Earlier this year, in Minneapolis, at St. Paul’s middle school, Tim Olmsted, who is a sixth-grade teacher, was placed on paid leave due to racial discrimination. Latasha
Tolbert, a mother of one of one of Mr. Olmsted’s students, said Mr. Olmsted
told her daughter that she would be standing on the corner with a sign begging
for money on the expressway. Mrs. Tolbert told the principle this and was
shocked by the lack action taken on Mr. Olmsted. Mr. Olmsted also told the
whole class that it is easier for him to teach rich white folks than poor black
people. This is complete discrimination and needs to have action taken to end
this discrimination. This can be related back to the segregation of schools
because even though this school is not segregated, this teacher treats kid poorly
if you are a minority group. Tolbert said the discrimination started in her
daughter’s class months ago. At the time, five of the students in Olmsted’s
class were black. Tolbert said all of them were singled out at some point for
the color of their skin. Meg
Kane, the attorney for the families that are filing racial discrimination
charges against Mr. Olmsted, says that known of the students have ever been any
trouble. The children told Kane that all of them had to sit at the back of the
class. Kane said Olmsted called them “fat, black, and stupid,” and said such
things as “You will never amount to anything” and “You only have one parent.” However,
this is not the only racial discrimination case in the U.S; Attorney General Erik
Holder is claiming that minority groups are being discriminated against in
schools everywhere. He is stating that some school administrators are enforcing
the disciplinary code more towards minority groups and only those groups. He
states “83 percent of African American male students
and 74 percent of Hispanic male students ended up in trouble and suspended for
some period of time.” However, Erik Holder ignores the statistics that 59
percent of white males are also disciplined. However, even Erik Holder
statistics are a little shady, if does not erase that fact that discrimination
is still occurring in schools. The integration of schools was meant to end
discrimination but clearly, there are still people out there that take it upon
themselves, like Mr. Olmsted, that ignore the fact that everyone is created equal
and there are no differences among any races, and are just racists and always
be.
Question: Do you think St. Paul's Middle school should have taken quicker action against Mr. Olmsted? Do you think discrimination against minority groups in schools should have more media attention?
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Gainesville High School Teens Creates Racist YouTube Video
Two teenage girls from Gainesville, Florida posted a YouTube video including a racist rants directed at their black classmates, complaining about their diction and supposed lack of intelligence. The video is linked below, it’s definitely worth watching. In the video, the girls made points saying that black teenagers abuse the welfare system and that they get pregnant on purpose to keep getting a welfare check instead of getting an education. Also, one of the girls said “You can understand what we are saying, our accents, we use actual words. Black people do not.” They compared the black population between blacks and n*ggers. They stated that black people strive to achieve while n*ggers just get pregnant and don’t make a life for themselves. The principal of the high school, David Shelnutt, didn’t go into detail of their punishment, but he did say that their comments were no welcome and that there is “no place for that in society.” Once the video went viral, the two girls experienced heavy harassment and feared their safety. One of the girls even hid at a relative’s house while her mother was at work. The two girls publicly applied in a local newspaper and they stated that they weren’t “raised to hate people for their race, and [they] still don’t.” The high school wore orange, the color of race tolerance, for the week as a sigh of solidarity. Eventually, the girls were forced to leave Gainesville High School.
I related this event back to Kymberly Wimberly, who was the top of her graduating class with nearly straight As, honors and AP classes. She was originally valedictorian, but the principal decided to make her co-valedictorian along with a white male student with visible lower graders than she. It was not made clear if it was because she was black, but many believe it to be the case. Also, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was meant to end all types of discrimination and segregation against blacks. So, when these types of stories come up in the news, it just shows that people in our country are still discriminatory and that it is still a problem, even though it is a federal law.
Do you believe there is a possible way to completely abolish discrimination in our country? Explain why or why not.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Jeff's Current Event
Barack Obama, being the first African American President of the United States, has been surrounded by the controversy of his race and whether or not he was born in this country since the days prior to and following his election. In most recent events, Montana’s Chief Federal Judge forwarded a racist chain e-mail to President Obama’s e-mail address. Cebull claimed that it was sent with a political message and with no racist intentions. A report on the Great Falls Tribune newspaper quoted the message:
“Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.
A little boy said to his mother, 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?' His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"
Cebull “publicly acknowledged his misconduct” and Appellate Court executive Cathy Catterson stated “Judge Cebull has initiated the process by which a complaint of judicial misconduct will be brought against him. The Judicial Council is expected to act expeditiously in investigating and resolving this matter." President and CEO of the left-leaning nonprofit Common Cause, Bob Edgar, believes that “If he has any respect for his office and for ideals of equality and human dignity on which our country was founded, Judge Cebull will step down today.” There are no definite ways of removing federal judges from office. If the situation escalates Congress could initiate impeachment proceedings, In which case the judge would most likely resign before actions would be put into place.
What do you think should happen to Judge Cebull? How would you respond to this e-mail if you were President Obama?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Race Data and Statistics
Click here to view three documents that provide insight on race relations in the Commonwealth.
When analyzing the data, determine trends that continue to appear with regard to connections between race and class. Comment here, by group.
When analyzing the data, determine trends that continue to appear with regard to connections between race and class. Comment here, by group.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Cassandra's Current Event
The article I read was about…
-Black and white marriage in the South becoming a changing image
-Jeffrey Norwood, a black college basketball coach was offered a great job north of the gulf coast but at that time he was in a relationship with a woman who was and white and Asian.
-Although his father was worried about him being apart of an interracial relationship in South Mississippi because of the dangers he might be faced with.
-As Jeffrey Norwood visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi he noted that he saw a growing diversity of the different races that lived there
-In fact, about 46 years ago, Mississippi legalized mixed marriages. In Mississippi it was illegal to have an interracial marriage because it was a law until 1967.
-Maryland was actually the first colony to prohibit interracial marriage and this was enacted in the 1660’s. -Then by 1750, all of the southern colonies as well as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts made interracial marriage illegal.
-During the 1950’s about half of the states still had laws that prohibited interracial marriage.
-Then by the early 1960’s at least 41 states enacted anti-miscegenation statuses one at a time.
-After the Loving vs. Virginia case in the Supreme Court in 1967 declared that the laws that banned interracial marriage violated the equal protection clause because not only did it violate principle of racial equality but because it abridged the fundamental right to marry. People of different races have been allowed to marry ever since.
- A 2010 Census Bureau reveals that the nations mixed race population is growing at a much faster pace then demographers had estimate, especially in the South as well as parts of the Midwest.
- In North Carolina, the mixed-race population nearly doubled.
-Well as in Georgia, it increased by over 80 percent, and by nearly as much in Kentucky and Tennessee. ---Also, in Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, the multiracial population increased by about 70 percent.
- A sociologist and demographer, William H. Frey stated that “The fact that even states like Mississippi were able to see a large explosion of residents identifying as both black and white tells us something that people would not have predicted 10 or 20 years ago.”
- The increase of the amount of mixed race people were smaller in states like Mississippi because to begin with because it had a much fewer amount of mixed raced people where as in states such as California, Hawaii and Oklahoma the increase of mixed race people occurred at a faster pace. In fact in Hawaii, about 23% of the population is of a multiracial group which was the highest out of any state in the country!
-Since 2000 Hawaii’s growth of multiracial groups was 23.6 percent
-Both historically and today, in Mississippi the two groups that are least likely to marry are blacks and whites and sociologists believe that it’s because of the economic as well as social distance between them.
-In actuality, that’s the most common interracial marriage but multiracial people still consist of a small percentage of Mississippi’s total population because of a population of about 34,000, interracial people only account for about 1.1 & and many people complain of receiving racial inequities.
Marvin King whose black and married to a white woman as well as a political science professor at the University of Mississippi,states that “Racial attitudes are changing..day in, day out, there is certainly not the hostility there was years ago, and I think you see that in that there are more interracial relationships, and people don’t fear those relationships. They don’t have to hide those relationships anymore.”
-Many experts believe that due to military service as well as the amount of time spent at a college campus creates relationships of mixed races.
-Hattiesburg is a city of Mississippi that consists of about 50,000 residents. It also contains the Camp Shelby military base on the southern side as well as the University of Southern Mississippi which might explain why Hattiesburg and its surrounding counties are enduring a rapid growth of mixed-race people.
-Jeffrey and Patty Norwoord got married and although they weren’t searching to live in a diverse neighborhood in Hattiesburg, they discovered that they were living in one anyways because their families turned out to be black families, white families as well as families that were mixed of the two.
-Mrs. Norwood also spoke out about the difficulty their children would have on checking only one box on forms at ask to mark their race. She states, “I usually went with Asian because I could only check one box…Our daughter’s life will not be like that. She knows what she is and she’s exposed to a little bit of everything. The times have certainly changed.”
- Although where they lived was also diverse, they have experiences instances where racial tensions occurred. For instance, a waitress at a restaurant might suddenly decide that they aren’t serving the Norwoods. Also when they are walking with their arms intertwined, people may ask in disbelief “Are you together?”
-Even though interracial marriage seems to be occurring and the amount of mixed race people are becoming a growing population, a poll of the Mississippi republicans going into the 2012 election reveal that 46 percent of GOP (Grand old Party) voters in the state think interracial marriage should be illegal.
Although Mississippi has legalized mixed race marriages, do you think that Mississippi should make interracial marriage illegal once again or do you disagree with the Republican voters? Why or why not? Even though Mississippi has become increasingly diverse with mixed race relationships over the years, why do you think racial tension is still occurring?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/us/20race.html?ref=raceremixed
-Black and white marriage in the South becoming a changing image
-Jeffrey Norwood, a black college basketball coach was offered a great job north of the gulf coast but at that time he was in a relationship with a woman who was and white and Asian.
-Although his father was worried about him being apart of an interracial relationship in South Mississippi because of the dangers he might be faced with.
-As Jeffrey Norwood visited Hattiesburg, Mississippi he noted that he saw a growing diversity of the different races that lived there
-In fact, about 46 years ago, Mississippi legalized mixed marriages. In Mississippi it was illegal to have an interracial marriage because it was a law until 1967.
-Maryland was actually the first colony to prohibit interracial marriage and this was enacted in the 1660’s. -Then by 1750, all of the southern colonies as well as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts made interracial marriage illegal.
-During the 1950’s about half of the states still had laws that prohibited interracial marriage.
-Then by the early 1960’s at least 41 states enacted anti-miscegenation statuses one at a time.
-After the Loving vs. Virginia case in the Supreme Court in 1967 declared that the laws that banned interracial marriage violated the equal protection clause because not only did it violate principle of racial equality but because it abridged the fundamental right to marry. People of different races have been allowed to marry ever since.
- A 2010 Census Bureau reveals that the nations mixed race population is growing at a much faster pace then demographers had estimate, especially in the South as well as parts of the Midwest.
- In North Carolina, the mixed-race population nearly doubled.
-Well as in Georgia, it increased by over 80 percent, and by nearly as much in Kentucky and Tennessee. ---Also, in Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, the multiracial population increased by about 70 percent.
- A sociologist and demographer, William H. Frey stated that “The fact that even states like Mississippi were able to see a large explosion of residents identifying as both black and white tells us something that people would not have predicted 10 or 20 years ago.”
- The increase of the amount of mixed race people were smaller in states like Mississippi because to begin with because it had a much fewer amount of mixed raced people where as in states such as California, Hawaii and Oklahoma the increase of mixed race people occurred at a faster pace. In fact in Hawaii, about 23% of the population is of a multiracial group which was the highest out of any state in the country!
-Since 2000 Hawaii’s growth of multiracial groups was 23.6 percent
-Both historically and today, in Mississippi the two groups that are least likely to marry are blacks and whites and sociologists believe that it’s because of the economic as well as social distance between them.
-In actuality, that’s the most common interracial marriage but multiracial people still consist of a small percentage of Mississippi’s total population because of a population of about 34,000, interracial people only account for about 1.1 & and many people complain of receiving racial inequities.
Marvin King whose black and married to a white woman as well as a political science professor at the University of Mississippi,states that “Racial attitudes are changing..day in, day out, there is certainly not the hostility there was years ago, and I think you see that in that there are more interracial relationships, and people don’t fear those relationships. They don’t have to hide those relationships anymore.”
-Many experts believe that due to military service as well as the amount of time spent at a college campus creates relationships of mixed races.
-Hattiesburg is a city of Mississippi that consists of about 50,000 residents. It also contains the Camp Shelby military base on the southern side as well as the University of Southern Mississippi which might explain why Hattiesburg and its surrounding counties are enduring a rapid growth of mixed-race people.
-Jeffrey and Patty Norwoord got married and although they weren’t searching to live in a diverse neighborhood in Hattiesburg, they discovered that they were living in one anyways because their families turned out to be black families, white families as well as families that were mixed of the two.
-Mrs. Norwood also spoke out about the difficulty their children would have on checking only one box on forms at ask to mark their race. She states, “I usually went with Asian because I could only check one box…Our daughter’s life will not be like that. She knows what she is and she’s exposed to a little bit of everything. The times have certainly changed.”
- Although where they lived was also diverse, they have experiences instances where racial tensions occurred. For instance, a waitress at a restaurant might suddenly decide that they aren’t serving the Norwoods. Also when they are walking with their arms intertwined, people may ask in disbelief “Are you together?”
-Even though interracial marriage seems to be occurring and the amount of mixed race people are becoming a growing population, a poll of the Mississippi republicans going into the 2012 election reveal that 46 percent of GOP (Grand old Party) voters in the state think interracial marriage should be illegal.
Although Mississippi has legalized mixed race marriages, do you think that Mississippi should make interracial marriage illegal once again or do you disagree with the Republican voters? Why or why not? Even though Mississippi has become increasingly diverse with mixed race relationships over the years, why do you think racial tension is still occurring?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/us/20race.html?ref=raceremixed
Sunday, February 5, 2012
In South Carolina, racism is still a big issue, in politics, and in everyday life. South Carolina's State House still flies a Confederate flag outside, though it used to fly right on top of the State House dome. This issue has affected many different elections and continues to be a contentious one. But some black voters in South Carolina say that the state and the Republican party are being racist, and they're not being subtle. South Carolina recently tried to enact a law requiring voters to show a valid DMV issued photo identification at the polls but according to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez "there are 81,938 minority citizens who are already registered to vote and who lack DMV-issued identification," which means that this law would make it difficult or impossible for them to vote. In December, the Department of Justice prevented the law from going into effect on those very grounds. 27.9% of South Carolina residents were black according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
These laws are reminiscent of black codes from the reconstruction era
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Maddie Current Event 2/3/12
Article Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/21/white.persecution/index.html
Article: Are whites racially oppressed?
By John Blake
March, 2011
Main Thing of Article:
- Racial discrimination and how many white people feel as though they are moving from the majority group into a racially oppressed minority group.
-Historically….
- White’s always been majority in America
-White’s have had power, typically been higher class all throughout
-White’s held slaves: During the slave trade and slave era black people were enslaved by white holders
-During reconstruction era, black people were denied their rights, were prevented from voting at polls even though they legally had their right to vote
-1900’s until Civil Rights movement black people have been discriminated against – racist terms, denied basic rights, denied places to go (bathrooms, restaurants), racial intermarriage not allowed, etc
-White Supremecist groups such as Ku Klux Klan have done hate crimes against black people
- A recent Public Religion Research Institute poll found 44% of Americans surveyed identify discrimination against whites as being just as big as bigotry aimed at blacks and other minorities
-White people are feeling like they are becoming minorities for many reasons
-Some examples
-Not being offered minority scholarships for financial aid because they are not a part of a minority group
-Due to the recently tough economy, some white people are having severe financial struggles and are no longer up high in the social structure of America
. “Now more white Americans are sharing unemployment lines with "those people" -- black and brown, Tim Wise, author of a book called “White Like Me” says.
"For the first time since the Great Depression, white Americans have been confronted with a level of economic insecurity that we're not used to," he says. "It's not so new for black and brown folks, but for white folks, this is something we haven't seen since the Depression."
A lot of comments have been made about white people becoming a minority since President Obama was elected into office.
-In 2011 Fox talk-show host Glenn Beck led a march on Washington (attended primarily by white people) to "restore honor," and once called President Obama a racist with a "deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture."
-Peter Brimelow, author of "Alien Nation: Common Sense About America's Immigration Disaster," asserts that much of white America's anxiety derives from living under a black president and changing demographics.
Diversity, he says, "is not strength."
-Some white people feel that they are losing their grip on America, they are no longer in control of America
-Many of Americas celebritys, sport stars, etc are people of color, and the changing face of America is making some white people feel as though they are becoming an oppressed minority
-This fear of economically and socially not having a grip on all of the power in America is -making some white people feel as though they are being oppressed and treated like minorities.
- news outlets ran a number of stories claiming that an incident from the 2008 elections happened, in which activists from the New Black Panther Party appeared to be intimidating voters at a polling place. Those claims were never proven.
Other American’s however feel as though these thoughts that white people are becoming an oppressed minority are false. The severity to which white people committed racist acts against other races is much more than is being done to them. Their own fear on their potentially diminishing power in America and self-righteousness is causing them to say they are feeling as though they are oppressed and are a minority group needing help.
Others say that they are not becoming oppressed and that race in America is improving. Mona Charen, a columnist for the National Review says that “If more white Americans feel like an embattled minority, why did they elect President Barack Obama?”
While there is increase in diversity and racial equality in our country, which is a good thing to promote and something America has been working on for a long time, there are those who are seeing it is turning the tables, but it’s debatable to how far it’s possible to go to really say whites are becoming oppressed minorities.
2010 Census Records
White persons, percent, 2010 (a)
72.4%
Black persons, percent, 2010 (a)
12.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a)
0.9%
Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a)
4.8%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a)
0.2%
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2010
2.9%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2010 (b)
16.3%
Question: Do you think that there is racial oppression against white people? Why or why not? Do you think that people would feel this way if not for certain factors such as the recent struggles with the economy?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/21/white.persecution/index.html
Article: Are whites racially oppressed?
By John Blake
March, 2011
Main Thing of Article:
- Racial discrimination and how many white people feel as though they are moving from the majority group into a racially oppressed minority group.
-Historically….
- White’s always been majority in America
-White’s have had power, typically been higher class all throughout
-White’s held slaves: During the slave trade and slave era black people were enslaved by white holders
-During reconstruction era, black people were denied their rights, were prevented from voting at polls even though they legally had their right to vote
-1900’s until Civil Rights movement black people have been discriminated against – racist terms, denied basic rights, denied places to go (bathrooms, restaurants), racial intermarriage not allowed, etc
-White Supremecist groups such as Ku Klux Klan have done hate crimes against black people
- A recent Public Religion Research Institute poll found 44% of Americans surveyed identify discrimination against whites as being just as big as bigotry aimed at blacks and other minorities
-White people are feeling like they are becoming minorities for many reasons
-Some examples
-Not being offered minority scholarships for financial aid because they are not a part of a minority group
-Due to the recently tough economy, some white people are having severe financial struggles and are no longer up high in the social structure of America
. “Now more white Americans are sharing unemployment lines with "those people" -- black and brown, Tim Wise, author of a book called “White Like Me” says.
"For the first time since the Great Depression, white Americans have been confronted with a level of economic insecurity that we're not used to," he says. "It's not so new for black and brown folks, but for white folks, this is something we haven't seen since the Depression."
A lot of comments have been made about white people becoming a minority since President Obama was elected into office.
-In 2011 Fox talk-show host Glenn Beck led a march on Washington (attended primarily by white people) to "restore honor," and once called President Obama a racist with a "deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture."
-Peter Brimelow, author of "Alien Nation: Common Sense About America's Immigration Disaster," asserts that much of white America's anxiety derives from living under a black president and changing demographics.
Diversity, he says, "is not strength."
-Some white people feel that they are losing their grip on America, they are no longer in control of America
-Many of Americas celebritys, sport stars, etc are people of color, and the changing face of America is making some white people feel as though they are becoming an oppressed minority
-This fear of economically and socially not having a grip on all of the power in America is -making some white people feel as though they are being oppressed and treated like minorities.
- news outlets ran a number of stories claiming that an incident from the 2008 elections happened, in which activists from the New Black Panther Party appeared to be intimidating voters at a polling place. Those claims were never proven.
Other American’s however feel as though these thoughts that white people are becoming an oppressed minority are false. The severity to which white people committed racist acts against other races is much more than is being done to them. Their own fear on their potentially diminishing power in America and self-righteousness is causing them to say they are feeling as though they are oppressed and are a minority group needing help.
Others say that they are not becoming oppressed and that race in America is improving. Mona Charen, a columnist for the National Review says that “If more white Americans feel like an embattled minority, why did they elect President Barack Obama?”
While there is increase in diversity and racial equality in our country, which is a good thing to promote and something America has been working on for a long time, there are those who are seeing it is turning the tables, but it’s debatable to how far it’s possible to go to really say whites are becoming oppressed minorities.
2010 Census Records
White persons, percent, 2010 (a)
72.4%
Black persons, percent, 2010 (a)
12.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a)
0.9%
Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a)
4.8%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a)
0.2%
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2010
2.9%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2010 (b)
16.3%
Question: Do you think that there is racial oppression against white people? Why or why not? Do you think that people would feel this way if not for certain factors such as the recent struggles with the economy?
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