Skip to content

Systemic Racism

Activists In Philly Have A Novel Approach To Help De-Oppress Society

September 21, 2024 Damon Orion, Counter Punch. , , ,
In 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America reported that one in 1,000 Black men in the U.S. are killed by police. Statista states that between 2015 and August 2024, Black U.S. residents were fatally shot by law enforcement officers at a rate of 6.2 per million of the population per year compared to 2.4 white Americans per million per year. This is an all-too-familiar example of systemic oppression, which the diversity, equity, and inclusion-based software company Develop Diverse defines as “the mistreatment of a social, ethnic, or racial group, perpetuated by governments, schools, health care systems, and other socioeconomic structures.”

AI Surveillance As A Tool Of State Repression

August 31, 2024 Michigan People's Defense Committee, Scalawag. , , ,
AI technology poses a significant threat to communities that are struggling for liberation. The technology is used to create large surveillance networks accessible to police, military, and private companies. Frequently this technology is installed without the consent or knowledge of the people it surveils. In the United States, AI technology is used to surveil Black and Brown communities and target people for arrest. Abroad it is used for bombing campaigns and genocide. In August 2023, a GPS tracker was found on a vehicle registered to one of the codefendants known as the Traverse City 3, a trio of queer activists.

The Unequal Effects Of School Closings

August 26, 2024 Alec MacGillis, Pro Publica. , , ,
In the 1990s, when Liberia descended into civil war, the Kpor family fled to Ivory Coast. A few years later, in 1999, they were approved for resettlement in the United States and ended up in Rochester, New York. Janice Kpor, who was 11 at the time, jokingly wonders whether her elders were under the impression that they were moving to New York City. What she remembers most about their arrival is the trees: It was May, yet many were only just starting to bud. “It was, like, ‘Where are we?’” she said. “It was completely different.” But the Kpors adapted and flourished. Janice lived with her father in an affordable-housing complex close to other family members, and she attended the city’s public schools before enrolling in St. John Fisher University, just outside the city, where she got a bachelor’s degree in sociology and African American studies.

Borders And The Exchange Of Humans For Debt

August 13, 2024 Heba Gowayed, In These Times. , , , ,
The jagged shoreline of the island of Lesbos, Greece, which runs into the Aegean Sea just miles from the Turkish coastline, is a site of the macabre and systemic practice of ​“border externalization,” where wealthy states enlist less wealthy states — often indebted ones — to intercept and brutalize human beings destined for their borders. It is here that 23-year-old Ahmed — who left Gaza in 2021 to find refuge from a life behind Israel’s Iron Wall and violence, which promised ​“no future, no work, no possibilities” — was beaten by Greek border patrol and left adrift on a dinghy with a broken engine. It would take five attempts, full of terror and humiliation, for Ahmed to reach Greece, which was just one stop on a longer journey to Germany to reunite with cousins.

New Jersey’s Legislature Stalled Reparations Inquiry For Years

August 12, 2024 Kimberly Izar, Next City. , , ,
Shortly after the Ku Klux Klan marched through Newark, New Jersey, in the 1920s, large areas of the city and surrounding communities were redlined by the federal government as investment risks because Black people lived there. The discriminatory practice of redlining locked generations of Black families out of equitable access to jobs, housing, schools, and other wealth-building resources. Redlining built on the legacy of slavery and has since evolved into modern-day segregation, where racially diverse and low-income communities continue to have limited access to economic and public health opportunities.

Nurturing Actions For A World Free Of Political And Other Forms Of Violence

August 5, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , ,
The United States is a violent society, whether it be its pervasive culture of war and militarism, long term systemic racism or the current rise of political violence. To counter this and build a democratic society that respects human rights, we must educate ourselves about methods of nonviolence and mobilize to put what we learn into action. Clearing the FOG speaks with author and activist Rivera Sun, program coordinator with Campaign Nonviolence. Sun speaks about the upcoming days of nonviolent action from September 21 to October 2, during which thousands of actions ranging from teach-ins to direct action are planned with the intention of mainstreaming nonviolence. She explains why nonviolence is essential in a democratic society and where people can find resources and training.

‘You Are Not A Loan!’ Introducing The Nation’s First Debtors’ Union

July 23, 2024 Hannah Appel and Astra Taylor, In These Times. , , , ,
A dozen members of Debt Collective were arrested at a Capitol Hill protest in May demanding that President Joe Biden ​“fund education, not genocide.” Before they were taken away by police, the protesters unfurled banners reading ​“You Are Not A Loan” and “$1,700,000,000,000” (the current amount of outstanding student debt). The connection was clear: Biden can and must use his executive powers to cancel all student debt and fund education, not to authorize and fund Israel’s destruction of Palestine. Organizers and activists came from all over the country to Washington, D.C., to tell him so. The ​“Fund Education, Not Genocide” action in May was just a sliver of what we’re about — and what we’re capable of.

Seattle Is Walking Back Its Promises On Community-Led Anti-Displacement

July 23, 2024 Quynh Pham, Ryan Curren and Ben Palmquist, Next City. , , , ,
When it launched a first-in-the-nation anti-displacement fund in 2016, Seattle established itself as a leader in racial equity. But a new attack on the City’s Equitable Development Initiative (EDI), part of a national backlash against government efforts to address systemic racism and inequality, threatens that progress. The EDI finances the construction of community cultural and commercial space developed by community-of-color organizations in Seattle, often co-located with affordable housing. As of March of this year, the fund had provided over $100 million in grants for 56 different community-led projects that are helping create an inclusive, multiracial city.

As Brown Vs Board Of Education Turns 70, Fight Against Segregation Not Over

May 27, 2024 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , , ,
In 1954, the landmark decision by the Supreme Court, Brown versus the Board of Education, established that the segregation of students based on race was no longer legal. Seventy years later, schools remain highly segregated and the education system is becoming more unequal. Clearing the FOG speaks with Jennifer Berkshire, a licensed school teacher, journalist and author of the new book, "The Education War: A Citizen's Guide and Defense Manual," about the forces behind the defunding and privatization of education in the United States. Berkshire describes nontraditional coalitions that are forming at the state level to stop voucher programs. Some are having success. She also explains how rightwing ideology has infected Democrats and liberals in this struggle.

70 Years After Brown, Too Many US Schools Remain Hypersegregated

May 26, 2024 Shannon Paige Clark, Scheer Post. , , ,
I was 21 when I started teaching at Hope-Hill Elementary School in Atlanta. I had big dreams and bold ideas — some held, others fettered as the toll of teaching in majority Black schools suffering from resource deprivation took hold. My first year was complicated by the fact that C.W. Hill Elementary closed, or merged with John Hope Elementary, depending on whom you ask. And in an effort to make the devastating change more palatable, John Hope Elementary School became Hope-Hill Elementary School. This was my introduction to austerity measures, or the practices in school districts that justified slashing resources, slimming budgets, and closing schools, which are often in working-class Black communities.

Unequal Before The Law

March 12, 2024 Stephanie Woodard, In These Times. , , , ,
Federal charges ordinarily cover matters of national reach: immigration, voting rights, racketeering. Not in Indian Country. Tribal members frequently find themselves in federal court for all sorts of allegations— not just serious crimes, such as murder, but lesser offenses, like burglary. Once in federal court, they face sentencing guidelines that are stiffer than if they were tried in state court, where non-Native cases are generally heard. Diversion, probation and other mitigation actions, typical of state courts, are also less common, as is a jury that includes their peers, which is to say, other Natives.

It’s Time To Act Locally To Address Racial Wealth Inequality

March 1, 2024 Natasha Hicks, Next City. , , ,
As we close out Black History Month and the celebration of the many invaluable contributions Black people have made to the U.S., we must also reflect, acknowledge and confront one of the most pernicious issues that has faced generations of Black Americans: racial wealth inequality. Black people have never been able to fully realize the power and freedom that wealth affords since throughout history they have had their wealth systematically blocked or stolen. Despite having the deck stacked against them, generations of Black Americans have been able to save, buy land, start businesses and create their own economic engines.

White Man’s Justice Is Black People’s Grief: A Black History Month Truth

February 4, 2024 Kevin Cooper, Scheer Post. , , , , ,
“It’s not whether you win or lose that counts, but how you play the game that matters.” That’s what my people are often told. But we are not told that this so-called game is rigged, and it’s rigged against us even before we are born. This “game” is life in the divided states of America. This is especially true in the system of criminal justice, a system that has been rigged against Black people since its  inception. There Is no better example than this country’s morbid use and fascination with the cold-blooded and premeditated imposition of the death penalty against poor people and its disproportionate use on Black people.

Global Call To End Capital Punishment: World Day Against The Death Penalty

October 11, 2023 Victoria Valenzuela, Scheer Post. , , ,
On Oct. 10 — World Day Against the Death Penalty — activists, political leaders and lawyers unite in solidarity from around the world to call for the universal abolition of capital punishment. Now in its 21st year, the day is meant to recognize the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment and build on the momentum of the current global abolition movement, according to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The death penalty is also disproportionately applied to people of color, as over half of the US death row population is Black or Latino, and typically subjects people on death row to harsher conditions than the general prison population.

Legacy Admissions Are Actually The Opposite Of Affirmative Action

July 31, 2023 Jim Naureckas, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. , , ,
A recent NPR headline (7/24/23) declared: “Affirmative Action for Rich Kids: It’s More Than Just Legacy Admissions.” The accompanying story explained: “Affirmative action for minority kids may now be dead. But a blockbuster new study, released today, finds that, effectively, affirmative action for rich kids is alive and well.” Likewise, a Vox headline (7/25/23) reported that “Affirmative Action for White College Applicants Is Still Here.” A Daily podcast (7/27/23) from the New York Times is headlined “Affirmative Action for the 1 Percent,” explaining “just how much elite colleges admissions in the US systematically favor the rich and the superrich.” New York magazine’s Eric Levitz (7/25/23) wrote about “Why Elite Colleges Do Affirmative Action for the Rich.”
«12345678»
Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.