Police brutality has been a bigger conversation in society since 2019. The death of Mr. George Floyd started the new revelation for conversation around the topic of police brutality against people of color which has been needed for centuries. Many other deaths have sadly occurred since then, like Beonna Taylor but many more have occurred before then like the death of Trevon Martin. Many protests and memorials have begun to sprout up for the deaths of people who have been victims of police brutality, as their families have become the biggest voices for this conversation. No one should ever lose a loved one especially to the violence of people who should be obeying the law. Many people believe this is a new turn in the civil rights movement for African Americans because the fight for equality still goes on. 

As an Ohio State Student, I believe we still see the issues of police brutality today on and of campus. Around my apartment, I get many notifications on my Ring Camera of crimes that take place where police officers wrongfully accuse a person of color. We have seen protests at The Union for a change in the Ohio State Police and Columbus Police on campus. This Change involves Extra training, different types of emergency calls, (like social workers), and more. Students have become the voice, to hopefully be more powerful than those who are not heard, that should equally be voiced. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the first African Americans to fight for Civil Rights. He believed no matters one’s race, people are people and they should be equal. As we know Dr. King was sadly killed fighting for what was right. Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail spoke of the abuse and oppression he faced in the county jail for speaking out about his rights. He worked alongside Mr. John Lewis, who continued the fight when Dr. King couldn’t anymore. In March Volume I, Mr. Lewis fought peacefully to end the abuse of power from police as we still are in 2021.  Sadly, Mr. Lewis recently passed away but saw the regression we as a society has made to the Civil Rights Movement. He believed all of the effort people such as himself, Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and many others put into stopping racism didn’t do anything, and we are going back in time today with police brutality. 

 “Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.”

― Lewis on political change in Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change

(quote)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/us/derek-chauvin-trial-jury.html

In the case of the Murder of Mr. George Flloyd, Derik Chauvin, the ex-police officer was found guilty. The 12 jurors were identified for the first time. In the time of this story, they still remain anonymous and want to stay on the “down-low” side, because of the pressure of the trial. Derik has been convicted to 22.5 years in prison for murdering Geroge Flloyd.

Gianna Flloyd, George Floyd’s daughter, on the arms of Mr. Floys long-time friend, Stephen Jackson, saying“My Daddy Will Change The World”.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12111-013-9246-5

Case study of the Racism and Discrimination associated with police brutality and Black people via the National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP). This case study talks about important concepts like Critical Race Theory (like we have learned in class), and other causes for why police brutality may occur and exist. This graph shows the percentages of police brutality over decades in the twenty-first century. 

References:

Bogel-burroughs, Nicholas. “Jurors Who Convicted Derek Chauvin Are Identified for First Time.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Nov. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/us/derek-chauvin-trial-jury.html.

Chaney, Cassandra, and Ray V. Robertson. “Racism and Police Brutality in America.” Journal of African American Studies, Springer US, 12 Jan. 2013, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12111-013-9246-5.

Lewis on political change in Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change

“Watch George Floyd’s Daughter Say ‘Daddy Changed … – Youtube.” YouTube, Entertainment Tonight, 3 June 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5Kj_ZqufQM.

For my systemic injustice showcase I would like to further expand on my third topic, healthcare services provided to patients of preferred sexual orientation. Similar to the concept expressed in Simone de Beauvoir’s The Same Sex, LGBTQ members often feel as if they are considered the “Other” when receiving medical attention because they gain a sense of feeling powerless and unheard. Furthermore, I want to touch base on a situation that allowed me to understand why they are perceived as the “Other” and how it effects their overall health and well-being. This particular situation happened not too long ago and involved both a healthcare provider and patient. An unfortunate confrontation happened when a patient sensed that a nurse was refusing to provide care because of their preferred sexual orientation. Often, these patients reflect on their damaging past relationships with healthcare professionals, and this leads to them feeling frightened, judged, and misunderstood. Since this, I tend to think about how these individuals must feel and try to understand their emotions, which is why I chose to continue exploring this topic.

After extensive research, I found numerous articles that displayed why LGBTQ members have a hard time seeking the highest quality of medical care. Additionally, these articles expressed how members of the LGBTQ community experience high rates of mental, physical, and behavioral distress and high rates of infections. For example, one article revealed that 61% of gay and bisexual men are currently living with HIV in the United States, with 70% consistently reporting new infections (Kates et al., 2018). Furthermore, a study showed that 60% of transgender adults reported having poor health compared to 37% of cisgender adults. Of these results, 40% reported postponing screens and 68% reported some form of discrimination (Medina, 2021). From my perspective, these rates are high because many of these individuals often refrain from treatment due to the lack of education and communication by healthcare professionals, and the ongoing “Otherness” they experience. With that, it is crucial for this issue to be addressed ASAP.

            There are a few things that are currently being done to help ensure that LGBTQ members feel as confident and equal as those of the general population. According to John Hopkins Medicine (2021), a project is being done called The EQUALITY Study which aims to change how healthcare providers in emergency rooms obtain information about sexual orientation. In addition, many universities are providing updated medical curriculums to ensure that medical students are receiving adequate education on sexual orientation. While these things are considered positive strides, more actions need to be taken to further reduce the number of LGBTQ members experiencing this type of discrimination. By continuing to take action it can help these individuals feel like they belong in this crazy world and eliminate their chances of feeling like the “Other.”

Citations:

Kates, J., Ranji, U., Beamesderfer, A., Salganicoff, A., Dawson, L. (2018 May 03). Health and access to care and coverage for LGBT individuals in the U.S. Kaiser Family Foundation. https://www.kff.org/report-section/health-and-access-to-care-and-coverage-lgbt-     individuals-in-the-us-health-challenges/

Medina, C. (2021, August 25). Fact sheet: Protecting and advancing health care for transgender adult communities. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/reports/2021/08/25/503048/fact-sheet-protecting-advancing-health-care-transgender-adult-communities/

Neria, P.M. (2021). LGTBQ health care: Answers from expert paula neira. John Hopkins Medicine. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbtq-rights/reports/2021/08/25/503048/fact-sheet-protecting-advancing-health-care-            transgender-adult-communities/

  The social classes accumulated over the years have made many people unable to turn around for a lifetime and can only constantly replicate from generation to generation. Class duplication refers to the phenomenon that the next generation replicates the social class of the previous generation, the disadvantaged class loses the opportunity to stand up, and the upper class can maintain their status and wealth. 

  Education is essential for humans to be better people; also, it is the best way for the poor to change their lives. No matter what class people are, their education level is closely related to income and social class. However, there is a drawback in the existing education system in the United States: the poor live in slums, where they can only go to the nearest school for education. This is a vicious cycle, which involves the uneven distribution of educational resources. Since the schools nearby are usually bad, and almost 40% of students cannot graduate. Because the children at the bottom of society cannot receive a good education, they enter the workforce early, and most of them engage in more manual jobs and have many children. Still, most of their children cannot go to college, resulting in frequent unemployment, and they can only live on relief funds. 

  The concept of othering by de Beauvoir argues that the influential group views other weaker groups as different or unimportant groups. The idea is present in the uneven distribution of educational resources, in which the poor do not have the same opportunity to get education as the rich. Moreover, children go to school because of the area they live in, causing most of the rich children to go to good schools, while the children of the poor can only go to bad schools. It even forms a stereotype that children in impoverished areas will not learn, which is somehow people generally view the vulnerable group negatively. 

  This relates to the sickness of the U.S education system, the teaching standards set by each state are different, resulting in uneven student quality. Education reform is also challenging because every step of the school will be restricted by the government, local government, school board, etc. Even if one of the senior management wants to change the status quo of education, they can only give up due to the situation.

  On the other hand, another key for students to achieve good grades is good teachers. Research shows that bad teachers can only reach half of the average teaching volume, while good teachers can achieve 1.5 times the average teaching volume. However, public elementary and middle schools in the United States implement a lifetime employment system, it is difficult for bad teachers to be fired if they have taught for two years. These educational difficulties may prevent poor children from turning over their lives. The government’s education policy should be more flawless so that children have more opportunities to turn their lives.

  These are the two movies and documentaries that show the educational dilemma of the poor in the United States; also about class duplication and how education level affects the achievements of doctors.

In this diary I will be talking about the death of Kevin Desir. He was 43 years old. He died inside Broward jail in 2021. He was arrested twice. He was first arrested in January for destroying a neighbors car. Then again, in mid January for possession of marijuana. Desir had permission to use marijuana. Although it wasn’t ruled through before his arrest. Kevin Desir had reasons for destroying property. With mental illness you tend to have episodes. Those episodes can include arguing with loved ones, drug usage, destroying things, etc. There is no excuse for it, but it should be known. “Obviously, he’s dealt with mental illness for 21-22 years…” (Shepard) He was a father, a husband, worked full time, and was an entrepreneur. He fought with his mental illness really hard. In the facility, Desir cut himself. Cutting is a form of self harm. Self harm is common with those with mental illness. A deputy put him in a restraint chair. He became unresponsive and CPR was done. He was rushed to the hospital. He died 10 days later. Let’s be honest, police know nothing about mental health. They panic, they do not know how to comfort one with mental illness. This is why we need mental health professionals to work in the field as well. This case is systemic injustice because the police broke a law. They violated a federal court agreement. BSO jail is supposed to protect those with mental illness. The scary thing is that the police didn’t want this case shared to the public. They knew they did something wrong. This is police brutality. I hope those with similar stories like Kevin don’t have to go through this. The system needs change.

This diary entry is probably my favorite one I did research on. Police brutality is horrible. It is sad that police are so racist that they hurt others with a different skin color with no remorse. This diary entry stood out even more to me because it deals with more than one issue. Police brutality, mental health, publicity failure, etc. Police are not meant to help the mentally ill. They do not know how to comfort, talk to a person who is harming themselves. In most situations they make the matters worse. I deal with mental health myself and so does my family and friends. It is tough. We need a system to go on board with the police to team together to help those that are mentally ill. If we had a system like this, Desir may still be alive.

Source: https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/family-of-man-who-died-after-altercation-with-broward-jail-staff-wants-answers/2372059/

When I grew up in an environment of my ethnicity in primary school, it feels like there is no hatred around me. My friends and I come from families of various origins across the country but we share very similar looks, although it takes a 10-hour plane flight to travel from the most South family’s hometown to the most North one. As years went by, I learned how Asians, as a minority race in the United States and is classified into several specific categories, have suffered enormous systematic injustice in history and till today. The Chinese Exclusion Act which was signed in 1882 and lasted until the middle of WW2, forbids nearly all formal immigration from China to the United States, no matter how many Chinese workers had been working in the railroad industry continuously for tens of years in the western industrialization and modernization during the Westward Movement. Having a different appearance and a rather small population made the 19th-century Asian immigrants excluded and treated as “Others” from the major White community.

Although exclusion policies are eased and banned in the human rights movement of the last century, there is a more recent example of an official misguiding for hatred and exclusion of the Asian-American group. The Stop Asian Hate campaign that forms demonstrations and great discussion over the Shooting incident in the Atlanta spa attack. The incident led to eight deaths including six women of Asian descent, a police officer, and an army veteran. After the attack took place, the Sheriff’s Office spokesman Captain Jay Baker announced the murderer to be “pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did.” Social media shows Baker posted T-shirt pictures of the “Wuhan Virus” originating from former President Donald Trump, and he supports the racist opinion about Coronavirus. Official guides of the President appear in social media and across the nation, leading to lots of conflicts and violent crimes, which may cause the incident indirectly. It appears to many people who hold racist ideas that the identical characteristics of someone in a group can be applied to the whole group. For example, soul food is cooked by every African American group, or a virus makes every human being from its origin dangerous. In addition, Asian Hate had been a guided target on publics when Japan was exporting its industrial manufactures between the 1960s and 1980s. The death of Vincent Chen in Detroit, 1982, happened for two drunk males who think he “is a Japanese and stole their jobs” and attacked Chen. Before the attack, there is a famous anti-Japanese manufacturing event to support the US local industry, 9 congressmen/women smashed a Toshiba radio outside of the White House to show their target of blocking Japanese manufactures. In these cases, the exclusion on Asian groups is led directly through government policy creating the sense of “other” among them.

This action indirectly supports hate towards Asian groups,

that public hatred is used to solve trading problems of local unemployment. Similar to the Atlanta incident, hatred in intentionally spread by officials, exaggerated social issues, and led to violent crimes.

Reference:

Barrett, S. (2021, April 12). Racism is a virus, not Asians: #StopAAPIHate. PR Week. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.prweek.com/article/1711232/racism-virus-not-asians-stopaapihate.

YouTube. (2021). YouTube. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K88pWCimZg.

Novak, M. (2016, May 9). That time Republicans smashed a boombox with sledgehammers on Capitol Hill. Gizmodo. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://gizmodo.com/that-time-republicans-smashed-a-boombox-with-sledgehamm-1775418875.

Fashion magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue have a major impact on the fashion industry they are physical documentations of the most important events in fashion and have gone back decades. The fashion industry has been criticized in the past over its lack of inclusivity regarding size and appearance, pushing pictures of gorgeous skinny models and leaving out the other 99%. Yet, after the Black Lives Matter movement, many magazines started taking a second look at their decisions over the years not only regarding what they publish but their employees as well.

Fashion is a unique industry. It’s an industry that adapts and changes more frequently than most, with the ability to create new norms and influence the whole world. This power should be used for the better, not the worse. After decades of being criticized for their lack of diversity and inclusion, it’s vital for the fashion industry to represent all types of people. Normalizing inclusion in fashion today will positively impact generations to come.

Anna Wintour the editor-in-chief of US Vogue released a statement apologizing for publishing intolerant material and not doing enough to include people of color in her 32-year reign at Vogue. Although an apology is appreciated, real change is needed to make those apologies believable.  To put the systematic injustice of the fashion magazine industry into perspective Harper’s Bazaar, an internationally renowned magazine, appointed Samira Nast its first black editor-in-chief in over a century and a half, 153 years to be exact, in July of last year. As a result of systemic racism in the industry, no person of color was made editor-in-chief since Harper’s Bazaars first publication in 1867, until finally in 2020.

Vogue is often referred to as the fashion bible, a name that should not be taken lightly. If this is the magazine that anyone that wants to work in fashion looks up to then the mistakes made in 32 years are quite grave. The fashion industry is very competitive as is and a lack of diversity could dimmish a young child’s dream of working in fashion by making them think they wouldn’t belong. Although things have changed over the last few years with plus-size models and a bit more diversity, I think the fashion industry knows it can do better.

RACISM IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/style/fashion-racism.html

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/jun/10/anna-wintour-apologises-for-not-giving-space-to-black-people-at-vogue

RACISM IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

A few days ago I was heading to work, on my drive I saw a long line of cars waiting. A very long line which was probably about a mile long: I was curious about what people were waiting for. When I got to work, I asked my boss if he knew what the line was for. He told me people are waiting for meals at a nearby store called restaurant depot on N Wilson. As I started to think about it more, I saw one at the mosque I go to. It had a sign that said, “Food Drive” I began to ask myself, can everyone get food on their dinner table? I looked more into it and found out millions of people are struggling to provide food for their families. Due to the pandemic and people out of jobs, families rely on churches, nonprofits, schools, and other agencies to give nutrients.

Hunger has been a problem throughout our country, but the pandemic shined a light on how big the problem is. As it is not just an issue in the United States, it is going on worldwide. In Africa and other rural parts of the world, they can’t seem to get water or food, making it harder for them. Millions of people are living paycheck to paycheck. Any minor financial issue in their lives will damage homes. A way that communities have been helping is by food drives. It is something that has been a great blessing for many families around the US. In Ohio, 1,547,110 people are facing hunger. 448,600 of them are children. Elon Musk stated that if the UN can show how they will use the funds, he will donate $6 Billion to help end world hunger. As many people have looked into it and thought about how big that would help, they assume it wouldn’t end it ultimately. So it’s essential to think about it this way If you give a person food, they will always need you, but if you can help them get the food, they will slowly be up on their feet. Things like food drives are crucial in today’s world for the world to keep moving. I’m glad I learned about food drives. Now I can provide that information for people in need. I see lots of homeless people in the area where I work. Food drives could get them back up on their feet.

We often hear the phrase that going to college is the only option to change your status. Behind this statement is actually a reflection of growing social inequality.

Consider the economics perspective. Wealthier households have a faster rate of wealth growth, but the bottom class will have even lower levels of wealth. The reason behind this growing difference is actually the difference in the amount of capital owned by the upper class and the lower class. The upper class has more capital, which is the equipment of the factory, the number of employees they have, the equity and debt in their hands. This capital gives them the ability to acquire more capital. But the lower class, as the human capital of the upper class, can only get the wages corresponding to the amount of their labor and cannot make money with money. Also we have the stock and housing markets. The lower class mostly holds cash and has no assets in the stock and housing markets, which leaves the lower class without the benefits of rising financial asset prices. However, the upper class will have very high incomes in the financial markets, they hold stocks and property and lots of liabilities, and will increase their equity significantly when the financial markets rise. They will also make money together through manipulation. This causes the lower class to almost never catch up with the wealth of the upper class. There is no shortage of people who have the ability but are in the lower class, and there is no shortage of people who do not have the ability but are in the upper class, which leads to great injustice because people do not acquire wealth according to their ability to contribute to society.

From a sociological point of view, the communities where the lower classes live are mostly chaotic communities. The quality of education provided by the schools near these communities is bad. Also, because of the chaos and low quality, crime occurs frequently. Crime is often seen by lower class communities as a way to make money. This is the wrong value and these factors lead to their inability to learn professional skills and work hard enough to become a workforce. In the long run, they will experience a decline in their wealth levels. Second is taxation. The upper class evades taxes through various means and the tax rate is even lower than the lower class, which seriously hinders the social equality brought by transfer payments. We all know that the upper class will appear to squeeze the labor force, which means higher income for the upper class and lower labor force for the lower class.

It is useful to think about Beauvoir’s theory of the Other. The upper class defines the lower class as the other, and they increase social inequality by keeping the lower class stranded by labor squeezing, promoting financial markets, and not making transfer payments. Meanwhile, Spivak’s subaltern theory provides an explanation for the marginalization of the lower class. They are unable to fight for their interests in transfer payments, do not have the ability to promote financial markets, and do not have access to market resources and capital, even to the extent that their lives are controlled by the not-so-much upper class.

Social inequality is definitely a systemic injustice that needs to be progressively addressed.

Link to articles:

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/05/5-reasons-income-inequality-has-become-a-major-political-issue.html

Work Cited:

“The gaps in incomes”, Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Ruth Igielnik, Rakesh Kochhar, Jan 9 .2020, retrieved from: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/

“The Difference Between Rich And Poor Communities”, Aniqa Ajmal, Aug 18. 2018, retrieved from: https://wonderfulengineering.com/this-drone-photo-series-shows-the-difference-between-rich-and-poor-communities/

“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYxspCbwZVs”, khanacademymedicine, Mar 27. 2015, retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYxspCbwZVs

I have decided to focus on the school system and just how systemic injustice impacts an individual’s chances at receiving a “good education”. Black students simply do not have the opportunities that white students do. Higher education is considered a luxury and oftentimes a dream so far out of reach for these students out of color. The attendance of people of color at inner city schools is a perfect example of systemic injustice at play within our school system. Inner city schools are predominantly made up of African American and Hispanic students, meanwhile white students make up most of the public and private school population. These students attending inner city schools are scoring significantly lower on state tests in comparison to students attending private schools. Overall, because those attending inner city schools are coming from low income families, the education they are receiving is significantly worse than the higher income families sending their children to private schools. Thus meaning, lower income people of color were set up for failure to begin with. They will never receive the type of education their white peers receive, leading these students to a future in which higher education seems unlikely. Because private school is so expensive, it is almost impossible for those of lower income and students of color to gain access to better education. Ultimately students that attend private school and even those students attending public schools have a better opportunity at furthering their education past high school than those students attending an inner city school. Another issue within the school system is the constant reliance of law enforcement in response to minor issues within students of color. Statistics show that law enforcement is being called at a substantially higher rate for black students in comparison to white students. However, law enforcement is being called for minor altercations in which black students are being arrested for, meanwhile many white students are let off with a warning for the same altercation. These constant arrests of innocent students of color is known as the “school to prison pipeline”. The “school to prison pipeline” can be explained by people of color being continuously arrested causing them to drop out of school. These examples of systemic injustice reflect just how one sided the school system is. It is almost as if the school system is put in place to discourage students of color from pursuing a higher degree. 

Race Relations & Central City Schools: It’s time for an experiment with vouchers

https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2017/11/systemic-racism-education

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/more-hispanics-blacks-enrolling-in-college-but-lag-in-bachelors-degrees/

https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/millions-black-students-attend-public-schools-are-highly-segregated-race-and-income

In early October former NWSL head coach, Paul Riley, was accused by former players of coercing them into having sex with him at various different teams since 2010. Riley was one of the most decorated and well respected coaches in the league, so this story initially came as a shock to many. Many former players were courageous enough to step up and share their stories. One of the most heartbreaking stories came from Midfielder Sinead Farrelly who played for Riley at three different team across the league since 2011. In her own words she felt “claimed” by Riley, as she shared personal stories with him, was inappropriately touched, a and coerced into having sex with him. This continued in the off season and whenever he moved clubs he continued to seek her out, finding a way for her to join the club as well. He took a toll on her emotionally and mentally, even leading her to collapse in a game in 2014 due to the high stress levels it caused her. Meleana Shim, a teammate of Farrelly also came forward with accusations against Riley, giving a specific example of how Riley used his position of power to make to two women participate in sexual actions. In this example she explained that her and Farrelly ended up in his hotel room after a night out with the team, where Shim asked the two to kiss if they didn’t want the team to run a suicide mile drill that week.

These players, along with many other coming forward not only exposed how Riley used his position to take advantages of players, but also exposed how the NWSL was quick to cover the accusations. The accusations against Riley first came to light in 2015, when Shim, with the help of teammate Alex Morgan, e-mailed a complaint to both Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson and the HR rep Nancy Garcia. They told her without any evidence she did not have a legal claim. While the Thorns released Riley later that season, they covered it up making people think it was do to their poor results and record. Riley was still allowed to coach and became the head coach of the North Carolina Courage where he continued to prey on more players. Former United States Women’s Soccer player and three time Olympic gold medalist, Heather O’Riley, spoke up about the current allegations explaining that “we want to continue our personal careers and there’s not as many opportunities for players to be professional footballers so I think that’s a reason why a lot of things are just dealt with. As a player you just take it.” This one statement here from a former NWSL player goes to show how vulnerable these female athletes are when it comes to wanting to live out their dreams of being a professional soccer player. It is easy to take advantage of these players who believe this is the only way they can make it to where they want in life. The NWSL’s lack of accountability and thorough investigation enables behavior like this and leaves future female soccer players concerned about their safety rather than competing in their sport. 

https://theathletic.com/news/former-players-accuse-north-carolina-courage-coach-paul-riley-of-sexual-coercion/pEkYF3H4gsHf/

https://www.insider.com/nwsl-sexual-abuse-accusations-against-coach-paul-riley-2021-10