discrimination

When Algorithms Decide What You Pay

October 14, 2016 Julia Angwin, Terry Parris Jr. and Surya Mattu, www.propublica.org Educate! Algorithms, Digital, discrimination

By Julia Angwin, Terry Parris Jr. and Surya Mattu for ProPublica - YOU MAY NOT REALIZE IT, but every website you visit is created, literally, the moment you arrive. Each element of the page — the pictures, the ads, the text, the comments — live on computers in different places and are sent to your device when you request them. That means that it’s easy for companies to create different web pages for different people. Sometimes that customization is helpful, such as when you see search results for restaurants near you.

New Suit ‘Makes Clear Voting Discrimination Is Alive And Well’

September 9, 2016 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Organize! Alabama, discrimination, Voting Rights

By Andrea Germanos for Common Dreams - With Alabama's three highest courts failing to reflect its racial diversity, the state now faces a federal lawsuit alleging a violation of the Voting Rights Act. The case (pdf), filed in federal court Wednesday in Montgomery, "makes clear that voting discrimination is alive and well across the state of Alabama," said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee).

Why The HB2 Boycott Of North Carolina Is Working

May 1, 2016 Chris Kromm, www.southernstudies.org Resist! boycott, Democracy, discrimination, Gender

By Chris Kromm for the Institute for Southern Studies. It's been over a month since North Carolina lawmakers rushed to pass House Bill 2, sweeping legislation that, while targeting a Charlotte city ordinance for gender-neutral public bathrooms, also nullified local anti-discrimination and wage laws. Since HB2 passed, headlines have been filled with near-daily reports of top companies, sports associations like the NBA and NCAA, and big-ticket performers from Bruce Springsteen to Cirque du Soleil not only condemning the law but saying they would rethink doing business in North Carolina or would boycott the state entirely. State officials have tried to downplay the impact of the HB2 backlash. In early April, N.C. Commerce Secretary John Skvarla blithely said "it's business as usual" in the state.

Federal Judge Upholds ‘Discriminatory’ NC Voter ID Law

April 27, 2016 Nika Knight, www.commondreams.org Educate! ACLU, discrimination, North Carolina

By Nika Knight for Common Dreams - North Carolina's sweeping and controversial election reform law, HB 589, was upheld on Monday by a federal judge in Winston-Salem, prompting vows to appeal from the plaintiffs who allege that the legislation's dramatic voting restrictions widely disenfranchise minority voters. "The sweeping barriers imposed by this law undermine voter participation and have an overwhelmingly discriminatory impact on African-Americans. This ruling does not change that reality. We are already examining an appeal," said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, in a statement.

Repealing ‘Hate Bill 2’; Protesters Welcome Back NC Lawmakers

April 26, 2016 Deirdre Fulton, www.commondreams.org Resist! discrimination, Legislation, LGBTQ, North Carolina

By Deirdre Fulton for Common Dreams - The legislation, which opponents say is unconstitutional, requires that transgender people use bathrooms that match the sex on their birth certificates, and forbids cities and counties from enacting their own ordinances to prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender people. Lambda Legal, the ACLU, and the ACLU of North Carolina are fighting the law in federal court. More than 100 business executives, President Barack Obama, and countless social justice warriors have denounced HB 2.

Protesters Flood Streets As Discrimination Law Backlash Grows

March 31, 2016 Nika Knight, www.commondreams.org Resist! discrimination, LGBTQ, North Carolina, Protests

By Nika Knight for Common Dreams - "If we don't get no justice, then they don't get no peace!" was the rallying cry echoing in the streets of downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for hours on Tuesday. Hundreds of anti-discrimination activists flooded the streets and stopped traffic through the afternoon and evening in a planned protest against the state's sweeping, unprecedented anti-LGBTQ legislation signed into law last week.

82 Orgs Ask DOJ To Address Illegality Of ‘Muslim-Free Zone’

September 2, 2015 CAIR, www.cair.com Resist! Criminal Justice, discrimination, Faith, Human Rights, Islamophobia, Law

By CAIR - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, announced today that a coalition of 82 civil liberties, human rights, immigrant rights, faith, and cultural organizations (see list of signatories below) sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking her to investigate the growing phenomena of so-called “Muslim-free zone” businesses nationwide. The coalition, which includes prominent national organizations such as the ACLU, NAACP and the YWCA USA, requested that the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section conduct a full federal investigation into all businesses that have declared themselves as “Muslim-Free Zones” and “bring civil enforcement proceedings against business owners who have violated the law.”

An Open Letter To Civil Rights Groups In The U.S.

August 14, 2015 Jeffrey Sterling, www.stltoday.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), CIA, discrimination, Racial Justice

By Jeffrey Sterling in St. Louis Post Dispatch - Dear NAACP, National Action Network, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Congressional Black Caucus and others: Where were you? Where were you when I was faced with blatant discrimination at my job, when my employer told me I was “too big and too black” to do the job? Where were you when I, one of the first black officers to do so, filed a discrimination suit against the Central Intelligence Agency? Where were you when the justice system of the United States dismissed my discrimination suit because the U.S. government maintained that trying my suit would endanger national security? Where were you during the many years I reached out to you, begging, pleading for help from you while the United States government pursued and tormented me for years, bent on retaliation and persecution?

Next Head Of ‘Civil Administration’ Said Palestinians Are Sub-Human

May 18, 2015 John Brown, www.972mag.com Educate! discrimination, Genocide, Israel, Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finalized the formation of a new government this week when he signed a coalition agreement with far-right settler party Jewish Home. As part of the agreement, Rabbi Ben-Dahan will be Israel’s next deputy defense minister, responsible for the army’s “Civil Administration.” The Civil Administration is responsible for all aspects the occupation that don’t involve boots-on-the-ground security operations — it administers planning, building, and infrastructurefor both Jews and Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank. It alsoadministers the Palestinian population database and is responsible for granting and revoking entry and travel permits for Palestinians, controlling every aspect of their movement.

Backlash To Anti-Gay Laws Not A Movement, But The Result Of One

April 6, 2015 Kate Aronoff, www.wagingnonviolence.org Educate! discrimination, Indiana, Law, LGBTQ

There was a showdown this week in Indiana and it had nothing to do with the Final Four — well, almost. Last Friday, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law Senate Bill 101, also known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA. While most of the bill’s language consisted of relatively benign legal protections for religious groups, it also would have safeguarded small businesses and corporations alike in refusing business to customers based on their sexual orientation — providing a claim, as well, in lawsuits brought by private citizens. The bill’s definition of religious freedom was so broad as to allow individuals to declare a religion of one and use it as legal grounding in court. A similar law, HB1228, was passed on Tuesday in Arkansas, and drew similar — if less acute — ire.

Indiana Boycott Urged After ‘Religious Freedom’ Law Passes

March 29, 2015 Staff, www.bbc.com Resist! discrimination, Gay rights

Activists have encouraged a boycott of Indiana after the US state enacted a "religious freedom" law, which they say discriminates against gay people. Supporters say the law prevents the state from forcing people to provide services contrary to their religion. Similar bills are being considered across the US as court rulings have made gay marriage legal in more states. Several groups plan to do less business with the state, and celebrities criticised the law on Twitter. The National Collegiate Athletic Association said it was "especially concerned" about how the law would affect its employees and student athletes. Next week, the NCAA will host the finals of its annual basketball tournament in Indianapolis, the state's capital and its largest city. On Friday, Arkansas moved closer to passing a similar "religious freedom" measure.

Healthcare Law Did Not End Discrimination

March 9, 2015 Kay Tillow, www.pnhp.org Educate! discrimination, health, Health Care

In 2010 the giant health insurance company WellPoint created an algorithm that searched its database, located breast cancer patients, and targeted them for cancellation of their policies. A few years earlier Michael Moore’s stunning documentary, “Sicko,” showed an unending list of illnesses that had been used by insurers to refuse to sell people policies, to charge them much more, or to deny payment for “pre-existing conditions.” The public became acutely aware of these harmful, widespread practices and sharply condemned them. So it was not by chance that this insistent popular support resulted in inclusion of a ban on these practices in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was passed in 2010. The government website explains. “Your insurance company can’t turn you down or charge you more because of your pre-existing health or medical condition like asthma, back pain, diabetes, or cancer. Once you have insurance, they can’t refuse to cover treatment for your pre-existing condition.”

Transgender Day Of Remembrance: Stop The Deaths

November 20, 2014 Maya Dusenberry, www.feministing.com Resist! discrimination, Transgender, Violence

Today is the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance when we memorialize those who were killed by anti-trans violence in the past year. Here is this year’s list of those we’ve lost and here is where you can find an eventhappening in your area. As Morgan Collado wrote at Autostraddle, trans women of color dominate the list of lives lost — this year and every year — and simply spending one day honoring them after they’ve been killed is not enough. “The names of trans women of color will be in the mouths of the queer community after they’ve been murdered,” Collado wrote, “but support for us while we are still alive is sporadic at best.” Last year at Jacobin, Samantha Allen echoed that idea that remembering must be paired with “interrogating the present” and imagining a different future. She asked the vital question: “How could we shorten this list of the dead? What kind of politics would that goal require?”

Modern Day Discrimination Against Native Americans

October 23, 2014 Matt Saccaro, www.mic.com Educate! discrimination, Education, Native Americans

Despite the furor over the Washington Redskins and Columbus Day, the most serious discrimination against Native Americans doesn't take place at a football game or during a poorly-named day off from work. It starts in schools, and pervades all aspects of a Native American's life as time goes on. Native American children attend dilapidated, below-standard schools, some of which date from the Great Depression era. The government is supposed to look after the federally-financed schools, but this task is seemingly beyond their ability, or just beyond their ability to care.

SC Town Rallies For Fired Lesbian Police Chief

April 27, 2014 Harriet McLeod, www.occuworld.org Resist! discrimination, LGBTQ

A one-square-mile South Carolina town with four traffic lights is challenging the mayor’s power to strip its lesbian police chief of her badge in what supporters are calling a case of workplace discrimination. The controversy surrounding the firing of Crystal Moore, 42, has rallied the town of Latta and drawn the interest of national gay rights groups who argue that her case highlights the need to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. Moore, a 20-year veteran of the police force and chief for two years, said her job record was clean until Mayor Earl Bullard issued seven reprimands in one day and fired her on April 15. The town council responded this week with a unanimous vote of confidence in Moore and blocked the mayor from hiring a new chief for 60 days. Residents rallied outside the town hall to show their support and set up a “Stand With Chief Moore” fund.

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