https://time.com/5864704/environmental-racism-climate-change/

Where you live has much larger implications in the United States than most realize. Your home, where you grow up, has influences on your opportunities, education, and one that most people forget, your physical health and wellbeing. The environment you live in can have major influence over your health and lifespan. This is why I think it is very important to discuss and educate others on the subject of environmental racism and climate justice. Some communities in the United States are living in inhumane environments due to the failings of our government and long ingrained systemic injustice that is still harming communities across the country today.

Environmental racism is the policies and practices that disproportionately harm the environments of minority communities or communities of color. The principle of environmental justice stems from the concept that all communities are entitled to equal protection, which includes living in communities free of pollution and health hazards. This means that these minority populations have the ability to be in the room or have a seat at the table when decisions that impact the environment of their communities, for example, and all white city board cannot singlehandedly decide to put a new landfill in a predominantly black city. People in these minority communities should be able to make decisions that protect themselves. In the United States, pollution is segregated. There are many examples of this, from toxic water to environmental disasters that are more harmful to communities of color. When considering environmental racism, we must consider who is the most vulnerable and who are the people living in communities that climate change and pollution are most going to impact. 

Unfortunately, zip code is a significant determining factor as to whether a population will endure environmental racism. One prominent example of this is Detroit, Michigan. Detroit is 83% black, and is the most polluted zip code in Michigan. Michigan, as a whole, is only made up of  25% people of color, demonstrating that the pollution is disproportionately impacting communities of color. The pollution in Detroit has become a major civil rights issue, with the mostly black residents experiencing health problems such as asthma as a result of irresponsible industrial plants polluting their communities. Of the eight facilities in Michigan that accept hazardous waste, seven of them are located in predominantly black lower income communities in Detroit. As a result, these black communities are suffering due to decisions that they have not made, and frequently are unable to escape due to financial factors. Michigan imports the most amount of hazardous waste of any state, and of the imported waste, 94% of it went to Wayne County, which has the largest population of people of color than any county in the state. It is clear that although the United States claims that there is laws and regulations under the EPA to prevent environmental racism and protect communities of color, Detroit and its predominantly black residents are suffering as a result of environmental racism and lack of justice provided by the supposed safeguards in place. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/books/review/mona-hanna-attisha-what-the-eyes-dont-see-anna-clark-poisoned-city.html?auth=login-google

Another publicized case of environmental racism in Michigan is the Flint water crisis. Flint is composed of majority black residents, and the water supply was poisoned with lead for months while ignored by the city, and years without proper treatment. The water supply was changed to save the city money, however improper treatment caused poisonous and toxic lead to seep into the community’s water supply which, in turn, poisoned the residents of Flint. To make matters worse, when the issue was brought up to the city about residents getting sick from the discolored water, the response was underwhelming and pathetic considering what was warranted as thousands of residents were endangered by the city’s recklessness. There was an entire city becoming ill because the city had made a mistake. The water contamination and resulting health ailments that ensued were minimized by the government when residents were bringing their concerns about the water to them, and it took the government much longer than it ever should have to respond appropriately to a hazard of this magnitude. As a result, residents in their children were left with life-long implications on their health, including organ damage, hair loss, impaired brain function. This is a very well-known instance of environmental injustice, as thousands of minority residents in Flint were denied access to clean and safe water in their community.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/may/06/cancertown-louisana-reserve-special-report

An 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, which contains 150 chemical plants and oil refineries, has been named “Cancer Alley” because of the extremely high incidence of cancer cases near the industrial plants. Louisiana is known to be the most polluted, toxic air in the United States, and this particular stretch is the worst in the state and country. On top of the very prevalent incidence of cancer, toxic pollution in the air also causes lung issues and heart problems. This stretch, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, is known to have the highest cancer risk in the United States. A community in Cancer Alley called Reserve is known to have a risk of cancer that is fifty times that of the national average. Chemical plants that have been built on old plantations are plaguing the predominantly black, working class communities of Cancer Alley, and setting them up for lifetimes of health conditions and potentially fatal cancer. In addition, this area is predominantly black and low income. There have been entire families that have been killed by cancer and other ailments which the industrial plants’ pollution has caused. These industrial pollutants have been allowed to be released by the government into these communities and within miles of elementary and high schools, exposing children to the known toxins. Even though there are already 150 plants along this stretch, they are not done being built. There has been more land sold to the massive corporations that have plans to open more plastic factories or oil refineries. Some of these families do not have the financial means to leave, and others stay because their family history goes back many generations in the communities in Cancer Alley. The families here consider Cancer Alley home, and are advocating and fighting for change in legislation to protect their communities and demand equal protection for climate justice. 

A very relevant concern falling under environmental racism and justice is climate change, because environmental disasters are more harmful to communities of color. We have discussed and outlined some instances of American cities where pollution is harming people of color in particular, but what about impacts of climate change on communities of color? For example, flooding and hurricanes that result from climate change have long-term impacts on communities of color and low-income communities. One of the most shocking examples of this occurring was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, particularly in Louisiana. Over one million Louisiana residents were displaced after the devastating hurricane, 75% of which were black, and one third of which were poor. The recovery of the communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina were even more shocking— after ten years, in the predominantly black neighborhood of New Orleans, only 37% of the population had returned. There is a clear split between the rich, often white, residents that are able to escape natural disasters, and rebuild quickly afterward; and the poor, mostly black and communities of color, that do not have the option to leave when a disaster strikes nor the financial means to rebuild following disasters. Another example of an environmental disaster that disproportionately impacted communities of color and lower-income communities was Hurricane Harvey in 2017 in Texas. On the Texas coast, there are many communities of color and low-income communities that have long faced environmental racism through excessive pollution. During the time following the hurricane, the factories released even more toxic pollutants into the already vulnerable areas that were trying to recover from the disaster. Similarly to Hurricane Katrina, these communities were given less federal money to rebuild and took much longer to recover than the white and affluent parts of Texas impacted. 

It would be remiss not to address the intersectionality of environmental racism and climate justice. Not only are cities like Detroit, Flint and the region in Cancer Alley predominantly minority communities, but they are also mostly low-income communities. There is segregation both by race and class in the United States when it comes to environmental justice or the lack thereof. Communities of color are more likely to face environmental injustices than white communities, just as lower class or lower income communities are more likely than high income communities to face environmental injustices. There is an intersectional aspect here, where low income communities of color are at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to receiving environmental justice. However, according to Robert Bullard, a sociologist who has been dubbed the “father of environmental justice”, racism trumps classism when it comes to environmental injustices, as middle class black communities are more likely to face environmental injustices than poor white communities. The issue of environmental racism needs to be confronted by our government and put an end to in order to protect communities of color. 

Sources:

https://time.com/5864704/environmental-racism-climate-change/

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/communities-of-color-are-dumping-grounds-for-toxic-waste-in-michigan/Content?oid=25351963

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/books/review/mona-hanna-attisha-what-the-eyes-dont-see-anna-clark-poisoned-city.html?auth=login-google

https://www.spglawfirm.com/news/perfect-storm-environmental-inequality/

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/us/a-question-of-environmental-racism-in-flint.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/may/06/cancertown-louisana-reserve-special-report

https://law.utexas.edu/news/2018/09/04/environmental-justice-and-the-anniversary-of-hurricane-harvey/

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/robert-bullard-how-environmental-racism-shapes-the-us/

The Minimum Wage Problem

Adam Gieseke

This is slightly different from other diary entries, but I thought it was important to mention.  The minimum wage of the country has always been an issue.  This number that describes the value the least important job is worth has been an issue since its inception.  While the United States did not have a minimum wage while the industrial revolution was occurring, it was implemented by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938.  This initial federal standard was set at $0.25 per hour, which is equivalent to approximately $4 an hour today due to inflation (Bose).  The value of the United States Dollar has continued to rise, with the value of $100 in 1938 being equivalent to approximately $1,865 in current USD (Webster).  Conversely, the federal standard for minimum wage is only $7.25 currently in comparison to the equivalent $4 standard that was implemented in 1938.  This is a major injustice that has had a negative effect on the lives of Americans by valuing different areas of the country differently, despite performing the same job.

Figure 1: Inflation of the United States Dollar since the implementation of the minimum wage (Webster).

The minimum wage has often been linked to the poverty line.  Since the late 1980s, an individual working a minimum wage job for 50 weeks a year while working 40 hours each year would make around 60% of the national poverty line, or they are 40% under the poverty line (Bose).  This does not factor in the different minimum wages that are present in different states and cities.  For example, the minimum wage is $14 in California, which seems like an improvement over the federal standard (Department of Industrial Relations in California).  However, the cost of living is much higher in California than in other states.  A worker in California should be expected to make up to double their equivalent salary in Ohio to live the same quality of life (Best Places).  This is an important injustice, as the minimum wage of Ohio ($8.80) is not half of that in California allowing the minimum wage worker in Ohio a better chance to reach living standards (Meibers).  The minimum wage was originally implemented in order to guarantee a better standard of life for the people working the jobs, but with the current inflation levels of the USD, there is no way that it is capable of providing enough sustainability for people to thrive within the United States.  This has led to a difference in the value of the USD in different parts of the country, furthering the injustice towards those working minimum wage jobs.

Figure 2: A map of the United States showing relative value of the United States Dollar (Bellafiore).

Bibliography

Bellafiore, Robert. What is the Real Value of $100 in Your State? 14 August 2019. https://taxfoundation.org/real-value-100-state-2019/. 14 March 2021.

Best Places. 2021 Cost of Living Calculator. 2021. https://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/columbus-oh/los-angeles-ca/75000. 27 March 2021.

Bose, Apurva. History of Minimum Wage. 2016. https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-minimum-wage/#:~:text=Minimum%20wage%20was%20set%20at,Labor%20Standards%20Act%20(FLSA). 27 March 2021.

Department of Industrial Relations in California. Minimum Wage. December 2020. https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_minimumwage.htm. 27 March 2021.

Meibers, Bonnie. Ohio minimum wage gets inflation boost in 2021. 4 January 2021. https://www.journal-news.com/news/ohio-minimum-wage-gets-inflation-boost-in-2021/HLG2ISKKWJG23GKFXALDAITDCA/. 27 March 2021.

Minimum Wage. December 2020. https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_minimumwage.htm. 27 March 2021.

Webster, Ian. CPI Inflation Calculator. 2021. https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1938. 27 March 2021.

The example of systemic injustice I would like to discuss is the abundance of food deserts in low income, high poverty areas. Food deserts occur in areas of high poverty where there is no access to grocery stores or high-quality food. All that is left are convenient stores and sometimes fast food which offer empty calories and no-good sources of fruits and vegetables. Typically, food deserts occur in cities where redlining has disrupted the housing industry but can occur anywhere. In Ohio, Vinton counties only grocery store closed leaving tens of thousands without access to a grocery store. In the suburbs of Chicago, I have experienced driving through and realizing there are no actual grocery stores around me and only fast-food marts or convenient stores. In these historically high minority areas, this is a slap in the face because these people cannot supply themselves with the proper nutrition. A minority population cannot live the same as a dominant population if the minorities are unable to even feed themselves. Food deserts exist because the nearby population does not have a high enough income to be able to keep the grocery stores doors open. Typically, in very rural or poor neighborhoods, food deserts occur, and the effects of redlining are still present because the poor neighborhoods were usually grouped together. To change this government needs to subsidize companies to influence them to have grocery stores in these historically underserved communities. A community has no ability to prosper if they are unable to even meet the basic nutrition needs.

A study from Tulane University found that over 2.3 million Americans lived over a mile away from a grocery store and did not own a car. These areas tended to be in disproportionately minority communities. In addition to grocery stores being far away, most of these grocery stores do not have any foods that are culturally important or ones that help meet dietary restrictions. There are numerous financial incentives for members of these communities choose fast food or unhealthier options than the grocery store. All these issues lead to systemic injustices.

Study Conducting Food Deserts

https://ddc.ohio.gov/food-desert-series-1

Mohsin Hamid’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is a novel based on a Pakistani man, Changez. Although the book takes place over one night, Changez explains his whole experience of having lived in the United States both before and after the 9/11 attacks. The twin tower attacks were a huge turning point of his American experience and a big theme of this novel.

The 9/11 attacks had a very huge impact on the treatment of Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims in America. In the aftermath of the attacks, the US Government implemented special programs such as the USA Patriot Act and the National Security Entry-Exit Registration Program also known as the Special Registration program requiring male non-citizens from 25 countries above the age of 16 to register with the Department of Homeland and Security. Although these programs were implemented as a measure of counter-terrorism, they unfairly targeted a whole demographic by mixing immigration with questions of national security. This Special Registration program put 13,100 people into deportation proceedings between 2002 and 2003.

A lot of families were forced to flee because of fear of getting deported. In the Coney Island Avenue neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, which is predominantly a Pakistani and Bangladeshi neighborhood, a public school principle said that 50 of his students had disappeared. If you take into account that the average number of people in these families was 6, this would mean that roughly 300 people fled this poverty stricken neighborhood. This also impacted the business and commercial industry of this area with 30 out of approximately 150 businesses owned by Muslims going out of business .

When thinking about all of these different after effects that the 9/11 attacks had on Muslims and South Asians in America, it is easy to see why Changez had the feelings he did towards a nation that he once felt like he belonged in and had given him so many opportunities to succeed in his professional career.

History Does Not Repeat Itself, But Ignorance Does: Post-9/11 Treatment of Muslims and the Liberty-Security Dilemma

Mohsin Hamid’s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is the second in his series of novels, set in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Hamid finds himself in Palo Alto, California at Princeton University, living in the United States for the first time. Hamid grew up in Pakistan and his connection to his home is clear throughout the entire novel. Hamish is living in the states when the Twin Towers are attacked on 9/11 and as a Pakistani man living in the U.S, he consciously notices a social shift as the War on Terror breaks out in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.

The attacks on 9/11 were broadcasted on T.V. screens across the nation, acting as propaganda for Al-Qaeda and instilling a new sense of fear and vulnerability in all Americans who had witnessed the terror first hand. The mentality shift is evident, but it is only a result of deliberate political action that expanded beyond the borders of the United States. For the first time in history, not even a month after September 11, 2001 NATO invoked Article 5  for the first time in history, allowing its’ members to “act collectively in self defense” and launch the attacks on Afghanistan that began multiple years of U.S. involvement in the Middle East. This is considered to have first attacks in the War on Terror. Shortly after, sitting president George Bush publicly declared Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an “axis of evil”. At the time, terrorism was seen as a virus and Americans were certainly trying their hardest to rid the country of anyone who might be associated.

9/11 , the War on Terror, and the resulting social shift showcase the deeply seeded racism within our country for nonwhite citizens. Hamid’s Reluctant Fundamentalist is himself, told in a first-person monologue style. This, in my mind, emphasizes how alone he felt being a brown man in a post 9/11 America.

“The Attacks.” Accessed March 27, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks/The-attacks.

“The Reckoning: America and the World a Decade After 9/11.” The New York Times. The New York Times, September 8, 2011. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/sept-11-reckoning/viewer.html?hp=.

On February 2, 2021, country music star Morgan Wallen was caught on film saying the n-word. He told reporters that he and a group of his friends were on a 36-hour bender out in Nashville and had performed a quick show prior to him coming home. The group came home around midnight and was being very loud. They were seen and heard honking their horns and shouting near Morgan’s house by his neighbors. One of his neighbors started recording them, and this is when the profanity was caught on tape. In the captured video the country music star was saying good bye to his friends and told them to, “Take care of this pussy ass n*****” using the hard “er” on the end of the word. This caused an uproar around the country because it was clear that this wasn’t his first time using the word. Morgan Wallen received a lot of backlash, and people demanded that he be held responsible. He issued a five-minute apology video saying that he was sorry and was going to start working with black organizations to see the error of his ways. After this incident, all of his music stopped airing on the radio, he lost all of his endorsements, and he was dropped from his record label, Big Loud. However, his music sales rose roughly 1,220% reported by Rolling Stone. This is absurd that people are willing to support a man who said a racial slur by buying his music. I don’t know if they bought his music out of fear that they won’t be able to listen to his music any longer or if they just wanted to buy his music because he said the n word. I know that I saw people on social media saying, “I’ll still listen to his music though.” That’s just an absurd thing to say after an incident like this happened. This shows the systemic racism that is rooted in the country music industry.

https://www.tmz.com/2021/02/02/morgan-wallen-n-word-nashville-neighbors/

Going into one of the concepts that we have talked about in class is the “one” vs the “other.” Looking at this situation, we would classify the “one” as the white country music stars that have received all the recognition from the industry and fans. They don’t have to face backlash as often for their music and don’t have to deal with a lot of criticism, unless maybe you’re female. We would classify the “other” as black country artist who don’t usually receive the recognition that a lot of the white country artists do even though they could go note for note with them. Also, black country artists face a lot of criticism for their music and have often heard racial remarks towards them. Female artists, such as Mickey Guyton, have even said that a lot of hurt had to happen to them before they saw any success in the industry.

In the beginning of February of 2021, a bunch of Ohio State students all went sledding in the snow. There were over 100 students in the oval sledding and having snow fights, and the police were called to check out the scene. These students were in a large group setting and were out past the state wide curfew. Instead of the Police telling everyone to go home, they just threatened students with tickets if they used the moving carts and even went sledding themselves. http:/www.thelantern.com/2021/02/students-take-to-south-oval-for-sledding-despite-covid-guidelines/Reading this story, it seems like it would bring a smile to your face, but it there is more behind it. When Ohio State students marched in Columbus for the Black Lives Matter movement, they were not treated with the police being as friendly. Instead, the police tear gassed students, even if they were peacefully protesting. An Ohio State grad student died from the tear gas. The difference in the police response says a lot on the systematic injustices here in Columbus, Ohio. The police were so easy to react and hurt the crowd for BLM protests, but when students who were doing more questionable activities were given a pass. If the students who were sledding were majority black, there would have been more consequences. This may seem like a small comparison and injustice, but what starts out as small can lead to something much larger. White supremist stormed the capitol during the election, and were treated with lots of privileges’ then the protesters who were peaceful in the BLM marches. These cases may be at different levels of extremeness, but the concept is still the same. Police treat white people differently then they do black people. There are still lots cases in Columbus on how black people are still being killed by the police. http://https://twitter.com/tayrhodes19/status/1346921505926631430A twitter user compares the differences of the police treatment to white people at the capitol compared to black people in Columbus. In Columbus, black people are seen as an other group by the police because they are treated differently then white people. How can the city of Columbus react to this serious injustice? For starters, Ohio State University has separated themselves from the Columbus police department. This can allow Ohio State police to have their own training to always out the safety of students first. Columbus can also train and educate their police department on black history and learning more about different cultures. Now, these are just minor solutions to major problems, and there is a lot more to be done then just educate people on what is happening, but it is somewhere to start.

Jake Grim 0:12
Hello, everyone, my name is Jake grim. I am a fourth year student here at the Iowa State University. I will be graduating this spring with a degree in agricultural engineering specializing in soil and water.

Brock Michaelis 0:27
And my name is Brock Michaelis. I’m also a fourth year student and we graduated in the spring. My major is civil engineering and I have a minor in survey and I will be continuing to work in the civil engineering field and land development. Okay.

Jake Grim 0:47
Okay, on this episode of the podcast, we’ll be talking about two incidents of racism. So the first one is about country music, or Morgan Wallen, and the second one is about the shooting of Atlanta woman in Atlanta, or a gentleman in Atlanta. So, on February second 2021 country music star, Morgan Wallen was caught on film saying the N word. He told reporters that he had a he and a group of friends were on a 36 hour bender out in Nashville, and had performed a quick show prior to him coming home. The group came home around midnight and was being very loud. They were seen and heard honking their horns and shouting your Morgan’s house by his neighbors. One of his neighbors started recording them. And this is when the profanity was caught on tape. In the captured video, the country music star was saying goodbye to his friends, and told them to, quote, take care of this pussy ass blank. And quote, using the heart er at the end of the word. This caused an uproar around the country because it was clear that this wasn’t his first time using the word, Morgan Wallen received a lot of backlash, and people demanded that he be held responsible. He issued a five minute apology video saying that he was sorry, it was going to work with black organizations to see the error of his ways in which I think is kind of bullcrap. Because just because he got caught saying word, and now all of a sudden he wants to work with black organizations. And why wouldn’t he just do it from the first place, it just blows my mind a little. Anyways, after this incident, all of his music stopped airing on the radio. He lost all of his endorsements. And he was dropped from his record label big loud. However, his music sales rose roughly 1,220%, which is was reported by Rolling Stone. This is absurd that people are willing to show their support for a man who used a racial slur by buying his music. I don’t know if they bought the music out of fear that they would have won’t be able to listen to his music any longer. Or if they just wanted to buy his music because he said the N word. I know that I saw a lot of people on social media saying I’m still going to listen to his music, though. And I just think that’s an absurd thing to say after an incident like this has happened. Now after all the racial problems that have arose over this past couple years. I think that this incident just shows the systemic racism that is rooted in the country music industry.

Brock Michaelis 3:42
So as Jake was saying, he created a lot of backlash from the country music industry and its fans. Many artists have reacted in disgust to his actions, but some reacted in different ways. kelsea ballerini, a white country music artists tweeted, quote, the news out of Nashville a night does not represent country music, and quote, tweets like this for many country music artists and fans change the focus from a singular event to one focused on a system and sparked several reactions to the

Brock Michaelis 4:12
white country.

Brock Michaelis 4:14
Mickey Guyton as a Black Country music artists who tweeted quote, when I read comments saying, This is not who we are, I laugh because this is exactly who country music is. I’ve witnessed it for 10 GT years. You guys should just read some of the vile comments hurled at me on a daily basis. It’s a cold, hard truth to face, but it is the truth and quote, Nico marks quoted this and said, quote, agreed, there’s so many layers to this, it’s systemic, until there that can be acknowledged and addressed, the circle will continue to be unbroken, and quote, some or all other artists, including Rishi Palmer, Katy Bannon and Britney Spencer made similar comments calling out the industry and saying that this incident is rubbish. 100 of the difference between the reactions of white artists and black artists shows how this problem is truly systemic. The white artists don’t understand how huge the problem is, because they’re not the ones that experienced the racist comments and prejudices that are thrown at Black Country artists every day. So there’s clearly a systemic problem that is plaguing the country music industry, and creating an environment where black artists grow much more to feel accepted and find success.

Jake Grim 5:31
Going into one of the concepts we’ve talked about in class is the one versus the other. Looking at this situation, we would classify the one as the white country music stars that have received all the recognition from the industry and fans. They don’t usually have to face backlash as often for their music, and don’t have to deal with a lot of criticism. Unless maybe you’re a female. We would classify the other as a Black Country artist who usually who doesn’t usually receive the recognition that a lot of white country artists do, even though they could go note for note and bar for bar with them. Also, Black Country artists face a lot of criticism for their music, and often are often heard racial remarks towards them. female artists such as Mickey Guyton have even said that a lot of hurt had to happen to them before they saw any success in the country music industry.

Brock Michaelis 6:31
Considering all this, the country music industry has created a system in which most black artists are cast to the side and are exposed to racial comments in the prejudice industry and needs to take a step back as a whole. admit there’s a problem, you focus on making change that will help eliminate these in justices.

Jake Grim 6:52
Moving on to our next example, it is about the Asian woman that were shot in Atlanta by a white male. So our next example is about a white male Robert long, who shot and killed eight people, six of which were Asian women. The man legally purchased a nine millimeter handgun earlier in the day and headed towards an Asian run massage parlor. The man went into Young’s Asian massage parlor and was seen leaving after an hour and 12 minutes of being inside. The police were called roughly five minutes after he left and showed up to two people fatally shot and three others wounded, two of which died at the hospital. Police then received reports of a robbery at gold massage, gold massage spa, where they found three woman dead from gunshot wounds. They then received reports of a shooting across the street at Roma therapy spa, where they found yet another woman shot and killed Robert long was eventually found and arrested roughly three and a half hours after the shootings about 150 miles south of Atlanta. I think that this incident just shows how there are truly evil people out there in the world and that don’t care about who you are and where you come from, and will discriminate you solely against your ethnicity.

Brock Michaelis 8:20
This horrific shooting is clearly sparked many reactions across the country. Many people in organizations have made statements to show their support to the Asian American community. In response to this incident in many other recent crimes toward Asian Americans, OSU Barstow compiled comments from Asian American students and made a post about it on Instagram. Many of them expressed how they experienced backhanded comments that are all always include the fact that they’re Asian. One quote included in the post said, quote, it’s the constant backhanded compliments for me. I just feel that everything about me is contrasted with people’s expectations based on my race. I was told very recently that I speak English surprisingly well. I mean, yeah, I’m American. Implicit racism is considerably harder to even call out much less combat, and quote, by giving these backhanded compliments people are saying that they are surprised that Asians can have these positive characteristics which is completely wrong. Our society should be able to accept Asian Americans for who they are and stop constraining them to stereotypes that have been made about them. Some students were even quoted in the posts saying that they were they were their hoodies up to cover their face when they go out in areas off campus because they fear getting attacked because of their race. They also express concerns for their elderly relatives that are more vulnerable and susceptible to attacks like these fact that Asian Americans have to hide who they are to protect themselves as horrifying. These multiple accounts from students shows it is more than isolated events and that it truly is systemic. The Post from OSU bar so even referenced a statistic from Cal State that said Asian American hate crimes are on the rise 149% this year. I can’t act like I understand their feelings sign not an Asian American. But I can speak out against these problems and try to help our society move in the right direction to eliminate these systemic and justices.

Jake Grim 10:22
It is sad to hear about these examples of systemic racism and racist, racist experiences throughout the country. I know that I can’t really relate to any being a white male, and it’s just sad to hear. That’s really all the time we have for today. Thank you for listening and we will continue to show our support against systemic racism and do what we can to combat it.

The Interpreter of Maladies consists of nine various stories depicting the lives of Indian immigrants. The book was published in 1999 by Jhumpa Lahiri who is also of Indian origin and moved to the United States when she was three growing up in Rhode Island. Lahiri’s ability to relate to Indian Americans allowed her to depict a multitude of Indian immigrant cultures and situations mainly focusing on relationships and marriage.

Over the years many immigrants like Lahiri transitioned to a new life in the United States and according to an article from the Columbia Business School, “3 million individuals of Indian origin who currently reside in the United States arrived in three distinct periods” (Columbia Business School 1). The first group of Indian immigrants came along with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 which replaced a prior system of immigration that favored quotas to education and family relations. This led to a large increase in higher educated workers such as doctors and engineers. The second group of Indian immigrants arrived in the early 1980s and this group consisted of many families of those who have already lived in the United States for some time and have settled in. Finally, the third and final group which makes up most of the Indian population in the United States today came because of a large technological increase in America.

Lahiri and her family arrived with the first group of immigrants where there was a large focus on education since her father was a university librarian and her mother being a schoolteacher. Lahiri coming in the first wave of immigrants was significant since she was able to see all the other phases of immigrants’ transition to America as well. This allowed her to shape her stories around her experiences and what she observed from others which in culmination led to her expressing her ideas of Indian culture and religion in America  and throughout the world in her series of stories, Interpreter of Maladies.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Jhumpa Lahiri”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Jul. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jhumpa-Lahiri. Accessed 20 March 2021.

School, Columbia Business. “A Singular Population: Indian Immigrants in America.” Ideas & Insights, Chazen Global Insights, 10 Dec. 2020, www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/chazen-global-insights/singular-population-indian-immigrants-america.

Tokarev, Sergey. “Jhumpa Lahiri.” Immigration to the United States, 2015, immigrationtounitedstates.org/1111-jhumpa-lahiri.html.