Journalism – Page 28

In changing urban neighborhoods, new food offerings can set the table for gentrification

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism, VIDEO REELS

In changing urban neighborhoods, new food offerings can set the table for gentrification

When new residents and businesses move into low-income neighborhoods, they often deny that they are displacing current residents. In a striking exception, a coffee shop in Denver’s rapidly changing Five Points area posted a sign in 2017 that read “ink! Coffee. Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014” on one side, and “Nothing says gentrification like being able to order a cortado” on the other side. The sign struck nerves and spurred protests because it illustrated something about urban residents’ experiences of gentrification – changes that occur in moderately priced neighborhoods when more upscale residents and businesses move in. Gentrification fundamentally revolves around who gets to – or has to – live in particular places. But the economics of housing changes cannot be sepa...

The Supreme Court just expanded the ‘ministerial exception’ shielding religious employers from anti-bias laws

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

The Supreme Court just expanded the ‘ministerial exception’ shielding religious employers from anti-bias laws

Should religious employers be allowed to discriminate? When it comes to houses of worship selecting spiritual leaders, then the answer from lower courts has long been “yes.” Even if, say, a member of the clergy is dismissed on the grounds of their race, gender identity, age or disability. That’s because churches can claim a “ministerial exception” from complying with nondiscrimination laws. The Supreme Court has just expanded that exemption to cover employees at religious schools. In so doing, they may have opened the doors to faith-based providers of services such as health care and social services, as well as education, to openly discriminate against staff who may perform some religious duties. ‘Unwanted ministers’ The ruling in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru is not th...

Studies of Other Countries Show Truth-Telling Leads to Racial Healing

29Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Studies of Other Countries Show Truth-Telling Leads to Racial Healing

As the U.S. prepares to celebrate another year of its independence, the country is paying renewed attention to the founders, and how their legacy of slavery is linked to systemic racism. Calls for reform to policing across the nation can help to directly reduce police violence against civilians but don’t address the centuries-old underlying problems in American society. Our research indicates that the country is not likely to escape its historic cycles of violence and racial oppression without addressing this painful and troubled history. Sparked by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, protests have emerged across the United States demanding police and criminal justice reform. Reform efforts abound—including Minneapolis city councilors declaring they will d...

Teach police nonviolence, scholars say, and how to work with local residents

24Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Teach police nonviolence, scholars say, and how to work with local residents

Calls to reform, defund or even outright abolish police in the U.S. are coming from many corners of American society. The Conversation asked several scholars who study different aspects of policing to explain what their research has found could help reduce police prejudice and violence. Kirssa Cline Ryckman, Jennifer Earl, Jessica Maves Braithwaite, University of Arizona Police have a saying, “better to be judged by 12 than carried by six,” acknowledging they might face a jury if they use excessive force, but it’s preferable to being killed in the line of duty. Many police oppose civilian oversight of their departments, which could prevent both criminal charges and death. Yet right now, all over the U.S., the public is judging police for how they act. Some police officers question the use...

22Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism, POLITICS, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Pandemic-Induced Voter Suppression

Voting rights have always been inconsistently applied. Now the coronavirus pandemic is threatening those rights even more, and activists are pushing back. Georgia’s mid-June primary was the latest example of pandemic-induced voter suppression. Long lines at polling stations stretched for blocks and blocks as socially distanced voters waited for several hours to vote in person. In Fulton County, which includes Atlanta and is the state’s most populated county, some voters waited past midnight to cast their ballot. Scenes like the one in Georgia—and Wisconsin before that—have ignited a national conversation about voting by mail. In response, President Trump has claimed that voting by mail “will lead to massive fraud” and favor the Democratic Party. Notably, Twitter even placed a fact-checkin...

Black Americans, crucial workers in crises, emerge worse off – not better

17Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Black Americans, crucial workers in crises, emerge worse off – not better

On June 19, 1865 – 155 years ago – black Americans celebrating the day of Jubilee, later known as Juneteenth, may have expected a shot at real opportunity. Freedom from slavery should have been freedom to climb up the economic ladder, helped – or at least not hindered – by a nation newly rededicated to human equality. Black Americans had served in the war, too, making up more than 10% of the Union Army, a quarter of the Union Navy and untold numbers aiding the Union effort. In many national crises since then, black Americans have also been essential workers. But serving in crucial roles has not resulted in economic equality. Government responses to economic crises have historically set black Americans back relative to whites, stripping black wealth and setting new and stronger barriers ...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

It Looks Like The Black New Deal

It’s been two weeks since George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes until he died. It’s been almost as long since protests erupted in all 50 states and numerous countries across the continents of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America—amid a global pandemic—calling for an end to police violence against Black people in the United States. But surrounding the central demands of the moment—of stopping police killings and holding them accountable when they don’t—there are systemic issues of racism and poverty that, if not addressed comprehensively, will ensure that any “reform” effort today will be short-lived. What kind of a solution born in this moment would address those systems? Turns out, it looks...

Viral videos of racism: how an old civil rights strategy is being used in a new digital age

8Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Viral videos of racism: how an old civil rights strategy is being used in a new digital age

After a black bird-watcher filmed a white dog-walker on May 25 calling the police on him in response to his request she obey the dog-leash laws in the Ramble woodlands area of Central Park, New York, the video went viral. “I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life”, Amy Cooper informed Christian Cooper (no relation) before she called 911 and made a deliberately dramatic false accusation. Melody Cooper, discussing her decision to post her brother’s footage online, told hosts of American talk show The View that she “wanted to shine a light on” Amy Cooper’s weaponisation of racism “so that no other black person would have to go through it from her”. Over half a century ago, African Americans viewed the potential of the newest development in communications te...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

It can’t happen here – and then it did

When Americans think of journalists attacked, arrested or imprisoned while doing their job, they think of it happening in distant lands – in places like Russia, Syria, Afghanistan, El Salvador and Mexico. There have already been at least 100 instances of journalists being assaulted or harassed while covering recent protests. Nick Lehr/The Conversation, CC BY Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are so ingrained in the American consciousness, citizens may have been lulled into thinking that these acts of intimidation couldn’t possibly happen on American soil. And then they did. On May 29, police in Minnesota arrested a CNN journalist who was covering the Minneapolis protests, leading him and two crew members away in handcuffs. This wasn’t a one-off. In Los Angeles, an officer s...

Reflecting on the case of Cyntoia Brown – talking with the director of ‘Murder to Mercy’

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Reflecting on the case of Cyntoia Brown – talking with the director of ‘Murder to Mercy’

Cyntoia Brown walked out of prison in August 2019 after serving 15 years of a life sentence for a murder she committed when she was 16. Her story is the focus of “Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story,” a Netflix feature documentary. Dan Birman directed this documentary and another on Cyntoia’s life that aired on PBS in 2011. He is a professor of professional practice and teaches documentary at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. What does Cyntoia’s case tell us about the US justice system? Cyntoia Brown’s case follows a complex social and legal path, but her story is common to thousands of young people in the justice system. As of 2017, there were nearly 44,000 juveniles locked up in America, and more than two-thirds were black or ...