by Kathleen Cross | Jul 28, 2011 | discrimination, education, young people |
The United States of America makes up 5 percent of the world’s population, but houses 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.
No country in the world, not a dictatorship or a communist, Islamic or facist country anywhere on Earth imprisons more of its citizens than America.
In this so-called “Land of the Free” 1 in 31 adults is currently behind bars, on probation or on parole, and that is the aggregate data. Break that down by race and the numbers are beyond ridiculous. We already know a black man in America is far more likely to die a felon than a college graduate.
How, in a supposedly “developed” nation, can it be considered smart public policy to spend more of our tax dollars incarcerating someone when it is far cheaper to educate them? That is the infuriating, saddening, frustrating question we must consider when we examine the recent data released by the Justice Center at the Council of State Governments in their report, Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study on How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement.
The six-year study looked at the effect of zero tolerance policies in Texas public schools and found:
- One million students were suspended or expelled, and those students who were disciplined this way were also more likely to drop out or have to repeat a grade.
- 83 percent of black males had at least one disciplinary action on their record which ended with them being removed from school compared to 59 percent of white males. 70 percent of black female students and 37 percent of white female students had been disciplined. ( White females were often not disciplined for identical offenses committed by black females.)
- 15 percent of students who were disciplined with suspensions or expulsions had been so 11 times or more.
- In Texas, as in the rest of the country, black and Latino students were punished at higher rates than their non-black and Latino classmates.
- 97 percent of the disciplinary actions were a result of school administration and staff exercising their discretionary power to punish students. Just 3 percent of the expulsions and suspensions were actually mandated by Texas state law.
Funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the Open Society Foundations, this study also found that when students are suspended or expelled, the likelihood that they will repeat a grade, not graduate or become involved in the juvenile justice system, increases significantly. African American students and children with particular educational disabilities who qualify for special education were suspended and expelled at especially high rates.
Let us all be clear about what these data mean. Thousands of these kids are headed for Texas jail beds — and they will become a part of the growing American slave labor force that builds furniture, manufactures defense department supplies and provides other production tasks for which they will (legally) be paid pennies per day. These jobs will not be available to American children who do manage to navigate the public education system and earn a diploma, because it is more profitable to get a prisoner to do them.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement last week, as many critics of zero-tolerance policies have argued over the years, that harsh school discipline doesn’t deter bad behavior, it discourages students from staying in school and makes the work of educating U.S. kids that much harder.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder referred to the report as a “wake-up call.”
Read the full story about the school discipline study at Education Week.
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 28, 2011 | "race", health, parenthood |
A recent CDC report found that non-Hispanic black women in the U.S. were least likely to breastfeed compared to other racial groups, despite the fact that breast milk provides superior nutrition, natural immunity, and possible allergy prevention for babies who receive it.
Data suggest that there may be experiences unique to non-Hispanic black women that contribute to their decision to bottle-feed:
- Lack of culturally relevant information and images of non-Hispanic black women breast-feeding.
- Perceptions that breast-feeding is inferior to formula feeding or conflicting messages about breast-feeding.
- Need for non-Hispanic black women to return to work sooner, where, until recently, support for breast-feeding was often insufficient.
- Lack of social or partner support.
Spain-based Berjuan Toys thinks it has the solution to raising those breast-feeding rates — a breast-feeding doll that acculturates young girls to value breast-feeding and view it as a normal part of motherhood. Breast Milk Baby comes with a halter top that a child wears to “nurse” the doll. Located on the outside of the garment is an appliqué where the child places the doll’s mouth to simulate breast-feeding. The doll makes motions and suckling sounds when a sensor in its mouth is near the appliqué. The doll sells for 69.99 and is currently only available online. Two million have been sold in Europe.
Those for and against the toy are equally vehement about why their opinion is the right one. A Facebook page “Against the Breast Milk Baby Doll” has been created, and an online petition asking U.S. toy stores not to stock it has been circulated. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly mentioned the doll on his show, saying it pushes little girls to grow up too soon.
Berjuan Toys rep Dennis Lewis says the doll is a much-needed antidote to a culture that advocates bottle-feeding at the expense of breast-feeding, even though it’s known to offer health benefits for mother and child.”This is an important issue, because if little kids start learning about breast-feeding when they’re young, it becomes an easy choice for them when they are older,” Lewis says. The doll is a fun way to let children play out “the importance of natural breast-feeding.”
It seems a bit ridiculous to spend $70 bucks on a doll that is supposed to encourage behavior an imaginative child will do without the high-tech gadgetry. A child who witnesses breast-feeding will emulate it in play. My daughters saw me nursing their younger siblings and when they played “mommy” they pretended to breast-feed. The sucking sounds coming from the doll are unnecessary and a little creepy n my opinion.
-by Kathleen Cross for rollingout.com
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 26, 2011 | "race", discrimination, money matters |
According to a recent poll by The Root on attitudes and habits regarding tipping, African Americans are much more likely than whites to tip as a “reward for good service.”
These findings were among a number of differences in tipping habits across cultural lines revealed in The Root‘s online survey.
The vast majority (89 percent) of all respondents indicated that they tipped “all the time,” with 11 percent responding “most of the time.”
But when it came to whether there were ever reasons not to leave a tip, clear differences could be found along racial lines. A large percentage (upward of 40 percent) of both blacks and whites agreed that “rude,” “incompetent” or “horrible” service was an acceptable reason not to tip.
Whites were much more forgiving of bad service. Forty-nine percent said they would “always tip” no matter how bad the food or service. Only 37 percent of blacks said that they felt the same way, while 50 percent indicated that there would be no tip for waitstaff whom they regarded as rude or inept.
Jerome Rabow, a professor of sociology who lectures on race and ethnic relations at UCLA and California State University, Northridge, says that black restaurant patrons may be justified in their greater propensity to tip only when they feel they’ve received service that warrants it. Based on his own experience waiting tables as a young man and the anecdotal evidence gleaned from his students who are waiters today, Rabow believes that before black patrons can prove otherwise, they are often perceived by waiters as poor tippers, and, in turn, often receive substandard service, such as being ignored or overlooked, receiving meals after diners who arrive later or being greeted brusquely by waitstaff.
If this data collected by The Root is accurate, the lack of tipping on the part of black patrons is part of a vicious cycle food servers can break by dismissing the stereotype and providing black patrons with excellent service. –kathleen cross
Read more at TheRoot.com
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 26, 2011 | "race", discrimination, education, post-racial myth, young people |
A black teenager named Kymberly Wimberly who had a baby during her junior year, yet managed to earn the highest grade-point average at her high school, is suing an Arkansas school district, contending she was discriminated against when she was not allowed to be sole valedictorian.
Principal Darrell Thompson at McGehee Secondary School southeast of Little Rock, Ark., had already sent out a press release announcing to the local community that Kymberly had earned the Valedictorian honor when Kymberly’s mother, Molly Bratton, says on May 10 she overheard school staff talking in the copy room about how Wimberly’s status as valedictorian might cause a “big mess.” The lawsuit contends that the following day Thompson informed Bratton that he had decided to add a white student with a lower GPA as co-valedictorian.
Wimberly graduated in May after taking challenging AP and honors coursework and earning all “A’s” with the exception of one “B.” She and the white student who had been named co-valedictorian both spoke at the commencement.
“Even though she had the highest grade point average (GPA) in her class, Defendants forced Wimberly to share the title of Valedictorian with a white student,” the lawsuit alleges. “Defendants’ actions were part of a pattern and practice of school administrators and personnel treating the African-American students less favorably than Caucasian students.”
Blacks represent about 46 percent of the 500-plus student body at McGehee Secondary. Prior to Wimberly, the last African American valedictorian in the McGeHee school district was in 1989.
Molly Bratton contends the superintendent wouldn’t allow her to speak to the school board to challenge the decision that forced her daughter to share the valedictorian honor. The lawsuit seeks punitive damages and requests that school records be changed to show Wimberly as sole valedictorian.
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 24, 2011 | life after loss, multi-ethnic, young people |
Two hours after learning that Amy Winehouse’s voice had been forever silenced, her goddaughter and protégé, Dionne Bromfield, took to the stage to perform. Though the 15-year-old made no mention of the tragedy, nor sang any of her godmother’s songs during her abbreviated set, the audience gave the grieving soul songstress warm applause as she exited the stage early and quickly left the Ponty Big Weekend Festival in Pontypridd, Wales.
Spokesman Tim Powell said of the teen’s performance, “It was very, very professional. We would have perfectly understood if she hadn’t wanted to perform, but she very bravely did.”
Just a few days earlier, another of Bromfield ‘s audiences witnessed what we now know was Amy Winehouse’s final onstage appearance. Winehouse sang a few words into the microphone at Bromfield’s prompting, but mostly just danced alongside her goddaughter as the young singer performed “Mama Said,” a single from her debut album, Introducing Dionne Bromfield, released by Winehouse’s Lioness record label in 2009.
Bromfield, the biracial daughter of a Jamaican father and British mother, lists her musical heroes as Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé and Ne-Yo. She has a remarkably mature sound and a collection of expertly produced covers on her album, including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “My Boy Lollipop.”
“That’s Amy’s favorite song,” Bromfield once told a reporter. It is one of three songs on which Winehouse sang background vocals.
The unfortunate death of Amy Winehouse likely will result in worldwide attention and a boost in record sales for this talented teen. If she is able to learn the lessons her godmother taught her by her short and tragic life, Bromfield will leave drugs and alcohol alone and focus on trying to fill her mentor’s singing and songwriting shoes — a task that should keep her busy for decades to come.
by Kathleen Cross for rollingout.com
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 22, 2011 | entrepreneurs |
In the wake of recent news that family-owned Johnson Publications has sold a minority share of the business to JPMorgan Chase & Co., the U.S. Postal Service is announcing that it will include the publishing company’s founder, John H. Johnson, in their Black Heritage stamp series with a 2012 commemorative forever stamp.
” We are proud to immortalize John H. Johnson as our latest inductee in our Black Heritage stamp series,” said Stephen Kearney, manager of stamp services. “He was the trailblazing publisher of Ebony, Jet and other magazines, as well as an entrepreneur.
In 1982, he became the first black person to appear on Forbes magazine’s annual list of the 400 wealthiest people in America. His magazines portrayed black people positively at a time when such representation was rare, and he played an important role in the civil rights movement. President Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996.”
Johnson, who died of congestive heart failure at age 87 on Aug. 5, 2005, once said of Ebony magazine’s purpose, “We try to seek out good things, even when everything seems bad. We look for breakthroughs, we look for people who have made it, who have succeeded against the odds, who have proven somehow that long shots do come in.”
That long shot theme is one Johnson himself knew well. The grandson of slaves, he was born in rural Arkansas in 1918. When he was 6 years old, his father died in a sawmill accident. His mother remarried, and for two years during the Great Depression the family collected welfare until Johnson’s stepfather was finally able to find work. In 1942, Johnson’s mother let him use her furniture as collateral for a $500 loan which he used to publish the first edition of his first magazine, Negro Digest, reaching 50,000 circulation in only six months.
John H. Johnson turned a $500 loan into an empire that eventually included a book division, a cosmetic company, hair care products, television production and the Ebony Fashion Fair (the world’s largest traveling fashion show) which has donated over $47 million to charity.
The Postal Service’s commemorative stamp, designed by art director Howard Paine, features a color photograph of John H. Johnson taken by Bachrach Studios. The photographer was David McCann.
Customers may preview the stamp on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, via Twitter@USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at www.beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is a U.S. Postal Service site where you can find the backstory on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 22, 2011 | adopted, against the odds, aids / hiv, health, life after loss, unprotected sex, young people |
Born HIV-infected to a crack-addicted mother and diagnosed with full blown AIDS at age 3, Hydeia Broadbent was not expected to live past the age of 5. More than 20 years after receiving that death sentence, this beautiful young woman blogs, tweets and travels the country to educate people about the importance of AIDS prevention, testing, early diagnosis and treatment.
“Early diagnosis can be the difference between life and death,” says Broadbent. “Too many people become aware of their status when it is too late for life-saving medications to be effective — I am in this fight because I truly do not want others to go through what I have gone through — but also keep in mind, a positive test result doesn’t have to mean a death sentence.”
Some uninformed people hear stories like Broadbent’s and believe that because HIV-positive people are now living much longer, prevention is not a big deal anymore. Broadbent warns audiences not to fall into that trap. This young lady knows firsthand that living with AIDS is no walk in the park. The drugs have serious side effects, are very costly and they must be taken every day. If you are following Broadbent on Facebook or Twitter, you know her emergency room visits are frightening and expensive.
“People think because I was born with HIV my story does not apply to them,” warns Broadbent. “Well, this same disease I am living with is the same disease you can get if you don’t practice safe sex and know your HIV status and the HIV status of your sexual partner. I ask people to use my testimony as a warning of what you don’t want to go through.”
If you have been thinking about getting tested, but still haven’t found the courage or will to get it done, let this young woman’s concern for you give you the nudge you need to be concerned about yourself.
“We are responsible for the choices we make and I challenge everyone to be accountable. Every 9 ½ minutes someone becomes infected with HIV. Knowing your HIV status is not only a representation of self-love but also states what kind of person you choose to be. Not knowing your HIV status and having unsafe sexual relationships means you could possibly be infecting others,” Broadbent says.
Visit www.HydeaiaBroadbent.com for more information on this awesome young lady.
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 21, 2011 | what the hell? |
I was driving down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and had to circle the block for a second look at this bus bench poster. What the hell? This is just wrong on too many levels to believe, but the most glaring offense is the negative message it sends about African women.
At first glance, the guy in the middle seems dressed for a safari, and the immediate assumption is these two men are his tour guides. However, closer inspection shows they are all holding golf clubs, which is a subtle way of lifting the African men into a higher economic class. These two men in loincloths would then represent guides of a different kind — cultural guides, so to speak, who are possibly educated and definitely worldly and sophisticated enough to be golfing with the white dude.
The wording of the ad doesn’t specify women of any race, and it is disrespectful to all women, but the African man on the left is the one dishing out relationship advice and that tells the observer that this man is speaking on what he knows from his own experience and culture, which would imply that he is speaking about the African woman. His message: The only way to deal with her is to recognize she’s basically an animal that must be approached with caution. The white dude finds this amusing.
We already are bombarded with misogynistic and demeaning messages in music, television and film. The last thing we need to see is a bus bench lesson on how black women are not human.
It is said that controversy sells, and drawing more attention to an ad like this might be what the company intends. But I’m thinking a national boycott of this brand might be just the economic smackdown needed to prevent this kind of blatant disrespect from happening in the future.
If you have an opinion you’d like to share with the company, Dos Equis can be reached at 877-522-5001, or email them at [email protected].
It would be great if the calls and emails came from both women and men.
–by Kathleen Cross for rollingout.com
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 18, 2011 | money matters, parenthood |
With the rise in foreclosures, bankruptcies, long-term unemployment and other recession-related financial disasters, some desperate people have resorted to stealing the identities of children to apply for credit.
It is estimated that as many as 400,000 kids per year are having their pristine credit histories hijacked — a crime that doesn’t impact them today, but can have devastating financial repercussions when they reach adulthood.
Adam Levin of Credit.com reports, “The crime generally goes undetected unless and until the child applies for a license, a credit card, a loan for college or, perhaps, requires a medical procedure. When they do, if their identity has been compromised — by someone having used their stolen SSN to set up credit accounts, obtain free medical care or throw police off of his trail, for example — bad things begin to happen almost instantly.”
Even when a teen-turned-adult does eventually discover the crime, when it is the parent, foster parent or other guardian who has used the identity for financial gain, it often goes unreported because, says Levin, “of the very human inclination not to ‘rat out’ a parent or family member.”
You may not have considered the possibility that your child’s credit has already been established (and possibly destroyed), but if a financially desperate family member has had access to your child’s social security number, it may be too late. If you are curious or concerned, TransUnion.com provides a secure online form to help you discover if there is any credit activity related to your child’s social security number and date of birth.
For more information, visit businessinsider.com.
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 18, 2011 | "race", forgivers, transformation |
When terrorists attacked America on 9/11, Mark Anthony Stroman went on a murderous rampage to, as he put it, “exact some measure of equality and fairness for the thousands of victims of September 11.”
With specific intent to kill Middle Eastern-looking men, Stroman shot 46-year-old Pakistani immigrant Waqar Hasan in the head on September 15, 2001. Six days later, he shot Bangladesh native Raisuddin Bhuiyan in the face at a gas station where Bhuiyan worked. He survived but was left blind in one eye. On October 4, Stroman walked into a gas station operated by 49-year-old Vasudev Patel and killed him with a shot to the chest. Patel was a Hindu, not Muslim, Arab or Middle Eastern. Stroman was convicted of Patel’s murder and sentenced to die.
With his execution date approaching, Stroman, a former member of the Aryan Brotherhood, has publicly declared his remorse, both for his actions and the underlying hatred that fueled them. “I cannot tell you that I am an innocent man. I am not asking you to feel sorry for me, and I won’t hide the truth,” he said from Texas death row at the Polunsky Correctional Unit. “I am a human being and made a terrible mistake out of love, grief and anger and, believe me, I am paying for it every single minute of the day.”
In a surprising twist to a story born of hatred and violence, one of Stroman’s biggest supporters is Bhuiyan, a devout Muslim, who survived being shot in the face by Stroman and whose testimony helped convict his attacker. Despite the pain Stroman has caused him and all of the victims’ families, Bhuiyan does not want him to die. “In order to live in a better and peaceful world, we need to break the cycle of hate and violence. I believe forgiveness is the best policy…” he said. “I forgave Mark Stroman many years ago. I believe he was ignorant and not capable of distinguishing between right and wrong. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done what he did.”
Stroman is reported to have cried when he was told about Bhuiyan’s efforts to have his death sentenced commuted. “I am sorry to say I made innocent people pay for my rage, anger, grief and loss,” he said. “I have destroyed my victims’ families as well as my own. Out of pure anger and stupidity, I did some things to some men from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia. And, now, I sit on death row awaiting execution. And, by no means, am I proud of what I have done.”
Barring a last-minute intervention, Stroman will die for his crimes on Wednesday, July 20, 2011.
Read more at CNN.com.
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 11, 2011 | "race", discrimination, post-racial myth, unemployed, what the hell? |
You may remember the 2003 University of Chicago study by Devah Pager that sent young white and black “testers” with randomly assigned “felony convictions” to apply for low-wage jobs. The study found that whites with felonies were more likely to be called for interviews than black applicants without criminal records.
Eight years later, black male unemployment has hit the highest rate since the government began keeping track in 1972. It is estimated that only 56.9 percent of black men over age 20 are working, and the prospects for them to earn an honest living anytime soon in this crumbling economy are not good.
While Obama battles the GOP over raising the debt ceiling and preserving “sacred cow” tax cuts and entitlement programs, the unemployed poor are becoming increasingly desperate. Of particular concern is the reality that the once-supportive family members who used to serve as safety nets for struggling felons are now losing their jobs and homes in record numbers. The safety net exists no more.
According to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by the Economic Policy Institute in 2004, the median net worth of white households was $134,280, compared with $13,450 for black households. By 2009, the median net worth for white households had fallen 24 percent to $97,860; the median black net worth had fallen 83 percent to $2,170. And, no, that is not a typo. Algernon Austin, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy describes the wealth gap like this, “In 2009, for every dollar of wealth the average white household had, black households only had two cents.”
Two cents. Really? If anyone has the audacity to suggest to me that having a black president means America is now “post racial,” I will have to hold myself back. And, speaking of remaining nonviolent in the face of violent oppression… If there has ever been a reason to march on Washington, it is right the hell now. –originally published at rollingout.com.
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 9, 2011 | celebrities, stereotypes |
Director John Singleton, who is at the American Black Film Festival in Miami celebrating the 20th anniversary of his film, Boyz n the Hood, sat down with The Root to chat about black film. Asked about his views on the negative comments that have gone back and forth between Spike Lee and Tyler Perry (Tyler Perry tells Spike Lee “Go Straight to Hell”), Singleton responded:
“I don’t like it. I’m friends with both of them, and I really applaud what both of them have done in their careers and everything. First and foremost, Spike set off a manifesto that fostered my career. He’s the one who fostered the black film aesthetic about making films for black people by black people. Tyler has done what he’s done off of the work [that] myself, Spike and other filmmakers have done. He’s industrialized it, which is great because he’s proven exactly what we have always said — that our audience is so huge and varied that you can make an industry of it.”
Kudos to John Singleton for setting an example of how African American film makers can be publicly supportive of one another’s careers.
Read the entire interview at TheRoot.com
by Kathleen Cross | Jul 9, 2011 | celebrities |
It has been almost 25 years since Oprah Winfrey didn’t get an Academy Award for her critically-acclaimed portrayal of Sophia in the Spielberg-directed film, The Color Purple, and right about now the folks at the Academy have to be hoping she’s not holding that against them.
Now that the undisputed queen of talk’s 25-year-reign at that other five-letter-O-word show has ended, she is rumored to top the short list of celebrities worthy of consideration to host the 2012 Oscar ceremony.
If Oprah is selected to do the honors, and she accepts, she’ll make another short list—that of African Americans who have served as sole host of the prestigious event. Although Richard Pryor, Diana Ross and Sammy Davis, Jr. were invited to stand at the podium with other co-hosts over the years, only Chris Rock (2004) and Whoopie Goldberg (1993, 1995, 1998 & 2001) have been awarded sole custody of the Oscar hosting mic.
Motion Picture Academy sources told The Chicago Sun-Times that if Winfrey accepted the invitation, the awards would be broadcast on ABC, and Oprah’s OWN network would be granted exclusive rights to a post-Oscars telecast. Sounds like a win-win for all involved, especially Oprah’s huge and diverse television fan base who have to be missing t and will be more than eager to tune in.
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