Yo is this sexist? by Janie Cowley and Molly Erneston

Hello, I’m Jamie and welcome back to our podcasts of yo is this sexist. Joining us this week is Molly Erneston Hi, I’m

Molly Erneston and today we will be discussing sexism in sports.

This has been an ongoing issue in our world for as long as sports have been played, and is something that deserves a lot more awareness wants people’s attention, female athletes across the world are just as talented and just as hard working as male athletes and should not have to go through obstacles and disrespect to try and prove this.

We are both currently members on the women’s lacrosse team at The Ohio State University that face our own personal struggles and experiences with sexism in sports growing up as to be male athletes at a younger age, it was always hearing that boys are faster and boys are stronger than us, but now there are much more serious issues, and it’s hard to hear about situations happening, and the National College Athletic Association of America. Janie, have you experienced any sexism in your sport recently,

definitely as a younger girl there was always like the rude remarks, even in like gym class saying like, you can’t play with the boys or you can’t hang with them. But I mean as a female athlete you kind of get used to it, which is something that like shouldn’t be the norm.

I agree there definitely is huge lack of respect for female athletes, just all across the board I remember like growing up I always would race with the boys in what to do with the boys were doing and they always said I couldn’t do that because I was a girl and girls can’t play with boys, which is such a lie because girls can keep up with boys.

And even when we would win the races you still didn’t get the respect that the fastest boy would get.

Yeah exactly, there’s no respect and if you did, they would call you, like, a boy, or they would make fun of you for having bigger legs or bigger muscles. It was always something that set us apart and made us less.

Yeah, there’s definitely a stereotype that comes along with being a female athlete, Not just the sexism part but it’s also like people judge you think you’re more manly, you don’t have like female characteristics just because you’re athletic and play sports, doesn’t mean you’re not a girl.

I agree 100% I definitely suffered throughout my high school and middle school experiences, always being a little bit bigger and more muscular than the boys and other girls in my grade, it definitely set me apart, and I definitely got picked on for it.

I think it especially escalated when, like, for me, I don’t know if you agree, but when we got to college, the stereotype definitely like grow because other girls that aren’t athletes start to look at you like, Oh, they’re just jocks like nothing else that matters besides how they play their sport and like how they execute, which is not the case.

Yeah I agree 100% I also experienced like in high school, both of us committed us freshmen and sophomores in high school, and all my guy friends always messed with us cuz, they’d be like, Oh, if I played women’s lacrosse I could go to the top. Do you want school like that’s the easiest sport in the world, especially being a woman like any boy claims if he played girls sports he could just be anyone, do very,

yeah and the boys at my in my high school who committed to play men’s lacrosse were never judged for playing lacrosse as a guy because people looked at it as much more bigger deal and it was her females playing lacrosse.

Yeah, it just, there’s way more respect for boys that are Division One athletes and professional athletes than for women, even our America’s women’s soccer team, they get joked on and messed with all the time even though they’ve won more championships than the men’s team.

Yeah, they’ve won an insane amount of World Cups and Olympic saris. And they still aren’t gaining respect which is crazy to think about, especially with the current situation that just happened in the NCAA Tournament March Madness, like the girls got no equipment for weight room and they’re basically given like jail food, as they were in quarantine.

It just really is sad, and it’s not even about the money, it’s not about girls bringing in less money. This is why they get that. It’s just common sense. Now the NCAA, we’re all athletes, all of us need weights we need squat racks we need literal like things to do, other than weights that go up to 30 pounds like it’s just disrespect. We all men’s and women’s basketball men’s and women’s lacrosse every athlete needs those facilities and those things and the NCAA just completely ignored it and thought the woman’s basketball team would just not need it at all,

and that all goes back to this stereotype of being a female athlete, a stereotype that the NCAA was giving us was that we’re not as strong as men by giving us only 30 pound dumbbells and no squat racks or anything.

So, it’s just sad like the NCAA has been bringing down women’s sports for as long as sports have been around they’ve made it seem like we’re less than boys, and the boys get more everything. And it just, it needs to stop and it needs to come to an end.

A current Oregon basketball player has been going viral on Tik Tok because she’s finally speaking out she’s sick of the inequality and sexualization going on in sports sit on a prince, have you heard her.

Yes, I have I do follow her on tick tock, and I’m really proud a lot of women’s basketball players have been speaking out about this issue, and I’m glad they recorded it because I feel like people. We could be talking about it and, but no one really sees the issue and like the tech talks and the videos they’ve made makes it so much more real.

Yeah, she’s brought a lot of awareness of female athletes, but it also came with a, like a bunch of comments that I read on her thing was like, males that who don’t even play sports, that were like making fun of her or making fun of the female tournament for the March Madness was just crazy because people like Steph Curry and LeBron James gave her a shout out saying like woman sports are just as important as males but in sports.

We work just as hard like there is no difference in our work ethic, sorry that the men get more views, but women work just as hard and as just as athletic is just as much as a time commitment for every sport, no matter if you’re male or female. And we need the respect, it’s gone on too long that we have this lack of respect. I’m glad that Sedona Prince and a lot of girls in the March Madness are speaking up about this, and actually I heard that Sedona Prince is suing the NCAA for this institutional sexism.

Yeah I agree it’s definitely crazy especially, it’s 2021 and like, for the past year, all we’ve talked about, and all of our country has tried to improve on is equality in those worlds but then sports is just another category where it’s, nothing’s equal and there’s discrimination against depending on your gender, which is something that should be long gone.

And it’s just crazy the way that powerful institutions and college sports have put down women’s sports for so long and they go beyond putting less effort into logistical preparation for championships, it’s just, it just messed up.

Something that our head women’s lacrosse coach is really advocate on is, she’s told us that if we ever see something that the men’s lacrosse team is gaining access to or receiving that we should tell her right away because she’s going to make sure that we also have access to that and we receive the same things as them because she truly believes in equality and we’re just as important and just mean just as much to them, to the university.

Yeah, she really does do a great job of making us feel like badass woman, and just showing us that we deserve everything that we’ve worked for and no man deserves more than us because they’re not doing anything different. And I honestly think it’s great. She really empowers us, and we just get to feel strong about ourselves and makes us confident. I also heard about many other issues going on in this world like just coming with like field space and like, even in high school girls get the worst fields girls get, they don’t get the weight room time it’s just

practice blocks like I know where we don’t have one of the best practice blocks this semester. And that’s probably due to males getting first choice Phila athletes

are just always the second choice no matter what we’re doing.

It’s just a real issue.

Yeah we are fed up.

It’s annoying, taking the stand.

We tell you said because we should

do what Sedona prince did maybe we should start making tic TOCs speaking out to the world.

Just giving other girls confidence to speak up because this is an issue and we shouldn’t think that if we speak up it’s threatening our playing time or we’re not going to get respected because look at what those girls are doing they’re getting respected and they’re getting their voices heard. So it’s time for other women in sports to speak up about sexism and other things going on in their sport.

Yeah, I totally agree and I think it’s a really good point, people stepping up and speaking out is just setting an example for the younger generations of female athletes coming of age, behind us to be even more confident and empower them even more to be the strong badass female athletes that we are. Yeah, well, I’m so happy you joined us today Molly and I’m so happy that we’re on the same page about this topic, I hope it only goes up, and improves from here.

I agree. Thank you so much for having me Janie. I’m glad that we are going through this together and we are fighting to stop sexual sexism in woven sports.

Thank you.

Yo, Is This…? Systemic Injustice in Housing

Transcript: by Andrew Martinez

Hi everybody my name is Andrew Martinez. I am currently a junior at The Ohio State University. I am a business student majoring in Operations Management. I have decided to talk about Systemic injustices that many minorities face in society, an example would be the housing market. Before I attended Ohio State I was a transfer student from Texas. I have volunteered throughout my city and have seen first-hand the problems my city is facing in the housing market for minorities. Certain districts in my city have serious levels of poverty. When COVID-19 occurred many communities in my city have experienced serious problems in maintaining their home and health. My grandmother and sister both worked for the city of San Antonio and have seen the problems may minorities face in Texas. My grandmother working for the tax office in San Antonio and my sister working in the neighborhood and housing development center.

The housing market is divided in our country and its been worse for minorities. For example, Atticus LeBlanc from Forbes described how systemic racism exists in the housing market and gives an example in housing data that he obtained in his research. He states, “according to an Economic Policy Institute study, the median white household has 12 times more wealthy than the median Black household, and more than 1 in 4 Black households have zero or negative net worth; that’s compared to less than 1 in 10 for white families.” (LeBlanc, 2020). I wonder if this division is due to having not the same educational opportunities when compared to whites due to the neighborhoods? If so, who is responsible for this division since it continues to persist in today’s society?

When my sister worked for the neighborhood and housing development center for the city of San Antonio, she saw many gaps in the system for minorities. The people my sister interacted with during the reconstruction of the resident’s homes were majority poor residents on a fix income. Many of the families she interacted with were Latino and African Americans. Also, these family’s household income was less than 40,000 a year. Many of the homes my sister worked on had to be renovated to meet the health and safety code to deem the condition of the home safe. The applications that my sister received from minorities were in some cases not completed due to the complex terminology used in the format for the application which was one of the reasons why the process took over a month to complete. These individuals did not have a high school education or GD instead some just had only a middle school education. So, the applicants in most cases didn’t know what they were signing. So, do to these residents not having an understands on filling out applications properly and understanding what they are signing, have been fooled into taking out high interest loans payments on their homes for a mortgage. The interest rate for the mortgage can range close to 30%.  When the applicants took out the high interest loans sadly they were no longer eligible to be assisted since legally they no longer had official rights over the property. These individuals that greatly needed the assistance were minorities who sadly didn’t know how to properly manage their money right. The biggest struggle my sister saw was the lack of knowledge many minorities faced when buying a home and maintaining it financially.

An issue that arises in this housing market problem for minorities is gentrification. In an article by Danyelle Solomon, Connor Maxwell and Abril Castro from Center for American Progress describes the gentrification happening for African Americans in Washington D.C. She states, “Nowhere are the effects of gentrification more noticeable than the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. between 1970 and 2015, black residents declined from 71 percent of the city’s population to just 48 percent. The city’s white population increased by 25 percent during the same period. From 2000 to 2013, the city endured the nation’s highest rate of gentrification, resulting in more than 20,000 African American resident’s displacement. Today, almost 1 in 4 Black Washington residents- 23 percent line in poverty.” (n.d, 2019) Isn’t this sad that the law makers and legislatures that live in Washington DC are unable to make a difference in the state that they are residing in for the residents? What’s the point of them solving issues when they can’t even solve the poverty issue that’s right in front of them that’s visible to see to the public?

People of color continue to experience racial bias in the housing market. Many neighborhoods that have predominately minority households have been undervalued by the market. Minorities experience racial biases when renting or buying a house. The only way to fix this division is to make the issue apparent and bring awareness to law makers to fix this housing issue for minorities. Across our country many families of minorities face exclusion and displacement from obtaining homeownership. New polices need to be available to promote more access for minorities to have additional resources and knowledge to have greater opportunities which have been excluded from them.

I do know in my City of San Antonio; we already see the effects of gentrification when they fixed the Pearl Brewery an old area of San Antonio and made it into a high-end condominium and shopping center. The city did this to revitalize the area, but unaware they were kicking out the people who were living in this area before the construction and due to the increase in property taxes the people are no longer able to live in there homes no more. So now they are moving around trying to find an area that can assist their fixed income that they have for there household. The people who were affected were the elderly and the minorities. Change is good, but is it good at the cost of affecting the people you were trying to assist in the first place? We need to remember why we do a project in the first place in order to not be sway by people who want to profit from the project or exclude a specific class/race.

With this division of housing for minorities the country is also facing hardships through COVID-19. Because of the pandemic this has not been easy for many minorities. Not everyone has been able to receive funding. People of color and low income families are facing hardships through housing cost burdens. Many are facing instability in their communities. Discrimination and structural racism is still very constant in housing for minorities.  Many COVID-19 disparities have been shown throughout this pandemic.  Huge hits of stay at home orders in different states and many other public health measures for people in communities. Many jobs for minorities lost and many can’t be worked remotely causing problems with housing cost problems.

In an article by Solomon Greene and Alanna McCargo from the Urban Institute, discuss racial disparities in housing. They state, “In April, Latino unemployment reached a record high of 18.9 percent, and Black unemployment reached 16.7 percent. Layoffs related to COVID-19 for black and Latino workers are also more likely to lead to housing instability, as they already reported higher rates of financial insecurity and lower savings to draw from to weather economic shocks before the crisis began.” (n.d, 2020) Issues like these bring up big questions about how are many minorities able to afford paying their rent monthly. New policies need to be responded towards this crisis during the pandemic. Policies need to focus and help lower income individuals need assistance. More opportunities for those minorities being affected by the pandemic.  If we don’t see any help or assistance, we could see problems in the future like the housing market to crash. Many foreclosures and division within the housing market will begin to rise if we don’t solve this issue.

In an article by Laura Romero from NowCastSa, describes the gentrification happening for many Latino families getting pushed out by rising rent prices. She states, “The East Side is experiencing a wave of gentrification as new construction takes over San Antonio, Texas. A new apartment complex on the East Side is shown on September 5, 2019 next to a demolished neighborhood clinic. San Antonio’s East Side, and most recently, the West Side, are rapidly becoming inaccessible to Latinos and pushing them out (Romero, 2019). She goes on discussing how the Latino community’s local identity is gone from those neighborhoods. This one prime example that shows my city in Texas is changing and giving less opportunities for minorities communities is apparent. They are pushing many minorities out of the inner cities that they have been residing in their entire lives in order for the wealthy and influential residents to move in the area. The housing issue is one that needs to be fixed and soon or we may no longer have local residents living in the San Antonio community, but non-local renters looking for potential secondary residency.  We will soon lose our communities individualism if this continues.

My thoughts on the housing issue is this we need to bring awareness on this issue. We need to help our minorities in this country. We shouldn’t have division in the housing market. We all want to provide for our families and provide for our country, but pushing out people especially minorities is saddening and needs to change. There needs to be more opportunities for minorities in our local communities. An example would be having a new set of policies for minorities and laying the new foundations in our country to grow our minority communities to include better access to educational opportunities as well as job opportunities too. As a minority Hispanic, myself we need to make changes in order to obtain improved opportunities for minorities in this country. We the people are the future for change no matter your gender or race we need to work together toward a brighter tomorrow.

 

Citations:

LeBlanc, A. (2020, July 08). Council post: How systemic racism exists In U.S. housing policies. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2020/07/09/how-systemic-racism-exists-in-us-housing-policies/?sh=681b505a6959

Danyelle Solomon, C. (n.d.). Systemic inequality: Displacement, exclusion, and segregation. Retrieved April 02, 2021, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/

Submitted by Laura Romero on September 11. (n.d.). Gentrification, rising rent prices PUSH Latinos out of neighborhoods. Retrieved April 03, 2021, from https://nowcastsa.com/Gentrification-rising-rent-push-Latinos-out

Greene, S., & McCargo, A. (2020, June 02). New data Suggest covid-19 is WIDENING HOUSING disparities by race and income. Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/new-data-suggest-covid-19-widening-housing-disparities-race-and-income

Art, S. (n.d.). Sheldon Museum of Art main content. Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://sheldonartmuseum.org/barriers-and-disparities

The housing market is changing, but Don’t panic! (2018, October 13). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from http://www.myfolsom.com/2018/10/housing-market-is-changing-but-dont-panic/

Yo, is this White Privilege?

Yo, is this White Privilege?

By Andrew Johnson-Milstein

This year, one of the biggest topics attracting the most attention (besides the worldwide pandemic) is systemic injustices. In early 2020, we saw the Black Lives Matter movement take center stage after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Just recently, we have been seeing a multitude of senseless hate crimes on Asian-Americans. In between those, there were more than a slough of other instances of injustice involving these groups and beyond. Yes, a large part of the reason that systemic injustices exist is due to various laws and situations that have made it more difficult to thrive for certain groups of people. However, the big part that sticks out above the rest, the reason why these issues seem so insurmountable, the frustration caused by seemingly little change, is that systemic injustices are rooted in culture.

Think about American culture; what comes to mind? Patriotism, freedom, protectors of world peace, “the American Dream”? Of course. This is what America stands for- on the surface. The year 2020 was a bit of a wake up call in terms of what America is really all about. From an outside and unbiased perspective, what America stands for when looking at this past year could very well look like racism, arrogance, abuse of power, and injustice. 

(source: BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55585546

Over the course of this semester, I was able to compose several “Diaries of Systemic Injustices.” I wrote on various topics that I encountered throughout the weeks either in the news or in my daily life. I wanted to expand on one of these discussions, so I thought back to which one truly struck me the strongest. The pick was easy. 

On January 6, 2021 rioters seized and broke into the U.S. Capitol in protest of the final count of the 2020 election’s electoral votes to nominate Joe Biden as the nation’s 46th President. Not only was this a riot or a protest, one of the most precious buildings in not only Washington, D.C. but America was broken into and vandalized for hours. Senators and Representatives were forced to take cover and hide from the attack on one of the pillars of American representative democracy, the final electoral college of the presidential election ballots. The riot was frightening, destructive, and deadly going into the night.

The investigation and aftermath of the Capitol riot is still ongoing, and it was definitely a wake up call for America. However, I am not writing to discuss the event in and of itself, nor the continuing investigation occuring after the fact. However, I am here to discuss what the storming represented- outside of the fact that there is a large group of extremists prepared to do anything to make their case.

As a white male, I will easily admit that I most likely will never feel as oppressed and unheard as other groups in this country. Additionally, from what I have seen, it is somewhat easy to not realize how bad systemic injustice is in America sometimes. We no nothing different than seeing African Americans continue to be oppressed and forced to watch while nothing is done to fix the broken, unjust system. However, especially after the Black Lives Matter movement took center stage less than a year before this riot, it is nearly impossible not to see truly how massive of an issue we have on our hands. 

The question that we have seen asked a good number of times went along the lines of this: What if the rioters were a group of mostly black people? This has not been talked about nearly enough. I will admit, I am not a fan of hypotheticals. However, this is very real and something that is impossible to ignore, unless you are actively trying to ignore it. The crowd was convincingly not black, as it was filled with predominantly white people carrying pro-Donald Trump flags and associated extremist phrases and organizations. These people walked up to and through the Capitol building like it was their right, and insulted the government and law enforcement like it was their privilege. 

(source: abc7news https://abc7news.com/capitol-during-blm-riots-protest-protests/9449062/ )

Looking at some statistics (taking into account that the numbers do not perfectly line up) from an Associated Press article following the attacks, one can see some eye opening figures. The article reads,

“Black Lives Matter protests, 2020: Overwhelming force from law enforcement in dozens of cities. Chemical dispersants. Rubber bullets and hand-to-hand combat with largely peaceful crowds and some unruly vandals and looters. More than 14,000 arrests.

The U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021: Barely more than a few dozen arrests. Several weapons seized, improvised explosive devices found. Members of a wilding mob escorted from the premises, some not even in handcuffs,” (Morrison).

Statistical bias is important and should be taken into account all the time. Thus, pitting multiple events occurring throughout months versus one day is skewed. However, this is not the point of these analyses. Black Lives Matters protestors were for the most part peacefully standing up for years of systemic injustice by marching and chanting down city streets. The Capitol rioters, however, raided and vandalized one of the most important and guarded buildings in the country and quite possibly the world for what- the election results? Freedom? 

(source: AP https://apnews.com/article/congress-storming-black-lives-matter-22983dc91d16bf949efbb60cdda4495d )

The image above from the aforementioned Associated Press article displays the protest after the death of George Floyd directly next to the riot by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol building. The left image shouts peace and desire for change, while the right screams violence and disregard.

Let us revisit the discussion on racism being rooted in our culture. Both the statistics in terms of arrests and the comparison of the photographs above demonstrate how white privilege affects situations. In neither example was there a coordinated effort to address the protests. The events caught the system off its guard, one could say. This, in turn allowed deeply rooted and systemic injustice to rear its ugly head. 

On the topic, St. Louis Representative Cori Bush weighed in on the events occurring at the Capitol and agreed that if the crowd had been black instead of vastly white, things would have turned out much worse for the rioters. Additionally, she said “‘These are the same people who called us terrorists…Confederate flags, ‘don’t tread on me,’ ‘blue lives matter’ flags, the Trump flags — all of it symbolizes the same thing…racism and white supremacy,’” (Bush qtd. In Morrison). To add on to how incredibly broken the system is, the groups of people that attacked the nation’s capital’s beliefs are widely known. This is my reason for writing on this topic. I believe that never in recent history has it ever been more black and white how used to America’s racist culture we have become. 

Throughout this semester, we have looked as a class at different perspectives and philosophies, many pointing to injustices over time. There is one philosophy by Simone de Beauvoir called “the Other.” de Beauvoir primarily focuses on sexism, and how women are “the Other sex.” Although the above discussion revolves around racism, this philosophy which has stuck out to me all semester applies here as well. I titled this discussion “Yo, is this White Privilege” because I believe that not only do we see racism way too much, but it is almost inherent and not acted upon in America. Connecting this to de Beauvoir’s idea, in the United States, it seems as though people that are not white are treated like “the Other races.” On the surface of the Capitol attacks, the group violated many rules, laws, safety and democracy. However, they were not treated like they did, at least not until after the fact. It is almost as if the rioters felt untouchable, knew their privilege, and took advantage of it, while “the Others” looked on and imagined what the scene would have looked like if it were them.

(source: CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/17/us/capitol-riot-racial-justice-blake/index.html )

This conversation is not light, nor fun, yet it is important. After first writing on this event and what it shows about racism and our nation, I referenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and tried to reflect on where we have come since he made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In terms of laws, norms, and business we have come a long way in the fight to end racism. However, deeply ingrained in American society still is white privilege. The roots of the same issues that Dr. King was standing for have not gone away almost 60 years later. Once again, on the surface things are better, yet this issue is one that has disturbed the core of America for decades upon decades. Take the above image for example; I think Dr. King would not have imagined a confederate flag being flown in the nation’s capital in 2021. How exactly do we end it? I, as most, do not have a concrete answer. However, I believe that if we all make a genuine effort to at least educate ourselves and understand ourselves and others, we can take a step in the right direction.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Works Cited/Works Used

Blake, Analysis by John. “The Capitol Insurrection Could Be a Bigger Racial Reckoning than the George Floyd Protests.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 Jan. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/01/17/us/capitol-riot-racial-justice-blake/index.html. 

Marcus, Jonathan. “Viewpoint: What the Capitol Riot Means for US Foreign Policy.” BBC News, BBC, 10 Jan. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55585546. 

Morrison, Aaron. “Race Double Standard Clear in Rioters’ Capitol Insurrection.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 7 Jan. 2021, apnews.com/article/congress-storming-black-lives-matter-22983dc91d16bf949efbb60cdda4495d. 

Reyes, Kris. “’We Would All Be Dead’: Bay Area BLM Organizers Point to Race Double Standard in Capitol Riot.” ABC7 San Francisco, KGO-TV, 8 Jan. 2021, abc7news.com/capitol-during-blm-riots-protest-protests/9449062/.

Yo, are the effects of COVID systematically unjust, and how?

 

RAY: Hello everyone, this is the “Yo is this…” podcast with Raymond Davis, Sara Zelinskas, and Mikey Hilmer, and we’re here to ask: Yo, are the effects of COVID systematically unjust? And how? First, in order to fully understand these injustices, we must understand what caused them and what defines them. We are all very, and at this point maybe too much, familiar with the COVID-19 pandemic, but it helps to still explain. The COVID-19 pandemic was caused by the deadly Coronavirus that originated in China and quickly spread across the world. In order to protect ourselves and others from this virus, governments around the world had to respond by imposing rules and regulations on almost every aspect of daily life, including business, healthcare, politics, and social life. With these never before seen changes to our daily lives, many people were pushed to extremes of their emotions whether it be about politics or simply how you treat other people, and we’re here to break it down

 

RAY: The first effect and arguably most widespread effect of COVID I’d like to discuss is wealth, and how COVID, especially stimulus checks and increasing wealth inequality, exposed the systematic injustice in the topic. So to start off, do either of you guys work? And if you do, how did COVID affect your work day?

 

SARA: Working at the Wexner Medical Center, we experienced a surge in patients. Lot’s of my coworkers were out sick from work and there was an increased demand for shifts to be filled. It was a really interesting experience to work with COVID patients first hand, but my day to day life did not change too much.

 

MIKEY: Soccer ref, lost that. Layoffs at a bagel shop. 5-6 mo, collected unemployment

 

RAY: That’s very unfortunate. I work at a pizza shop here in Columbus as well and I had to stop working for about a month as well.  We aren’t the only ones though. A study by researchers at the University of Illinois found that 43% of all businesses reported temporary closures throughout the pandemic, and 50% of retail, arts and entertainment, personal services, food services (like me), and hospitality businesses struggled with employment. The study, contrasting this stat, found that finance, professional services and real estate related businesses experienced much less disruption because their work was much easier to transition to remote. So this is where an important injustice comes into play, and I’m gonna throw you guys a softball question, which business do you guys think rely more on in person interaction for their success, small businesses like retail, entertainment, and food services? Or larger corporations that deal mostly with finance and professional services? 

 

EITHER: Small Businesses. 

 

RAY: Correct! Now why do you guys think this is an issue? 

 

SARA: Well, smaller businesses, like you said, rely much more on in person business and cash flow from it in order to stay afloat. Additionally, smaller businesses have much less savings and valuation to rely on in order to survive as opposed to corporations. 

 

RAY: Exactly right. That same study from the University of Illinois stated that the median business with more than $10,000 in monthly expenses had only about 2 weeks of cash on hand at the time of their study, which, say, is roughly half of the necessary cash for a closure lasting an entire month. 

 

MIKEY: See that’s really interesting because though businesses may not have been closed the entire time, the pandemic has already lasted more than a year, and if small businesses are struggling to survive, they need to make cuts and a business’ largest expense is almost always payroll. 

 

RAY: I’m very glad you said that because this gets into my next point about the wealth of individuals and the effects COVID had. Using my last point as a hint, who do you guys think got richer during the pandemic, the average American or wealthiest individuals in America? 

 

BOTH: Wealthiest individuals. 

 

RAY: And you guys are very right. Did you guys know that, according to an NBC article I saw, the top ten richest billionaires in America saw their wealth grow by a collective $540 billion? That’s just absurd. 

 

MIKEY: That really does go to show how distant the wealth gap is in America. 

 

SARA: I agree, and to add to that the government, compared to how much these individuals gained, was still only able to give $1400 to independent individuals. 

 

RAY: Correct. And though $1400 is a lot of money to a large number of people, it was still not enough for many. 

 

SARA: So, billionaires made billions more dollars during the pandemic while people working at or near minimum wage struggled even more? 

 

MIKEY: That makes me think that minimum wage workers should be paid more for the jobs they do so they can have some security during events like the pandemic.

 

SARA: Yeah, isn’t the federal minimum wage only $7.25 an hour?

 

RAY:  Yes, and actually, I set up a hypothetical just to show how unfair it is that these billionaires amass insane wealth while average Americans only got $1400. So, data shows that over 100 million people were eligible to receive the stimulus check, and following the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour, an individual would make just over $15,000 a year, which comes out to just under $1300 a month. 

 

MIKEY: Wow, so the stimulus only covered just over one month of an individual’s income and the checks were sent out just under a year into the pandemic? 

 

RAY: Exactly, it goes to show just how bad the systemic injustice of wealth inequality is in the country. And, while people were worrying about their finances, COVID affected certain groups in other drastic ways as well. 

Sara: As we can see, COVID has highlighted inequities and systemic injustices throughout the United States…if we are to expand this to a global level, an additional group of marginalized individuals that have been negatively impacted by the pandemic would be indigeneous women.

Ray: Now this is very interesting because I actually did one of my Diary of Systemic Injustice entries on an injustice against the Cherokee tribe but I did not mention COVID. Why is it that I barely see how the pandemic has affected these individuals? 

Sara: That’s so interesting! But yes, as you mentioned, these injustices experienced by indigeneous individuals are often silenced discussions. Outlining any and all groups that are negatively impacted by COVID is incredibly important. However, indigeneous people are often not thought about – mostly because they are often viewed as outside of functioning society, or somewhat irrelevant to our everyday lives (this could be due to a multitude of reasons). They are often looked down upon, falling into societal “othering.”

Mikey: We could even relate this to past readings with the idea of the subaltern – indigeneous people as a whole are often not given a voice in the community. They are unable to speak or communicate and are therefore not recognized.

Ray: What kinds of problems are indigeneous women facing during the pandemic, since we haven’t heard much about it in the news?

Sara: Indigeneous people have been suffering from injustices all throughout history, mostly originating from colonial and neo colonial policies. Because of this, indigenous women are less likely to be insured, which increases their likelihood for pre-existing health conditions. As we have learned, this can increase health complications with COVID-19. Besides medical insurance, indigenous women also experience environmental violence (including water and land pollution), increased mortality rates in childbirth, and domestic violence. Domestic violence has been dramatically increased globally, but especially in indigeneous societies with stay-at-home orders in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. The presence of a language barrier is one of the greatest factors inhibiting these women from accessing better health resources.

Mikey: So as you have explained, it is evident that this is a serious issue. Who is currently working to bring these issues to light and what are they doing?

Sara: The United Nations focuses heavily on advocating for these groups of people all over the world and has stressed the severity the COVID-19 pandemic has had on indigenous individuals. One article I highlighted in a past diary of systemic injustice was titled “Our voices are being heard: Indigenous women in Mexico break down language barriers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in their communities.” The article talked about a woman named Juana Facundo who is a translator working with the UN in Mexico to assist with language barriers regarding the spread of health information for COVID-19. She is working to prevent violence against indigenous women and girls. 

Going off of this, it is so important that we recognize the relevance of these issues. We need to understand that these systemic injustices and inequalities were present long before the pandemic. COVID-19 simply exacerbated these issues and brought them to the front page of news articles. From an intersectionality perspective, the disparities these women face are escalated due to the roles they fall into within society – gender, race, ethnicity, and class. As I mentioned before, because they face language barriers, experience cultural female expectations, and class roles, many indigenous women are unable to speak for themselves and advocate on behalf of their own communities.

Mikey: Yes, exactly, indigeneous women were already suffering from prejudice and health inequities before Covid, just as Asian Americans have already long been suffering from xenophobia and racism in our country. Both groups have been negatively affected by the pandemic due to underlying systemic injustices and prejudices. 

Sara: I’ve heard throughout the pandemic of a rise of anti-Asian sentiments and prejudices, but what forms have these taken and how are they harmful to the Asian-American community?

Mikey: Well I mean, for starters, the reason people have largely grasped onto hatred towards Asians across the world is to fuel the need to have a scapegoat. 

Sara: So you’re saying that they just need a group to point a finger at for Covid?

Mikey: Yeah exactly. Looking just within the United States for example, more than 2,800 reports of hate incidents were reported to the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate just from March to December of 2020.These reports ranged in their level of prejudice from verbal harassment, shunning, being coughed/spat on, workplace discrimination, to even deadly physical assault. 

Raymond: I also saw that in just New York City alone, police responded to 27 hate crimes against Asian-Americans last year, a 9 fold increase from the previous year. Anyone looking at these figures obviously can see that this is a startling and concerning trend that has forced Asian-Americans to take extra steps to ensure their safety. 

Mikey: These modern Asian-American xenophobia trends in America show an almost clear-cut example of the ideas of “othering,” where one group of people sees another as outsiders and that they don’t belong. With the Coronavirus originating in Asia, people who look as though they may originate from that area of the world have immediately been separated from the rest of everyday Americans as they are seen by many as part of the reason Covid spread to the US, even when they have no part in it. It’s important to understand this concept when we talk about xenophobia and prejudice as it shows WHY people believe what they believe. 

Sara: That makes a lot of sense. Also, Raymond, I remember that you mentioned Asian-Americans having to take extra steps to ensure their safety, what do you mean by that?

Raymond: Largely, this means being constantly on the look-out for possible threats but can also take the form of actions they must take that disrupt their lives to ensure that they are not stuck in a bad situation. As a matter of fact, Asian-Americans surveyed have reported returning home from work early to avoid walking home at night. Also, a lot of Asian-American businesses have been impacted by the harassment and threats, forcing them to close early or close their businesses all together due to lack of business.

 

Mikey: Alright so what’s being done about this xenophobia? Personally, I saw that President Joe Biden signed an executive order during his first week in office banning the use of… like… “hateful” speech towards Asian-Americans by federal employees such as calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” or “kung flu,” which is obviously a direct action against the words stated during the Trump Presidency. But are there any other efforts currently in effect to help Asian-Americans?

Sarah: Well, I know that members of Congress such as Congresswoman Judy Chu are calling for the Democratically controlled Senate and House of Representatives to pass new legislation in order to put more attention and resources towards tackling the issue. Within our communities, many Asian-American support and advocacy groups, such as Stop AAPI Hate, have organized marches and protests against this hate which are open for citizens to support. Additionally, many of these organizations are accepting donations through their websites so that anyone wanting to help but being too uncomfortable to protest due to the pandemic can still lend a hand.

Conclusion:

Ray: As we can see, COVID has had an enormous impact on the wellbeing of many different populations. Not only has it had these directly negative effects, but it has highlighted many systemic injustices that have already been present in our society, such as ongoing racism and xenophobia. We can explain these issues through the construct of power, othering, and the idea of the subaltern. As college students, we can sometimes be blind or isolated from these issues. We can do our part by bringing attention to these inequities and speaking about them to incite change. The goal of our podcast was to provide some examples of these issues in reference to the pandemic, and discuss and connect them on a broader level. Thanks for listening! 

 

Yo, is this Injustice? – Mitchell Bachman

Video:

Transcript:

Hi, my name is Mitchell Bachman I ‘m a second-year health science major. On this segment of Yo, is this injustice, I will be addressing several diary of systemic injustice posts that I have made, I will compare these to each other and how they relate back to this class.

The first injustice that I’d like to talk about is the unemployment rates between African Americans and white Americans. Over the last 15 years African Americans have had a higher unemployment rate than white Americans. From 2011 2019 and there’s a noticeable trend downward meaning that more people have jobs. However, there’s a large spike for both groups once the pandemic and hit. This is an example of a systemic injustice because it shows that African Americans are more likely to be unemployed which can lead to a number of things. Meaning that they’re unlikely able to purchase a house or the wants that they’d like to have in life. They’d only be able to purchase the necessities to survive. Unemployment rates are an example of the one-to-one concept, where white Americans are considered the one with a lower unemployment rate. Where African Americans are seen as the other because they have a high unemployment rate.

Alright, and then another injustice that I’d like to talk about would be income rates for African Americans and white Americans. From the shirt, we can see that white Americans make $18,000 more than African Americans in 2018. Since 2002 to 2018 on average white Americans have made at least $15,000 more than African Americans. It comes no surprise that African Americans are living in poverty because they cannot afford the housing that white Americans can afford. This is another picture that I want to talk about. It talks about the poverty rates. On this chart, we can see that the median household income in 2018 was $28,900 difference between the white Americans and African Americans and the poverty rate was 12.6% difference between the two. This has been a popular topic of discussion for quite some time, white and African Americans can have similar jobs, but they are not paid the same based on the color of your skin. There’s been a lot of social change over the years, however, African Americans have never received equal pay for the job that they have. This chart shows the trend of the constant difference in pay. I believe that this relates back to the master slave dialect topic that we talked about earlier in the semester. White Americans are the master and African Americans would be the slaves in this relationship. Meaning that white employees make more money, because they are valued more by companies that African Americans. One book that could relate to this type of interests, this would be Persepolis. In Persepolis, we were introduced to Mehri who was Marji’s family’s maid. In the story, we see that Mehri becomes infatuated with the neighbor boy. Marji then tells her family and when her father found out he went and talked to the neighbor boy. Marji ‘s Father tells him that Mary pretends she is my daughter, but in reality, she is my maid. Marji father tells Marji, that in their country, you must stay within your own social class. I believe that this relates to the income and poverty differences in America. Because the social class that you were born in is likely, the social class that you will stay in because of the unfair difference between white and African American income and poverty rates.

The next and justice that I’d like to talk about is healthcare. I found that African Americans do not receive the same health care that white Americans receive. African Americans experience illness at extremely high rates and have a lower life expectancy compared to other racial and ethnic groups. African Americans are also the most economically disadvantaged demographics in this country. I believe the African American have the lowest life expectancy because they are unable to pay for the proper care that they need. Which relates to African Americans not receiving equal pay as white Americans. Although most people have health insurance, 20% of African Americans have Medicaid which is for lower income, and the elderly, and disabled. Medicaid is a decent insurance for people who cannot afford private personal medical insurance, but they do not cover all medical expenses. It is extremely unjust to offer a necessary lifesaving service to someone only to have them declining it because of their insurance does not cover it and it would cost them too much to pay for it. I believe this is the example for one to the other topic that we talked about in class, ahh meaning that the whites are the one and they receive the best health care because they have a higher income rate. And African Americans are the other, because they do not receive equal care and do not receive that equal pay to pay for the proper medical care that they need.

The next topic for injustice that would like to mention is racial profiling. Over just over a year ago we experienced the black lives matter movement, which was protesting racial profiling among law enforcement. I’ve learned that 38% of all state prisoners are African American. African Americans are incarcerated at a rate that is 5.1 times greater than white Americans for someone to be arrested, they must have done something illegal, but there are instances were, this is not the case. African Americans face the highest lifetime risk of being killed by police. There are still racist police in the world and profile all African Americans to be criminals. Although police brutality and arrest of African American has decrease over time there’s still exist an  injustice in America to African Americans by law enforcement and I believe that this is another example of the one to the other  because the white law enforcement is not fearful of white citizens and racist police officers are fearful of African Americans who are viewed as the other. And even viewed as criminals and thugs, which is the reason why they have been racially profiled by law enforcement.

The last injustice that I’d like to talk about is education, this is an injustice that is new to me, I have not personal experienced this, because I come from a small town and went to a small school. And I have found this fact on Ben and Jerry’s website, which is funny because they make ice cream, but it was on a page for systemic racism. And Ben and Jerry’s points out that 95% black children to constitute 18% of preschoolers nationwide and they make up for nearly 50% of suspensions. Now that fact is just for preschoolers saying that half of all preschoolers that are suspended are African Americans. Another interesting fact on Ben and Jerry’s was that among all age groups in school black students are three times more likely to be suspended then white students even when their infractions are similar. This is what I find the most surprising African American students are getting suspended three times the amount as white American students for similar infractions. That is not right! Children go to school to learn to get an education, but African American students get suspended for similar actions as white students. I believe that this shows the school system as prejudice and racist. And that there should be more action against this injustice. This has clearly been going on for a long time and it’s time to put an end to it. Again, I believe that this is an example of the one to other topic. White children or the one and African American children are the other. African American students are mistreated and suspended at a higher rate than the white children because they’re viewed as the other. As this continues on through school. It can lead to other problems for African American children. In reality, this could lead to problems.

That is all that I have on this segment of yo, is this injustice, I hope that you enjoyed it remember to like and subscribe for more content.

 

Yo, is this Racist?! – Owen Brown, Eric Bradley, and Jared Villalobos

Eric: Hi I’m Eric, welcome to the first installment of Yo is this racist. Today well be talking about the capitol riots and I’m joined by Jared and Owen. Jared, what’re your thoughts on this topic?

Jared: In the 2020 election, Joe Biden was awarded president-elect. Following this event, President Donald Trump proclaimed to his supporters that it was a rigged election and that they must take back what was right. On January 6th, rioters stormed the U.S Capitol during the joint session of the House of Representatives to count the votes. The rioters were able to get past the police barricade and enter the Capitol building without any repercussions. Following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, it was reported that only 69 individuals were arrested after (Shamsian 2021). From the arrests you can see the systematic injustice of the criminal justice system. In the Black Lives Matter protests, people were fighting against police brutality. In the Capitol riots, which were pre-dominantly Caucasian people, they were fighting because the person they supported lost. You can see the dynamic of fighting for basic civil rights versus fighting because a candidate that you supported lost. I believe this is a systematic injustice because although the BLM protests were composed of a variety of races, their cause was African American focused. Rioters at the Capitol got into one of the most protected buildings in the US, this without a doubt was due to the color of their skin. I think the only way to prevent these incidents is to implement a better training program for police officers in general. Police officers should not have to judge whether someone is a threat or should be arrested based on the color of their skin, or what they believe in.

Jared: So, Owen my question for you is, what is your thought on the differences in law enforcements in the BLM protests and then the capital riots.

Owen: A massive group of citizens stormed and broke into the capitol building in Washington DC. The group broke in, stole personal and private items, terrorized police, and refused to leave. This instance is not the injustice, but it is within the reaction that the injustice lies. The group of people was not met with threats or police throwing tear gas or fear for their life, they were met with unarmed guards that did not try to fight or instigate, they just tolerated it. This situation was gut-wrenching to me because I along with the rest of the world witnessed the harsh systemic injustice that the US reacted with during the BLM protests. BLM protestors received tear gas, rubber bullets, and real bullets, just to name a few. Now, there was a group of people who were looting and acting with violence. It is important we do not confuse these people with those who are trying to peacefully enact change and raise awareness. The actions of looters have corrupted the message of those who are demonstrating without violence. Distinguishing these two groups is essential to uncovering the truth: The Black Lives Matter movement is not about inciting violence. These Protestors were thrown in jail for doing no more than protesting within their legal right, but when a group of an overwhelming majority of white people break into our nation’s capitol, they’re not arrested or shot at, they’re allowed to continue in peace, its unacceptable. And it’s this type of contrast illuminates the looming injustice and bias still rooted within our nation. I am not calling for the same to be done to those white protestors as was done to BLM supporters, I am simply calling for the opposite, and I think that is what the people want as well.

Owen: Building off of that, Eric, what do you think these events will look like and how do you think they’ll be handled in the future?

Eric: In the future I believe we’ll see a more prepared and ethically trained task force, to deal with any type of protest, at any type of level. Now that we have a different president with better morals and values, I think this is a great step in the right direction.

 

Eric: Jared, what do you think the world needs to do to make this a more attainable goal?

 

Jared: I think the only thing we can do is to educate ourselves. Right now, we live in a very divided world. Educating our people to view life from other people’s perspectives is incredibly important to understand what they are going through. It all starts with the criminal justice system. We need to instill curriculums that can educate the police force on diversity and inclusion. They need to understand that not every African American “fits the description”. We overall just need to do better.

Jared: And Eric I know that you did a lot of your systemic injustices happening within the African American Community, can you tell us more about that.

Eric: In the United States, African Americans currently make up 13% of the population. However, they represent about 40% of the prison population. If a white person and an African American person both commit the same crime, the African American has a higher chance of getting arrested than the white person. A study done showed that when African American people are convicted, they are about 20% more likely to be sentenced to jail time, and typically see sentences 20% longer than those for whites who were convicted for similar crimes. A felony conviction also leads to the loss of the right to vote. More than 7.4% of the adult African American population is disenfranchised. Lastly, police surveillance is a huge problem in society. Day to day life is more challenging for African American drivers. African Americans are 30% more likely to be pulled over according to a study done by Ben and Jerry.

Eric: Being pulled over while Driving is just one of the many obstacles that African Americans face in their day to days lives. Owen, I know another obstacle that African Americans face is marijuana arrests. Would you like to go into that?

Owen: Yea of course, I think one extremely prevalent statistic today, with the topic of legalization of marijuana sweeping the nation, is the difference in marijuana possession arrests between the races. Per 100k arrests, there is a whopping difference of 411 more black arrests than white arrests, when the difference in usage is only 1.3%. These statistics provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services really display the vast difference in treatment between these populations, and how even though the nation may think that it has come a long way, it has not progressed nearly close to enough.

 

Owen: For instance, A restaurant named Choptank, located in Fells Point, Baltimore, posted a sign outside of their restaurant listing a dress code that prohibits several apparel items that are affiliated with black culture and style. this restaurant lists off excessively baggy clothing, inappropriate attire, jerseys, brimless headgear, backwards or sideways hats, and sunglasses after dark as strictly prohibited. All of these items of clothing typically associated with Black culture, making it quite evidently systemically racist. The restaurant also lists work boots as a banned footwear, a popular type of footwear within black and Latin communities. This sign received many complaints on social media and from critics all correctly accusing the restaurant of racial discrimination. These attempts today in society by restaurants and people like this are why there is still an underlying problem in this country, people can still get away with blatant racism through these methods.

 

Owen: Jared and Eric, are there any other instances of discrimination you have noticed in today’s society?

 

Jared: Yeah, so I can go first. My father immigrated from the Philippines when we were a young child, so he and I have faced our fair share of discrimination recently. This increasing hate can be pointed to Covid. On January 30th, the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 as a global health emergency, then later in March, declared a world-wide pandemic. Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China and because of its originating location, Asian-Americans would quickly see a rise in unjust treatment around United States. Asian-Americans are being treated as a scapegoat for the virus and associated all Asians with the Chinese ethnicity. Furthermore, it’s important to note that just because the virus originated in China, doesn’t mean that all Chinese people are responsible for it spreading. According to the New York City Police Department, “it was reported that there was a 1900% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020”. To add on to this hate, previous president, Donald Trump, remarked the virus as the “Chinese virus” or the “Wuhan Virus”. Not only did he put the blame on the Chinese citizens of Wuhan, but he also added fuel to the fire of American-Asian hate. I believe that this is a systematic injustice because not only did the previous president inspire Asian American hate, but he did nothing to address it as well. Anti-Asian hate crimes are still at an all-time high due to the mislabeling and blame of the virus. Due to the wrongful grouping of identity, all ethnicities branching from Asian are also receiving hate. Asian-Americans are born and raised in America but yet still receive hate because to everyone else’s eyes, they are still foreigners. I think the only way to resolve this injustice is to educate the American people. I think it’s important to engrain the idea that just because the virus originated in China, doesn’t mean that all Asians are responsible.

Jared: Eric, have you noticed any experiences such as this, as a minority living in the United States?

Eric: Like Jared, I also come from a Hispanic background. I personally haven’t experienced a form of direct discrimination, but my mother has. My mother migrated here in her mid-20s from Mexico in hopes of starting a new life. When she first got here, she felt unsafe and unwelcomed, she experienced a lot of hardships while trying to establish a new life. She’s been mocked for her accent, made fun of, and more. Currently, there are thousands of children locked up in cages parentless along the border. In the future, I think we need to treat minorities with better intentions to make them feel less afraid and that they are welcome here.

Jared: This concludes the first segment of Yo is this racist, I just want to say fellas, I’m glad we were able to come together and talk about our experiences. This is Jared,

Owen: I’m Owen!

Eric: And I’m Eric.

Jared: Hope to see you on the next episode!

[The End]

Yo, is this commercial discrimination?

Background information

There are two concepts that people often hear from the news, they are state-owned enterprises and private companies. A state-owned enterprise is “a legal entity that is created by a government in order to partake in commercial activities on the government’s behalf, it can be either wholly or partially owned by a government and is typically earmarked to participate in specific commercial activities”.(Kenton, 2020) While a private company is “a firm held under private ownership”. (Chen, 2020) There’s another keyword that often appears with state-owned enterprises which is monopoly where a single enterprise is the only or one of the few suppliers of a particular commodity.

 

Examples

Before we start to talk about commercial discrimination, let’s first look at an example of state-owned companies monopolizing the telecommunication market. In China, there are three main telecommunication companies and they are all state-owned enterprises. This is not a coincidence but an inevitable outcome since in China, individual enterprises are not allowed to enter the telecommunication market. In other words, a license to enter the market will only be given to state-owned companies. Similar phenomenons appear in other areas where important but not vital resources are allocated. Since individual enterprises do not have a chance to enter, several state-own companies often monopolize the whole market. In this example, there exists commercial discrimination since the government thinks it’s better to let state-owned enterprises control resources rather than giving the right of allocating these resources away to private companies. Here the concept of the “one” and “other” can be well applied. The government treats itself and state-owned enterprises as the “one” while treating private companies as the “other”. They are the group with power and are trying to use their power to eliminate private companies out of the market.

The problem of discrimination not only exists between companies but also between consumers and companies. Consumers often treat larger and famous companies as more reliable choices and avoid purchasing commodities from small companies that they do not know. However, the reason why some companies are well known is that they have more power or control the majority of resources in their field. They use advertisements to attract consumers and generate a virtuous cycle. This may connect to the concept of “subaltern”. Here, private companies are the subalterns who have less power and whose voices cannot be heard by the public. As a result, consumers will not buy their product as they haven’t heard about the company before and do not trust the company. Having fewer consumers, the company again earns less and further losses the power they have, forming a vicious cycle.

Besides discrimination against private companies, there is also discrimination against consumers. Companies charge differently on the same commodity while facing consumers from different social classes. This is again closely related to the power difference. The sellers often have more power and information. The consumers, on the other hand, do not have all information required for them to make the correct decision so is the group with less power. The theory of the one and the other can again be applied and consumers now become the other and sellers are the one.

According to previous information, we can conclude that there do exist commercial discrimination. However, is the government and consumers decision correct? Is it true that state-owned companies and monopolized companies are better than private and small companies? To answer these questions, we should first look at the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of companies.

 

Advantages and disadvantages

 Since state-owned enterprises can receive financial support from the government, they can lower the cost of production and lower the prices of their commodity, making them affordable for more consumers. State-owned companies are also more competitive in international trade, taking their size and available resources into consideration. If a field was monopolized by a few companies, consumers might find it more convenient to manage and easier to operate. Take the payment system as an example, in China, there are only two main types of payment systems, the Wechat payment, and the Alipay and these two types of payment are supported in all places. When paying, people can simply show the QR code. While in Japan, there are more than ten methods of payment, and different shops have different supported payment methods. Consumers might find it inconvenient to switch from one type of payment to the other.

However, there are also disadvantages. When state-owned companies achieved a monopoly, private companies, therefore, will have fewer chances to develop, and the variety of choices that are available for consumers decreases. A decrease in diversity will also lead to a decrease in competition. Companies that already exist in the market will then lose their intensity to develop as they know that no matter they work hard or not, they won’t lose their resources. These phenomenons will dampen the enthusiasm of the entire market. Monopoly, at the same time, enables the state-owned company to control the price. They can, as mentioned above, lower the price and benefit the majority, however, they can also choose to keep the original price or even rises the prices, receiving more benefit as consumers cannot find any subsidy. If enterprises decide to do so, fewer consumers will be able to afford the commodity.

Private companies have all the disadvantages mentioned above but they also have plenty of advantages. Since many private companies are small in size, they can allow more flexibility. When facing management problems, they are more likely to adjust in a short period and can better adapt to the market when there are changes in the market. Employees working in private companies also face more competition which may force them to enhance their working efficiency. Competitions might also exist between private companies focusing on the same field. As a result, product diversity will increase as companies are all trying to attract more consumers.

To put it all in a nutshell, both state-owned and private companies have advantages and disadvantages. We cannot say that one is better than the other, but we may acknowledge that one type of company is more suitable in a field and the other is more suitable in another field. Though there exists commercial discrimination, this discrimination should be eliminated.

 

Solutions

To solve this commercial discrimination, we must first learn that small, private company experiences discrimination since they do not have a chance to display themselves. In another word, they are experiencing systemic injustice. Whether they can get a license or not is not dependent on their ability but their “identity”; however, companies cannot decide their own identity. A private company may do better than a state-owned enterprise but they still cannot enter the market. To make the wrong thing correct, this systemic injustice should be solved. One thing that leads to systemic injustice is a power difference. Private companies who have less power do not have the chance to display themselves and consumers cannot hear from these companies. The government should let more private companies enter the field which they used to monopolize. If the resources available are important and the government does not want them to be controlled by individuals, they can introduce more state-owned companies into that field, making sure that competition exists between these companies. They can also give private companies more chances to give publicity to their commodity, providing consumers more choices and showing them that private companies are also reliable. As the information inequality between consumers and companies decreases, and more companies get power, the problem of commercial discrimination will be ameliorated.

 

Commercial Discrimination further thinking

The problem of commercial discrimination does not only exist as the examples mentioned above. As long as there is a power difference between the two companies, the problem of commercial discrimination will exist. To better understand commercial discrimination, we can start by thinking what is the benefit of commercial discrimination? Why some companies want commercial discrimination to exist? The answer is profit. Companies with more power monopolized the market, eliminating other companies to get all the profit in that field. These phenomena often appear when a private company monopolizes the market. In the case where consumers from different social classes pay differently when purchasing the same product, the sellers also aim to earn more profit. As a result, companies want to maintain commercial discrimination since it helps them to earn more money. After understanding their purpose, we can generate better ways of reducing commercial discrimination, solving the problem from where it was rooted. For example, the government can set up a limitation on the price of products, and set periodical checks to make sure that commodities have unified prices.

Although commercial discrimination is closely related to power difference, an appropriate degree of power difference can also have advantages. Under the situation where companies have the monopolized power, companies with less power may be encouraged to work harder and get more power, and companies which own more power will notice the benefit of owning more power. Noticing that others with less power are actively chasing, they do not want to give up their superiority and will work harder as well. Together the entire market will develop faster.

 

Work cited:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/soe.asp

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/privatecompany.asp

Yo, Is This…Racist.

“Yo, is this racist?”

Luodong Zhang, Xinyu Liu

4/5/2021

Luodong: Hi, Xinyu. Welcome to “Yo, this is… Racist” Column. As we all know, the topic of racial discrimination has always been very hot and hard. Can you share some ideas about racial discrimination with us?

Xinyu: Hi, Luodong. Hi, every reader. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my views on racial discrimination. From my point of view, racial discrimination is due to the following three reasons. First, human factors. Human beings are evolving, and in the process of evolution, the natural genes of “seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages” are preserved. Imagine a primitive person, in his familiar environment, dealing with familiar people is certainly more relaxed, but once he enters a strange environment, dealing with unfamiliar people, he will naturally feel alert and insecure. Among races communication, of course, they belong to unfamiliar fields. It’s not difficult to understand the natural hostility and wary attitude towards unfamiliar races. The second, the ruler factor. The rulers gave the masses a wrong cognition through their “Single Story”. Finally, the behavior of excessive possession of resources can be rationalized and legalized by the rulers. In other words, the ruler factor refers to a country, a regime, or a family power. As a ruler, establishing a common enemy stimulates the group strength and collective sense of honor, so as to transform the internal contradictions of the race. The easiest way to set up the enemy is to set up the hatred of the other race. By distorting their culture and uglifying the history of other races, ordinary people will easily define themselves as “one” and different races as “the other”. In the end, it is not easy for ordinary people to feel “guilty” when “the Other” you hate gets hurt. This is also a very important reason why Hitler was able to stimulate the slaughter of Jews in Europe during World War II.

Third, Racial discrimination caused by cultural factors refers to the meeting of people from different cultural backgrounds, so that people often understand their things from their own cultural perspective and with their own values, which sometimes leads to mutual misunderstanding and conflict. The cultural differences between China and the United States are a very clear example. Among the collective interests and individual interests, the Chinese often advocate that the collective interests are far greater than the individual interests. Therefore, the very popular movies in China are often the contents of saving the whole group at the expense of themselves. The United States, on the contrary, pursues individual heroism. Only by saving themselves can we save the whole collective. That’s why in American movies there are characters like the captain of the United States and iron man.

Luodong: well, Thank you for your analysis of the causes of racial discrimination. Protests against racial discrimination are going on every day. The Lakers met with NBA teams such as the clippers and bucks and decided to kneel down on one knee to protest against racial discrimination when the national anthem is played at the beginning of each game. Do you think there is a way to eliminate racial discrimination?

Xinyu: Although we all know that racial discrimination is a narrow thing after civilized education, I don’t think it can be eliminated. Only through our efforts can we reduce this kind of discrimination due to racial differences to some extent. First of all, we should change the perception of black advocate violence. I made a small survey on the history and culture of African blacks. I learned that in ancient times, many primitive tribes also opposed violence and advocated honesty. Like, in Achebe’s novel “things fall apart”, Okonkwo’s tribe had set the perfect legal system and a social operation mode that could make people live and work in peace and contentment. Secondly, I think everyone’s opportunity should be fair. For example, although black people are dominant in NBA, if there is a white man who plays very well, we will not despise him and refuse to let him play just because he is white, right? Similarly, there should be affirmative action in the workplace. In the work, the boss should choose the employee whose work efficiency is higher and performance is better, not whose skin color and appearance are more liked by the boss. In such a virtuous circle, human society will progress.

Xinyu: Recently, because of the outbreak of the covid-19 virus, American society has become unstable. Do you know of any other racial discrimination? It would be better if there were specific events.

Luodong: For me, I think the most painful thing was the shooting in Atlanta. This incident resulted in the deaths of nearly a dozen people and brought the issue of discrimination against Asians back into the spotlight.

Xinyu: Yes, it shocked me too, and that’s what we’re talking about today, racism. It has been an unfortunate year for all countries in the world, with COVID-19 leading to many deaths and social unrest leading to various cases of racial discrimination. Can you give us a little bit more detail about what happened in Atlanta?

Luodong: Sure. On March 16, the carnage lasted nearly three hours. The deranged killer rampaged through three massage parlors, leaving four Koreans, two Chinese, a white woman, and a white man dead. Police arrested him around 8:30 p.m. in the south of Atlanta. He was planning a trip to Florida to continue his killing spree. Asians were killed wherever he went. This is just what I learned from the media.

The memorial sits just outside Gold Spa after the deadly Atlanta shooting.

Xinyu: Yes, the motive of the killer has not yet been determined, except that he was not mentally ill. Do you think this attack was an act of racial violence?

Luodong: I’m not sure if I know enough about racism, although he denied a racial motive, the incident marked the culmination of a year of discrimination and violent crimes against the Asian community. I don’t understand why there is such hatred.

Xinyu: The incident led many Asians to march and hold up “Stop Asian Hate” signs. Could you tell me about your experience of studying in the United States if you have encountered racial discrimination?

Luodong: To be honest, I didn’t know anything about this before I came to the United States, and the news I saw made me worried. However, after I came to the United States, I found that there was almost no such discrimination in my daily study and life. Professors treated students fairly and gave me a lot of help. When I asked teachers and classmates questions, they answered me warmly. When I was a freshman, I lived in an apartment at the university. My roommates were very friendly to me. They would ask me to play basketball together, introduce me to the delicious restaurants around, and also ask me to watch football games on Gameday.

Xinyu: Sounds good! I still like to believe that most people have no animosity towards Asians.

Luodong: I think there are some stereotypes about Asians. As far as I can see, the majority of Asian people are working in service industries like laundry, restaurants, working for other people, etc. Most Asians do not live a rich life, and this level of wealth tends to lead people to think that Asians are the easy type to be bullied. I think this may be one of the reasons. In my opinion, in racial discrimination cases, there must be one party identified as “Others”. Because of the long-term low social status of Asians in the United States, it is difficult for Asians to truly integrate into this culture. As for the “Others” of De Beauvoir, the sense of national common sense can hardly be truly equal. Asians have always been regarded as outsiders.

Xinyu: In history, the United States is a multi-ethnic country with strong ethnic inclusiveness. Under the leadership of the first president, Washington, the United States won the War of Independence and promulgated various political laws, gradually becoming an independent and sovereign country as it is now. So, do you think this kind of discrimination problem can be solved or easily solved?

Luodong: The United States is already a multi-ethnic society, and the current turmoil is largely due to the government’s inaction and the people’s stereotypes and prejudices against other races. There are few courses in schools that really introduce students to foreign cultures. But because of the different customs and cultures of different countries, it is difficult to achieve true unity. In my opinion, such cultural differences are not the reason for discrimination. The main reason is to eliminate the prejudice in people’s minds, enhance social inclusiveness, and weaken the leading news. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday condemned the rise in anti-Asian violence in the United States and called on all Americans to unite against hatred in a speech during a visit to Georgia. I hope that such discrimination can be weakened or eliminated.

 

Works Cited:

https://image.baidu.com/

https://www.16sucai.com/2013/10/27681.html

https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-56467496

 

“Yo, is this racist?”

“Yo, is this racist?”

Luodong Zhang, Xinyu Liu

4/5/2021

 

Luodong: Hi, Xinyu. Welcome to “Yo, this is… Racist” Column. As we all know, the topic of racial discrimination has always been very hot and hard. Can you share some ideas about racial discrimination with us?

Xinyu: Hi, Luodong. Hi, every reader. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my views on racial discrimination. From my point of view, racial discrimination is due to the following three reasons. First, human factors. Human beings are evolving, and in the process of evolution, the natural genes of “seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages” are preserved. Imagine a primitive person, in his familiar environment, dealing with familiar people is certainly more relaxed, but once he enters a strange environment, dealing with unfamiliar people, he will naturally feel alert and insecure. Among races communication, of course, they belong to unfamiliar fields. It’s not difficult to understand the natural hostility and wary attitude towards unfamiliar races. The second, the ruler factor. The rulers gave the masses a wrong cognition through their “Single Story”. Finally, the behavior of excessive possession of resources can be rationalized and legalized by the rulers. In other words, the ruler factor refers to a country, a regime, or a family power. As a ruler, establishing a common enemy stimulates the group strength and collective sense of honor, so as to transform the internal contradictions of the race. The easiest way to set up the enemy is to set up the hatred of the other race. By distorting their culture and uglifying the history of other races, ordinary people will easily define themselves as “one” and different races as “the other”. In the end, it is not easy for ordinary people to feel “guilty” when “the Other” you hate gets hurt. This is also a very important reason why Hitler was able to stimulate the slaughter of Jews in Europe during World War II.

Third, Racial discrimination caused by cultural factors refers to the meeting of people from different cultural backgrounds, so that people often understand their things from their own cultural perspective and with their own values, which sometimes leads to mutual misunderstanding and conflict. The cultural differences between China and the United States are a very clear example. Among the collective interests and individual interests, the Chinese often advocate that the collective interests are far greater than the individual interests. Therefore, the very popular movies in China are often the contents of saving the whole group at the expense of themselves. The United States, on the contrary, pursues individual heroism. Only by saving themselves can we save the whole collective. That’s why in American movies there are characters like the captain of the United States and iron man.

Luodong: well, Thank you for your analysis of the causes of racial discrimination. Protests against racial discrimination are going on every day. The Lakers met with NBA teams such as the clippers and bucks and decided to kneel down on one knee to protest against racial discrimination when the national anthem is played at the beginning of each game. Do you think there is a way to eliminate racial discrimination?

Xinyu: Although we all know that racial discrimination is a narrow thing after civilized education, I don’t think it can be eliminated. Only through our efforts can we reduce this kind of discrimination due to racial differences to some extent. First of all, we should change the perception of black advocate violence. I made a small survey on the history and culture of African blacks. I learned that in ancient times, many primitive tribes also opposed violence and advocated honesty. Like, in Achebe’s novel “things fall apart”, Okonkwo’s tribe had set the perfect legal system and a social operation mode that could make people live and work in peace and contentment. Secondly, I think everyone’s opportunity should be fair. For example, although black people are dominant in NBA, if there is a white man who plays very well, we will not despise him and refuse to let him play just because he is white, right? Similarly, there should be affirmative action in the workplace. In the work, the boss should choose the employee whose work efficiency is higher and performance is better, not whose skin color and appearance are more liked by the boss. In such a virtuous circle, human society will progress.

Xinyu: Recently, because of the outbreak of the covid-19 virus, American society has become unstable. Do you know of any other racial discrimination? It would be better if there were specific events.

Luodong: For me, I think the most painful thing was the shooting in Atlanta. This incident resulted in the deaths of nearly a dozen people and brought the issue of discrimination against Asians back into the spotlight.

Xinyu: Yes, it shocked me too, and that’s what we’re talking about today, racism. It has been an unfortunate year for all countries in the world, with COVID-19 leading to many deaths and social unrest leading to various cases of racial discrimination. Can you give us a little bit more detail about what happened in Atlanta?

Luodong: Sure. On March 16, the carnage lasted nearly three hours. The deranged killer rampaged through three massage parlors, leaving four Koreans, two Chinese, a white woman, and a white man dead. Police arrested him around 8:30 p.m. in the south of Atlanta. He was planning a trip to Florida to continue his killing spree. Asians were killed wherever he went. This is just what I learned from the media.

The memorial sits just outside Gold Spa after the deadly Atlanta shooting.

Xinyu: Yes, the motive of the killer has not yet been determined, except that he was not mentally ill. Do you think this attack was an act of racial violence?

Luodong: I’m not sure if I know enough about racism, although he denied a racial motive, the incident marked the culmination of a year of discrimination and violent crimes against the Asian community. I don’t understand why there is such hatred.

Xinyu: The incident led many Asians to march and hold up “Stop Asian Hate” signs. Could you tell me about your experience of studying in the United States if you have encountered racial discrimination?

Luodong: To be honest, I didn’t know anything about this before I came to the United States, and the news I saw made me worried. However, after I came to the United States, I found that there was almost no such discrimination in my daily study and life. Professors treated students fairly and gave me a lot of help. When I asked teachers and classmates questions, they answered me warmly. When I was a freshman, I lived in an apartment at the university. My roommates were very friendly to me. They would ask me to play basketball together, introduce me to the delicious restaurants around, and also ask me to watch football games on Gameday.

Xinyu: Sounds good! I still like to believe that most people have no animosity towards Asians.

Luodong: I think there are some stereotypes about Asians. As far as I can see, the majority of Asian people are working in service industries like laundry, restaurants, working for other people, etc. Most Asians do not live a rich life, and this level of wealth tends to lead people to think that Asians are the easy type to be bullied. I think this may be one of the reasons. In my opinion, in racial discrimination cases, there must be one party identified as “Others”. Because of the long-term low social status of Asians in the United States, it is difficult for Asians to truly integrate into this culture. As for the “Others” of De Beauvoir, the sense of national common sense can hardly be truly equal. Asians have always been regarded as outsiders.

Xinyu: In history, the United States is a multi-ethnic country with strong ethnic inclusiveness. Under the leadership of the first president, Washington, the United States won the War of Independence and promulgated various political laws, gradually becoming an independent and sovereign country as it is now. So, do you think this kind of discrimination problem can be solved or easily solved?

Luodong: The United States is already a multi-ethnic society, and the current turmoil is largely due to the government’s inaction and the people’s stereotypes and prejudices against other races. There are few courses in schools that really introduce students to foreign cultures. But because of the different customs and cultures of different countries, it is difficult to achieve true unity. In my opinion, such cultural differences are not the reason for discrimination. The main reason is to eliminate the prejudice in people’s minds, enhance social inclusiveness, and weaken the leading news. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday condemned the rise in anti-Asian violence in the United States and called on all Americans to unite against hatred in a speech during a visit to Georgia. I hope that such discrimination can be weakened or eliminated.

 

Works Cited:

https://image.baidu.com/

https://www.16sucai.com/2013/10/27681.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/us/atlanta-spa-shootings.html

https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/world-56467496

 

 

Yo, Is this Racist ? Post by Sheng Li and Feifan Zhao

Created by Sheng Li and Feifan Zhao

Sheng Li:Hello! This is Sheng Li from OSU students radio. Most people are sensitive about race, so most people may avoid it. But we’re a student radio station, so we’re free to talk about it on this show. Welcome to the program “Yo, Is this racist?”

Feifan Zhao: Yes. A warm welcome to our program. Sheng, how long have you been in OSU? A semester? A school year? I’ve been at OSU for about two school years. After the COVID-19 outbreak in the US, I went back to China. I care about the situation of Buckeyes’ health. Are they OK?

S: I used to stay in OSU for only one term because of the eruption of COVI-19. Although I only stayed at OSU for one semester, many seniors helped me integrate into OSU’s life as soon as possible in the first month. Therefore, I am also very concerned about them living in the United States.

F: In my opinion, the current epidemic in the United States is well under control. The government and schools are promoting vaccines on a large scale. I believe that the current campus is relatively safe. After the epidemic in the United States stabilizes, I may choose to return to campus.

S: Yes it is. I have also considered this. By the way, have you ever seen a movie called The Transporter? The movie covers the story of selling Asians. What is your opinion on the crime of human trafficking?

F: No, I have never watched it. But I hate the act of human trafficking. In the early twentieth century, after many Asian countries suffered from colonialism, many innocent Asian civilians were trafficked to Western countries such as Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom and other colonial countries. And in the history of the United States, blacks have also been sold to Africa as slaves.

S: Oh! You are just stating some facts. What I want to ask is your attitude and views on discrimination against people of color like human trafficking.

F:As far as I am concerned, racial discrimination should not be forgiven under any circumstances. Those who discriminate against people of color should be judged. Whether they are black or yellow, they should be respected and fair.

S: Ok. I understand what you mean. Do you know that, FeiFan? According to reports, there have been more and more news about the persecution of people of color in recent years. For example, in the United States, many Asians have recently been attacked by others on the street for no reason. And many of the targets of the attacks were elderly people with limited mobility.

F: This is indeed the case, and I am also following this type of news recently. The piece of news that shocked me the most was that three massage parlors in Atlanta were attacked by ruffian, resulting in the deaths of 6 Asians so far. After I watched the incident, I immediately posted a tweet on Twitter to support the protection of Asians. The Asian civil rights groups, current officials at all levels, and Chinese associations across United States came out with condemnation statements and emphasized that racial hate crime must be stopped. On the other hand, the hash “#StopAsianHate” topped Twitter and people of all races, genders and ages takes to the street in California, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington to protest against Asian hate

S: That also shocked me a lot. This is the crack in the process of ethnic integration. Some extreme people are like the murderer mentioned in your news, trying to destroy the integration between races because of their own prejudice. This is something that all our people don’t want to see. Just like whether in school or in society, it is necessary to equitably integrate all races. The so-called systemic justice means that under one system, no matter what the system is, there is no need for people to discriminate against people of color.

F: Wow! Are you talking about the same principle throughout the story? To be fair, there are good people in the United States, regardless of race; there are heart-warming stories, regardless of region. But the levels are more superficial, just like the “high talk” between them holding red wine and coveting each other, the content is very general. People have many faces. They may spit on the ground and urinate in the corner in the first second, and then use unwashed hands to hold the door for pregnant women in the next minute, and smile gently with their unclean mouth. High-level culture does not have the problem of race discrimination, only class discrimination: class can be crossed through hard work and competition, and race discrimination can only pray for the perfect quality of condoms to stop loss in time.

S: Not only Asians, but African Americans are often treated unfairly. This is also a common topic. Everyone has different opinions on the topic of how to better protect African Americans from discrimination and harassment.

F: Since the independence of the United States, with the rapid development of the liberal capitalist economy, and in view of its advantageous geographical location and political environment, the United States has gradually developed into the world’s largest immigrant country with a population of 300 million. However, with the United States to this day, it is the deep-rooted issue of racial discrimination. Although the United States has legally abolished the relevant laws restricting the political rights of minorities, ethnic minorities represented by blacks, due to their bloody history of captivity and enslavement, have caused them to still be widely regarded in American society.

S: Sure. I definitely agree that too!

F: Just like we learned the concept about “one” and “Others” from this course. The essence of racism and discrimination is that native Americans see Asians or Africans as “Others”, and see themselves as “One”. For those people who are regarded as “Others”, they work hard and trying their best to adapt the environment. However, those people who consider themselves as “One” break their American dream of a better life.

S: Yes, I totally agree with your concept. Last week, we read the book named “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid. The protagonist of this novel also suffers this problem. He loves the United States and works hard to be accepted by his American friends. However, After the terrorist attack of 9/11, people began to see him as “Others”. He faces increasing racism and discrimination after this disaster. And even the woman he loved left him. People break his America dream.

F: Meanwhile you try to think a question. Why the black anti-discrimination struggle has not yielded results? Because they have adopted the wrong method of struggle, trying to suppress the voice of discrimination, instead of eliminating the source of discrimination. This method is destined to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause. When suppressing the voice, under pressure, people will ostensibly say that I treat them equally and do not discriminate against any race, but once I have the opportunity, if I don’t get caught, my true mentality will be exposed, and I will discriminate even more severely. This is implicit discrimination.

S: Right. As a counterattack, in the event of serious discrimination against blacks, large-scale disturbances will occur. It is essentially a way of hurting each other: if you hurt me, I will hurt you so that you dare not discriminate against me. This has achieved a balance of power on the surface, but on the one hand, discrimination still exists, but it has been covered up. Because the root causes of discrimination have not been eliminated, the results of the disturbances will plant the seeds of hatred, leading to retaliation, and the situation further deteriorates.

F: Yes, I don’t deny your point. Just like the event of death of George Floyd has caused the mass demonstration, which is known as Black Lives Matter. In the protest march, a number of lawbreaker take advantage of chaos of situation to loot shops and damage public property.

S: In my opinion, This tragedy is a classic example of structural injustice. The case of George Floyd is not an accidental event. Black people are killed during law enforcement every year. In the subconscious of many police officers, black people are dangerous because they have the highest crime rate. This is called “Single story” in our course. In this way, when they face black people during enforcement, they would be nervous and overreact.

F: All in all, I think most people will generally agree with a society in which various resources are allocated to everyone in the society in a more reasonable way, so that everyone can get what they deserve. Resources. The type and amount of resources a person obtains should depend as much as possible on the person’s own choices and actions. Of course, this kind of assumption is obviously ideal, and until now, there has not been a distribution rule that conforms to this ideal and satisfies everyone. However, based on this higher idealization standard, we can also derive the definition of “discrimination” in turn, that is, in a certain system or culture, if a person’s differentiated treatment in terms of resource allocation and social circumstances is similar to that person’s If there is no causal relationship between the actions and actions, then we will say that this person has suffered “discrimination” and intuitively will think this is a bad and unfair thing.

S: Our program is going to say good bye. Thanks for listening to our program! If you like us, please keep focusing on us.

F: Thanks for your listening! If you like us, please keep focus us. Bye bye!

 

 

News source from: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a32728194/black-lives-matter-timeline-movement/

https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/man-pinned-down-by-minneapolis-police-officer-dies.html

News source from: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth