Racism

Environmental Racism And Detroit

July 15, 2021 Emma Boyhtari, Left Voice. Resist! climate crisis, Detroit, pollution, Racism

Oftentimes, racism and environmentalism are thought of as separate issues. Since the Black Lives Matter uprising of last summer, however, there has been a growing awareness of the scope of racism and its existence in every facet of society. The legacy of racism, dating back to the enslavement of Black people in this country, is woven into the fabric of American society. It has existed in many forms on structural and personal levels, including racist real estate practices such as redlining and restrictive covenants, as well as discriminatory employment practices. Not to mention how Black folks are criminalized, brutalized, exploited, and killed by police and the prison industrial system. The list goes on, and it also includes being more vulnerable to environmental pollution.

Illinois Bill Mandates Public Schools Teach Asian American History

July 10, 2021 Jordan Williams, The Hill. Create! Asian American, Education, Illinois, Racism

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has signed legislation mandating public schools teach Asian American history, making the state the first in the nation to do so. The legislation, the Teaching Equitable Asian American History Act, requires a unit of Asian American history to be taught in public schools beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. As part of the curriculum, students should be taught “the contributions of Asian Americans toward advancing civil rights from the 19th century onward,” Pritzker’s office said in a statement. The curriculum should also include “the contributions made by individual Asian Americans in government, arts, humanities, and sciences,” as well as “the contributions of Asian American communities to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States.”

July 4 Glorifies The US Military — A Force With White Supremacy At Its Core

July 5, 2021 Rory Fanning, Truthout Educate! Fourth of July, Racism, Wars and Militarism, White Supremacy

The U.S. isn’t young anymore. One can’t help but wonder what Fredrick Douglass would say if he were to give a speech on the country’s 245th birthday. The “great streams” of American racism, white supremacy and sexism have indeed worn deep. A full 169 years after Douglass’s speech, the U.S. is still bogged down by many of the same contradictions.

Olympics Chiefs Relax Protest Rules For Tokyo Games

July 3, 2021 Deutsche Welle. Educate! Activism, Athletes, Olympics, Racism

The decision came amid calls to relax rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, which states: "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas." The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had promised to review the rule after the Black Lives Matter movement gained global support.

Governor Signs Law To Stop Teachers From Talking About Racism

June 25, 2021 Jennifer Bendery, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Education, Public schools, Racism, Texas

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed one of his party’s top legislative priorities into law: a bill aimed at stopping teachers from talking about racism and any current events that may be contentious. The legislation, supported by virtually every GOP state legislator, states that social studies teachers in public K-12 schools “may not be compelled” to talk about current events or public policy or social issues considered controversial. If they do talk about such things, they are required to present the issue “without giving deference to any one perspective.” The law specifies all the things that social studies teachers aren’t allowed to talk about. They can’t make it part of a course to talk about the concept that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex.”

To End Racial Capitalism, We Will Need To Take On Policing

June 20, 2021 Henry A. Giroux, Truthout. Educate! 1033 program, Capitalism, Police, Racism

Police in the United States act with impunity in targeted neighborhoods, public schools, college campuses, hospitals, and almost every other public sphere. Not only do the police view protesters, Black and Indigenous people, and undocumented immigrants as antagonists to be controlled, they are also armed with military-grade weapons. This police militarization is a process that dates at least as far back as President Lyndon Johnson when he initiated the 1965 Law Enforcement Assistance Act, which supplied local police forces with weapons used in the Vietnam War. The public is now regarded as dangerous and suspect; moreover, as the police are given more military technologies and weapons of war, a culture of punishment, resentment and racism intensifies as Black people, in particular, are viewed as a threat to law and order.

Colombia Removes Statues Of Columbus And Spanish Queen After Attacks

June 14, 2021 Adriaan Alsema, Colombia Reports. Resist! Colombia, Indigenous Rights, Racism, Statues

Colombia’s culture ministry removed statues of 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus and Spain’s late Queen Isabella amid fears they would be tumbled. Government workers removed the statues from their pedestals in the capital Bogota on Friday after native Colombian protesters tried to tumble them on Wednesday. The attempts triggered tensions with a fringe white supremacist group that subsequently tried to attack the protesters of the Misak people from southwest Colombia. According to the Culture Ministry, the statues that were erected in 1906 were taken to a safe place for “a process of restauration.” The National Patrimony agency said that it would hold talks with different social sectors about the future of the European explorer and the late monarch who financed the naval adventure that led Columbus to the Americas.

Discovery Of Mass Graves Reinforces Need For Truth And Reconciliation

June 14, 2021 Equal Justice Initiative. Create! Indigenous Rights, Racism, truth and reconciliation, Tulsa Massacre

One hundred years after the Tulsa Massacre, a team of scientists has discovered the remains of 27 people believed to be murdered by the white mob that destroyed the prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921. The victims were uncovered just two weeks after the discovery of a mass grave on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, a boarding school where Indigenous children were forcibly sent until the late 1970s. The bodies of 215 children—some as young as three years old—have been uncovered so far. In both Tulsa and British Columbia, the discoveries came after decades of effort by descendants of survivors and family members of victims urging local and federal officials to acknowledge this history.

California Reparations Committee Confronts Harms Of Slavery

June 13, 2021 Jackie Botts, Cal Matters. Create! Black America, California, Racism, Reparations

For more than three decades, Black members of Congress have introduced legislation to study the lasting harms of slavery on African Americans, and propose remedies. Year after year, the federal proposal languished. Now, California is going it alone. This month, California’s first-in-the-nation task force to study reparations met for the first time, kicking off a two-year process to study the consequences of slavery and systemic racism against African Americans in California. The reparations committee of nine prominent lawyers, academics, politicians, religious and civil rights leaders — many of whom are descendants of slaves — will make formal recommendations on how the state should make reparations.

A New Nevada Law Bans Racial Mascots In Schools

June 7, 2021 Dustin Jones, NPR. Educate! Education, Indigenous Rights, Nevada, Racism

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak met with members of the Nevada Indian Commission in Carson City on Friday as he signed legislation removing racially discriminatory identifiers or language from schools. Additionally, counties can no longer sound "sundown sirens," which once signified it was time for certain people to leave town. The law will require schools to change any name, logo, mascot, song or identifier that is "racially discriminatory" or "associated with the Confederate States of America or a federally recognized Indian tribe." Under Assembly Bill 88, exceptions can be made only with tribal approval. The legislation applies to public schools and charters, universities and community colleges. Friday's signing took place at the Stewart Indian School, which served as a federally run Native American educational institute for 90 years.

What’s Up With The Sudden Attacks On Schools That Teach Critical Race Theory?

June 4, 2021 Jeff Bryant, LA Progressive. Educate! Critical Race Theory, Education, Public schools, Racism

When North Carolina public school teacher Justin Parmenter penned an opinion piece for the Charlotte Observer about the difficulties of teaching in hybrid mode during the pandemic, with students both in-person in the classroom and remote online, he didn’t expect to get called out by a legislator on the floor of the state House of Representatives.

White People’s Stake In Ending The White Republic

June 4, 2021 Erin Heaney, Organizing Upgrade. Organize! Class Struggle, Organizing networks, Racism, Right wing politics

Wing describes this multiracial base: “We need to build the independent strength of the most determined racial, social, climate, and economic justice constituencies – those that understand that inequality, war, and environmental destruction are rooted in capitalism and that the corporate class is an unstable opponent of racism and authoritarianism.”

‘Rural People Against Racism’ March In Washington

May 31, 2021 Andrew Freeman, Liberation News. Resist! Black Lives Matter (BLM), Racism, Rural, Washington State

On May 29, local activists in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, (population 11,739) and the greater Skagit County area held a march against racism marking the one year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Marchers gathered at Hammer Heritage Square in downtown Sedro-Woolley for sign-waving followed by a march of about 75 people through the business district starting at noon.

Dubious Arrests, Death Threats and Confederate Loyalists

May 22, 2021 By Julia Wall and Carli Brosseau, ProPublica. Resistance Report North Carolina, Racism, White Nationalism, White Supremacy

Reported from a community where protesting is restricted and violence feels imminent, “Sound of Judgment” provides a rare view into the fight for justice in small-town America.

A Day Of Action: Educators Pledge To Teach The Truth, June 12

May 21, 2021 Zinned Project. Organize! Education, Racism, Teachers, US history

Lawmakers in at least 15 states are attempting to pass legislation that would require teachers to lie to students about the role of racism, sexism, heterosexism, and oppression throughout U.S. history.

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