provided to NBC News.

The experiences detailed in social media accounts can affect Black students' mental health and how they approach education, experts said.

Black students are prepared for the academic stress of top private schools, said Howard Stevenson, a clinical psychologist and professor of urban education who researches racial trauma at the University of Pennsylvania. "But what really bothers them is the social status, having to navigate who they are as people of color," he said.

Stevenson studies racial stress and how educators, community leaders and parents can address it. He said Black students often lack a sense of belonging within their private school environments, which - in combination with the racism they experience - affects their long-term mental health.

JahAsia Jacobs, 22, is a graduate of Blair Academy, a private school of about 460 in Blairstown, New Jersey. "I don't feel like I ever belonged to a 'Blair community,'" she said. "I don't think of myself as being a part of the people who the Blair administration protects."

Jacobs said that while she was at the school, she internalized the hurt and lost a part of herself because of the constant microaggressions she battled. As a result, she said, "I really wasn't involved in much outside of classes at Blair and beyond what they required me to do."

"There were so many opportunities, and I found myself not really taking those up, because I just didn't want to endure anything that was more racist or more alienating than I already had," she said.

Jacobs said she got involved in extracurricular activities again only once she got to college, where she has worked as an activist and co-hosted a race and resistance symposium.

"I am just very deeply involved in all the things that I wanted to be doing at Blair but didn't feel comfortable doing," she said.

in a recent statement to the Blair community, Chris Fortunato, Blair's head of school, revealed a plan to further diversity, equity and inclusion.

"We are all committed to more fully ensure that we are an inclusive, safe and welcoming community for every student and every adult," he said. The plan includes increased faculty training, a curriculum audit, efforts to hire a more diverse faculty and a commitment to engage with issues of bias with transparency.

The sense of belonging that Jacobs said she lacked at Blair is essential for the development of young people, said Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist and author of "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race."

"When you are an adolescent in particular, trying to define your sense of identity, who you are, what you hope to be in the future - if you don't feel understood, you're likely to experience a sense of alienation and discomfort," Tatum said.

The consequences of working to fit in

Kynnedi Hines, 17, said she has hidden a part of herself to fit in at Woodward Academy, a private school near Atlanta. She self-censors her speech and tries not to bring any unwanted attention to herself.

The anxiety is the residual effect of a racist encounter with her middle school principal four years ago, Kynnedi said. In her post on the @ blackatwoodward page, she describes the time she and a classmate tried to plan a prom for their entire class. When they met with the principal to get approval, they were told they could not have an "African American-only dance" and that they would need to get signatures from their white peers supporting the event.

When reached by NBC News, the principal had no comment.

Stuart Gulley, president of Woodward Academy, said the former middle school principal retired in May. He said the school will encourage teachers and faculty to participate in "intensive diversity training," which has been offered for at least 11 years. The school will also host discussions with faculty and trained facilitators to digest their mandatory summer reading of "So You Want to Talk About Race."

"Over time, our hope is that we're going to create systemic change and that that change will be long term and regularly evaluated and reflect our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion," Gulley said.

Kynnedi, a rising senior, is captain of the basketball cheerleading team and a tour guide for prospective students, but the encounter, which happened her first year at Woodward, has stuck with her, making her feel intimidated and wary of standing out.

When Black students experience racism, they are often just as hurt by the teachers who stand by and say nothing as they are by the perpetrator, Stevenson said. Black students need to know that their teachers will stand up for them and that acts of racism are not their burden to carry alone, he added.

What has stuck with Kennedy Austin, 22, is the feeling of powerlessness in the face of authority figures.

"I don't know what it's like to be a white student, and if you feel that, but especially as a Black student, you know that [teachers] have a lot more power than you do. And a lot of times they can say or do whatever they want," she said.

Austin started in kindergarten at the Berkeley Carroll School, a private pre-K-12 school in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated in 2015. The stories she shares in the @blackatbc group span elementary through high school. Her accounts include having been hypersexualized by teachers during health class, a white classmate's insistence that she would have helped her escape slavery, having been forced to translate the word "negrita" in class and a general sense of doubt about her ability to get into the colleges of her choice from peers and teachers.

She said that by the time she was given the chance to be herself and to feel empowered, the belief that she was powerless had already been ingrained.

"I've never felt comfortable going to office hours or having those 'I need help' conversations with my teachers, because historically they had never been the ones to help me," Austin said.

The exception came in ninth grade, when Black teachers allowed Austin to feel comfortable asking for support. Even then, she said, it took until her junior year of college to really build the skill.

A representative of the school wrote in a statement to NBC News: "We have been reading and carefully processing the stories from our Black alums and students on the 'Black at BC' Instagram and share their goal of ensuring that Berkeley Carroll is a supportive and welcoming environment for the Black community."

Austin said that although her main interest is in sociology, she is more comfortable in the Africana studies department at her college because of the support she feels she will get.

Despite their traumas, students have found ways to heal. Since graduating, many have found happiness at their colleges and in new communities.

"The only reason I'm thankful for Nobles is because I had to become a way stronger kid because of that school," Sane said.

But, according to Tatum, surviving the schools is not what is in question. These students have the ability to make it through, she said.

"The question is, should it have to be that hard? It should not."

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Black students experience trauma from racist incidents at school, experts say

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Social media accounts, with usernames beginning with the words "BlackAt," have revealed Black students' accounts of racist incidents at elite private schools.

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racism awards asian Americans during covid

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racism awards asian Americans during covid

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Covid having started in China and moving outward, sparked a lot of anger and resentment towards asian communities in America. Ignorant and racist people assume that they have something to do with the world wide disease. the people that were hurt and or killed were all humans that were suffering like the rest of the world at the time, but had to endure the hatred from heartless monsters.

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Asian American Experiences of Racism during COVID-19

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Dr. Sumie Okazaki, NYU Steinhardt professor of Applied Psychology, discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the racism that Asian Americans face, as well as resources for how parents and other adults can help Asian American children and youth.

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Its sad to see that every step forward it seems that our community and society takes, there are those who wish to pull us back in time. White fragility is so apparent and present at ucsb and likely other campuses. There should be no space for racism, exclusion, and ignorance at a place of study.

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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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In this article we see some key examples of how we have created division with one another which causes there to some type of superiority over the victims. However, Jesus shows us that we were all created to his image and that we were all created equal. The bible tells me that whatever was done in darkness will eventually be exposed to the light for all to see. We as a society can just simply kill them with love.

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God calls Christians to oppose racism and prejudice of any kind. Over the centuries, Christians have led campaigns to establish rights for groups who have been oppressed because of their race or ethnicity. Christians were at the heart of the drive to abolish slavery, the civil rights movement in the United States and the move to end apartheid in South Africa. More recently, Christians have been prominent in the Black Lives Matter movement. But, to its shame, some parts of the Church have also misused and misinterpreted parts of the Bible to defend the evils of slavery and racism. The teachings and lifestyle of Jesus Christ during his time on earth 2,000 years ago demonstrate these practices are wrong. Jesus showed kindness and acceptance to people of other minority groups. For example, many of the Jewish people of the time hated and shunned the Samaritans, a neighbouring mixed-race ethnic group. But Jesus engaged with them as equals. He even made them the heroes of one of the stories he used to teach his followers: The Good Samaritan. It is true that Jesus refers to slaves in some of his teaching and does not explicitly say slavery is wrong, but in the Bible book, Mark, he says, 'love your neighbour as yourself...' Slavery and racism are a clear violation of this principle.

God calls Christians to oppose racism and prejudice of any kind.

Respect for ethnic groups in the Bible

The laws which governed the lives of the Jewish people in the centuries before Jesus are set out in the Old Testament part of the Bible. Three groups of people are singled out for special protection because they were vulnerable: orphans, widows and people of other races who lived in the land. The Bible book, Exodus, says, 'do not oppress or mistreat a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt...' Laws were established to let other ethnic groups thrive in situations where they might otherwise suffer. And in the early years of the Christian church in the first century after Jesus' life, there is teaching about the equality of all people, whatever race, gender or status. The Bible book, Galatians, says, 'There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus....' People of colour were appointed to positions of leadership in those first churches. For instance, among the leaders of the church in Antioch, was Simeon. The Bible book Acts, notes that he had black skin.

Continued below...

Good campaigns and dark failures

Progress is being made towards a Church which reflects the Christian teaching that God made all humanity in his image.

The efforts of Christian figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu to end apartheid in South Africa and the Revd Dr Martin Luther King, a Baptist minister, in opposing segregation in the USA, are well documented. Christians such as William Wilberforce led the campaign to abolish slavery in the 19th century. But it cannot be overlooked that there are dark chapters in Christian history where there has been hatred and cruelty by one race against another. In 12th century England a rumour that King Richard had ordered a massacre of Jewish people led to bloodshed by Christians. The Crusades, which began in the 11th century, are part of a shameful legacy of violence against Muslims. The hatred demonstrated by the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan against people of colour in the United States began as a movement apparently endorsing Protestant Christian values. It has since been denounced by every Christian denomination.

Christians now would say the racism exhibited by churches in previous generations was based on ignorance and misunderstanding of the Bible. This was even expressed in art: for hundreds of years Jesus Christ was depicted as a blue-eyed, blond man despite the fact that he was Jewish and had been born in the Middle East. Some Christians would point to more subtle forms of racism which continue, deliberately or unintentionally. Many are frustrated by what some call institutional racism in public bodies such as the Church which has, at times, held back the careers of people of colour. But progress is being made towards a Church which reflects the Christian teaching that God made all humanity in his image.

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God calls Christians to oppose racism and prejudice of any kind. Over the centuries, Christians have led campaigns to establish rights for groups who have been oppressed because of their race or ethnicity. Christians were at the heart of the drive to abolish slavery, the civil rights movement in the United States and the move to end apartheid in South Africa.

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It’s so sad what this mothers daughter had to go through after being attacked by a racist hate crime by another student. This mother is trying to fight for her daughter to keep her safe and from the school, because the school has done nothing to the student who made the girl feel attacked and scared she is trying to use all her social media platforms to spread awareness of what this school district is trying to do but to help protect others.

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Before the police came ! Since people can’t hear her dad sent this to @grindface_ thank you for reposting I made a gofund me for lawyer fees anything helps https://gofund.me/3e9842bd #santaanacalifornia #hatecrimes #santaanaunifiedschooldistrict #blacklivesmatter #blackhistorymonth #racism #hatecrim…

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Lack of Asian representation in American film.

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Lack of Asian representation in American film.

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The 2022 film "Everything Everywhere All at Once" is an amazing stepping stone in terms of asian representation in American film.

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This feature is part of CNN Style's series Hyphenated, which explores the complex issue of identity among minorities in the United States.

"Everything Everywhere All at Once" features a dizzying array of plot twistsas failing laundromat owner Evelyn Wang learns she's actually a superhero fighting to save her family and the world.

And the actors and creators behind the film are sharing behind-the-scenes stories of their own lives as the movie racks up honors and leads the way with 11 Academy Award nominations.

In acceptance speeches and interviews, the stars of the genre-bending multiverse movie have been outspoken about their experiences with racism and representation in Hollywood, noting how significant it is to receive this level of recognition in an industry that's been historically hard to break into for non-White actors. They're also sharing how their lives as immigrants and children of immigrants have shaped their work.

It's likely we'll hear from the movie's creative team once againon Oscars night.

Here are some of the personal details they've revealed so far on the awards circuit.

Someone marveled that she spoke English

Michelle Yeoh, who plays Evelyn Wang in the film,arrived in Hollywood after many successful years as an actor in Hong Kong.

She soon learned the reality of the US entertainment industry was different from what she expected.

"It was a dream come true until I got here," Yeoh said as she accepted a Golden Globe award for best actress. "Because, look at this face. I came here and was told, 'You're a minority.' And I'm like, 'No, that's not possible.'

"And then someone said to me, 'You speak English!' ...and then I said, 'yeah, the flight here was about 13 hours long so I learned."

Yeoh was born in Malaysia and grew up speaking English, like many people who live in Asia and around the world.

"Everything Everywhere All at Once" is her first time receiving top billing in a Hollywood movie. Yeoh, 60, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that it's been a long time coming.

"You receive scripts. And as the years get bigger, the numbers get bigger, the roles seem to shrink with that. As you know, as a woman, as an Asian woman... somehow they start putting you in boxes. And it's always the guy who gets to go on the adventure and save the world," Yeoh said.

The part of Evelyn in the script from writer-director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert instantly grabbed her attention.

"This is a very ordinary woman, an Asian, immigrant woman, who is dealing with all the problems that we all can relate to," Yeoh told Amanpour. "And what I loved about it, it was like this is an ordinary woman who is being seen, who's given a role to play as a superhero."

Yeoh made history at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month, becoming the first Asian woman to win in the best actress category. Now, it remains to be seen whether she'll make history again as the first Asian woman to win a best actress Academy Award.

No matter what happens on Oscar night,her numerous awards this season are a clear indication that Yeoh, too, is finally being seen in Hollywood as the versatile actor she's always been.

"Maybe I've been rehearsing for 40 years for this ultimate role," she says.

His phone stopped ringing because there weren't enough roles for Asian actors

Ke Huy Quan teared up as he cradled the award in his arms.

"This is a really emotional moment for me. Recently I was told that if I were to win tonight I would become the very first Asian actor to win in this category," Quan said as he won a Screen Actors Guild Award (SAG) for outstanding supporting actor for his portrayal of the hapless and heroic Waymond Wang. "When I heard this, I quickly realized that this moment no longer belongs to just me. It also belongs to everyone who has asked for change."

Quan was born in Saigon and came to Los Angeles in 1979 after fleeing Vietnam and living in Hong Kong as a refugee after the war ended. He began his Hollywood career as a beloved child actor in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "The Goonies." He kept on auditioning after that, but his phone stopped ringing, Quan told The New York Times.

"When I stepped away from acting, it was because there were so few opportunities," Quan said during the SAG Awards.

Quan reimagined his career path, going on to study film at the University of Southern California and to work behind the scenes as a stunt coordinator and assistant director. He wouldn't have another film role for nearly 20 years.

Seeing the Asian cast of the2018 movie "Crazy Rich Asians" made him realize how much he missed acting. And as soon as he came across the "Everything Everywhere" script, he knew he was the right person to play Waymond.

"I wanted it more than anything. I thought it was written for me," Quan told Boston NPR news station WBUR.

His big-screen comeback has earned him rave reviews and numerous accolades, including Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for best supporting actor. And Quan, 51, says these days he's feeling more optimistic about the Hollywood prospects for him and other Asian actors.

"The landscape looks so different now than before," Quan said at the SAG awards.

He went on to offer words of encouragement for others who may feel the way he did for decades.

"To all those at home who are watching, who are struggling and waiting to be seen, please keep on going, because the spotlight will one day find you."

His immigrant father helped inspire part of the movie's plot

On a night full of joyous exuberance, producer Jonathan Wang's speech at the end of the Critics' Choice Awards offered a somber reminder.

As he accepted the best picture prize, Wang invoked his late father and the characters Yeoh and Quan played.

"This award is dedicated to my dad, a Taiwanese immigrant who worked himself into an early grave," Wang said. "This is really dedicated to the Evelyns, the Waymonds, the immigrant parents who would kill themselves for us immigrant children, to give us a better life."

Wang's father, Alex Wang, was a lifelong businessman and salesman, according to a 2016 obituary.

His name appears in the movie's credits, and the producer has shared more about him in several social media posts.

"From the butchered movie titles to the unapologetic Chinglish, a touch of my Dad lives on in this film," Wang posted on Instagram last year shortly before "Everything Everywhere" hit theaters.

The producer has said his father helped inspire one of the movie's many wacky plot twists - a film-within-the-film dubbed "Raccacoonie," which features a raccoon sitting on a chef's head. It's a reference to "Ratatouille" and a homage to his dad.

"Anyone who has Asian parents knows that they are famously bad at movie titles," Wang told The Hollywood Reporter. "My favorite one is, he said, 'Let's go see 'Outside Good People Shooting.'" That, Wang said, was his dad's name for "Good Will Hunting."

Wang again invoked his dad in an Instagram post after the 11 Oscar nominations for "Everything, Everywhere" were announced, describing how hard his parents had worked to keep their family bakery afloat and how watching the Academy Awards together was one of their few family traditions.

"After the commotion of nomination day faded, I finally got a moment to take a shower and have a second to myself," Wang wrote. "As the water ran over my stunned face, I sobbed tears of joy - deep tears of joy - finally feeling a release and acceptance that my Dad was, and is, so proud."

She feared becoming an actor because of what she didn't see on screen

As Stephanie Hsu stepped on stage to accept a "breakout in film" award at the Unforgettable Gala, which celebrates Asians and Pacific Islanders in entertainment,she thought back to a memorable moment in her childhood.

Hsu had been chosen to act out a fake lemonade ad in front of her school. She held the empty lemonade carton in the same way she held her award at the glitzy LA ceremony in December.

"I remember thinking to myself, 'That was really fun and I think I'm kind of good at it, but I should probably think of something more practical to do with my life.' And that was at a really young age," Hsu said, her voice shaking with emotion. "And I think it's because - I know it's because - this world, and the world of storytelling, felt so far away and so - like, if you don't see it, you can't possibly imagine that it's ever going to be you or your friends up there or people who look like you."

Despite her doubts, Hsu went on to study drama at New York University, become a Broadway star in "Be More Chill" and the "SpongeBob SquarePants" musical and land a prominent TV role in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

But still, she says she had a hard time imagining she could succeed. That's started to change in the whirlwind of acclaim around her powerful "Everything Everywhere" dual performances as downtrodden daughter Joy Wang and ruthless supervillain Jobu Tupaki.

"I'm so excited," the 32-year-old said at the Unforgettable Gala, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. "I feel like I've never really allowed myself to love doing this because I've been so scared that it would never be possible. And I feel like this year has given me so much permission to truly love what I do, and I hope to make y'all proud, and I'm so excited to keep going."

Hsu has said her own experience growing up as the daughter of a Taiwanese immigrant helped inform her performances in "Everything Everywhere."

"What I was impressed by was the heartbeat of the story and this mother-daughter relationship," she told Women's Wear Daily. "It was almost like that dynamic was no explanation or discussion necessary. There was just something about it that I knew deeply in my bones."

In a recent New York Times interview, Hsu cautioned against assuming that Hollywood's longstanding issues with racism and representation have been resolved. She described being mistaken on the red carpet for "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" star Lana Condor, and a moment at a New York screening for "Everything Everywhere" when her Asian publicist was approached and praised for a performance he never gave.

"Listen, this ride is amazing, but that is real. We have not transcended this moment, right?" Hsu told the Times. " James Hong (who plays her grandfather in the movie) started acting at a time when people wouldn't even say his name, they would literally just call him 'Chinaman' and say 'Get on your mark.' Michelle waited almost 40 years for her first chance of being No. 1 on the call sheet, and Ke left acting for (nearly) 20 years. As successful as this film has been, the biggest fear on the other side is, 'What if this is my last chance?'"

When he started acting, producers said 'Asians were not good enough'

James Hong has hundreds of acting credits to his name, but it took nearly seven decades for him to end up center stage at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

"There is one of us who has been supporting ensembles for longer than any of us has been alive," Yeoh said as the cast of "Everything Everywhere" won the best ensemble award and ceded the stage to Hong, who's 94.

Hong noted the first movie he appeared in starred Clark Gable.

"Back in those days, the leading role was played by these guys with their eyes taped up, and they talked like this," said Hong, mimicking the offensive accent that was written for Asian characters at the time.

"And the producers said the Asians were not good enough. And they are not box office," Hong added. "But look at us now."

Yellowface was widespread in Hollywood when Hong's career began, and he often found himself cast in stereotypical parts.

"I ended up in the early career mostly playing laundrymen, or persecuted Chinamen ... it was tough, very tough, to get out of the mold," he told Great Big Story in 2020.

The opportunities for Asian actors were so limited early in his career that Hong co-founded his own theater company, the legendary East West Players.

"That started the industry noticing who we were," Hong told Great Big Story. "We weren't just extras, or gimmick people. We were in a play that we organized. We were the main, lead people. We were the actors. And we commanded attention."

As he commanded attention once again and drew a standing ovation from the crowd at this year's SAG Awards, Hong noted he hopes to be on the awards circuit for years to come.

"I hope I will come back when I'm 100 years old," he said.

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everything everywhere all at once: actors behind oscar contender for best picture reflect on racism and represention in hollywood - cnn

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What 'Everything Everywhere' has taught us about racism and representation in Hollywood

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This feature is part of CNN Style's series Hyphenated, which explores the complex issue of identity among minorities in the United States. "Everything Everywhere All at Once" features a dizzying array of plot twistsas failing laundromat owner Evelyn Wang learns she's actually a superhero fighting to save her family and the world.

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This only happened a year ago but it hasnt been the only one. There has been more and more racially motivated shootings happening in predominately black communities. 11 out of the 13 victims were black. Thankfully this time the suspect was sentenced to life without patrol however this was the worst in buffalo history.

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Ten people were gunned down at a Buffalo supermarket May 14 in a horrifying mass shooting that officials were quick to label as "pure evil" and racially motivated.

The shooting stunned a community basking in a warm May afternoon, with shoppers filling the Tops in a predominantly Black neighborhood at 1275 Jefferson Ave.

Of the 13 people shot, 11 were Black and two were white, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said. All 10 of the victims who were killed were Black, said Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn Jr. The suspect is white. The killings are being investigated as a racist hate crime.

The accused gunman, Payton S. Gendron, pleaded guilty to 15 charges in State Supreme Court in Buffalo on Nov. 28, 2022. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Feb. 15, 2023.

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Complete coverage: 10 killed, 3 wounded in mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket

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Ten people were gunned down at a Buffalo supermarket May 14 in a horrifying mass shooting that officials were quick to label as "pure evil" and racially motivated.

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In my opinion if your judgment can be so bad that you make a horrible comment like this you should not be allowed to make laws.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee Republican lawmaker on Thursday apologized after asking earlier this week if "hanging by a tree" could be added to the state's execution methods, a comment that has shocked Black lawmakers who point to the state's dark history of lynching.

Rep. Paul Sherrell, who is white, first made the remark Tuesday as a separate lawmaker was introducing legislation to include the firing squad to execute death row inmates.

"I think it's a very good idea, and I was just wondering about... could I put an amendment on that it would include hanging by a tree, also?" Sherrell asked.

At the time, no one on the legislative committee reprimanded or pushed back against Sherrell's comments. However, his words gained traction throughout the week, which led to the Republican's apology on the House floor Thursday.

"My exaggerated comments were intended to convey my belief that for the cruelest and most heinous crimes, a just society requires the death penalty in kind," he said. "My intention was to express my support of families who often wait decades for justice. I sincerely apologize to anyone who may have been hurt or offended."

Political Cartoons

However, Black lawmakers continued to express alarm and disappointment not only at Sherrell's failure to acknowledge the historical context of lynching but also the silence from GOP legislative leaders who have not publicly condemned Sherrell's remarks.

"Hanging from a living tree invokes an image in Black folks," said Democratic Rep. Vincent Dixie, who is Black. "It's hurtful, and it makes us frustrated and angry."

According to a report from the Equal Justice Initiative, more than 230 lynchings were reported between 1877 and 1950 in Tennessee. The majority of those took place in Shelby County, which encompasses Memphis and has one of the state's largest Black populations.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson, who is Black, attempted to read the names of those who had been lynched in Shelby County while on the House floor.

"I want to recognize in memoriam some beloved community members," he said, asking for others to stand.

It wasn't until Pearson finished reading the names that he confirmed he was listing those who had been lynched decades ago. As some lawmakers began sitting down, House Speaker Cameron Sexton cut off the Democrat's microphone and warned that he was out of line.

"Rep. Pearson just wanted to get his thoughts out," Dixie said. "And they sat down, the disrespect of them. For sitting down for calling out names who've been lynched for nothing more than probably being Black. I think that speaks volumes."

Tennessee's GOP-dominated Statehouse has repeatedly declined to advance proposals introduced by their Black colleagues that they argue would address racial inequality. The proposals can range from legislation to simple resolutions.

In 2020, Republican lawmakers refused to advance a resolution memorializing a 17-year-old Black girl who was fatally shot in her car. The resolution was spiked after a GOP leader stood up to mention that police officers had said the girl was killed after she and a friend made a "small marijuana sale," even though the sale has never been proved and her slaying remains unsolved.

This year, Democratic-backed bills addressing police reform in response to the death of Tyre Nichols have not advanced.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Tennessee GOP Lawmaker Apologizes Over 'Hanging' Comment

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee Republican lawmaker on Thursday apologized after asking earlier this week if "hanging by a tree" could be added to the state's execution methods, a comment that has shocked Black lawmakers who point to the state's dark history of lynching.

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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/06/college-sports-racist-abuse-rachel-richardson

This article discussed the racism some college athletes faced after respectfully protesting police brutality by kneeling for the national anthem. The backlash and racism they received was overwhelming and the lack of support from their school was seriously upsetting.

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just remember that there was like a consistent chant of 'stand up, N-words' during the anthem and right after. And when brought to the attention of the BYU coaching staff there was no real response or sense of, like, alarm."

That's what a women's soccer player told us she and her teammates experienced in 2021 at Brigham Young University when they knelt for the national anthem to protest racist police brutality before a game. Four other teammates independently confirmed that they heard the comments in a story published in the Guardian last week. After complaints from the players, an announcement was made reminding fans to respect the athletes, but no further action was taken until BYU said this week that it was investigating the incident following the Guardian's reporting.

The allegations came less than a month after a Duke volleyball player, Rachel Richardson, said she had been subjected to racist chants from the crowd during a game at BYU in August. Other players on the Duke team told the Guardian that while they did not hear any racist comments during the game, they received threats, such as fans yelling that they should "watch [their] back," that came from "many small clusters of people, not one specific person."

The university subsequently banned a fan from all its athletic events. However, that ban was later rescinded after BYU reviewed video and audio recordings of the match and spoke to people who had attended the game. One of Richardson's teammates told the Guardian that she was not surprised other people could not specifically speak to hearing the same comments as Richardson, noting that "most of the people on the court were blocking everything out, or were just hearing player names being called, the rest was noise."

Despite the university's inquiry, many college athletes we spoke to believe BYU has a problem with racism among its fanbase.

"Taking into consideration BYU's failure to address white supremacy and racism amongst their fan base in 2021, it comes as no surprise that fans in 2022 are using the same language to intimidate Black athletes," says former University of Pittsburgh track athlete Jordan Fields. "I'm thankful some coaches like [South Carolina's] Dawn Staley, have reconsidered whether it's safe to allow their predominantly Black teams to compete in Provo. Sport is not bigger than the athlete, and competing against BYU in any sport poses a threat to the health and safety of any Black athlete on a visiting team."

Then again, BYU itself admits it has a problem. In 2021, the university released a report saying that its students of color often feel "unsafe and isolated" due to racism on campus ( fewer than 1% of undergraduates at the school are Black). Colin Anderson, a former Vanderbilt football player, wonders if a hostile culture on campuses at predominantly white institutions like BYU leads to a hostile atmosphere at athletic events.

"The same kids who feel comfortable rejecting minority students from parties are the same ones comfortable enough to yell in public spaces," he says.

Some doubt whether anything substantial is being done to change the culture at BYU. One of Richardson's Duke teammates, who wished to stay anonymous due to fear of reprisal, says last week's report of racism at the soccer game was a "disappointment".

"I was reading on yet another incident that shed light on BYU's culture," she says. "Why is this still happening time after time? Why are coaches always so surprised, yet when alumni hear about them they say it has been happening for years? After our own experience the BYU athletic director did what he could do. Do I think he could step up and do more, yes. However this calls for a cultural shift. Incidents like this cannot keep popping up on the news daily. We have to reach a point where fans no longer feel this is an OK thing to do."

Another of Richardson's teammates, who also requested anonymity, says: "Having a culture that allows for such hateful actions to pass by uninterrupted and almost unseen is unacceptable."

BYU did not respond to questions from the Guardian about whether its campus is a hostile environment for Black athletes, and whether steps are being made to address any such issues. Jon McBride, BYU's associate athletic director for communications and media strategy, has previously told the Guardian that "BYU will not tolerate racism in any form."

But reports of racism in college sports are not confined to BYU. And the stories are far from new. In 1983, Georgetown's Patrick Ewing infamously faced racist mockery when a banana peel was thrown at him during a game, and he was also subjected to racist signs targeting his intellect. After receiving MVP honors at the 1960 Cotton Bowl, the first African-American Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis could not accept his own award at a post-game banquet because it was held in a segregated facility. And in 1961, the UCLA basketball team faced such intense racist heckling from white fans that coach John Wooden did not field any of his Black players in a second game.

More recently, in 2014, current NBA player and former Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart shoved a Texas Tech fan, saying the fan called him a racist slur. That same year, Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner detailed the numerous instances of racism that he faced during his time with the Wolverines, including being "called the N-word" many times. And former New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin says the racist abuse he was subjected to in college was worse than anything he experienced in the NBA, highlighting incidents at Cornell, Georgetown, Yale, and Vermont.

The long, dismal list goes on. In 2018, Missouri's AD accused South Carolina fans of spitting at and making racist slurs against Missouri's women's basketball team. After Florida State's loss to rival Florida in November 2019, a man posted an image on Facebook of FSU coach Willie Taggart, the first Black head football coach in the university's history, being lynched. In January of that same year, Black basketball players from Labette Community College were subject to "monkey noises and crow caws" when they visited North Arkansas College. Earlier this year, a Wisconsin fan made anti-Asian racist gestures in Northwestern at a men's basketball game between the schools and was ejected. On another occasion this year, an Iowa fan shouted a racist slur at a Wisconsin wrestler.

Patrick Ewing, with coach John Thompson, during his time at Georgetown. Ewing was the subject of racist abuse during his college career. Photograph: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

"Any underrepresented minority that's played college athletics or has been in a competitive space has faced something thrown at them that's racially/sexually charged," says Anderson, the former Vanderbilt football player.

Indeed, so widespread is such abuse that ignoring it is seen as part of a college athlete's job. Danté Stewart, a former Clemson football player and author of Shoutin' in the Fire says that "we are taught to block it all out when we are on the field ... our race and gender or sexuality are erased under the guise of 'one team, one dream.'"

The problem seems to have become worse in the last few years as athletes started to protest against racial and social injustice, often by kneeling during the national anthem before games.

Former college volleyball player turned social justice educator Jen Fry explains why Black athletes seem to be speaking out more: "With the amount of racial abuse in an inbox one would wonder why it is hard to believe Black athletes when they come out with the stories of what they hear from the stands. Athletes understand that when they do come forward they will not be believed, called a liar, or gaslighted that 'they didn't hear what they thought they heard.' These athletes come forward anyways, knowing what will be potentially said about them and to them."

Former UCLA soccer player Kaiya McCullough is well aware of what was said to her. "I definitely experienced racism from fans while playing college soccer, especially when I was kneeling for the national anthem. While not always overt in person, I was heavily criticized online by people who saw my protest, sometimes even calling me a 'monkey,'" she says.

In 2020, Ohio State basketball player Seth Towns was detained by police during a peaceful protest following the police killing of George Floyd. He says he was soon subjected to "all kinds of hatred on social media." He adds: "I was called [the N-word] countless times in my DMs, was told to 'go to my ancestral hut in the jungle' and a bunch of other wild shit to name a few of the more overt occurrences."

As Stewart explains: "When Clemson put Black Lives Matter stickers on their helmets [ in response to the killing of Floyd] the response was more than backlash. It was ...white rage. It wasn't just like them being bothered. There was something deeper than being bothered that they display like it was almost like ... Yeah, it was hatred. It was a very deep seated hatred of Clemson of athletes, because it's like: 'We don't do that.'"

Anderson reported similar experiences, telling us "when it comes to [players] kneeling for the anthem, we were told not to. Some people still did, so we ended up changing our whole pregame schedule so that players weren't out when the anthem played. We had mostly black coaches and they felt that was the best way to protect us both from the choice of to kneel or not to kneel."

McCullough also notes the surge of anti-Black rightwing politics as a factor in fan racism. "I'd say these issues definitely seem to be more common now after the Trump presidency, in part due to his normalization of overt racism and dog-whistle politics," she says. "The more entitled people feel to hold certain attitudes about race, the more emboldened they are to share those attitudes, regardless of how it might negatively impact people."

Stewart concludes that "it's not enough to celebrate us in your homes or while you're watching us play the game, but then condemn us when we protest."

The pain caused by this racism is often made worse by the fact that they are disbelieved when they report incidents of abuse. After BYU's investigation into Richardson's case she was widely depicted as a fantasist.

"She has no incentive to go to a campus where she will be in the extreme minority and make up a story about hearing racial slurs all game long. By insinuating that she made this story up, people are calling into question someone with a demonstrated track record of excelling academically and athletically," says Brianna Pinto, a former two-time soccer All-American at the University of North Carolina and current professional with the NWSL's North Carolina Courage.

Letisha Brown, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati who studies racism in sport, says: "When Black folks and other people of color make statements about their experiences of racism there is often backlash, people are called 'too sensitive,' or flat out accused of lying." She adds: "the emotional labor does take a toll, having the burden of proof placed upon the shoulders of those who are oppressed is par for the course unfortunately and it is awful."

Ultimately, the racist abuse suffered by players is another symptom of college sports' plantation dynamics, in which white institutions make money from the labor of unpaid Black labor. It is a fact understood all too well by the players who experience it.

"They value the college athlete solely in their athletic form and treat them as if they are worthless when they take their uniform off," says Fields. "Pointedly, Black college athletes 'compete' in a system where white fans' expectations are extremely high and often displayed through irrational anger and hyper-criticism."

In the end, none of the athletes we talked to were surprised about what happened to Richardson and the visiting women's soccer team, because they and their colleagues across the country spent the summer of 2020 and beyond trying to deliver the message that racism is a defining feature of college sport.

Thus, Pinto is ultimately frustrated by how emblematic these incidents are of the structural racism that continues to saturate college athletics. "For far too long, Black people have fought to have our voices heard and receive justice for the racism we have faced for centuries," she says. "I stand with Rachel Richardson and call the athletes, coaches, and leaders in the athletics departments from both universities to make actionable change to ensure that something like this will never be tolerated again. Believe in Black voices, protect Black players, and embrace accountability."

Or, as Fields puts it, "In the end, all I can say is: Black athletes told you so."

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'We told you so': For Black athletes racism from college fans is a familiar story

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just remember that there was like a consistent chant of 'stand up, N-words' during the anthem and right after. And when brought to the attention of the BYU coaching staff there was no real response or sense of, like, alarm."

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WHEREAS, racial minorities are continuously being targeted and met with racial violence during school sports games; and

WHEREAS, there have been numerous instances of racial harassment and race-based name-calling during high school sports throughout the country. Over the past year alone, alleged incidents of abuse by fans and students have been reported in California, Tennessee, Michigan, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Maryland, and New York, among other states; and

WHEREAS, for example, in California, a Black student from Buchanan High School received monkey/ape noises from a student at the opposing school during a penalty kick period at a soccer game at Oak Ridge High School in 2022, and; a Latina student from Buchanan High School was barked at by a student at the opposing school during a penalty kick period at a soccer game at Oak Ridge High School in 2022; students from the opposing team New Prague High School made monkey noises and engaged in racist chants towards Robbinsdale Cooper High School in 2022; and

WHEREAS, high school faculty needs to be proactive in protecting students of color from discriminatory and racist behaviors and proactive in condemning this behavior, and

WHEREAS, The NAACP stands opposed to discrimination and racist behaviors at school sports games in the United States of America.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP calls on all Interscholastic Federations and all Federal Agencies that supervise sports under Title IX, across the country to enact proper sanctions toward schools using discriminatory and racist behaviors towards opponents.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the NAACP will urge all of its Units to work to identify and assist victims of racism in school sports, following NAACP procedures, and take action necessary to expose and halt those who engage, permit, and allow discriminatory and racist practices to continue to affect communities of color.

Get the full, detailed list of 2022 Resolutions.

Download Now

Get the full, detailed list of 2022 Resolutions.

Download Now

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The NAACP will urge all of its Units to work to identify and assist victims of racism in school sports and take action necessary to expose and halt those who engage, permit, and allow discriminatory and racist practices to continue.

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I feel like police brutality is one of the most common issues surrounding racism in our society. The man in this article talks about not knowing if he would make it out of the arrest alive because the detective was beating him up so bad. It's a common issue in today's society and that is just so sad and pathetic we need a complete re-haul of the police academy so we don't attract terrible people to power.

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A man is suing Nassau County police for monetary damages over allegations of police brutality.

The lawsuit alleges that Tawheed Brennan was choked by detectives during an arrest that violated his civil rights.

Bodycam video shows the arrest made in April 2022 at a Baldwin supermarket after Brennan left his backpack at a grocery store.

An attorney for Brennan, Ken Mollins, says someone noticed the backpack and called police. When Brennan went back to the store, Mollins says his client was rushed by police officers and tackled to the ground.

The attorney says a punch from a detective was the start of the brutality. He says there are more images from the video that also show Brennan being choked and having his hair pulled while being handcuffed.

"The other police officers were all around and at one point, they started pulling the detective away because it was getting to be insanity," Mollins says

Brennan, 23, says at one point, he didn't think he would survive the arrest.

"I didn't know if I was going to die or not - I was surrounded by multiple police officers," Brennan says. "They were letting one of them assault me in front of them."

Brennan says he has been arrested before, but in previous scenarios, he was read his rights and treated humanely.

He is now hoping for a cleanup of the police department.

"Not everybody, but the ones who are doing it, they're making it look bad for the rest of them," Brennan says.

All charges against Brennan have since been dropped.

Det. Let. Richard LeBrun told News 12, "We are unable to comment due to pending litigation."

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Lawsuit alleges man was choked by Nassau detectives during Baldwin arrest

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A man is suing Nassau County police for monetary damages over allegations of police brutality. The lawsuit alleges that Tawheed Brennan was choked by detectives during an arrest that violated his civil rights. Bodycam video shows the arrest made in April 2022 at a Baldwin supermarket after Brennan left his backpack at a grocery store.

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In this video it shows several videos of black people being racist towards white people. This country often chooses to ignore this issue in the pursuit of victimizing people of color. None of these crimes are even being charged as hate crimes, but if the roles were reversed they would surely be hate crimes. Black people have definitely got the majority of the history of hate crimes against them, but if we continue to victimize them, they will never learn to grow. It will only continue to harm them by giving them a victim mindset/complex, and we all know how detrimental that can be to a person.

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WATCH: A Rash Of Attacks Against White People -- None Are Being Charged As Hate Crimes

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In this article, it talks about the ongoing issue where street vendors, in this case in San Jose, are being racially and physically assaulted. From both of the stories that they talk about in this article, the vendors are just trying to do their jobs when they start getting assaulted; getting called name, having their stands vandalized, etc.

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In the wake of a pair of high-profile instances of assaults against San Jose immigrant food vendors, city leadership and Latino rights advocates publicly denounced the attacks during a news conference outside city hall Thursday morning.

"I'm outraged this is happening across our city," said San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres, who represents much of downtown in District 3. "I want to emphasize this is an ongoing attack on our small businesses and our street vendors. They make our city great."

The first of the two incidents took place outside the SAP Center after a concert on Thursday, February 16. A video that went viral on social media showed a bloodied street vendor on the ground while a man walked away after assaulting the vendor. The vendor was hospitalized, and the San Jose Police Department said Tuesday that the case was still an active investigation.

The second incident involved a street vendor set up on Saturday near Intex Auto Parts on the 1400 block of Old Bayshore Highway. An employee of the shop, later identified as 43-year-old Kenny Ho, allegedly approached the vendor with a baseball bat and told him to leave the area.

On the video of the incident, Ho was seen repeatedly hitting the vendor's cart with the bat while saying "this is illegal." He then briefly entered the vendor's red pickup truck. The vendor later declined medical attention, police said.

Ho was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted car jacking, according to San Jose police.

Ho apologized for his actions in a statement released by a representative.

"I deeply regret my treatment of the gentleman who set up a vending location outside of my family's auto parts store. I cannot explain or justify my actions, but I can say that, until Saturday, I have always treated others with the respect and consideration that my family instilled in me. I failed to do so here and am ashamed of my conduct. I will ensure that I never treat others in this way again."

Ho also said his father was an immigrant himself, and he believed the vendor's location violated zoning laws and "contributed to other public safety concerns."

In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday, SJPD Sgt. Christian Camarillo said the two incidents were "isolated."

"These are two completely isolated incidents, one from the other," he said. "They have nothing to do with each other, other than the victims are vendors. We are very empathetic to everyone's needs, especially our vendors that are out there trying to make a living."

During Thursday's news conference, Torres said the vendors were simply seeking the "American Dream," and called for a stop to the "discrimination, insults, humiliation as well as loss of property" to food vendors. Multiple city councilmembers claimed that more incidents go unreported, but didn't disclose specific incidents.

"It was truly a tragedy to hear that our city has experienced not one, but two violent attacks on our street vendors within days of each other," said Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, who represents District 1. "We understand that there may be underreporting of these incidents due to the immigration status (of the victims). I today would like to urge you to always report to the San Jose Police Department if you are a victim, regardless of immigration status."

Among other speakers were Jorge Rosales, a vendor from the Berryessa Flea Market, Jesus Flores of the Latino Business Foundation, San Jose City councilmembers Domingo Candelas (District 8) and Peter Ortiz (District 5).

"(Food vendors) are literally under attack," Candelas said. "This vigilante justice is not only despicable, but a detriment to our city as well as our community. We must do better and we must come together as a community."

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'This is an ongoing attack': San Jose leadership speaks out against food vendor assaults

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In the wake of a pair of high-profile instances of assaults against San Jose immigrant food vendors, city leadership and Latino rights advocates publicly denounced the attacks during a news conference outside city hall Thursday morning. "I'm outraged this is happening across our city," said San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres, who represents much of downtown in District 3.

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3 Kurdish people were killed after protesting against racist acts in Paris. the shooting also wounded three other protesters.

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Kurdish people protested in Paris after three were killed in a ‘racist’ shooting

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Members of France’s Kurdish community and anti-racism activists joined together in mourning and anger on Saturday in Paris after three people were killed at a Kurdish cultural center.

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In the video we see how the man shouting is seen to be spewing racist remarks towards these workers, “let’s get the migra here!” as well as “let’s get ICE here!”. It is said that this is the second time this specific man has harassed them and that these comments are very common to hear from not only him but many others, and vendors are usually targeted with these nasty remarks.

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/ KCAL News

A disturbing video out of Long Beach shows a man directing a racist tirade towards the workers at a taco stand, raising additional concerns for the safety of street vendors in the Southland.

"Let's get La Migra here!" the man shouted at the workers, using a slang term used to refer to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Let's get ICE here."

As the video, first released by LA Taco continues, the man can be seen with arms raised asking the workers, who were more than five hours into their shift last Tuesday, if they "got a problem with it," questioning if they had a valid business license.

According to Lionel Perez, who owns and operates the business located on Clarke Avenue, this isn't the first time they've been targeted by racist comments, and the second time specifically by this man.

In a prior incident, the unidentified man, seen wearing a Dodgers hat, pushed one of their grills to the ground.

Perez, while speaking to reporters through a translator, said that he would come back stronger and better than before because of the positivity and support he's received from the Long Beach community in the wake of the incident.

"I think it's really unfortunate that people think like that. Especially nowadays.," said Nancy Perez, one of Taco Lionel's customers. "It's unfortunate to see on social media that there's still so much hate going around. These vendors are just working hard and they're families that are trying to make ends meet most of the time."

This incident is just the latest in a string of recent attacks on street vendors, including a fatal armed robbery attempt in Gardena, another racist rant accompanied by destruction of property in separate incidents in South LA and in San Pedro and a group attack of a vendor in Dockweiler Beach, who was jumped by a group of people in their late-teens on Sunday.

The City of Santa Ana recently considered a proposal to classify attacks on street vendors as a hate crime in the wake of these incidents which have become increasingly common.

KCAL-News Staff

First published on August 10, 2022 / 11:03 AM

© 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.

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for more features.

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Caught on camera: Man directs racist rant towards Long Beach street vendor

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KCAL News A disturbing video out of Long Beach shows a man directing a racist tirade towards the workers at a taco stand, raising additional concerns for the safety of street vendors in the Southland. "Let's get La Migra here!" the man shouted at the workers, using a slang term used to refer to U.S.

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Racial discrimination in medicine and medical institutions

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Racial discrimination in medicine and medical institutions

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This article talks about the racial discrimination suffered by some blacks when they attended medical school and worked in hospitals. Racial discrimination is a problem that exists in all fields, we need to pay attention to them, not ignore them. I think we need people who are capable and can contribute to society, no matter what field we are in. We should not exclude those capable people just because they are not white.

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Time and time again, scientific reports and surveys cite some version of the following findings: Black people have the worst health outcomes. Black patients have better health outcomes when they see Black doctors. Black patients prefer Black doctors. Black doctors tend to care for higher proportions of Black patients than their White counterparts.

Yet 53% of Black people in the US say it's hard to find a Black doctor, which is not surprising. While Black people account for roughly 13% of the US population, they make up only 4% of the physician workforce and 7.3% of medical students. These representational disparities haven't changed appreciably in decades.

We cannot achieve health equity for Black patients without expanding the Black physician workforce, and the nation's medical institutions are not achieving that goal. When confronted with this problem, academic medicine leaders attribute the plateauing of the Black physician workforce to factors beyond its control - things like disparities in primary education and poverty. Medical institutions have yet to honestly examine and address how they perpetuate the problem of a White-dominated physician training system that unjustly excludes, punishes, and dismisses Black medical students, trainees, and attending physicians.

White people must recognize that inclusion is not a zero-sum game, said Camara Jones, MD, MPH, PhD, a Black physician who served as the 2021-2022 UCSF Presidential Chair. "It's like they feel as if they're sitting at a potluck," she said. "They see you come in, and they don't want you anywhere near the table because they think you're going to come eat up all the food. . . . They don't see that you're bringing all kinds of cakes and pies and roasts."

This phenomenon is neither new nor accidental.

The First Black Physician in America

Born into slavery, Dr. James McCune Smith was the first Black person to earn a medical degree and practice medicine in the US.

He graduated in 1837 from the University of Glasgow in Scotland (no American college would admit him) and then opened a medical practice in his native New York City. He was a leading intellectual and abolitionist until his death in 1865.

After Smith won his medical degree, another decade passed before a US school, Rush Medical College in Chicago, graduated a Black medical student, Dr. David Jones Peck.

From the day it was founded in 1847, the American Medical Association (AMA), the nation's first and largest physician association, excluded Smith, Peck, and all other Black physicians. Most local and state chapters of the AMA did not admit Black members until the 1960s. Without membership in local and state medical societies, especially in the South, Black physicians were denied referrals, hospital admitting privileges, medical licensure, and training opportunities. Not until 2008 did the AMA formally apologize for its long history of racist practices targeting Black physicians. The legacy of those practices remains with us today.

The Flexner Report

Perhaps the pivotal event in the history of Black medical education came in 1910, when educator Abraham Flexner published a report intended to spark reforms and modernization of US medical schools. It was an unashamedly racist document with grave consequences for health equity. Even though Flexner devoted relatively little attention in the report to historically Black medical schools, the document's discriminatory language devaluing Black physicians was devastating. The findings ensured that impoverished Black medical schools, which needed far more funding than tuition revenue to finance facility upgrades and improved training, could not meet the requirements.

Ultimately, five of the nation's seven Black medical schools shut down soon after the report. Flexner considered only two of them to be worthy of development, Howard University College of Medicine (founded in 1868) in Washington, DC, and Meharry Medical College (1876) in Nashville, Tennessee.

This reflected Flexner's view that Black physicians should be trained differently from White ones, primarily because "10 million [Black people] live in close contact with 60 million Whites." Since he considered Black people "a potential source of infection and contagion," he said that Black physicians should be trained as "sanitarians" for "hygiene rather than surgery" to protect White people. This racist recommendation limited career opportunities for Black physicians and blocked progress toward health equity, since many of the surviving medical schools would not admit Black physicians for many years or decades.

The legacy of the Flexner Report remains highly relevant today. In the 113 years since it was published, only two new medical schools dedicated primarily to training Black physicians have been established in the US: the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles (1970) and the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta (1975).

(There are some encouraging signs the landscape is changing. On October 18, 2022, Drew officials announced they had received approval (PDF) to launch an independent medical school training program to augment the joint medical degree program Drew has long operated with UCLA. In recent months, two historically Black colleges or universities announced plans to open medical schools. The proposed Maryland College of Osteopathic Medicine at Morgan State University hopes to enroll students at a Baltimore campus starting in 2024. Last month, Xavier University and Louisiana health care giant Ochsner Health announced a partnership to open a new College of Medicine in Louisiana.)

As a result of more than a century of limited growth in Black medical institutions, most Black physicians today are trained at predominantly White institutions. The numbers haven't changed much in decades. While medical schools have admitted more students from Black, Latino/x, and other marginalized groups, these efforts have failed to increase the Black physician workforce. One reason is that they don't address discrimination that occurs farther down the training pipeline. While only 5% of resident physicians in training are Black, Black medical residents account for 20% of expulsions from residency programs.

Defenders of the status quo argue that disparate dismissal rates are evidence that affirmative action doesn't work, and they equate more diversity with less excellence. This viewpoint ignores the generational effects of racial exclusion and marginalization. It also fails to acknowledge that while Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores predict good grades in the first year of medical school, scores alone do not predict one's ability to be a great doctor.

According to accounts from many Black medical trainees and faculty physicians, the real reason for these higher dismissal rates is racism.

Unconscious Bias

Too many academic medical institutions tolerate intimidation, stigmatization, retaliation, and a continuous barrage of slights that push promising Black doctors out of medicine.

These micro- and macroaggressions are hugely disappointing to Black people who want to be physicians, and they are catastrophic for people of color who need care provided by doctors who look like them. It's a tragedy.

"I've seen firsthand where a staff or faculty member may make a statement without facts or may try to make decisions, and it is rooted in unconscious bias - and then, at some level, explicit bias," said Deborah Deas, MD, MPH, the Black vice chancellor for Health Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, dean of its medical school, and a professor of psychiatry.

"It is a loss of our genius that saps the strength of the whole society," said Camara Jones. "The loss is not recognized because people think that they have everybody at the table that they need without us. They don't value us."

Medical Student Silenced by Proxy

Jane, a Black student at a California medical school, shared with me a recent incident involving her Black classmate, Dianne. (To protect their privacy and honor concerns about jeopardizing their careers, I won't share the students' real names or identifying details.) In a small group setting where Dianne was the only Black person, the faculty leader made a joke that classmates in the room found funny. Dianne said she found it racially offensive. When Dianne shared what happened with Black peers in a private group chat, they reacted as she did. When the existence of that private chat was leaked to a senior official of the school, the official downplayed the faculty leader's behavior and publicly admonished Dianne for being overly sensitive, she said. Later, the official privately implied to Dianne that she would be expelled if she didn't drop the matter, she said.

To Jane, the public admonishment was a clear message that the school would not take seriously the concerns of Black students about racial insensitivity. In a health care system that is increasingly focused on matters of health equity, these students were effectively silenced about a critically important racial issue. This dismisses the impact of these affronts on Black students and communicates that these future physicians are not valued.

"I would never report anything unless it was so explicit that nobody could say that this is in my head," Jane said. "It would have to go as far as probably someone calling me, like, the N-word."

Black Resident Physicians Culled

STAT, the online health, medicine, and life sciences news platform, published a two-part investigation in June that reported young Black physicians are forced out of US training programs for minor errors that are overlooked when committed by their White counterparts. In the articles, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Usha Lee McFarling wrote: "Black residents either leave or are terminated from training programs at far higher rates than White residents. The result of this culling - long hidden, dismissed, and ignored by the larger medical establishment - is that many Black physicians have been unable to enter lucrative and extremely White specialties such as neurosurgery, dermatology, or plastic surgery. It's a key reason these fields have been unable to significantly diversify their ranks even as the total number of residency spots has increased nationally."

Medical Professor Forced to Exit

The experience of Aysha Khoury, MD, a Black internist and faculty member at Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine (KPSOM) in Pasadena, illustrates how efforts to control and silence Black physicians can occur at any point in a Black physician's career. In August 2020, Khoury facilitated a discussion about race and gender health bias with a small group of students in the KPSOM inaugural class. Within hours, the medical school suspended Khoury from teaching and clinical responsibilities. After an eight-week probe during which all the students in that small group petitioned for her reinstatement, the administration dismissed Khoury. The school told her the firing was a consequence of poor clinical and teaching performance, not racism.

Black Patients' Voices

Listening to Black Californians is a CHCF-supported study to understand Black Californians' experiences of racism and
the powerful influence it yields over their health care and outcomes.

The project identifies policy actions and practice changes at the clinical, administrative, and training levels that policymakers and health system leaders can make to eliminate the impact of racism on Black Californians' experiences in health care and to improve their health outcomes.

Khoury, who said she was never told what policy she violated, sued the school. "My career with Kaiser is over now because the dean, the executive leadership, and the board all okayed my dismissal," said Khoury in an interview on June 22, 2021. "They gave students a primer on how to discriminate and get away with it." The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concluded that her claim that KPSOM's action violated the National Labor Relations Act was meritorious and filed its own separate complaint.

On January 10, 2023, Khoury and KPSOM jointly announced the settlement of the civil case and the NLRB proceeding. "The settlement includes a demonstrable commitment by the school to conduct further examination of its practices relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and implicit bias in medical education and to enhance those practices as well as share learning to positively influence medical education overall," the joint statement said.

Khoury is now a faculty member at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Stream of Lawsuits

In August 2022, Derrick Morton, PhD, a Black biologist and former KPSOM assistant professor, filed a lawsuit against the school (PDF). Morton alleges that he was "repeatedly traumatized" by KPSOM's "pervasive hostility against Black professionals and medical students." White supervisors "demoted, isolated, and constructively discharge[d] the [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] associate dean because he is Black," Morton asserts. He said widespread anti-Black animus blocked Black faculty members from associating with each other or with Black students to protect their careers. Morton departed the school for a new job. A KPSOM spokesperson said school officials "strongly disagree with the allegations and characterization of events" in Morton's complaint. The spokesperson declined to provide further information.

Institutional race discrimination against Black physicians and trainees is depressingly common, regardless of the medical, economic, or geographic setting. In California, Omondi Nyong'o, MD, a pediatric ophthalmologist in Palo Alto, and several other Black physicians have lodged complaints and filed lawsuits against Sutter Health, alleging racial discrimination at the large Sacramento-based nonprofit health system. A Sutter spokesperson issued a statement: "We deny having taken or participated in any discriminatory or retaliatory conduct against Dr. Nyong'o or any of our physician partners or our own employees."

In Louisiana, Princess Dennar, MD, the Tulane University School of Medicine's first and only Black woman residency program director, was suspended from her job soon after filing a race discrimination lawsuit against the school. The case was settled in December 2021, and the parties have made no public comments since.

A growing number of Black physicians are speaking out. Uché Blackstock, MD, wrote an article in STAT about "toxic and oppressive" conditions that prompted her to leave a faculty position in an academic medical center.

I described my own similar experience in the New England Journal of Medicine. There are many similar stories around the nation, but most unfold beyond the media's gaze.

Little Change in Representation

The racial disparities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 coincided with police murders of unarmed Black people. Americans from many backgrounds were galvanized by these events, and it was common for medical institutions to join public and private organizations in denouncing racism and recommitting to diversity. Since that time, however, the definition of "diversity" within many organizations broadened to the point that the benefits of these actions to Black Americans have been attenuated.

The approach appears to have shifted away from "Black lives matter" and toward "all diversity matters," enabling institutions to lump together counts of women and non-White physicians and trainees to project a feel-good, progressive façade. Behind the numbers, however, there often is little or no change in overall representation of Black populations - especially in the ranks of senior leadership.

There has been a notable lack of Black physician advancement in academic medical institutions, and pay disparities have been well documented. According to a 2021 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges, only 3% of academic medical school full professors are Black women, and only 1.7% are Black men. Among clinical science department chairs, only 1.8% are Black women and 2.8% are Black men. Among physician faculty, for every dollar a White man is paid, on average a Black man is paid 93 cents, a White woman 77 cents, and a Black woman 73 cents.

Achievements in academia are not the only measures of a successful medical career and academic settings are not the only settings where physicians can practice and serve their communities. But it is undeniable that academic institutions are where decisions are made regarding who makes up the next generation of physicians and how they are trained, mentored (PDF), and treated.

The 'Minority Tax'

While Black faculty in academic medical institutions are burdened by racism, they also pay a "minority tax" that impedes career advancement. This penalty is levied in the form of substantial amounts of time they are expected to devote to service on committees, panels, and boards on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Such service is usually uncompensated and contributes to a façade. It is a time commitment not expected of White colleagues, who stay focused on activities that lead to promotions, including research and publication.

Underscoring Jones' point about Black doctors being chronically undervalued, a study examining applications for federal health research grants found Black researchers' applications from 2011 to 2015 were more likely to be overlooked, less likely to be considered fundable, and focused on topics with lower award rates. The irony of this finding is that after George Floyd's murder, well-funded scientists who are White and have relatively little background in health equity research are disproportionately being awarded grants in that field. Their scientific endeavors often build on the research of Black and Latino/x scholars without citing them or offering to include them on grants or as co-authors.

This must change.

An Agenda for Progress

We need to redefine the medical training "pipeline" as more than just ensuring increased numbers of Black people gain admission to medical school. The pipeline needs to include meaningful support throughout medical school and in subsequent years as physicians assume leadership positions. This will require acknowledgment of the historical and ongoing role of medical institutions in allowing disproportionate numbers of Black doctors to fall out of the pipeline.

This will require a culture shift. Meaningful change will require action.

Medical institutions need to embrace the reality that people from different backgrounds add value to the enterprise and should be treated and paid equitably. These organizations should stop creating diversity offices and committees that lack funding and authority to take concrete actions to improve the situation. They must stop punishing Black students and physicians for objecting to racist interactions.

"We all need to recognize that the dearth of Black physicians is sapping the strength of our whole society and that inaction in the face of need is a hallmark of how structural racism often manifests today," said Jones.

As Frederick Douglass, who escaped enslavement to become an internationally renowned abolitionist, famously said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will."

The time to demand change is now.

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Perspective: Racism in Academic Medicine Is Hindering Progress Toward Health Equity - California Health Care Foundation

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Time and time again, scientific reports and surveys cite some version of the following findings: Black people have the worst health outcomes. Black patients have better health outcomes when they see Black doctors. Black patients prefer Black doctors. Black doctors tend to care for higher proportions of Black patients than their White counterparts.

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We are policed by an institution that leads to the beating and killing of people of color. 

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We are policed by an institution that leads to the beating and killing of people of color. 

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https://www.npr.org/2023/01/28/1151504967/tyre-nichols-memphis-police-body-cam-video

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Mostly peaceful protests over police brutality were carried out around the country after the public release of body camera footage brought the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols into clearer picture.

Nichols, a 29-year-old Black motorist, was pulled over Jan. 7 for what police said was reckless driving. After attempting to flee on foot, Nichols was aggressively beaten by police, newly released police video shows. Three days later, he died in the hospital.

Here's what else we know.

Who was Tyre Nichols?

Nichols, a father of a 4-year-old son, was known to his family as an avid skateboarder and nature photographer from Sacramento, Calif., according to The Associated Press. He arrived in Memphis just before the pandemic, and later started a job with FedEx, a major employer there. Nichols had been with the company for about nine months before his death, The New York Times reported.

"He was one of those people who made everyone around them happy," Nichols' step-grandmother Lucille Washington said at a memorial service.

Police body cam video shows a violent arrest

Police said on Jan. 8 that Nichols was taken into custody after a traffic stop that involved two confrontations with officers. During the initial confrontation, Nichols fled the scene of the traffic stop, police said.

Following the arrest, Nichols then complained of shortness of breath, according to authorities, and was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he died on Jan. 10.

His family has said the police beat him so severely that he was unrecognizable.

The Shelby County District Attorney's Office said in a statement earlier this week that it understood the "reasonable request from the public" to view the video of Nichols' death.

The city of Memphis released the four-part footage on Vimeo on Friday evening.

In the videos, officers are seen dragging Nichols from his car and shouting profanities throughout the confrontation. An officer tries to deploy a Taser at Nichols and then begins to chase him on foot. "I'm just trying to go home," Nichols is heard saying. Later, officers are seen repeatedly kicking, punching and using a baton to strike Nichols as he lies on the ground. At one point he's heard yelling "Mom." Lawyers for the Nichols family say this encounter happened within 100 yards of the family's home.

Ben Crump, the family's attorney, compared the footage to the video of the 1991 Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King, another Black motorist.

Protests were held in several cities following release of police video

Mostly peaceful protests broke out in cities across the U.S. following the release of the videos, with demonstrators leading marches and chants against police brutality and shutting down highways and intersections in some cities.

In Memphis, a group of demonstrators gathered at a downtown park and then took to the streets, shutting down the I-55 bridge over the Mississippi River between Memphis and West Memphis. They chanted "no justice, no peace" and "justice for Tyre," closing the bridge for nearly three hours before peacefully disbanding.

In other parts of Memphis, people gathered in churches or small groups to reflect on the wrenching and somber moment for the city.

A protest in downtown Los Angeles became tense when a small group protesters demonstrated outside of Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, which was blocked by police in riot gear, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Other small, but mostly peaceful protests, were also held in Times Square in New York City, near the White House in Washington, D.C., in Seattle, Detroit and Atlanta, as well as in other cities from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Organizers are planning vigils, marches and demonstrations across the U.S. over the weekend.

Five former officers were indicted and jailed in connection to Nichols' death

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith each face several charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Like Nichols, all of the former officers - who were fired before Thursday's indictments - are Black.

On Wednesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis released a video statement discussing "the horrific circumstances" of Nichols' death. She called it a professional failing and said "the incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane."

During a news conference announcing the indictments of the five officers, prosecutors gave new details about what happened during the traffic stop.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said that while each of the five officers played a different role, "the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible."

A grand jury returned indictments and delivered all five officers the same exact charges.

Less than three hours after officials released the body cam footage, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies who appeared at the scene of the arrest had been relieved of their duties pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

The Memphis police officers were part of a specialized team known as the SCORPION unit, an acronym for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, that the department launched in 2021. A day after the release of the body cam video of Nichols' arrest, the Memphis Police Department said it would permanently disband the unit.

Other agencies are involved in the case

Crump, one of the family's attorneys, said during a news conference earlier this week that police used a stun gun and pepper spray on Nichols in addition to restraining him during the arrest.

"Yet again, we're seeing evidence of what happens to Black and brown people from simple traffic stops," Crump said. "You should not be killed because of a simple traffic stop."

In a statement following Thursday's news conference, Crump said although the five officers have been indicted, policing in the U.S. needs a great deal of reform.

"This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death. Tyre's loved ones' lives were forever changed when he was beaten to death, and we will keep saying his name until justice is served," he said.

The police chief said earlier this week that the five officers violated multiple department policies, "including excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid."

Two Memphis Fire Department employees were also "relieved of duty" as an internal investigation is being conducted.

Memphis Fire Department spokesperson Qwanesha Ward told NPR that the employees - who were not identified - were "involved in the initial patient care" of Nichols. She did not go into further details.

The Justice Department and the FBI have also launched a civil rights investigation into Nichols' death and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation launched a separate investigation.
NPR's Joe Hernandez contributed to this report.

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What we know about the killing of Tyre Nichols

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Mostly peaceful protests over police brutality were carried out around the country after the public release of body camera footage brought the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols into clearer picture. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black motorist, was pulled over Jan. 7 for what police said was reckless driving.

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It's heartbreaking to watch what's happening to kids and to realize that they begin practicing bigotry so young. During Black History Month, a sixth-grade girl receives a card containing racist phrases. This little girl's experience with bullying begins with cards and continues vocally, and she is not the first elementary student to endure prejudice.

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Black students receive racist drawings at California elementary school

Black students at an elementary school in California received Black History Month cards with racist messages from their classmates. CNN's Kyung Lah has the details.

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Video: Black students receive racist drawings at California elementary school | CNN

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Black students receive racist drawings at California elementary school Black students at an elementary school in California received Black History Month cards with racist messages from their classmates. CNN's Kyung Lah has the details.

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"Racism ... has its unique trend on former Soviet Union soil," according to Terrell Starr, independent scholar, New York, who discussed his research as a Fulbright scholar in Ukraine at a 2 May 2011 Kennan Institute event. In particular, Starr focused on the experiences of African-Ukrainian women.

As a journalist, Starr used a multimedia approach to collecting information about the African-Ukrainian community. Eventually, the research Starr collected culminated in a photo exhibition he produced, which consisted of a photojournalism exhibit of his interview subjects' experiences. The speaker explained that the first part of his research was a four-part "immersion interview" session, which included questions designed to allow interviewees to explore the issues of race and identity in their own context. Starr asked subjects about their experiences as African-Ukrainians while attending Ukrainian schools; their parents' influence on their childhood; their relationship with religion and spirituality; and the impact of their social networks. "It was the first time anyone had asked them in-depth" about their experiences, Starr explained.

Ultimately, the subject matter of Starr's "immersion interview" discouraged some people from participating in his research. Specifically, the speaker noted that African-Ukrainian men would not speak to him, as they did not want to share things about their lives that were painful. Thus, Starr's research developed into a study of African-Ukrainian women's experiences in Ukraine.

Starr focused on the experiences of one interviewee in particular: Angelina Diash, a university student of Angolan and Ukrainian descent. Born and raised in Ukraine, the speaker explained that although Diash viewed other Ukrainians as her fellow citizens, the feeling was not always reciprocated. "Although I have a passport that shows I'm Ukrainian, I need a 'social visa,'" Starr recalled her saying. Similar to other subjects Starr interviewed, Diash developed a sense of self-reliance at an early age to cope with being a minority in her own country. However, Diash also developed a strong sense of self-identity because of her difference in appearance. When a person is constantly singled out by race, Starr emphasized, "you grow to know who you are very quickly."

The subject of race in general-as it pertains to Slavic society-is discussed openly and honestly in Ukraine, more so than race is discussed in America, in Starr's opinion. "I am very quick to defend the Ukrainians for their honesty when it comes to such personal experiences of race," Starr said. Despite the degree of openness Starr observed while conducting his research, he also learned that racism and xenophobia are on the rise in Ukraine. Indeed, Starr's research had a personal impact for him; the speaker-who is of African-American descent-explained that he was stopped by Ukrainian police 29 times during his stay in Kyiv. Although the presence of racism and xenophobia is increasing in Ukrainian society, Starr asserted that improvement is not unfathomable; however, he noted that effective social change must come from above. "What I found in Ukraine," Starr concluded, "is that you have to find a combination of political leaders who actually try to deal with the problem."

By Amy Shannon Liedy
Blair Ruble, Director, Kennan Institute

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Life as a Black Ukrainian: How Some Natives Are Treated Like Foreigners

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"Racism ... has its unique trend on former Soviet Union soil," according to guest speaker Terrell Starr, who discussed his research as a Fulbright scholar in Ukraine at a May 2011 Kennan Institute event. In particular, Starr focused on the experiences of African-Ukrainian women.

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It is so frustrating that this is happening. So much white supremacy in our country and these categories that were just used as a means of making injustices towards people.
Enough is enough.
And so read to hear about the Buffalo market massacre.

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White Supremacist Gets Life in Prison for Buffalo Massacre

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A white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket has been sentenced to life parole

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Many famous olympian women athletes have faced racism acts from coaches and judges. Christine Mboma, a runner was banned to run the 400 meter for track because they were told their testosterone levels were too high and "not enough women." Also Simone Biles took a year to focus on her mental health and faced backlash for choosing these decisions.

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Simone Biles, Sha'Carri Richardson, and How the Olympics Failed Black Women (ep. 169) | ACLU

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The Tokyo 2020 games keep making headlines for the wrong reasons - particularly the treatment of Black athletes.

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https://apple.news/AV3E3ufVBTw6zpW4elfTtAQ

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Non-profit organization vows to fight racial discrimination in workplace: 'There is no good form of racism' - Fox News

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President of the Equal Protection Project Bill Jacobson shares why his organization is dedicated to fighting racial discrimination in the workplace on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

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On August 3rd, 2019 a Texas man carries out a mass shooting at Walmart killing 23 people, and injuring 22 more. This act of violence was carried out by a White nationalist, who pleaded guilty to all charges. The attack was racially motivated for his primary targets were Hispanic Immigrants. The court hasn’t released a sentencing date as of yet.

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A Texas man who carried out the mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3, 2019, killing 23 people and injuring 22 more, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to a 90-count indictment, including 45 counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and 45 counts of using a firearm during and in relation to crimes of violence.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, the defendant, Patrick Wood Crusius, 24, has agreed to accept 90 consecutive life sentences, one for each count in the indictment. The guilty plea included 23 counts for hate crime acts that resulted in the deaths of Andre Anchondo, Jordan Anchondo, Arturo Benavides, Jorge Calvillo Garcia, Guillermo Garcia, Leonardo Campos, Angelina Englisbee, Maria Flores, Raul Flores, Adolfo Cerros Hernandez, Alexander Hoffmann, David Johnson, Luis Alfonso Juarez, Maria Legarreta Rothe, Maribel Loya Hernandez, Ivan Filiberto Manzano, Gloria Irma Marquez, Elsa Mendoza Marquez, Margie Reckard, Sara Regalado Monreal, Javier Amir Rodriguez, Teresa Sanchez, and Juan Velasquez.

The plea also included 22 hate crime acts that caused bodily injury and involved attempts to kill 22 people injured in the shooting. In addition to the hate crimes, the defendant pleaded guilty to 45 firearms violations, 23 counts of using a firearm in a federal crime of violence resulting in death, and 22 counts of using a firearm in a federal crime of violence.

"Today, the Justice Department secured the guilty plea of Patrick Wood Crusius, a self-described white nationalist, for federal hate crime and firearms offenses in connection with the deadly mass shooting targeting people perceived to be Hispanic immigrants at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in 2019," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. "Nothing can undo the immeasurable loss suffered by the loved ones of the victims of that attack or the terror inflicted on the El Paso community in its wake. Today's action makes clear that the Justice Department will not tolerate hate-fueled violence that endangers the safety of our communities."

"Today's guilty plea marks one more step towards justice for the El Paso community; however, we must remember that the survivors and victims' families will be on a lifelong journey of healing because of this defendant's actions," said FBI Director Christopher Wray. "We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the Hispanic community who had their sense of security shattered by this heinous attack. The FBI will continue to seek justice for all those whose civil rights and safety are threatened by hate."

"White nationalist-fueled violence has no place in our society today," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "This senseless massacre violates the law, runs contrary to our values as Americans and defies the principles of tolerance and inclusion that define us as a nation. By pleading guilty, the defendant has admitted that he murdered innocent people based on their national origin and targeted Hispanics. The Justice Department will continue to use every tool at its disposal to combat hate crimes, hold perpetrators accountable, and seek justice for the victims and survivors. This guilty plea cannot bring back those whose lives were lost, or heal those still suffering, but it does put us firmly on the path to justice. Our hearts are with the victims of this horrendous crime, their families, and the entire community."

"It has always been our intent to obtain proper justice for all the victims of the senseless El Paso shooting, their ever-resilient families, and the courageous community that continues to feel the pain of that day," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. "We continue to stand in support of all whose lives have been impacted, and my hope is that this plea leads to a sentence that can serve as an example of how the United States justice system does not tolerate anyone who chooses to harm our loved ones and our neighbors, especially when motivated by hatred."

According to the statement of facts agreed to and signed by Crusius and entered into the court record at his guilty plea hearing, Crusius admitted that he killed and wounded people at the Walmart because of the actual and perceived Hispanic national origin of the people he expected to be at the Walmart. He further admitted that he intended to kill everyone he shot.

Crusius also admitted he wrote a manifesto, titled "An Inconvenient Truth," and uploaded it to the internet minutes before he commenced his attack. In it, he characterized himself as a white nationalist, motivated to kill Hispanics because they were immigrating to the United States. Crusius admitted to selecting El Paso, a border city, as his target to dissuade Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants from coming to the United States.

The FBI investigated the case, in partnership with the El Paso Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); the Texas Department of Public Safety; the El Paso County Sheriff's Office; the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner; the Allen Police Department; and the Dallas Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian Hanna, Gregory McDonald, and Patricia Acosta for the Western District of Texas' El Paso Division and Trial Attorneys Kyle Boynton of the Civil Rights Division's Criminal Section and Michael Warbel of the Criminal Division's Capital Case Section are prosecuting the case.

The U.S. District Court has not yet set a sentencing date.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Western District of Texas at http://www.txwd.uscourts.gov/ or on http://ecf.txwd.uscourts.gov/

For more information about DOJ's work to combat and prevent hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes: a one-stop portal with links to DOJ hate crimes resources for law enforcement, media, researchers, victims, advocacy groups, and other organizations and individuals.

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Texas Man Pleads Guilty to 90 Federal Hate Crimes and Firearms Violations for August 2019 Mass Shooting at Walmart in El Paso, Texas

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A Texas man who carried out the mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 3, 2019, killing 23 people and injuring 22 more, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to a 90-count indictment, including 45 counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.

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This article reports of a white supremacist who murdered 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket. Peyton Gendron plead guilty for shooting the 10 black victims in an act of hate. This motivation of domestic terrorism lead him to life in prison. It is truly heartbreaking to see that extreme racism is alive and well, and that people will go as far as taking multiple innocent lives to fuel their hatred. Families of the victims gave an emotional testimony at Gendron's sentencing, and the pain and sorrow created from this tragedy will never disappear.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after listening to relatives of his victims express the pain and rage caused by his racist attack.

The sentencing hearing for Payton Gendron was disrupted briefly when he was charged by a man in the audience, who was quickly restrained. It resumed after about 10 minutes, with more emotional testimony from people who talked about losing loved ones in the attack.
READ MORE: Tops Buffalo supermarket to reopen 2 months after mass shooting
Peyton Gendron, whose hatred was fueled by racist conspiracy theories he encountered online, cried during some of the testimony and apologized to victims in a brief statement.

He pleaded guilty in November to crimes including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate, a charge that carried an automatic life sentence.

Gendron, 19, wore bullet-resistant armor and a helmet equipped with a livestreaming camera as he carried out the May 14 attack with a semiautomatic rifle he purchased legally but then modified so he could load it with illegal high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Gendron also faces separate federal charges that could carry a death sentence if the U.S. Justice Department chooses to seek it. His defense attorney said in December that Gendron is prepared to plead guilty in federal court as well to avoid execution.

Gendron's sentencing in the attack resumed shortly after the disruption, which happened as Barbara Massey Mapps excoriated him for killing her 72-year-old sister, Katherine Massey. As Mapps shouted and pointed at Gendron, a person in the audience took a few steps toward him before getting held back.

"You don't know what we're going through," a man shouted as he was led away by court officers. For several minutes thereafter, family members hugged and calmed each other.

Judge Susan Eagan ordered Gendron back in and let the proceeding resume after about 10 minutes, admonishing everyone to "conduct ourselves appropriately."

"I understand that emotion, and I understand the anger, but we cannot have that in the courtroom," she said.

The sentencing was a chance for loved ones of the dead, as well as people wounded in the attack last spring, to pour out their loss, anguish and ire.

Some, like Massey Mapps, angrily condemned him; others quoted from the Bible or said they were praying for him. Several condemned him for his deliberate attack on a Black community far from his nearly all-white hometown.

"You've been brainwashed," Wayne Jones Sr., the only child of victim Celestine Chaney, said as sobs rose from the audience. "You don't even know Black people that much to hate them. You learned this on the internet, and it was a big mistake."

"I hope you find it in your heart to apologize to these people, man. You did wrong for no reason," Jones said.

Kimberly Salter, the widow of security guard Aaron Salter, explained that she and her family were wearing "red for the blood that he shed for his family and for his community, and black because we are still grieving."

Christopher Braden, a Tops Friendly Market employee who was shot in the leg, said he was haunted by seeing the victims where they lay as he was carried out of the store.

"The visions haunt me in my sleep and every day," he said.

At one point, Gendron began crying himself.

Gendron, now 19, wore bullet-resistant armor and a helmet equipped with a livestreaming camera as he carried out the May 14 attack. He killed his victims with a semiautomatic rifle, purchased legally but then modified so he could load it with high-capacity ammunition magazines that are illegal in New York.

There were only three survivors after he shot 13 people, specifically seeking out Black shoppers and workers.

His victims at the Tops market included a church deacon, the grocery store's guard, a neighborhood activist, a man shopping for a birthday cake, a grandmother of nine and the mother of a former Buffalo fire commissioner. The victims ranged in age from 32 to 86.

In documents posted online, Gendron said he hoped the attack would help preserve white power in the U.S. He wrote that he picked the Tops grocery store, about a three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York, because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

While a life prison sentence is guaranteed for Gendron, he also faces separate federal charges that could carry a death sentence if the U.S. Justice Department chooses to seek it. New York state does not have the death penalty.

Gendron's admission of guilt on the state charges is seen as a potential help in avoiding a death sentence in the penalty phase of any federal trial. In a December hearing, defense attorney Sonya Zoghlin said Gendron is prepared to enter a guilty plea in federal court in exchange for a life sentence.

The mass shooting in Buffalo, and another less than two weeks later that killed 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school, amplified calls for stronger gun controls, including from victims' relatives who traveled to Washington, D.C. to testify before lawmakers.

New York legislators quickly passed a law banning semiautomatic rifle sales to most people under age 21. The state also banned sales of some types of body armor.

President Joe Biden signed a compromise gun violence bill in June intended to toughen background checks, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws making it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous.

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Buffalo supermarket shooter sentenced to life for racist attack killing 10

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A white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after listening to the relatives of his victims express the pain and rage caused by his racist attack.

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This article shares the story of a high school football program that got their season cancelled because of an extremely racist group chat. The article then went on to share numerous other examples of horrible racism in high school athletics, and how a conversation about making change is long overdue.

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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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This article demonstrates that race is not only biological or based on where you are from. There are many cultures within a singular society and it is sad that there is still discrimination within its own community.

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A few months ago, several employees of an upscale Mexico City steakhouse came forward with a damning allegation: The restaurant had a policy of segregation in which the best tables were reserved for the customers with the lightest skin.

The notion of whiter Mexicans getting preferential treatment was not surprising in a country where darker-skinned people have long earned less money, received less schooling and been all but invisible in the media. But the ensuing public outrage was.

(Luis Antonio Rojas / For The Times)

Within days, activists mounted a boycott and the city launched an investigation into the restaurant, Sonora Grill Prime, which denied the accusations. Multiple public figures highlighted the scandal as evidence of pervasive bigotry. "Racism is real," Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters, using a word long regarded as taboo. "We have to accept that it exists and fight it."

For the vast stretch of Mexico's modern history, many denied that racism existed here at all.

They embraced the nation's foundational myth that its people are mestizos, a single blended race of indigenous and Spanish blood, insisting that there could be no prejudice if all Mexicans were the same.

But a growing social movement is challenging that thinking, thrusting discussions of discrimination based on skin color to the fore.

Activists have pushed for more diversity in the film and television industry and have launched campaigns to end profiling by police.

Using Twitter and TikTok, they've called out companies and celebrities for discrimination and have popularized a new term - whitexican, a mix of the words white and Mexican - to refer to the nation's wealthy, light-skinned elite.

The movement has found a powerful ally in President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a tan-faced leftist from the poor state of Tabasco whose family has been subjected to racial smears, and who has highlighted the issue of racism like no other leader in Mexico's history.

In recent days, activists here have watched a scandal unfold in Los Angeles that feels remarkably close to home.

When three Latino members of the Los Angeles City Council were caught on tape deriding Indigenous Mexicans as short, dark-skinned and ugly, "it didn't surprise me at all," said José Antonio Aguilar, the founder of the group Racismo MX.

"Of course the racism we experience here is exported to immigrant communities in the United States," he said.

The scandal reminded him of a secret recording that came to light in 2015, in which the head of Mexico's electoral institute was captured impersonating the leader of an Indigenous group. The official kept his job, but in recent months student activists resurfaced the recording to protest his appearance at a university event.

Mexico's new racial reckoning has met resistance from parts of society, with some of the country's top media personalities accusing activists of importing radical ideologies from the United States and seeking to divide the nation along racial lines.

"They're just looking to tear us apart," a light-skinned anchor with the news channel ADN 40 said this week during a roundtable about diversity in the media.

"How can they talk about not discriminating when that's what they're doing?" a guest responded. "There are redheaded Mexicans. There are whites. Now they won't let them be in movies because they don't represent Mexico? To me, that's discrimination."

Much of the work for activists has been focused on a basic first step: getting their compatriots to recognize that Mexico is a country with racial differences - even if it lacks the more rigid racial categories of a place like the United States.

"If your whole life you've been told that we are all equal, that we're all brothers, half-Indigenous and half-Spanish, you can't really question how you're treated," said Julian Gastellou, a 30-year-old industrial designer who recently began identifying as Afro-Mexican and belongs to a collective that hosts "Racism 101" workshops. "So first, we have to educate."

Monserrat Ramos, a 26-year-old attorney from the state of Oaxaca who founded the group Basta Racismo MX, said reckoning with racism in Mexico requires opening "deep, deep colonial wounds."

If slavery was the original sin of the United States, colonialism was Latin America's.

The Spanish conquest of the New World five centuries ago established a caste system in which social standing was largely determined by a person's racial mix. At the top of the ladder were people of European descent, followed by those of mixed colonial and Indigenous heritage. At the bottom were Indigenous people, followed by Black slaves.

After the Mexican Revolution, a bloody seven-year struggle that ended in 1917, the leaders of the new republic pushed an ideology that they hoped would unify a fractured nation.

At its core was the figure of the mestizo - a concept that would be embraced across Latin America.

Jose Vasconcelos, who championed the concept as Mexico's first education minister, described it in 1925 as a "cosmic race" of the future, with all the "virtues of Indians and Europeans" alike.

Mexicans were taught that they lived in a post-racial society. In 1994, the country's representative to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination acknowledged that classism and sexism were prevalent but insisted that "the phenomenon of racial discrimination" did not exist in Mexico.

So ingrained was this belief that the country generally doesn't ask detailed questions about race in census surveys, making it difficult to study the relationship between skin color and socioeconomics.

One rough measure of race is language, with an estimated 6% of the populationspeaking at least one of the dozens of Indigenous languages that exist here.But that doesn't capture the many gradations of skin tone here.

In recent years, academics developed a new research method. Before asking about a person's life, they categorize the respondent's skin tone on an 11-point color scale that ranges from darkest to lightest.

The results have been striking.

A 2017 study published by the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University found that people with the whitest skin had completed 11 years of schooling on average compared with five years for those with browner skin.

Wealth also correlated to skin color, with dark-skinned people earning 52% less than their whiter compatriots.

Not that any of this was much of a surprise in a country where the word "Indian" is routinely used to describe someone who is lazy and where grandparents cajole young people to find a light-skinned partner "to improve the race."

Within families and friend groups, the lightest-colored person is often nicknamed guerito, or "little white one," and the darkest negrito, or "little Black one." Depending on the tone and context, the words can be insults or terms of endearment.

In films and on television, darker-skinned actors are often relegated to roles as housekeepers and criminals. A casting call for an Aeromexico advertisement in 2013 said "dark-skinned" people need not apply.

Racial inequality is just as visible in many homes, where women employed to cook, clean and nanny are often dark-skinned or Indigenous. It's not uncommon for apartment buildings to bar such laborers from public areas, or for elevators to be designated specifically for the help.

"Animals are treated better than us," said Marcelina Bautista, who was 14 when she left her pueblo in the state of Oaxaca to find work in Mexico's capital, where she walked the streets until she found a sign that read: "Looking for a servant."

Bautista, now 56, founded Mexico's first trade union for domestic workers. She said racism is inextricable from classism, given that most of the country's poor are also darker-skinned.

Mexico's anti-racist social movement has antecedents.

The 1994 Zapatista uprising was billed as a revolution against neoliberalism, but also protested the marginalization of Indigenous communities.

Afro-Mexicans, who claimed their very existence had been erased by mestizo ideology, pushed the Mexican government to include a Black ancestry question on the national census for the first time in two centuries in 2020. It found that about 2.5 million of Mexico's 127 million people identify as Black.

But the dramatic findings of the academic studies showed that the issue in Mexico was bigger than just the marginalization of historic communities. It was a "pigmentocracy," in the words of academic Edward Telles, in which skin color is the most important determinant of a person's economic and educational attainment.

The findings slowly translated to activism.

The cause got a big boost with the 2018 election of López Obrador. At his inauguration, he received a traditional cleansing during an Indigenous ceremony and vowed to lift up Indigenous groups who "live with oppression and racism, with poverty and marginalization."

Two years later, a popular comedian was forced to apologize after he called the president's dark-skinned youngest son "chocolate flan."

At this year's annual Independence Day celebration, in which the president traditionally shouts "Long live Mexico" before a screaming crowd, López Obrador added a new phrase: "Death to racism!"

Another turning point came with the 2018 Oscar-winning film "Roma," which starred Yalitza Aparicio, a Oaxacan who became a lightning rod for discussions about race.

She was subjected to ridicule by comedians and a top soap opera star, who used a racial slur. But her acclaim - she was nominated for an Oscar for best actress and graced the covers of Vogue Mexico and Vanity Fair - also made her a role model for many.

"It was a crucial moment, to have all of this focus on an Indigenous woman," said Aketzaly Verástegui, an actress with the group Poder Prieto, which pushes for diversity in film. "When I was growing up and watching television, I never saw faces that looked like mine."

Many of the country's anti-racism groups formed online during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of them inspired in part by the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted across the United States after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

On a recent afternoon, several of the new groups gathered for a picnic in Chapultepec, a sprawling park sandwiched among several of Mexico's wealthiest neighborhoods. It was the first time many of the activists were meeting in person. The group of about 40 people sat in a circle, introducing themselves one by one.

Several described childhoods in which their mothers sought to change their complexion using skin-lightening products. One young man said that while breaking up with him, an ex-girlfriend had said: "I can't believe I was with an ugly brown person."

An actress who has led the movement to integrate the film industry, Maya Zapata, described her frustration at getting light-skinned colleagues to acknowledge that the country is stratified by skin tone.

"Do you see the color of the people working at this hotel?" she implored a group of them recently. "Do you see the color of the guests?"

"No, I don't see color!" her colleagues had responded.

As they passed around tostadas and shredded chicken, another woman described her painful relationship to race. With her straight brown hair and honey-colored skin, she stood out in her Afro-descended family, who often referred to her as white.

Yet in upscale parts of Mexico City, she is seen as dark-skinned.

"It has left me so confused," she said.

The woman started crying, and her young daughter ran up to hug her.

"When she was a baby, she was super white," the woman continued. "I used to worry people might think I robbed her."

Others approached to give her hugs.

"Thank you," she said. "You've helped me find myself."
Cecilia Sánchez in The Times' Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

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Mexico's new racial reckoning: A movement protests colorism and white privilege

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In Mexico, a growing movement is challenging discrimination against darker-skinned people. Lighter-skinned Mexicans still dominate film, politics and business.

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"Black people who were labelled ‘backward’ as children seek justice for lifelong trauma" [Unit 1 Exercise 3: Dylan James]

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"Black people who were labelled ‘backward’ as children seek justice for lifelong trauma" [Unit 1 Exercise 3: Dylan James]

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This article speaks of the response of the African population in Britain to a nationwide scandal regarding the past negligence of their African population. In their country, many people of African decent from the 60's and 70's were labeled as "educationally subnormal", a wrongful assumption due to the fact that many of those people were sent to special schools where they were stripped of their education. This group of people, afflicted by these unfair disadvantages and forced to live out the rest of their lives with them, are protesting against the government demanding apologies and compensation for their situations, which I personally hope goes in their favor.

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Black people wrongly labelled "educationally subnormal" as children in the UK before being wrongly sent to special schools have launched a campaign demanding an apology and compensation from the government.

They say their lives have been ruined by their early experiences during the 1960s and 70s. They were told they were "backward" or "slow" or "a dunce", and placed in schools with no curriculum, no exams and no qualifications. The consequences have lasted a lifetime, blighting their confidence, self-esteem and life chances.

Some of their stories were highlighted in a 2021 BBC TV documentary called, Subnormal: A British Scandal. Since then however, more victims have come forward to share their experiences and are working with lawyers to try to secure compensation for negligence and post-traumatic stress.

The documentary described how from 1945, children thought to have limited intellectual ability were described by a new term, "educationally subnormal" (ESN). A leaked report by the Inner London Education Authority revealed it was applied disproportionately to black children, often based on IQ tests that were biased.

"The trauma has been lifelong for those who were robbed of an education," said the Labour MP Kim Johnson, who is supporting their claim.

Those affected were children of the Windrush generation. Noel Gordon's parents arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1960. He was born six years later, then at the age of four his family discovered he had sickle cell disease.

His parents were told there was a place for him at a special school - a state boarding school - where a matron could keep an eye on his health. It turned out to be what was known at the time as an ESN school. He suffered racist abuse and had little formal, academic education.

"It was soul destroying," said Gordon. "All the things I could have learned and didn't because there was no curriculum, there were no exams. I couldn't punctuate, I couldn't spell. Normally, when you go to school, year after year, you're getting tested and you build your confidence up. I didn't have any of that. I felt inadequate."

He has spent a lifetime trying to catch up, completing a range of qualifications including a degree in information systems and a PGCE, and writing a children's book, but the stigma remains. "There are many that will not talk about their experiences because they feel ashamed.

"The most damaging thing about being in a special school is the lack of self-belief and confidence. That was sucked out of us. I left the school a blank template. I had to pick up the pieces and start again."

'I didn't have any confidence or self-esteem because of the educational background I had,' says Maisie Barrett. Photograph: Lyttanya Shannon/BBC/Rogan Productions

Maisie Barrett also ended up in a special school at the age of six. "They told my mother I was backward." Thirty years later she was diagnosed with dyslexia, but the damage was already done. "When a Caribbean parent heard the word 'special', they thought they were lucky. In fact I didn't learn anything."

Her mother later sought a second opinion from a social worker, who carried out an assessment. "She said to my mother I was intelligent. That was the first time I had heard the word intelligent." At the age of 13 Barrett was transferred to a mainstream school, but it was too late. She had missed too much.

"My brain, all those years, had not been stimulated. Other children thought I was quite weird. I was a big girl and I could not read or write. I became a loner. I convinced myself I was useless. I could not learn. There was nothing I could really do."

Marriage and motherhood seemed her only option, but she was ill prepared for that too. She says her children have suffered as a consequence. "I didn't have any confidence or self-esteem because of the educational background I had," she said. "Up to this very day, it's affected my whole life." She has gone on to study for a degree in Caribbean studies and creative writing, and is writing her third book, but "it's been a great struggle", she says.

'There was no proper curriculum. I never sat an exam. It was more like containing,' says Ann-Marie Simpson. Photograph: Lyttanya Shannon/BBC/Rogan Productions

Ann-Marie Simpson, who came to England from Jamaica at the age of nine after little formal education, also ended up in a special needs school after being excluded from the mainstream for getting into fights. "I recall having an assessment by a psychologist and my mum was advised I needed special education. But I don't know what my special needs were."

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Of her new school, she said: "There was no proper curriculum. I never sat an exam. It was more like containing. At the time I was very, very embarrassed. I would not tell anyone where I went to school." She has since studied via evening classes and access courses, and is now a social worker.

Frances Swaine, a consultant solicitor at Leigh Day who is working with the group, said potentially hundreds of people were affected by the ESN scandal. An event is being held in the House of Commons on 1 March to highlight the campaign. A petition calling for justice for those affected has also been set up.

"Each individual client is very severely damaged by what happened to them," she said. "There are a lot of people who feel very ashamed about themselves. They did not realise the lack of education they suffered was not their fault.

"Our case is the fact they should never have been sent to these schools in the first place. If a proper investigation had been done, they would have been properly placed within a mainstream school."

She said her clients did not have the kind of disabilities that required a place in special school. In some cases, children ended up there because they had a strong Jamaican accent, or because teachers thought the best way to "keep them under control" was to put them in a separate setting. Others underwent an IQ test that was culturally biased and included questions they could not possibly answer because of their different experiences, but it was incorrectly put down to low IQ.

"In quite a number of cases what we see is a bias and systemic racism towards a group of children who were very vulnerable," said Swaine. "It's very clear for a lot of them that wrong or careless decisions were made."

Swaine is representing eight clients, but there are likely to be more. "A lot of them have kept their school reports, the way everybody does, so there's quite a lot of history there. And local education authorities also have not destroyed their records."

According to Swaine, there are precedents for this kind of action, which falls beyond the normal time limits, with the infected blood inquiry, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse and the Windrush compensation scheme.

Johnson, who sits on the Commons education select committee and is hosting the 1 March event, believes there are parallels today with the disproportionate numbers of black children put in lower sets, affected by fixed-term exclusions and sent to pupil referral units. She would like to see an inquiry into race in education.

"The persistent exclusion of black children from mainstream schooling presents a crisis situation. Unlike the 60s and 70s, we know the scale and nature of the problem today. There needs to be a sense of urgency and not delay from the Department for Education on how to put an end to the routine exclusion of black children from education."

The DfE said: "Racism in all its forms is abhorrent and has no place in our schools or society, and the Equality Act makes it clear that any discrimination against pupils on the basis of their race is unlawful."

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Black people labelled 'backward' as children seek justice for lifelong trauma

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Black people wrongly labelled "educationally subnormal" as children in the UK before being wrongly sent to special schools have launched a campaign demanding an apology and compensation from the government. They say their lives have been ruined by their early experiences during the 1960s and 70s.

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I came across this video, and thought it was interesting how the interviewer used the term "biological trauma" and "genetic trauma". It goes to show the misconception people have with race being a biological trait. And while on YouTube, I find that a large majority of the videos I happen to come across that talk about racism are coming from comedians.

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The origin of the term “Barrel of Laughs” will surprise you

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The fact is that racism is still alive and well. The man in this story, even if he apologized to Ivan Toney, is most likely due to internet opinion, which does nothing to remove the racism within a person, which is difficult.

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Ivan Toney online abuse: Man apologises for racist message

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The judge said the message sent to the England and Brentford player was "exceptionally offensive".

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It is a bit ominous for me to read about articles like these because it makes me realize how much different my life would be if I continued living in South Africa. The South African electricity crisis, which is a product of rolling blackouts and a lack of investment in energy infrastructure, has had significant impacts on the country's economy and social stability. The reason I decided to share it is because I was in South Africa when this first started happening, and now realize that the nation already has a history of cultural disruption from the Apartheid, and the electricity crisis South Africa is experiencing is just one of many consequences of this cultural conflict, which cements the topic's importance. My hope is that at some point, anthropologists can help by investigating the social and cultural dimensions of this crisis and how it affects different communities.

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South Africa Considers National State of Disaster for Energy Crisis

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South Africa is considering declaring a national state of disaster as record power cuts cripple the economy.

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We see the struggle human beings face. Not being able to have their voices heard and are not liked when protesting for their rights to be as human as anyone else on earth. This article shows the actual reality citizens face in Ukraine. Just because they look dissimilar?

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Why Racism Should Be Seen As A Global Issue

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Recent viral footage of inhumane treatment of African women in Ukraine sparks a discussion about why racism should be addressed as a global issue.

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Ron DeSantis in favor of Florida bill that would "prohibit general courses 'with a curriculum based on unproven, theoretical or exploratory content.'"

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Ron DeSantis in favor of Florida bill that would "prohibit general courses 'with a curriculum based on unproven, theoretical or exploratory content.'"

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This article is extremely alarming. It aims to  "ban colleges and universities from any expenditures on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs." DeSantis said that these bills put an "ideological filter" on reality and want to restore the expired definition of American History, meaning it should relate to the principles stated in the Declaration of Independence. If this bill passes, it will be moving backwards in time and destroying crucial systems that educate on extremely important topics such as critical race theory, gender studies, intersectionality and systems of oppression.

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Florida bill would give DeSantis more power over state universities and ban gender studies | CNN Politics

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A new bill overhauling Florida universities to match Gov. Ron DeSantis' vision for higher education would shift power at state schools into the hands of the Republican leader's political appointees and ban gender studies as a field of study.