Tag: american

On American Lives, Especially On Blacks And Latinos Pandemic Misery Index Reveals Far-Reaching Impact Of COVID-19
COVID-19

On American Lives, Especially On Blacks And Latinos Pandemic Misery Index Reveals Far-Reaching Impact Of COVID-19

With more than 30 million people infected and 550,000 dead, the U.S. is among the nations hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. From job loss to housing insecurity to mental distress, the social, psychological and economic hardships brought on by the pandemic are extensive and likely to outlast the pandemic itself. To better understand the breadth and depth of the pandemic’s impact on American lives, I worked with colleagues at the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research to develop an index of “pandemic misery.” We found that though few U.S. residents have survived the pandemic unscathed, hardship isn’t equally distributed across groups. Just how bad it was: 80% experienced a hardship The U.S. Pandemic Misery Index uses data we have collected through the Understanding Coronav...
Young Asian American Adults Are The Only Racial Group With Suicide As Their Leading Cause Of Death, So Why Is No One Talking About This?
SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

Young Asian American Adults Are The Only Racial Group With Suicide As Their Leading Cause Of Death, So Why Is No One Talking About This?

Racially motivated violence looks like the mass shootings that killed Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Chung Park, Hyun Grant and Suncha Kim in Atlanta on March 16, 2021. Racially motivated violence also looks like suicide, which is defined as a deliberate act of self-directed violence in order to cause injury to oneself that results in death. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. When broken down by race, suicide is the first leading cause of death among Asian American young adults age 15-24. This is true of no other racial group in this age range in America. Despite this disparity, very little attention is paid by society and by gatekeeping institutions like academe and private and public funding...
Even When It’s Not A Hate Crime, Racism Is Behind Anti-Asian American Violence
Journalism

Even When It’s Not A Hate Crime, Racism Is Behind Anti-Asian American Violence

Over the past year, attacks on Asian Americans have increased more than 150% over the previous year, including the March 16 murders of eight people, including six Asian American women, in Atlanta. Some of these attacks may be classified as hate crimes. But whether they meet that legal definition or not, they all fit a long history of viewing Asian Americans in particular ways that make discrimination and violence against them more likely. I have researched and taught on Asian America for 20 years, including on the pernicious effects of stereotypes and attacks on individuals. Race can play a role in violence and prejudice, even if the offender does not clearly express a racist intent. Much remains unknown about the attacks in Atlanta, but the man charged with the murders has said he did ...
Even When It’s Not A Hate Crime, Racism Is Behind Anti-Asian American Violence
Journalism

Even When It’s Not A Hate Crime, Racism Is Behind Anti-Asian American Violence

Over the past year, attacks on Asian Americans have increased more than 150% over the previous year, including the March 16 murders of eight people, including six Asian American women, in Atlanta. Some of these attacks may be classified as hate crimes. But whether they meet that legal definition or not, they all fit a long history of viewing Asian Americans in particular ways that make discrimination and violence against them more likely. I have researched and taught on Asian America for 20 years, including on the pernicious effects of stereotypes and attacks on individuals. Race can play a role in violence and prejudice, even if the offender does not clearly express a racist intent. Much remains unknown about the attacks in Atlanta, but the man charged with the murders has said he did ...
4 Questions Answered: A Monthly Allowance For Millions Of American Parents Soon
BUSINESS

4 Questions Answered: A Monthly Allowance For Millions Of American Parents Soon

The federal government’s US$1.9 trillion relief package Congress passed on March 10 will temporarily expand the child tax credit. This credit, currently pegged at up to $2,000 a year per child until they turn 17, will instead total $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for kids up to the age of 18 over the next 12 months. Starting in July, the Internal Revenue Service will distribute half this money to most families with children in monthly payments of either $250 or $300 per child. The IRS will deliver the balance at tax time in 2022. The Conversation U.S. asked Joya Misra, a sociologist who studies how public policies influence inequality, four questions about this new temporary benefit. 1. Why are families with children getting these benefits? This program builds on the existing chil...
Black Cartographers Put Racism On The American Map
SOCIAL JUSTICE

Black Cartographers Put Racism On The American Map

How can maps fight racism and inequality? The work of the Black Panther Party, a 1960s- and 1970s-era Black political group featured in a new movie and a documentary, helps illustrate how cartography – the practice of making and using maps – can illuminate injustice. As these films show, the Black Panthers focused on African American empowerment and community survival, running a diverse array of programming that ranged from free school breakfasts to armed self-defense. Cartography is a less documented aspect of the Panthers’ activism, but the group used maps to reimagine the cities where African Americans lived and struggled. In 1971 the Panthers collected 15,000 signatures on a petition to create new police districts in Berkeley, California – districts that would be governed by local ...
During The US Capitol Riot, A Scholar Of American Anti-Semitism Explains The Hate Symbols Present
Journalism

During The US Capitol Riot, A Scholar Of American Anti-Semitism Explains The Hate Symbols Present

One of the many horrifying images from the Jan. 6 rampage on the U.S. Capitol shows a long-haired, long-bearded man wearing a black “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, and under it the phrase “work brings freedom” – an English translation of the Auschwitz concentration camp motto: “Arbeit macht frei.” Another image, more subtle but no less incendiary, is of a different man whose T-shirt was emblazoned with the inscription “6MWE” above yellow symbols of Italian Fascism. “6MWE” is an acronym common among the far right standing for “6 Million Wasn’t Enough.” It refers to the Jews exterminated during the Nazi Holocaust and hints at the desire of the wearer to increase that number still further. These and related images, captured on television and retweeted on soc...
An Obstacle To Race And Gender Inclusion – The Iconic American Inventor Is Still A White Male
SOCIAL JUSTICE, VIDEO REELS

An Obstacle To Race And Gender Inclusion – The Iconic American Inventor Is Still A White Male

When President Barack Obama signed the America Invents Act in 2011, he was surrounded by a group of people of diverse ages, genders and races. The speech he delivered about the legislation, which changed the technical requirements for filing a patent, highlighted this diversity by emphasizing that today anyone can become an inventor in the United States. Despite Obama’s optimism about women and people of color inventing and patenting the nation’s new and innovative technologies, both groups still lag considerably behind their white male counterparts in being recognized as inventors and owning patents, in the U.S. and globally. Women and people of color possess the same intellectual capacities as their white male counterparts. Yet empirical studies consistently show that patent law overwhe...
New Study Finds Undocumented Immigrants May Actually Make American Communities Safer – Not More Dangerous
IMPACT

New Study Finds Undocumented Immigrants May Actually Make American Communities Safer – Not More Dangerous

Undocumented immigration does not increase the violent crime rate in U.S. metropolitan areas. In fact, it may reduce property crime rates. These are the key findings from our recently published article in the Journal of Crime and Justice, co-authored by Yulin Yang, James Bachmeier and Mike Maciag. Research shows that the American communities where immigrants make their homes are more often improved by their presence than harmed by it. Immigrants bring social, cultural and economic activity to the places they live. That makes these places more vital and safer, not more dangerous. Why it matters People from all social groups and backgrounds commit crimes. But undocumented immigrants, and immigrants more generally, are often baselessly blamed for increasing crime rates – including, repeatedl...
Political Violence And Abuse Of Women In Congress Undermines American Democracy
POLITICS

Political Violence And Abuse Of Women In Congress Undermines American Democracy

From plans to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s being called a “f—ing b—” by her colleague Rep. Ted Yoho, it’s been a nasty year for women in American politics. Now, some women who’ve been targets of such misogyny want to put this problem on the congressional agenda. On Sept. 24, House Democrats Rashida Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Jackie Speier introduced a resolution – a largely symbolic congressional statement that carries no legal weight but provides moral support on certain issues – recognizing violence against women in politics as a global phenomenon. House Resolution 1151, which is currently under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee, calls on the government to take steps to mitigate this violence in the United State...