racism

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

A Legacy Of Racism In Home Ownership And Making Costly Repairs Endured By Black Women

Yolanda, 61, owns a home in the predominantly Black 7th Ward neighborhood in New Orleans. To fix her leaking roof in 2020, she had to borrow money. “It’s one of them credit card loans,” she said. “Like interest of 30% and all that, you know. I was kind of backed up against the wall, so I just went on and made the loan, a high-interest loan.” As a sociologist who has spent the past 10 years studying housing conditions in the U.S., I led a research team that conducted interviews with homeowners who are struggling with basic maintenance such as rotting wood siding and floors, mold, crumbling brickwork, outdated plumbing and leaking ceilings. Our first paper from this project is currently under peer review. Like Yolanda, our interviewees – whom we gave pseudonyms to protect their privacy –...

Unlearning Racism As A Non-Black Person Of Color

20Apr

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Journalism

Unlearning Racism As A Non-Black Person Of Color

The first time I learned about the history of race and racism in America was during my first year of college, when I read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book Between the World and Me. Before then, I had plenty of lessons on race, only none of them had ever happened in the classroom. Growing up as a mixed-race Iranian American girl in the suburban Midwest, being the target of racism was as integral to my education as learning how to read. As a kid, my skin was much darker than it is today, and in my mostly White classroom, I was usually one of the brownest kids and undoubtedly the most hirsute. My race has always been ambiguous, but my hairiness earned me the name “Bigfoot” from some of my classmates. Some who knew my racial background opted for more targeted insults, such as “terrorist” and “Muslim f...

As Gender Discrimination And Racism Intersect Transgender People Of Color Face Unique Challenges

1Apr

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LGBTQ, TOP FOUR

As Gender Discrimination And Racism Intersect Transgender People Of Color Face Unique Challenges

Throughout history, transgender people of color have had a place of honor in many indigenous cultures around the world. This changed in many places, however, as European colonizers began forcing indigenous people to follow white social norms. These include anti-Blackness, Christianity and a gender binary that reduced gender to just man and woman. Colonizers presumed that being cisgender, or having a gender identity that is congruent with gender assigned at birth, was the only acceptable norm. For trans people who refused or were unable to conform, colonial societies often used racism and cissexism, or behaviors and beliefs that assume the inferiority of trans people, to invalidate their existence, limit their access to resources and threaten their well-being. For example, colonizers in s...

In Health Care Addressing Racism Against Black Women Is Key To Ending The US HIV Epidemic

4Apr

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

In Health Care Addressing Racism Against Black Women Is Key To Ending The US HIV Epidemic

Forty years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Black women continue to bear the highest burden of HIV among women. Although Black women represent only 13% of the female population, they accounted for over half of HIV diagnoses among all females in the U.S. in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. White women, who are 62% of the female population, accounted for 21% of HIV diagnoses. Black women are also less likely than white women to receive the antiretroviral therapies that are highly effective at preventing HIV infection and are more likely to die of causes related to HIV. This year’s World AIDS Day theme included ending inequalities in HIV and AIDS care. But in order to address the inequities, it will require examining the root causes of them. In ...

Black Women Who Experience Racism Are At Higher Risk For Future Health Problems – Brain Scans Show Trauma-Like Effects

15Sep

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Journalism

Black Women Who Experience Racism Are At Higher Risk For Future Health Problems – Brain Scans Show Trauma-Like Effects

Sierra Carter, Georgia State University The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Black women who have experienced more racism throughout their lives have stronger brain responses to threat, which may hurt their long-term health, according to a new study I conducted with clinical neuropsychologist Negar Fani and other colleagues. I am part of a research team that for more than 15 years has studied the ways stress related to trauma exposure can affect the mind and body. In our recent study, we took a closer look at a stressor that Black Americans disproportionately face in the U.S.: racism. My colleagues and I completed research with 55 Black women who reported how much they’d been exposed to traumatic experiences, such as childhood abuse and physic...

13Aug

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LGBTQ

Racism On Grindr

Christopher T. Conner, University of Missouri-Columbia On gay dating apps like Grindr, many users have profiles that contain phrases like “I don’t date Black men,” or that claim they are “not attracted to Latinos.” Other times they’ll list races acceptable to them: “White/Asian/Latino only.” This language is so pervasive on the app that websites such as Douchebags of Grindr and hashtags like #grindrwhileblack can be used to find countless examples of the abusive language that men use against people of color. Since 2015 I’ve been studying LGBTQ culture and gay life, and much of that time has been spent trying to untangle and understand the tensions and prejudices within gay culture. While social scientists have explored racism on online dating apps, most of this work has centered on hig...

Having A Chilling Effect On How Educators Teach About Racism – Bans On Critical Race Theory

14Jul

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EDUCATION

Having A Chilling Effect On How Educators Teach About Racism – Bans On Critical Race Theory

Nicholas Ensley Mitchell, University of Kansas Perhaps no topic has dominated education news in 2021 like the debate over whether or not critical race theory should be taught – or whether it is even being taught – in America’s schools. Critical race theory is an academic framework that holds that racism is embedded in American society and its institutions. The debate about whether K-12 students should be exposed to this theory has prompted some Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass laws to make sure that never happens. As of early July 2021, six states have passed laws that seek to ban instruction on critical race theory in K-12 schools, although the laws rarely mention critical race theory by name. The new laws in Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Hampshire and Tennessee al...

Talking About Racism With Kids Most White Parents Don’t

1Jul

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SOCIETY

Talking About Racism With Kids Most White Parents Don’t

Though race and racism are at the top of Americans’ public discussion, most white parents don’t talk about those issues with their kids. Research on how white parents discuss race with their children is sparse. However, past research has shown that conversations about race, much less racism, are rare, even when these issues are highly visible – for example, during the Ferguson protests in 2014. One study found that even though 81% of white mothers believed it was important to have such discussions, only 62% of them reported actually doing so. Of those who said they did, however, fewer than one-third of those people could actually recall a specific conversation. Teaching generations To understand the issue more deeply, we examined surveys of more than 2,000 adults ages 18 and older, colle...

2Apr

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VIDEO REELS

Did Racism Kill Jackie Robinson?

Baseball great Jackie Robinson was a living, breathing example of athleticism and apparent good health, playing four sports at UCLA and becoming the first Black man to play in major league baseball. And yet, the athletic hero and civil rights champion died at age 53, almost blind, from a heart attack, with underlying diabetes and associated complications. When Robinson died on Oct. 24, 1972, few researchers studied health disparities. There was little understanding that social factors and stress greatly affect health, and that racism and discrimination contribute to poor health outcomes among communities of color. Fewer people paid attention to racial and ethnic gaps in life expectancy. Since Robinson’s death, however, research has shown that enduring structural and everyday racism can ...

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

4Apr

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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 ...