Monday, April 7

Journalism

Why companies were so quick to endorse Black Lives Matter
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Journalism, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Why companies were so quick to endorse Black Lives Matter

It’s not every day that you see companies switch gears on a dime. Not too long ago, few companies paid much attention to Black Lives Matter. Today, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, it seems as if most major companies including Apple, Amazon and Facebook have endorsed the movement – or at a minimum pledged millions of dollars to fight racism and vowed to do more to end discrimination in their workplaces. CC BY-ND So how did companies so swiftly decide to align with Black Lives Matter? As with anything, there usually are lots of reasons. But, as a scholar who studies the psychology of consumer behavior and how companies respond to it, I believe that one stands out: young people. A post-Floyd poll found that nearly 90% of members of Generation Z – those born from 1997 to 2005 – b...
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Black and Latino essential workers experience greater safety concerns than their white counterparts
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Journalism

Black and Latino essential workers experience greater safety concerns than their white counterparts

The big idea Black and Latino essential workers are more likely to feel stressed over job safety and security as well as family pressures than white workers, according to a recent survey of essential workers we conducted in Massachusetts, among them doctors, sanitation workers and grocery employees. Specifically, 70% of Black workers and 78% who are Latino reported that they didn’t feel safe on the job, compared with 58% of white people. This is not simply because Latino and Black workers were more likely to be in low-wage jobs. When we analyzed low-wage workers separately, Latino and Black people in this group were still far more likely to feel unsafe in the pandemic than their white counterparts. We found that access to benefits on the job is critical to maintaining personal and famil...
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Racism linked to cognitive decline in African American women
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism

Racism linked to cognitive decline in African American women

African Americans have higher rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than white Americans. Chronic stress, associated with cognitive impairment and reduced volume in the brain’s memory area, could be a culprit. But racism may be one of the ultimate causes. And for African American women, the problem may be particularly pernicious. We are epidemiologists at Boston University. Our work is focused on the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), a landmark investigation that has followed 59,000 African American women since 1995. Previous data from our study showed that racism experiences are associated with increased risks of premature birth, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, uterine fibroids, adult-onset asthma and insomnia. More recently, we wanted to see how racism might impact cognition in African...
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What should replace Confederate statues?
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Journalism

What should replace Confederate statues?

Ever since the University of South Carolina put up a statue of Richard T. Greener – who in 1873 became the school’s first Black professor – one of my favorite things to do has been to eat lunch on a bench nearby to watch how people interact with it. Greener – who taught for four years when the university was desegregated during Reconstruction – went on to become a widely recognized lawyer, scholar, diplomat and activist for racial justice. Some people come to the statue with a purpose, often to show it to others and take pictures. Others pass by and look at Greener’s likeness with curiosity. Usually when they read the plaque at the base, they pause with a look of surprise. I watch them read the plaque again and then walk around the statue as if to evaluate if this story could be true. A ...
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John Lewis and the masks Black preachers wear on the public stage
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Journalism

John Lewis and the masks Black preachers wear on the public stage

U.S. Congressman John Robert Lewis was a Black preacher, inescapably so. Like his spiritual mentor, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the long-standing congressman was an ordained Black Baptist minister. It meant that he not only knew how to parse legislative briefs but also ancient biblical texts and extrapolate wisdom from them to address social issues of great urgency. For Christians like Lewis, preaching, though not an end in itself, is a means by which God reminds a society of God’s concern for community wellness, life, human dignity and freedom in a less-than-perfect world. Preaching, in their understanding, tells the truth about suffering in the contexts of fear and death. Ultimately it declares that evil and despair have an appointed end. Because of this, as John Lewis said i...
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In Confederate statue debates, common values can bring meaningful resolution
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Journalism

In Confederate statue debates, common values can bring meaningful resolution

The U.S. is engaged in a national debate about how to deal with monuments to Confederate leaders, enslavers and other historical figures with complex, and often racist, histories. As a scholar and practitioner of organizational communication, I often find myself in the middle of similarly protracted conflicts, working to get people with very different views to resolve their differences. A key step in that process is for each person to confront the fact that even people who disagree with them are, in fact, fellow humans inherently worthy of dignity and respect. Often, people seek clear decisions and quick action in response to disturbing feelings about the past. That may feel righteous in the moment but can be divisive, and often ignores complexities in a society’s cultural fabric. My r...
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3 ways to promote social skills in homebound kids
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Journalism

3 ways to promote social skills in homebound kids

With the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic getting worse in most of the country, a growing number of school districts from San Francisco to Atlanta have determined that a return to daily in-person instruction isn’t yet safe or viable. They aim to to stick with remote learning as the school year gets underway. Based on my research about the psychological effects of digital technology, I’ve seen that when children and teens spend a great deal of time isolated at home and gazing at screens their social skills and self-esteem can suffer and they may become lonelier. Fortunately, there are ways to lower those risks while young people spend way more time than usual at home. 1. Practice paying attention to other people One important social skill is the ability to pay attention to another person ...
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New teachers mistakenly assume Black students are angry
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EDUCATION, Journalism

New teachers mistakenly assume Black students are angry

The big idea College students who are training to become teachers are 36% more likely to mistakenly believe that a Black child is angry when that child isn’t making an angry face than if a white child makes the same facial expression, according to our new study. We determined this by having a group of 72 Black and white child actors trained by experts to make specific facial muscle movements. For example, to come across as surprised, the children raised their eyebrows and widened their eyes. To convey anger, the children furrowed their eyebrows and tightened their lips. We designed our study this way to make sure that no one could say maybe the Black children were making angry faces more often than the white children. They absolutely were not. Then we had teachers-in-training watch vide...
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Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, Trump: The risks and rewards of corporate activism
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Journalism

Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, Trump: The risks and rewards of corporate activism

The big idea Companies and CEOs are increasingly wading into political issues. My latest research suggests that such corporate activism can come with high costs if it doesn’t align with the political values of a company’s customers, employees and local lawmakers — or big gains when it does. Dozens of companies have recently expressed support for Black Lives Matter. Jessica Felicio via unsplash, CC BY-SA The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. In what we think is the first study to examine how corporate activism affects financial performance, three co-authors and I built a database of decisions by publicly traded companies that took a stand on polarizing issues such as LGBTQ rights, abortion, immigration and gun control over a five-year period. We then looked at...
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4 things students should know about their health insurance and COVID-19 before heading to college this fall
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COVID-19, Journalism

4 things students should know about their health insurance and COVID-19 before heading to college this fall

As colleges and universities decide whether or not to reopen their campuses this fall, much of the discussion has focused on the ethics behind the decision and the associated health risks of in-person instruction. As a researcher who studies health insurance policy, I see two important gaps in this discussion: 1) Who should pay the cost of treating the inevitable COVID-19 cases that will occur; and 2) What do college students need to know about their coverage? Here are four things I think every college student – and those who care about them – should know about health insurance coverage when it comes to COVID-19. 1. Weigh coverage options If you’re covered under a student health insurance plan through your school, it may be worth considering whether that is still your best option. The Af...
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