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Yo, is this Economic Disparity? -Jake Seibert and Salem Achour

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As seen throughout the semester, it’s very easy to find examples of systemic injustice in the news and our day to day lives. This is a current problem but that does not mean there is no hope for the future. Each injustice yields many possible solutions, if the right people listen and take a stand for what is right. In this article, Salem and Jake cover a variety of topics that relate to systemic injustices in America.
The disparity of opportunities and ability to succeed between the rich and poor is huge. In the United States, the Gini coefficient, which is a tool to measure inequality, is one of the highest among developed countries. “I think that a country with an immense wealth inequality, and an individualistic culture are a recipe for social disaster,” Salem said. The individualistic culture here really shines on the ideas of freedom, and independence. These attitudes really get in the way of structuring a common ground among all Americans. “Another reason I find it obstructive for social justice is that it drives people to be self-centered and feel no responsibility to be responsible for the conditions of others,” Jake added. Another attitude that subtly perpetuates inequality is the idea that anyone can “make it” if they work hard enough. Or something like, “If he could do it, anyone can.” This is very disheartening and victimizing. On one hand, the persons who are successful and wealthy are getting justified for what they have, and individuals who struggle in life are left feeling like it is their own fault, and their status is a result of their actions. This kind of culture protects the wealthy from condemnation and negates sympathy for the poor or disadvantaged. Today, the discrepancy of living conditions among Americans is getting much more attention than it used to decades ago, but it still seems like most people are not aware of the level of impact it has on individuals.
The public education system is not consistent in terms of quality at all among different schools. This Is very unusual for public schools if we were to compare it to other countries. Students attend the school of the school district they reside in. Unsurprisingly, wealthier school districts offer great quality education, and vice versa. This drives people to live in certain areas, which is not feasible for any family to do. Then the real estate prices in these neighborhoods rise which continues to benefit those residents. On the other side of the coin, the areas the affluent people left will have no appreciation in real estate prices, and the opposite of gentrification occurs. The home prices are just one factor to look at, but it has a strong correlation with education quality and safety. The education quality influences the abilities of the student later in life. It helps them get into better universities, gives them tools for addressing personal issues, and surrounds them with highly skilled teachers. Similarly, private schools offer a typically great education, but at a steep price. However, some private schools have begun to offer scholarships based on financial needs so that this education can be offered to more people than just those who can afford the tuition. These scholarships often come from large donations from alumni or other donors. Then comes all the mental health problems that come along with being born into a poor area. These issues are not easily fixed and the resources for treatment are not attainable for everybody. For example, access to therapy for mental health is not available for everyone, and if it is, the quality of treatment may not be enough to help them carry on in life. As mentioned with private schools, many private institutions are offering free care for applicable patients as needed on a financial basis. Many Christian organizations have begun to do this in an effort to expand their outreach. This is a great option and idea that companies and services should adopt, if the resources are available.
“In my first diary of systemic injustice, I wrote about minimum wage workers and how difficult life is when everything is unaffordable. It is like when you’re poor, all the hardships in life are more likely to impact you, and when they do, they are worse because they lead to other hardships which lead to other hardships and so on. I think it is a deeply ingrained injustice that the services intended to help us, like healthcare, are not affordable,” Salem commented. Sure, there is Medicaid and insurance through an employer, but it could take months to apply for these programs and they might not cover what is needed. The burden of falling sick for example, as a low-income adult, is greater than if it were on a wealthy or middle-class person. The cost of treatment is a bigger portion of the lower-class person’s money and intermittently, illnesses are more likely to happen to poor people. So, I really feel like the structure of our society has created a huge wealth gap that is still growing today. “I wrote about a similar issue in one of my Diary of Systemic Injustices about how the recent hurricanes Katrina and Ida have disproportionately affected the African American communities in Louisiana. The lack of resources and services to the minority communities after natural disasters are due to the increasing wealth gap in America,” Jake connected.
The judicial system also has drafted laws that disenfranchise certain individuals like women and the Black community. Maternity leave has been a very long issue in the United States but does not really make the headlines of magazines and news reports. Women get no paid maternity leave at all in the US, and I find it baffling. In Canada the paid maternity leave is 27 weeks, In France, it is 19 weeks, but in the US it is zero. Some countries like Sweden even provide paternity paid leave. This is systemic injustice for

women, but also the baby and the woman’s partner. Working women need to strategically select a job that would suit their lifestyle assuming they plan on having children. They don’t have the freedom in the job market to pursue the career they want to, unless they compromise. Also, the stress this puts on families makes the process of labor and raising the baby more difficult, and it could cause postpartum depression. Companies also have a bias against hiring younger women due to the chance that they may become pregnant later on. This has also caused young adults to be opposed to the idea of having children, and this could be a good or bad thing. But it is a shame that our society has not attempted to change the system to better accommodate women. “I think it would be a great idea if government economists studied the impact of funding maternity paid leave and presented the positive impact it would have on our society like healthier families and babies, and more motivated women,” Salem noted. There is actually a lot of research that shows that when someone knows that things will work out in the end, they’ll become confident and work effectually.

“I wrote one of my Injustice diaries about how face recognition in artificial intelligence is designed to distinguish the faces of white males much better than any other group,” Salem said. These systems are frequently used in security and law enforcement. This puts minorities in a very difficult position if they’re scrutinized because the artificial intelligence system is supposed to be unbiased since it is based on computer programming. It’s incredibly frustrating not being able to unlock your phone because the facial recognition software doesn’t recognize you with a mask on. But can you imagine not being able to unlock your phone simply because facial recognition software has shown to be discriminatory towards people of color and females. Although studies have shown that facial recognition software is accurate 90% of the time, the highest rate of inaccuracies appear in minority races. The Gender Shades project reported that across five different facial recognition technologies, all algorithms performed the worst on darker-skinned females. The training bases for these facial recognition algorithms are predominantly white males. “I think in order to provide increased accuracy across all races and genders, these facial recognition technologies should incorporate a more diverse dataset,” Jake suggests.
This makes me think of many other systems commonly used that were not built to accommodate all demographics. For example, often I hear dairy being recommended for health purposes, and lactose intolerance being considered an uncommon condition. But the reality is, most of the human population globally is lactose intolerant, but medical studies come from the west, where this condition is less common. The dietary recommendations based on those studies are consequently better suited for someone of European descent. Medical professionals should take into account the genetic diversity that exists and try to avoid this one size fits all approach.

 

These examples of systemic injustices do not even begin to skim the surface of the inequities that exist in America. As a nation, we can and need to make more of an effort to eliminate disparities and be more cognizant of how the actions that political officials, companies, and individuals take affect those around us.

Yo is this hate crime.

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Yo is this hate crime?
Hello everyone welcome to the podcast show this is your host Joey Lo. Hope everyone is doing well in this holiday season, and 2021 is almost over! When we review 2020, a lot of my memories are of staying at home and just doing online classes. However, a big event that happened was the pandemic the covid 19 which changed a lot of people’s lives. Their life plan may be different, or they have to delay something they are currently working on. However, when we continue to move on in 2021, there are also a lot of injustice issues that are not fully discussed or given a solution toward Asian Americans. In particular, I want to bring people’s focus to the social injustice that happened within Asian American communities and I want to discuss the murder that happened last year in Atlanta and an attack that happened in Manhattan. So just to give more information about the two events I just said, and the below information was based on the article written by The New York Times.
The first one is a murderous rampage at three spas in the Atlanta area that killed eight people, and surprisingly six of them Asian women. After this murder was unfolded, there has stirred fear and outrage among Asian-Americans who see it as the latest burst of racist violence against them, even as the shooter himself offered a more complicated motive.
Another case that happened even earlier in a 36-year-old man was stabbed near the federal courthouse in the Lower Manhattan area, and he has later taken to the hospital in critical condition. The authorities initially said they would pursue hate crime charges, but on that later Saturday they had settled on several charges, none of them related to hate crimes, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation.
So, I want to ask the audience a question: Why this is not charged as a hate crime but instead it is just charged with attempted murder or something else.

So, let’s take a little deeper look at what is a Hate crime or hate speech? First, hate speech: According to the American library association, hate speech was an expression through an intention to humiliate or incite hatred against a group or a class of person based on their race, religion, skin color, sexual and gender identities, or even their disability, or national origin. Additionally, to define hate crime, a criminal offense motivated by the above reason I just stated.
After, we get to know a little more about hate crime and speech. We can have a better understanding that this kind of certainty and specific level of law framework is really hard to define by prosecutors. Because when the case is unfolded, the police cannot find any evidence or language to conclude it as a racially motivated crime or harassment. This investigation gets to the heart of, is it racial or is it not when it comes to Asian-Americans? Like, do we believe that the race of these women had nothing to do with why murder targeted them? It’s just too soon to know right now, and that’s not the answer that many Asian-Americans want to hear. The event created more anxiety in Asian American communities, and they were still seeking validation from the law enforcement that proves that they are not being oversensitive but also can go outside safety without encountering any harassment or crime against them.

Moreover, happened at the same time in 2020, the pandemic has brought an intense relationship between people in the United States and the Asian American in the United States. New York police have reported that a huge jump in verbal and physical harassment toward Asian communities had raised from 3 events in 2019 but in 2020 the reported incident has raised to 28 based on the article written by the New York Times. A lot of these might be related to the political atmosphere between China and United States, for instance, President Trump around calling this the Kung Flu and the China virus, we see this now being parroted on the street level in many of these attacks. And I think it’s bringing into really sharp focus specifically what is happening to Asian-Americans, that this pandemic has now become racialized in a way that we haven’t seen before. And as a result, it’s drawing all this attention to attacks on Asian-Americans, and people are using language that we have not seen in recent history.

All this media and news information creates a “single story” of Asian American folks and tight their image with Covid-19. Just as the Ted talk, we saw at the beginning of the class, the danger of one single story could create prejudice and bias or like based on people’s assumption and dedicated an unfair treatment to that certain person or groups. In this case, we can see because of the news and the against verbal or any other expressions, a lot of American folks blame the origins of covid -19 toward Chinese people. How this single story can harm all these international Chinese folks or American Asians just because they share the same skin color, and the origin of one country was not the cause of the pandemic.

How actually can the United States communities and justice bring comfort to Asian or Asian American communities right now? One thing important was the missing Asian American history in our education and this lack of awareness about the history of Asians contributing to this kind of sentiment, which cause the problem invisible, and the solution must come with an informed way which is the visibility of Asian American history. Ms. Helen Zia is the author of Asian American dreams. She also stated that the forced missing history example causes people to fight against each other but not fight together. One example of Asian American racial history was during the 1800s, a serious riot happened in the Chinatown in LA, and this led to the Chinese exclusion Act that banned Chinese immigration to the U.S., which happened again during World War 2, Japanese Americans became in the eye of the attacker because of the enemy strike on Pearl Harbor.

Last, I want to conclude that how in real life we can support our Asian American folks when they are seeing this kind of challenge, one way to support is to get to know more about Asian American history, or just bring Asian American harassments topic into dialogue that can indirectly raise awareness between people.

Reference: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/nyregion/asian-hate-crimes.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/watch-live-how-to-address-the-surge-of-anti-asian-hate-crimes
https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/hate

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/nyregion/asian-hate-crimes-attacks-ny.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/us/atlanta-spa-killings-robert-long.html

Yo, is this racist? – Matej Vocel

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As I was thinking about writing an essay instead of a podcast, I was forced to ponder some exciting and intriguing idea- one which captivates and holds the attention of the reader. In addition to that, I called upon the fact that I was born in the Czech Republic, a country that only three decades ago was still under the clutches and influences of a communist regime.  Because of my background, I bring my own cultural biases and ideas to the table. Furthermore, since I have traveled to many different countries as a tennis player, I have a variety of cultural experiences that have shaped my point of view. Now as an International Student I have been subjected to the diverse tapestry of views and lives in America, which has proven the title “The Melting Pot” as it is a place where people from all nations are willing to immigrate. During the class, I have been exposed to numerous cases of “Systemic Injustices”. In addition to that we have reviewed the concepts of power struggle, gender equality and race prejudices, among many others. As a result of my studies in this class, as well as my own personal experiences, I have come to the realization that media plays an important factor in the “norms” of society, even so much as how they choose to portray certain individuals. In many cases, individuals can be portrayed by the media in a negative connotation because of their race, gender, or age. In some instances, the media has created an image of the white, straight, male as the personification of evil. On top of that the Podcasters as our society have increasingly been affected by the evil of being a Social Justice Warrior. As the Washington Post states:

“A pejorative term for an individual who repeatedly and vehemently engages in arguments on social justice on the Internet, often in a shallow or not well-thought-out way, for the purpose of raising their own personal reputation. A social justice warrior, or SJW, does not necessarily strongly believe all that they say, or even care about the groups they are fighting on behalf of. They typically repeat points from whoever is the most popular blogger or commenter of the moment, hoping that they will “get SJ points” and become popular in return. They are very sure to adopt stances that are “correct” in their social circle”. (Ohleiser).

I am in no way trivializing or downplaying the cases of police brutality, gender equality, race prejudices cases- nor am I an expert on these matters. However, there have been cases of reverse discrimination. The term “reverse discrimination” sometimes is used to describe a type of discrimination wherein members of a majority or historically advantaged group (such as Caucasians or males) are discriminated against based on their race, gender, age, or other protected characteristic. These types of claims typically arise in the areas of employment or education. Occasionally, the term also is used to negatively describe programs meant to advance or promote minorities and address inequality, such as affirmative action. While the term “reverse discrimination” is not expressly included in federal civil rights laws, these types of lawsuits are generally brought as discrimination cases under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other statuses (Reverse Discrimination). The purpose for writing this paper is to describe how the media has affected the portrayal of news, and specifically how it has affected the portrayal of race in America. Thus, may seem controversial and it might raise some eyebrows or some angry retorts from different individuals who consider my views too European. Nevertheless, from participating and engaging in this course, I have learned to think outside the mainstream opinion, and study the facts of each instance, in order to make a judgement for myself. To make my case, I will bring some scenarios of some athletes from the NFL, whose treatment and media portrayal may be out of the ordinary. In February 2014, the former Baltimore Ravens running back was seen dragging his unconscious fiancée from an elevator. A second video revealed later, showed Rice had punched her and knocked her out. He was suspended for only two games and after the video was exposed some lengthy investigation followed. In this instance, I find that the treatment of Rice may have been out of the ordinary, because of his status as a beloved football player. Another instance of such a case is Richard Sherman.  AP News reported the disturbing facts about his July arrest, writing: “Former Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers star Richard Sherman said Friday that he is “deeply remorseful” following his arrest on accusations of drunkenly crashing his SUV in a construction zone and trying to break into his in-laws’ suburban Seattle home this week. Sherman was belligerent, had been drinking heavily and spoke of killing himself when he left his home in the Seattle suburb of Maple Valley late Tuesday, according to police reports. His wife, Ashley Sherman, called 911 to try to have police stop him.” Any other player who has been proven to do such activities would be behind bars for a lengthy period. However, in the case of Mr. Sherman justice is tainted because he is a professional athlete. He made the news when he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, as he joined the reigning super bowl champions, despite his legal incident. Ken Nelson reported in his article concerning Sherman that: “Richard Sherman, who is mired in legal trouble stemming from an arrest this summer and five misdemeanor charges, including two for domestic violence, has agreed to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, becoming the latest high-profile free agent to join quarterback Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl. One of the best known cornerbacks in the league, Sherman, 33, announced his arrival in Tampa on his podcast Wednesday morning. The team confirmed the news by posting to Twitter a photo of Sherman signing his contract, reported by the NFL Network to be worth $2.25 million, only $500,000 of it guaranteed”.

The NBA has similar incidents with some of their star players, as well. One such incident is the scuffle and subsequent heated exchange between Montrezl Harrell and Luke Doncic. On October 20th, 2020, LA Clippers took on Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 in which Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell and Dallas’ Luka Doncic got into a heated argument- exchanging abusive commentary. Harrell was caught on tape saying “b**h ass white boy” to the Slovenian. Not many of the prominent media sources reported on the instance, and the NBA’s big names notably failed to comment. This incident raised some ethical concern for the association and the players. Many have questioned why there were not harsher consequences for Harrell, and why the tape of the interaction was not studied by the league. Notably, Larry Elder called on LeBron James, the league’s biggest star, and two prominent coaches, Steve Kerr and Greg Popovish, to discuss the issue. All of them have been long vocal about the racial injustice and racial abuse against the Black community but the three have not spoken a single word on the incident” (Sharma). In a tweet, Elder mentioned the three NBA stars and asked why they had silence in the issue. Some members of the outraged have called on the fact that reversed roles in this particular situation would have resulted in far different aftermath, however this is not necessarily true, and unfair speculation.

The final situation just took place less than a month ago: Jon Gruden, one of the NFL’s highest-profile coaches, resigned from his coaching duties after investigation into leaked emails of his. As CBS sports’ Jason La Canfora wrote “Jon Gruden is out as the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach. Gruden informed his staff on Monday night he is resigning from his position in the wake of leaked emails in which he repeatedly used insensitive language.” Gruden expressed remorse over his actions and did not deny them occurring. However, concerns over how his emails came to light are apparent. Even though the New York Times reported that the emails were sensitive, and of racial topics, the emails were soon published online. Questions have arisen about why such sensitive topics would be quickly printed. Coach Gruden has since pondered the idea of legal action or compensation against those media outlets who published the emails. He has since stated that he was unfairly hacked, and his emails were unjustly leaked.

In no way am I criticizing the media portrayal of important news events, specifically surrounding professional sports. I feel as if my background as a native of a country under Communist regime does not allow me to successfully criticize America. However, by mentioning a few prominent, recent news stories, I hope to reveal the imperfections that still remain in American media today.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Benjamin, Cody. “Jon Gruden resigns as Raiders coach after more leaked emails reveal homophobic, misogynistic language”, CBSSPORT.com, Oct.12,2021. Accessed Nov 12 ,2021https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jon-gruden-resigning-as-raiders-coach-after-more-leaked-emails-reveal-homophobic-language-per-report/

 

Nelson, Ken. “After Injuries and a Call From Tom Brady, Richard Sherman Joins the Buccaneers”, NYTimes, Sep. 21,2021.Accessed Nov.11,2021.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/29/sports/football/richard-sherman-buccaneers-tom-brady.html

 

Ohleiser, Abby. “Why ‘social justice warrior,’ a Gamergate insult, is now a dictionary entry.” Washington Post, Oct 7, 2007. Accessed Nov 11,2021.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/07/why-social-justice-warrior-a-gamergate-insult-is-now-a-dictionary-entry

 

Reverse Discrimination, FindLaw, https://www.findlaw.com/employment/employment-discrimination/reverse-discrimination.html .Accessed 11 Nov 2021

 

Sharma, Saurian. “Why is NBA not reacting on Montrezl Harrell’s abusive ‘white boy Luka Doncic’ statement; LeBron James called out”,The SportsRush.com, Aug.24,2020. Accessed Nov 11 https://thesportsrush.com/nba-news-why-is-nba-not-reacting-on-montrezl-harrells-abusive-white-boy-luka-doncic-statement-lebron-james-called-out/

 

 

“Yo, is this racist?”

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Faith Troup (FT)

FT:

Hello, hello everyone. This is Faith, your host for the “Yo, is This Racist” podcast. I hope you all are doing well today. So today I will be talking about an issue that is not very commonly talked about but is definitely something that needs to be addressed more often since it tends to be a subconscious bias towards various individuals in society. That discrimination is based on someone’s name, or name discrimination. So before we hop into our topic, let’s get an idea of what name discrimination is. Basically, whenever a person has a name that sounds like it’s ethnic or has a racial affiliation and it’s difficult to pronounce, people may presume things about that individual. These assumptions can be positive, but oftentimes they are negative, especially when the name is non-westernized. Now, this is a problem in various aspects of life, but it becomes a particular issue in educational institutions or in the workplace when people are trying to find jobs and get promotions. In general, name discrimination prevents advancements in many aspects of life, whether that be professional, academically, financially, etc. 

 

Before we go on, I want to play a little game. It’s called the name association game and it usually has a light-hearted feel, but ours won’t so much unfortunately. What I’m going to do is say some names and I want you to write down or just keep in your mind the original things that come to mind in the first five seconds that I say the name. This is just  to get an idea of the impressions or connotations that you associate with these names. Let’s begin. The first name is going to be Jamal. The next name is Muhammad. And the third name and last name that we’re going to do is Jesus. Now, I’ll let you determine if the words that you associated with those names were negative or positive, but the real problem comes in when we associate the names with negative stigmas. So let’s say for Jamal, if someone were to hear that name and automatically think of a dishonest person, that becomes a problem because if you think of Jamal as a dishonest person, you’re not going to want to hire him. And so although Jamal may not be a dishonest person, he could be great, it does not matter. With name discrimination, stereotypes are created which always clouds fair judgement. And these stereotypes are harmful, they are negative, and ultimately are inaccurate. Even though they are inaccurate, when people that practice name discrimination and believe in these stereotypes are in power, such as employers in corporations or admittance counselers in schools and universities, it does not allow people with these non-western names to advance even if they have the qualifications to do so. 

 

Now, name discrimination is not a new concept. In fact, it’s been around for quite a while. We’re just learning more about it because there have been various studies that are providing more evidence and providing personal experiences. One study that was conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed this name discrimination trend and how it’s a real problem in workforce. This study showed that the applicants with white names only needed to submit an average of ten resumes to get a call back compared to applicants with African American names who needed to submit an average of fifteen resumes to get a call back. Now this study was only a small percentage of those that make up the workforce so there are definitely many more people experiencing this. Another study conducted in the year 2000 focused on Jewish individuals. Just to sum up the study, they basically wanted to change their names so that they could blend in better with society and not stick out so that they would be less likely to experience various forms of discrimination. The study also showed that after the September 11th attacks, many Arab Americans wanted to change their names so they didn’t appear as Muslim or Arabic and to seem more loyal to America. They believed that having an Arabic or Muslim name could possibly harm there futures in this country.

 

Now I personally have never had an experience with name discrimination. My name is super basic, very westernized and easy to pronounce. My name also does not really say anything about my race, so I personally cannot relate to this problem. However, a friend of mine who actually happens to be the inspiration for this podcast has had many problems with name discrimination. This friend has a very complicated name which is not westernized at all. When I first met her, she had to teach me how to say her name because it was that difficult for me to pronounce. Aside from this, she’s a super intelligent, hardworking, smart, and overall a great person. One day, she was explaining to me that she had applied for a job that she was very sure that she was qualified for. However, she had surprisingly received an email saying that they were not going to go forward with an interview because she was underqualified. They ended the letter by saying to not apply until she had met their standards. Overall, not the kindest letter, especially considering that she did meet the qualifications that they had listed on the application. After she was done explaining her frustrations, she ended by saying that “Oh well, they probably saw my name on the resume.” Up until that point, I had never heard of name discrimination or even the concept. In addition to this experience, she had told me of other situations that she had faced as an immigrant with her name and accent, such as people assuming that she could not speak English or that she did not receive a proper education in her home country. Honestly, just very degrading and insulting stereotypes that were based in the ignorant practice of name discrimination. 

So another problem with name discrimination is that many people do not think that it truly is a form of discrimination because a person is not blatantly saying racial slurs, negatively commenting on a person’s skin color or hair texture, or whatever other forms of racial insensitivity. Because the hate is not overt, it does not seem like it is an injustice that needs to be eradicated in our society. Furthermore, although name discrimination may sometimes be a subconscious bias, it is still a problematic offense and unfair treatment that ultimately stunts the growth and advancement of minorities with these names. Going forward, what can we do about this? How can we fix it? Because there is no purpose in addressing a problem if nothing is going to be changed.

 

I think that the first major step is recognizing name discrimination as an issue. After this, we have to accept that we have internal biases because whether we want to accept it or not, everyone has preconceived notions about a person or a group of people. 

The next step is learning how to overcome these internal biases. Basically, this means how are we going to learn to unlearn these harmful narratives, especially in a society that is so determined on being prejudiced against so many diverse groups of people. Lastly, and I believe the most important step is realizing that this is a collective effort. It’s kind of like a no man left behind sort of movement. While we have to hold ourselves accountable for our own biases, it’s also important to hold others accountable for their biases and whatever prejudices that they may display towards others. These biases are not limited to only name discrimination, but also include general racism, sexism, xenophobia, and so many other forms of discrimination. And I know that we live in a society where it’s sort of like “What other people do is none of my business.” There’s some truth to that of course, but at the same time, discrimination will never be eradicated if we do not hold others responsible for these kinds of mistreatments that they direct towards others. It may be uncomfortable at first, but this means everyone, including family, friends, and coworkers. There may be some awkward conversations at first, but it will be well worth it. 

 

So just to recap really quick, to overcome the problem of name discrimination, we have to accept name discrimination as a problem and recognize our own internal biases, we must learn how to unlearn these internal biases, and hold others that display the prejudices accountable, no matter who they may be.I hope you learned a lot today about this issue and I especially hope that you choose to go forward in your daily lives making a conscious effort to treat all people equally regardless of their differences. Goodbye for now!  

“Yo, Is this Regional discrimination” Bingtong Liu

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Introduction

Regional discrimination is different from racial discrimination. It is because the people within the nation are usually unfamiliar with people in other regions, and cultural and economic differences and inequalities, which can lead to prejudice and even demonization. For example, the discrimination and prejudice of Chinese urban people against country folks and migrant workers, and the regional prejudice against people from Northeast China, Xinjiang people, Tibetans, Beijingers, Shanghainese, Cantonese, Henanese, etc. When a foreigner comes to an area unfamiliar with him, the local people will explain their character based on the prejudice in the society, which may lead to prejudice and demonization.

Regional demonization is mostly manifested on the Internet as territorial posts, territorial jokes, and territorial attacks. When prejudice and demonization occur through institutional government actions, corporate actions, or personal behaviors such as insulting words, which damage the interests or reputation of others, these behaviors can be regarded as discriminatory behaviors, or even criminal behaviors, called regional discrimination. Regional discrimination is different from territorial demonization. Regional discrimination causes substantial damage to the interests and reputation of the discriminated person. Therefore, it is no longer as simple as a personal impression or a joke. Regional discrimination generally needs to be resolved through legal procedures.

(This image shows that this road has always been forbidden by outside builders in Dongguan.)

Features

1. Regional discrimination can be due to gaps in economic and social development.

Regional gaps exist objectively, and various conflicts of interest will inevitably arise due to competition for resources between regions. The existence of regional gaps and conflicts of regional interests will inevitably be reflected in social psychology, forming a sense of superiority for people in advantageous regions. If this sense of superiority is uncontrolled and excessively inflated, discrimination against backward areas and disadvantaged groups will be unavoidable.

2. Regional discrimination is a manifestation of China’s “social stereotype”.

The so-called “social stereotype” refers to a set of fixed views (usually with one-sided and negative colors) of a certain type of people, and uses this as a frame of reference, subjectively thinking that all members of this group of people conform to this Kind of opinion. “Social stereotype” is the simplest understanding of social groups. Although it is conducive to a general understanding of a certain group, it is also prone to deviations, leading to “preconceptions” prejudices and hindering normal understanding and understanding between people. Associate. “Stereotypes” also often lead to misunderstandings, because “stereotypes” are not based on facts, sometimes due to the rationalization of prejudice, and sometimes infer that individuals must have certain characteristics (not necessarily in fact) based on the fact that the group has certain characteristics. This characteristic is formed.

3. Regional discrimination is the result of herd mentality and collective unconsciousness.

In the modern information “big bang” society, ordinary people are particularly prone to lose the ability to think and judge independently, and often do not make independent thinking and rational judgments about many things, thus forming the phenomenon of herd mentality and collective unconsciousness. For example, some media reports on cases of crimes committed by the floating population have often become the psychological basis for people to judge the people around them, and they have been exaggerated and enlarged, making it easy to treat a certain group in a symbolic and labeled way. This cannot but be said to be an important social and psychological basis for regional discrimination.

4. Regional discrimination is a manifestation of the mentality of “low and poor”.

China is currently in a period of social transformation, and social development has a series of phased characteristics, such as various social contradictions are intertwined, and there are many social problems. In particular, the psychology of “hatred of the rich” and “base and poor” caused by the continuous expansion of the gap between the rich and the poor has widened the gap between the poor and the rich. People in poor places are vulnerable to discrimination when they go to some economically developed coastal provinces to earn a living. In a sense, their hometown is too poor. The rich look down on the poor, and the city people look down on the rural people. This discriminates.

5. Regional discrimination is also a reflection of the consciousness of small farmers.

China has been in an agricultural society for a long time and has formed a deep-rooted consciousness and psychology of small farmers. The typical reflection of smallholder consciousness and smallholder psychology in interpersonal relationships is discrimination between families due to family identity, and rural discrimination due to identification with the countryside. On the surface, regional discrimination shows that people in cities look down on rural people, and people in developed areas look down on people in backward areas, but in its bones and deep down, it is still the peasant psychology at work.

(This image shows that a certain university only admits local students, and does not consider other regions’ students at all.)

Social harm

The social harm of regional discrimination is obvious. Taking Northeast and Henan as examples, regional discrimination not only deprives some people of their right to subsistence to a certain extent, and creates social injustice, but it also tends to cause some low-quality people to breed criminal psychology, thus posing new harm to society. If a China with a population of 1.3 billion, hundreds of millions of people are treated unfairly, the “explosive force” these people will produce after being provoked is conceivable. Therefore, we must take precautions and attach great importance to regional discrimination.

Regionaldiscrimination is contrary to the concepts of fairness, equality, and justice advocated by modern society, and it is not conducive to the protection of human rights. Any society, let alone development, is also the basic foundation in terms of stability. A fair society has at least three levels of fairness: one is the fairness of the starting point, the other is the fairness of the process, and the third is the fairness of the result. If a person is in a situation of being discriminated against, it will have a negative psychological impact on the individual, and even make the individual take some extreme acts of revenge against society. We want to build a harmonious society, and regional discrimination will breed some potential social contradictions, which can easily bring some negative effects to a harmonious society.

First, in China, regional discrimination is not conducive to building a fair, just, and harmonious society. Regional discrimination violates the basic principles of fairness and justice, is unfair to the discriminated person, and lacks justice. Contempt of the dialect on the bus, some shops put up signs not to sell goods from a certain place, and the recruiting unit claimed that they did not want people from a certain place. In 2011, a Shenzhen police station pulled out a large banner to “resolutely crack down on Henan extortion gangs” and other regional discrimination. Phenomena are all illegal acts that are contrary to fairness and justice.

Second, regional discrimination is not conducive to building a harmonious society of honesty and friendship. Integrity requires members of society to consciously abide by social rules, rules and regulations, and public order. Friendship emphasizes the need to advocate equality, fraternity, and harmony among all people in the whole society.

Third, regional discrimination is not conducive to the formation of a social situation in which everyone does their best, gets what they can, and lives in harmony. Regional discrimination will make society a state that is difficult to integrate. After the intensification of contradictions, it can easily lead to a state of tearing in the society, which is what sociologists call “fractured society.” A “fractured society” can never be a harmonious society.

So what should we do?

1. When you are subject to regional discrimination, it means that you are competing for a certain resource with the discriminator. In many cases, the discriminators are the real disadvantaged, because they can do nothing but verbal attack.

2. I agree with and appreciate many people’s peace of mind for years and years, but I still hope that young people have the courage to face confrontation and competition. Contradictions are not terrible, and there is nothing wrong with doing something that is labeled “others”. The most terrifying thing is lying in one’s own comfortable circle, trapped by the verbal and moral shackles of others, willing to be a victim of conflicts in-group interests, and when someone points out a problem, he has to jump out to defend the perpetrator and say that he is in harmony with the perpetrator. Everyone gets along well.

3. Everyone has discrimination in their hearts, but education and life experience will make us calm and restrained when we want to discriminate against others. As far as the discriminated person is concerned, we must be self-reliant, improve our own quality, strive to change our own image, and use actions to change the prejudices of others.

4. As far as the country is concerned. The most fundamental thing to oppose regional discrimination is to rely on development, especially to speed up the development of backward areas, so as to gradually narrow the regional gap.

Reference:

http://k.sina.com.cn/article_6421091740_17eba159c00100b3zf.html

https://www.360kuai.com/pc/9e3459ef8e490d406?cota=4&tj_url=so_rec&sign=360_57c3bbd1&refer_scene=so_1

http://news.163.com/special/reviews/placist.html

https://www.zhihu.com/question/23447238

Zhang, Ran. “Media, litigation, and regional discrimination in college admission in China.” Chinese Education & Society 43.4 (2010): 60-74.

Peng, Altman Yuzhu. “Amplification of regional discrimination on Chinese news portals: An affective critical discourse analysis.” Convergence (2020): 1354856520977851.

 

“Yo, Is This Racist?” By Xiaonan Zhang, Yufan Duan, and GUOQUAN WANG

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Systemic injustice in the workplace

Introduction

Employment discrimination refers to the legal purpose and no legal reasons based on race, color, religion, politics, nation, social origin, gender, household registration, disability or health status, age, height, body language, and so on reasons, to take such as discrimination, exclusion, or give preferential measures of any violation of the equal rights. Discrimination, in short, means treating people unequally. In this article, we will look at some examples of systemic injustice in the workplace and discuss the harm it causes, then through some of our analyses to illustrate how to correct this situation.

How Most Chinese Companies’ Work Patterns Destroy Employees? (Guoquan Wang)

When it comes to the Chinese work model, we have to talk about the 996 work model. 996 is a work schedule where employees start at 9 am and finish at 9 pm and work six days a week. In addition to the regular working hours, there may be extra overtime hours and overtime pay that does not match the overtime hours. Some people may think it is a good thing to get paid for how much work they do. At the same time, many companies are using a communist value of labor to implement capitalism. The result is a squeeze on employees and vicious competition. The beneficiary is the company and the society as a whole is the bearer. In the former case, Japan, a series of social problems arose from the massive overtime work. Problems include low fertility rate, unmarried people, Low happiness, aging, and shortage of workers due to the drastic reduction of the young population. In addition, the consequence will also inhibit the development of the service industry, because employees earn money but no time to consume services. If you agree with 996, it is the same as materializing people. What is materialized people? It is not treating a person as a person, not as a person who has life, feelings, subjective will, and possibly his or her own limitations. Rather, it is to see a person as an object, a thing that can be manipulated, placed, occupied, or casually discarded as needed. And this objectification deals with huge destruction to our human opportunity and ability to experience happiness and joy. Certainly, companies will blur the concepts involved and transmit to employees the notion that hard work equals work overtime equals high pay as a justification. Once the problem is identified, the most important thing is to solve it. Employees need to properly protest and take legal action to protect their interests.

 

How does race factor into system injustice in the workplace? (Yufan Duan)

Diversity, equity, and inclusion have become a hot topic for companies with more attention from the public regarding the issues of injustice in the workplace. Employees indicate that they demand diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

However, injustice in the workplace is a common issue since about 20% of workers in the United States have experienced workplace bully and discrimination. For this section, I would like to talk about the reasons behind injustice in the workplace, especially due to race factors. According to Gallup data, about 25% of black workers have reported that they have encountered discrimination at work.

For example, on September 21, 2019, CNN reported serious racism at General Motor’s factory in Toledo, Ohio. At least nine employees sued the company for horrible racism in the workplace. There were KKK’s nooses hanging at the factory with slogans of “White-Only” near the restroom. One of the employees who is African American complained that he was verbally threatened by one white employee to go back to his country. When he reported the issue to General Motors, he was told that if he wants to keep his job he should keep quiet. GM replied to the angry public through Twitter “This is not us. We have zero tolerance for any racial discrimination. We are. Efforts are being made to clear this situation out of GM.”

There is still a long way to go to solve the injustice in the workplace and change the stereotypes against certain groups due to their races. Companies need to have regulations against racism in the workplace as well as efforts to enforce diversity and inclusion.

 

How does discrimination at work affect the company? (Xiaonan Zhang)

Often when we talk about discrimination, our behavior is influenced by stereotypes of certain groups or individuals.  Unfair discrimination often occurs when we assume that everyone in a group is the same, that is, we don’t see individual differences. Such discriminatory views often do great harm to the company itself and its employees. However, there are many cases of discrimination against in each company, and more cases are unknown to the public. Discriminatory behaviors occur frequently, including rude treatment or rejection of those who are discriminated against.

 

Discrimination takes various forms:

  1. Deterrence: To publicly threaten or challenge employees of a specific group
  2.  Ridicule and insult:  From negative stereotypes, sometimes ridicule can have serious consequences.
  3. Ostracism: Some people are constantly denied promotions, social activities, discussions, or informal teaching activities, which may be intentional by others.
  4. Rudeness: Disrespectful treatment includes treating someone in an aggressive manner, constantly interrupting someone, or ignoring their input.

Discrimination can take many forms, and its consequences can vary, depending on differences in the work environment and the personal biases of the members of the workforce. Forms of discrimination such as exclusion and rudeness can be difficult to observe, or simply because the person is unaware of the consequences of his or her actions. Whether intentional or not, discriminatory behavior can have serious consequences for a company, including reduced productivity, reduced employee behavior, negative conflict, and increased employee turnover. Unfair discrimination can also cause qualified candidates to be overlooked in the initial hiring or promotion process. Even if there is no law on company discrimination, there are still many employees who are discriminated against.

 

Possible Solutions

Workplace discrimination puts psychological pressure on people and limits fair and healthy career development. Therefore, the primary goal of a company should be to focus on the physical and mental management of employees and to achieve efficiency through a good corporate culture.

  1. Plan employee salaries properly: In the workplace, the salary of employees is also the condition of unequal treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to plan the salary reasonably so that employees can see that they are respected and valued.
  2. Give employees the opportunity to grow: At any time, the growth of employees is the premise of maintaining the stability of the company’s talents, giving them enough space for growth, so that they can realize the value.
  3. Help employees plan their careers: For employees, many may have no plans for the future. If the enterprise can make reasonable plans according to the personality and ability of employees, it is also a good way to eliminate prejudice.
  4. Provide training and promotion opportunities: For enterprise employees, the most important thing is the training opportunities, only good at improving the training opportunities for employees, so that employees feel valued.
  5. Strengthen regular communication: For some disharmonious employees in the workplace, we must regularly strengthen communication, resolve through communication without regret, and also increase the cohesion of the team.

These solutions can help companies eliminate discrimination and unequal treatment as much as possible, but it is not easy for a company to do well in these aspects. This requires a lot of experience and a mature management system. Therefore, for employees, the most efficient way is to improve their ability and tolerance, to calm down their mentality, and not to be the aggressor and oppressor. People should keep a serious attitude towards all kinds of discrimination. We won’t accept it, but we won’t lose our minds and take extreme actions because of it.

 

Conclusion:

Workplace injustice includes discrimination, harassment, and bullying, which are caused by sociodemographic factors such as gender, disability, race, and etc. The dilemma for all kinds of businesses is how to ensure employees’ rights in certain social issues, particularly sophisticated social, political, and economic issues. One of the topics that might be tough to address is race.

Even while the legislation protects workers from being discriminated against in the job because of their personal qualities, it only applies to specific protected groups. As a result of the loopholes, not every discrimination or unjust treatment is prohibited.

Because no one can control what other people think, businesses and leaders must adopt a code of conduct to minimize bias and discrimination in the workplace. People have the freedom to believe anything they want, but they are not permitted to speak or do whatever they want at work since it may infringe on the rights of others. Bias will sabotage the company’s overall performance and cohesion. To avoid workplace injustice, it is vital to identify the border. The culture of a corporation is critical in combating discrimination. The first step a firm may take to address social problems and, eventually, remove bias is to have a clearly defined set of beliefs and values.

 

References

Citation: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/us/gm-toledo-racism-lawsuit/index.html

 

https://bencrump.com/blog/racial-injustice-in-america/#Black_LGBTQ_Discrimination_in_America Blog in BEN CRUMP trial lawyer for justice, “RACIAL INJUSTICE IN AMERICA”.

Yo, is this Homophobic?

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Homophobia In Society Today

Homophobia is a huge issue that is still occurring in our society. Not only does it occur in America but it is actually happening all over the world. It is seen that “Those in Western Europe are generally more accepting of homosexuality than are those in Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, the Middle-East, and Sub-Saharan Africa”. Many people forget that homophobia still exists and just push it to the back and ignore the fact. With the non-acceptence of gay rights, marriage, etc it only divides our society more. 

 

Effects of Homophobia in Our Society

Many people do not realize what they are doing to others when they are being homophobic. People may feel as if they do not fit in because their peers make them feel different for loving who they choose. It has such a negative effect that people who are homosexual may not even be able to focus or maintain any sort of relationship. Bullying someone about their sexual desires may lead to severe mental illness in many people. It is important to realize when you are saying the wrong thing and acknowledge the effect it has on other people and the consequences you may face. If you experience this kind of discrimination at such a young age it is prone to hurt you even more later in life. These years are crucial to your brain development and the effects of this are endless. 

 

Examples of Homophobia in Our Society

Over the years there have been events that have been held to promote and celebrate gay pride. These events have brought much light to our society and tried to change the world around us. However, there are still many examples out there of homophobia in our society. A few examples of this are common use of slurs. There are many people out there who completely disregard others and think it is okay to use words that would have a negative effect on homosexuals. Another example would be religious agenda against homosexuals. No matter your religion, everyone is an equal person in the world we live in. Not accepting someone based on who they choose to love is a very disgusting reality in our world. 

 

How the Media Can Help the Issue

In most cases the media is not a very good source and can have a negative impact on people. However, the media and internet can actually have positives and negatives with this. The media can be used to spread awareness and make people feel as though they are not alone. There can be groups such as Facebook where people can connect with one another who can relate to them and share their feelings as well. However, social media can lead to cyberbullying. This can have a detrimental effect on a person and it may not leave them feeling even more alone. People can also use social media to show their pride and let everyone know they are happy loving who they love.

 

Homophobia in the Workplace 

For decades, members of the LGBTQ community in the United States have been discriminated against and treated poorly solely for their sexual orientation. This discrimination can exist in all facets of their life, and often in their place of work. People are supposed to feel safe at work, they are supposed to feel as though they are a part of a team working towards a common goal. However, for members of the LGBTQ community, the workplace can often feel like the complete opposite, it can be an environment of hate and discrimination. In the U.S. today, nearly 6% of adults identify as LGBTQ, which is more than ever recorded (Gatusso). However, the constant discrimination, and the fluidity of different people’s experiences of sexuality and gender can make coming out feel like a very difficult process full of meticulous navigation.  In the United States, 90% of transgender people have reported either experiencing workplace discrimination or hiding their identity to avoid it (Gatusso). 

   

In 2013, Gerald Bostock, who worked as a child advocate in Clayton, Georgia, was fired from his job shortly after joining a gay softball league. Bostock lost his source of income and his medical insurance at a time when he was battling prostate cancer. This is a clear act of systemic injustice, Bostick was fired from a job he loved and was good at due to his sexuality. In 2016, Bostick rightfully sued his former employer, a case that would eventually make its way to the supreme court. Thanks to the strength and courage of Bostock and many others who went through similar injustices like his, change was legally made. On June 15th, 2020, the U.S. supreme court ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from discrimination based on sex. This case is a monumental win for the LGBTQ community as it offers legal protection to any person who is fired for being gay, lesbian, or transgender. 

Although the Supreme Court ruling was an amazing step in the right direction, there is still so much more to be done. It is still very important to fight for equality in smaller-scale battles, including your own workplace. There are a large number of things a company or organization can do to make a workplace more LGBTQ-friendly. Policies such as flexible hours and paid family leave can be extremely beneficial to members of the LGBTQ family, especially to those caring for extended family or parenting solo. It is also extremely important for individual businesses to create employer policies against discrimination to make serve as a basis and to make employs feel more comfortable. Most importantly, straight employees need to create allyship with their fellow LGBTQ colleagues, together they can demand for fair wages and an inclusive and respectful enviornment for LGBTQ employees. The fight against homophobia and for equality is one that does not just involve members of the LGBTQ community, but members of all communities across the nation. In order to achieve equality and put an end to injustice, everyone needs to unite and fight together.  

 

Stereotypes of a Gay Man and Women

    A woman is feminine. They wear dresses and always do their makeup. Men are masculine. They do not wear makeup and they do not cry. Heterosexual men are tough and manly, and gay men are girly and weak. All of these things are obviously incorrect. Men can wear makeup, and women can wear whatever they want. But, today, we will be discussing the gay stereotypes such as gay men are feminine, speak with a higher voice, and are weak, while gay women are masculine and tough. 

    Again, these stereotypes are not true for everyone. Yes, there are gay men and women that perceive themselves to be feminine and masculine, but that is not true for everyone. In fact, a gay person is just like any other heterosexual man or women on earth. There are the obvious feminine heterosexual women that enjoy doing their makeup, singing to “Single Ladies-Beyoncé”, and dancing in the mirror. There are also heterosexual women that enjoy playing video games, weight lifting, and cars. There are heterosexual men that enjoy makeup, and heterosexual men who do not. Stereotypes do not define who a person is, nor does it define the ability that they have.    

 

Stereotypes of Gay Men and Women in the Workplace

Also, we will discuss some of the jobs that may seem to be “stereotypical to both the gays and the lesbians. In many movies, books, and sometimes people assume, many gay men are assumed to be a hairstylist/fashion designer, flight attended, a nurse practictioner, and a producer/director. While on the other hand, gay women are known to be truck drivers, psychologist, adoption case worker, correctional officers, mechanics, and sociologist. Thought, in actuality, both gay men and women have a higher percentage in leaning more towards being a therapist for gender and sexuality, event planner/organizers, civil rights lawyers, and communication specialist. These jobs are much different than the stereotypical arts gay male sterotype and the labor worker gay women. These are jobs meant to better the community they live in. 

In addition to the work environment gay men and women must tolerate, they also sometimes have to concealed their sexuality for the sake of their safety. More often in male dominated jobs, men are found to be more hostile towards gay men. This is because they believe that befriending or being close to a gay male is a threat to their own toxicity. Being friends with a gay male may show people that they, themselves, are gay, which is not true at all. Only a person themselves can determine their own sexuality. But, because many men fear the idea of being “gay”, they sterotype specific people and even bully people that identify as gay in fear of being labeled something they are not. 

Gay men and gay women are stereotypes quite harshly. They can be verbally bullied or physically harmed because of the sexuality that they are. Stereotypes are generally harmful and categorizes people into a group which is typically incorrect. Each person is their own self, not one sexuality, gender, race, sex, religiones view is the same. 

 

References:

 

Fitzsimons, Tim. “Supreme Court Sent ‘Clear Message’ With LGBTQ Ruling, Plaintiff Gerald      aaaaaaBostock Says” NBC, 16 June 2020 supreme-court-sent-clear-message-lgbtq-ruling-plaintiff-gerald-bostock-n1231190

 

Gatusso, Reina. “The Risks of Coming Out at Work.” BBC,

    1 June 2021. 20210526-the-risks-of-coming-out-at-work

 

Poushter, J., & Kent, N. (2020, October 27). Views of homosexuality around the world. Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/06/25/global-divide-on-homosexuality-persists/. 

Clancy, Rosamund, and Helena Vieira. “There May Be Some Truth to the ‘Gay Jobs’ Stereotype.” LSE Business Review, July 1, 2021. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2016/01/18/there-may-be-some-truth-to-the-gay-jobs-stereotype/. 

Collins, Gary M. “ThinkIR: The University of Louisville’s Institutional …” Accessed November 20, 2021. https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1264&context=etd. 

Doyle, Alison. “What Are the Top 10 Jobs in the LGBTQ Community?” The Balance Careers. The Balance Careers, February 13, 2020. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-lgbtq-jobs-2059651. 

Klysing, Amanda, Anna Lindqvist, and Fredrik Björklund. “Stereotype Content at the Intersection of Gender and Sexual Orientation.” Frontiers. Frontiers, January 1, 1AD. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.713839/full.

 

Diary of Systemic Injustices Showcase

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A clear yet often overlooked example of systemic injustice is in the workplace, especially during the hiring process. Besides the commonly recognized pay gap between ethnic background employees and Caucasian employees, applicants for job positions also face discrimination during the process. According to a Harvard study, it was found that when potential job applicants submitted their applications, equally qualified black applicants were statistically less likely to receive an interview for the job when compared to white applicants. This clearly illustrates the systemic injustice that exists within the workplace for black applicants, which only exacerbates the fact that poverty also disproportionately affects the black community. In addition, the study indicated that black and Asian applicants with ethnically sounding names were statistically less likely to be called for interviews and be hired for the jobs, despite identical, if not greater, qualifications for the job. This only further emphasizes the clear and unfair struggle that exists within our society. Because of this internalized racism towards ethnic individuals and ethnic sounding names, they end up not getting jobs that they deserve and need to feed and support their families, despite having all the necessary qualifications. Furthermore, reiterating the fact that poverty already affects individuals from these communities disproportionately more than Caucasian individuals, this only serves to further hurt the condition of those in these communities. In addition to the economic aspect of this condition comes the psychological and mental burdens of such discrimination. In such a situation, when applicants are already being discriminated against, the workplace itself also poses as a place for more potential trauma. In fact, according to a Gallup poll, in the last 12 months, 75% of black employees reported being discriminated within the workplace itself. This further highlights the degree of toxicity that ethnic employees within the workplace, even after attaining their jobs. Even worse, this 75% figure is constant across all genders, ages, and income levels, meaning that at no point in an black person’s career are they safe from workplace discrimination. This not only results in less productive workers, but poorer qualities of life for people who are working just as hard, if not harder, than their fellow employees. Hence, we see that even in the workplace, a place that an individual would expect respect and equality, systemic injustice and racism continues to still prevent hardworking individuals from accessing the success they deserve.

hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51633 

https://news.gallup.com/poll/328394/one-four-black-workers-report-discrimination-work.aspx

“Yo, Is This Racist?” By Honour Lackey and Emily Ryan

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YO, IS THIS RACIST?

By Honour Lackey and Emily Ryan

Article discussed: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/legacy-racism-within-us-border-patrol

 

ER: Hi, my name is Emily Ryan and I’m here with Honour Lackey. Today, we will be discussing the harsh discrimination surrounding the borders.  This idea is discussed in the article “The Legacy of Racism within the U.S Border Patrol” By Katy Murdaza and Walter Ewing, which we are going to use as a jumping off point. The article points out that over the course of history, border patrol has been harsher in certain areas than others because of the populations of people crossing those borders.

HL: Hi! I have recently read about this issue particularly on the southern border. From prior research I have done and what I have seen on the news, Mexicans and Latin Americans more recently are attempting to cross the border into America, often hoping for better living conditions

ER: Yes, that is true. They are known as Asylum Seekers, which means they are seeking refuge in America to flee from the harsh rules in their home countries. Many are seen to be from the LGBTQ+ community, or families seeking safety against gang violence.

“ A Haitian family in a makeshift encampment in Mexico where they have been waiting to claim asylum in the U.S”

HL: Wow, that is interesting! I was just about to mention that people of color tend to be targeted at the border, so not only are they fleeing the bleak conditions in their countries but now they are being discriminated against because of their skin color. I imagine this can be difficult to navigate as a POC—in fact, we read a little bit about those difficulties, although in a different context, the week we read The Leavers  by Lisa Ko.

 

“It can be really difficult to have these ideas challenged and the narrative surrounding them changed.”

 

ER: Good point. It is sad to see and read about the challenges immigrants face in trying to come to the United States. I think maybe a reason for this is because of past events in history. For example, according to “Addressing Racialized Violence Against Migrants Requires a Complete Overhaul of Customs and Border Protection” by Shaw Drake, “The Border Patrol, initially a small agency, was established in an anti-immigrant atmosphere in 1924. It employed white supremacists, including Ku Klux Klan members, from the outset, and its early history included regular beatings, shootings, and hangings of migrants.”

HL: That could definitely play a role in why there is some systemic racism seen by the Border Patrol. Since the beginning, they have been targeted, and it can be really difficult to have these ideas challenged and the narrative surrounding them changed.

ER: For sure. Another idea that I wanted to point out is that I never hear of these issues occurring on the eastern border. Do you know why that is?

HL: Indeed. I know in one of our recent modules in class this we discussed the idea of undocumented immigration, and we mentioned White Europeans and how they were able to migrate to America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries without much concern. They were able to do this because they often ended up in areas where there weren’t many native settlers, so there was no one to deport them. However, some may say that it is racist that they are easily able to immigrate into the Unites States, while it is much harder for other races to immigrate. What do you think?

HL: I would have to agree that there is racism surrounding immigration. I mean, if both are undocumented, and presumably leaving situations that could be dangerous, there is no reason for a white immigrant to be treated differently than a non-white immigrant. It really comes down to the narratives and ideas of non-white people that are pushed in the American psyche.

ER: That’s exactly how I feel.

HL: And, considering how non-white people at the border are treated—we both have read and seen a lot about the poor conditions at the border—we have to ask ourselves, why is it that the U.S. treats immigrants with so much hostility?

ER: It really makes me think about our discussions as a class of the One and the Other, and how historically, being white has advantages that outweigh other circumstances. Intersectionality, a subject we have been developing an understanding of over the past few weeks, is connected to this intertwining of identities.

HL: To clarify, you’re saying that even in situations where one could be Othered—

ER: Like being an immigrant.

HL: Yes, exactly — a person can still be in the position of the One, simply because they are white. Like, being white overrides?

ER: Yes, that is what I mean.

HL: That is such an interesting interpretation, I think I agree with you on that.

European Immigration to North America

YO, IS THIS RACIST?

Article discussed: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/01/08/954820328/memo-to-people-of-earth-third-world-is-an-offensive-term

HL: Hey, this is Honour Lackey, back in discussion with Emily Ryan.

ER: Lovely to be talking with you!

HL: Likewise! Now, this article is about the term “Third World”, and why it is a very disrespectful way to address these countries.

ER: I think we discussed this to some extent earlier, when we were reading about the “national allegory”, and even earlier when we talked about the idea of the “single story”.

“Think about how differently we would interpret the history of colonialism and the “First World” if it were written by non-white people and those affected by colonialism.”

HL: I was hoping you would mention that! What would you say were your biggest takeaways from those readings?

ER: Something that definitely stuck out to me was how Ahmad said that while the “First” and “Second” world were defined by their means of production—Capitalism, communism, that stuff—the “Third World” was defined by how these worlds affected them.

HL: Yes, exactly. It is so damaging for these “better” countries to label the countries they view as less fortunate or lacking in resources as “worse” when it is the fault of the First and Second World that the “Third World” lives in such conditions.

ER: Right? It is such an overgeneralization, and such an unfair assessment. It also doesn’t make much sense, would you agree? It is confusing how the term “Third World” is just a conglomeration of countries that may have nothing else in common, besides how they are affected by the “First” and “Second” world.

Photo courtesy of the Borgen Project.

HL: I agree! And like mentioned by Paul Farmer in the article, it isn’t like the “First World” is without issues—I mean, we have seen in the past few years the issues that the U.S. has with its Democracy, and that are part of the “First World” that are deep in poverty.

ER: That is just what I was going to say. These terms are not only outdated, they are simply inaccurate, and they invite a sense of superiority and inferiority that is definitely reinforced systemically.

HL: I mean, to call back to our earlier conversation, look at the narrative surrounding non-white immigrants.

ER: Yes! We tend to equate the people living in these countries with these inferior ideas, and then we make it so difficult for them to move to the U.S., a place that is considered “better”. It just doesn’t seem fair.

HL: I see where you are coming from.

ER: I think that this could also relate to the topics of colonialism that we have discussed in stories like Things Fall Apart.

HL: Totally! In Things Fall Apart, it is clear how deeply ingrained these injustices and power dynamics are. White missionaries sweep in to these communities that are otherwise functioning, rip them apart from the inside out, and then take the position of “saving” them.

ER: It really all depends on who is in control of the narrative. Think about how differently we would interpret the history of colonialism and the “First World” if it were written by non-white people and those affected by colonialism.

HL: I think that that is definitely related to the concepts of “Third World” and “First World”. When we think about the concept of the One and the Other, we tend to widely accept the perspective of the One, because they are much louder, have more resources, have better platforms, you know?

ER: I was just about to say, when you look at how we Other those in the supposed “Third World”, it is easy to see the parallels.

HL: What do you think can we do, as people in a position of privilege, to help rectify these situations?

ER: I think that, for the most part, the most important thing for a person in a powerful position to do is to use that position to amplify the voices of the Other. It is crucial that the One doesn’t speak over or for marginalized groups. That defeats the purpose completely.

HL: By uplifting those in marginalized communities, and listening to a wide variety of perspectives, we open ourselves up to new, more accurate depictions of these communities.

ER: Exactly. I feel that, especially when talking about the “Third World”, so many people want to talk about the issues these countries face, but they don’t want to acknowledge what they are doing in reinforcing these issues by not questioning how these conditions came to be.