Sunday, December 22

Tag: white

Race Against Time: How White Fear of Genetic Annihilation Fuels Abortion Bans
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Journalism

Race Against Time: How White Fear of Genetic Annihilation Fuels Abortion Bans

The recent spate of anti-abortion legislation is rooted in White extinction anxiety and carries on a long tradition of White people controlling the lives and reproduction of people of color. Last year, White people constituted 60% of the U.S. population, down from about 90% in 1950. It’s projected that by 2050, they will be the new minority and people of color will be the majority—a nightmarish prediction to some White people. Sen. Lindsey Graham voiced his concern of a demographic dilution at the 2012 Republican convention, when he said, “The demographics race we’re losing badly … [Republicans are] not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.” Graham’s comments relay what social scientists and antiracism activists call “White Extinction...
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IN OTHER NEWS

So This Is How White Privilege Goes to College

The recent college cheating scandal surprises no one. The super rich have long relied on “legacy admissions” to get them into their elite college of choice. There are those who like to think the United States is a meritocracy, a place where all you need to do to get ahead is to be able and to work hard. Talent plus effort equals success. It’s bunk, of course, as anyone who grows up and looks around would tell you. Wealth and White privilege play an outsize role in determining who comes out on top. And if “on top” means more money, more opportunity, and more power, that trend has only become more pronounced in recent years. The rich continue to grow richer at the expense of everyone else. Which brings us to the unsurprising college admissions scandal this week, in which 5...
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IN OTHER NEWS

The Part About MLK White People Don’t Like to Talk About

Dr. King was widely disliked for his message of liberation for oppressed people in this country—Black people, Brown people, Native people, all poor people. At the time of his death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most reviled men in the United States. Today, we remember him as the beloved Dr. King, and many of us refer to him as such. But as we read mainstream articles and hear reports and speeches about how far we’ve come on this federal holiday honoring him, it is important that we remember some of the most hateful things that have been said about Dr. King and what he stood for by leaders of and in this country—Black and White—then and now. Why? Many of the conditions that he marched, boycotted, and spoke out against still exist today—racism, materialism, militarism. We ce...
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Journalism

Dear White Women, Try On Our Struggle Instead of Our Looks

Last week, the story of a young Swedish woman in “Brown skin” went viral. Emma Hallberg, an Instagram model, says she identifies as White and never claimed to be anything other than, so no we don’t have another Rachel Dolezal here. But Black and Brown women took to social media with their disapproval. Some called it “blackface” and “cultural appropriation.” Turns out the young Swede is not the only White woman “blackfishing.” That is overly tanning themselves or literally spray-painting their bodies darker, in some cases wearing traditionally Black hairstyles and appearing to have augmented their bodies (lips, butt) to resemble that of Black and Brown women, and posting their photos on Instagram. Although I understood the upset and offense felt by many, I initially didn’t find the is...
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Journalism

Outdoor Recreation Isn’t Just for Privileged White Folks Anymore

These organizations help kids of all economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds benefit from adventures in nature. When former professional skier Chris Rutgers founded Outdoor Outreach in 1999, he was simply paying forward what he credits for helping him reconcile his own childhood trauma: experiencing the outdoors with a community of peers. The San Diego-based nonprofit, which is funded through charitable donations and grants, has served more than 10,000 mostly poor and non-White youth for nearly 20 years. Exploring the great outdoors is often associated with Whiteness and economic privilege. But Outdoor Outreach and other youth development programs are shifting the narrative. These organizations aim to make the outdoors—and by extension, the mental, physical, and social be...
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Journalism, SOCIAL JUSTICE

This Isn’t the First Time White Supremacists Have Tried to Cancel Birthright Citizenship

History shows that a broad coalition of civil rights activists is how to fight back. In the latest in a long string of attacks on immigration, this week Trump declared he would issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship. Established by the 14th amendment to grant citizenship to freed slaves, the idea that all people born in the United States are U.S. citizens, regardless of race or where their parents came from, has long been upheld by the courts and the Constitution. But this is not the first time White supremacists have tried to restrict the rights of citizenship along racial lines. In a little-known episode from World War II, nativist agitators who had led earlier efforts to exclude Asian immigrant communities—and paved the way for Japanese American incarcerati...
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Journalism

White Supremacy Thrives, Even in Progressive Places

As a Black woman, I know we were never living in a post-racial paradise. But I still have hope for a society that cares for us all. Native Bay Area Black folks like myself are all too familiar with a form of NIMBYism that lives in progressive places. This strand of parochialism is less about the ills of urban development (although that certainly exists), than the dogged belief that this region has somehow escaped the litany of “isms” that plague the rest of the country. Over the years, friends, colleagues, and even random strangers have earnestly assured me that prejudice and discrimination do not exist in _____, fill in the city or the organization or the industry; that my experiences of bias, unequal treatment, or disrespect were isolated events or misunderstandings—on my part; and ...
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Journalism

Charlottesville: Four white supremacists charged over 2017 rally

Four men linked to far-right Rise Above Movement accused of intent to incite a riot at deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, KKK and members of the 'alt-right' march in Charlottesville in 2017 [File: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP] Four men linked to a white supremacist group were arrested on Tuesday in connection with the far-right rally that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year, authorities said. Benjamin Drake Daley, 25, Michael Paul Miselis, 29, Thomas Walter Gillen, 34, and Cole Evan White, 24, were arrested in California and were to be transported to Charlottesville after making initial appearances in federal courts in California on Tuesday, US Attorney Thomas Cullen said at a news conference. The...
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IN OTHER NEWS

Laquan McDonald: Black teen remembered as white cop goes on trial

Community holds vigil for McDonald as murder trial continues for white officer Jason Van Dyke over 2014 killing. Protesters, including Pastor Ira Acree, second from left, Rev Marshall Hatch, centre, and Eric Russell of Tree of Life Justice League, march towards the Cook County Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois at a vigil for Laquan McDonald [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera] Chicago, Illinois - Activists and their supporters marched to the door of Chicago's Cook County Courthouse on Tuesday night to mark what would have been the 21st birthday of Laquan McDonald, the black teen shot dead in 2014 by white police officer Jason Van Dyke, who is now on trial for first-degree murder. Chanting "Slave catchers, KKK, killer cops of today", and singing a mournful rendition of "Happy Birthday", the two doz...
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