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917 | Why does critical race theory make people so uncomfortable? | As the war on critical race theory ramps up across the United States, it has become one of the most politicized schools of thought, sparking debate in both private and public spheres. While debates surrounding CRT are not new, it has gained increased attention following George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Proponents of CRT argue that it is an analytical tool for unearthing and interrogating the pervasiveness of systemic racism and the myriad of ways it is embedded in society, institutional policies, processes and practices. But critics of CRT assert that it is divisive anti American discourse that villainizes white people and indoctrinates young minds. Parents and politicians express ongoing outrage and denounce the use of CRT in elementary and secondary school curricula. Similarly, as colleges and universities commemorated Black History Month in February, some parents contend that Black History Month programs and events reflect CRT principles. The rage among white nationals and extremists has transpired into inciting violence and issuing bomb threats at approximately 16 historically Black universities. Read more: Critical race theory: Diversity is not the solution, dismantling white supremacy is Given the moral panic that has erupted, some argue that much of the backlash surrounding CRT is politically manufactured or engineered. Criticisms about CRT largely stem from individuals who misunderstand and misconstrue CRT’s key tenets. According to historian and co editor of Critical Race Studies Across Disciplines, Jonathan Chism: “Many that are condemning critical race theory haven’t read it or studied it intensely. This is largely predicated on fear: the fear of losing power and influence and privilege. The larger issue that this is all stemming from is a desire to deny the truth about America, about racism. ”Critical race theory emerged in the mid 1970s as a response and opposition to color blind discourses that failed to consider how race and racial inequality are deeply rooted in the legal system. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Derrick Bell, Richard Delgado, Mari Matsuda, Patricia Williams, along with many other racialized scholars and activists, played a pivotal role in advancing CRT as a social and intellectual movement. CRT is guided by several tenets, one of which is recognizing that race is a socially constructed phenomenon that has historical and contemporary significance. A CRT analysis acknowledges how the legacy of slavery, segregation and the social construction of a racial caste system denigrates racialized people. It also acknowledges that race is ingrained and normalized in social structures and laws. CRT rejects dominant ideologies of objectivity, color blindness and meritocracy. Issues around race and racism are central to understanding power imbalances. Rather than challenge systemic racism, ideologies of objectivity, color blindness and meritocracy blame racialized people, both individually and collectively for their own oppression. Centering the perspectives and lived experiences of Black and racialized people is often emphasized through storytelling, counter storytelling and collaboration. CRT also examines the ways in which people’s intersecting and overlapping identities of race, gender, class and other axes of oppression contribute to differential experiences. It is action oriented and is committed to advancing a social justice agenda. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/why-does-critical-race-theory-make-people-so-uncomfortable-176125 | false | null |
918 | How a Black writer in 19th-century America used humor to combat white supremacy | Any writer has to struggle with the dilemma of staying true to their vision or giving editors and readers what they want. A number of factors might influence the latter: the market, trends and sensibilities. But in the decades after the Civil War, Black writers looking to faithfully depict the horrors of slavery had to contend with readers whose worldviews were colored by racism, as well as an entire swath of the country eager to paper over the past. Charles Chesnutt was one of those writers. Forced to work with skeptical editors and within the confines of popular forms, Chesnutt nonetheless worked to shine a light on the legacy of slavery. His 1899 collection of stories, “The Conjure Woman,” took place on a Southern plantation and sold well. At first glance, the stories seemed to mimic other books set in the South written in a style called “local color,” which focuses on regional characters, dialects and customs. But Chesnutt had actually written a subversive counter narrative, using humor to poke holes in the nostalgic myths of the South and expose the contradictions of a racist society. After the Civil War, there was a concerted effort to portray the South as a pastoral place possessed with a culture of honor. Slavery, meanwhile, had been a nurturing, even benevolent, institution. These beliefs bled into the era’s fiction, with white authors such as Thomas Nelson Page and Joel Chandler Harris writing stories that sentimentalized and softened the complex histories of the past. Many of these stories feature a formerly enslaved older male who’s given the affectionate moniker “Uncle. ” These characters tended to describe the Civil War as an affront on the Southern way of life, while presenting the South and its landed gentry as heroic. In “A Story of the War,” for example, Harris introduces the character Uncle Remus, who recounts the time his master went away to fight the Civil War. Overcome with concern for the man who enslaved him, Uncle Remus follows him and witnesses a Northern soldier preparing to shoot him. In a moment of panic, Remus shoots the Northerner, wounding him. “A Story of the War,” like most Southern local color tales, appealed to readers invested in the Lost Cause of the Old South, a revisionist ideology that depicts the creation of the Confederate States and cause of the Civil War as just and heroic. Historian Fred Bailey notes that stories like Page’s and Harris’ were “hailed by the South’s upper classes,” while associations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy routinely read from these works at their meetings. At first glance, it would seem Chesnutt, who was mixed race and could have easily passed for white, was merely working within the dominant literary form of his time and fashioning stories geared to a white audience. Like his white contemporaries, Chesnutt, in “The Conjure Woman,” includes a character who’s an “uncle” living on the abandoned plantation where he once toiled. But Chesnutt, as literary historian Dickson Bruce points out in his 2005 essay “Confronting the Crisis: African American Narratives,” used the setting of the plantation to present a more authentic representation of slavery. Uncle Julius, who appears in each of the collection’s stories, isn’t nostalgic for some bygone era. Instead, he reflects on his own life and seeks to show the humanity of the enslaved. He uses his ability as a raconteur to cleverly swindle a white carpetbagger who bought the plantation Julius lived on during his bondage and after the Civil War. The stories are descriptive, corrective – and, most importantly, funny. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/how-a-black-writer-in-19th-century-america-used-humor-to-combat-white-supremacy-176230 | true | null |
919 | What The Conversation talks about when it talks about football: 3 essential reads ahead of the Super Bowl | The Super Bowl is all about wings. Well, it’s about wings and commercials. OK, OK, it is about wings, commercials and four 15 minute quarters of broken play interspersed with moments of occasional sporting drama and a halftime singsong. In fact, football is about all that and much more. Over the last 12 months, The Conversation has published articles on everything from race and sexuality in the NFL to how climate change may affect the game in years to come. So if this year’s Super Bowl is a little dull, or you simply want to avoid being sold a truck every commercial break, here are a few interesting reads on what is happening in the football, but off the field. Super Bowl LVI is taking place in the shadow of a controversy over racial discrimination in the the NFL. On Feb. 1, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against three teams and the league, alleging a pattern of racist hiring practices. To George B. Cunningham, professor of sport management at Texas A&M University, the legal development is perhaps hardly surprising. His article explores the “glaring absence of nonwhite head coaches” in the NFL. Cunningham notes that at the beginning of the 2021 season there were just three Black head coaches in the NFL – the same as there were in 2003. This isn’t a result of performance; there is no evidence that Black coaches are less qualified or have worse results. Rather, Cunningham notes, “biased decision making, organizational cultures that value similarity, and societal forms of bias and discrimination are all to blame for the lack of diversity among NFL head coaches. ” Read more: Almost all NFL coaches are white lawsuit focuses on leagues abysmal record hiring diverse coaches Racial gaps at the top level of coaching isn’t the only disparity in American football. There is also a distinct lack of gay athletes in the sport. In fact, the first openly gay active NFL player only came out in June 2021. The announcement, by Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman Carl Nassib, received widespread attention and praise. Penn State’s John Affleck writes that to “have a gay player in America’s most watched sport represents a landmark moment” but that it does not mean “the end of homophobia in sport. ”Affleck notes the case of Michael Sam, a star college football player who was projected as a fourth round draft pick heading into 2014. But after confirming in interviews that he was gay, he slid to a sixth round projection. Ultimately, “he was not selected until the 249th pick overall – eighth to last – in the final round of the draft,” Affleck writes. Barriers to out athletes continue today. Affleck cites 2021 research showing that half of LGBTQ respondents to a survey said they had “experienced discrimination, insults, bullying or abuse while playing, watching or talking about sports. ” Read more: Why its such a big deal that the NFLs Carl Nassib came out as gay Big players made big calls during this year’s NFL season – but not all of them were right, and not all of them were on the field. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made a call that was out of his field of expertise – and he was very, very wrong. A few days after being diagnosed with COVID 19, Rodgers offered what USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’s Joe Árvai described as “a smorgasbord of pandemic misinformation and conspiracy theories” defending his decision to skip the COVID 19 vaccine. As someone who studies how people think, Árvai was also intrigued by Rodgers’s claim that his position on vaccination was due to his being “a critical thinker. ” | 2 | https://theconversation.com/what-the-conversation-talks-about-when-it-talks-about-football-3-essential-reads-ahead-of-the-super-bowl-176871 | false | null |
920 | New evidence of discrimination against Black coaches in the NFL since 2018 | Boldly going where no NFL coach has gone before, recently fired Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores put his future career at stake and filed a class action lawsuit against the league, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and the Dolphins, alleging discriminatory hiring practices among team owners. Coincidentally, a study I began working on in the spring of 2020 was published online in the Review of Black Political Economy mere hours before Flores’ lawsuit went public. My colleagues and I used data on all NFL offensive and defensive coordinators since the 2003 introduction of the Rooney Rule, which required all NFL teams to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head coaching jobs. We wanted to determine what factors were correlated with a coordinator’s probability of becoming a head coach. Our results identified many factors that have impacted a coordinator’s chances of landing a head coaching job. One of those factors was the coordinator’s race. The study pays specific attention to the case of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who is Black. Before Flores’ lawsuit was filed, Bieniemy had largely been the face of the discussion surrounding Black football coaches. What makes his case particularly interesting is the fact that two of his predecessors, who are both white, were quickly promoted to head coaching gigs. Many in the media have suggested that Bieniemy’s lack of head coaching opportunities can be attributed to racism. In our study, we wanted to see if there was any validity to this claim. When Andy Reid became head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013, his offensive coordinator was former NFL quarterback Doug Pederson, who is white. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Pederson became head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Pederson’s replacement for the 2016 season was former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress. In 2017, Childress remained with the Chiefs as assistant head coach, and Matt Nagy, who is white, was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. After only one season as Chiefs offensive coordinator, Nagy accepted a head coaching offer from the Chicago Bears. Nagy’s replacement was Bieniemy. During Bieniemy’s tenure, the Chiefs have reached four straight AFC Championship games and two Super Bowls. Using the simple rating system metric provided by Pro Football Reference. com, the Chiefs’ worst offensive performance under Bieniemy’s tutelage was better than any season for Pederson or Nagy. Yet Bieniemy, who was once again passed over in this year’s hiring cycle, still awaits his first head coaching opportunity despite reportedly interviewing for 15 such positions as of February 2022. We collected data on all 267 NFL coordinators between 2003 and 2020. In addition to race, our model accounts for a coordinator’s age; their years of experience as a coordinator; their years of NFL playing experience; what position they played in college; what positions they coached in the NFL; whether they had NFL or college head coaching experience; whether they were an offensive or defensive coordinator; whether they were coaching under an offensive or defensive minded head coach; and their performance as a coordinator. The model also controls for the number of head coaching vacancies each offseason. Our research revealed several potential reasons for why Bieniemy has yet to secure a job as a head coach in the NFL. One could have to do with the position Bieniemy played and coached prior to becoming Chiefs offensive coordinator: running back. NFL owners seem to devalue experience playing or coaching this position in their head coaches. Of the 32 head coaches to begin the 2021 NFL season, none were former running backs. Excluding special teams positions, running back was the only position not played by at least one head coach for the 2021 season. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/new-evidence-of-discrimination-against-black-coaches-in-the-nfl-since-2018-176351 | false | null |
922 | Challenging the whiteness of classics – remembering the Black Romans | As with every humanities discipline, classics has responded to Black Lives Matter with justifiable introspection. As the study of the ancient world, and particularly that of the Mediterranean cultures, classics has a significant colonial legacy: British, French and Italian colonialists saw themselves as inheriting or continuing a “civilising mission” which they associated with the Romans. They assumed that the Romans shared their prejudices, particularly those associated with elitism and racism. When they thought about or represented Roman imperial history, they imagined it as dominated by White men, who were the political leaders and were responsible for cultural achievements. This is a legacy that has proved tenacious. Although there is no evidence to suggest that Roman leaders, cultural and political, were uniformly White, classics and ancient history have been associated with whiteness. Many of my students have worried about a lack of representation that works on many levels in the classics. There are few lecturers of colour – that is changing, though much too slowly. But there is also alienation from what is being studied: the Romans are not seen by these students “as people like them”. The Roman world is seen as white and one in which people of colour had no place or were at the social margins. However, one of the central elements of my teaching is to emphasise the cultural diversities of the ancient Mediterranean peoples and their social distance from contemporary societies and values. There is a gap here between the likely racial make up of the Roman population and how that has been understood. This gap, I suggest, derives from a systematic erasure of Black Romans from Roman history. This erasure is similar to the “whitening” of histories and cultures, in which the presence and contribution of Black people is ignored. Racism is understood as the use of various minor corporeal differences, in particular skin colour, to create categories of people. Those categories are subsequently associated with identities, which reinforce that categorisation. Such categorisation is a peculiar and perverse modern idea. Greeks and Romans didn’t think in these ways. They were aware of differences. But for Romans, White or Black were not meaningful social categories. As a result, our sources hardly ever mention skin pigmentation, since it wasn’t important to them. It is normally impossible for us to associate particular ancients with those modern racial categories. But this absence of evidence has allowed the assumption that most prominent Romans were, in our terms, White. However, there is every reason to think that many leading Romans were, in our terms, Black. Septimius Severus was a Roman general who became emperor in 193 CE. He was born in Leptis Magna in modern Libya. Almost all depictions of Severus are statues or on coins. They show him as having curly short hair and a beard, which is sometimes forked. Such depictions do not represent his skin pigmentation. But unusually we have a painting of Severus, the Severan Tondo in the Altes Museum in Berlin. The Tondo shows Severus, Julia Domna, his wife, and their children – the future emperor Caracalla and Geta. Geta’s face was obscured after his murder by Caracalla. The greying Severus clearly has dark skin. Painted depictions of emperors circulated widely, partly through the military and partly through imperial cult, as we can see in this marvellous bust of Severus himself in the Archaeological Museum at Komotini, Greece. There can be little doubt that this is what people thought Severus and his family looked like. And yet, Severus’ Blackness has historically been questioned. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/challenging-the-whiteness-of-classics-remembering-the-black-romans-175180 | false | null |
923 | New flood maps show US damage rising 26% in next 30 years due to climate change alone, and the inequity is stark | Research Fellow, University of Bristol Executive Director, Wharton Risk Center, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, City University of New York Professor of Hydrology, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol Oliver Wing is a Research Fellow at the University of Bristol and also the Chief Research Officer of Fathom, a flood risk analytics firm. Carolyn Kousky is the Executive Director of the Wharton Risk Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Jeremy Porter is Professor of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences at CUNY and also the Chief Research Officer at the research and technology non profit First Street Foundation. Paul Bates is Professor of Hydrology at the University of Bristol and also a founding shareholder of Fathom. University of Bristol provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. View all partnersClimate change is raising flood risks in neighborhoods across the U. S. much faster than many people realize. Over the next three decades, the cost of flood damage is on pace to rise 26% due to climate change alone, an analysis of our new flood risk maps shows. That’s only part of the risk. Despite recent devastating floods, people are still building in high risk areas. With population growth factored in, we found the increase in U. S. flood losses will be four times higher than the climate only effect. Our team develops cutting edge flood risk maps that incorporate climate change. It’s the data that drives local risk estimates you’re likely to see on real estate websites. In the new analysis, published Jan. 31, 2022, we estimated where flood risk is rising fastest and who is in harm’s way. The results show the high costs of flooding and lay bare the inequities of who has to endure America’s crippling flood problem. They also show the importance of altering development patterns now. Flooding is the most frequent and costliest natural disaster in the United States, and its costs are projected to rise as the climate warms. Decades of measurements, computer models and basic physics all point to increasing precipitation and sea level rise. As the atmosphere warms, it holds about 7% more moisture for every degree Celsius that the temperature rises, meaning more moisture is available to fall as rain, potentially raising the risk of inland flooding. A warmer climate also leads to rising sea levels and higher storm surges as land ice melts and warming ocean water expands. Yet, translating that understanding into the detailed impact of future flooding has been beyond the grasp of existing flood mapping approaches. Previous efforts to link climate change to flood models offered only a broad view of the threat and didn’t zoom in close enough to provide reliable measures of local risk, although they could illustrate the general direction of change. Most local flood maps, such as those produced by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have a different problem: They’re based on historical changes rather than incorporating the risks ahead, and the government is slow to update them. Our maps account for flooding from rivers, rainfall and the oceans – both now and into the future – across the entire contiguous United States. They are produced at scales that show street by street impacts, and unlike FEMA maps, they cover floods of many different sizes, from nuisance flooding that may occur every few years to once in a millennium disasters. While hazard maps only show where floods might occur, our new risk analysis combines that with data on the U. S. building stock to understand the damage that occurs when floodwaters collide with homes and businesses. It’s the first validated analysis of climate driven flood risk for the U. S. We estimated that the annual cost of flooding today is over US$32 billion nationwide, with an outsized burden on communities in Appalachia, the Gulf Coast and the Northwest. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/new-flood-maps-show-us-damage-rising-26-in-next-30-years-due-to-climate-change-alone-and-the-inequity-is-stark-175958 | false | null |
924 | Artificial intelligence can discriminate on the basis of race and gender, and also age | We have accepted the use of artificial intelligence in complex processes from health care to our daily use of social media often without critical investigation, until it is too late. The use of AI is inescapable in our modern society, and it may perpetuate discrimination without its users being aware of any prejudice. When health care providers rely on biased technology, there are real and harmful impacts. This became clear recently when a study showed that pulse oximeters which measure the amount of oxygen in the blood and have been an essential tool for clinical management of COVID 19 are less accurate on people with darker skin than lighter skin. The findings resulted in a sweeping racial bias review now underway, in an attempt to create international standards for testing medical devices. There are examples in health care, business, government and everyday life where biased algorithms have led to problems, like sexist searches and racist predictions of an offender’s likelihood of re offending. AI is often assumed to be more objective than humans. In reality, however, AI algorithms make decisions based on human annotated data, which can be biased and exclusionary. Current research on bias in AI focuses mainly on gender and race. But what about age related bias can AI be ageist?In 2021, the World Health Organization released a global report on aging, which called for urgent action to combat ageism because of its widespread impacts on health and well being. Ageism is defined as “a process of systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old. ” It can be explicit or implicit, and can take the form of negative attitudes, discriminatory activities, or institutional practices. The pervasiveness of ageism has been brought to the forefront throughout the COVID 19 pandemic. Older adults have been labelled as “burdens to societies,” and in some jurisdictions, age has been used as the sole criterion for lifesaving treatments. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/artificial-intelligence-can-discriminate-on-the-basis-of-race-and-gender-and-also-age-173617 | false | null |
927 | hmaud Arbery murderers sentenced to life in prison: 4 essential reads on the case | USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism C. Wendell and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor of Law, Stanford University Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland Associate Professor of Law, University of South Carolina View all partners to of the three men convicted of murdering unarmed Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery learned on Jan. 7, 2021, that they will likely die behind bars. Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael were sentenced to life in prison without parole at a hearing in Glynn County, Georgia. A third man, William Bryan, was sentenced to life in prison with parole. He must serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars before he is eligible. All three were found guilty on Nov. 24, 2021, of murder in a case that gained widespread attention during a national reckoning over the killing of unarmed Black men in the U. S. Arbery, a 25 year old Black man, was killed on Feb. 23, 2020, after being pursued through the predominantly white suburban neighborhood of Satilla Shores, near Brunswick in Georgia. For many, the manner of his death raised questions over the role race played in the killing, evoking a U. S. past in which gangs of white men killed Black men and boys with impunity. But race played a backseat role in the trial, being brought up only in the prosecutor’s closing argument. Instead, the nearly all white jury – 11 of the 12 jurors were white – was invited to focus more on whether the defendants were justified in trying to apprehend Arbery as he jogged down the road. The Conversation U. S. ‘s authors have explored how race and law intertwine in the following stories related to Arbery’s murder. In the course of a two week trial, jurors heard evidence from more than two dozen witnesses. At the heart of the defense was a claim that the three men accused were protected by the state’s citizen’s arrest law. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley made a point of explaining the law in his final instructions before the jury retired to consider its verdict. He told them citizen’s arrests can be made only if a crime has taken place in the presence of the person making the arrest, “or within his immediate knowledge. ”The verdict in the case suggests jurors sided with the prosecution’s view that the citizen’s arrest defense did not hold water. Following the death of Arbery, Georgia weakened its 150 year old citizen’s arrest law. But as explained by Seth Stoughton, professor of law at University of South Carolina, many states retain similar legislation. In fact, citizen’s arrest laws have been around for centuries – but they have often been open to abuse. Such laws can be “badly misused by those who believe their higher social status gives them authority over someone they perceive as having lower status. ”“Frequently, this falls along racial lines,” Stoughton adds. Read more: Trial of Ahmaud Arbery’s accused killers will scrutinize the use – and abuse – of ‘outdated’ citizen’s arrest laws Lawyers for the three defendants claimed in the trial that the accused men were within their right to conduct a citizen’s arrest because they believed Arbery had committed a burglary despite there being no evidence to suggest that the 25 year old had stolen anything. Sociologist Rashawn Ray focused on the setting and circumstances surrounding the shooting – that the victim was a Black man jogging in a white suburban neighborhood. In Ray’s study of race and physical exercise, he found that Black men living in white neighborhoods were far less likely to go for a run in the areas surrounding their home than were white men, white women or Black women. The reason? “Black men are often criminalized in public spaces – that means they are perceived as potential threats and predators,” Ray writes. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/ahmaud-arbery-murderers-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-4-essential-reads-on-the-case-174514 | false | null |
928 | bell hooks will never leave us – she lives on through the truth of her words | I was introduced to the work of bell hooks for the first time when I was 14 years old, sitting on my Nana’s porch, complaining about the mosquitoes and the heat. My Nana, who was probably frustrated by my endless complaints about being bored, stuck a copy of “Ain’t I A Woman” in my hand and told me just to “shut up and read. ” I remember that summer because after I read that book, all we talked about was bell hooks and who she was and who I wanted to be. I said then that I wanted to be a writer, like bell hooks, and change the world with my words. I took her words with me when I went off to college, and by then, I had my own dog eared copies of some of her books. I went to her work whenever I needed to be reminded of my strength. The world felt much safer when bell hooks and Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou were on the front line, carving out a path to freedom and modeling what a Black woman’s resistance to a system hellbent on trying to make them small looked like. bell hooks’ words went with me everywhere, even while they kept taking me back to myself. I, like countless others over the past 40 years, was inspired by bell hooks, who died on Dec. 15, 2021, at 69. As a leading Black intellectual, hooks pushed the feminist movement beyond the preserve of the white and middle class, encouraging Black and working class perspectives on gender inequality. She taught us about white supremacist capitalist patriarchal values – giving both the words to define it and the methods to dismantle it. And unlike previous generations, she prompted Black women like myself to see ourselves, claim ourselves and love ourselves with an unapologetic fierceness. “No Black woman writer in this culture can write ‘too much,’” bell hooks once wrote, “Indeed, no woman writer can write ‘too much’… No woman has ever written enough. ”I used to read her words to my sons when I was holding them in my arms, determined to practice “liberative parenting” and raise my Black sons as Black feminists. I met bell hooks in person several times in my capacity as an activist, an officer of the National Women’s Studies Association and as a scholar of African American studies. I have heard her lecture and have spoken with her, and every time, I was speechless. In her presence, I was once again the 14 year old, sitting on the porch, diving into her words and finding myself on the other side. Her words, like my Nana’s hugs, always bought me back to myself, telling me, coaxing me, pushing me to become who I was meant to be in this world. I remember speaking her words to the wind, hoping that if I ever forgot who I was, the wind would remind me. Whenever I am hungry for truth, I turn to her work. When I need support or encouragement, I turn to her work. When I need to be reminded of how to love and fight, I turn to her work. So when I heard, read, realized and finally accepted that bell hooks – genius, scholar, cultural critic, truth speaker, one who had the strength to call out and challenge white supremacy and racism time and time again – had run on ahead to see how the end is going to be, all I could do was sit and breathe. I am not OK. None of us – feminists, scholars, activists, truth seekers, survivors – who have ever been touched by her work and her words are OK. Not today. Not at this moment, and not for a minute. It is not enough to say she saved me from cutting off my tongue, because unless you know her genius, you will think that this is just about violence and not about salvation. It is not enough to say that she saved me from burning it all down, because unless you know her brilliance, you will never understand how her words taught me how to come through the fire and be better and stronger on the other side. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/bell-hooks-will-never-leave-us-she-lives-on-through-the-truth-of-her-words-173900 | true | null |
929 | I’m a Black woman and the metaverse scares me – here’s how to make the next iteration of the internet inclusive | Doctoral Candidate in Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago Breigha Adeyemo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. View all partnersMarginalized people often suffer the most harm from unintended consequences of new technologies. For example, the algorithms that automatically make decisions about who gets to see what content or how images are interpreted suffer from racial and gender biases. People who have multiple marginalized identities, such as being Black and disabled, are even more at risk than those with a single marginalized identity. This is why when Mark Zuckerberg laid out his vision for the metaverse – a network of virtual environments in which many people can interact with one another and digital objects – and said that it will touch every product the company builds, I was scared. As a researcher who studies the intersections of race, technology and democracy – and as a Black woman – I believe it is important to carefully consider the values that are being encoded into this next generation internet. Problems are already surfacing. Avatars, the graphical personas people can create or buy to represent themselves in virtual environments, are being priced differently based on the perceived race of the avatar, and racist and sexist harassment is cropping up in today’s pre metaverse immersive environments. Ensuring that this next iteration of the internet is inclusive and works for everyone will require that people from marginalized communities take the lead in shaping it. It will also require regulation with teeth to keep Big Tech accountable to the public interest. Without these, the metaverse risks inheriting the problems of today’s social media, if not becoming something worse. Utopian visions in the early days of the internet typically held that life online would be radically different from life in the physical world. For example, people envisioned the internet as a way to escape parts of their identity, such as race, gender and class distinctions. In reality, the internet is far from raceless. While techno utopias communicate desired visions of the future, the reality of new technologies often doesn’t live up to these visions. In fact, the internet has brought novel forms of harm to society, such as the automated dissemination of propaganda on social media and bias in the algorithms that shape your online experience. Zuckerberg described the metaverse as a more immersive, embodied internet that will “unlock a lot of amazing new experiences. ” This is a vision not just of a future internet, but of a future way of life. However off target this vision might be, the metaverse is likely – like earlier versions of the internet and social media – to have widespread consequences that will transform how people socialize, travel, learn, work and play. The question is, will those consequences be the same for everyone? History suggests the answer is no. Widely used technologies often assume white male identities and bodies as the default. MIT computer scientist Joy Buolomwini has shown that facial recognition software performs worse on women and even more so on women with darker faces. Other studies have borne this out. Whiteness is embedded as a default in these technologies, even in the absence of race as a category for machine learning algorithms. Unfortunately, racism and technology often go hand in hand. Black female politicians and journalists have been disproportionately targeted with abusive or problematic tweets, and Black and Latino voters were targeted in online misinformation campaigns during the 2020 election cycle. This historical relationship between race and technology leaves me concerned about the metaverse. If the metaverse is meant to be an embodied version of the internet, as Zuckerberg has described it, then does that mean that already marginalized people will experience new forms of harm? | 2 | https://theconversation.com/im-a-black-woman-and-the-metaverse-scares-me-heres-how-to-make-the-next-iteration-of-the-internet-inclusive-173310 | false | null |
931 | Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ casts Canada as a racial utopia | When Hulu’s series The Handmaid’s Tale premiered in 2017, reviewers noted its gripping drama and dystopian exploration of rape culture and misogyny at a time when both were hallmarks of Donald Trump’s presidency. The series is adapted from Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel. It has won numerous awards and was recently renewed for a fifth season. But some commentators, including writer Ellen E. Jones, have criticized the series for its use of color blind casting that created inclusivity but otherwise ignored race in storylines. Others, including Noah Berlatsky, have analyzed how both the series and novel erase Black people’s history. Our research examines representations of race in speculative fiction and of Canada in U. S. literature, leading us to notice how Hulu’s series represents race and national difference. The show positions Canada as a morally superior nation that has rejected the dystopian society’s repressive and exclusionist thinking. This is especially apparent in Season 4’s focus on characters’ escape to Canada, a theme that references older abolitionist narratives. In so doing, the show obscures Canada’s history of slavery, colonialism and racism. Both the novel and show draw on U. S. history to imagine a dystopian world facing an unexplained fertility crisis. Gilead, a theocratic nation led by religious fundamentalists, has overthrown the U. S. government. Atwood’s female narrator is an educated white woman forced to become a “handmaid. ” Each month, a commander rapes her in a religious fertility ceremony. Babies born to handmaids are raised by commanders and their wives. The sole purpose of the handmaids is to rebuild Gilead’s population. Writer Priya Nair explains that Atwood’s novel draws on the historical oppression of Black enslaved women and applies it to fictional white women. For example, handmaids who are disobedient are beaten or hanged. Despite clear parallels to slavery, Atwood only obliquely references slavery when the narrator explains that the “Children of Ham” have been relocated to the Dakotas. “Children of Ham” is a Biblical phrase that was used historically to justify enslaving Africans. Nair also notes that the novel focuses on white women’s oppression, while seemingly ignoring “the historical realities of an American dystopia founded on anti Black violence. ” While the novel relies on historical experiences of Black Americans, its characters are predominantly white, a feature of Gilead that Atwood maintains in the 2019 follow up The Testaments. As reviewer Danielle Kurtzleben notes, in this second instalment: “Readers hoping to hear more about race in Gilead will be sorely disappointed. ” Atwood intentionally framed Gilead as both misogynist and racist: the theocracy is interested only in reproducing white babies and, therefore, only enslaving white women. In adapting the novel, Hulu relied on a diverse cast of actors. White actor Elisabeth Moss plays June and Black British actor O T Fagbenle portrays her husband Luke. Black actor Samira Wiley was cast as June’s best friend Moira. Actors of colour portray characters of all class positions in Gilead’s society. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/hulus-the-handmaids-tale-casts-canada-as-a-racial-utopia-167766 | false | null |
932 | The concrete effects of body cameras on police accountability | Without video evidence, it’s unlikely we would have ever heard of George Floyd or witnessed the prosecution of his killer, a Minneapolis police officer. The recording of Floyd’s killing echoed the documentation in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two Black men who were killed at the hands of police. The circulation of such videos – witness cellphones, dashcams and police body worn cameras – have helped awaken a protest movement centered on police accountability and systemic racism in the United States. They have also diminished trust in law enforcement, which has dipped to its lowest level since 1993, according to a 2020 Gallup Survey. Nineteen percent of Black Americans said they trust police, compared to 56% of white Americans. And a majority of those polled, 56%, called for major reforms in policing, including 88% of Black people and 51% of white people. Much discussion on police reform revolves around police officer recruitment, training processes and re budgeting or “defunding” the police. But another way to reform policing is to make police services more transparent and officers more accountable. Over the past decade, the implementation of body camera technology has rapidly expanded across major metropolitan police departments, including Washington, New York and Chicago. We are criminologists and economists, and our recent study has found that providing police officers with body cameras has a substantive effect on investigations of police accountability. The cameras have also helped reduce racial bias against citizen complainants. The vast majority of U. S. public complaints against police officers are dismissed. Only 2. 1% of the citizen complaints filed in Chicago between 2010 and 2016 resulted in a disciplinary action against police officers, according to the Invisible Institute, a journalism organization that “collects and publishes information about police misconduct in Chicago” in its Citizens Police Data Project. This rate is about one third lower when complainants are African Americans. There is a similar pattern in cities like Columbus, Ohio, and Portland, Oregon. Traditional strategies to address police misconduct have focused on internal affairs divisions in police departments, which investigate possible law breaking incidents and professional misconduct within police forces, or citizen oversight review boards, which investigate citizen complaints. But both of these have been criticized for being biased against citizens. Such investigations of police misconduct have relied heavily on eyewitness accounts, often producing “he said/she said” patterns of flawed evidence and, thus, inconclusive results. This has changed, however, with the introduction of body camera technology. While there have been dozens of studies on the impact of body cameras on police behavior – with some promising outcomes in the reduction in police wrong doings – their effect on the resolution of citizen complaints has been relatively understudied. We recently studied an eight year period – 2013 to 2020 – of citizen complaint data from Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability. During that span, the Chicago Police Department assigned these cameras to its officers in a staggered fashion, district by district across a 17 month period, from June 2016 to December 2017. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/the-concrete-effects-of-body-cameras-on-police-accountability-171460 | false | null |
936 | Bolsonaro faces ‘crimes against humanity’ charge over COVID-19 mishandling: 5 essential reads | A Brazilian congressional panel has recommended that President Jair Bolsonaro be charged with “crimes against humanity” over his alleged bungling of the country’s response to the COVID 19 pandemic. The near 1,200 page report, formally presented on Oct. 20, 2021, holds Bolsonaro culpable for worsening a crisis that has to date killed some 600,000 Brazilians, outlining how his failed policies allowed the virus to spread among the population. The president denies any wrongdoing. An earlier draft had called for Bolsonaro to be indicted for homicide and genocide as well, given how the ravages of the coronavirus have disproportionately hit Brazil’s Indigenous groups. But those charges were dropped from the final report. Since the beginning of the pandemic, The Conversation’s authors have been chronicling the crisis in Brazil – and Bolsonaro’s role in letting it happen. Bolsonaro certainly doesn’t stand alone among world leaders when it comes to mishandling a health crisis that has now lasted more than 18 months. But he is one of the worst, according to a panel of scholars who put together a rogues gallery of presidents and prime ministers who stand accused of letting down their population. As Elize Massard da Fonseca, at Fundação Getulio Vargas, and Scott L. Greer, at University of Michigan, explained, the Brazilian president didn’t just fail to respond, he actively worsened the crisis. “Bolsonaro used his constitutional powers to interfere in the Health Ministry’s administrative matters, such as clinical protocols, data disclosure and vaccine procurement. He vetoed legislation that would have both mandated the use of masks in religious sites and compensated health professionals permanently harmed by the pandemic, for example. And he obstructed state government efforts to promote social distancing and used his decree power to allow many businesses to remain open as ‘essential,’ including spas and gyms,” Massard da Fonseca and Greer write. But it doesn’t end there: “Bolsonaro also aggressively promoted unproven medicines, notably hydroxychloroquine, to treat COVID 19 patients. ” Read more: Worlds worst pandemic leaders: 5 presidents and prime ministers who badly mishandled COVID 19 Bolsonaro backed up his disdain for masks and social distancing with personal action. While the virus spread throughout the early months of the pandemic, he could be seen pressing the flesh with supporters and campaigning without a face covering. He duly got COVID 19 in July 2020. As Anthony Pereira, at King’s College London, wrote: “The most surprising thing about Jair Bolsonaro’s positive test for coronavirus … was how long it took to happen. ”It could have been a pivotal moment; Bolsonaro could have used his personal experience to stress the risks of catching the virus and doubled down on efforts to contain the spread. He didn’t. Instead, he took hydroxychloroquine – an anti malarial drug that has been found to have no beneficial effects in combating COVID 19 and which health experts warn could instead cause harm. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/bolsonaro-faces-crimes-against-humanity-charge-over-covid-19-mishandling-5-essential-reads-170332 | false | null |
937 | Deportation threats for some students come from within schools | When Bilal, a recent immigrant from South Asia, started his sophomore year at a high school in a large southern U. S. city in 2014, it wasn’t a welcoming experience. Upon entering the school, Bilal had to go through a metal detector. Then a school police officer patted him down. Bilal did not understand why a school would need such high security measures. Still, he tried to adjust. While he did his best, teachers and administrators peppered him with questions that made him feel as if he were under extra scrutiny. They asked why his attire – a kurta, or long shirt, that he wore over his jeans – was the same as that worn by the “terrorists” they had seen on YouTube videos. They asked about his family’s loyalty: If given the choice, would he and his family choose America or their homeland?All of the questions made it challenging for Bilal to focus. He felt as if the teachers were targeting him. As experts in education, immigration and race, we know that Bilal’s experience as a recent immigrant of color is by no means isolated. We interviewed hundreds of immigrant students and their teachers across seven American cities. During our observations from 2013 through 2018, we learned that many immigrant high school students fear something we refer to in peer reviewed research as the “school to deportation pipeline. ”This is a situation in which students worry that minor infractions at school could lead to penal consequences ranging from being arrested to being subjected to deportation. Many of the students we interviewed claimed to know someone who had been deported for those reasons. Disturbingly, we found that some of the teachers and administrators not only believed there to be “school to deportation” pipeline but actually used it to strategically exclude students. The reason, as we explain in a different peer reviewed article, is they didn’t want the immigrant students to lower their standardized school test scores and jeopardize funding. Some teachers and administrators expressed concerns that immigrant students would score poorly on standardized exams, which can have negative consequences for teachers and administrators. Low test scores can trigger increased oversight, a change in a school’s administration or even a school shutdown. Even a few scores – particularly very low ones – can make a large difference to schools that are teetering between making adequate progress and those rated as failing. Zoya, a recent immigrant from East Africa, experienced such teacher worries. While she generally understood the academic content well when asked verbally, standardized tests confused her. Additionally, Zoya’s teachers did not understand her obligations of caring for siblings and helping with the family business, which occasionally made her inattentive or late or made her miss class entirely. One time she fell asleep during a standardized test and didn’t have time to complete all the questions. Zoya’s story was not uncommon. Many immigrant students we spoke with expressed a strong desire for academic achievement yet found themselves seen by teachers as having a poor work ethic or low content comprehension. A teacher at another school, Heather, shared with us: “So, this one kid … he never comes to school. But, we’re going to be held responsible for his [standardized test] scores because he’s registered, but he’s definitely not an American. ” | 2 | https://theconversation.com/deportation-threats-for-some-students-come-from-within-schools-165232 | false | null |
939 | How multicultural churches in South Africa are breaking down race barriers | Race is an issue that’s always simmering below the surface in South Africa. One of the ugliest aspects of the recent wave of looting and violence was the killing of people based on their race in a neighborhood in the port city of Durban. It was a reminder that the internalised apartheid stereotypes and beliefs are still firmly in place. A consolidated identity has become one of the most worrying South African realities and needs to be attended to as a matter of urgency. Churches still reflect these social divisions, with Sunday mornings being the most divided time. Churches still exist on cultural and racial lines as “all black” or “all white” churches which can be seen as exclusive or inaccessible. Race, ethnicity and national identity remain as unfinished business for the church. In a paper published in 2017 I looked at the role that churches – particularly multicultural churches – can play in addressing this problem. South African churches remain mono cultural to a large extent. They still largely reflect the social divisions of a society. But there are some – albeit a small number – that have successfully reached across racial and cultural divides to attract new members. In South African, Christians are in the majority. They made up 62% of the South African population in 2015. In my article I discuss the reconciliation potential of multicultural churches in that they are able to accommodate multiple racial groups, in a society where religious life remains overwhelmingly segregated. This isn’t new in South Africa. Religious communities played a critical role in the transition to democracy. Christian churches have condemned apartheid and have contributed to the process of nation building through civic education and for example, participating in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was set up to uncover the truth about apartheid era human rights abuses. But it’s also true that some church traditions in the country were complicit in racism and have not fully dealt with their own apartheid legacy. I conclude in my paper that what’s needed now is that churches deepen this reconciliation potential. Religious organizations have the potential to draw people out of their private, racially segregated lives, into a safe social space where human interactions can be more intimate so as to get to know each other. My research included positive examples of churches from across the spectrum; Anglicans that were at one stage the forerunners of the Apartheid struggle that were mostly racially integrated to Pentecostal churches seeking that ‘born again’ experience, wanting to incorporate members from a range of racial and social backgrounds. These churches reach across racial and cultural divides to attract new members. They build social capital – shared values, that act as a glue, to work towards a common goal in society. These multicultural churches are a new, growing phenomenon in urban areas. They are successfully bringing together Christians from various race groups, in a society where religious life remains overwhelmingly segregated. My research shows that these types of congregations can articulate powerful, messages about social reconciliation. This makes them excellent laboratories for reconciliation. Importantly these new interracial relationships that are created, can become a model of social cohesion and can play a role in building a humane society. These multicultural churches aim to be intentionally inclusive which means more than just tolerance or assimilation into the dominant culture. It is also not a superficial coming together which is reduced to demographics. Space and opportunity are created to hear each other’s stories to help shatters racial stereotypes and beliefs that have acted as a dividing wall. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/how-multicultural-churches-in-south-africa-are-breaking-down-race-barriers-167014 | false | null |
940 | Critical race theory is an important tool in better understanding how religion operates in America | Adjunct Professor of Religious and Theological Studies, St. Edwards University Tiffany Puett is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Diversity and Civic Life. View all partnersThe debate over critical race theory has played out in TV studios, school board meetings and state legislatures across the U. S. It has also found its way into churches. The theory comprises a set of concepts that frame racism as structural, rather than simply expressed through personal discrimination. Scholars point to racial discrepancies in educational achievement, economic and employment opportunities and in the criminal justice system as evidence of how racism is embedded in U. S. institutions. But as its critics tell it, critical race theory is a divisive ideology that has infiltrated classrooms and needs to be stopped. By and large, such depictions of critical race theory are inaccurate and misconstrued, perhaps at times even intentionally so. But they have nonetheless made critical race theory a “culture war” issue. Religious voices, particularly among white evangelical Christians, were among the earliest and loudest in calling for critical race theory to be stopped. Conservative evangelical bloggers warned against the supposed dangers of the theory “infiltrating the church” back in 2018. And in 2019 – before the anti critical race theory movement gained widespread attention – the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest evangelical group in the U. S. , passed a resolution criticizing the theory as a problematic secular ideology that conflicts with the authority of Scripture. A push by conservative Southern Baptists to again reject CRT by name failed at this year’s convention, but a resolution was passed against any theory that frames racism in a way other than its being “a sin” to be resolved by redemption through Christ. These resolutions reflect a common evangelical ideology. Essentially, evangelical morality sees social problems such as racism as the result of sinful individuals, not larger structures or institutions. In the words of evangelical pastor and theologian Voddie Baucham: “Critical race theory is at odds with Christianity because it takes the problem of racism out of the individual heart and puts it out there somewhere in systems and structures. ” Such views from evangelicals laid the groundwork for the uproar over CRT in recent months. Rhetoric aside, it’s worth noting what critical race theory actually is: a complex body of scholarship that reflects the efforts of legal scholars to analyze how race functions in American society. As legal scholars Kimberlé Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, Gary Peller and Kendall Thomas explain in their introduction to a key collection of writings on the topic, it explores “how a regime of white supremacy and its subordination of people of color have been created and maintained in America. ”As a scholar of religious studies, I frequently use critical race theory as a tool to better understand how religion operates in American society. While critical race theorists initially focused on how race has been embedded in our legal system, the theory can also help us think about how race is entrenched in religious institutions. It helps move beyond the idea of religion’s being primarily a matter of individual belief to seeing religious institutions and identities as shaped by larger social structures and movements. In the U. S. , race and religious institutions have been intertwined from the beginning. Early U. S. leaders used language that described a “true” American as essentially both white and Protestant. And many Protestant churches supported white supremacy through rhetoric from the pulpit, interpretations of the Bible and policies of segregation. Critical race theory sheds light on the ways that religious institutions and rhetoric have helped justify and reinforce white supremacy. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/critical-race-theory-is-an-important-tool-in-better-understanding-how-religion-operates-in-america-164288 | false | null |
941 | 4 ways white people can be accountable for addressing anti-Black racism at universities | PhD candidate, Sociological and Anthropological Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa Karine Coen Sanchez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. University of Ottawa provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA FR. University of Ottawa provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA. View all partners“I am colonized, and I must live in a world of the colonizer. Although the proverbial shackle has been removed, I am enslaved by systemic barriers. My heart bleeds of pain and anger … My lived experiences will never be based on your level of comfort. ” passage from the author’s journalThe recent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement has ignited an ongoing debate on the role of education in the collective awakening or re awakening on racial injustice. Post secondary institutions can provide the space to cultivate new knowledge and critically discuss social inequality. As the new school year begins, many of us are eager to return to our new “normal” as we both adapt to new health measures due to COVID 19 and prepare to discuss various social issues. Universities are increasingly establishing formal mandates for addressing anti Black racism on their campuses. In the attempt to acknowledge their diverse student bodies, some professors may be preparing to teach a new “inclusive” syllabus. As these changes take place, it is critical to speak openly about social accountability. I am a Black PhD candidate in sociology who examines systematic racism embedded in educational institutions. I have found myself both formally and informally called upon to educate white people about anti Black racism. On many campuses, Black academics regardless of whether they are actually studying racism or not are asked to take on additional labour related to equity work often without compensation or the assurance that recommendations will be heeded and without acknowledgement of the risks. What are the risks? Black, racialized and Indigenous people are exposed to white denialism, which provokes a narrative of “us versus them. ” We are also subject to emotional eruptions where white people are at the centre or put in a position where they are pressed to offer personal antidotes as a testimony to the realities of systemic racism. It is critical that we pay attention to and recognize what scholars like George J. Sefa Dei, a professor of education, has named the interconnection of race, social powers and cultural practices. White accountability for addressing and eradicating anti Black racism isn’t about validating the experiences of the Black communities it is about understanding facets of one’s own social position. This means understanding the various ways that race or citizenship have shaped access to both material and cultural resources and shaped what a person takes for granted. For example, white settlers in Canada and other colonial settler societies must acknowledge the harms associated with international colonization and the slave trade and the inter generational effects on Black, racialized and Indigenous communities. Read more: How Canada committed genocide against Indigenous Peoples, explained by the lawyer central to the determination In order to undo anti Black racism and all systematic racism white people need to take accountability for the various ways they experience and exercise privilege. It also means understanding how they may covertly benefit and contribute to the cycle of racism. Sefa Dei has advocated for incorporating Africentric curricula and insights into everyday learning to undo the centring of white perspectives. But a deep incorporation of this knowledge hasn’t happened in universities. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/4-ways-white-people-can-be-accountable-for-addressing-anti-black-racism-at-universities-164983 | false | null |
943 | Critical race theory: ‘Diversity’ is not the solution, dismantling white supremacy is | Race has been a mainstay in the media this year. Everyday there is another racism story in the news, on a podcast, trending on Twitter or being joked about on late night television. As a critical race educator and activist I have spent most of my life inserting race into the conversation. You would think this focus would have me thrilled. Finally everyone is talking about race. Not only are people talking about race, they are talking about critical race theory and having important conversations about the role of systemic racism in our country and across the globe. This sudden interest in CRT is largely due to former U. S. president Donald Trump’s now defunct executive order banning the teaching of critical race theory in school. Since then many states have taken up similar policies. CRT started as a legal theory that illustrates how racism becomes institutionalized, even though discrimination is illegal. It has since branched out, but the essence remains to show how race and racism continue to operate across various systems, interrogating their role in society. As American policies on CRT education in schools shows, the problem has become showing how racism operates instead of racism itself. Mainstream society becomes fearful that people will be able to articulate the ways in which systemic discrimination operates and as a result demand that we do better. This is convenient because it upholds the foundations of mainstream societal concepts like white supremacy and capitalism. And by white supremacy I don’t mean white supremacists, like the angry rioters in MAGA hats that stormed the U. S. Capitol. I mean the ideologies of white supremacy, the implicit systems that maintain whiteness as superior and allow for situations like George Floyd and Joyce Eschanquan as matter of fact aspects of existence with little to no consequences. CRT has simply become the latest target of white supremacy. But as you may guess, CRT is not the problem. The problem is diversity. Progressive folks take up “diversity” like it is the solution to every problem. We are bombarded with it through committees, policies and “commitments. ” You see it everywhere from public institutions to private corporations. Even Canada’s iconic Hudson Bay Company has been embroiled in a recent diversity scandal. While HBC was collecting donations for a campaign to “empower” Indigenous people, Black people and people of colour across the country, they used the image of Hadiya Roderique, a prominent Black lawyer in Toronto, without her permission. HBC became so blinded by their diversity mission they forgot to use diversity principles in their promotion. As a public we are inundated with images and information of different organizations and corporations attempting to advance diversity initiatives, when really it has simply become a public relations call to capitalize on woke culture. If HBC was actually trying to enact change for Indigenous people, Black people and people of color, they would know that this cannot be achieved by asking individual customers to donate $5. Instead, the corporation would have to acknowledge the systemic, institutional and residual effects of racism and white supremacy embedded in our country and as a result, their corporation. They would also have to put their money where their mouth is. This means investing in hiring and retaining diverse staff, promoting radical racialized people to senior leadership positions, making working conditions better for diverse staff through safer corporate cultures, fair pay, showing respect with initiatives like affordable childcare and paid sick days and supporting diverse brands and designers. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/critical-race-theory-diversity-is-not-the-solution-dismantling-white-supremacy-is-163398 | false | null |
944 | Stop and search disproportionately affects black communities – yet police powers are being extended | The UK government has extended police stop and search powers as part of its recently announced “beating crime plan”. This is despite concern that black and minority groups are more likely to be unfairly targeted by police when they have greater discretion over who they stop and search. In the plan, the government states that these measures are needed to prevent knife crime. But there is little evidence to suggest more stop and search solves this problem. Stop and search rules were relaxed in March 2019 on what was originally meant to be a temporary basis. The change made it easier for police officers to use Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 that allows them to stop and search anyone in a specified geographic area without the usual legal requirement for “reasonable suspicion”. Under the change, officers could seek authorization for a Section 60 from inspectors rather than having to seek approval from a higher rank. This meant more officers were available to approve a Section 60, making them more easily authorized. They were also able to apply for a Section 60 to be in place for a longer period of time than before . The government’s own assessment of these changes stated it was expected that any increases in Section 60 stop and searches was likely to disproportionately affect black and minority ethnic people. Yet the beating crime plan permanently gives police forces the option to relax the rules around Section 60 stop and search. The temporary relaxation of Section 60 rules was initially introduced as a 12 month pilot scheme in March 2019 to be tested in seven forces to tackle knife crime. However, by August 2019, the government had rolled out the scheme nationally, giving all police forces the option to adopt these relaxed requirements. An evaluation of the pilot was commissioned by the Home Office, alongside promises to “assess the results”. The results of this evaluation have not yet been published. The beating crime plan states that “we know from the data that our approach is working”, a claim that is not backed by published evidence. As outlined in a recent super complaint submitted to the government by the Criminal Justice Alliance , there is little evidence to support the claim that Section 60 stop and searches reduce knife crime. Research conducted by the CJA found that Section 60 is highly ineffective, with only around 1% of searches leading to an arrest for weapons. They also argue that it is likely to cause more harm than good in the community. There is also a lack of evidence to support the argument that increasing stop and search is effective at addressing serious violence, such as knife crime. Research conducted by the Home Office has previously found that increasing stop and search had little to no crime reduction effect. Since the relaxation of the rules in 2019, Section 60 searches have risen across the country. From 2018 19 to 2019 20, Section 60 searches across all forces have increased by 35%. Section 60 stop and searches accounted for around 3% of total stop and searches conducted during 2019 20. The other powers that the police possess to stop and search members of the public , require officers to have a reasonable suspicion that an individual is carrying an illegal item. Under Section 60, officers do not need to have a suspicion to stop and search individuals. This gives officers more discretion in who to stop and removes the legal threshold granted to citizens to protect them from being arbitrarily stopped and searched. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/stop-and-search-disproportionately-affects-black-communities-yet-police-powers-are-being-extended-165477 | false | null |
945 | Why Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Whitey on the Moon’ still feels relevant today | Not long after the July 20, 1969, Moon landing, Gil Scott Heron – a poet hailed as the “Godfather of Rap” – released a scathingly critical song called “Whitey on the Moon. ” While others lauded the lunar landing as a “giant leap for mankind,” Scott Heron lamented the Moon trip in his lyrical litany. He felt the trip consumed resources that could have been better put to use helping people confront the everyday costs of living on Earth. I don’t recall precisely when I first heard “Whitey on the Moon. ” But I distinctly remember the cadence and flow sounding so much like the kinds of rap I appreciate today as a hip hop scholar and lyricist. I was especially enamored with the refrain of “whitey’s on the moon” and how the song was bookended by the immediate issue at home: “a rat done bit my sister, Nell. ” “I can’t pay no doctor bills, but whitey’s on the moon,” Scott Heron says. “Ten years from now I’ll be paying still, while whitey’s on the moon. ”The year 2021 is shaping up to be an interesting year to revisit Scott Heron’s “Whitey on the Moon. ”For one, in May 2021, the late Scott Heron was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A hall of fame web page recognized him as a “teller of uncomfortable truths. ”Perhaps more interestingly, people are discovering “Whitey on the Moon” anew and applying its prescient precepts to the 2021 space trips of billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, and, perhaps eventually, Elon Musk. In writing about the 2021 documentary of the “Summer of Soul” music festival of 1969, which coincided with the Moon landing, a film critic in July 2021 noted how Black sentiments about the seeming wastefulness of the Moon trip then represents an “extraordinarily topical sequence now, with billionaires funding rockets to fly into space, while memes fly around social media quoting Gil Scott Heron’s bitter song ‘Whitey on the Moon. ’”Another writer – in discussing the Branson and Bezos space trips – described “Whitey on the Moon” as “a nod to the privileges enjoyed by non Black people that allowed them to pursue their prideful pet projects that did not necessarily make the world a better place for most Americans. ”I suspect these writers sense – as I do – that we are living in the same dystopian present. It is a time in which the “whitey” in Scott Heron’s poem could be any of the three billionaires who are the faces of the current space race, which is taking place in an era of profound inequity that helped them become billionaires in the first place. There are tons of examples of earthly “Sister Nells” who have been and are currently being bitten by rats on Earth while rich white men are taking tourism to the heavenly skies. I believe that people, more or less, feel that the song points out the kind of inequity that lies at the heart of the ability to amass exorbitant wealth that affords the likes of Branson, Bezos and Musk the privilege to be the first space tourists. There’s another reason the song feels prescient. Whereas Gil Scott Heron spoke as if it’s the taxes he’s paying directly funding “whitey” on the Moon, currently the discussion surrounding Branson, Bezos and Musk is that they aren’t being taxed enough. One report even found that the three billionaires are getting tax breaks meant for poor neighborhoods. Yet as Professor of Physics and Astronomy Chanda Prescod Weinstein has argued, space exploration and helping people on Earth need not be an either or proposition. “We can afford to do the caring work of sustaining people, including honoring everyone’s right to know and love the night sky,” she writes. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/why-gil-scott-herons-whitey-on-the-moon-still-feels-relevant-today-164681 | true | null |
946 | Lawsuits over bans on teaching critical race theory are coming – here’s what won’t work, and what might | As states and school districts started threatening teachers with disciplinary action for teaching about systemic racism, the question naturally arose: Does this violate the teachers’ First Amendment rights?The First Amendment protects free speech against government punishment, outside of something as extreme as a threat of violence. A school district is a government agency. So anyone punished by a school district for nonthreatening speech seems to have the makings of a First Amendment case. But from years of teaching and researching First Amendment case law, I know that this is where things get complicated. Public school teachers are government employees. And thanks to a much disputed Supreme Court decision from 15 years ago, government employees, including teachers, surrender quite a bit of free speech protection when they clock into work. Whether K 12 educators have any legally protected right to choose how and what to teach is sure to be tested soon, now that the furor over teaching kids about race and racism has reached a boiling point in communities across the country. In recent months, right wing media has fixated on “critical race theory” – a field of inquiry about the impact of racism baked into criminal justice and other powerful institutions that is taught almost solely at the law school level. The phrase has been distorted into an “anti white” conspiracy by the forces of “wokeness” to brainwash schoolchildren. Surfing this wave of media created rage, seven states have banned mentioning specified race related topics in the classroom. Some 20 other states are considering it. Arizona’s newly enacted ban, signed into law on July 9, is typical of those popping up around the country. It imposes penalties, from suspension of a state teaching license up to permanent revocation, for anyone caught teaching certain taboo concepts. The banned list includes teaching that anyone should “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress” on account of race or ethnicity, or that “meritocracy” or “a hard work ethic” are concepts created to oppress people of particular races or ethnicities. Normally, once a state sets the rules for acceptable on the job speech, public employees have no choice but to comply. That’s a product of the U. S. Supreme Court’s 2006 Garcetti ruling, in which the justices said government employees can’t rely on the First Amendment if they’re punished for on duty speech that is part of an official work assignment. Teaching is an official work assignment. So the First Amendment seems unlikely to rescue a teacher fired for teaching a forbidden subject. At the college level, federal judges have given professors a bit of extra legal protection to teach and write without fear of retaliation. The Garcetti rule does not apply with full strength on college campuses, federal courts say, because the principle of “academic freedom” allows professors to explore edgy topics that push the boundaries of students’ comfort zones. The likely explanation for why judges have hesitated to extend that same level of autonomy to K 12 teachers is that curriculum decisions are more standardized in public schools than in college. A professor at one state university is free to teach history differently from a professor at a sister university in the same state. But K 12 curriculum has long been dictated by state and local school boards, so that American history is supposed to look more or less the same from one classroom to another. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/lawsuits-over-bans-on-teaching-critical-race-theory-are-coming-heres-what-wont-work-and-what-might-164534 | false | null |
947 | The inherent racism of anti-vaxx movements | We are currently experiencing a worldwide vaccination effort that’s being impeded by rising pockets of anti vaccination sentiment. There has been a recent increase in anti vaccination conspiracy theories, misinformation campaigns and protests in various countries. And while many accuse anti vaxxers of a selfish disdain for the health and safety of others, there is a underlying aspect of these movements that needs to be more widely recognized. Vaccine resistance movements have always been led by white, middle class voices and promoted by structures of racial inequality. The intrinsic racism of anti vaccination movements began with their historical origin in the 19th century. Inoculation originally referred to the older form of vaccination, where pus was taken from the pustule of someone with a mild form of smallpox and purposely scratched into the arm of a healthy person. This would ideally convey a mild form of the disease and thereby protect the recipient from more deadly forms. This type of inoculation had its foundation in a number of non western cultures before it was incorporated into western medical practice. Indeed, inoculation was practiced in China for centuries before it made its way to Europe, as well as in the Middle East and North Africa. Its use in North America was initiated by the knowledge of an enslaved man, Onesimus, who famously taught the procedure to puritan minister Cotton Mather during a smallpox outbreak in the early 18th century. These non western origins fuelled some anti vaccination criticisms during the 19th century. Opponents to the practice declared it a “filthy, useless and dangerous rite” akin to using the “charms and incantations of an African savage. ”By the turn of the 20th century, racialized language began to appear in anti vaccination dialogues which, on the surface, had little to do with race. These racial slurs served the purposes of anti vaccinationists who sought to discredit the practice. One of the most potent examples of this was in 1920, when vocal anti vaccination writer Charles Higgins published a book against vaccination. Throughout this work he consistently referred to vaccination as a “savage rite” performed by “the Medicine Man” on helpless innocent children. The racialized language utilized by these early anti vaxxers was all the more potent when weaponized by white leaders of anti vaccination leagues . Between 1860 and 1920, numerous anti vaxx leagues were founded in Britain, the United States and Canada. One of their main arguments was that compulsory enforcement was a “tyrannical interference with the rightful liberties of the people,” an accusation often levelled at health officials attempting to increase vaccine uptake in the general public. These people used their social standing to loudly condemn perceived limitations of their rights, while blindly ignoring the systemic absence of the same freedoms for racialized and low income communities. In North America, the freedom to choose vaccination was already defined by racial identity in many places. Throughout this period, Indigenous children in Canada were forced to attend residential schools, where vaccination was either implemented or ignored at the will of federal or school officials, with little regard for parental or individual choice. On the West Coast, civic public health officials actively enforced compulsory vaccination on Asian communities based on racial profiling during disease outbreaks. In 1900, city health officials in San Francisco issued mandatory plague vaccination orders for all Chinese individuals after a few cases of plague were found in the city. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/the-inherent-racism-of-anti-vaxx-movements-163456 | false | null |
948 | Mixed-ancestry genetic research shows a bit of Native American DNA could reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease | Since the human genome was first mapped, scientists have discovered hundreds of genes influencing illnesses like breast cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color are underrepresented in most genetic studies. This has resulted in a skewed and incomplete understanding of the genetics of many diseases. We are two researchers who have been working to find genes that affect people’s risk for various diseases. Our team in 2021 found a genetic region that appears to be protective against Alzheimer’s disease. To do this, we used a method called admixture mapping that uses data from people with mixed ancestry to find genetic causes of disease. In 2005, researchers first used a groundbreaking method called a genome–wide association study. Such studies comb through huge datasets of genomes and medical histories to see if people with certain diseases tend to share the same version of DNA – called a genetic marker – at specific spots. Using this approach, researchers have identified many genes involved in Alzheimer’s disease. But this method can find genetic markers only for diseases that are common in the genomes of the study participants. If, for example, 90% of participants in an Alzheimer’s disease study have European ancestry and 10% have Asian ancestry, a genome wide association study isn’t likely to detect genetic risks for Alzheimer’s disease that are present only in individuals with Asian ancestry. All people’s genetics reflect where their ancestors came from. But ancestry manifests as both genetic variation and social and cultural experiences. All of these factors can influence risk for certain diseases, and this can create problems. When socially caused disparities in disease prevalence appear across racial groups, the genetic markers of ancestry can be mistaken for genetic markers of disease. African Americans, for example, are up to twice as likely as white Americans to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Research shows that much of this disparity is likely due to structural racism causing differences in nutrition, socioeconomic status and other social risk factors. A genome wide association study looking for genes associated with Alzheimer’s might mistake genetic variations associated with African descent for genetic causes of the disease. While researchers can use a number of statistical methods to avoid such mistakes, these methods can miss important findings because they are often unable to overcome the overall lack of diversity in genetic datasets. Disentangling race, ancestry and health disparities can be a challenge in genome wide association studies. Admixture mapping, on the other hand, is able to make better use of even relatively small datasets of underrepresented people. This method specifically gets its power from studying people who have mixed ancestry. Admixture mapping relies on a quirk of human genetics – you inherit DNA in chunks, not in a smooth blend. So if you have ancestors from different parts of the world, your genome is made of chunks of DNA from different ancestries. This process of chunked inheritance is called admixture. Imagine color coding a genome by ancestry. A person who has mixed European, Native American and African ancestry might have striped chromosomes that alternate among green, blue and red, with each color representing a certain region. A different person with similar ancestry would also have a genome of green, blue and red chunks, but the order and size of the stripes would be different. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/mixed-ancestry-genetic-research-shows-a-bit-of-native-american-dna-could-reduce-risk-of-alzheimers-disease-159118 | true | null |
949 | Incels are surprisingly diverse but united by hate | Incels are a misogynistic online community linked to terrorism and several mass killings, including those committed by Elliot Rodger in California and Alek Minassian in Toronto. Read more: The dark possible motive of the Toronto van attacker Incels are caricatured as NEETS , basement dwelling, unkempt and socially isolated white men. However, my research with bioinformatician and data scientist Finlay Maguire, psychologist Norann Richard and sociologist Kayla Preston suggests that incel discussion boards are surprisingly diverse. Despite this diversity, we find that incels are united by their hatred of women. Incels share a belief that they are victims of “lookism. ” Lookism means that attractive people receive advantages, while unattractive people are the targets of prejudice. These arguments are not without merit, as psychological and sociological research demonstrates attractiveness has benefits such as higher income. Incels think women are to blame for lookism and its consequences. They argue that women only pursue the most attractive men, which they call “hypergamy. ” For incels, hypergamy means that women will always “trade” their partner for a more attractive man. Read more: Incel violence is a form of extremism. Its time we treated it as a security threat Incels see Tinder and Instagram as gasoline on the fire of lookism and hypergamy. They believe women use these apps to pursue only the most attractive men, leaving the majority of men unpartnered. Incels view an increasing number of single men as unjust and a growing social problem. Many white incels actively promote white nationalism. These incels are angry about interracial relationships, diversity programs and immigration. Surprisingly, some white nationalist incels believe they should remain celibate as they see themselves as too inferior to contribute to the white race. Incels rank all racial groups by attractiveness. The most attractive white men and women are “Chads,” “Stacys” and “Beckys. ” Attractive men from other groups are referred to as “Tyrones” , “Changs” , and “Chaddums” . And these labels are explicitly racist. The term “Tyrone” is taken from a YouTube series featuring a Black man approaching men or couples saying he’s going to have sex with “this man’s wife. ” Incels’ use of “Tyrone” also sexualizes Black bodies and identifies Black men as threatening to heterosexual monogamy, both of which are tied to the legacy of anti Black racism. While it is easy to think of incels as uneducated, bitter white supremacists, they are drawn from surprisingly diverse backgrounds. Some incels claim high social status, reporting enrolment at the world’s top universities. In a survey of 400 incels, 50 per cent reported receiving an undergraduate or graduate degree, while 66 per cent identified as middle class or above. Incels also identify with numerous racial and ethnic groups, labelling themselves and each other with terms like “ricecel” or “currycel” . In a 2019 survey, done through Reddit, of 1,267 incels, 55 per cent identified as white. While not a scientific survey, it suggests many incels identify as men of colour. Read more: Why charging incels with terrorism may make matters worse Incels of color argue that white incels are “voluntary celibates” because you “just need to be white” to have heterosexual sex thus losing your your incel status. The idea here is that white privilege makes it easier for white men to have sex. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/incels-are-surprisingly-diverse-but-united-by-hate-163414 | false | null |
950 | No, you can’t identify as ‘transracial’. But you can affirm your gender | Earlier this week, online influencer Oli London responded to criticism after saying they identify as Korean. Having undergone surgeries to change their appearance, they equated being “transracial” with the experiences of transgender people who affirm their gender. The same reasoning behind London’s Korean identity can be compared to that of Rachel Dolezal, a white woman who identifies as Black and made headlines in 2015. Debates about “transracialism” followed. Unfortunately, it seems we haven’t learned much in this space. At their core, London’s words and actions are a prime example of racism, cultural appropriation, and transphobia, enacted from a perspective of considerable privilege. Trans and gender diverse experiences don’t equate with someone deciding to change their appearance to be part of a group whose experiences, community and struggles they can’t fully understand. Gender is our internal sense of self, whether that be man, woman, neither or both. Most people have an idea about their gender at two to three years old this may not align with the sex assigned to them at birth. Unlike gender, race presents as categorized traits that are socially constructed and understood. You can’t inherit your gender, this is internal and something individual to you but you do inherit the social construct of race. There is also much more to one’s racial identity than physical appearance it’s also about culture, community, connection and even trauma. While multicultural communities and LGBTQ+ experiences of discrimination are sometimes compared, it is important to understand these experiences are different and complex. This is particularly the case, for example, in considering trans people of color and their experiences of both racism and transphobia. People who face discrimination based on their race or cultural background can usually go home to members of their family who understand them. This is often not the case for trans and gender diverse people. Race and gender have very different histories, understandings, experiences, and implications in the face of discrimination. The very idea of being able to transition to a difference race discredits trans and gender diverse people’s experiences of gender affirmation. It also undermines the importance of cultural connections for many communities. Read more: Explainer: what does it mean to be cisgender? London, who is non binary and uses they/them pronouns, has actively chosen a “transracial” identity. But trans and gender diverse people’s decision to transition is almost always involuntary and out of necessity to live their lives authentically. Almost 50% of trans young people in Australia have attempted suicide at least once in their lives. Trans and gender diverse young people experience higher levels of psychological distress than their cisgender peers. This is not because there is anything inherently wrong with trans people, but because of how trans people are treated by others. Conflating racial identity with gender identity implies that being trans is a choice, and therefore so is race. The reality is that transitioning as a trans person is a difficult and taxing process, one that can be dangerous but also lifesaving and celebrated. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/no-you-cant-identify-as-transracial-but-you-can-affirm-your-gender-163729 | false | null |
951 | Racism lurks behind decisions to deny Black high school students from being recognized as the top in their class | Two Black students – Ikeria Washington and Layla Temple – were named valedictorian and salutatorian at West Point High School in Mississippi in 2021. Shortly afterward, two white parents questioned whether school officials had correctly calculated the top academic honors. Ultimately, the school superintendent named two white students as “co valedictorian” and “co salutatorian” on the day of graduation. High school seniors with the highest GPA in their graduating class are chosen to be valedictorians and are often responsible for delivering the graduating speech. Salutatorians, who are high school seniors with the second highest GPA in their graduating class, often give the opening remarks. The superintendent attributed the mix up to a new school counselor who was given incorrect information on how to calculate class rankings. As an educational researcher who focuses on race and inequality, I am aware that the controversy at West Point High School is by no means isolated. Back in 1991 a federal judge in Covington, Georgia, resolved a dispute a Black high school senior had with a white student over who gets to be valedictorian by making them share the honor. Then in 2012 in Gainesville, Georgia, another Black valedictorian was also forced to share the honor with a white student. Later, the white student’s family asked the school to drop his candidacy from the academic honor. In 2011, Kymberly Wimberly, a Black student in Little Rock, Arkansas, had her valedictorian honor stripped away by her principal to be given to a white student with a lower GPA. Wimberly’s lowest grade during all four years of high school was a B. In the rest of Wimberly’s courses, honors and Advanced Placement courses, she received A’s. In her lawsuit, Wimberly claimed that a day after being informed that she was the valedictorian for McGehee High School, the principal told her mother, Molly Bratton, that he “decided to name a white student as co valedictorian. ” I became familiar with these kinds of valedictorian disputes when I examined the 2017 lawsuit of Jasmine Shepard. A student at Cleveland High School in Mississippi, Shepard had the highest grade point average in her class. However, the day before graduation, she was forced to be co valedictorian with Heather Bouse, a white student with a lower GPA. In my peer reviewed article analyzing Shepard’s case, I examined it from the standpoint of critical race theory. Critical race theory is a theoretical framework that examines racism as a social construct ingrained in the American legal and political system. In my analysis, I conclude that the decisions to force Black students to share top honors with white students result from a psychological discomfort known as “white fragility. ” This is a state of stress experienced by some white people when they are presented with information about people of color that challenges their sense of entitlement. I maintain that when students of color are named top students in their graduating class, as Shepard was in 2016, white society may begin to fear that students of color are encroaching upon their social turf, so to speak. I believe the disputes that arise when Black students are named valedictorian should be viewed in the context of white fragility. For example, consider what happened when a federal judge ordered the Cleveland, Mississippi, school district to desegregate in 2017 after having failed to do so in 1969 after the Brown v. Board of Education case. After the 2017 order, The New York Times reported that many whites in Cleveland “feared” that “dismantling the system would prompt whites to do what they have done in so many other Delta cities: decamp en masse for private schools, or move away. ” This is known as “white flight. ” | 2 | https://theconversation.com/racism-lurks-behind-decisions-to-deny-black-high-school-students-from-being-recognized-as-the-top-in-their-class-162985 | false | null |
952 | Tour de France: How many calories will the winner burn? | Imagine you begin pedaling from the start of Stage 17 of this year’s Tour de France. First, you would bike approximately 70 miles with a gradual increase in elevation of around 1,300 feet . But you’ve yet to hit the fun part: the Hautes Pyrénées mountains. Over the next 40 miles you would have to climb three mountain peaks with a net increase of a mile in elevation. On the fittest day of my life, I might not even be able to finish Stage 17 – much less do it in anything remotely close to the five hours or so the winner will take to finish the ride. And Stage 17 is just one of 21 stages that must be completed in the 23 days of the tour. I am a sports physicist, and I’ve modeled the Tour de France for nearly two decades using terrain data – like what I described for Stage 17 – and the laws of physics. But I still cannot fathom the physical capabilities needed to complete the world’s most famous bike race. Only an elite few humans are capable of completing a Tour de France stage in a time that’s measured in hours instead of days. The reason they’re able to do what the rest of us can only dream of is that these athletes can produce enormous amounts of power. Power is the rate at which cyclists burn energy and the energy they burn comes from the food they eat. And over the course of the Tour de France, the winning cyclist will burn the equivalent of roughly 210 Big Macs. To make a bicycle move, a Tour de France rider transfers energy from his muscles, through the bicycle and to the wheels that push back on the ground. The faster a rider can put out energy, the greater the power. This rate of energy transfer is often measured in watts. Tour de France cyclists are capable of generating enormous amounts of power for incredibly long periods of time compared to most people. For about 20 minutes, a fit recreational cyclist can consistently put out 250 watts to 300 watts. Tour de France cyclists can produce over 400 watts for the same time period. These pros are even capable of hitting 1,000 watts for short bursts of time on a steep uphill – roughly enough power to run a microwave oven. But not all of the energy a Tour de France cyclist puts into his bike gets turned into forward motion. Cyclists battle air resistance and frictional losses between their wheels and the road. They get help from gravity on downhills but they have to fight gravity while climbing. I incorporate all of the physics associated with cyclist power output as well as the effects of gravity, air resistance and friction into my model. Using all that, I estimate that a typical Tour de France winner needs to put out an average of about 325 watts over the roughly 80 hours of the race. Recall that most recreational cyclists would be happy if they could produce 300 watts for just 20 minutes! So where do these cyclists get all this energy from? Food, of course! But your muscles, like any machine, can’t convert 100% of food energy directly into energy output – muscles can be anywhere between 2% efficient when used for activities like swimming and 40% efficient in the heart. In my model, I use an average efficiency of 20%. Knowing this efficiency as well as the energy output needed to win the Tour de France, I can then estimate how much food the winning cyclist needs. Top Tour de France cyclists who complete all 21 stages burn about 120,000 calories during the race – or an average of nearly 6,000 calories per stage. On some of the more difficult mountain stages – like this year’s Stage 17 – racers will burn close to 8,000 calories. To make up for these huge energy losses, riders eat delectable treats such as jam rolls, energy bars and mouthwatering “jels” so they don’t waste energy chewing. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/tour-de-france-how-many-calories-will-the-winner-burn-163043 | true | null |
953 | We studied why South Africans vote the way they do. This is what we found | South Africans are set to go to the polls on 27 October 2021 for the country’s sixth municipal elections since the advent of democracy in 1994. The right of all adult South Africans to vote was hard won after a long struggle against colonialism and apartheid. Voting is a cornerstone of democracy: a chance for people to elect their preferred representatives. But, what informs people’s voting decisions? Why do they choose to vote for one party and not another? In short, can we predict who they are likely to vote for in an upcoming national and a local election? Over the past four years we tracked the factors that influence South African voters’ party choices and more importantly, why they made these choices. We interviewed a nationally representative sample of about 3 400 respondents from October to December, between 2017 and 2020. In total, four waves of data were collected in face to face interviews. We are, therefore, able to compare the findings over the four waves to identify the factors that influenced their choices and also how these changed over this period. Our latest report contains the findings from the fourth wave of data collected on voter preferences amid the pandemic and in the run up to the 2021 municipal elections. Four theories are tested statistically in our research. These are rational choice, clientelistic, sociological and party identification. All are widely used to understand voting behavior across countries. The research questions and analysis model that we devised include all four theories. These provide the possible explanations for people’s voting choices. Read more: South Africa needs new thinking for its democracy to work for all In this article, we share findings from our longitudinal study to gain a better understanding of why people vote the way they do. The findings serve as a gauge of citizens’ approval or disapproval of policies and programs, and can serve to hold elected officials accountable for their decisions and actions. We asked six questions about their party choice relating to governance and trust in political leadership, corruption, socio economic well being, democratic rights, social grants and socio demographic factors such as age, gender, education and income and employment. We used a logistic regression model to assess how the four factors influenced their choices. In December 2020, 52% of respondents selected the ANC, 10% selected the opposition Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters, respectively. A quarter were either undecided, would not vote or refused to disclose their party choice. Only 6% said they would vote differently in a local government election compared to a national election. We found the following: Rational choice model: This suggests that voters make their choices based on rational considerations motivated by self interest. Closely related factors that are pertinent that we assessed included perceptions of governance – such as trust in institutions, government performance and progress in addressing corruption. We found that concern about socioeconomic well being was the main reason respondents gave for their choice of a political party across all four waves. It was also a statistically significant predictor of voter choice in 2017. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/we-studied-why-south-africans-vote-the-way-they-do-this-is-what-we-found-162942 | true | null |
954 | Too few women get to invent – that’s a problem for women’s health | Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard University Rem Koning does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. View all partnersMacArthur Genius and MIT professor Linda Griffith has built an epic career as a scientist and inventor, including growing a human ear on a mouse. She now spends her days unpacking the biological mechanisms underlying endometriosis, a condition in which uterus like tissue grows outside of the uterus. Endometriosis can be brutally painful, is regularly misdiagnosed and misunderstood, and has affected Griffith’s life along with the lives of over 6 million other women in the U. S. Griffith’s research and inventions have the potential to improve women’s health dramatically. The problem for women is that she stands out for another reason: She’s female. In 2020, only 12. 8% of U. S. inventors receiving patents were women, and historically male researchers have ignored conditions like endometriosis. Male researchers have tended to downplay or even outright overlook the medical needs of women. The result is that innovation has focused mainly on what men choose to research. My colleagues John Paul Ferguson, Sampsa Samila and I show in a newly published study that patented biomedical inventions in the U. S. created by women are 35% more likely to benefit women’s health than biomedical inventions created by men. To determine which inventions are female focused, male focused or neutral, we analyzed the title, abstract and start of the summary text from 441,504 medical patents using the National Library of Medicine’s Medical Text Indexer. The indexer uses machine learning to categorize the subject of a text document, including whether it has a female or male focus. Our data reveal that inventions by research teams that are primarily or completely composed of men are significantly more likely to focus on the medical needs of men. In 34 of the 35 years from 1976 to 2010, male majority teams produced hundreds more inventions focused on the needs of men than those focused on the needs of women. These male inventors were more likely to generate patents that addressed topics like “erectile” or “prostate” than “menopause” or “cervix. ” Male inventors also tended to target diseases and conditions like Parkinson’s and sleep apnea that disproportionately affect men. Conversely, inventions patented by research teams that are primarily or completely composed of women were more likely to be focused on the needs of women in all 35 years of our data. These patents are more likely to address conditions like breast cancer and postpartum preeclampsia and diseases that disproportionately affect women like fibromyalgia and lupus. However, in 1976 only 6. 3% of patents were invented by teams with as many women as men. By 2010 that figure had risen to only 16. 2%. As a result, while inventions by women were more likely to be female focused, such patents were uncommon because so few inventors were women. We found that across inventor teams of all gender mixes, biomedical invention from 1976 to 2010 focused more on the needs of men than women. Our calculations suggest that had male and female inventors been equally represented over this period, there would have been an additional 6,500 more female focused inventions. In percentage terms, equal representation would have led to 12% more female focused inventions. There are also more subtle benefits when more women invent. Female inventors are more likely to identify how existing treatments for non sex specific diseases like heart attacks, diabetes and stroke can be improved and adapted for the needs of women. Indeed, women are more likely to test whether their ideas and inventions affect men and women differently: for example, if a drug has more adverse side effects in women than in men. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/too-few-women-get-to-invent-thats-a-problem-for-womens-health-162576 | false | null |
955 | From abortion and porn to women and race: How Southern Baptist Convention resolutions have evolved | The Southern Baptist Convention will convene its annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 15, 2021, in what could be the most consequential such get together in recent memory. Just 15 years ago, the SBC boasted some 16. 3 million members across the United States. However, it is hemorrhaging members. According to data released in May, Southern Baptists have lost over 2 million members since 2006, with over 400,000 defections in the last year alone. The denomination has also been embroiled in a number of controversies in recent years. A resolution passed at the 2019 meeting condemned critical race theory, a set of ideas that view racism as structural rather than expressed through individual prejudice, prompting several prominent Black pastors to depart. And in March, Beth Moore, a very popular female Southern Baptist author and speaker, publicly announced that she was leaving the group, citing the SBC’s approval of Donald Trump and its views on gender. The widely held perception is that the SBC has lurched farther to the right over the last few years. As a result, all eyes will be on the resolutions that are debated and subsequently passed at the annual meeting, the belief being they will give tremendous insight into the trajectory of the SBC and more generally American evangelicalism, of which Southern Baptists are the largest group. I’m a religion data analyst who wrote a computer script to collect and organize the text of all the resolutions passed at the annual meeting data back to 1845 to see if there were any patterns. What became clear was that many of the “bread and butter” culture war issues that fueled the SBC 20 years ago – such as abortion and homosexuality – have faded and been replaced by a new set of issues that seem to be furthering the divide between conservatives and more moderate members of the Southern Baptist Convention. One thing to note is that for the first 100 years of the convention, which was formed in 1845, the culture wars that dominate the conversation today were largely absent. The discussion concerning race began only in the 1940s, but that quickly ebbed a decade later. In the 1970s, the annual meeting began to turn to concerns about abortion and how that affected women in the United States. In the early years after the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, many resolutions that discussed abortion also contained the word “women. ” But that linkage began to weaken by the late 1980s. Discussion around abortion peaked in the mid 1990s, which is right about the same time that topics concerning homosexuality were being discussed with greater frequency. [Like what you’ve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter. ]But in the last 10 years, there’s clear evidence that the classic culture war issues of abortion and homosexuality have faded. In fact, the word “homosexuality” has not appeared in a resolution since 2013. In their absence, race and gender have become much more central to the debate. Pornography – a hot resolution topic during the 1980s when the pornographic industry was experiencing a boom – no longer registers as a concern worthy of registering in a resolution. The last meeting of the SBC occurred in 2019, and there was both a resolution on women not being included in the selective service, which would determine who would be eligible for a military draft in the U. S. , and one against the teaching of critical race theory. There’s ample reason to believe that both the role of women and race will be on the minds of the attendees next week, given the amount of media coverage to the topics in the run up to the event. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/from-abortion-and-porn-to-women-and-race-how-southern-baptist-convention-resolutions-have-evolved-162411 | false | null |
956 | Driver’s license suspensions for failure to pay fines inflict particular harm on Black drivers | Imagine being unable to pay a US$50 traffic ticket and, as a result, facing mounting fees so high that even after paying hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars toward your debt you still owe money. Imagine being fired from your job because you’ve been forced to use unreliable public transportation instead of your car. And imagine going to jail several times because, even though your license is suspended, you had to drive to work. These are some of the situations facing millions of Americans who were unable to pay fines – and whose lives were turned into a nightmare by overly punitive policies in response. And these policies have an outsize, and damaging, impact on Black Americans, according to our research. Most cities and states have policies that allow them to suspend a driver’s license for nonpayment of fines and fees, most commonly traffic fines. These policies are so popular that judges have described them as “the most valuable tool available to the municipal courts for inducing payment on past due accounts. ”Studying the effects of these policies can be difficult because there is no uniform national reporting of crime statistics. Anecdotal evidence suggests that failure to pay fines – not dangerous driving – is the most common reason for driver’s license suspensions in the United States. And research indicates that these burdens are primarily borne by low income people and people of color. As a public affairs scholar who has written extensively about labor markets and criminal justice systems, I’ve conducted research with Joanna Carroll supports these conclusions. But it also illuminates a previously unknown racial inequality of the policy. Our research suggests that, by appearing on the driver’s record, license suspensions increase the probability that Black – but not white – drivers incur more traffic tickets. Even after the debt is paid and the license regained, these suspensions continue to harm drivers, and these harms exclusively affect Black drivers. This shows that suspensions don’t just trap people in a cycle of mounting debt but also a cycle of negative interactions with the criminal justice system. We studied a sample of over 2,000 drivers who received traffic tickets in Marion County, Indiana, home to Indianapolis, between 2011 and 2016. In that county, if a driver fails to pay or contest a ticket within 72 days, their license is automatically suspended. This means that judges and other members of the justice system cannot choose who receives a suspension. Every driver in our sample paid their ticket in the days surrounding the payment deadline. This is an ideal environment to study the long term impacts of suspensions because it creates two groups of people that are easily comparable: those who paid the ticket right before the deadline, thus avoiding a suspension, and those who paid after the deadline and received a suspension. We found that Black drivers who received a failure to pay suspension increased their likelihood of getting another ticket by up to nine percentage points. White drivers, meanwhile, saw a roughly three percentage point decrease in their likelihood of getting another ticket. We attempted to identify differences between white and Black drivers that might explain this result but were unable to do so. For example, Black drivers are not committing more offenses than white drivers, nor are the offenses they commit more serious. Black drivers are just as likely as white drivers to pay their tickets. And Black drivers are more likely than white drivers to reinstate their license after the suspension. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/drivers-license-suspensions-for-failure-to-pay-fines-inflict-particular-harm-on-black-drivers-157764 | false | null |
958 | Pain of police killings ripples outward to traumatize Black people and communities across US | It’s been one year since George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer set off the largest protests in U. S. history and a national reckoning with racism. Beyond the protests, every police killing – indeed, every violent act by police toward civilians – can have painful and widespread consequences. Each year, U. S. police kill about 1,000 people, which equals approximately 8% of all homicides for adult men. This risk is greater for Black men, who are about 2. 5 times more likely to be killed by the police than white men. The effects of these killings ripple from the individual victim to their families and local communities as they cope with the permanence of injury, death and loss. People victimized by the police have demonstrated higher than usual rates of depression, psychological distress and even suicide risk. But the pain doesn’t stop there. Public health research I am conducting with my research team at the University of California, Berkeley finds that the harm from police killings of Black people goes beyond the people and places directly involved in these incidents to affect Black Americans far from the site of the killing, who may have never met the victim. Evidence shows that many Black Americans across the U. S. experience police killings of other Black people as traumatic events, and that this trauma diminishes the ability of Black communities to thrive. One of the key studies illustrating this ripple effect of police killings on the mental health of Black Americans was published in the medical journal The Lancet in 2018. Boston University researchers surveyed 103,710 people in the U. S. to measure the relationship between police killings and Americans’ mental health. Among survey respondents, each police related fatality of an unarmed Black person in the state where they lived was associated with an increase in the number of days when they reported poor mental health relating to stress, depression or emotional issues. The authors estimated that the cumulative impact of U. S. police killings of unarmed Blacks could add up to 55 million additional poor mental health days for the U. S. ‘s 44 million Black people. Police killings of armed Black people did not elicit the same distress among Black Americans. And white Americans suffered no additional poor mental health days, as defined by the researchers, after exposure to police killings – no matter the circumstances or race of the victim. The authors speculated that historical and institutional patterns of systematic, targeted violence against Black people – combined with a general lack of legal consequences when police officers commit such crimes – make the killings of unarmed Blacks particularly stressful for Black Americans. “Racism, like trauma, can be experienced vicariously,” they concluded. A 2021 study substantiates the Boston University’s mental health findings. Scouring emergency department admission records in 75 counties in five U. S. states, researchers found that within three months following a police killing of an unarmed Black person in the county in which they reside, Black Americans sought treatment at local emergency departments for depressive symptoms 11% more frequently than in other months. Black women experience acute fear that their children will be harmed by the police. Those who expressed beliefs that Black youth are at higher risk for having negative police experiences were 12 times more likely to report symptoms of depression during their pregnancy than other women, according to one study from 2017. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/pain-of-police-killings-ripples-outward-to-traumatize-black-people-and-communities-across-us-159624 | false | null |
960 | Denying Black musicians their royalties has a history emerging out of slavery | In the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter protests and activism included voices arguing for economic justice in the recording industry. The Black Music Action Coalition demanded music industry executives account for “inequities in the treatment of Black artists. ” BLM and the BMAC spotlighted what cultural anthropologist Maureen Mahon calls the recording industry’s “racialized political economy. ” Mahon writes that Black performers “occupy a subordinate position,” even as their music serves as a “central creative resource” in the industry and the culture. Since the early 20th century at least, the recording industry in the United States routinely underpaid African American artists. It’s long been suspected by performers, their families, music fans, scholars and critics that negligent and even fraudulent accounting practices denied African American artists and their families opportunities to accumulate wealth and enter the American middle class our research shows how those practices worked. We a communication professor and a law professor have been studying racialized contracting and accounting in the recording industries since 2015. We have presented our findings at academic conferences, in academic journals and a forthcoming book. We have discovered archival evidence preserved by activists, lawyers and labour organizations that demonstrates in detail how some of these systems produced tragic outcomes for many artists. In the spring of 1993, at the age of 57, Sam Moore wrote to his union’s health and retirement plan to inquire about the status of his pension account. As a singer of long lived hits including “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Coming,” he planned to quit touring and enjoy the fruits of his decades long career. The Health and Retirement Funds of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists did not reply with good news. Moore learned he was entitled to a single payment of US$2,285, and a monthly payment of US$67, for up to five years. These figures, the H&R Funds told Moore, were based on his earnings since the early 1960s: around US$66,000. With the help of a pension expert, Moore and his wife estimated these decades of earnings added up to more like US$3 million. They believed his pension should have been around US$9,000 per month. Along with a dozen other singers, all but one of them African American, Moore sued the AFTRA H&R Funds for failing to monitor his earnings and to enforce Atlantic Records’ contractually mandated employer contributions to his health care and retirement accounts. The suit wound on for nine years, and settled in 2002 for US$8. 4 million, to be distributed among hundreds of artists . Nearly 20 years later, BLM and BMAC have provoked renewed industrial self scrutiny. In December 2020, BMG Rights Management completed a review of its recording contracts for racial discrimination. BMG found “significant” racial disparities in royalty payouts to Black and racialized artists in four of its labels. The BMG findings were not surprising. Commentators have long noted pervasive adverse contractual terms for African American recording artists. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/denying-black-musicians-their-royalties-has-a-history-emerging-out-of-slavery-144397 | false | null |
961 | Census 2021: Canadians are talking about race. But the census hasn’t caught up. | This May, Canadians will again be asked if they identify as a member of a set list of minority groups when filling out the long form census. That data is used to measure the portion of Canada’s population that are designated as visible minorities, a concept and term increasingly out of step with the times. The pandemic has laid bare racial inequalities, and racial justice activist groups, like Black Lives Matter, have put anti Black racism high on the public agenda. Systemic racism, rather than visible minority status, is at the centre of debate. While Canadians are now talking more explicitly about race, the census has yet to catch up. “We’re going to have to ask ourselves, what do we want to do with that category now?” says Michael Haan, a demographer and member of a committee that advises Statistics Canada on ethnocultural diversity. According to him, the committee has had many internal debates about terminology. Canada’s anti racism strategy, which draws on decades’ worth of research, states that race is a social construct. There is no basis for classifying people according to race, but racial bias and discrimination have very real effects. The question is: How do we get relevant data from the census and other surveys on the impact of systemic racism?Statistics Canada tries to gather this information without directly asking about race. Race based data is needed, says Jean Pierre Corbeil, a diversity specialist at Statistics Canada. But he wonders whether that actually requires referring to race on the census. Historically, the government has been reluctant to ask directly about race, which has led to a lack of disaggregated data. After the Second World War, the census used indirect methods of estimating the non white, non Indigenous population through racial proxies like language or ethnocultural origin. That changed in 1996, says political scientist Debra Thompson, when Statistics Canada began asking Canadians whether they identified as a visible minority. The term, Thompson notes, makes it seem “that things are not about race when of course they absolutely are. ”The question on visible minorities was added to the census because of the Employment Equity Act. In order to measure how the white versus the non white population fares in the labor market as required by this law, the government needed to know who is a visible minority. For the purposes of the Employment Equity Act, says Haan, the question works. But he acknowledges the drawbacks: “Is it a perfect facsimile of race or racialization? No, it’s not. ”Many criticized, and still criticize the government’s approach. The United Nations has repeatedly pointed out that the term “visible minority” lumps together diverse communities and threatens to erase differences among them. Corbeil says Statistics Canada is well aware of the criticism. However, changing the terminology is politically sensitive. Moving away from it would likely require changing the Employment Equity Act, says Fo Niemi, head of Montreal based Center for Research Action on Race Relations. Instead, Statistics Canada is trying to respond to the demand for more race disaggregated data through special crowdsourced surveys and increasing sample sizes of marginalized people to allow for enhanced analysis. For example, with support from the federal Anti Racism Secretariat, it has produced a socio economic analysis on the Black population. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/census-2021-canadians-are-talking-about-race-but-the-census-hasnt-caught-up-158343 | false | null |
963 | South Africa remains a nation of insiders and outsiders, 27 years after democracy | Twenty seven years into democracy, South African politics is still for the few. And those who complain the most have the least to grumble about. Since South Africa is highly unequal and remains divided into insiders and outsiders – those who benefit from the market economy and those who can’t – we might expect its politics to be a loud battle between those who have and those who don’t. Most commentators believe it is. Within the governing African National Congress , a battle rages between the “radical economic transformation forces”, who purport to champion the interests of the poor majority, and their market friendly opponents. Outside it, the third biggest party, the Economic Freedom Fighters , some in the ANC alliance and the advocates of black consciousness and pan Africanism are assumed to speak for those who live in poverty. There is much radical talk which creates this impression. The left wing tradition in South Africa goes back over a century – it was injected into the mainstream of anti apartheid politics by the alliance between the ANC and the Communist Party. But, while it is common for political activists to use left language, all politics is still, as it was before 1994, insider politics. Then the insiders were whites – now they are the minority who receive an income from the formal economy each week or month. In the country’s insider politics, the majority who try to survive outside the formal economy are talked about, but are never heard. The “radical economic transformation forces” are people trying to gain a bigger share of what the few enjoy, not to share it with the many. The EFF’s chief concern is to challenge white privilege in the insider economy, not to open it to the outsiders. According to one survey, EFF members have, on average, higher incomes and qualifications than ANC members. Over the past few years, the country has witnessed a furious debate over whether the government should be able to expropriate land without compensation. Only one group has been ignored – the millions of landless people who have the greatest stake in the outcome. Since insider politics is often about insisting that you speak for the poor when you have consulted no one who lives in poverty, both sides of the debate did their best to show that the landless were on their side. Those who wanted expropriation found a few landless people to take to official hearings. Their opponents in the media interviewed just as few landless people who were reported to not want expropriation. But no one spoke for the people without land. During the first year of COVID 19, a debate raged over whether lockdown measures were needed. The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, echoed the global right wing by demanding that all activity be allowed. The EFF insisted that nothing should be opened. The ANC claimed to adopt a “scientific” approach in which public health and the economy’s needs were balanced. None of them spoke for – and to – the majority who were forced to travel on taxis which they knew might spread the virus, to earn incomes in ways which might infect them, and whose need was to find a way to feed their families without falling ill. Read more: South Africas 2019 poll showed dangerous signs of insiders and outsiders Insider politics also shapes another conflict which divides “left” and “right” – the demand for free higher education. This is a rallying cry of the left which is denounced by opponents as a Marxist assault on the market economy. But the “left” demand boils down to insisting that the children of the corporate and professional elite should be educated at public expense. This, would, of course, mean that less money would be available to address the needs of people living in poverty. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/south-africa-remains-a-nation-of-insiders-and-outsiders-27-years-after-democracy-159561 | false | null |
966 | The truth about racial inequalities and COVID-19 - and what should be done to address the long-term impacts | It didn’t take long for the world to feel the pandemic’s impact on existing inequalities. A year after the arrival of COVID 19, however, and many of those outcomes have proven to be far more wide reaching and devastating than anticipated, especially where race and ethnicity is concerned. As more research emerged over the course of the past year, the role that structural racism has played in furthering these inequalities has become increasingly apparent. Vaccine mistrust among black and Asian communities has been revealed to be far more complex than initially portrayed by the government. The limitations of also looking at data through a “BAME” lens have been exposed, with calls for less generalized information about COVID 19 related outcomes for wildly disparate and varied ethnic groups. And within the youth labor market, black people have been hit the hardest by COVID 19 restrictions. Against the backdrop of the government’s controversial report on race and ethnic disparities, it appears that there’s a struggle between two camps about why these racial inequalities intensified throughout the pandemic. On the one hand, as espoused by the report, there are those who believe that structural racism doesn’t play a role in dramatically accelerating these issues. On the other is the understanding that race, ethnicity and structural racism are significant factors in aggravating disparities. In order to understand how far reaching these COVID 19 related outcomes are in terms of racial inequality, The Conversation is running a webinar on May 4, 2PM BST, the second in a series in partnership with the International Public Policy Observatory . The webinar will bring academics together to discuss the full social and health impacts of the pandemic on various black, Asian and ethnic minority communities and what we need to do now to ensure better policies and outcomes as we recover from COVID. Society and Arts editor, Kuba Shand Baptiste, will host the event and she will be joined by: Claudia Bernard, Professor of Social Work at Goldsmiths and member of the Black Female Professors Forum, which is conducting research into the impact of COVID 19 on black, Asian and minority ethnic people in the UK. Winston Morgan, Reader in Toxicology and Clinical Biochemistry and Director of Impact and Innovation, University of East London, who has written for The Conversation about why racism needs to be seen as a bigger factor in dealing with vaccine hesitancy. James Nazroo, Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester and co author of a recent rapid evidence review on inequalities in relation to COVID 19 and their effects on London, as well as co author of a state of the nation report on Ethnicity, Race and Inequality in the UK. Mariko Hayashi, Director of the Southeast and East Asian Centre , a London based community organization, and an independent researcher on migration and human rights in the UK as well as East and Southeast Asia. The webinar will be free to watch directly via these link on Facebook, YouTube and on Twitter. No registration is needed. IPPO was commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council in response to COVID 19, to develop a knowledge system that is quick and responsive while also grounded in the latest and most robust evidence. This webinar forms part of IPPO’s ongoing work on COVID 19’s unequal impacts on society, and how policymakers in all parts of the UK can best respond to this. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/the-truth-about-racial-inequalities-and-covid-19-and-what-should-be-done-to-address-the-long-term-impacts-159250 | false | null |
967 | Student loan debt is costing recent grads much more than just money | Associate Professor of Philosophy, Iowa State University Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine Assistant Professor of Sociology, Arizona State University Dalié Jiménez has previously received grant funding from the Student Borrower Protection Center and the Lumina Foundation. Raphaël Charron Chénier has previously received a research grant from the Student Borrower Protection Center. Kate Padgett Walsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. University of California, Irvine, Iowa State University, and Arizona State University provide funding as members of The Conversation US. View all partnersPresident Joe Biden promised to forgive up to US$10,000 in student loan debt during his 2020 campaign. We assembled a panel of academics to talk about the effects student loans have on recent graduates. Kate Padgett Walsh, associate professor of philosophy at Iowa State University Student debt is too much when it threatens the physical and mental health of young borrowers. Today’s college graduates now finish school with almost $30,000 in student loan debt, on average, an increase of over 300% from 1970 after adjusting for inflation. Research shows that the burden of this debt causes poorer mental health,poorer physical health and less overall satisfaction with life. It also causes borrowers to delay marriage, postpone renting or buying their own homes and put off starting new businesses. Student debt is also too much when it blocks access to the American dream, the idea that success is possible in the U. S. no matter a person’s background. Students who are the first in their family to attend college and low income students have a much harder time paying off their student loans, and they end up defaulting more often than other students. Black students, who owe 60% more than their white counterparts, struggle even more to pay back their loans, in part because of persistent racial wealth and income gaps. The government’s original purpose in lending to students was to help people of modest means get a college education. But today, it is precisely those borrowers who are most harmed by student debt. Dalié Jiménez, professor of law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law Providing broad debt relief for student borrowers is something President Biden’s Department of Education could do today. That move would greatly lessen gender and racial inequality and boost the economy. As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, the government paused interest charges and payments for most federal student loans, but this temporary relief is set to expire at the end of September 2021. After that, defaults are likely to return to pre pandemic levels. Before the pandemic, borrowers were defaulting on federal student loans every 26 seconds, or just over 1. 2 million times per year. The returns to higher education are large, and they benefit society as a whole as well as individual students. Effectively requiring the least wealthy to take on personal debt to go to college instead of directly investing in higher education was a policy mistake. It has harmed not only the roughly 40% of borrowers who did not finish their degree and now owe money that is difficult to discharge in bankruptcy; this is money that can remain outstanding until the borrower’s death. But it has also harmed society as a whole. Providing broad debt relief would likely give Congress an incentive to focus on finding a way to fund higher education that addresses runaway tuition and does not rely on loans to students in need. Raphaël Charron Chénier, an assistant professor of sociology at Arizona State University Student debt exacerbates economic inequality, particularly between white and Black households. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/student-loan-debt-is-costing-recent-grads-much-more-than-just-money-158189 | false | null |
968 | How race-related stress could be driving educators of color away from the job | The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. When teachers of color experience high levels of race based stress in schools, they can also have an increasingly negative sense of belonging, according to new research. For the study, we analyzed survey data from educators of color across Iowa. To get at whether they were experiencing race based stress, we asked whether the educators felt supported raising concerns with their peers about racism in schools or if they felt the need to ignore or avoid it. I conducted this research along with my colleagues – education researcher Duhita Mahatmya and community and behavioral health professor Eboneé Johnson. Teachers reported less support from colleagues than did principals. Over 75% of the teachers in our sample reported a negative sense of belonging, especially when they thought school districts would not devise policies to actively address equity and racism. Over half of U. S. public school students are students of color, but educator demographics do not mirror the student population. In 2003, 17% of public school teachers and 18% of public school principals identified as persons of color. By 2017, those numbers had risen to only 21% of teachers and 22% of principals in public schools. Currently in Iowa, 3% of teachers and 4% of principals in public schools identify as people of color, as compared with 26% of students. These workforce trends can be traced back to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that public school segregation was unconstitutional. Following the ruling, tens of thousands of Black teachers and school administrators were either fired or demoted. White parents’ not wanting their children taught by Black teachers was among the reasons. Despite ongoing recruitment efforts, teachers of color still leave the profession at a rate almost 5% higher than their white peers. When there are few or no educators of color in public schools, students of color have historically been more likely to experience low academic expectations and disproportionately high rates of discipline. Also, Black and Hispanic students are less likely to be enrolled in advanced placement or gifted courses. Students of color – particularly Black and Hispanic students – have been shown to achieve more academically when they have a teacher of color. Some scholars contend that educators of color experience “racial battle fatigue,” a term coined by education professor William A. Smith at the University of Utah. Racial battle fatigue describes the physical, emotional and psychological toll on people of color when they experience racism in predominantly white spaces. In our study, we cannot definitively say that negative feelings that educators of color have about their school communities will cause them to leave the profession. However, we do suggest that race based stress is a factor. Stress has caused many educators to leave the profession, even before the COVID 19 pandemic. It will take more than just dedicated recruitment efforts to diversify the educator workforce and create inclusive schools. Retention strategies alone won’t be effective unless there are changes in the workplace environment itself. [Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today. ]In our study, we surveyed educators of color still working in Iowa schools. We don’t know how educators of color who have left the profession would have responded. Additionally, we don’t yet know the impact of the “triple pandemic” of COVID 19, racism and an economic recession on the stress levels of educators of color. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/how-race-related-stress-could-be-driving-educators-of-color-away-from-the-job-157734 | false | null |
971 | Why Pakistani students benefit the most from going to university | In the UK, people from all ethnic minority groups are now more likely to go to university than white British people. But does university education pay off when it comes to their future earnings? I looked at this question in a recent report, co authored with Jack Britton at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Lorraine Dearden at UCL. We found that the financial benefits from university are positive on average for all ethnic groups even after accounting for taxes and student loans. Gains are highest for South Asian students, middling for white students, and mostly lower for black students. The benefits are especially large for Pakistani students, with an estimated boost to average earnings of more than a third by age 30. Adding up predicted gains over the whole life cycle and taking into account taxes and student loans, we found that doing a degree is worth around £200,000 for Pakistani students – around twice the average return for all students we calculated in previous work. This is not because Pakistani graduates have especially high earnings. In fact, the opposite is true: Pakistani graduates have the lowest graduate earnings of all ethnic groups, with typical earnings at age 30 of £23,000 for men and £19,000 for women. Instead the reason is that – based on comparing similar people who did and didn’t go to university – Pakistani graduates would have earned much less had they not gone to university. Typical earnings at age 30 of Pakistani men and women who did not go to university are only £13,000 for men and £11,000 for women. An important factor explaining the large earnings gains for Pakistani graduates appears to be that Pakistani students are more likely than White British students to choose subjects with good job prospects at university, such as business, law, or pharmacology. They are also less likely to choose degrees with low or negative financial returns, such as creative arts. This reflects a more general pattern. All Asian groups are more likely to study “high return” subjects at university, which appears to be a major factor behind the comparatively large gains for these groups. These findings appear to contradict a claim in the government’s recent race commission report. According to the report, an explanation for the low graduate earnings of many ethnic minority groups is that “ethnic minority students, and especially Black students, from lower social status backgrounds are not being well advised on which courses to take at university”. Our findings suggest that the opposite is true for South Asian students, as they tend to study more lucrative subjects than white students. We also find no evidence that black students choose lower return subjects than white students. This does not mean that poor career advice is not a problem – but it doesn’t seem to affect ethnic minorities disproportionately. The government’s report also suggests that ethnic minorities have low graduate earnings because they attend less selective universities. It is true that students from ethnic minorities – especially black students – are more likely to attend lower tariff universities, and that graduates of these institutions earn less than other graduates. But importantly, this does not mean that these universities offer low returns. Many graduates of these institutions would have had much lower earnings still if they had not gone to university at all. Overall, we found no evidence that ethnic minorities’ institution choices lower their gains from attending university. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/why-pakistani-students-benefit-the-most-from-going-to-university-158088 | true | null |
973 | The Atlanta attacks were not just racist and misogynist, they painfully reflect the society we live in | I am heartbroken but I’m not surprised. The targeted killing of eight women in Atlanta, six of them Asian, is a brutal result of decades long exclusion and oppression, legitimized in law and colonial reverberations, that allow a white dominated settler society to thrive, justifying differential treatment of racialized migrants. Many blame former U. S. president Donald Trump for calling COVID 19 the “Asian flu,” “Kung Flu” and “China Virus,” among other terms, for this increase in violent attacks and harassment. And while it’s certainly contributed, these violent attacks, harassment and hate expressed against people of Asian descent did not begin with Trump or the pandemic. Read more: Anti Asian racism during coronavirus: How the language of disease produces hate and violence Here is where the toolkit built by critical race and feminist theorists can help us understand that the tragic deaths of these women are not new, not isolated, but represent racist, misogynist violence and are reflective of the society we live in. Those who were killed were targeted not only because of their race and gender but also because of their perceived work and immigration status. In other words, they were targeted because of their intersectional identities. Women were killed. It is undeniable that violence against women is one of the leading causes of death of women around the world. The Canadian Femicide Observatory recently confirmed that 160 women and girls were killed by violence in Canada in 2020, with 90 percent of the incidents involving a male accused. Six of the eight women in Atlanta were Asian. We’ve seen a significant increase in violence against Asians during the pandemic. In the United States, according to Stop AAPI Hate, 3,800 incidents were reported during the pandemic, with 68 percent of them being reported by women. This is a 150 percent increase in the number of hate incidents against Asians and Canada is not immune. Per capita, Canada has a greater number of incidents reported than the United States. According to Fight COVID Racism, there have been 928 incidents of violence due to discrimination against Asians since the pandemic began. Tied to this is the perceived immigration or citizenship status of Asians in North America. Immigration status has long been used as a way to separate and exclude racialized people in the post colonial project of preserving a white dominated settler society. The 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act was designed to keep racialized persons from settling in Canada. It was also designed to keep the “Yellow Peril” out, and for 24 years provided a mechanism to conduct health examinations based on misunderstandings that such persons were contagions. This early identification of “foreigners with disease” has framed our current discourse. While history tells us how North Americans may have come to fear Asian people and how Asians have been and still are perceived as vectors of disease, our current laws continue to justify differential treatment of racialized migrants. Migrant essential workers in agriculture, caregiving, health care, meat processing and other sectors come to Canada with temporary residence status without their families. Because of their precarious immigration status, they are subject to abuse, long working hours and the withholding of pay, all with little legal protection or recourse. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/the-atlanta-attacks-were-not-just-racist-and-misogynist-they-painfully-reflect-the-society-we-live-in-157389 | false | null |
974 | 5 ways to address internalized white supremacy and its impact on health | During the summer of protests, workplaces, institutions and many businesses seemed to have finally “awakened” to the plight of Black folks and the injustices we face. But the conversation needs to go further. We need to also have a discussion about the impact of white supremacy on our physical and mental health. The definition of internalized racism is “the acceptance, by marginalized racial populations, of the negative societal beliefs and stereotypes about themselves. ” There are many spaces where internalized white supremacy has created detrimental impacts on Black people’s health. To continue Black resistance, decolonization, and dismantling white supremacy we need to address some of these realities. In this era of multiple pandemics COVID 19 next to systemic anti Black and anti Indigenous racism discussing the impact of internalized racism on our health is crucial to furthering Black resistance, healing and emancipation. As a global social justice health researcher and psychotherapist with a private practice, I have collected both research based evidence as well as clinical experiences from this past year of the damage of white supremacy and internalized racism. Some of the earliest conceptions and seminal researchers who have work on internalized racism are: W. E. B Du Bois in his 1903 The Souls of the Black Folk, Marcus Garvey in 1923, Franz Fanon on Black masks in 1952 and The Wretched of the Earth in ‘65, Albert Memmi’s work on the colonizer and the colonized in 1965, to name a few. For a review of psychological literature on internalized racism, check out the 2019 paper by: E. J. R. David, Tiera M. Schroeder and Jessicaanne Fernandez. White supremacy is maintained through systems of punishment and religious indoctrination. The over 400 years of colonization’s violence on Black people’s lives, including the killing, mass incarceration, co optation and demonizing of our resistance movements through white supremacist systems and practices, have been internalized and as a result impact our health. Read more: Racism impacts your health Internalized white supremacy is a direct result of systemic anti Black racism and intersectional violence. It creates pain, suffering, and rifts and divisions in our communities and movements. It occurs when folks of colour believe racist stereotypes and act them out in their daily lives. Internalized white supremacy supports systematic violence by ensuring that oppressed peoples are consumed by “whiteness” or proximity to it, as the measure of greatness or goodness. Meanwhile, “Blackness” and other racialized identities are internalized as subservient or bad. Internalized white supremacy has its history in Black communities through the brutal enslavement of Africans. The separation of African families and the threat of death, sexual and physical violence, racist scientific experiments, and other cruelties created feelings of powerlessness and trauma that purported whiteness as superior, and Blackness as inferior. There is continuing research in the fields of psychology, health, medicine and education, to name a few, on internalized white supremacy and its detrimental impacts on our physical and mental health. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-address-internalized-white-supremacy-and-its-impact-on-health-152667 | false | null |
975 | Film and TV diversity behind the camera is getting much worse | Talk of the lack of diversity in the film and TV industries starts to bubble up around awards season every year. This year is no different with the Golden Globes notably snubbing one of the most critically acclaimed shows of 2020, I May Destroy You, and its young, black female creator, Michaela Cole. Despite repeated pledges to improve diversity it seems the situation isn’t getting any better. In fact, recently published data from the Creative Diversity Network found that diversity behind the camera is getting worse over time. The report found that positions such as directors, producers and camera operators are being filled less and less by those who identify as black, Asian or minority ethnic, disabled, transgender or the over 50s. In drama, perhaps the most high prestige genre of all, the data revealed that behind the camera contributions by black, Asian and minority ethnic people had fallen from 8. 6% in 2018 19 to 5. 9% in 2019 20. Also, there has been a decrease in the contributions from women in senior roles. My research adds a human element to such inequalities. In 2020, I collaborated with the Leeds production company Candour and screen industry professionals to create a research led film series called Industry Voices. We sought to document the testimonies of those with experience of inequality, looking at the sectors of television, film and games. Presenter and comedian Sideman resigned from the BBC last year after the corporation initially defended the use the N word by a white presenter in a television news broadcast. He told us there was a need for change in the make up of regulatory bodies, noting that it’s crucial to have people of color included in decisions that affect them. Sideman’s comments are particularly prescient in relation to the all white Ofcom board, who received 384 complaints regarding the use of the racial slur that caused him to resign. Drawing out this focus on power and the fact that inclusion is critical to democracy, the study explored processes of hiring and progression in the screen industries. Speaking about her experiences of both getting in and getting on in the screen industries, Channel 4 commissioning editor, Fozia Khan noted how her gender held her back when it came to moving from the role of producer to director. Fozia’s sentiments were bolstered by Welsh documentary producer and director, Liana Stewart, who noted:When you’re a female, and then you’re Black on top of it, and then you’re working class, there’s not many reference points, there’s not many people you can see who are [producers or directors]. In line with this, screenwriter and chair of the Writers’ Guild, Lisa Holdsworth criticized the “trickle up effect” that occurs when many companies only have diversity hiring policies when it comes to entry level positions, such as runners. For instance, the BBC’s board only has one black, Asian or minority ethnic member while Channel 4’s has two members. To make things worse, the BBC’s news board recently let go of its only non white member, Kamal Ahmed. Broadly, our contributors pointed to the problematic and nepotistic nature of hiring practices in the screen industries, and the fact that these processes are often undertaken on a “nod and a wink”. It is, ultimately, still about who you know, rather than what you know. In project based industries like film and TV, processes of hiring and progression are far from transparent, and questions of who has power are central to understanding the inequality in the sectors. One of the key findings of our research was not only that inequality needs to be tackled by those at the top but also that the configuration of those who make up the top needs to be decisively reconfigured. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/film-and-tv-diversity-behind-the-camera-is-getting-much-worse-154622 | false | null |
977 | What I learned when I recreated the famous ‘doll test’ that looked at how Black kids see race | Back in the 1940s, Kenneth and Mamie Clark – a husband and wife team of psychology researchers – used dolls to investigate how young Black children viewed their racial identities. They found that given a choice between Black dolls and white dolls, most Black children preferred to play with white dolls. They ascribed positive characteristics to the white dolls but negative characteristics to the Black ones. Then, upon being asked to describe the doll that looked most like them, some of the children became “emotionally upset at having to identify with the doll that they had rejected. ”The Clarks concluded that Black children – as a result of living in a racist society – had come to see themselves in a negative light. I first heard about the Clarks’ doll experiment with preschool children during a Black studies class in college in the early 2000s. But it wasn’t until one of my daughters came home from preschool one day in 2017 talking about how she didn’t like being Black that I decided to create the doll test anew. When my daughter attended a diverse preschool, there weren’t any issues. But when she switched over to a virtually all white preschool, my daughter started saying she didn’t like her dark skin. I tried to assuage her negative feelings about the skin she was in. I told her, “I like it. ” She just quipped, “You can have it. ” But it wasn’t just her skin color she had a problem with. She told me she also wanted blue eyes “like the other kids” at her school. Perturbed, I spoke with others about the episode. I began to suspect that if my daughter had identity issues despite being raised by a culturally aware Black mom like me – an educator at that – then countless other Black children throughout America were probably experiencing some sort of internalized self hatred as well. The Clarks’ research was used in the 1954 landmark Brown v. Board of Education case to advance the cause of integrated schools. Their findings about Black children’s negative view of themselves were attributed to the effects of segregation. But I knew from experience that the preference for whiteness that the Clarks found was not limited to just Black kids in segregated schools in the 20th century. It was affecting Black kids in integrated schools in the 21st century as well. Maybe, I thought, the racial bias wasn’t related to schools as much as it was to the broader society in which we live. Maybe it was much more nuanced than whether Black kids attended an all Black school or went to school alongside other kids. But to verify that Black kids were still viewing their Blackness in a negative light the way the Clarks found that they were back in the 1940s, I would have to do so as a researcher. So I set out to get my doctorate in early childhood education and began to look deeper into how children develop racial identities. In their doll test studies, the Clarks prompted young children to respond to questions of character. They would ask questions like, which doll – the Black one or the white one – was the nice doll? This required the children to select a doll to answer the question. This experiment – and prior research by the Clarks – showed that young children notice race and that they have racial preferences. While these studies let us know that – contrary to what some people may think – children do, in fact, see color, the tests were far from perfect. Although I respect the Clarks for what they contributed to society’s understanding of how Black children see race, I believe their doll tests were really kind of unnatural – and, I would even argue, quite stressful. What if, for instance, the children were not forced to choose between one doll or the other, but could choose dolls on their own without any adults prodding them? And what if there were more races and ethnicities available from which to choose? | 2 | https://theconversation.com/what-i-learned-when-i-recreated-the-famous-doll-test-that-looked-at-how-black-kids-see-race-153780 | false | null |
978 | Women of color spend more than $8 billion on bleaching creams worldwide every year | The idealization of light skin as the pinnacle of beauty affects self esteem for women of color around the world. In many cultures, skin color is a social benchmark that is often used by people of color and whites alike in lieu of race. Attractiveness, marriageability, career opportunities and socioeconomic status are directly correlated with skin color. As a result, many women of color seek chemical remedies to lighten their complexion. They have created a booming global business in bleach creams and injectables valued at US$8. 6 billion in 2020; $2. 3 billion was spent in the U. S. alone. The market is projected to reach $12. 3 billion by 2027. In my work in behavioral science and colorism, I studied the phenomenon of skin bleaching during a decade of travel around the world during which I visited every major racial group – and tracked the growth of this industry. The practice has both significant racial implications and health concerns. As I stated during my interview on Oprah’s 2015 “Light Girls” documentary, while bleaching the skin is common, it’s both dangerous and potentially life threatening because products contain steroids, hydroquinone bleach and mercury. The World Health Organization warns that skin bleaching can cause liver and kidney damage, neurological problems, cancer and, for pregnant women, stillbirth. The practice is not new. It became popular in many African countries in the 1950s; today, about 77% of Nigerians, 27% of Senegalese and 35% of South African women bleach their skin. Indian caste based discrimination was outlawed in 1950, but dark skinned women are still persecuted – and fair skin remains a distinguishing social factor, associated with purity and elite status. In the Middle East, the practice of bleaching is most common in Jordan, with 60. 7% of women bleaching. The Brazilian government seems to sanction white skin over dark by encouraging immigration from Europe and discouraging persons of African descent. Light skin is idealized in North America, but the phenomenon is contentious because bleaching is perceived as a desire to be white. So bleaching creams are marketed in the U. S. not to lighten skin, but to “erase blemishes” and “age spots. ”Their use in the U. S. spiked after the 1967 U. S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized interracial marriage. In the aftermath of the civil rights movement, dark complected immigrants from developing countries flocked to the U. S. , carrying with them an ideal of light skinned beauty – and they bleached their skin to attain it. Bleach cream manufacturers now face growing pressure to address racism, with activists arguing that their products perpetuate a preference for lighter skin. In 2020, Johnson & Johnson announced that it will no longer sell two products marketed to reduce dark spots that were widely used as skin lighteners. L’Oreal, the world’s largest producer of bleach creams, pledged to remove the words “white,” “fair,” and “light” from labels – but it will still manufacture these products. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter. ]Some among African countries have moved to ban bleaching creams. The success of the blockbuster film “Black Panther” has likewise sparked a movement celebrating dark skin, with hashtags including #melaninpoppin and #blackgirlmagic. As I see it, public education and activism on this issue must prevail to protect the health and self esteem of women of color. The failure of either will only prolong the problem – while sustaining an $8. 6 billion bleach cream beauty industry. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/women-of-color-spend-more-than-8-billion-on-bleaching-creams-worldwide-every-year-153178 | false | null |
982 | Why a shootout between Black Panthers and law enforcement 50 years ago matters today | In the early hours of Feb. 10, 1971, police surrounded a property in High Point, North Carolina, where members of the Black Panther Party lived and worked. In the ensuing shootout, a Panther and a police officer were both wounded. The incident did not receive much national attention at the time – armed conflict of this type was relatively common during the late 1960s and early 1970s. But 50 years on, as the U. S. reckons with a year that saw militarized police confront Black Lives Matter protesters and fail to prevent an attack on the U. S. Capitol, I believe the circumstances of this shootout are relevant today. As a historian who has interviewed participants in the confrontation for a coming book, I see the raid in the context of a then emerging strategy of urban policing in the U. S. , shaped by the racial and political clashes of the 1960s and forged through a growing partnership between local and federal law enforcement. That strategy, of criminalizing Black political activism at a time when white reactionary protesters were accommodated, has defined police responses to Americans’ activism – and political violence – over the past half century. The approach of law enforcement on the bitterly cold morning of Feb. 10, 1971, was aggressive and combative. Brad Lilley, the 19 year old leader of the High Point branch of the Black Panthers, woke at 5 a. m. to discover about 30 police officers and sheriff’s deputies surrounding the rented house he shared with three other teenage members of the organization. The police were seeking to evict the Panthers. Despite the fact that Lilley and the other members were paying rent on time, High Point police were looking to force them out in line with a national strategy of pushing Black Panthers out of communities because of their political activities. According to a High Point Enterprise local newspaper reporter on the scene, the force was “heavily armed and wearing flak jackets,” though none of the residents had a record of criminal violence. The Enterprise also questioned the police department’s aggressive strategy in the crowded residential neighborhood, stating “someone could have been killed in the comparative safety of his home. ”Ironically, High Point Police Chief Laurie Pritchett, who was on the scene that day, had previously built a national reputation by avoiding combative tactics. Pritchett had been chief in Albany, Georgia, in 1961 when the civil rights group the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee began organizing a movement to desegregate the city. His nonviolent approach to policing during this campaign largely thwarted those efforts, even after Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference became involved. King later called Pritchett “a basically decent man. ” Some Black High Pointers described Pritchett’s approach on Feb. 10 as inconsistent with his generally nonbelligerent law enforcement practices. Interviews I have conducted suggest that the strategy of Feb. 10 exemplified Pritchett’s adoption of a more militant policing trend in the city. Lilley told me that just a few days before the shootout, a High Point police officer stopped his car and told him, “I know who you are. ” According to Lilley and two other passengers in the car, the officer said he was a marked man and was going to be killed. Such targeting of leaders of the Black civil rights movement had become increasingly common for law enforcement since the FBI began surveilling King in 1963, and it accelerated after President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on crime” in 1965. That surveillance, and the FBI’s COINTELPRO operation that sought to infiltrate Black revolutionary groups like the Panthers, reflected a shift in federal law enforcement’s response to the civil rights movement. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/why-a-shootout-between-black-panthers-and-law-enforcement-50-years-ago-matters-today-153632 | false | null |
983 | The hidden story of when two Black college students were tarred and feathered | One cold April night in 1919, at around 2 a. m. , a mob of 60 rowdy white students at the University of Maine surrounded the dorm room of Samuel and Roger Courtney in Hannibal Hamlin Hall. The mob planned to attack the two Black brothers from Boston in retaliation for what a newspaper article described at the time as their “domineering manner and ill temper. ” The brothers were just two among what yearbooks show could not have been more than a dozen Black University of Maine students at the time. While no first person accounts or university records of the incident are known to remain, newspaper clippings and photographs from a former student’s scrapbook help fill in the details. Although outnumbered, the Courtney brothers escaped. They knocked three freshmen attackers out cold in the process. Soon a mob of hundreds of students and community members formed to finish what the freshmen had started. The mob captured the brothers and led them about four miles back to campus with horse halters around their necks. Before a growing crowd at the livestock viewing pavilion, members of the mob held down Samuel and Roger as their heads were shaved and their bodies stripped naked in the near freezing weather. They were forced to slop each other with hot molasses. The mob then covered them with feathers from their dorm room pillows. The victims and bystanders cried out for the mob to stop but to no avail. Local police, alerted hours earlier, arrived only after the incident ended. No arrests were made. Incidents of tarring and feathering as a form of public torture can be found throughout American history, from colonial times onward. In nearby Ellsworth, Maine, a Know Nothing mob, seen by some as a forerunner to the KKK, tarred and feathered Jesuit priest Father John Bapst in 1851. Especially leading into World War I, this method of vigilantism continued to be used by the KKK and other groups against Black Americans, immigrants and labor organizers, especially in the South and West. As with the Courtney brothers incident, substitutions like molasses or milkweed were made based on what was readily available. Although rarely fatal, victims of tarring and feathering attacks were not only humiliated by being held down, shaved, stripped naked and covered in a boiled sticky substance and feathers, but their skin often became burned and blistered or peeled off when solvents were used to remove the remnants. When I first discovered the Courtney brothers incident in the summer of 2020 – as Black Lives Matter protests took place worldwide following the May death of George Floyd – it felt monumental to me. Not only am I a historian at the university where this shameful event occurred, but I’ve also devoted the past five years to tracking down information about the Red Summer of 1919, the name given to the nationwide wave of violence against Black Americans that year. University alumni records and yearbooks indicate the Courtney brothers never finished their studies. One article mentions possible legal action against the university, although I couldn’t find evidence of it. Local media like The Bangor Daily News and the campus newspaper reported nothing on the event. A search of databases populated with millions of pages of historic newspapers yielded just six news accounts of the Courtney brothers incident. Most were published in the greater Boston area where the family was prominent, or in the Black press. While most of white America was unaware of the attack, many Black Americans likely read about it in The Chicago Defender, the most prominent and widely distributed Black paper in the nation at the time. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/the-hidden-story-of-when-two-black-college-students-were-tarred-and-feathered-147895 | false | null |
986 | Biden has pledged to advance environmental justice – here’s how the EPA can start | Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University David Konisky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Indiana University provides funding as a member of The Conversation US. View all partnersOn his first day in office President Joe Biden started signing executive orders to reverse Trump administration policies. One sweeping directive calls for stronger action to protect public health and the environment and hold polluters accountable, including those who “disproportionately harm communities of color and low income communities. ” To lead this effort Biden has nominated Michael Regan to head the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Regan, who currently heads North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, would be the first Black man to serve as EPA Administrator in the agency’s 50 year history. His appointment has fueled expectations that the agency will make environmental justice a top priority. The EPA first created an Office of Environmental Justice in 1992, but I know from my research on decades of the agency’s work that it has never given the issue sustained attention. Despite activism from a growing environmental justice movement, widespread evidence that pollution over burdens poor and minority communities, and a Clinton era executive order that mandated federal action, the EPA has largely failed to modify its programs, policies and decision making processes in response. The agency’s toolkit for taking on environmental injustice is limited. Current environmental laws do not require it to craft policies to address unequal pollution burdens, and in some cases they make it difficult to do so. Several House and Senate members have introduced bills to give the EPA such a mandate, and they may try again in the new Congress. But the agency can get started before that happens. In my view, EPA officials can advance environmental justice immediately by striving for inclusive decision making. This means not just listening to people of color and other communities suffering from pollution burdens, but empowering them to be involved in decisions that affect their lives. Historically the EPA has too often taken an “announce and defend” approach to its decisions. By giving these communities more voice, I believe the agency will make better decisions and show that it is committed to changing its historical insensitivity to environmental justice goals. Second, EPA leaders should prioritize enforcement activities in overburdened communities. Numerous studies have shown that federal and state agencies conduct fewer inspections and impose lighter penalties when offending pollution sources are located in low income neighborhoods and communities of color. Researchers have documented this pattern on issues including air pollution, drinking water and hazardous waste management. EPA enforcement has declined for many years, so the agency needs to ramp up these efforts overall. But its leaders have full discretion to target enforcement toward companies located in communities that are heavily polluted. And they can use existing resources, such as the EJSCREEN mapping tool, to help identify these communities. EPA officials will need to coordinate these enforcement efforts with the U. S. Department of Justice, which is responsible for prosecuting cases. In addition, the EPA will need to set clear expectations that states, which do the lion’s share of enforcement, also prioritize environmental justice communities. Another thing the EPA can do now is make better use of its authority under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, Title VI of the Civil Right Act prohibits organizations that receive federal funds from discriminating against protected groups. This includes state and local agencies that issue permits and carry out other activities to implement federal pollution control laws. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/biden-has-pledged-to-advance-environmental-justice-heres-how-the-epa-can-start-152512 | true | null |
987 | How African body markings were used to construct the idea of race in colonial Brazil | In the 1700s, the gold rush in southeast Brazil created a high demand for mining labor. The Minas Gerais region became one of the main destinations for African slaves. For the first half of the century, demand was met by a trade circuit connecting the ports of the Bight of Benin to Salvador in Bahia. People from those ports acquired a reputation among the Portuguese as the best hands for mining gold. With time, they created a commercial system of slave classification. Many Africans were grouped with the understanding that they are naturally suited for certain jobs. Slaves were sorted by anatomy and the purported ability to function better in certain climates, resistance to diseases, and life expectancy. Based on this classification, they were either assigned to the fields or less rigorous housework. This process of stereotyping was unwittingly aided by many Africans with body markings. The markings represented aspects of their lives. They were commonly scarification marks, tattoos and cuts. These indicated their identities, ethnicity, religious affiliation, life events, accomplishments and social status. Sometimes they were made to obtain spiritual protection. Others were permanent beauty marks. These meanings were lost to the Portuguese. They used them simply to profile and identify slaves. The markings also helped to recapture escaped slaves and ensure slaveholders paid taxes. In my study of colonial archives, I researched how physical attributes shaped the way Africans were viewed. Race relations in Brazil are generally thought of in terms of multiple skin colour categories associated with various interethnic relationships. But its largest enslaved population consisted of Africans. So, it is important to understand how colonial society dealt with their diversity of origins to construct blackness. Slavery in Brazil did not, in fact, automatically erase the diversity of African origins and reduce people to one racial category – ‘Black’. It happened over time. In the Brazilian regions where gold and diamonds were mined, slave ownership was taxed. The tax office began listing slaves’ Christian names, ages, origins, purchase price and body markings in official registries. They also put this information on the identification cards that slaves had to carry with them. Scarification was then used as a marker of the person’s homeland. Here’s a description I found from 1752: “Domingos Sabarú, 20 years old, with smallpox pockmarks, and four small spears on top of his right eyebrow, two circles on top of the left eyebrow, a small grid in the middle of the eyebrows, a star at the temple in the corner of his right eyebrow and the more signs that are on every face of Sabarú, valued at 300 thousand réis”. . These colonial interpretations of African scarifications oversimplified their original meanings. In several regions, their meanings went far beyond ethnicity or origin. In West Africa, some skin patterns express religious affiliation with specific entities of the hierarchy of gods and deified ancestors called voduns in the Gbe speaking area or called orishas in the Yoruba territories. In these cases, marking were acquired as part of the rites of initiation. Other markings are records of significant events such as a death in the family. They can also symbolize belonging to a complex multi leveled society. These marks indicated an individual’s age, medical history, and their social, political and gender related status. Some marks are formed from the injection of medicines and substances believed to offer protection from unseen forces. Some were just creative expressions. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/how-african-body-markings-were-used-to-construct-the-idea-of-race-in-colonial-brazil-151509 | true | null |
989 | South African policies go some way to tackling poverty and inequality. But more is needed | Senior research fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg The research was funded by the National Development Agency . University of Johannesburg provides support as an endorsing partner of The Conversation AFRICA. View all partnersSouth Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world. More than 50% of the population live in poverty. Despite notable gains in poverty reduction post apartheid, poverty levels have remained consistently highest among women, black South Africans, people with disabilities, and those living in rural areas. The government has committed itself to addressing poverty, inequality and social exclusion – understood as disadvantage by gender, race, disability or place. The mandate is laid out in the constitution and in the government’s National Development Plan. The plan was adopted in September 2012 as a blueprint for eliminating poverty and significantly reducing inequality by 2030. But do the country’s laws, policies and strategy documents show exactly how poverty, inequality and social exclusion will be tackled? To answer this question, researchers at the Centre for Social Development in Africa undertook an extensive review commissioned by the National Development Agency. We explored how policy makers and legislators have faced these systemic challenges in drafting their documents. We reviewed 501 legislative, policy and strategy documents under the Medium Term Strategic Framework Outcomes, the implementation strategy of the National Development Plan . The documents cover education, health, safety and security, economic growth and employment, skills, infrastructure, rural development, human settlements, local government, environment, public service, social protection, nation building and social cohesion. We reviewed each document to determine the number of references to poverty, inequality, social exclusion, gender, race, disability, youth unemployment and spatial inequality. Then we analyzed whether the references were generic or specific. We considered whether the documents showed an understanding of the issues and looked for solutions. Our findings reveal that there is at least some engagement with poverty, inequality and social exclusion in all governmental sectors. But it’s inconsistent. We identified steps that could improve progress. We found that 10% of legislative documents and more than half of all policy and strategy documents mentioned poverty, inequality, social exclusion, gender, race, disability and spatial disparities at least once. The social protection sector showed the highest average number of references to poverty , inequality and social exclusion in its documents. The public service sector showed the lowest number of references. We also discovered that there are many more references in policy and strategy documents than in legislative documents. More references don’t mean deeper engagement with these issues. In some cases the issues are not critically analyzed. References to poverty, inequality and social exclusion must explain how they affect each law and policy. They should also offer strategic interventions. Some sectors do take this holistic approach to policy making. In the health sector, for example, we found that some policy and strategy documents examine the connection between poverty, inequality and health outcomes. The Breast Cancer Control Policy, for instance, identifies transport as a constraint to accessing health services. We also found that references to gender and spatial disparities are most common when addressing social exclusion. But references to population groups, disability and youth who are not in education or training are inconsistent across the board. Policies matter and can make a real difference. But on their own they are insufficient. They must be implemented. Change happens through stakeholders and processes. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/south-african-policies-go-some-way-to-tackling-poverty-and-inequality-but-more-is-needed-151696 | false | null |
990 | The perils of associating ‘white’ with ‘privilege’ in the classroom | Ph. D. Candidate in Political Science, University of California, Berkeley Ritika Goel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. View all partnersWhite privilege – the social advantage that benefits white people over others simply on account of skin color – has become a racial justice catchphrase. Peggy McIntosh, an academic who originated the term in 1989, described it like this: “An invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was meant to remain oblivious. ” As examples, she highlighted the appearance of being financially reliable, shopping alone without being harassed and seeing representation of her race in history books and the media. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, an increasing number of white Americans agree that white privilege exists. That includes a growing number of Republicans. Despite the term’s pervasive use, little attention has focused on how it affects victims of racial injustice, particularly young people of color whose identities are still being shaped. As a scholar of political psychology, I believe that associating “white” with “privilege” can do more harm than good because it reinforces harmful stereotypes. It can make people of color feel that social privilege belongs only to white people. If racial minorities believe they are perceived as disadvantaged, the stereotype can diminish their academic performance by activating a psychological phenomenon called stereotype threat – the fear of conforming to a negative stereotype. That, in turn, induces underperformance on intellectual tasks. And it has also been shown to reduce confidence and heighten anxiety. Discussions regarding white privilege are not restricted to social media. Increasingly, they are being adopted by university websites and racial justice activists. This phrase can serve as a constant reminder to students of color that society perceives them as being socially inferior and economically disadvantaged by default. In other words, those using the phrase “white privilege” to address racial inequities may, paradoxically, reinforce white privilege. Social psychology research shows that when minority groups are exposed to unflattering stereotypes that deem them inferior, they will often underachieve academically. This happens because stigmatized groups subconsciously experience a fear of confirming the negative stereotype – such as “Black students struggle in college” – according to research conducted by academics at Stanford University in the 1990s. This intimidation implies to the stigmatized person that they might not belong in the field where the tested abilities are important. In the Stanford study, Black students underperformed compared to white counterparts when told that the test was “diagnostic” – a “genuine test of your verbal abilities and limitations. ” However, when this description was excluded, there was no such detrimental effect on performance. Even subtle cues can activate this threat to self image. When students were asked to record their race before the test, Black students performed worse than their white counterparts. This phenomenon came to be known as stereotype threat. And it has since been established across several studies to explain the underperformance of stigmatized groups, ranging from non Asian ethnic minorities to women in quantitative fields in which math skills are important. With the pervasive use of “white privilege” on social media, race is more strongly associated with privilege and its connotations about socioeconomic class – that people who are privileged must be wealthy. This implies that people of color are typically poor. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/the-perils-of-associating-white-with-privilege-in-the-classroom-143933 | false | null |
991 | What the ‘doctor’ title means for women of color with doctorates | Editor’s note: In a Dec. 11 Wall Street Journal op ed, conservative author Joseph Epstein sparked widespread backlash, especially from women in academia, when he chided incoming first lady Jill Biden for using “Dr. ” before her name while she is not a physician. Biden, a community college professor, has a doctor of education degree – or an Ed. D. Although Jill Biden is white, Epstein’s essay offended many academic women of color for whom the refusal to acknowledge their Ph. D. is particularly hurtful, say Dr. Robyn Hannigan, provost of Clarkson University, and Dr. Cecilia E. Suarez, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication at the University of Florida. The Conversation US usually adheres to Associated Press style – which calls for reserving the “doctor” titles for medical doctors and dentists in news articles. But it’s making an exception for this article about the importance the title holds for women scholars with Ph. D. s. I am not only a woman who holds a Ph. D. in a male dominated field, but a woman of mixed heritage . There was never a time during my Ph. D. studies that I was not made aware that I was different, sometimes unwelcome, and most assuredly unlikely to thrive in academia. I am still taken aback when introduced at functions or to peers by my first name after prior introductions of my male colleagues included “doctor. ” Though it may not always matter to my ego if I am called “doctor,” it is critically relevant to fostering a culture of respect and belonging. As an academic, my Ph. D. is my calling card. It’s a sign that I was trained “properly” and that I am an independent researcher and leader in my field. Without it I would not have achieved my professional successes. There have only been a handful of times when I’ve encountered people who refuse to use the title “doctor. ” I certainly have had numerous encounters, particularly on airplanes, with people who, when I tell them I am Dr. Hannigan and I explain what I study, they respond with a variant on the theme of “Oh, so you’re not a real doctor. ” While I am usually unperturbed by not being introduced or addressed as “doctor,” I am sensitive to introductions that are followed by “and she is Native American” – as if being Native American were a barrier to achieving a Ph. D. in and of itself. Every time I hear this I hear the “and” emphasized in a tone of shock and awe. I imagine people thinking: Can you believe it? She is Native American and went to college and someone gave her a Ph. D. ? No one has ever said “and she is of Irish descent. ” Well meaning people seek to use my presence as a doorway to open conversations around Indigenous issues and concerns. I do still bristle when these situations occur but, of late, have begun to embrace them. I now clearly see the opportunity being handed to me – to make sure we are having the tough conversations, making real cultural change and creating systems that ensure people of color and across the gender spectrum can thrive in academia. Dr. Cecilia E. Suarez: The now infamous Wall Street Journal op ed giving Dr. Jill Biden the uninvited “advice” to shed her earned title of “Dr. ” is yet another drop in the ocean that exemplifies patriarchy and white privilege. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/what-the-doctor-title-means-for-women-of-color-with-doctorates-150194 | false | null |
992 | Thousands of Brazilians who won elections as Black candidates in 2020 previously ran for office as white | Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Florida Andrew Janusz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. University of Florida provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US. View all partnersBrazil is undergoing a strange racial reckoning after bombshell revelations that thousands of veteran politicians had changed their self identified race between the 2016 and 2020 elections. Afro Brazilians – a category that includes Black and mixed race people – comprise 56% of Brazil’s population but 43% of elected officials. So when almost 29,000 Afro Brazilian city council and mayoral candidates took office on Jan. 1 after winning their races last November, communities of color celebrated their growing political representation. But Brazilian politics may not be as diverse as official statistics suggest. More than 42,000 veteran politicians who ran for office in 2020 had changed their self declared race since their last campaign, potentially to gain access to new campaign financing earmarked for Black candidates. Of the 28,764 winners who identified as Afro Brazilian last year, 16% – 4,580 people – had identified themselves as a different race when they ran for office in 2016, data from Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court shows. Nearly all were previously registered as white, according to my analysis of Brazil’s race switching politicians. The data analyzed does not include first time candidates, whose past racial identification is not documented. Brazilians were outraged when they learned that so many veteran politicians had decided to identify as Black. Black voters are left questioning whether the lawmakers actually understand their experience as a marginalized majority – and represent their needs in the halls of power. As in the United States, nonwhite Brazilians are more likely than whites to be killed by police and to die from COVID 19. They also lag behind whites on virtually every objective indicator of well being, from education level to income. Afro Brazilian activists have demanded that elected officials address these longstanding racial inequalities, with limited success. The country has a few federal affirmative action and racial justice programs. But the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has pledged to eliminate even those efforts at equality. His administration claims that Brazil is a “racial democracy,” a society free of racism and discrimination. In my research on Afro Brazilian political representation, I found a pervasive belief that life would improve for communities of color if more Afro Brazilians held political power. I interviewed Brazilian activists, politicians and voters in 2016 and 2018. Many claimed that Afro Brazilian lawmakers advocate for nonwhites and prioritize their needs. They pointed to the actions of politicians like Rio de Janeiro city council member Marielle Franco, an outspoken critic of police violence who was assassinated in March 2018. There is some evidence to back up this belief. My research indicates that Afro Brazilian legislators do behave differently from their white colleagues. In Congress, they are more likely to introduce legislation that celebrates Blackness, such as establishing a national day of Black consciousness, and to author bills that address racial disparities and racial discrimination. “I know the position of Blacks in this country,” said Benedita da Silva, Brazil’s first Black female member of Congress, in a 1987 interview with The New York Times following her electoral victory. “I have a special responsibility to speak out on the subjects that I know about – against racial discrimination. ” The 4,580 new Afro Brazilian lawmakers who assumed office on Jan. 1 after years or a lifetime of passing as white may not have that understanding of Blackness or feel the same responsibility toward Afro Brazilian communities. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-brazilians-who-won-elections-as-black-candidates-in-2020-previously-ran-for-office-as-white-151363 | false | null |
993 | Rooting out racism in children’s books | Ten years ago, I sat down with my then 8 year old daughter to read a book before bedtime. The book was sort of a modern day “boy who cried wolf” story, only it was about a little girl named Lucy who had a bad habit of telling lies. In the story, Lucy borrowed her friend Paul’s bike and crashed it. Lucy lied to Paul, telling him “a bandit” jumped in her path and caused the crash. I saw the image and stopped reading. I was stunned. The image on the page was the racist stereotype of the “Mexican bandit” wearing a serape, sombrero and sandals. By training, I am a critical race theorist in education who understands that racism is ingrained into the fabric of our society in general, and in educational institutions in particular. One area of my research is about how people of color experience racial microaggressions, which are often subtle but significant attacks – verbal or nonverbal. They can take on many forms, such as remarks about one’s identity, and occur because of institutionalized racism. Although I am an academic who studies racism, in that moment, as a parent, I felt unsure about how to help my daughter understand what we were seeing in that book. Around the same time, I read an opinion piece by children’s book author Christopher Meyers in The New York Times titled “The Apartheid of Children’s Literature. ” It outlined the problem of racial representation in children’s literature. These personal encounters prompted me to investigate the portrayals of people of color in children’s books. I learned that the Cooperative Children’s Book Center , a research library based at the University of Wisconsin, has been collecting data on the number of children’s books published in the U. S. authored by and about people of color. The data is disturbing. In 2015 – when I began this research – there were 85 books published in the U. S. that included Latinx characters from the 3,200 children’s books the center received that year. That’s about 2. 5% of the total, whereas Latinx kids represent about 1 in 4 school children in the U. S. Since then, there has been an upward trend for all ethnic or racial groups. However, books written by and about people of color remain a very small proportion of books published each year. The most recent CCBC data reports books with Latinx characters were about 6% of the more than 4,000 children’s books the center received in 2019. The lack of representation of communities of color in children’s books is another longstanding problem – one that has persisted since at least the 1920s when renowned sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois first expressed his concerns about anti Black racism in children’s books. Books can serve as important tools for children to develop their own sense of self and identity. When children of color do not see themselves in the books they read, this sends the message that they and their communities are not important. In a study published in 2020, my colleagues and I used critical race theory to develop a rubric to critically analyze racial representations in children’s books. Drawing from this research, here are five questions to consider when choosing books about people of color:It is important to see people of color represented in a wide array of characters to avoid falling into racist tropes and stereotypes. When characters of color are present, it is important to recognize the position they play in the story line. Children should have the opportunity to see characters of color as main characters, central to the stories they read. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/rooting-out-racism-in-childrens-books-149432 | false | null |
994 | In 2020, TV and film still couldn’t get abortion right | Data Analyst, University of California, San Francisco Research Sociologist, University of California, San Francisco Stephanie Herold receives funding from The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. Gretchen Sisson receives funding from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. University of California, San Francisco provides funding as a member of The Conversation US. View all partnersAccording to decades of research, abortion is an incredibly common and safe medical procedure. But if you learned about abortion only from movies and TV, that’s not the story you’d see. For the last eight years, we’ve been studying onscreen depictions of abortion. We’ve found that Hollywood tends to dramatically exaggerate the medical risks associated with abortion while downplaying real barriers to access. Aside from a few exceptions, 2020’s onscreen content continued to reflect patterns we’d identified in previous years. Overall, we tracked 31 television storylines and 13 movie plot lines about abortion in 2020. They include titles like the American release of the French film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”; HBO’s “Unpregnant” and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”; Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and “Mrs. America”; and the independent film “Saint Frances. ” Thirty one of them featured a character having or disclosing an abortion. This is more than we’ve seen in previous years. In the past, more characters changed their minds, had miscarriages or didn’t even consider having an abortion when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Other patterns, however, remained remarkably consistent. As in previous years, 74% of this year’s abortion plot lines featured white characters. No characters were parenting at the time of their abortion, and the majority of them faced few, if any, legislative, financial or logistical barriers to accessing an abortion. This is inconsistent with what we know about real life people who get abortions. For example, in the U. S. , abortion patients are most often people of color. After seeing an increase in characters of color obtaining abortion onscreen in 2019, we had hoped that this trend might continue. In fact, the number and proportion decreased. Similarly, the majority of U. S. abortion patients are parenting at the time of their abortions and cite their need to care for their children as a reason for an abortion. Yet, only one character who got an abortion on television in 2020 was raising a child. Finally, despite the nearly insurmountable barriers many face to getting an abortion, only five plot lines portrayed characters struggling to access abortion care. We did not, for example, see characters have to repeatedly reschedule appointments because they could not take days off of work or school or could not find child care. Nor did we see characters grapple with the devastating effects of the Hyde Amendment, a provision that denies the use of federal funds for paying for abortions. It essentially denies coverage of abortion for people who receive health insurance through the government – many of whom are already struggling to make ends meet. These are just a few of the many onerous obstacles that the majority of U. S. abortion patients face in the United States. Yet they remain virtually absent onscreen. Still, there was some content that made strides. In “Unpregnant” and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” barriers to access were central to the plots. Each starred white, teenage girls who road trip with a friend to abortion clinics in states that don’t have laws mandating parental consent. The films go to great lengths to portray the logistical and financial hurdles to accessing care, and the emotional fortitude and social support needed to make it possible. And although characters of color had their abortion stories told less frequently than in 2019, the few that did were notable: The film “The Surrogate” tells the story of a young Black woman acting as a gestational carrier for a gay couple. An episode of “Vida” portrays Emma, a queer Latina, having a medication abortion and learning that her sister has had one, too. In “I May Destroy You,” Arabella, a young Black writer, divulges a past abortion to her therapist, who’s trying to help her heal from a sexual assault. | 2 | https://theconversation.com/in-2020-tv-and-film-still-couldnt-get-abortion-right-152223 | false | null |
1,009 | 3 Ways Candidates Can Make A Real Difference On Disability Employment | It’s not enough anymore for politicians to furrow their brows about the high rate of unemployment for people with disabilities. And “urging” employers “give disabled people a chance,” while all to the good, only goes so far. Government action alone can’t solve the problem. But there are specific policy changes that could help. If candidates want to earn disabled people’s votes, getting serious and creative about addressing structural barriers to disabled people’s employment goals would be a good start. Scope and scale . . . There are a hundred ways to measure the state of disability and employment. Here are just a few key indicators: A 2017 study by the Kessler Foundation offers additional insights into employment and unemployment patterns among people with disabilities:“68. 4% of survey respondents were striving to work. The striving group is comprised of individuals who are currently working , those not currently working but who have worked since disability onset , those who have not worked since disability onset but are currently looking for work , as well as those who have never worked but reported looking for work . ”The Kessler survey also found that the most common barrier to employment cited by disabled people was a lack of health insurance or concerns over possibly losing it. The size of the problem is easy to measure, and there are scores of theories on why disabled people are so consistently under employed. There are also scores of programs and initiatives, both public and private, aimed at improving the situation. But in an election year, we may legitimately ask, “What more can government do to budge the needle on disability employment?” What long term structural reforms can candidates propose that will differentiate themselves during the campaign, and, if elected, finally make a real difference? Here are a few ideas:1. Restructure benefits and healthcare to remove disincentivesSocial Security Disability, , Supplemental Security Income, , and to some extent Medicaid and Medicare, are traditionally anchored in the idea that being disabled means being unable to work. Technically, this is still what makes a disabled person eligible for income support and free or low cost health care. Likewise, if a disabled person on any of these benefits starts working and earning income, it raises the question of whether they need benefits anymore. It has never been a simple matter of “on or off” benefits. Social Security has for a long time included rules called Work Incentives that are supposed to allow recipients to ease into the workforce and make a smooth transition to self sufficiency. However, the goal is still assumed to be getting off of benefits entirely, and there are limits to how long any particular disabled person can work and still collect benefits. Plus, the settings for how much you can earn and save and still be eligible are woefully out of date, even those that rise yearly with cost of living, and despite recent improvements like the ABLE Act. Even when effective, these regulations are complicated, and full compliance can be difficult. So most disabled people who work or want to work have to contented with the constant risk of earning just a little too much in a given month, or working for one month longer than a limit, and winding up worse off financially because of a sudden loss of benefits, or worse, an overpayment resulting in a huge repayment debt to Social Security. Most critically, loss of Medicaid, Medicare, or both can render many disabled people unable to work at all … catapulting them in a moment from productive work and rising prosperity to unemployable. As currently designed, the rules for these programs try to do two somewhat contradictory things: encourage disabled people to work if they can, and terminate their benefits when they are supposedly working enough to support themselves without help. But current rules fail to fully account for how often disabled people in particular need both earned income and benefits to maintain a decent living. They also fail to accommodate the more cyclical, fluctuating, part time, and non traditional nature of many disabled people’s work. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/06/14/3-ways-candidates-can-make-a-real-difference-on-disability-employment/#55da00de74cc | true | null |
1,011 | Hospitals Told To Allow Visitors For Individuals With Disabilities | University Campus in Worcester, Mass. indicates that there are no visitors permitted during the COVID 19 crisis. In a move that advocates say has national implications, federal officials are clarifying that hospital no visitor policies must have exceptions for needed support people for those with disabilities. The U. S Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights said Tuesday that it reached a resolution with the state of Connecticut in a first of its kind complaint filed by disability advocates. The complaint alleged that the state’s policies related to hospital visitors during the COVID 19 pandemic violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Affordable Care Act. Hospitals across the nation have instituted policies curtailing visitors in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. In some cases, advocates said that such policies lack needed exceptions for people with disabilities. In Connecticut, the state guidance which led to the civil rights complaint indicated that a support person should be allowed at the hospital with patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities who receive services from the state’s Department of Developmental Services. However, the same accommodation was not extended to others with similar needs who are not supported by the state agency. As part of the resolution with the HHS Office for Civil Rights, Connecticut is issuing an executive order creating a new statewide policy requiring that people with disabilities be allowed to have a designated support person with them at the hospital. If a patient with a disability is at the hospital for more than a day, they are entitled to two support people, but only one may be present at a time. “This resolution proves that states can keep people safe during this pandemic without sacrificing the right of persons with disabilities to the support they need to receive equal access to medical care and treatment,” said Roger Severino, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Disability advocates said that while the resolution is specific to Connecticut, its significance extends beyond the state. “Today’s resolution sets a national precedent for how states and hospitals can ensure their policies comply with federal disability laws,” said Alison Barkoff, director of advocacy at the Center for Public Representation, one of the organizations that brought the complaint. “The COVID 19 crisis has laid bare the discrimination that people with disabilities face in accessing health care. We appreciate OCR’s leadership and collaboration with us to ensure people with disabilities can access the care they need. ” As an upstart airline from the founder of JetBlue works to expand, the company says it will put a premium on better serving travelers with autism. Julie Beckett fought to care for her hospitalized daughter at home, ultimately helping to bring changes to Medicaid that improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of families nationwide. In one rural county, people with disabilities and others who have been appointed a guardian may soon lose the ability to vote even if a court has expressly preserved their right to do so. | 3 | https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2020/06/10/hospitals-told-allow-visitors-disabilities/28451/ | true | null |
1,013 | Disability rights advocates' online vigil honors 'unseen and unheard' voices | As a teenager, Beverly Black lived at the Denton State School which she said she hated so much that she once escaped on a horse. Black spoke during “Unheard,” a virtual candlelight vigil on Saturday, hosted by the Free Our People Project, a collaborative of North Texas disability rights advocates, organizations and community leaders. North Texas disability rights advocates called for greater autonomy for people with disabilities Saturday evening during a virtual candlelight vigil. The event, titled “Unheard,” also honored the 445 people currently institutionalized at the Denton State Supported Living Center. Val Vera, a disability justice activist, said people with disabilities need equal rights now more than ever. While the coronavirus pandemic has amplified the voices of some such as health care workers, renters and small business owners people with disabilities remain largely overlooked. “Now, let’s be clear,” Vera said. “The pandemic did not cause institutional oppression: It simply revealed it. ”The vigil, held via videoconference, was hosted by the Free Our People Project, a collaborative of North Texas disability rights advocates, organizations and community leaders. In addition to increased state funding for community supported living, the evening’s speakers called for greater awareness of disability rights. Institutions like the Denton State Supported Living Center perpetuate oppression and discrimination, Vera said. The center, previously called the Denton State School, has come under fire recently for its handling of residents and staff during the coronavirus pandemic. A total of 55 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Denton County Public Health. One of those residents, a man in his 60s, died earlier this month. Sixty seven staff members have tested positive. Self advocate Beverly Black lived at Denton’s state school when she was a teenager. She said she yearned for more independence during her time there and was not allowed to take showers on her own. Black said she hated the institution so much that she once escaped on a horse, riding back to her family’s farm in Cleburne. She was then readmitted to the institution against her will. Now in her 60s, Black lives in her own home with her husband, Wayne. She said she would hate it if she were ever forced to return to the state school. “No way!” Black said. “I enjoy my freedom. ”Addressing the vigil’s 32 participants, Denton City Council member Deb Armintor said that, when appropriate, people with disabilities are entitled to live within the community. Involuntary institutionalization of certain citizens could be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, she added. Armintor said she wishes she could do more to help those who live in institutions like the state living center and the county jail. “It is impossible to represent people when you can’t see them and you can’t hear them,” she said. “We need to do what we can as a city to support those activists who are pushing for change at the state level. ”The state government offers Medicaid waiver services so that Texans with disabilities can receive community based living services, according to disabilities resource website Navigate Life Texas. Before these waivers, people only had the option of living in hospitals, institutions and nursing homes. But to receive these autonomy enhancing services, one must first sign up on a so called waiver interest list. Some people with disabilities have been waiting for more than 11 years on such lists, according to disability rights website Texas Medicaid Waiver. Currently, there are 156,161 Texans on the list. | 3 | https://dentonrc.com/news/disability-rights-advocates-vnline-vigil-honors-unseen-and-unheard-voices/article_7c8431cc-a728-5e70-b04a-0191a4c23016.html | false | null |
1,014 | Google Offering New Tools To Help Those With Disabilities | Google is adding new accessibility features to its array of offerings. Google is introducing new technology to simplify smartphones for those with cognitive disabilities and it’s beefing up its map program to make it easier to know if destinations are accessible. The company said this month that it is releasing an app called “Action Blocks” for Android devices that’s designed to make routine smartphone tasks like calling mom or turning the lights off less cumbersome. With the app, users can create a one touch button that displays on their home screen to complete actions that typically require multiple steps. For people with cognitive disabilities or age related cognitive conditions, it can be difficult to learn and remember each of these steps,” wrote Ajit Narayanan with Google’s central accessibility team and Sharlene Yuan of Android Accessibility in a posting about the app. “Create an Action Block for any action that the Google Assistant can perform, like making calls, sending texts, playing videos and controlling devices in your home. ”Separately, Google said that it is also launching a feature in Google Maps called “Accessible Places. ” When enabled, users see a wheelchair icon prominently displayed to denote if a location has an accessible entrance. In addition to details about entrances, the maps program offers information about whether a place has accessible seating, restrooms or parking. Google Maps will also indicate if it has confirmed that a business or other destination does not have an accessible entrance, the company said. “With this feature ‘rollout,’ it’s easier to find and contribute wheelchair accessibility information to Google Maps. That benefits everyone, from those of us using wheelchairs and parents pushing strollers to older adults with tired legs and people hauling heavy items,” wrote Sasha Blair Goldensohn, a software engineer with Google Maps, in a posting about the development. “And in this time of COVID 19, it’s especially important to know before you go so that you won’t be stranded outside that pharmacy, grocery or restaurant. ”At present, Google said it has accessibility information for more than 15 million places around the world, a figure that has doubled since 2017. The new offerings come as Google is also bringing improvements to Live Transcribe, an app that provides real time transcription for conversations, and Sound Amplifier, which clarifies the sounds around you as an upstart airline from the founder of JetBlue works to expand, the company says it will put a premium on better serving travelers with autism. Julie Beckett fought to care for her hospitalized daughter at home, ultimately helping to bring changes to Medicaid that improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of families nationwide. In one rural county, people with disabilities and others who have been appointed a guardian may soon lose the ability to vote even if a court has expressly preserved their right to do so. | 3 | https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2020/05/28/google-offering-new-tools-to-help-those-with-disabilities/28382/ | true | null |
1,018 | Returning To Work, Disability, And COVID-19 | Work, COVID 19, and Disability COVID 19 has raised a series of challenging issues about the workplace as parts of the country ease restrictions and people return to work. Here are a few. Jennifer is an obstetrician who has been asked to resume working at her hospital on site, in a week. Like millions of other Americans, she has persistent asthma. Jason is 60, and was laid off from his restaurant related work during COVID 19. He was told that the choice to fire him was because he was in a high risk group , while younger people were retained. Nahom is the CEO of a small business and wants to make sure that, when employees return to work, they are not sick. He would like to administer a COVID 19 test to workers before they come into the office. There are a series of steps that employers can take to protect a workplace against COVID 19 and ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination. To be covered by the ADA, the employer must have at least 15 employees, the employee must have a disability that is covered by the law, and the employee must be able to do the work, explained Professor Robert Dinerstein, the Director of the Disability Rights Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law. He points out that an employer needs to look at each worker – or potential worker’s situation individually. Nahom’s situation is perhaps the easiest. The federal government has issued technical assistance and guidance on just this situation. Because this would be a mandatory medical test, it must be “job related and consistent with business necessity. ” A worker who has COVID 19 could pose a “direct threat” to other employees and anyone else at the workplace, Nahom can require COVID 19 testing of all employees before they enter the workplace. The test must be accurate and reliable, and Nahom needs to remember that an elevated temperature is only one sign of COVID 19. Nahom is permitted to require that a worker who has COVID 19 symptoms stay home, and can require a doctor’s note when the employee wants to come back to work. To ensure workplace safety, Nahom can also require that employees engage in certain safety measures. Indeed, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued new guidelines for employers concerning social distancing, the provision of face masks, and other appropriate steps during a pandemic. The other situations are more complicated. Jennifer’s persistent asthma would probably qualify as a disability, so the next question, Dinerstein explains, is whether what she is doing is an “essential function,” or a fundamental responsibility of that position. If so, then the employer is entitled to require that Jennifer be available to perform those functions. If, by contrast, delivering babies is a “non essential” function, then the employer cannot refuse to accommodate her disability. Assuming that delivering babies is considered essential, then the best advice for Jennifer is for her to figure out whether her employer can offer her a reasonable accommodation, without incurring “undue hardship. ” That would mean making changes in her work environment so that she can do her job. To see if that’s possible, Dinerstein suggests that, as the EEOC regulations provide, she engage in an interactive process with her employer. While one possibility would be shifting all telehealth appointments to Jennifer and baby delivering to another physician, delivering babies could well be defined as an “essential function” that Jennifer would be unable to perform. On the other hand, Jennifer could ty to rearrange her responsibilities and trade with another physician, although the employer is not required to accept that new division of labor. Even if Jennifer volunteered to take leave without pay, the employer might not be required to accept that because it could create “undue hardship” if an employer would have to keep her position open, for example. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/naomicahn/2020/05/07/three-lessons-on-work-disability-and-covid-19/#625172ba3704 | true | null |
1,019 | COVID-19 Teaches Us A Lot About Differences In The Disability Community | COVID 19 is drawing increased attention to longstanding inequities and divisions in society. But while this is an extremely broad phenomenon involving just about everyone, it’s also happening in narrower, more specific ways among people with disabilities. The iron vice of pandemic is making some major cracks in the disability community a lot more visible. It’s not difficult to see how COVID 19 affects various parts of society differently and unevenly. For example:Employment status People are divided not just by whether they are able to keep working, but whether they can work from home or are in “essential” jobs where they are forced to work at higher risk of infection. Income People are divided by whether or not they have the income and savings to weather shutdowns more smoothly. Race People of color, especially Black people, are much harder hit by COVID 19 infection, serious illness, and death. Elderly Older people are at higher medical risk from the virus, a risk amplified when they live confined in crowded institutions. Disabled and chronically ill People with “pre existing conditions” are generally at higher risk from COVID 19, both medically and from an array of practical barriers and institutionalization, as well as specific resource gaps and the threat of outright discrimination in treatment. It’s not just that disabled people in general are at higher risk. Within the disabled population itself, there are major disparities in the how we experience the pandemic. We all face the same bundle of heightened dangers, which will undoubtedly change shape and distribution as the pandemic progresses. But disabled people aren’t all experiencing the pandemic in the same ways. And some of these differences in what we face as disabled people are significant and revealing. Some disabled people find it much easier than others to protect themselves through isolation. We know that isolation is the best personal defense against COVID 19, as well as the best strategy for fighting the pandemic itself. Many disabled people live more or less independently, and can therefore isolate relatively easily. Some of us live on our own, but need in home help every day or at least frequently, which makes isolation more difficult, but still possible to achieve through careful management. But many disabled people live in nursing homes, group homes, and other centralized “facilities” where isolation is nearly impossible. Not only are they forced to live with not just one or two, but five, ten, a dozen, or hundreds of other people, with few ways to maintain the required physical distance. On top of that they are cared for not by just one, two, or three aides, but by a rotating group of dozens or scores of staff, all exposed to dozens of other patients, with the attendant potential for exponential spread of any infection. We are seeing this built in problem with institutions demonstrated daily, with tragic results. Disabled people’s risks from COVID 19 are determined not by our disabilities and illnesses alone, but also by how our living and service arrangements affect our ability to protect ourselves. Income and wealth makes all pandemic coping mechanisms easier and more effective, including for people with disabilities. Money, and the lack of it, is a major component of stability, safety, and comfort, in good times and in bad. This is true for everyone, including, , for people with disabilities. Money is probably the single most effective and flexible tool for dealing with any disability. It buys access, security, even respect … to an extent. Income and wealth cannot buy full equality and acceptance, but it absolutely cushions the practical effects and complications of ableism. And in an emergency, money can make the difference between a difficult inconvenience and a deadly bind. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/04/30/covid-19-teaches-us-a-lot-about-differences-in-the-disability-community/#44e442fb7714 | false | null |
1,020 | 5 Reasons Why There’s No Wrong Time To Fight For Disability Rights | “Now is not the time!”It’s a cliche because the sentiment itself is so familiar. You have something important to discuss, or an urgent need, but everyone seems to agree that there are more important matters to attend to. Sometimes that’s true. Other times it can be an excuse to put off an annoying problem or awkward problem. Either way, it can be frustrating to hear when your own issues seem at least as important as everyone else’s. It’s rarely said out loud, but a powerful argument lurks wherever people talk about disabled people’s rights and needs. It’s the idea that there are times when it is wrong for disabled people to advocate for our needs and rights. It’s not just non disabled people who believe this. Many, if not most disabled people believe it too on some level, or at least feel it from time to time. We’re about to say something, and we stop, telling ourselves, in effect, “Now is not the time. ”The logic is easy to understand. Sometimes what’s vitally important to you personally just isn’t as important to everyone else. And sometimes, what’s good for one person, or a small group of people, isn’t good for the community as a whole. Although Americans are famously proud individualists, we also revere solidarity and sacrifice. Some amount of prioritizing also makes sense. We can’t always do everything worth doing, and difficult decisions must sometimes be made. Sometimes, matters of life and death, of the wellbeing of the entire community, should take precedence over one person’s needs or rights, or even over the needs and rights of a subset of people who have more specialized needs. Is the middle of a global pandemic really the time for disabled people to speak up about the finer points of being accommodated in overworked hospitals?At a time when it’s hard to imagine how we’re going to manage any kind of voting by the November Election Day, should disabled people quibble over whether mail in ballots or polling places are fully accessible?Is it right for us to insist on the letter of law and regulations for special education of disabled students, when schools are struggling just to teach the basics online?The answer to these and similar questions of equal access and fundamental rights of disabled people must be yes. Yes, it is always appropriate for disabled people to advocate for our rights, for full accommodation and inclusion, no matter what else is happening. But why? 1. Disabled people’s needs and rights are always among the first to be forgotten. For a variety of complex reasons, disabled people’s place in society is a paradox. One day we are the most privileged, praised, and sentimentalized of all “minority groups. ” The next we are firmly, sometimes brutally reminded that we are regarded as the most pitied, burdensome, and superfluous segments of society. People find it easy to cherish and protect certain disabled individuals, sometimes to a harmful degree. But as a group our collective needs and rights are more often treated as trivial, unknowable, and simply “too much. ”Occasionally, some combination of shrewd activism, skilled policy insights, and a relatively optimistic period of “domestic tranquillity” allows disabled people to make a leap ahead. There are times when our needs and protests find a receptive audience with enough time and attention span to help us get something done. But as soon as almost any other problem feels more urgent and widespread, and especially in moments of nationwide or global existential threat, disabled people’s needs become luxuries once again. What does it matter that wheelchair users can’t eat at inaccessible restaurants or go to see a movie if they are all closed anyway because of a global pandemic?How much can we expect school systems to follow every Individualized Education Plan during lockdown, when they are struggling just to teach the basics over Zoom? | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/04/24/5-reasons-why-theres-no-wrong-time-to-fight-for-disability-rights/#42a51e8d3ac1 | true | null |
1,022 | Enchanted Chapters, bookstore catering to disability community, closing after 10 months | It wasnt the inaugural year Andrea Montepagano hoped to have for her business. Enchanted Chapters, the north Phoenix bookstore with an inclusive atmosphere designed to cater to people with autism and other disabilities, is closing its doors after only 10 months in business. As a businesswoman, I looked at every aspect what were the pros, cons, possibilities of things that would or could happen and a pandemic never even crossed my mind, Montepagano said. It was one of those things that just came out of nowhere. We did what we could but it, unfortunately, wasnt enough to keep us going. Montepagano attributes the closure to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent restrictions that halted foot traffic into the store tucked into a north Phoenix strip mall. Though she offered curbside pickup and online orders, Montepagano said it wasnt enough. She estimates she was maybe getting one or two transactions every few days. To have to close our doors and get our name out there, youre going up against Amazon and Target and Walmart for books, Montepagano said, adding that its further complicated by not being able to offer the in person local bookstore experience that drove people into her store before. She used her own money and received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, federal aid used by many small businesses to keep them afloat during the pandemic, that covered payroll for about seven weeks in an attempt to stay afloat. Even after Gov. Doug Duceys stay at home order ended on May 15, Montepagano said there was a dramatic decline in sales. They held on as long as they could, but the desire to enforce social distancing measures meant that they paused programs that made their store unique, like sensory friendly story times and book clubs designed with the disability community in mind. Both Montepaganos 7 year old daughter Charlie and 4 year old son Callum have autism and enjoyed playing with the toys and store pets, a bird named Potter and a Sphinx cat named Bellatrix. She knows her children will miss the place, but said the future may hold opportunities for other ways to cater to the disability community. Pretty much everything I do in life is in consideration of my daughter, Montepagano said. Anything I can do to help her and her peers, I would love the opportunity to do again. Lana and Montepaganos daughter, Charlie, shared a classroom at school and Booth saw Montepaganos post about her new business on a Facebook group for mothers of children on the autism spectrum prior to its October opening. She took her children to the store for its grand opening and continued going back almost every week, saying the store seemed immediately like a familiar place. Booth said theyve been asked to leave libraries numerous times for her childrens behavior, but that Enchanted Chapters was an inclusive environment where she and her children felt better understood. They primarily went to the store for its events, like sensory friendly storytime, that they were hoping to get back to once the pandemic was over. My son absolutely loves the bookstore, Booth said. Since hes been quarantined, thats one of five places hes been asking to go repeatedly. Booth said she and other parents she knows were devastated by the news of the closure and that her son was very upset. He asked if they could return at least once for more books and to bid farewell to the staff and animals at Enchanted Chapters. Booth said she mourns the loss of a place that prioritized accessibility and made her children feel welcomed. Im sure theyre not the only business thats doing this but this is something that had so much potential for the autism community, she said. She said shes not aware of any bookstores like Montepaganos, but hopes someday that void will be filled. Theres other things to do in the community, but I cant think of anything that would match what Enchanted Chapters worked to accomplish and was looking to do in the future, she said. | 3 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2020/07/11/bookstore-catering-disability-community-closing-after-10-months-enchanted-chapters/5399451002/ | false | null |
1,024 | Disability Community Challenged By Pandemic | Navigating the pandemic hasn’t been easy for anyone, but it’s been especially hard on the disability community. The impact on peoples ability to get around and communicate has been varied. It was Jonathan Slifkas first trip to West Hartford Center since the streets were rearranged to accommodate outdoor dining and he didn’t know what to expect. “It appears that they’ve done a really good job,” Slifka, who lives in West Hartford, said. “The only question I would have here just really quickly would be a question of the parking. Because I know there’s at least one handicapped parking space on this street that has been blocked off and I would think by law they would need to make another one to make up for that. ” West Hartford Town Manager Matt Hart said new handicapped spaces were added to make up for the ones that were taken away. But advocates said its more complicated than that. “There’s also issues around is it the most accessible pathway from where the new parking space is even if it was marked to where they need to go. Are you going up a hill? Is it a gravel pathway? There’s just so many pieces of access,” Eileen Healy, president of the CT Association of Centers for Independent Living, said. “That I don’t expect businesses who are struggling to get themselves open to really have to think about. ” Healy said there hasn’t been much discussion about how to accommodate people with disabilities as businesses reopen. “I think it’s all new and we’re not necessarily thinking of all of the potential access needs that the disability community may need,” Healy said. Mobility is just part of the challenges for the disability community. Unemployment, access to health care, and mental health services are also concerns for the disability community. “The whole trauma of COVID 19 and the whole impact on the fact that you’re seeing your grandma, your aunties and your friends and people dying as well as persons who are getting sick and you know people of color are not necessarily able to go to different places in the house to quarantine because you may have multi generational of people that are in the house,” Rev. Robyn Anderson said. ”If mom has cognitive difficulties and mom has mental health issues and shes not able to connect to the services that theyre accustomed to or has difficulty transitioning to the telehealth services that has a great impact also on the family. ” Anderson, a pastor in the Blackwell AME Zion Church in Hartford and director of the ministerial health fellowship, said there’s been no outreach to that community. But maybe there’s a silver lining. “All of this working from home, going to school remotely. Those things that people with disabilities requested for decades, as accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws and we were told no we can’t do that. It’s a fundamental alteration, it’s an unreasonable request, it’s too expensive. It’s an undue burden and yet those things were able to happen,” Kathy Flaherty, executive director of the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, said. Flaherty said the disability community seems to have been left out of the reopening process. “Why is it OK to create a society that only some people can participate in? And that I think is a fundamental problem with what’s going on,” Flaherty said. For years the disability community has struggled with employment. ”I think a lot of times people with disabilities have been told they applied for jobs and then they can’t get the job because they say you can’t work from home. We can’t accept that. And now everybody’s working from home,” Healy said. Healy said maybe that’s something positive that has come out of the pandemic. Employers might be more willing to hire a disabled person who can do the work from their home. | 3 | https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/disability-community-challenged-by-pandemic/2298501/ | false | null |
1,025 | We Need To Stop Patrolling The Borders Of Disability | Deciding who is and isn’t disabled, who does and doesn’t deserve accommodation, is complicated. Most efforts to distinguish fakers from “real” disabled people usually do more harm than good. There is sometimes real reason for skepticism. One of the newest weapons in the ongoing politicization of Covid 19 is the trend of people seeking moral and legal cover for their refusal to wear a face mask, by claiming that they can’t wear them because of an underlying health condition or disability. This woman’s sudden public tirade, and calling the Trader Joe’s staff “Democratic pigs,” undermine her claim that she should be excused from wearing a mask in public because of a breathing condition. Many disabled people certainly do advocate for their rights, sometimes forcefully. But most disabled people don’t respond quite this way to awkward or mildly ableist encounters like this in public places. And the woman’s choice of words strongly suggests a political motive having nothing to do with disability rights. At the same time, disabled people also know what it’s like to have our disabilities doubted, our claims questioned, and our need for accommodations dismissed. We also know the humiliation of being diagnosed on the fly, based only on our appearance and bystanders’ assumptions. Sometimes we even do it to each other, casting disdain on people with disabilities different from our own. One of the most common forms of everyday ableism, and one of the worst impulses within the disability community itself, is the instinct . . . for some even the passion … for guarding the boundaries of disability. This tendency is heavily fed by sensationalist news, entertainment, and social media. Stories with nothing to them at all, and those with a kernel of truth but blown out of proportion, are repeatedly pressed into a toxic narrative of disability and dishonesty. “Mainstream media coverage largely focuses a lot on people with disabilities as fakers, takers, or moneymakers,” says Rebecca Cokley, Director of the Disability Justice Initiative of the Center for American Progress:“They’re either faking their disability or the severity of their disability to gain access to perceived privileges under law. Takers, who maximize all that they can get in terms of benefits, whether or not they are in need of it. And moneymakers, who are people who sue frequently for violations of the law. ”There are real boundaries to the experience of disability, and measured scrutiny of disability claims is sometimes necessary. But too many people’s self righteous obsession with policing disability does more day to day harm actual disability fakery. It’s time we all back off from these judgmental habits. That includes nondisabled people openly hostile to disability, but also some of our allies, and disabled people ourselves. “Handicapped” ParkingOne of the most corrosive experiences of everyday ableism among people with very real but less apparent disabilities is being confronted for parking in accessible parking spaces. For some reason, would be nondisabled allies are particularly enthusiastic. These self appointed parking monitors leave abusive notes on disabled people’s cars, or confront them in person. They often mean well. They are after all defending these spaces for people who need them. The problem is that they operate from a very narrow idea of who counts as disabled. This usually means drivers who use a wheelchair, or who are very visibly old, frail, or unsteady on their feet. They condemn anyone who looks young, seems to walk “normally,” or otherwise doesn’t “look disabled. ” Over time, being repeatedly badgered in this way becomes a real deterrent to using accessible parking, and to going out in general. Over eager, misinformed handicapped parking enforcement has exactly the opposite of its intended effect. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/06/30/we-need-to-stop-patrolling-the-borders-of-disability/#83e2c882ae1b | false | null |
1,026 | Beware of discrimination in the workplace based on age and disability | As workers age, they generally improve their job skills and have higher job efficiency. Many don’t want to retire because they’re just getting their “second wind. ”Even so, some employers may grow concerned over the higher wages paid to their older employees who have earned raises over the years. Also, employers might think older workers may not be able to do some physical or mental tasks as well as they once could or job requirements can change, such as learning new technology. But stereotypes about older workers are often false. Each worker is entitled to have his or her own true abilities recognized and respected in the workplace. Of course, there is a distinction between age and disability. A disability can occur at any age, but under federal law, a person age 40 years or older is considered an older worker. The protections for older workers are that an employer cannot treat them any differently for compensation, hiring, discharge, layoffs, callbacks, terms and conditions of work, or privileges of employment because of their age. A June 2020 decision from the United States Supreme Court affirmed that the same employment protections apply to gay and transgender employees of any age. Switching to disability protections, if an employee of any age becomes disabled and their capacity to do their current job diminishes, an employer is required to offer reasonable accommodation to the employee so that the person can continue to earn a living and do their job well. When an employee can no longer handle at least one major life activity and the employer is aware of that, then the employer must make reasonable workplace accommodations for the person’s disability. Major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and working,Many employees and employers don’t know about the requirement for providing reasonable accommodation for disabilities. It is important that employees are aware of this opportunity to continue working so that each can help their employer help them stay in their job. For disability protections to apply, a worker does not have to be in a wheelchair or suffer from a medical illness. Also, in situations where the employer believes that the employee can no longer handle job tasks, even when that is not true, there is a requirement to make reasonable accommodations for the employee. Being 40 or older is not itself considered a disability. Reasonable accommodations are required only if an employee cannot handle one or more major life activity. When needed, an employee can make a complaint based on age, disability or other types of illegal discrimination by the employer to the West Virginia Human Rights Commission at no cost. If after investigation the complaint is found to have probable cause, the employee may be able to get his or her job back, receive reasonable accommodations on the job and/or be paid monetary damages. Because of a real or perceived disability, some employers may decide to move the employee to a lower paying job or require them to become an independent contractor, not an employee. Those actions are not reasonable accommodations unless the employee voluntarily agrees. | 3 | https://www.williamsondailynews.com/news/beware-of-discrimination-in-the-workplace-based-on-age-and-disability/article_3bb25021-fa20-5fc9-89f8-50df6d976daa.html | false | null |
1,027 | Carolyn Hax: A less visible disability is still a disability | Six years ago, I suddenly lost feeling in my fingers and toes and had neuropathic pain that was debilitating and stopped me from working. We were able to figure out what the disease was and I mostly recovered. I still have pain/muscle weakness in my feet when I walk too much. Im in my early 30s now but cannot go to the grocery store, concerts or museums because of how much walking they take and the pain that results. Some suggest I use a wheelchair for these, but I feel like if I do its a lie. Im physically able to walk, it just results in pain, and thus I feel like a fake if Im in a wheelchair. I now avoid anything that requires walking, and thus Ive gotten mad at life for handing me these circumstances that keep me from doing normal things. Ive asked my family/friends if Im a fake if I use a wheelchair without NEEDING it, but I feel like they are all biased from dealing with the fallout of me walking too much and so Im writing to you. I think part of my issue is that I look able bodied and so I worry about being judged, or getting sympathy I dont deserve. I feel like a wheelchair should be reserved for those truly disabled. Whats your opinion? Invisible DisabilityInvisible Disability: My opinion is that our tough it out, I’ll do anything to avoid being judged culture has become a kind of collective insanity. Use whatever medical devices you require to participate fully in life. The end. I’m glad you’re doing better. Now, please, just start doing. Re: Invisible: The human mind is incredible at rationalizing. Its really, really common for disabled people to think theyre not disabled, or disabled enough, even when the average sensible person would read their symptoms and understand that yes, this person is experiencing something truly debilitating. Debilitating pain is a disability. On top of that, your brain is lying to you about it. Please stop beating yourself up for not looking like Tiny Tim. anonymous: Invisible: I have peripheral neuropathy and cant walk any distance. Instead of a wheelchair, consider a mobility scooter. People dont look at you funny when you get off a scooter and walk short distances as they might if you use a wheelchair. Also, you have my deepest sympathy. People just dont understand. I Am YouRe: Invisible: Military veteran here. In my experience, rarely do veterans park in the reserved for veterans spaces because they always think theres someone more veteran or deserving than they are. You say in your letter Ive gotten mad at life for handing me these circumstances that keep me from doing normal things, but your whole letter is about how you could do normal things if you just used a wheelchair. So life isnt keeping you from doing them, you are. All that is to say if you look hard enough, you can find someone who needs a wheelchair more than you, but that doesnt mean you dont need it. Will people judge you? Not the decent ones. | 3 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/advice/carolyn-hax-a-less-visible-disability-is-still-a-disability/2020/06/22/ef2b6dc0-acf0-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html | false | null |
1,028 | Disability community advocate: 'We can’t warehouse humans' | Monday marked the 21st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that allowed people with disabilities the right to live in their community and not be subject to unjustified isolation. But advocates said much more must be done, especially in the age of COVID 19. The Center for Disability Rights hosted a webinar Monday that looked at the impact of the Olmstead v. L. C. decision, and attendees discussed ways to ensure that everyone has a right to live and participate in the community. Britney Wilson of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice said her aunt, who was in a nursing home, lost her life to the new coronavirus. She said this shows what happens when you lock people away and treat them like they don’t exist. “I think the crisis has illustrated everything that the disability community has been saying for decades,” she said. Gregg Beratan, CDR’s director of advocacy, said the impact of institutionalization is especially noteworthy during the coronavirus pandemic by the disproportionate number of deaths in nursing homes. “If we take one lesson from this crisis, it’s that we can’t warehouse humans. Disabled people have a right to community,” he said. Looking ahead, the center’s national policy director, Dara Baldwin, said much like the Black Lives Matter movement, people in the disability community need to take charge to make sure that disabled people and the elderly get adequate care. “It is specifically irritating in the disability community when you have a bunch of able bodied white, wealthy privileged people who are at the center of being in charge of what happens to disabled bodies,” she said. CDR is advocating for passage of the Disability Integration Act, which would provide home and community based services to people with disabilities and senior citizens as an alternative to institutionalization. This story is reported from WXXIs Inclusion Desk. | 3 | https://www.wxxinews.org/post/disability-community-advocate-we-can-t-warehouse-humans | false | null |
1,030 | Disability, Codependency, and Narcissistic Relationships | My husband, Jared, and I both share an interest in psychology and human relationships. We often bond over discussions about mental health and the way human beings interact. As a couple affected by hemophilia and mental health issues, we find such conversations therapeutic as we are able to share our personal takes on the matter. Recently, we had a conversation about how persons with disability may become easy victims of narcissistic abuse. They can spend many years lacking awareness of their situation. They may even sympathize with their abuser. Only after achieving a certain degree of emotional distance would they be able to realize that they had been manipulated. Persons with disability are often dependent on other people for their needs. They may rely on others for access to basic amenities, or for activities that give their lives a sense of “normalcy. ” PwDs may turn to a frequent companion often a partner for these things. They may see this companion as the only reason they are “capable. ” They may also rely on this person for emotional validation or mental stability. As empowering as this setup may be to a PwD, it may also serve as a gateway to codependency. Many PwDs harbor feelings of being misunderstood or neglected because of how “different” they may seem from other people, or because they view themselves as “less capable” when compared with “normal” people. This may lead to them having to constantly seek approval from other people to feel like they are worthy. A PwD may start to crave their companion’s approval because it is meaningful to them. As they become more bonded to this person, they may build their sense of identity around that relationship without even realizing it. This marks the beginning of codependency. A codependent relationship is unhealthy. Such relationships are typically imbalanced or one sided. One person often uses up all their time and energy pleasing the other person, at the expense of their own needs. They may take on the role of a “fixer,” enthusiastic to solve other people’s problems without asking for anything in return. Sadly, this role is quite easily filled by a PwD seeking self worth who is conditioned to believe that self sacrifice will prove them worthy in others’ eyes. The fragile mental state of many PwDs may also make them easy targets for people with narcissistic personalities. Narcissists are overly involved with themselves, and place their needs and desires on top of anyone else’s. They exhibit selfish tendencies and possibly aren’t aware of it. Narcissists are often charming in the beginning. They may choose someone as a partner because they believe this person is “special. ” This can be the case with PwDs, as the mere fact that they are different can make them seem unique. Narcissists shower their new partners with adoration but this comes to an abrupt end once their partner’s natural flaws or inadequacies show up. When this happens, they begin to criticize their partner and subject them to verbal abuse. This may consist of name calling, hurtful one liners, or jokes that aren’t funny. The narcissist may target their PwD partner for their disability. The codependent PwD may then want to win back the narcissist’s favor and try to change. Sadly, this is a cycle that repeats itself. For a PwD in such a relationship, this can be doubly destructive. The constant blows to self esteem may cause them to lose confidence in their own selves entirely. They may even end up dissociated, experiencing lapses in memory and in their sense of self. They may become anxious, depressed, chemically dependent, and even suicidal more so than they were because of their condition alone. This is a cry for help that’s often unheard. And it’s important that we know if this is happening to the PwDs in our lives. Untangling oneself from a codependent relationship, or one with a narcissist, is hard. It’s hard enough for people without chronic illnesses, but more so for a person who naturally needs to cling on to a carer. | 3 | https://hemophilianewstoday.com/2020/06/15/disability-codependency-narcissistic-relationships | false | null |
1,032 | 4 Disability Clichés, And What You Can Say Instead | Awkward silences beg to be filled. Sometimes it’s best to let them be, but these days it seems like we all feel compelled to share what insights we have on difficult and painful events, even if we don’t really have anything new to offer. Disabled people share a particular perspective on this. For decades, well meaning and self aggrandizing people alike have drawn from the same small bundle of clichés and empty nostrums about disability. Mostly it’s non disabled people trying to demonstrate understanding and solidarity with disabled people. Sometimes it’s disabled people themselves struggling to make sense of their own experiences. Either way, these disability clichés tend to end up impeding rather than improving communication and understanding. We need more discussion about disability issues, not less. And we need as many people as possible to join in. But before diving in without reflection, it’s a good idea to ask whether what we have to say is true, valuable, and called for. Here are four phrases and aphorisms disabled people hear about disability a lot nuggets of wisdom that either add little to real understanding, or worse, send our thinking off into fruitless and harmful cul de sacs of philosophizing. While there may be slivers of truth in any of them, to most disabled people in most situations they ring false and trite. 1. “Everyone has some kind of disability. ”Why people say it:• To minimize the significance of a person’s disability, which is assumed to be an unpleasant thing, by claiming that disabilities are far more common and “normal” than they appear. • To reduce disability to just another characteristic, weakness, or flaw that anyone can have. In effect, it’s an effort to get around the social stigma of disability by defining disability itself out of existence. • The phrase is sometimes intended to encourage a kind of social change in how disabled people are regarded. Other times it’s an internal coping mechanism for disabled people themselves. It’s worth noting that a good many disabled people actually agree with this idea and use it themselves. Smoothing out and dismantling the whole concept of “disability” is a fairly popular way of processing the social identity of disability that some disabled people find helpful. What’s wrong with it:The problem is that significant numbers of disabled people actually don’t agree, and those who do object to it usually really hate it. Disability blogger crippledscholar explains part of the problem this way:“Some nondisabled people internalize this rhetoric and use it to make their common place and not actually disabling problems seem like metaphors for real actual disability. “There is of course a small element of truth to the idea that “everyone has some kind of disability. ” If you accept that disabilities are just another trait or weakness, then of course, everyone has weaknesses, so everyone has a kind of “disability. ” But this only holds water on the most abstract, cocktail party philosophizing level. As a practical matter, disability isn’t just another characteristic. It’s much more of a day to day factor in people’s lives than eye or hair color, or a minor lack of aptitude, like not being able to carry a tune. The ADA defines disability as an impairment that “significantly impairs one or more major life activities. ” Another rule of thumb is that if you have a physical or mental condition that you have to think about and plan around most every day, it’s a disability. It’s not merely a different ability or aptitude. Moreover, blurring the outlines of disability and essentially erasing it delegitimizes and erases the feelings of disabled people about their disability experiences. It also increases the likelihood that family, friends, and coworkers will forget about and dismiss the unique practical needs disabled often have in real life situations. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/06/05/4-disability-clichs-and-what-you-can-say-instead/#2610f16a14f2 | false | null |
1,033 | Worker with disability alleges inflexible return-to-work order was discriminatory | The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reminded employers that the Americans with Disabilities Act and other nondiscrimination laws are still enforced during the pandemic. And as employers look to reopen as states lift restrictions, many may be wondering about obligations to accommodate workers with disabilities. The agency said in May 7 guidance that the ADA generally requires employees to request accommodations, so an employer need not seek out employees with medical conditions that could place them at higher risk for severe illness from the novel coronavirus. Notably, however, an employer may be responsible for initiating the interactive process if it knows or should know that an employees disability is interfering with his or her work. But what happens when an employee with a disability requests an accommodation like an exemption from a return to work order or a mask policy? As always, employers will need to evaluate each request on a case by case basis and consider whether it meets the laws reasonableness standard or whether it poses an undue hardship. [W]here an employee with a disability needs a related reasonable accommodation under the ADA , or a religious accommodation under Title VII , the agency said, the employer should discuss the request and provide the modification or an alternative if feasible and not an undue hardship on the operation of the employers business under the ADA or Title VII. Employers also must beware benevolent discrimination, EEOC has cautioned. While telework has been encouraged as an infection control or prevention strategy and often is viewed as a reasonable accommodation, employers must not single out employees for telework or leave based on a protected characteristic, such as disability. Get the free daily newsletter read by industry expertsTopics covered: HR management, compensation & benefits, development, HR tech, recruiting and much more. Two years ago, ICE temporarily allowed employers to review Form I 9 documents remotely. SHRM now expects the safety measure to become permanent. Photo by Curtis Adams from PexelsBack then the argument was that its illegal, DMEC lead Terri Rhodes said. Well, now you dont have that argument. Subscribe to HR Dive for top news, trends & analysisTopics covered: HR management, compensation & benefits, development, HR tech, recruiting and much more. Get the free daily newsletter read by industry expertsTopics covered: HR management, compensation & benefits, development, HR tech, recruiting and much more. Two years ago, ICE temporarily allowed employers to review Form I 9 documents remotely. SHRM now expects the safety measure to become permanent. Photo by Curtis Adams from PexelsBack then the argument was that its illegal, DMEC lead Terri Rhodes said. Well, now you dont have that argument. The free newsletter covering the top industry headlinesTopics covered: HR management, compensation & benefits, development, HR tech, recruiting and much more. | 3 | https://www.hrdive.com/news/worker-with-disability-alleges-inflexible-return-to-work-order-was-discrimi/579535/ | false | null |
1,038 | COVID-19 doesn't cancel out the ADA: disability rights during a pandemic | Protesters – and some politicians – say its time to get back to normal. That some deaths from COVID 19 are inevitable. But whose deaths, and lives, are we talking about?Elderly and immunocompromised people, and folks with disabilities, are among several demographics that are disproportionately at risk for this disease. We spoke to attorney and disability rights advocate Robyn Powell about what she’s seeing in the community, and her own experience as someone who relies on in home carers. Get a quick look at the most important local stories of the day with KUOWs Today So Far newsletter. KUOW is the Puget Sound region’s #1 radio station for news. Our independent, nonprofit newsroom produces award winning stories, podcasts and events. | 3 | https://www.kuow.org/stories/disability-rights-pandemic | false | null |
1,039 | Disability Advocates Fear Losing The Fight For Inclusion In Post-Pandemic Hollywood | Kelli McNeil on set filming the trailer for Daruma. For almost a year, Kelli McNeil has been fundraising for her movie Daruma, a film she calls a “dysfunctional family road trip. ”The big twist: the two main characters, Patrick and Robert, are disabled. Patrick is a paraplegic and Robert is a double arm amputee, but unlike most Hollywood narratives, the disabilities aren’t the focus of the script, nor are they an obstacle to overcome. And, after a nationwide search, McNeil cast two actors with disabilities to play the lead characters. Her work is notable in an industry still grappling with a dearth of disability centric storylines and characters. Although representation has seen some improvement over the years in television and film, advocates argue it is still all too rare to see people with disabilities working in front of or behind the camera. Now, with the presence of a worldwide pandemic – and Hollywood virtually shut down – they fear the fight for inclusion will only get more complicated once productions start back up. Tobias Forrest, who plays Patrick in Daruma, on set, filming the trailer for the film. “We don’t know how things will turn out, but there is a lot of fear among activists,” said Deborah Calla, Co CEO of The Media Access Awards, a nonprofit organization that celebrates and creates opportunities for people with disabilities in media. “Once production begins, there will likely be fewer opportunities because of modified production, lower budgets, less money, and modified storylines. We have a good chance of going back a few steps in terms of inclusion. ”And if disability inclusion falls behind, Calla and her co CEO Allen Rucker say, it will be detrimental. “You have to understand that in the field of diversity, people with disabilities were not even included until a few years ago in Hollywood, they were just left out,” Rucker said. “But about three years ago, because of the ‘Me Too’ movement, all of the sudden people with disabilities were getting hired to be guest stars on shows, then to be stars and then people with disabilities were creating their own shows. ”“It was a real positive feeling,” he said. “But with the COVID pandemic, who knows what’ll happen next. ”Tobias Forrest, who plays Patrick in Daruma, on set filming the trailer for the film. In mid March, COVID 19 forced the vast majority of Hollywood to come to a screeching halt. Theatrical releases were cancelled, and everything from indie film productions to entire festivals were shut down or postponed indefinitely. Everything stopped. Many Hollywood professionals have been out of work since, including Tobias Forrest, a quadriplegic, cast by McNeil to play one of the leads in Daruma. While it was his first lead role in a 15 year career, Forrest has seen much success in recent years, and fears how the Pandemic will impact him and other professionals with disabilities. “I’m really hoping the big movie people, the Spielbergs and big time producers and directors, will be like, ‘Now is our chance for authenticity,’ because they were having to watch what all of us have been having to watch during this quarantine,” Forrest said. “I don’t want to go back to being the ‘guy in the wheelchair. ’ I want to be the lawyer or doctor… the person who just happens to be in a wheelchair. ”Although strides have been made in recent years, doors have typically been closed for people with disabilities in Hollywood, despite being the largest minority in the United States. A quarter of the population – about 61 million Americans – identify as a person with a disability, according to the CDC. According to a GLAADs 2019 2020 Where we are on TV report, the amount of regular primetime broadcast characters counted who have a disability was at an all time high of 3. 1 percent but still a severe underrepresentation of people with disabilities in the American population. Then theres the fact that 80 percent of disabled characters on television are portrayed by able bodied actors, according to the Ruderman Foundation. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/allisonnorlian/2020/05/28/disability-advocates-fear-losing-the-fight-for-inclusion-in-post-pandemic-hollywood/#396863f9aa26 | false | null |
1,040 | Disability Equals Disenfranchisement, Lawsuit Says | In person voting during the Wisconsin primary. Photographer: Thomas Werner/BloombergAs the Trump administration and a mix of governors and state legislatures try to suppress voting by mail across the Union, a coalition of disability rights groups and citizens with disabilities is still fighting for full enfranchisement, 30 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The latest battleground is New York State, where the group has filed suit in the Southern District of New York against the state’s Board of Elections for discrimination against New Yorkers with disabilities. While the state’s mail in Absentee Voting program has recently been expanded in response to Covid 19 to enable voting by mail rather than by visiting a public polling place, no provision has been made for those who are unable to privately and independently mark a paper ballot. And although active duty military and citizens overseas can cast their votes electronically, that option is simply not allowed for the disabled. Along with several citizens, the plaintiffs’ coalition includes New York State affiliates of the National federation of the Blind , the American Council of the Blind and the Center for Independence of the Disabled, all backed by their national offices. They are represented by law firms including Disability Rights Advocates, Disability Rights New York, and Brown Goldstein Levy LLP, a leading firm in disability rights advocacy. The lawsuit charges that the BOE continued to exclude an accessible absentee option for the blind and people with other print disabilities. Such exclusion leaves affected voters with no choice other than to go to public polling places, potentially exposing themselves to the new corona virus and the threat of severe illness or death it carries. Ironically, avoiding this outcome is precisely why the state BOE is expanding access to mail in ballots for non disabled voters. “People just want to vote,” says eve Hill, an attorney with Brown Goldstein Levy. Hill represents the NFB of New York State and plaintiff Rasheta Bunting, the blind New Yorker who instigated the case. “It’s important for people who want to vote to be able to vote. ”A spokesman for the New York State Board of Elections responded that he had no comment. A hearing is scheduled for Friday – and a primary is scheduled for June 23rd. This disconnect is what Karen Gourgey, a blind plaintiff, said pushed her over the edge to join the lawsuit. “When Governor Cuomo published an executive order saying no one should have to go to the polls in fear for their health, I was, ‘no one but whom?’ That was my bottom line. ” Referring to the recent election in Wisconsin that forced voters to go to public voting stations, she added, “I’m not compromising my health for anything. ”The New York State complaint is neither an isolated situation nor a new voting rights issue. Legislation requiring states to make electronic absentee ballots available to the military and overseas citizens was enacted in 2009 – nearly 20 years after the passage of the ADA and yet it included no provision for voters with disabilities. While such balloting methods can easily be designed to include people with disabilities, only a handful of states have moved to do so, often following legal action. “We’ve told the states we’re coming,” says Hill. Last September, the national office of NFB sent letters to some 40 Secretaries of State calling on them to make absentee balloting accessible – and this was well before the threat of Covid 19 made in person voting a public health hazard. The Federation received replies from only three states, two of which, Alabama and Minnesota, said that legislation would be required to extend accessible absentee voting to the blind and disabled, while Virginia said that it is cognizant of the requirements of the ADA, and that it is working to make its electronic voting system accessible. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterslatin/2020/05/27/disability-equals-disenfranchisement-lawsuit-says/#1da8b4614f5a | false | null |
1,042 | Covid-19 Crisis Triage — Optimizing Health Outcomes and Disability Rights | On March 28, 2020, the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services opened investigations into recently released critical care crisis triage protocols. 1 Disability rights advocates are urging Congress to prohibit crisis triage based on “anticipated or demonstrated resource intensity needs, the relative survival probabilities of patients deemed likely to benefit from medical treatment, and assessments of pre or post treatment quality of life. ”2 The Americans with Disabilities Act proscribes adverse treatment of persons with disabilities, but discrimination is common, including in the health system. 3 With surges in Covid 19 cases creating the potential for extreme shortages of critical care resources, health care organizations are planning for crisis level triage, with guidance provided by professional societies and ethicists that aim to allocate scarce resources primarily so as to save the most lives. 4Crisis triage protocols should seek to optimize health outcomes, but doing so requires explicit protection of core values, such as the equal moral worth of all people. We offer policy recommendations capable of meeting both goals. Allocation of ventilators has become symbolic of the difficult ethical choices we face, but the criteria and processes we recommend apply to any scarce medical resource. Disability rights advocates recognize that in disasters it may be “appropriate for providers to delay non essential care [and] not be obligated to provide quantitatively futile care. ”2 Yet crisis triage arises only in forced choice scenarios, when not everyone can receive essential care. Some disability rights advocates assert that in such circumstances, triage based on assessing patients’ likelihood of benefit is fundamentally incompatible with respect for human dignity. Instead, they propose adopting a first come, first served process. 5 But that approach would leave many people with disabilities worse off; in particular, people facing transportation, communication, and other barriers to access could be systematically disadvantaged. We believe that crisis triage protocols should focus on identifying the patients who are most likely to die without a ventilator yet most likely to survive with one, using the best available clinical survivability scores, not broad categorical exclusions. “Survivability” is sometimes defined as living to hospital discharge or 1 year after discharge or long term, a criterion that is neither practical nor ethical. The ability to predict long term survival is poor and therefore susceptible to bias. Furthermore, many disadvantaged populations have reduced life expectancy, and triage protocols should not exacerbate health inequities. Near term survivability, moreover, can be assessed independently from disability. Consider two patients with Down’s syndrome, one with adequate cardiac function, the other with cardiovascular disease. Down’s syndrome is an inappropriate triage consideration, but worse baseline cardiac function confers lower survivability with Covid 19. Cardiac dysfunction could therefore be integrated into the scoring system, but only if the criterion applied to all patients, not just those with Down’s syndrome. Patients with adequate heart function, irrespective of physical or mental disability, would then have the same triage score. Patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease would receive lower scores because they’re less likely to derive benefit from the intervention, not because of disability. | 3 | https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2008300 | false | null |
1,045 | Disability, Aging Advocates Caution About Reopening Too Quickly | Wheelchairs sit folded at the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile, Monday, April 20, 2020. International flights have been canceled for a month since the start of a lockdown to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic. Esteban Felix/AP PhotoAdvocates for people with disabilities and older adults say the state Supreme Courts decision to overturn Wisconsins Safer at Home order puts their communities at risk. Before the court’s ruling on Wednesday, 32 state and national groups filed an amicus brief laying out the increased risks of COVID 19 infection for the disability and aging communities. Many people from these communities live in long term care facilities and group homes, the brief notes, where there’s a higher risk that infections can spread. Plus, caregivers who provide in person care and services are not able to social distance, and a shortage of personal protective equipment could put that caregiving workforce and their clients at risk. When workers become infected, they expose their families and communities, said Lisa Pugh, co chair of the Survival Coalition of Wisconsin and Disability Organizations, in a press release Thursday. Pugh called on prioritizing the caregiving workforce for distribution of personal protective equipment, testing and an eventual vaccine. People at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID 19 rely on the actions of the entire community for protection, said Survival Coalition co chair Beth Swedeen in the release. Stay informed with WPRs email newsletter. Enter email address
Re opening means a new normal. Wearing masks, continuing social distancing, flexibility for employees to work from home, online and curbside options, and strategies to safely conduct in person business will need to continue for the foreseeable future. Matt Ford lives in Verona and is quadriplegic. He said in an interview that the overturned order makes him nervous about hiring new workers to come to his house to help with meals, dressing and other tasks. Im not even equipped with any kind of PPE to hand to them at the door and say, Could you put a mask on? Ford said. It feels like we’re undoing everything that we just did, Ford said. Earlier in May the Survival Coalition laid out specific steps they felt were needed to protect the disability and aging communities, including having those communities represented in discussions as local and state officials develop plans to reopen. | 3 | https://www.wpr.org/disability-aging-advocates-caution-about-reopening-too-quickly | false | null |
1,046 | Newsom shakes up disability politics | CalMatters California, explained In summaryThe Capitol’s perennial jousting over workers’ compensation has been jolted by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order extending eligibility for benefits to all workers deemed to be essential who are infected with coronavirus. By clicking subscribe, you agree to share your email address with CalMatters to receive marketing, updates, and other emails. The cloistered community of political lobbyists who specialize in the massive, but otherwise obscure, system of compensating workers for job related illnesses and injuries had been preparing for one of their periodic clashes. And then Gavin Newsom interceded. About once a decade, those with stakes in the nearly $20 billion a year workers’ compensation system do battle over the rules governing both eligibility for benefits – medical care and cash support – and their scope. There are five major interest groups – employers, insurers, labor unions, medical providers and lawyers who specialize in compensation claims – and typically, three will make a deal to financially benefit themselves and gang up on the other two to persuade legislators and governors to ratify the deal. It last occurred eight years ago, when former Gov. Jerry Brown signed an agreement between employers and unions, with insurers implicitly supportive, to curb medical costs and use the savings to increase cash payments to disabled workers. It worked as the deal’s sponsors hoped. In fact, it was something of a financial windfall to employers because savings more than offset cash benefit costs. Employers’ insurance costs declined, although they remained the nation’s second highest as a percentage of payrolls, according to surveys by Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services that are widely accepted as authoritative. With those effects, a new decennial clash appeared to be brewing, possibly pitting a union medical lawyer coalition against employers and insurers – but the politics of workers’ compensation suddenly changed last week. Newsom declared that at least temporarily, workers deemed to be doing critical work during the COVID 19 pandemic and becoming infected would be presumptively eligible for workers’ compensation without having to prove that it occurred on the job. By clicking subscribe, you agree to share your email address with CalMatters to receive marketing, updates, and other emails. “This is a way of providing support to our critical workers that are essential in our capacity not only to meet the needs of people today, but as we begin to enter into this new phase and start to reopen our economy,” Newsom said. Unions had been pushing Newsom for weeks to act, while business and employer groups countered that it would sharply increase their costs, make it more difficult to resume operations and thus worsen an already serious economic recession. The latter cited a study by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau about the heavy costs of a presumptive eligibility order, saying, “the annual cost of COVID 19 claims on ECI workers under a conclusive presumption ranges from $2. 2 billion to $33. 6 billion with an approximate mid range estimate of $11. 2 billion, or 61% of the annual estimated cost of the total workers’ compensation system prior to the impact of the pandemic. ”The study dealt with a “conclusive presumption” while Newsom’s order provides a “rebuttable presumption” that employers could, at least theoretically, dispute. But in practice it’s not likely to appreciably alter the order’s effect. The decree is retroactive to March 19 and will, unless extended, expire in two months. If just temporary, its cost impact on employers might not be as heavy as they fear, but unions will be pressing Newsom to keep it in place indefinitely. In the short run, political conflict over workers’ compensation will probably focus on the parameters and longevity of Newsom’s action. It likely will bleed over into another pending issue: whether businesses that continued to operate after being deemed essential during the pandemic should receive a blanket immunity from personal injury lawsuits. | 3 | https://calmatters.org/commentary/newsom-shakes-up-disability-politics/ | false | null |
1,047 | Readers respond: Disability workers need support | I want to share the story of invisible but essential workers who are caring for our neighbors with intellectual and developmental disabilities during this crisis. Direct support professionals, or DSPs, work 24/7, often in people’s homes, where they cannot practice social distancing. They support people who need help with basic hygiene, health and nutrition, connecting with loved ones, taking medications and more all despite having as hard a time as hospitals securing personal protective equipment. Yet Medicaid funded disability service providers are at risk of closing permanently because they lack funding to cover overtime and hazard pay for DSPs, who are essential during this pandemic. The federal government has overlooked these services entirely, along with the vulnerable people they support, in distributing congressionally appropriated CARES Act funding. Without DSPs, people with disabilities, especially the medically vulnerable, risk being institutionalized or forced into already overwhelmed hospitals unnecessarily. The good news is that Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Greg Walden can make a difference by holding the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services accountable in distributing federal resources to Medicaid programs. People with disabilities in Oregon and the DSPs on which they rely desperately need your support. Gerald Nebeker, SalemNebeker is a fellow of the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental DisabilitiesNote to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. | 3 | https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2020/05/readers-respond-disability-workers-need-support.html | false | null |
1,048 | As a person with a disability, quarantine is what I deal with every day | Jill Martin has up to 75% off fun finds for home, kitchen and more!SectionsShowsMoreFollow todayMore BrandsAs you sit at home right now reading this, you may be longing for many things you grew accustomed to. Maybe it’s the simple banter from the breakroom at work, going to a friend’s house for wine night or your weekly gym sessions. Are you feeling incredibly isolated and frustrated with the lack of control over your life and social interactions?Your feelings are valid. The pain, frustration and fear you have felt the last couple of months are completely real and I understand what you are going through more than you can imagine. Since a car accident at a young age left me paralyzed, I have been a full time wheelchair user. Having a disability has often forced me to be isolated and socially distant, while everyone else my age was out having fun, “normal” lives. As a child, I couldn’t play on sports teams with my peers or go to sleepovers and didn’t have people I could regularly connect with who were in a similar situation as me. In college, I had surgeries where I was recovering alone at home during multiple summers, missing out on potential career opportunities or chances for new experiences. Im happy that for most of you reading this, the physical distancing and isolation you’ve experienced during the pandemic is temporary. The pain you’re feeling will subside and many of these minor inconveniences that feel huge in the moment will end and you will get your life back, even if it’s different. There are many lessons you can take with you from this experience. Here are just a few that I think are important to remember:Our society conditions us to believe that if we’re busy and out doing things, that we’re important or being productive. That’s just not so. Your forced stillness right now is vital to having a clear view of who you are and want to be. It’s why people meditate. When this is over, schedule time for yourself to be just home, doing “nothing. ”I can’t tell you how frequently I have to miss out on parties and get togethers because someone’s house isn’t wheelchair accessible or the gathering is at a place that’s completely inaccessible. It was especially tough when I lived in New York and I didn’t have a single friend with a wheelchair accessible apartment. All of these “experts” discuss how important it is to keep a routine throughout your time in quarantine. As someone who has spent countless days separated from people and living a Groundhog Day like life, I believe that a routine is not nearly as important as variety. I had a friend say to me the other day that it just feels like his life is on hold right now, and that’s simply not true. I know it may feel that way, but life is never on hold just because you can’t go outside. You can keep growing, learning, living and making life something worthwhile. Easier said than done, but I promise there’s always something to look forward to. When I felt my most isolated in late 2018, Mumford and Sons announced a new album. That small glimmer became my something to look forward to and it got me through the darkest month of my life. I have an elderly aunt in Los Angeles who said she feels like there’s nothing to be excited about. I realized that we all have an enormous power to become someone’s something. I hope that you haven’t lost a loved one during this time, but we have all lost something. Maybe you lost your job, a trip, a graduation night. And I’m so sorry for what you have lost. You may have to find a creative way to properly grieve and it’s OK to acknowledge this disappointment. Even when life gets back to normal, please remember to call or text people. Someone may seem all right, but we all need extra support sometimes. Quarantine and the pandemic won’t last forever, but I hope you remember that for some, this is a way of life. You can reach out, be helpful and grow, no matter the situation you’re in. Please be safe, healthy and patient. | 3 | https://www.today.com/health/what-person-disability-wants-you-know-about-quarantine-t180804 | false | null |
1,050 | Let COVID-19 expand awareness of disability tech | The COVID 19 pandemic shows that these are not as impractical as we have always been told. Supermarkets, restaurants and pharmacies can deliver; remote working, medicine and education are possible for many; and social lives can be rewarding without requiring us to leave home. All around me, I see academic colleagues adopting disability led hacks and long sought accommodations. I wish everyone had thought about these workarounds and about disabled people at all earlier. When lockdowns end, we must not forget these lessons, not least because the pandemic will disable people, and the impacts will be felt most by the most vulnerable parts of society. Academia is paying for its ableism. At many universities, in person research with human participants and in laboratories has been curtailed. If these projects had considered disabilities, they might be better off: disabled academics already plan in short increments, with built in flexibility. In 2014, I returned to my job as an assistant professor, newly multiply disabled a hard of hearing amputee battered by chemotherapy and more. I felt out of place. I could no longer access many spaces, including most of my colleagues’ offices, and I sought the camaraderie of other disabled faculty members, staff and students. My disabled comrades and I recognize the diversity of disabilities: congenital and acquired; ranging from cognitive to sensory, mobility and more; apparent and not. Many of us pursue research that emphasizes how disabled people are the best experts on the technologies and structures that meet our needs.
Disability awareness: The fight for accessibility one of my projects examines accounts of disabled people’s lived experiences with technologies, and how they differ from those of the scientists and engineers behind the tech. I planned my work intending to recruit disabled students among my researchers. Most of the studies can be done remotely, even from bed, and on a funky, asynchronous timetable as needed. Last year, when I had lung surgery, my group shifted gears without worry. And because of its disability led design, my team’s project is pandemic proof. Another project, to gauge the experiences of students in civil engineering classes, was designed to include participants with a range of disabilities. So we obtained approval for flexibility in communication format: we conduct our interviews by text, e mail, Zoom and other means. Because we planned for disabled people to lead and participate in the research, we’re well prepared for the current situation or for any other. Many disabled people are also adept at managing our energy, and forgiving ourselves for not always meeting conventional metrics of ‘productivity’. My non disabled colleagues are now struggling to adjust, but my team appreciates that ‘clocks should bend to our bodies’, not the other way around. Some disabled people call this concept Crip Time, reclaiming a derogatory term in pride . | 3 | https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01312-w | false | null |
1,051 | Disability Service Providers Struggling To Stay Afloat Amid COVID-19 | Service providers nationwide are contending with lost revenues, higher costs and new challenges as they work to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A survey of 689 provider organizations across the country finds that 68 percent have been forced to close one or more of their offerings due to government shelter in place orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The closures account for an average of 32 percent of annual revenue. Meanwhile, the groups are dealing with escalating costs for overtime, hiring additional employees and shifting away from in person staff training. All told, the changes stemming from COVID 19 represent 40 percent of the providers’ annual revenue, on average. The findings come from an April survey conducted by the American Network of Community Options and Resources, or ANCOR, a national trade group representing disability service providers. The data was analyzed by Avalere, a Washington based health care consulting firm. “It’s staggering,” said Gabrielle Sedor, chief operations officer at ANCOR, of the results, which the group released late last week. “What the survey is showing us is that providers really are on the brink and they’re in dire need of fiscal relief. ”More than half of providers surveyed said they only have enough cash on hand to continue providing services for another five or six weeks, Sedor noted. While most continue to be paid for at least some services, she said they’re strained. “I don’t think I’m aware of anyone who has closed their doors yet, but some providers are close,” Sedor said. ANCOR is hopeful that the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services will allocate some of the funding already made available in a March stimulus bill known as the CARES Act to aid Medicaid funded disability service providers, Sedor said. Outside of financial concerns, the top challenges organizations cited in the survey were staffing and access to personal protective equipment like masks and face shields. Among organizations that shut down programs, the most affected services were day programs, supported employment and transportation. Smaller organizations those employing fewer than 200 direct support professionals have been hit especially hard, the survey found, with closures alone accounting for a 40 percent hit to their bottom lines. As an upstart airline from the founder of JetBlue works to expand, the company says it will put a premium on better serving travelers with autism. Julie Beckett fought to care for her hospitalized daughter at home, ultimately helping to bring changes to Medicaid that improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of families nationwide. In one rural county, people with disabilities and others who have been appointed a guardian may soon lose the ability to vote even if a court has expressly preserved their right to do so. | 3 | https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2020/05/04/disability-service-providers-struggling-to-stay-afloat-amid-covid-19/28271/ | false | null |
1,052 | How climate-related hazards increase vulnerabilities among the most at risk populations and the necessary convergence of inclusive | Humanity & Inclusion with generous financial support from the Hilton Foundation, wishes to contribute to the analysis of vulnerabilities caused by climate related disaster risks with this report, in a context of worldwide hydro meteorological changes. Through it, HI begins to paint a more accurate account of the vulnerabilities related to climate change, with a particular focus on the situation of people with disabilities. With the aid of a large number of outside documents, program evaluations, research studies, and expert opinions the report demonstrates the following in regards to climate change and the hydrological hazards associated with climate change: It first consisted of reminding that there is a link between a changing climate and an increase in the frequency and severity of hydro meteorological hazards, with a significant diversity of situations based on geographic location;The hydro meteorological consequences of climate change are having an impact on the health and economic welfare of individuals and communities; The climate related hazards are having a disproportionately negative impact on people with disabilities; Climate change hazards are a driver of disability. | 3 | https://reliefweb.int/report/world/disability-and-climate-change-how-climate-related-hazards-increase-vulnerabilities | false | null |
1,053 | Disability Will Be Part Of The New Normal | The uncertainty thats risen along with the pandemic is prompting many to speculate on the future of . . . [+] societys new normal. Predicting the highlights of the post pandemic new normal is the new rage. But how should we begin to think about the new normal for people with disabilities? With “abnormal” a common stand in for “disabled,” let’s jettison the “ab. ” Disability is normal, even common, affecting some 20% of the U. S. population. The only abnormal part of disability is that much of society still blanches at moving beyond lip service or grudging regulatory compliance when it comes to providing access to the disabled in normal work, school and social environments. As unwelcome and threatening as the novel coronavirus is, its arrival during the run up to the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act commands attention. By forcing people all over the U. S. to shelter in place, this virus is introducing America to how so many people with disabilities lived their lives before the passage of the ADA–and so many who still do. People with vision, hearing, mobility and cognitive challenges to functionality have found themselves living out their days inside walls that they were forbidden, unable or expected never to leave, stretching back into history. To encounter the disabled out and about was to fear contagion. Now, with contagion ubiquitous and invisible, everybody is inspiring that fear in everybody else. That, unfortunately yet hopefully, is just the interim normal. When it does give way, it will be up to all of us to reshape normalcy so that it really is the norm. These are all essential components of what the new normal for people with disabilities should become as the new normal for everyone takes shape in the wake of a less menacing viral environment. Actually, it looks like what the new normal for all should be. It should be normal to be able to go anywhere; normal for students to access their textbooks, materials and classrooms; normal for people to be able to operate their desktop and mobile devices; normal to be able to access the internet and navigate the web; normal to visit museums and performance venues; normal to shop in store or on line; normal to go out to drink and dine; normal to travel; normal to find a rewarding job paying a living wage or to own a business; normal to rent or own a good home; normal to access good health care; normal to vote. In other words, to do all the normal things that normal people normally do, even encounter normal hassles and obstacles. Most people with disabilities can list one by one the times they have encountered abnormal obstacles when trying to achieve each one of these normal goals. An abnormal obstacle is one that is peculiar to disability and other social and economic disadvantage, usually an expression of fear, low expectations or both. These typically include, among others: uninvited touching or pulling; inappropriate questions or comments; an insistence on providing assistance when none is needed; misguided instruction aimed at preventing entry; illegal physical barriers to entry; inaccessible technological barriers to participation. We are constantly reminded that the virus does not discriminate. True, but society does. That is amply evident in the infection and death rates in cities, counties and states across the country. The virus, like a radioactive dye injected into a body to identify diseased tissue, flows naturally toward and concentrates in the most damaged places in the social contract. It highlights with unflinching clarity how and why people of color, the poor and people with disabilities are all disproportionately feeling this newest, dispassionate aggressor. The disabled are rightly enraged and horrified by the looming shadow of eugenics hovering over emergency rooms and COVID 19 wards. The pandemic has been most devastating to virtually all disadvantaged communities, which already have been especially marked for the Potter’s Field – or just marked as the virus blossomed. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterslatin/2020/04/29/disability-will-be-part-of-the-new-normal/#1ca7456a7b26 | false | null |
1,054 | 3 Ways The COVID-19 Pandemic Could Change Disability Policies And Practices | How will our world change after the pandemic?Will go completely back to normal and try to forget all of this ever happened, the way so many Americans did after the 1918 Influenza pandemic? Will we just change a few habits, policies, and plans to confront future outbreaks? Or, will we go a bit further and make bigger reforms we once thought impossible, but now seem both feasible and wise? We should probably be wary of attempts to use the COVID 19 pandemic to “win” long standing political arguments. On the other hand, we would be foolish to ignore how the pandemic might legitimately reshape and re prioritize old policy and ideological debates. And we shouldn’t be afraid to do some key things quite differently from now on. Maybe nations and governments around the world will find the wisdom, techniques, and urgency to cooperate on genuinely global threats, like pandemics and climate change. Health care debates, so centered in the United States on cost and the public vs. private divide, may now take capacity and nationwide organization into account as well. Then there is the potential impact on the oldest political argument of all finding the right balance between public health and safety, and individual liberty. And in the disability sphere especially, our experience with the pandemic, however it turns out in the end, may suggest new ways of looking at some old issues. 1. A wider acceptance of doing business online, “from home. ”The COVID 19 pandemic has brought unprecedented acceptance of living life online. Millions of “essential” workers are unaffected and unprotected by this option, and most of the rest of us are anxious to get back to living life “in person. ” But this embrace of online life has struck a chord with many disabled people, who have long fought for the option to work, learn, and do business “from home. ”Disabled people have decidedly mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, we are glad to see employers, schools and universities, and government offices adopt business and communication practices that offer disabled people more flexible, accessible options. We hope against past experience that once proven, these new options will remain active after the crisis is over. On the other hand, it’s hard not to feel taken aback at how quickly and enthusiastically the “work from home” lifestyle has been accepted, almost as a fun novelty. For decades, disabled people have lost major opportunities because of what now turns out to have been indifference, or simple human reluctance to try doing things differently. It’s not about trivial convenience. Disabled people lose jobs because they aren’t allowed the option to work from home, or even apply. Disabled students are forced to drop out of college because professors and administrators won’t be flexible about on site attendance when disabilities flare up. Disabled people are punished and penalized for missing all kinds of appointments and hearings due to ill health, unreliable transportation, and above it all government and nonprofit agencies that refuse to modernize and offer even the most simple online tools. Even during the pandemic, it’s far from certain whether voting access will be improved by allowing universal access to mail in ballots, or whether insistence on in person voting will disenfranchise millions, including disabled and medically vulnerable citizens. To be clear … not all disabled people want to work from home. Some of us have jobs that can’t be transferred home. Many disabled people lack adequate devices and internet connections. And many of us prefer to work and learn outside of our homes, side by side with our friends and coworkers, and face to face with customers. Online and work from home options have sometimes been sold to disabled people as an alternative to making workplaces more accessible and less discriminatory. This is not what we are looking for. Working from home should never be treated as a substitute for community accessibility, accessible transportation, and community integration. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/04/20/3-ways-the-covid-19-pandemic-could-change-disability-policies-and-practices/?sh=5a5cadfc6706 | false | null |
1,055 | Mental Health And Disability Inclusion: How To Make Sure You Are Commissioning Credible Support Services For Your Business | By now we have all realized that in 2020 we are not going back to business as usual after the pandemic. We’ve got a wonderful opportunity here to redefine the world of work, and implement policies that are inclusive. In my company, we’ve had a surge of engagement and camaraderie through taking care of each other and communicating well. We’ve better understood how to connect with remote workers properly, and we will be working on instituting these techniques going forward. This learning curve has led me to consider two key issues that all employers are going to have to address as we define the new normal: mental health and flexible working for disability and carer inclusion. In considering disability inclusion and mental health support advice, I have observed a proliferation of offers from people who are currently displaced from their usual activities. It is a buyers’ market for these services, but we should exercise caution when we commission. Not all mental health consultants have the right skills for dealing with serious trauma. Experts by experience need supervision to handle safeguarding. We need a broad spectrum of advocacy and expertise, multi disciplinary working and a framework in which there are referral routes for issues outside our expertise is best practice. To help your planning, I’ve got 4 key themes with questions to consider when commissioning an organization to help you with mental health support at work. Qualifications And TrainingThe first and most important line of enquiry should be to establish the credentials of the organization and the training that their delivery staff receive. What are the specific qualifications and training of anyone who will be working directly with your team? Are any of the team mental health nurses, social workers, psychologists, medics? Does the organization provide professional expertise in a wide range of conditions or processes? How are the staff trained, supported and supervised ongoing in this emergent field where the science is rapidly updating? A credible organization or individual will be more than willing to discuss how they stay up to date with formal scientific and professional bodies of knowledge. There is a lot of risk built into the uncertainty of what comes next, hiring the right qualifications and credentials can buffer your company from mistakes. Proof Of ResultsBefore making any decisions you should also ask if the organization publishes any sort of evaluation or long term follow up to assess the effectiveness of their services other than testimonials. Whilst testimonials can be a great way to get a sense of a company’s work, cold hard proof they are not. Any credible and professional organization should be constantly evaluating the effectiveness of their methods and be able to provide evidence of their success. Management, coaching and psychology professionals have been trained in ‘evidence based’ approaches for many years now and should not be willing to cite the odd anecdote as verification of their work. Testimonials should be the cherry on the cake, not the whole offering, as a testimonial can be heavily influenced by human factors such as good rapport with the service provider. Instead, look for organizational data that is more objective, such as turnover, promotion rate, supervisor ratings of improvement, contract performance, service level agreements and more. accountability the organization regulated in anyway with a third party to whom you could complain if a service was not adequate? For example, are staff registered with a professional coaching body or a professional regulator such as medical/nursing boards, the APA or the HCPC ? Does the organization have an externally verified Quality Standard compliant with ISO or similar which would guarantee a rigorous complaints process if things went wrong? | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/drnancydoyle/2020/04/22/mental-health-and-disability-inclusion-how-to-make-sure-you-are-commissioning-credible-support-services-for-your-business/?sh=412caf143c21 | true | null |
1,058 | How a CSE student's hearing disability shaped his experiences in diverse environments | Jain almost drowned in a scuba diving lesson. While training on the water surface, he couldn’t bring his hearing aids and was incorrectly taught how to inflate his jacket. Jain, waving for help, was fortunately spotted by a crew member who pulled him into safety. This wasn’t the first time Jain had encountered a disability related accident during the course of his 15 month trip. He documented his perspectives as a hard of hearing traveler backpacking across 21 countries in an autoethnographic study. Today, Jain is a third year Ph. D. candidate in computer science and engineering who believes in cultural diversity in accessibility design. He is also a certified scuba diving instructor, earning his license from a diving school in the Red Sea in Egypt. “A person goes through so many different experiences across cultures and geographies,” Jain said. “To ask someone questions in a lab setting, it’s hard to know about the person unless you actually live that experience. ” Emerging in a new location is one of the reasons why people love to travel, but the unfamiliarity of a new place is often difficult for people with disabilities. While urban cities are making progress in designing accessible tourism, these spaces mostly recognize visible disabilities, such as blindness or motor impairment. In his autoethnography, Jain gives rich insights into his relationship with accessible technology in various geographies, societies, and cultures. As a hard of hearing person, Jain relies on hearing aids and lipreading to interpret other people’s speeches. In situations where he can’t see the person’s face or is surrounded by high background noise, this communication becomes difficult. For instance, when Jain was sitting at the back of a shared vehicle heading into the deep mountains of Spiti Valley, India, he felt “spatially lost” because he couldn’t lipread and did not know where he was. He didn’t tell anyone that he is hard of hearing because he feared that someone might take advantage of the fact. “People ask me questions [about] why I didn’t tell or ask,” Jain said. “Disclosing [your] disability is not always safe in every situation. ”On a flight from Milan to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, he wasn’t able to hear the flight attendants and his own voice due to the plane’s engine. The crew understood his speeches through hand gestures and repetition, but not entirely. As a result, Jain missed a meal on the flight and settled for cold water when he asked for a hot drink. However, Jain also benefited from his hearing aids during the journey. Since he can turn the aids off, he was able to sleep through the night in a Costa Rican hostel known for its wild party nights. A part of his autoethnography was recognizing the “cultural tensions” surrounding disability in different regions. Jain noticed that people in India were “overly sympathetic” when addressing disability. When he told a gate agent at the Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport that he was hard of hearing, the agent immediately grabbed his hand and escorted him to the plane. “There is a very sympathetic view [toward disability] in India,” Jain said. “People are like ‘I want to help people,’ and there’s just too much pity. ” In contrast, Jain noticed that people in the United States are “overly polite” to his disability. When he realized that his name was called multiple times for boarding in Boston, he walked to the staff feeling very guilty for wasting their time. While the staff said everything was fine, he noticed that they were actually “passive aggressively” polite, not knowing his disability. “I figure social niceties somehow conflict with accessibility here,” Jain wrote in his travel diary. “If she had asked, I would have explained my hearing loss. ” | 3 | https://www.dailyuw.com/science/article_b5ff751a-7f90-11ea-ba5a-5bd28972ce97.html | true | null |
1,059 | Duke Disability Cultural Center opening on hold due to campus closure | The independent news organization of Duke University The opening of a Disability Cultural Center was a project three years in the making for Duke Disability Alliance. Now, it will have to wait at least until the fall. The idea for the center was born in Fall 2017, according to junior and DDA Co President Maddie Fowler. The group has been researching the idea, writing proposals and meeting with administration since then. Their efforts would have resulted in the opening of a temporary space in the Bryan Center last week, a milestone that is now on hold while campus is closed during the coronavirus pandemic. The goal of the center “would [be to] allow this community to feel welcome on campus, to find each other and build social support networks, and to explore and express disability culture,” said Marion Quirici, lecturing fellow of the Thompson Writing Program and DDA’s faculty advisor. Fowler also expressed disappointment that the seniors who have been working on the project will no longer be able to see it come to fruition. Although Duke has provided academic accommodations for disabled students, Fowler argued that disability as an identity has been overlooked. “At Duke there is a lot of this idea that disability is something you need to have an accommodation for and that’s all,” she said. “Disability is so much more than that different and unique challenges that we need support for. ”Duke offers centers and resources for other minority groups, such as the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. Quirici said it would be good for Duke to have a center “recognizing disability and neurodiversity. ”Quirici pointed out that individuals with disabilities make up 10% of the global population, which makes them the largest minority group in the world. By researching centers at other universities for students with disabilities, the DDA designed a space that would best suit the disabled community’s needs at Duke. The plans include a sensory friendly, accessible area for students to collaborate, study and relax, as well as a space to hold seminars or workshops. They hope to provide a full time staff to coordinate these events. Artwork by Duke students and local artists exploring themes of disability will adorn walls friendly to colorblind students. In creating a Disability Cultural Center, Duke would join a list of other universities who have already recognized this need, including: Stanford University, University of Washington, University of Missouri, Syracuse University, University of Arizona and University of Illinois at Chicago, among others. The center scheduled to open this week, however, would have been a temporary space. Fowler said the group identified the space at a meeting before spring break. They planned to create a library of work in disability studies to be housed there, alongside hosting meetings and events. The library would give students and faculty access to works from a field that doesn’t often receive visibility or recognition. This increased visibility would also fight stigma on campus and promote disability pride. “We also were planning to use the temporary space as an opportunity to figure out how to put into practice all of the accessibility features we had designed for the Cultural Center, and to figure out how to make our Cultural Center the most welcoming, accessible and supportive space possible,” Fowler said. Despite the community being separated by the COVID 19 crisis, the DDA still celebrated Pride Week online April 6 11. This includes a change of plans for Accessibility Matters Day, which began in 2011, according to Cuquis Robledo, lab manager for the Health Humanities Lab. Usually, students would celebrate by pledging to take only accessible routes that day, which Robledo said was meant to “showcase campus inaccessibility. ” | 3 | https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2020/04/duke-disability-cultural-center-opening-campus-closure-covid19 | false | null |
1,060 | Pennsylvania Reverses Guidance on Disability Care During Covid-19 | Pennsylvania’s response to the Covid 19 pandemic will now comply with federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on disability, resolving a complaint filed against the state’s Department of Health. The changes ensure providers in the state can’t make decisions based on disability as they determine who will receive life saving treatment and access to things like ventilators. The Office for Civil Rights at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that state officials had revised the Interim Pennsylvania Crisis Standards of Care for Pandemic Guidelines, which previously listed specific impairments or disabilities that would put those people lower on the priority list for care. “Triage decisions must be based on objective and individualized evidence, not discriminatory assumptions about the prognoses of persons with disabilities,” said Roger Severino, director of the OCR. “We must ensure that triage policies are free from discrimination both in their creation and their application, and we will remain vigilant in achieving that goal. ”Disability rights advocates, including Disability Rights Pennsylvania, filed a complaint April 3 alleging the state’s guidelines weren’t in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. The complaint alleged the state’s guidelines unlawfully singled out and authorized the denial of treatment to individuals with disabilities when prioritizing access to critical care. That’s contrary to direction from the OCR outlined in a March 28 bulletin reminding hospitals and health care providers that civil rights laws still apply in the midst of a pandemic. Pennsylvania officials have agreed to change state guidelines to remove criteria that automatically made people with particular disabilities a lower priority. They also agreed to ensure that no one is denied care based on stereotypes, assessments of quality of life, or judgments about a person’s worth based on the presence or absence of disabilities. The state is also eliminating guidelines that in lieu of an individualized patient assessment used “preexisting conditions that are disabilities” to determine a priority score for patient care. The OCR closed the complaint investigation as satisfactorily resolved without a finding of liability because Pennsylvania officials were responsive and agreed to revise the guidelines. This is the second enforcement action OCR has taken on disability civil rights laws during the COVID 19 public health emergency. Earlier this month Alabama complied with direction from the OCR to take down criteria around ventilator rationing from 2010 that allegedly discriminated against disabled and elderly people. The document allegedly allowed ventilators to be denied to people based on “profound mental retardation” and “moderate to severe dementia. ”The Alabama review was spurred by a complaint by the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program and The Arc of the United States. | 3 | https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/pennsylvania-reverses-guidance-on-disability-care-during-covid-19 | false | null |
1,064 | The very worst time to dismantle the disability safety net | A man applies for a social security disability claim. It’s too late to save those who’ve died from COVID 19. We also can’t recoup the time we could have spent preparing our now overburdened health care system. But there’s one thing we can do: Preserve our country’s effective and trusted disability safety net, despite efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle it. I’m hoping the president’s team has learned from its severe missteps in dealing with this pandemic and understands that many of the systems and processes in place do indeed work, if they’re properly implemented and supported. Now is not the time for more disruptions and freelancing of unproven theories. I know our country’s disability system works because I’ve had to rely on it through numerous major health care crises. Thirteen years ago, I was permanently disabled from an accident and had to undergo four spinal surgeries. In 2011, I survived kidney cancer and fought my way into remission after losing part of my right kidney. In 2013, I was diagnosed with lupus, which causes me severe fatigue; most days it’s a struggle to get out of bed. I now manage over 10 preexisting conditions, take 38 medications and rely on self injections of biologic medication to slow the progression of my diseases. When I was able to work as a research analyst, I paid into Social Security, as we all do. While most people think of Social Security as only being there for retirement, it also provides payments to the long term disabled who are unable to work. For six decades, administrative law judges across the U. S. have heard cases from claimants and made impartial eligibility decisions based on medical reports and knowledge about occupations and workplaces. Medical experts think we’re about to see a major explosion in Americans with long term disabilities because of this horrific virus. Scientific American reported that up to one in five COVID 19 patients have signs of heart injury; other science media report that some patients suffer from reduced lung capacity, leaving them “gasping for air when walking quickly. ” These will be patients who will need to pursue disability claims. I trust ALJs to decide which COVID 19 patients will be eligible for Social Security disability income. Unfortunately, the Trump administration wants to put its thumb on the process through Executive Order 13843, which allows the Social Security Administration to discard the merit system for picking ALJs and instead allows it to choose any attorney with a license to make important disability decisions. A distinguished group of lawmakers in the U. S. House and Senate are pushing back against this power grab by supporting the ALJ Competitive Service Restoration Act; it would preserve due process protections for the American public by restoring the fair and unbiased administered hiring process for ALJs. As Congress debates future recovery and stimulus bills, it should recognize that not every COVID 19 patient will be able to return to the workforce. These patients have had to overcome a lack of treatments, ventilators and masks. The least we can do for them is to protect the disability system that we know works. Morley is a patient advocate based in New York City; he has testified numerous times before congressional committees regarding patient rights and needs. | 3 | https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-the-very-worst-time-to-dismantle-disability-safety-net-20200408-lbdb4ahkqrellj3l2qdrmpgpsy-story.html | false | null |
1,067 | Disability groups file discrimination complaint challenging Kansas' COVID-19 treatment rationing policy change | Disability Rights Kansas, Topeka Independent Living Center, Tessa Goupil and other legal advocacy partners have filed a complaint with the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights in relation to the ventilation rationing plan instituted by the state. The groups argue the plan in the states Toolkit for COVID 19 discriminates against people with disabilities because under the plan, medical professionals would take away the ventilators of patients receiving care, including those who use a ventilator on a regular basis. “It is completely unacceptable to have the State of Kansas pre determine the value of the lives of people with disabilities when guiding how life saving equipment and services should be given,and how they can be taken away. said Tessa Goupil, a 49 year old mother with a neuromuscular disorder who uses a ventilator. The complaint calls on the Office of Civil Rights to take immediate action to address this discrimination and assist local jurisdictions and providers to develop non discriminatory approaches before there are lethal consequences to application of these illegal policies. | 3 | https://www.wibw.com/content/news/Disability-groups-file--569173881.html | false | null |
1,069 | Disabled advocates warn coronavirus stimulus does not address pandemic’s impact on community | Although the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package negotiated by the Senate and the White House is likely to pass the House after passing the Senate late Wednesday night, disabled activists and advocates are warning its provisions do not do enough for the community after resources for them have been strained by the pandemic. “There is nothing that the disability community asked for in these bills,” Rebecca Cokley, director of the liberal Center for American Progress’s Disability Justice Initiative, told The Hill in an email. “If anything, in their various iterations the legislation occasionally attempted to make things worse for the disability community with attempts at blanket waivers for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and attempts to exempt people on Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance from being able to access any cash benefits tied to the response,” she added. While the initial Senate package was defeated in the Senate, falling short of the 60 votes necessary for cloture, Cokley told The Hill there was little improvement on disability issues between that and the final package. “This is a classic case of ‘everything about us without us,’ where Congress is making policies that largely ignore the needs of people with disabilities and chronic conditions,” she said. For some, the pandemic and the various changes and shutdowns it has required of Americans has served to illustrate the already fragile state of the social safety net for disabled people, particularly as the health care system has been forced to prioritize those affected by the virus, which experts say is a particular risk for people with underlying conditions. “Disabled people have always had tenuous relationships and uncertainty with the state,” Alice Wong, a disabled activist who frequently writes on the intersection of politics and disability issues, told The Hill in an email. “This pandemic just exacerbates our survival as we face even more challenges in living day to day and accessing basic services such as healthcare. ”“On the whole, I see a lot of legitimate fear within the disability community as healthcare systems develop guidelines on triaging treatment and access to ventilators,” she added. “The casual ableism and ageism I see is a slap in the face to so many of us who are working hard to be seen and advocate for of us. It’s exhausting and frankly demoralizing. ”The fallout of the pandemic, Cokley told The Hill, has cost numerous people the home and community based services they rely on, indicating a need for increased funding to secure the direct care workforce. “We also need robust paid family medical leave that allows parents who have need of it to care for adult children with disabilities to be able to access it,” she added. “Given the shelter in place rules being enacted by cities, it makes no sense that people with disabilities cannot access the surpluses of their medications to be able to allow them to stay safe at home. This needs to change. ” Failure to properly address disability issues amid the pandemic, she noted, will affect people who are not disabled as well, “because our folks don’t get what they need to be able to comply with physical distancing, we will need to go out. And that exposes us, and society at a much greater rate. So not only is Congress neglecting us, but their lack of action is endangering many more. ” | 3 | https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/489685-disabled-advocates-warn-coronavirus-stimulus-does-not-address-pandemics/ | false | null |
1,071 | Do Your DI Efforts Include People with Disabilities? | There are more than one billion people worldwide – around 15% of the population – living with a disability. As consumers, they represent a market the size of the United States, Brazil, Pakistan and Indonesia combined and a disposable income of more than $8 trillion. As workers, they can ease talent shortages and add to the organizational diversity that drives better decision making and innovation. So how can you expand your organizations diversity and inclusion initiatives to include disabled people? First by rethinking your hiring practices, including job descriptions and interviews. Second, my ensuring your workplace fully accessible, from physical environment to work day structure and technology. Third, by innovating around products and services for those with disabilities. Businesses have long been drivers of social change. Across the globe, companies have begun acknowledging vital challenges and injustices such as climate change and pay gaps. Diversity and inclusion is one such defining issue, and, although huge progress has been made towards equality across boundaries of gender, race and sexual orientation, one aspect of D&I is too often neglected: disability. The UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines those for whom it advocates as as “people who have long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. ”Although 90% of companies claim to prioritize diversity, only 4% consider disability in those initiatives, according to a report from the Return On Disability Group. And only a small subset truly serves customers with disabilities. We’d therefore describe even the most progressive organizations as “divers ish. ” That’s the word we used when we launched our Valuable 500 campaign a push for companies to commit to inclusion that encompasses people with disabilities at the World Economic Forum Annual Summit last year. Making this change should not be a chore. It is an opportunity. The World Bank estimates that there are more than one billion people worldwide – around 15% of the population – living with a disability. As consumers, they represent a market the size of the United States, Brazil, Pakistan and Indonesia combined and a disposable income of more than $8 trillion, as noted by the Return On Disabilty Group. As workers, they can ease talent shortages and add to the organizational diversity that drives better decision making and innovation. If your company wants to show the world that it truly sees the value in everyone, there are plenty of steps leaders can take right away to improve disability inclusion in your hiring processes, in the accessibility of your workplace, and in the products and services you offer. Start by understanding the barriers that discourage people with disabilities from applying to work for you – e. g. application format, online accessibility, and even the language of job descriptions. In some cases, companies will include generic requirements for physical tasks, such as driving, typing, lifting, or the ability to sit for long periods, even if the role does not actually demand them. These are coded descriptions that weed out anyone with a disability at the first step. Standard in person interview practices can also disadvantage those with disabilities, and bias often creeps into hiring decisions. There are several companies who are leading the way in disability inclusion, however. For example, Virgin Media has partnered with Scope to support one million disabled people in getting into and staying in work by the end of 2020 – a campaign titled Work with Me. Together, the two organizations developed an online hub designed to help users gain confidence and skills as they apply for jobs. Internally, Virgin Media created a disability awareness guide for line managers and works with its resourcing partners to ensure accessibility is considered throughout the recruitment process. | 3 | https://hbr.org/2020/03/do-your-di-efforts-include-people-with-disabilities | true | null |
1,073 | Mindset Matters: The Coronavirus, Disability, The Lessons Learned From Resiliency | As the pandemic of the coronavirus disrupts our daily life across the globe this is a moment to take a deep breath and pause. We are all in a snapshot in time where business, as usual, has come to a grinding halt and patience, discipline and resiliency will be essential characteristics of our lives over the next few weeks and months. We must recognize that these attributes are not only important now, but lessons that should be applied to the core values of your daily rituals within one’s business life. Even in this existential crisis, organizational leadership can draw from the disability experience and glean powerful lessons and tools that can be applied to develop a culture that sees barriers simply as challenges that can be dealt with by being more innovative and adaptable to changing times. The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy wrote “the two most powerful warriors are patience and time”. The lived disability experience teaches us that these two ingredients are essential in cultivating a quality of life that allows us to thrive for the long term. However, in understanding patience we must also embrace frustration to not only recognize it, but to be cognizant of its importance to employees and find ways to absorb its impact. In absorbing this frustration, it is critical to acknowledge that corporate institutions have distinguished their culture on the premise that employees conform to a certain way of thinking and working. From Wall Street to Silicon Valley this sense of conformity is ubiquitous throughout, yet, for the lived experience of disability it is not only the state of conformity but a stasis that has always been part the very foundation of daily life. The intellectual Randolph Bourne in his 1911 essay The Handicapped understood this and wrote “The doors of the deformed man are always locked, and the key is on the outside. He may have treasures of charm inside, but they will never be revealed unless the person outside cooperates with him in unlocking the door. ” With conformity we must see cooperation as a vital equalizer in a time of great change. For persons with disabilities the basic need for connection is fundamental to their lives. Whether it be assistance through human beings or utilizing technology to connect or assist in activities of daily living. Due to the egregious nature of the coronavirus social distancing has become the new normal and the need to shift one’s mindset to rely more heavily on alternative ways have become significant. Throughout history the lived experience of disability has been accustomed to this type of behavior, whether it be the “ugly laws” that extended from the United States to the Philippines from the 1700s through the mid 1970s. These laws decreed it illegal for “any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed in anyway, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object, to expose to him or herself of public view. ” These draconian laws have provided a blueprint to where we are at this very moment. Yet, the difference is that as a society we have to engage in a new way of thinking and draw upon the lived experience of disability to both find new opportunities for connection and a greater understanding that though we as a society are under duress resiliency plays a crucial role in our ability for long term survival and growth. This is no longer just about a business strategy, but rather, creating a tool for life and utilizing the lived experience of disability to shape a robust instrument to help navigate a culture of the unknown for these alarming times. We must draw upon the lessons of resiliency to help us find a way to a solid footing and accept what we cannot control and engage in what we can. This has been an essential way of life for persons with disabilities and it is time to gain a greater respect for their experiences and build a better understanding of how this lived experience can serve as a valuable resource and greater way to express a need for connection which is needed in this time more than ever before. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathankaufman/2020/03/16/mindset-matters-the-coronavirus-disability-the-lessons-learned-from-resiliency/?sh=1ea3a53c2428#67b2af922428/ | false | null |
1,074 | Disability discrimination complaints now top race discrimination | For the first time ever, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims of disability discrimination topped race discrimination claims in 2019. And U. S. companies are doing a poor job of addressing disability inclusion, according to a group of human resources professionals. Only 13% of workplaces have disability specific inclusion initiatives, according to the Society for Human Resource Management in D. C. Half of HR professionals have never gone through any kind of disability inclusion training, the group says. “There are employers who may not be aware of their responsibility to comply with federal and state laws regarding disabilities. Some employers may be focusing their training efforts on other issues, like sexual harassment, especially in light of the #MeToo movement, and the increase in state laws which mandate such training,” SHRM’s Amber Clayton told WTOP. “Disability training is not required under federal law, though it is recommended, so that could be another reason. And there could be situations where employers have never experienced hiring or employing someone with a disability, so they may not think the training is necessary,” she said. Workers with disabilities are twice as likely to be unemployed, according to the group. The SHRM Foundation has launched a new certificate program to help HR and hiring managers obtain the skills to hire, retain and advance workers with disabilities. What should disability inclusion training include?“Describing what it means to provide reasonable accommodations, and how to work alongside employees with disabilities,” Clayton said. “For example, learning how individuals with disabilities communicate, how they perform certain functions, and avoiding language or actions that may be perceived as offensive to someone who has a disability. ”More than three quarters of HR professionals wrongly define “disability” as something that is primarily physical, overlooking the needs of many potential or existing employees with mental disabilities. Employers can register online for the free educational certificate program, developed by the SHRM Foundation. Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington regions economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.
| 3 | https://wtop.com/business-finance/2020/03/disability-discrimination-complaints-now-top-race-discrimination/ | false | null |
1,076 | Twitter expands hateful conduct rules to ban dehumanizing speech around age, disability and now, disease | Last year, Twitter expanded its rules around hate speech to include dehumanizing speech against religious groups. Today, Twitter says it’s expanding its rule to also include language that dehumanizes people on the basis of their age, disability or disease. The latter, of course, is a timely addition given that the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID 19 has led to people making hateful and sometimes racist remarks on Twitter related to this topic. Twitter says that tweets that broke this rule before today will need to be deleted, but those won’t result in any account suspensions because the rules were not in place at that time. However, any tweets published from now on will now have to abide by Twitter’s updated hateful conduct policy. This overarching policy includes rules about hateful conduct meaning promoting violence or making threats as well as the use of hateful imagery and display names. We continuously examine our rules to help make Twitter safer. Last year we updated our Hateful Conduct policy to address dehumanizing speech, starting with one protected category: religious groups. Now, we’re expanding to three more: age, disease and disability. For more info: Twitter Safety March 5, 2020The policy already includes a ban on dehumanizing speech across a range of categories, including also race, ethnicity, national origin, caste, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity. The policy has expanded over time as Twitter has tried to better encompass the many areas where it wants to ban hateful speech and conduct on its platform. One issue with Twitter’s hateful conduct policy is that it’s not able to keep up with enforcement due to the volume of tweets that are posted. In addition, its reliance on having users flag tweets for review means hate speech removal is handled reactively, rather than proactively. Twitter has also been heavily criticized for not properly enforcing its policies and allowing the online abuse to continue. In today’s announcement, Twitter freely admits to these and other problems. It also notes it has since done more in depth training and extended its testing period to ensure reviewers better understand how and when to take action, as well as how to protect conversations within marginalized groups. And in 2106, it created a Trust and Safety Council to help it better understand the nuances and context around complex categories, like race, ethnicity and national origin. Unfortunately, Twitter’s larger problem is that it has operated for years as a public town square where users have felt relatively free to express themselves without using a real identity where they’re held accountable for their words and actions. There are valid cases for online anonymity including how it allows people to more freely communicate under oppressive regimes, for example. But the flip side is that it emboldens some people to make statements that they otherwise wouldn’t and without any social repercussions. That’s not how it works in the real world. Plus, any time Twitter tries to clamp down on hateful speech and conduct, it’s accused of clamping down on free speech as if its social media platform is a place that’s protected by the U. S. Constitution’s First Amendment. According to the U. S. courts, that’s not how it works. In fact, a U. S. court recently ruled that YouTube wasn’t a public forum, meaning it didn’t have to guarantee users’ rights to free speech. That sets a precedent for other social platforms as well, Twitter included. Twitter for years has struggled to get more people to sign up and participate. But it has simultaneously worked against its own goal by not getting a handle on the abuse on its network. Instead, it’s testing new products disappearing Stories, for example that it hopes will encourage more engagement. In reality, better enforced policies would do the trick. The addition of educational prompts in the Compose screen similar to those on Instagram that alert users to content that will likely get reported or removed are also well overdue. | 3 | https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/05/twitter-bans-hate-speech-around-age-disability-and-in-the-wake-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak-disease/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFPrIkANecE5_95KYnSZXg5aOvykL9KQekRlRNkrVhcjlvQ-vD9fy-sdPMk35fWbaTYnU19akEJW7tMWUjN8QDW8EM6ywq-RBq5mdMazTRvZxTo8S0_Lo_DNlpaQHbrraIzjIulgZRhdfkc_L1KFEuqr3vpsHQL-EZA1PmuGzvHX | false | null |
1,077 | 30 years after Americans with Disabilities Act, college students with disabilities say law is not enough | Kyle Cox was on his way to class during an ice storm in January 2019 when an outdoor wheelchair elevator at Texas A&M University malfunctioned. For 30 minutes, Cox, a graduate student, was trapped outside with sleet pelting him on an unseasonably frigid day in College Station. Building staff draped him in blankets and coats while they worked to free him from the handicap accessible lift designed to help disabled students access the building with ease. By the time he had cleaned up and composed himself, class was over. Cox, 24, of El Paso, Texas, who is pursuing a masters in public administration, is hearing impaired and has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which requires him to use a wheelchair. While school officials work to make Texas A&M accessible to people with disabilities, Cox says he still faces challenges navigating the campus. “Problems like this do happen on campus and I end up missing class or getting there late even when I leave sometimes up to an hour before class to give myself enough time to make it. ” he said. The school said in a statement that it strives to be welcoming to people with disabilities, saying it works to be “proactive in addressing accessibility needs as well as to respond as quickly as possible when individuals report problems. ”But Cox says there’s more to be done. “Yes, there’s an elevator for wheelchair users but it doesn’t help if it’s broken, or if paths are blocked, or if I’m sitting in the wheelchair seating in the back during a speech which I can’t hear because of my hearing impairment. ”This year marks 30 years since the Americans’ with Disabilities Act was enacted and while significant strides have been made to accommodate students with disabilities at colleges and universities across the country, some students and disability advocates say the law doesn’t go far enough to meet the needs of the disabled. The number of college students with disabilities has steadily increased over the years, and now makes up a significant population of the national student body. Nearly 20 percent of undergraduates reported having a disability in 2016, and nearly 90 percent of colleges and universities reported enrolling students with disabilities in 2011. Under the ADA, public and private colleges and universities must provide equal access to postsecondary education for students with disabilities, but there is room for interpretation. If an institution can prove that making the accommodations and modifications would constitute an undue financial or administrative burden, the alterations aren’t required. Every institution of higher education provides disability services and accommodations in its own way, with its own interpretation of laws, said Wendy Harbour, associate executive director for programs and development at the Association on Higher Education And Disability. “A student might be disabled at one college but not another, based on how they use documentation of students’ disabilities, Harbour said. Or one campus may offer tutoring or special programs for students with some disabilities, and others don’t. “There is no national training, certification or licensure for professionals providing disability services and accommodations,” she continued. Students with disabilities at several institutions across the country, including Princeton, the University of Maryland, the University of Georgia and the University of Minnesota, have reported a wide array of challenges. NBC News spoke with over a dozen college students with various disabilities who said that they have faced significant difficulty with accessibility and accommodation beyond just physical barriers, and that this has affected their sense of belonging on campus. Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore follows the guidelines of ADA by labeling room numbers in Braille to accommodate blind students, but freshman McClain Hermes says that without including the office names, the accommodation is of little help. | 3 | https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/30-years-after-americans-disability-act-college-students-disabilities-say-n1138336 | false | null |
1,078 | Exploring Disability Politics And “Four Freedoms” For People With Disabilities | Universal Images Group via ImagesWhat do disabled people want?Those of us who have disabilities ask ourselves this all the time. Our families, teachers, and service providers ask much the same thing, though not always in the same way or from quite the same angle. The question of what disabled people want also has extra resonance and urgency this year, as candidates for President, and soon for Congress, state, and local offices try to figure out what to say about disability issues. Politicians have taken stands and positions on disability issues before, and made some promises too. But this election year is arguably the first time several major candidates have spent real time and effort crafting complex positions on disability issues. You can find links to Presidential candidates’ disability policies by visiting these pages:There is a lot to digest, and that’s a welcomed improvement over previous elections. The most we used to hear on disability issues was vague pledges of support, and maybe one or two solid policy positions. Not all of this year’s candidates have put in the same level of consultation and detail yet, but overall they address a much wider range of issues, and in greater depth, than ever before. On the other hand, what’s on those websites today is what candidates say they want to do, for and with disabled voters. The question remains … broadly speaking, across all other political, ideological, demographic, and economic categories, what do disabled people really want?Since it is an election year, it seems appropriate to look for some direction and inspiration to the United States’ most unambiguously disabled President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt was a full time wheelchair user through his Governorship of New York and his presidency. He contracted Polio in 1921 and never walked again unaided. He was elected President in 1932 and served until his death in 1945. In his January 6, 1941 State Of The Union address, as war raged in Europe and Asia, President Roosevelt mapped out a broad vision for a postwar world. It became known as the “Four Freedoms” speech, because in it Roosevelt outlined four “Freedoms” he believed should apply worldwide, for all people: Freedom of speech Freedom of worship Freedom from want Freedom from fearIt wasn’t a list of bills to advocate or oppose, programs to fund, borders to set and defend, or narrow fixes for every constituency. It was a statement of principles and goals, centered on the ideal of “Freedom. ”On a side note, it’s both ironic and somehow fitting that because of barriers built into its design, the Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, New York City, which prominently features words and images of FDR, was sued in 2017 for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and New York State accessibility codes. The suit was settled later the same year with an agreement to make and maintain accessibility improvements thereby ensuring greater freedom of movement for people with disabilities visiting a site honoring freedom and a wheelchair using President. “Freedom” is a powerful idea for everyone. Roosevelt’s “four freedoms” apply just as much to people with disabilities as to anyone else. But “freedom” is also a uniquely important word in disability culture. It may be second only to “Independence” in holding unique meaning and emotional resonance for people with disabilities. “Free Our People” is a key slogan of ADAPT, historically one of the most prominent and influential disability activist organizations in the U. S. It’s a simple phrase, almost bland. But imagine the alternatives: “Help Our People” “Save Our People” “Protect Our People”Focusing on “Freedom” is significant. It sends a distinct message, and firmly underscores the disability community’s priority on liberation over all other goals, even worthy ones like safety and security. But does “Freedom” really cover all of our needs and ambitions? | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/03/04/exploring-disability-politics-and-four-freedoms-for-people-with-disabilities/?sh=6684f73119c4 | false | null |
1,079 | Disability Innovation: 3 Pitfalls To Avoid, 5 Tips For Success | You’re disabled. Someone in your family has a disability. Or maybe you are just naturally motivated to help disabled people live better lives. And you have an idea . . . a brilliant idea that’s going to change the lives of people with disabilities and make a real name for yourself. The thing about innovation in the world of disability is that there are some very specific ways it tends to go wrong. Unrealistic expectations, poor planning, and inadequate market research are bad for any new venture. But new products, initiatives, and service models intended to benefit people with disabilities are both tantalizingly easy to think of, and depressingly likely to fail or fizzle out. So before launching that brilliant new “game changer” idea that’s going to revolutionize disabled people’s lives, it’s helpful to identify some of the most distinctive ways such projects go off the rails or fail to thrive. 1. Inventions that look cool and exciting, but aren’t very usefulEvery few months, we see a round of stories about some new high tech product in development, or just about to hit it big, that’s going to “solve” a basic problem for people with disabilities, particularly those with mobility impairments. They generate a certain amount of excitement, but also skepticism and backlash. The problem is that these new products are often awesome, but impractical, and usually unaffordable for most disabled people. They also illustrate the subtle divide between two different responses to disability between masking or overcoming specific impairments, and making everyday life with disabilities easier. Two insightful articles illustrate this point. Rose Eveleth writes in The Atlantic about “The Hidden Burden of Exoskeletons for the Disabled,” about the downsides to the development of electronically powered suits intended to give people with spinal cord injury a mechanical way to regain movement and mobility. And in Vox. com, s. e. smith writes critically about stair climbing wheelchairs and other devices that “disability advocate and design strategist Liz Jackson” terms “disability dongles,” in an article titled “Disabled people don’t need more fancy new gadgets. We just need more ramps. ” The titles alone of these two articles perfectly capture the problem disabled people have with so many technological innovations meant to help them. While some people with physical disabilities do thirst for high tech ways to walk, like exo skeletons, what most of them really want in a more immediate way is better, more affordable wheelchairs, and more accessible buildings and neighborhoods. And although stair climbing wheelchairs are of course clever and intriguing on a purely novelty level, for many wheelchair users they are out of reach and annoyingly beside the point. The core problem with most of these futuristic innovations is that they represent a non disabled idea of what disabled people really need and want. They stem from misplaced priorities and a lack of understanding of what’s most useful and attainable for actual disabled people. Our notions of “defeating” disability are typically quite fleeting and abstract, while we focus more seriously on immediate, everyday needs and barriers. As both Eveleth and smith point out, some of these “gee whiz” inventions even threaten to undermine more broadly relevant advocacy goals, like full accessibility. 2. Starting new projects that others are already doingA similar lack of perspective, though of a different kind, complicates needed efforts of disability advocacy. Disabled people in particular see scores of problems that could be, should be solved through creative approaches and campaigns. And quite admirably, some of us “step up” and try. The problem is that quite often, disabled people and even disability organizations pursue similar, campaigns and projects in isolation. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/02/29/disability-innovation-3-pitfalls-to-avoid-5-tips-for-success/?sh=10c4f8b26874 | true | null |
1,081 | 5 Tips For Job-Hunting Individuals With A Disability | Finding a job that’s the right fit is difficult. It’s even harder if you are one of the millions of Americans with a disability. As motivated, qualified and determined as individuals with disabilities may be, discrimination and incorrect stereotypes remain a persistent barrier to this group’s entrance into the workforce. The job application and job interview process is the perfect place to put those myths to rest and prove doubters wrong. Individuals with disabilities can do just that by:1. Highlighting their own abilities. Success starts with choosing a role that suits someone’s knowledge, expertise and interests, so individuals can enter into any potential employment situation with confidence. I work with many people who are unsure if it’s a good idea to reference their disability on a resume. Unless it affects their ability to effectively perform essential job functions, there is no reason to do so. Instead, individuals should take every possible chance, whether on a resume or in an interview, to remind employers why they are the right fit for a job. They should note their skills and experience, and continuously express their excitement to become a capable part of the team. 2. Refusing to answer inappropriate and illegal questions. While we have come a long way in disability rights, there’s still a lot of confusion about interview dos and don’ts – and I’m not just talking about what to wear or what key words or phrases to include. As far as interview content goes, if someone has a disability, they are not legally required to disclose it to an employer. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act , an employer cannot legally ask if someone has a disability before making a job offer. If an employer does ask, rather than reacting negatively, an individual with a disability should divert the question by asking in reply, “Is that a legal question to ask in an interview?” If they are persistent and continue to push for an answer, that may be an indicator of an noninclusive work environment individuals are better off avoiding. However, it’s important to note that once a conditional offer is made, the employer can ask questions about an individual’s health, disability, limitations, and even require that someone have a medical examination. These questions are completely legal as long as the employer treats all the candidates the same. 3. Addressing gaps in work history. It’s okay to be honest with a potential employer and let them know that the reason one had to stop working was because of a serious decline in health. This is true especially if it prompted them to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. This is a perfectly reasonable situation that employers should understand. After making that brief explanation, individuals should focus on highlighting their work history and the experience they had prior to taking a leave from work. In my work with SSDI recipients, I’ve found that the majority are older individuals who have more than 20 years of work experience and industry knowledge – valuable assets that put many individuals with disabilities ahead of other candidates. 4. Knowing what accommodations one needs to work efficiently. Let employers know about the technologies and accommodations that help you work efficiently. Need a standing desk? Flexible work hours? The opportunity to work remotely? Screen reading software? Whatever accommodations an individual with a disability may need, the sooner they make a potential employer aware, the better. Only 40% of employers are confident about how to implement disability accommodations, and many think these accommodations are way more expensive than reality. A report from the Job Accommodation Network under the U. S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy found that 57% of accommodations don’t cost businesses anything, and the rest are typically under $500. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulamorgan/2020/02/25/5-tips-for-job-hunting-individuals-with-a-disability/?sh=4d5cc3d18049 | true | null |
1,082 | Self-Help Or Activism: A Fundamental Divide In The Disability Community | It shouldn’t be a surprise, but it’s helpful to remember that disabled people don’t always agree or get along with each other, even about disability itself and how to deal with its problems. Here is a fairly typical exchange between two disabled people . . . A: “Last night I went to that restaurant everyone’s talking about, and when I got there I couldn’t get in because there are two steps at the entrance and no ramp! We should do a campaign or protest to get them to comply with accessibility standards. ”B: “Well, you can’t expect everything to be accessible every time. I always double checked the accessibility before going there, and if it’s not going to be accessible, I go somewhere else. Anyway, nobody’s going to appreciate it if we try to publicly shame a new small business. ”Here’s another …A: “I lost my job because my boss and coworkers didn’t want to deal with my disability. We need stronger enforcement of disability rights in the workplace. ”B: “We already have the ADA. What more do you expect? When I first started my job, I made sure to explain my disability to everyone in a calm, comfortable way. Maybe you should get some training or counseling on how to ask for accommodations and defuse ableist behavior. ”And another …A: “My monthly disability check isn’t enough to live on. The amounts we get are way overdue for an increase. ”B: “There’s no way the government is going to give us more money, when most taxpayers think they should be cutting spending. I rely on benefits too, but I make it work through part time work, and control my spending. You should get some help with budgeting and money management. ”What’s going on here? What is the best strategy for disabled people who want better lives more freedom, respect, and financial security? Is there a fundamental conflict between disabled people improving themselves, and fighting against ableism and injustice? Do exchanges like these reflect opposite and opposing views, or just differences in emphasis and communication styles?Arguably, there are even competition slogans:Self Help: “The only disability in life is a bad attitude!”Activism: “Nothing about us without us!”One of the main apparent fault lines running through the disability community separates two basic approaches to disability and the barriers disabled people regularly encounter. There is no official term for them, because they aren’t formal categories. But it’s probably not too far off the mark to call the two approaches “Self Help” and “Activism. ”Self Help“Self Help” is mostly self explanatory. It’s about helping yourself. It’s about tackling the problems and barriers you face as personal challenges to overcome through your own individual effort and personal growth. For disabled people, it is grounded partly in the “Medical Model” of disability in which disability is mainly something to be overcome by disabled people themselves, not really a social problem for anyone else except family and certain medical and educational professionals. Examples of Self Help perspectives on disability include:Whatever the problem, in the Self Help approach it is essentially up to each disabled person to figure out a solution for themselves. This has two advantages. First, it is immediate, practical, and concrete, and therefore generally easier for most people to learn and understand compared to more abstract philosophies and complicated social goals. Second, it is optimistic. Self Help assumes that you can solve your own disability related problems. Success is fundamentally in your hands, and you don’t have to wait for people to change their minds, or for Congress to change laws. At the same time, by placing responsibility for success in your hands, the Self Help approach implicitly saddles you with the blame for problems that you aren’t able to fix. You are responsible for your own unhappiness, since in the Self Help view, there is always something more you should be able to do. This can lead very quickly from buoyant optimism to crushing defeat, and sense of very personal moral failure. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewpulrang/2020/02/23/self-help-or-activism-a-fundamental-divide-in-the-disability-community/?sh=25d5d12d6ece | false | null |
1,083 | Six Key Character Traits Of A Disability Inclusion Leader | Photo:An inclusive workplace doesn’t happen overnight. Organizations must actively work to make it inclusive for differently abled people. Leaders, in particular, must create an inclusive work culture that recognizes unique talents, traits and the expertise of people with disabilities. Inclusive leadership not only encourages each team member to voice their thoughts, but research has also revealed that it leads to better business performance. A Bersin by Deloitte study found that companies embracing inclusion and diversity in all business aspects statistically outperform their competitors to achieve 2. 3 times higher cash flow per employee. A leader who encourages disability inclusion has several character traits that separate them from regular business leaders. Here’s how theyre different:1. Respect For IndividualityInclusive leaders always embrace and respect individuals’ ideas and differences in opinion. They factor in the inputs from both neurotypical individuals and those who are differently abled. Its a person’s skills, abilities and attitude and not their physical or mental state of being that make them who they are. Leaders who support disability inclusion don’t differentiate on the basis of a person’s physical or mental impairment. Importantly, management researcher Kristie Rogers has found that employees who feel respected are more satisfied with their employer. 2. PatienceA disability inclusion leader is gifted with the virtue of patience. Some differently abled employees may take a longer time to complete their work. No matter how long it takes, an inclusive leader allows the necessary time. Having a nice sense of humor often helps. While work has to be carried out seriously, a cheerful workplace environment goes a long way in empowering differently abled people to attain success. 3. CuriosityOpen mindedness, along with a passion to learn and relearn, is the hallmark of an inclusive leader. Each day presents us with new information on how a worker with a disability can contribute better to an organization. Disability inclusion leaders keep abreast of emerging ideas and work to eliminate their blind spots. They actively listen to their differently abled team members and synthesize a range of ideas that make them feel respected, valued and represented. 4. A Collaborative MindsetInclusive leaders understand that for a successful collaboration, all team members should be encouraged to share their perspectives. An environment in which both neurotypical and differently abled employees feel empowered promotes open thinking. Diversity of thought is a critical component of effective collaboration; its about forging oneness among the team so that all members can work toward a common goal. 5. Intuitive NatureA differently abled team member may find it difficult to express themselves during a group activity. They may at times feel confused or overwhelmed. This is where an inclusive leader comes in, using their intuitive skills to help the worker feel comfortable and included. Such leaders also sport a calm temperament while working with all team members and group dynamics. 6. Challenging The Status QuoDisability inclusion leaders are never hesitant to challenge entrenched organizational attitudes and prejudices. They push boundaries and, at the same time, are never afraid to acknowledge their limitations. They seek contributions from all members to achieve team goals. Given the unique skills, capabilities and personalities of each individual with a disability, there are no exhaustive rules for all cases. A disability inclusion leader, therefore, needs to be flexible in their approach and willing to adapt to the dynamics of an always changing workplace and its constituent components. | 3 | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2020/02/25/six-key-character-traits-of-a-disability-inclusion-leader/?sh=1575d2ea17e5 | true | null |
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