tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/racial-justice-50440/articles
Racial justice – The Conversation
2023-04-20T12:41:50Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201841
2023-04-20T12:41:50Z
2023-04-20T12:41:50Z
As digital activists, teens of color turn to social media to fight for a more just world
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521711/original/file-20230418-2610-d6yi11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C45%2C780%2C518&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Self-expression and storytelling are among the primary objectives that young aspiring activists seek to achieve online.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/friends-taking-selfies-or-filming-on-the-mobile-royalty-free-image/1387529364?phrase=black%20teens%20online&adppopup=true">FG Trade via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to social media use among young people, very often the concern is about potential harm.</p>
<p>Parents, policymakers and others worry that online platforms like Instagram and TikTok may <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/influencers-parents-posting-kids-online-privacy-security-concerns-rcna55318">compromise children’s privacy, threaten their safety</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1590851">undermine their mental health</a> and make them susceptible to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23727810.2020.1835420">social media addiction and cyberbullying</a>, among other problems.</p>
<p>Then there are the seemingly never-ending series of <a href="https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Dangerous-Internet-Challenges.aspx">dangerous and deadly internet “challenges</a>” – such as the “<a href="https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a38603617/blackout-challenge-tiktok-2021/">blackout challenge</a>” and the “<a href="https://time.com/5189584/choking-game-pass-out-challenge/">choking game</a>” – that encourage kids and teens to record themselves performing perilous acts online.</p>
<p>While concerns about the potential pitfalls of social media platforms are valid and should be taken seriously, they can also overshadow some of the more positive ways that young people in general – and young people of color in particular – are using social media. As I found in my dissertation – “<a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/af75dbf19e4903207be29025afacce5f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y">#OnlineLiteraciesMatter</a>” – some young people are using social media to develop their identities as activists and to push for a more just society. In short, they are using social media platforms to engage in what I refer to as “digitized activism,” taking on issues such as systemic racism and seeking racial justice.</p>
<p>My study adds to a growing body of research that has found young people of color can bring about change when they <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26492573">learn to use digital tools to explore social issues</a> and use those tools to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.474">stand up for their beliefs</a>.</p>
<h2>Fighting online for social justice</h2>
<p>For my study, I followed six young activists between the ages of 14 and 18 across the United States. I picked them through online recruitment efforts. I searched for various hashtags to find them, sent direct messages, or left comments on their posts to engage with them online.</p>
<p>Four of the teens identified as Black and two identified as Latina. I looked at their activism on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. All of the young activists used at least one of those social media platforms for various lengths of time – from one to six years.</p>
<p>Each young person in my research represented a case study. I interviewed each one. I also created my own social media accounts to observe their social media posts and engage with them in the same online spaces. I examined their social media posts over a period of three months.</p>
<p>They often reacted to what was going on at the time of the study, which I conducted in 2021 after the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html">takeoff of the Black Lives Matter movement</a> in 2020. As a result, they were concerned with social justice, civil unrest, police brutality and a global pandemic. They were also concerned with increased hardships experienced by culturally and linguistically diverse communities, which often are disproportionately affected by these issues.</p>
<p>The young people in my study addressed a variety of subjects. Some of the subjects they took on could be seen through the hashtags they used, such as #systemicracism, #climatejustice and #mentalhealth.</p>
<h2>New narratives</h2>
<p>They also used social media to educate others through self-expression and to challenge what they saw as society’s negative views of young people. They placed a major emphasis on storytelling, as evidenced in hashtags such as #blackstoriesmatter, #teenwriter and #blackwriter. An overarching theme was a push for change. Their identities were reflected in hashtags such as #blackyouthvisionaries and #changemakers. They made clear that they see social media as a way to represent their values. </p>
<p>“Everything I do online is a reflection of the person I am, and I always want that image to be true to myself,” 18-year-old Laura told me in an interview. I used pseudonyms for all of the young people in my study. “Anyone who has been in a classroom or organization with me knows that I am outspoken and I always need to offer perspectives that I think are crucial to a discussion relating to social justice and I do the same online. Everything I post is a show of my values.”</p>
<p>Higher education appeared regularly in the young people’s self-expression and activism.</p>
<p>For instance, Samirah X., age 14, told me how she was inspired by the protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd to write a script for a movie called “You Change.”</p>
<p>“I take acting very seriously and enrolled in classes at a local community college – Introduction to Filmmaking, where I studied directors, and Screenwriting, where I learned basic screenwriting skills like formatting, developing characters, and their motives,” Samirah told me.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young African American girl looks toward the camera as she sits at a laptop wearing a pair of blue headphones and a green headband." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521935/original/file-20230419-22-wsh7h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Teens often turn to social media for creativity and self-expression.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/afro-american-girls-using-laptop-to-connect-with-royalty-free-image/1220557346?phrase=black%20girls%20social%20media&adppopup=true">marieclaudelemay via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Laura, the 18-year-old, tweeted about how her posts about her college classes “are pretty insightful and really push my classmates to challenge their current ways of thinking and I’m really proud of myself for that.”</p>
<p>As young people of color, they stressed the need to infuse their concerns into broader causes that don’t always take communities of color into account.</p>
<p>“The climate justice movement cannot just be advocating for preservation of parks and saving endangered species. It must be Intersectional,” Laura wrote in an Instagram post. “We have to recognize that Black and brown communities worldwide are being disproportionately disadvantaged because of air and water pollution, food insecurity, and more.”</p>
<h2>What matters most</h2>
<p>Sometimes, they used simple statements to call attention to the issues they see as being of paramount concern.</p>
<p>One of the teens in my study wrote simply:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My mental health matters</p>
<p>My representation matters</p>
<p>My music matters</p>
<p>My joy matters</p>
<p>My art matters</p>
<p>My future matters.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The teens made clear that they believe in the urgency of taking action now.</p>
<p>“With this generation, we are not going to wait, if we are tired, we are going to work for it, if we want something to happen we will work on it,” 16-year-old Dakari wrote in a post on YouTube and Instagram. “Stubborn, we don’t want to wait until we are older to do stuff.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominique Skye McDaniel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For some teens on social media, TikTok and Twitter aren’t all about selfies or the latest craze in online “challenges.” Some teens are using social media to advocate for social justice.
Dominique Skye McDaniel, Assistant Professor of English Education, Kennesaw State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197605
2023-02-06T17:49:31Z
2023-02-06T17:49:31Z
Why do some brands change racist names and logos, but others don’t? Here’s what the research says
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507724/original/file-20230201-17339-ty73fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=328%2C23%2C3423%2C2212&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 131-year-old Aunt Jemima brand name was retired in June 2021 and rebranded as the Pearl Milling Company because of racist stereotypes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2020, against the backdrop of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd-protests-timeline.html">global demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism</a>, several famous food brands around the world, including <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/business/aunt-jemima-logo-change/index.html">Aunt Jemima</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/uncle-bens-name-change-1.5735203">Uncle Ben’s</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/06/business/eskimo-pie-name-change/index.html">Eskimo Pie</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-16/red-ripper-and-cheekies-the-new-name-of-allens-red-skin-chicos/12887278">Red Skins, Chicos</a>, <a href="https://www.just-food.com/news/nestle-to-re-brand-racially-insensitive-beso-de-negra-in-colombia/">Beso de Negra</a> and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-food-maker-knorr-to-rename-gypsy-sauce/a-54585292">Gypsy Sauce</a>, publicly acknowledged the racist origins of their brand names and logos and vowed to change them.</p>
<p>This change was long overdue. Some of these brands, like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/business/aunt-jemima-renamed-pearl-milling-company.html">Aunt Jemima</a> and <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3097573/gypsy-sauce-be-renamed-germany-because-racist-connotations">Gypsy Sauce</a>, have been around for over a hundred years. Despite activists and critics protesting the commercial co-optation of their cultures, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/24/besides-the-confederate-flag-what-other-symbols-should-go/can-we-please-finally-get-rid-of-aunt-jemima">and the racist connotations of certain branding</a>, over the years — <a href="https://www.change.org/p/pepsico-change-aunt-jemima-brand-name-to-nancy-green?redirect=false">especially online via petitions</a> — nothing changed for over a century. </p>
<p>The perseverance of racial slurs and stereotypes in brand names and logos is striking. How were these brands that employ racial stereotypes able to stay in business, despite calls for change? And how can racialized brands successfully terminate racist branding? </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/722694">recent study</a>, published in a special issue of the <em>Journal of the Association for Consumer Research</em>, set out to answer these questions by studying the branding change of Zigeunersauce (which means Gypsy Sauce in English), <a href="https://www.euromonitor.com/sauces-dressings-and-condiments-in-germany/report">a popular paprika-based condiment in Germany</a>.</p>
<h2>Eight years of public pressure</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A hand holding a glass bottle of red sauce that says 'Zigeuner Sauce' on the label" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507449/original/file-20230131-22-cgdblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507449/original/file-20230131-22-cgdblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507449/original/file-20230131-22-cgdblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507449/original/file-20230131-22-cgdblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507449/original/file-20230131-22-cgdblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1054&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507449/original/file-20230131-22-cgdblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1054&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507449/original/file-20230131-22-cgdblv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1054&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Knorr re-named the popular ‘Zigeunersauce’ to ‘Paprika Sauce Hungarian Style’ because of the brand name’s racist connotations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2020, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-race-and-ethnicity-international-news-lifestyle-business-c1d7921699b472e2574b0cd92efeedff">Unilever’s Knorr company re-named the popular Zigeunersauce to “Paprika Sauce Hungarian Style”</a> after years of pressure from activists to discontinue the brand name because of its racist connotations. Several of Knorr’s local competitors, including <a href="https://www.kuehne-international.com/sauces/zigeuner-sauce">Kuhne</a>, <a href="https://www.dw.com/de/knorr-das-dilemma-mit-der-sauce/a-54604457">Homann and Edeka</a> also renamed their sauces.</p>
<p>This change came eight years after a Roma and Sinti rights organization <a href="https://www.thelocal.de/20130815/51421">first publicly attempted to get the name Zigeunersauce changed</a>. In 2013, the Forum for Sinti and Roma sent an open letter to five major food manufacturers asking them to change the name, but the request was rejected.</p>
<p>The Roma are <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rom">a traditionally nomadic clan-based people</a> who travelled from Northern India across the European continent around the fifteenth century. <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2015/04/roma-in-europe-11-things-you-always-wanted-to-know-but-were-afraid-to-ask/">Roma subgroups differentiate themselves</a> according to their clan, language dialects and traditional occupations.</p>
<p>The term <em>zigeuner</em>, or gypsy, is a derogatory term for Roma or Sinti, depending on their subgroup affiliation. <em>Zigeuner</em> is <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Borders-and-Travellers-in-Early-Modern-Europe/Betteridge/p/book/9780754653516">derived from the Greek word <em>athinganos</em></a>, meaning heathen. Over the centuries, it has become loaded with negative racial stereotypes, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10253866.2018.1534733">like associating the group with thievery</a>. </p>
<p>To combat this racist denomination, the moniker Roma, along with a flag and an anthem, was <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/09a2dffd3b01abd39b1b2bdee391ec5b/1">created by the European Roma civil rights movement</a> in the 1970s. The Roma have consistently fought against <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1115752">anti-Roma discrimination, hate speech and microagressions</a> over the years.</p>
<h2>What drives change</h2>
<p>Why did the first public attempt to get Zigeunersauce re-named fail? To understand why, and to understand why the name was eventually changed in 2020, I collected German newspaper articles from 2013 and 2020 that used the keyword “Zigeunersauce.”</p>
<p>I examined the ways German news articles either publicly praised or criticized brands that sold Zigeunersauce, paying particular attention to who was interviewed. I took a critical stance on language, meaning I also focused on the choice of words used.</p>
<p>I found that, in 2020, companies used two main arguments to justify re-naming the racialized brand: anti-racism and social tolerance.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man with long, dark hair speaks into a megaphone while attending a protest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508514/original/file-20230206-25-1ssapj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508514/original/file-20230206-25-1ssapj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508514/original/file-20230206-25-1ssapj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508514/original/file-20230206-25-1ssapj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508514/original/file-20230206-25-1ssapj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508514/original/file-20230206-25-1ssapj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508514/original/file-20230206-25-1ssapj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Philip Yenyo, executive director of the American Indian Movement for Ohio, leads a protest of the Cleveland Indians Chief Wahoo mascot before a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in April 2015 in Cleveland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The anti-racism argument was used to highlight how negative stereotypes were harming the Roma community. On Aug. 16, 2020, <a href="https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/politik-inland/wegen-rassismus-diskussionen-knorr-benennt-zigeunersauce-um-72409712.bild.html">a press statement from a Unilever spokesperson</a> was published in one of Germany’s top selling newspapers:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Since the term Gypsy Sauce [Zigeunersauce] can be interpreted negatively, we have decided to give our Knorr Sauce a new name. In a few weeks you will find this on the shelf as Paprika Sauce Hungarian Style.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second argument, social tolerance, focused on the German people, arguing that Germans no longer found certain popular phrases, such as the word gypsy, acceptable.</p>
<p>In 2013, on the other hand, the racialized brand name was maintained using two different arguments: market dynamicizing and romanticizing. The first argument, market dynamicizing, argued that if shoppers were going to continue to buy Zigeunersauce, the brand name should remain unchanged.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.bild.de/politik/inland/roma/zigeunersaucen-streit-31833572.bild.html">Unilever press statement from Aug. 14, 2013</a> said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We refer to the long tradition of the term [Gypsy Sauce] and see no negative connotation. There are more frequently purchased products that are named after areas or ethnic groups.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second argument centred on the Roma people themselves. Brand spokespeople romanticized the visible minority group by evoking seemingly positive — but in reality, harmful — stereotypes and fetishization associated with the word gypsy, <a href="https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article119017549/Waere-Sinti-und-Roma-Sauce-denn-wirklich-besser.html?cid=socialmedia.email.sharebutton">such as exoticness and spiciness</a>.</p>
<p>These findings can help us understand why some companies with racist brands and logos change their branding and why some do not. It can also help us persuade these companies to finally change racialized branding to stand up for racial justice in the marketplace. </p>
<p>These findings also go beyond food products by shedding light on why organizations, like the <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2020/2/1/21115858/super-bowl-chiefs-kansas-city">National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs</a>, still have racialized logos.</p>
<h2>True accountability</h2>
<p>The old adage of “stick and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me” is not necessarily true. Words can indeed hurt. When cartoon-like, racist representations of marginalized minorities are made widely available through the marketplace, they cause harm. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx049">A study on the consumer behaviour of middle-class African Americans</a> found that marketplace stigma is often experienced as a deep assault on a consumer’s personal worth.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1308712716996050945"}"></div></p>
<p>Holding brands with racist logos and slogans accountable is an important step towards alleviating institutionalized racism in the marketplace. To this end, <a href="https://www.rimnetwork.net/">the Race in the Marketplace Network</a> research network has been created to study, produce and disseminate critical race-related work in the market.</p>
<p>Yet companies should not merely change racialized brand names without giving back to the visible minority communities they benefited from for decades. True accountability means making meaningful change.</p>
<p>Examples of more meaningful branding strategies include concrete corporate policy changes, community initiatives and financial donations to relevant nonprofit organizations. For example, PepsiCo, which owned the Aunt Jemima brand, has <a href="https://www.pepsico.com/docs/default-source/diversity-equity-inclusion/REJ_Black_Initiative_2022_Progress_Update.pdf">reportedly invested $22.3 million in Black-owned restaurants</a> as part of their <a href="https://www.pepsico.com/our-impact/diversity/racial-equality-journey/racial-equality-journey-black-initiative">Racial Equality Journey</a> initiative that was launched in 2020.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197605/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ela Veresiu receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p>
A new study shows how brands can successfully change racist brand names and logos to stand up for racial justice in the marketplace.
Ela Veresiu, Associate Professor of Marketing, York University, Canada
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/190315
2022-10-11T12:17:32Z
2022-10-11T12:17:32Z
Young immigrants are looking to social media to engage in politics and elections – even if they are not eligible to vote
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488360/original/file-20221005-23-lqzury.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Immigrant advocates protest near the U.S. Capitol on June 15, 2022 </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/immigration-advocates-rally-to-urge-congress-to-pass-permanent-for-picture-id1241326933">Drew Angerer/Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Immigrants’ political power is on the rise in the United States. </p>
<p>The number of eligible immigrant voters nearly doubled from about 12 million in 2000 to more than <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/02/26/naturalized-citizens-make-up-record-one-in-ten-u-s-eligible-voters-in-2020/">23 million</a> in 2020. </p>
<p>Immigrant voters <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/02/26/u-s-immigrants-are-rising-in-number-but-just-half-are-eligible-to-vote/">tend to be older</a> than U.S.-born voters, but immigrants ages 18 to 37 still made up 20% of all immigrant voters in 2020.</p>
<p>We are a team of scholars and students across disciplines and universities researching immigrant youths’ civic development – and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x221103890">we think it’s</a> important to recognize that young immigrants are also playing a key role in galvanizing older immigrants to vote, primarily by connecting with them via social media. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x221103890">Our research</a> shows that online sites and apps like Twitter are key for young immigrants – both people who were born outside of the U.S. and those who are second-generation immigrants – as ways to engage in politics. Many young immigrants use social media to follow news in their local communities, as well as in their countries of origin. They also use it to organize protests and encourage others to vote.</p>
<p>This is true even when these young people are not eligible to vote because of their immigration status. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A screenshot from a social made page shows a young female user who posted the words, 'A vote for Trump is a vote against my family, my friends, health care, LGBTQ plus people, people of color, undocumented immigrants, the poor, climate, etc. Vote for Biden friends. Vote trump out." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484724/original/file-20220914-9055-moa09n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484724/original/file-20220914-9055-moa09n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=137&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484724/original/file-20220914-9055-moa09n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=137&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484724/original/file-20220914-9055-moa09n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=137&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484724/original/file-20220914-9055-moa09n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484724/original/file-20220914-9055-moa09n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484724/original/file-20220914-9055-moa09n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=172&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young immigrants have been found to use social media to galvanize others in their community to vote.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sara Wilf, Elena Maker Castro and Tania Quiles.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A key issue</h2>
<p>Immigration is a core issue for many voters in the upcoming midterm elections. An August 2022 <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/23/midterm-election-preferences-voter-engagement-views-of-campaign-issues/">Pew Research poll</a> found that nearly 50% of registered voters reported immigration was “very important” to them in the November 2022 election.</p>
<p>Some Republican politicians, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others who are also up for re-election, have focused on immigration in their <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/15/politics/desantis-gop-base-migrants-massachusetts/index.html">campaigns</a> by pointing to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/number-migrants-crossing-border-hits-another-record-surges-migration-n-rcna34030">record numbers</a> of migrants crossing the U.S. border. Republican politicians have also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/us/desantis-florida-migrants-marthas-vineyard.html">relocated thousands</a> of migrants to liberal places like Washington, D.C., New York and Massachusetts over the past several months.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/20/fact-sheet-president-biden-sends-immigration-bill-to-congress-as-part-of-his-commitment-to-modernize-our-immigration-system/">plan to revamp</a> the country’s immigration system and provide a path for about 11 million undocumented residents to gain citizenship, meanwhile, remains <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1177/text">stalled in Congress</a>. </p>
<p>Over the past several years, though, young immigrants – people ages 18 to 23 who were born in other countries, or whose parents were – have helped lead national movements to provide a conditional path to citizenship for young undocumented immigrants, resulting in the 2021 passage of the <a href="https://iamerica.org/daca#final%20daca%20rule">DREAM Act</a>. This policy <a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/dream-act-overview">gives millions</a> of undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children the right to stay in the country. </p>
<p>The DREAMer movement <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.311">relied heavily</a> on social media to spread information and encourage people to take action. Based on immigrant youths’ prior successes mobilizing their communities for political change, we believe that their online political engagement could have implications for the 2022 midterms.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1323706101217415168"}"></div></p>
<h2>Mobilizing others</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x221103890">research study</a> in 2020 explored how immigrant youth ages 18 to 23 used social media to participate in politics. We took 2,300 screenshots of political tweets from January through November 2020, drawing from a sample of 32 young immigrants’ public Twitter feeds that we found through national immigrant youth networks, like <a href="https://unitedwedream.org">United We Dream</a>. </p>
<p>Based on the content of their Twitter profiles and posts, we were confident that they were all actual immigrant youth residing in the U.S. We then contacted all of them through Twitter about the study, and the majority confirmed their age and immigrant status. We went on to analyze the screenshots to identify trends in how youth were politically engaged online. </p>
<p>We also conducted interviews with 11 people from the sample, further confirming that we had recruited youth whose Twitter profiles accurately represented their real identities. Several indicated either in their Twitter profiles and tweets or in the interviews that they were not eligible to vote due to their documentation status.</p>
<p>We found that young immigrants use Twitter to educate their followers about political issues and processes in the U.S. and abroad – and to share both online and in-person opportunities to protest or vote.</p>
<p>These young people appeared to intentionally target their ethnic and regional communities in their social media outreach. </p>
<p>For example, some youth <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x221103890">in our June 2022 study</a> called on their followers to translate educational resources on racial justice into different languages to share with their families. </p>
<p>Others provided voter registration guides in multiple languages, alerted followers about political candidates who shared an ethnic or regional identity, or encouraged particular ethnic communities – such as South Asians – to vote. </p>
<p>In interviews, youth also described bringing political conversations from their phones to the dinner table and discussing news they had read online with their parents. </p>
<p>Some participants also shared that they posted on social media with the explicit intention of shifting their family members’ political views. </p>
<p>One person we interviewed in 2020 who had ancestry in the Philippines and Belize noted that he “realized the importance of educating people and having those difficult conversations,” particularly with his family and friends. </p>
<p>Valeria, a college senior originally from Puerto Rico, also explained how Facebook was “the family social media platform” where she raised awareness about political issues. </p>
<p>“The way that I kind of look at it is at least I’m planting a seed, right? I’m planting an idea, at least I’m helping others, at least hear what’s going on,” said Valeria, who also asked to use a pseudonym, in a 2020 interview with our team that was featured in the 2022 study.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A screenshot from a social media page shows a user named Amit Jani encouraging voters who are Asian or Pacifc Islanders to attend an online call for Joe Biden's election" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484723/original/file-20220914-11002-48cwta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484723/original/file-20220914-11002-48cwta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484723/original/file-20220914-11002-48cwta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484723/original/file-20220914-11002-48cwta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484723/original/file-20220914-11002-48cwta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484723/original/file-20220914-11002-48cwta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/484723/original/file-20220914-11002-48cwta.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A screenshot from the authors’ study shows a Tweet from a young immigrant in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sara Wilf, Elena Maker Castro and Tania Quiles</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From online to offline engagement</h2>
<p>Immigrant youths’ online political engagement reflects larger trends in the U.S. </p>
<p>Approximately 46% of U.S. teens today use the internet “almost constantly,” <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/">compared with</a> just 24% who said the same in 2014. </p>
<p>Alongside this surge in internet use, more young people are using social media to educate others about social and political topics, hold politicians accountable and provide their followers with opportunities to take action through climate and political movements like <a href="https://fridaysforfuture.org">Fridays for Future</a> and <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com">Black Lives Matter</a>.</p>
<p>Online political engagement has important consequences for offline political behaviors. </p>
<p>Indeed, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults report that they have <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/15/23-of-users-in-us-say-social-media-led-them-to-change-views-on-issue-some-cite-black-lives-matter/">changed their views</a> on a political issue because of social media. Online political engagement has also been shown to result in more young people participating <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2013.871318">in protests</a> and encouraging people <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w28849">to vote</a>. </p>
<p>Our findings align with <a href="https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/publication/downloads/Democratic-Citizenship_Immigrants-Civic-Political-Engagement.pdf">prior research</a> showing that immigrant youth are politically educating and mobilizing their families and community members. </p>
<p>A survey of people who were allowed to stay in the U.S. because of the DREAM Act prior to the 2020 elections found that <a href="https://unitedwedream.org/resources/amid-changes-to-the-daca-program-and-covid-19-daca-recipients-are-fired-up-and-civically-engaged/">nearly 95%</a> of them were planning to encourage family and friends to vote. </p>
<p>Immigrant youths’ online political engagement has several potential implications for the 2022 midterm elections. </p>
<p>First, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118x221103890">our 2022 study</a> found, immigrant youth are using social media to influence their parents’ opinions on political issues like racial justice and teach them how to register to vote. </p>
<p>Because of the large impact immigrant voters may have on the 2022 midterms, <a href="https://www.azmirror.com/blog/new-voter-bloc-of-naturalized-citizens-might-swing-arizona-midterms/">particularly in swing states</a>, immigrant youths’ online political engagement could play a role in shaping the elections’ outcome. </p>
<p><em>Ph.D. students <a href="https://luskin.ucla.edu/person/bethany-murray">Bethany Murray</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=E9L2f3AAAAAJ&hl=en">J. Abigail Saavedra</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lamont-Bryant">Lamont Bryant</a>, as well as three undergraduate students, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Kedar-Garzon-Gupta-2229185643">Kedar Garzón Gupta</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaime-garcia-0a1893196/?trk=public_profile_browsemap_profile-result-card_result-card_full-click">Jaime Garcia</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditir19/">Aditi Rudra</a>, and UCLA Professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xA4XsTcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Laura Wray-Lake</a> are all members of the team that carried out research for the study highlighted in this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Wilf receives funding from the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute for a research study related to this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elena Maker Castro receives funding from the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute for a research study related to this article. Elena also receives funding from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to support her graduate research career. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taina B Quiles receives funding from the Ford Foundation to support her graduate research career. </span></em></p>
The number of immigrant voters is on the rise – and research shows that for young immigrants, social media is where they are primarily wading into politics.
Sara Wilf, PhD student in social welfare, University of California, Los Angeles
Elena Maker Castro, Doctoral Candidate, University of California, Los Angeles
Taina Quiles, PhD candidate, University of Virginia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/181013
2022-05-11T12:28:47Z
2022-05-11T12:28:47Z
Use of ‘white privilege’ makes online discussions more polarized and less constructive
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461587/original/file-20220505-13-amfjfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=459%2C60%2C2635%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A protester holds a sign reading 'White Privilege Is The Problem' at a rally against policy brutality and racial injustice in New York on Sept. 5, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/participant-holding-a-white-privilege-is-the-problem-sign-news-photo/1228367837?adppopup=true">Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A wide variety of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/realestate/what-is-redlining.html">historical</a>, <a href="https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2021/january/wealth-gaps-white-black-hispanic-families-2019">economic</a> and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/explaining-annette-lareau-or-why-parenting-style-ensures-inequality/253156/">cultural</a> forces combine to allow a larger percentage of whites to climb up the socioeconomic ladder than Blacks and Hispanics. </p>
<p>Some people call the combined effects of these forces “<a href="https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack">white privilege</a>.” Though these words are commonly used, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267048">research</a> by <a href="https://www.si.umich.edu/people/lia-bozarth">Lia Bozarth</a> and <a href="https://www.si.umich.edu/people/christopher-quarles">me</a> has found that use of “white privilege” on social media can actually decrease support for racially progressive policies. </p>
<p>We found that the term can increase online political polarization and lead to lower quality conversations on social media. In particular, the term drives some whites who would otherwise support efforts toward racial equality away from online conversations.</p>
<h2>Effects of using ‘white privilege’</h2>
<p>In the past decade there has been a push on college campuses to re-title buildings named after <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/learning/should-we-rename-schools-named-for-historical-figures-with-ties-to-racism-sexism-or-slavery.html">people involved with</a> slavery or discrimination. </p>
<p>We used the issue of renaming these buildings as a way to examine how language affects online conversations.</p>
<p>We recruited 924 U.S. residents from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk for our experiment. Half of the research participants were given a social media post containing the following question: “Should colleges rename buildings that were named after people who actively supported racial inequality?” </p>
<p>The other half saw an identical question, except the term “racial inequality” was swapped with “white privilege.” We randomly chose which half received each question. </p>
<p>This random assignment allowed us to show causality – and gave us confidence that the choice of language created the effects we saw. </p>
<p>We asked the participants to respond to their question, and also measured how likely they were to engage with the post in the first place. We then focused on the set of people who were likely to engage with that post online. </p>
<p>The term “white privilege” had two effects.</p>
<p>The first was to decrease the quality of conversation among both whites and non-whites. There were more comments that insulted people, attacked the question itself or simply made no sense. </p>
<p>The second effect was to make the set of responses less supportive of renaming the buildings – and more polarized. </p>
<p>The people who were asked about racial inequality were, on average, very supportive. Those who thought it was a good idea to rename college buildings outnumbered opponents more than 2-to-1. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="In this illustration, a laptop user is shown typing different sorts of mean-spirited comments." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461649/original/file-20220505-23-c8lfir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461649/original/file-20220505-23-c8lfir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461649/original/file-20220505-23-c8lfir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461649/original/file-20220505-23-c8lfir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461649/original/file-20220505-23-c8lfir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461649/original/file-20220505-23-c8lfir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461649/original/file-20220505-23-c8lfir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A laptop user is shown in this illustration typing a variety of mean-spirited comments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/cyber-bullying-concept-people-using-notebook-royalty-free-image/1170461091?adppopup=true">asiandelight/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the group that was asked about “white privilege” was strongly divided, with just as many opponents as supporters. This shift was caused completely by a change in some whites.</p>
<p>Use of “white privilege” caused 50% of whites who would have been supportive to become ambivalent or hostile. We don’t know which half would have changed their minds. But, due to the experimental design, we can be confident they were there.</p>
<p>In addition, we found that many of the supportive whites just chose to avoid the conversation altogether. While they might have expressed their support for stopping racial inequality, they wouldn’t join a conversation about white privilege.</p>
<p>Because the terms “white privilege” and “racial inequality” have different meanings, we performed an extra analysis to understand what caused these effects. </p>
<p>What we found was consistent with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0146167207303016">other research</a> suggesting a process called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning">motivated reasoning</a>. </p>
<p>In this experiment, the different meanings of the terms “white privilege” and “racial inequality” didn’t seem to directly affect how people reasoned about renaming buildings. </p>
<p>Instead, we found evidence that the difference in language first affected whether they were supportive of renaming buildings. Only after deciding on an opinion did they find reasons to support it. </p>
<h2>Polarization or misunderstanding?</h2>
<p>Our results offer insight into <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/spiral-of-silence">one mechanism</a> underlying the polarization and vitriol we see on social media.</p>
<p>Online users who feel strongly about a topic will post about it using strong language, such as “white privilege.” </p>
<p>This language will get people riled up toward one side or another. And the people who might be good mediators – such as supportive whites in our study – are less likely to engage. </p>
<p>The people who remain are then more likely to share extreme views. They create online posts, and the cycle continues. </p>
<p>The result is social media dominated by outrage and extremism, rather than respectful discourse.</p>
<p>Some people I’ve talked to have been genuinely surprised by these results. Others thought they were obvious and not even worth researching. </p>
<p>This is notable, because it suggests that some of the conflict we see online is not caused by malice, but by a lack of understanding.</p>
<h2>Social identity dynamics</h2>
<p>In our study, the term “white privilege” changed the behavior of some whites. But the psychology behind this change is common to all humans. In fact, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797">psychological research</a> that first examined this effect focused on Blacks’ performance in school.</p>
<p>The term “white privilege” taps into a deep-seated tendency as old as humanity. </p>
<p>As social creatures, humans are naturally inclined to split the world into “us” and “them.” This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29869-6_1">can lead</a> to thinking of others – and sometimes ourselves – as a stereotypical member of our group. </p>
<p>Further, we are members of multiple groups simultaneously, according to our age, profession, race, politics and family roles. At any given moment, social cues affect which group is the most forefront in our minds. </p>
<p>This natural tendency to view ourselves through a <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html">social identity</a> allowed Germanic tribes who had been warring with each other to <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/roman-empire-battle-of-teutoburg-forest-2360864">band together to drive back invading Romans</a>. </p>
<p>It enabled whites to <a href="https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/what.htm">view Blacks as inferior</a> throughout much of American history and <a href="https://www.history.com/news/brown-v-board-of-education-doll-experiment">led some Blacks to agree with that view</a>. </p>
<p>It <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/20-years-911-islamophobia-continues-haunt-muslims/story?id=79732049">played a role in anti-Muslim sentiment</a> after 9/11. </p>
<p>It’s involved in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034">political partisanship</a> and in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2502">protests against authoritarian regimes</a>.</p>
<p>And it’s one reason we feel more comfortable in a group of people like ourselves.</p>
<p>Phrases like “white privilege” play on this reasoning by implying that all whites are similar and have the same negative traits.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="In this illustration, a man is seen with his ears covered while another man is screaming through a megaphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461650/original/file-20220505-13-8rl0bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461650/original/file-20220505-13-8rl0bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461650/original/file-20220505-13-8rl0bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461650/original/file-20220505-13-8rl0bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461650/original/file-20220505-13-8rl0bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461650/original/file-20220505-13-8rl0bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461650/original/file-20220505-13-8rl0bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A businessman is seen in this illustration covering his ears and ignoring the loud noise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/businessman-covering-ears-with-fingers-royalty-free-illustration/1190328894?adppopup=true">sesame/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the accusation – even subtly implied – that everyone in your race is “bad” can create strong reactions. Some people will just <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2019.101263">disregard the speaker entirely</a>.</p>
<p>But many others will feel intense <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F13684302211018741">visceral</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2008.00130.x">emotions</a> such as <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/north-carolina-dad-viral-crt-education">anger</a>, which can lead us to be more confrontational, or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/14/style/white-guilt-privilege.html">shame</a>, which can cause people to withdraw. </p>
<p>When faced with the term “white privilege,” it’s not surprising that some whites will look less favorably on the speaker’s ideas. And it makes sense that the whites who are more sympathetic will tend to withdraw. </p>
<p>Of course this reaction, which psychologists call “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-identity-theory/Identity-threat">social identity threat</a>,” is not unique to white people.</p>
<p>At some point in their lives, everyone feels unwelcome or devalued because of a group they identify as part of, whether that’s being Black, white, Hispanic, young, old, female, male, Christian or atheist.</p>
<h2>A sticky problem</h2>
<p>Surveys show that an overwhelming majority of Americans <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/03/11/the-elusive-90-solution/">think that everyone should get an equal shot at success</a>, and numerous studies have shown that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/27/upshot/make-your-own-mobility-animation.html">race is involved in economic opportunity and social mobility</a>. While the data is clear that racial inequality persists in America, its causes are complex and have so far proven intractable.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, social media users spend their time attacking each other, giving the impression of an <a href="https://news.yale.edu/2021/08/13/likes-and-shares-teach-people-express-more-outrage-online">outraged</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034">polarized</a> citizenry.</p>
<p>Effective communication about personal topics like race can be challenging. The careful use of inclusive language is one way to gather public support – or at least promote meaningful discussion. </p>
<p>Words matter, and our research demonstrates how phrases like “white privilege” affect the way controversial issues on race are perceived.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140K">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181013/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Quarles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In this era of racial reckoning, words such as ‘white privilege’ have played a significant role in defining social problems plaguing America. But those words also have a downside.
Christopher Quarles, PhD Candidate in Information, University of Michigan
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/177120
2022-03-31T12:44:28Z
2022-03-31T12:44:28Z
Criminal justice algorithms: Being race-neutral doesn’t mean race-blind
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454764/original/file-20220328-21-r0jyhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C19%2C2111%2C1390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An algorithm is the centerpiece of one criminal justice reform program, but should it be race-blind?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/lady-justice-against-laptop-monitor-royalty-free-image/1098212314?adppopup=true">the_burtons/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Justice is supposed <a href="https://brill.com/view/book/9789004368675/B9789004368675_004.xml">to be “blind</a>.” But is race blindness always the best way to achieve racial equality? An algorithm to predict recidivism among prison populations is underscoring that debate.</p>
<p>The risk-assessment tool is a centerpiece of the <a href="https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp">First Step Act</a>, which Congress passed in 2018 with significant bipartisan support, and is meant to <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45558">shorten some criminal sentences</a> and improve conditions in prisons. Among other changes, it rewards federal inmates with early release if they participate in programs designed to reduce their risk of re-offending. Potential candidates eligible for early release are identified using <a href="https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/pattern.jsp">the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs</a>, called PATTERN, which estimates an inmate’s risk of committing a crime upon release.</p>
<p>Proponents <a href="https://famm.org/famm-applauds-senate-passage-of-the-first-step-act/">celebrated the First Step Act</a> as a step toward criminal justice reform that provides a clear path to reducing the prison population of low-risk nonviolent offenders while preserving public safety.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/2021-review-and-revalidation-first-step-act-risk-assessment-tool">a review of the PATTERN system</a> published by the Department of Justice in December 2021 found that PATTERN overpredicts recidivism among minority inmates by between 2% and 8% compared with white inmates. Critics fear that PATTERN is <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/26/1075509175/justice-department-algorithm-first-step-act">reinforcing racial biases</a> that have long plagued the U.S. prison system.</p>
<p><a href="https://phil.ufl.edu/directory/dr-duncan-purves/">As ethicists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gwYVPKQAAAAJ&hl=en">who research</a> the use of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10506-021-09286-4">algorithms in the criminal justice system</a>, we spend lots of time thinking about how to avoid replicating racial bias with new technologies. We seek to understand whether systems like PATTERN can be made racially equitable while continuing to serve the function <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/what-first-step-act-and-whats-happening-it">for which they were designed</a>: to reduce prison populations while maintaining public safety.</p>
<p>Making PATTERN equally accurate for all inmates might require the algorithm to take inmates’ race into account, which can seem counterintuitive. In other words, achieving fair outcomes across racial groups might require focusing more on race, not less: a seeming paradox that plays out in many discussions of fairness and racial justice.</p>
<h2>How PATTERN works</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://apps.urban.org/features/risk-assessment/">PATTERN algorithm</a> scores individuals according to a range of variables that have been shown to predict recidivism. These factors include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2013.08.004">criminal history</a>, education level, disciplinary incidents while incarcerated, and whether they have completed any <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26507655">programs aimed at reducing recidivism</a>, among others. The algorithm predicts both general and violent recidivism, and does not take an inmate’s race into account when producing risk scores.</p>
<p>Based on this score, individuals are deemed high-, medium- or low-risk. Only those falling into the last category are eligible for early release.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a white suit looks up at a man in a suit with his back to the camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454768/original/file-20220328-17-ko2npz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454768/original/file-20220328-17-ko2npz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454768/original/file-20220328-17-ko2npz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454768/original/file-20220328-17-ko2npz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454768/original/file-20220328-17-ko2npz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454768/original/file-20220328-17-ko2npz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454768/original/file-20220328-17-ko2npz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Then-President Donald Trump listens as Alice Marie Johnson, who was incarcerated for 21 years, speaks at the 2019 Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act Celebration at the White House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election2020TrumpCoalition/3e3ffb1a38674e85b6c54fab10042c57/photo?Query=%22first%20step%20act%22&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=166&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Susan Walsh</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The DOJ’s <a href="https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/2021-review-and-revalidation-first-step-act-risk-assessment-tool">latest review</a>, which compares PATTERN predictions with actual outcomes of former inmates, shows that the algorithm’s errors tended to disadvantage nonwhite inmates. </p>
<p>In comparison with white inmates, PATTERN overpredicted general recidivism among Black male inmates by between 2% and 3%. According to the DOJ report, this number rose to 6% to 7% for Black women, relative to white women. PATTERN overpredicted recidivism in Hispanic individuals by 2% to 6% in comparison with white inmates, and overpredicted recidivism among Asian men by 7% to 8% in comparison with white inmates.</p>
<p>These disparate results will likely strike many people as unfair, with the potential to reinforce existing racial disparities in the criminal justice system. For example, Black Americans are already <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/">incarcerated</a> at almost five times the rate of white Americans.</p>
<p>At the same time that the algorithm overpredicted recidivism for some racial groups, it underpredicted for others.</p>
<p>Native American men’s general recidivism was underpredicted by 12% to 15% in relation to white inmates, with a 2% underprediction for violent recidivism. Violent recidivism was underpredicted by 4% to 5% for Black men and 1% to 2% for Black women.</p>
<h2>Reducing bias by including race</h2>
<p>It is tempting to conclude that the Department of Justice should abandon the system altogether. However, computer and data scientists have developed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3494672">an array of tools</a> over the past decade designed to address concerns about algorithmic unfairness. So it is worth asking whether PATTERN’s inequalities can be remedied.</p>
<p>One option is to apply “debiasing techniques” of the sort described in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2465">recent work</a> by criminal justice experts Jennifer Skeem and Christopher Lowenkamp. As <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3097983.3098095">computer scientists</a> and <a href="https://www.virginialawreview.org/articles/measuring-algorithmic-fairness/">legal scholars</a> have observed, the predictive value of a piece of information about a person might vary depending on their other characteristics. For example, suppose that having stable housing tends to reduce the risk that a former inmate will commit another crime, but that the relationship between housing and not re-offending is stronger for white inmates than Black inmates. An algorithm could take this into account for higher accuracy.</p>
<p>But taking this difference into account would require that designers include each inmate’s race in the algorithm, which raises legal concerns. Treating individuals differently on the basis of race in legal decision-making risks violating <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv">the 14th Amendment of the Constitution</a>, which guarantees equal protection under the law. </p>
<p>Several legal scholars, including <a href="https://www.law.virginia.edu/faculty/profile/dh9ev/2299809">Deborah Hellman</a>, have recently argued that <a href="https://www.virginialawreview.org/articles/measuring-algorithmic-fairness/">this legal concern is overstated</a>. For example, the law permits using racial classifications to describe criminal suspects and to gather demographic data on the census.</p>
<p>Other uses of racial classifications are more problematic. For example, racial profiling and <a href="https://theconversation.com/affirmative-action-around-the-world-82190">affirmative action</a> programs continue to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/watch-for-these-conflicts-over-education-in-2022-171457">contested in court</a>. But <a href="https://www.virginialawreview.org/articles/measuring-algorithmic-fairness/">Hellman argues</a> that designing algorithms that are sensitive to the way that information’s predictive value varies across racial lines is more akin to using race in suspect descriptions and the census. </p>
<p>In part, this is because race-sensitive algorithms, unlike racial profiling, do not rely on statistical generalizations about the prevalence of a feature, like the rate of re-offending, within a racial group. Rather, she proposes making statistical generalizations about the reliability of the algorithm’s information for members of a racial group and adjusting appropriately.</p>
<p>But there are also several <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-021-00105-9">ethical concerns</a> to consider. Incorporating race might constitute unfair treatment. It might fail to treat inmates as individuals, since it relies upon statistical facts about the racial group to which they are assigned. And it might put some inmates in a worse position than others to earn early-release credits, merely because of their race.</p>
<h2>Key difference</h2>
<p>Despite these concerns, we argue there are good ethical reasons to incorporate race into the algorithm.</p>
<p>First, by incorporating race, the algorithm could be more accurate across all racial groups. This might allow the federal prison system to grant early release to more inmates who pose a low risk of recidivism while keeping high-risk inmates behind bars. This will promote justice without sacrificing public safety – what <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/federal-agenda-criminal-justice-reform">proponents of criminal justice reform want</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, changing the algorithm to include race can improve outcomes for Black inmates without making things worse for white inmates. This is because earning credits toward early release from prison is not a zero-sum game; one person’s eligibility for the early release program does not affect anyone else’s. This is very different from programs like <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2264872">affirmative action</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2265014">in hiring</a> or education. In these cases, positions are limited, so making things better for one group necessarily makes things worse for the other group.</p>
<p>As PATTERN illustrates, racial equality is not necessarily promoted by taking race out of the equation – at least not when all participants stand to benefit.</p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177120/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duncan Purves receives funding from The National Science Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Davis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A cornerstone of the First Step Act, passed with bipartisan support, is the PATTERN risk-assessment tool.
Duncan Purves, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Florida
Jeremy Davis, Postdoctoral Associate, University of Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/173623
2022-01-12T13:38:39Z
2022-01-12T13:38:39Z
‘Southern hospitality’ doesn’t always apply to Black people, as revealed in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440164/original/file-20220111-19-11o68uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1073%2C343%2C4795%2C3475&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, listens as attorneys speak outside the Glynn County Courthouse on July 17, 2020, in Brunswick, Georgia. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/wanda-cooper-jones-mother-of-ahmaud-arbery-listens-as-news-photo/1227671960?adppopup=true">Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea of community and who belongs and who does not was a common theme in the Jan. 7, 2022, sentencing hearing of three white men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery.</p>
<p>“They chose to target my son because they didn’t want him in their community,” said <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/ahmaud-arbery-wanda-cooper-jones-sentencing-b1988754.html">Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones</a>, during the hearing. “When they couldn’t sufficiently scare him or intimidate him, they killed him.”</p>
<p>Arbery was the 25-year-old unarmed Black man who was shot to death on Feb. 23, 2020, while jogging through a predominantly white, middle-class <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/satilla-shores-ahmaud-arbery-killing.html">neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia</a>. Race went largely unspoken throughout the trial, but the idea of belonging was clearly drawn in black and white.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-combs-4181566">professor of sociology and criminal justice</a> at Clark and Atlanta University, I have witnessed and studied perfunctory Southern ways that are often referred to as Southern “gentility” and Southern “hospitality.” These “Southern” ways of knowing and being get presented as niceties, but they often serve to maintain the racial order of the past.</p>
<p>On their face, these common rituals – like waving to neighbors and strangers – brand the Southerner as gentler and kinder than others, closer to God, and perhaps even more patriotic. As practice, the actions tie people not only to the land, but to a culture. </p>
<p>That culture seems innocuous, innocent and friendly – but it is not. And the death of Ahmaud Arbery is a powerful example of how that gentility can camouflage deadly discrimination. </p>
<h2>Racial reckoning</h2>
<p>In a nation still reeling from the murder of George Floyd and other violent attacks on people of color, many breathed a momentary <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/relief-optimism-and-acknowledgment-that-work-remains-after-jury-convicts-3-of-murder-in-ahmaud-arberys-death/2021/11/24/bc4c1b28-4d64-11ec-94ad-bd85017d58dc_story.html">sigh of relief</a> after Greg McMichael and his son Travis were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Arbery’s murder.</p>
<p>McMichaels’ neighbor <a href="https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/ahmaud-arbery-killing-mcmichael-bryan-sentencing/index.html">William “Roddie” Bryan</a> was given life in prison with the chance of parole. He had filmed the cellphone video as Arbery fell dead in the street. A jury <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/ahmaud-arbery-case-the-charges-each-defendant-was-convicted-of/T7DH5TWHPNHLXK43OT5ALSWJNI/">convicted the three</a> in November of last year.</p>
<p>Before sentencing, Judge Timothy Walmsley paused for a minute of silence, which he later explained represented a fraction of the five minutes Arbery spent running from the three white men who chased him in pickup trucks on that Sunday afternoon. </p>
<p>“At a minimum,” <a href="https://www.insider.com/ahmaud-arbery-judge-makes-courtroom-sit-silence-sentencing-2022-1">Walmsley said</a>, “Ahmaud Arbery’s death should force us to consider expanding our definition of what a neighbor may be and how we treat them. I argue that maybe a neighbor is more than the people who just own property around your house. …”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pensive judge looks out into a courtroom with his hand pressed to his mouth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440167/original/file-20220111-25-ovgtqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440167/original/file-20220111-25-ovgtqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440167/original/file-20220111-25-ovgtqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440167/original/file-20220111-25-ovgtqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440167/original/file-20220111-25-ovgtqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440167/original/file-20220111-25-ovgtqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440167/original/file-20220111-25-ovgtqk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Judge Timothy Walmsley looks on during the trial last November of three white men convicted of murdering 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/judge-timothy-walmsley-looks-on-as-the-prosecutors-make-news-photo/1236748716?adppopup=true">Photo by Octavio Jones-Pool/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a sense, Walmsley was asking those assembled in the courtroom and watching on television to put themselves in Arbery’s running shoes and imagine the sheer shock of discovering that Southern hospitality had a violent reality. </p>
<p>Terms commonly used among Southerners can likewise mean the opposite of how they sound.</p>
<p>Consider the “bless your heart” that is meant as anything but a blessing, and, in fact, is used as a <a href="https://www.southernliving.com/culture/bless-your-heart-response">heavy dose of sarcasm</a>. Or the respectful and deferential, “Yes, ma’am,” “No, sir,” or other courtesy titles customarily given to whites and withheld from Blacks, irrespective of their age. W.E.B. Du Bois referred to this last practice as “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0090591718791744">the public and psychological wage of whiteness</a>.” Du Bois was suggesting that even among low-wage white earners, the racial identity of whiteness paid dividends that people of color could not collect. </p>
<p>Simple Southern practices like waving to strangers are steeped with double meanings that work to preserve a de facto segregation.</p>
<p>Consider: There is an expected action-interaction order present in the deed of speaking or otherwise gesturing to strangers. The salutation itself is a performance of belonging in the space. A specific response is expected. It may be a nod of the head, tip of the hat, raised hand or a simple hello. The routine says, “I know the rules of engagement here, and I accept them. You want me to make you feel comfortable with my presence here, and I am willing to do that.”</p>
<p>Arbery did not engage the men or play the game of deference.</p>
<h2>Race and public space</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15365042211058127">“How Ingrained Racism Became Invisible,”</a> I explain how place and where people belong and with whom is part of an often unspoken broader U.S. racial structure that positions whites on top and Blacks on the bottom. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002764219859617">larger body of research</a>
I argue that despite advances by racial and ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged groups, vestiges of this American Jim Crow belief system still operate in society. This racial ideology may be more pronounced in some parts of the nation, like the U.S. South, but my research shows that this racial order is present above, below and across the Mason-Dixon Line.</p>
<p>Kara Cebulko, a <a href="https://global-studies.providence.edu/faculty-members/kara-cebulko/#:%7E:text=Brief%20Biography%3A,adulthood%20for%201.5%2D%20generation%20immigrants.">sociology and global studies</a> scholar, explains how racial privilege allows whites and those who pass as white to <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/2532411999">“navigate public space without being stopped, questioned, arrested, detained and/or deported.”</a></p>
<p>That clearly was not the case with Arbery, who was Black and couldn’t claim that privilege.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman holds portraits of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440309/original/file-20220111-20924-1mpkayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440309/original/file-20220111-20924-1mpkayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440309/original/file-20220111-20924-1mpkayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440309/original/file-20220111-20924-1mpkayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440309/original/file-20220111-20924-1mpkayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440309/original/file-20220111-20924-1mpkayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440309/original/file-20220111-20924-1mpkayd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman holds portraits of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd during an event in remembrance of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 23, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-holds-portraits-of-ahmaud-arbery-and-george-floyd-news-photo/1233078158?adppopup=true">Photo by Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Protecting the racial status quo</h2>
<p>At sentencing, defense counsel continued to stress that the defendants had good intentions and simply wanted to support their community. In this telling of the story, the defendants were represented as good neighbors – hardworking individuals just looking out for one another. It was painted as the Southern way, and they were simply engaged in Southern hospitality. </p>
<p>But in the journal <a href="https://southernstudies.olemiss.edu/study-the-south/all-are-welcome/">Study the South, Betsie Garner</a> writes that Southern hospitality uses language and practices whose real purpose is “to exclude minorities and maintain their marginalized status in the community.” </p>
<p>“The politics of belonging in southern communities <a href="https://southernstudies.olemiss.edu/study-the-south/all-are-welcome/">continues to be determined in large part by the practice of southern hospitality,”</a> Garner says.</p>
<p>If the McMichaels’ and Bryan’s actions that day were to help their community, that community did not include Arbery.</p>
<p>Before his son, Travis, fired the shots that killed Arbery, defendant Greg McMichael told 911 dispatch the reason for his call: <a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/911-calls-ahmaud-arbery/85-4819d3d9-6133-40de-b3a9-f8fa3f889574">“I’m out here at Satilla Shores. There’s a Black male running down the street.”</a></p>
<p>During cross-examination by the prosecutor at their trial, defendant Travis McMichael explained, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ahmaud-arbery-travis-mcmichael-trial-running-threat/">“I wouldn’t say [I] ordered [Arbery to stop running], I was asking him … [in order to] keep the situation calm</a>.” But shortly after the murder, the senior McMichael told police, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/defendant-ahmaud-arbery-trapped-rat-slaying-81085944">“We had him trapped like a rat</a>.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/18/us/ahmaud-arbery-travis-mcmichael-testimony.html">Travis McMichael argued he felt threatened by Arbery and feared for his own life</a> until he pulled out his shotgun and shot him. </p>
<p>Ahmaud Arbery’s sister didn’t mince words when she said she believed race – not self-defense – played a role in her brother’s shooting.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>“Ahmaud had dark skin that glistened in the sunlight like gold. He had thick, coily hair and he would often like to twist it,” Jasmine Arbery said at the sentencing hearing. “He was tall, with an athletic build. These are the qualities that made these men assume that Ahmaud was a dangerous criminal.”</p>
<p>By all accounts, Arbery was not a dangerous criminal. But in the eyes of three white vigilantes, Arbery was clearly not their neighbor.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara Harris Combs has received funding from UNCF/Mellon and the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory University. </span></em></p>
The murder of Ahmaud Arbery exemplifies the racial, often violent barriers still remaining in the US. The 25-year-old Black man was out for a jog. But three white men thought he was a criminal.
Barbara Harris Combs, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Clark Atlanta University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163413
2021-06-30T12:11:37Z
2021-06-30T12:11:37Z
When a Black boxing champion beat the ‘Great White Hope,’ all hell broke loose
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408713/original/file-20210628-15-12h7z86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C4514%2C2642&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, right, beat James Jeffries in 1910, sparking racial violence.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1910-07-06/ed-1/seq-9/">George Haley, San Francisco Call, via University of California, Riverside, via Library of Congress</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An audacious Black heavyweight champion was slated to defend his title against a white boxer in Reno, Nevada, on July 4, 1910. It was billed as “the fight of the century.”</p>
<p>The fight was seen as a referendum on racial superiority – and all hell was about to break loose in the racially divided United States.</p>
<p>Jack Johnson, the Black man, decisively beat James Jeffries, nicknamed “the Great White Hope.” Johnson’s triumph ignited <a href="https://timeline.com/when-a-black-fighter-won-the-fight-of-the-century-race-riots-erupted-across-america-3730b8bf9c98">bloody confrontations and violence</a> between Blacks and whites throughout the country, leaving perhaps two dozen dead, almost all of them Black, and hundreds injured and arrested. </p>
<p>“No event yielded such widespread racial violence until the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., fifty-eight years later,” Geoffrey C. Ward wrote in his biography of Johnson, “<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2004/11/18/the-man-with-the-golden-smile/">Unforgiveable Blackness</a>.”</p>
<p>Johnson’s victory, in the manliest of sports, contradicted claims of racial supremacy by whites and demonstrated that Blacks were no longer willing to acquiesce to white dominance. Whites were not willing to give up their power. The story has a familiar ring today, as America remains a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/05/what-do-do-about-race-big-divider-american-politics/">country deeply divided by race</a>.</p>
<p>I began my book, “<a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803276802/">From Jack Johnson to LeBron James: Sports, Media, and the Color Line</a>,” with Johnson because the consequences of the fight’s aftermath would affect race relations in sports, and America, for decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustrations showing troops preparing to leave and marching out of a town center" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408928/original/file-20210629-15-i3ve54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Federal troops leave New Orleans in April 1877, as Reconstruction ends.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/93505869/">A.J. Bennett in Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, via Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A backdrop of racial hostility</h2>
<p>Born in 1878 in Galveston, Texas, Johnson grew up as the Jim Crow era in American history was getting started. The previous year, Rutherford B. Hayes became president <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/compromise-of-1877">after promising three former Confederate states</a> – South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana – that he would withdraw federal troops, who had protected the measure of racial equality Blacks were beginning to achieve.</p>
<p>As federal forces left, whites disenfranchised Black voters and passed segregation laws, which were enforced by legal and illegal means, including <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/insurgency-refocuses-need-for-history-of-white-mob-violence-to-be-taught-in-classroom/2021/01">police brutality and lynching</a>. <a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803210769/">Journalists</a>, too, sought to maintain social order by preserving myths about white supremacy.</p>
<p>Johnson’s boxing career challenged those myths. He dispatched one white fighter after another and taunted both the fighter and the crowd. He was brash and arrogant and made no attempt to show any deference to whites. He sped through towns in flashy cars, wore expensive clothes, spent his time with gamblers and prostitutes, and dated white women, which Black sociologist and commentator W.E.B. Du Bois considered “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/fight-jack-johnson-1878-1946/">unnecessarily alienating acts</a>.”</p>
<h2>Setting up a racial battle</h2>
<p>Johnson won the heavyweight title by easily defeating the defending champion Tommy Burns in 1908. Novelist Jack London, writing in the New York Herald, wrote about Johnson’s “hopeless slaughter” of Burns and, like other journalists, called on former champion James Jeffries to come out of retirement and “<a href="https://timeline.com/when-a-black-fighter-won-the-fight-of-the-century-race-riots-erupted-across-america-3730b8bf9c98">wipe that smile from Johnson’s face</a>.”</p>
<p>Jeffries announced to the world that he would “<a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128245468">reclaim the heavyweight championship for the white race</a>.” He became the “<a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128245468">Great White Hope</a>.”</p>
<p>The Chicago Defender, a Black newspaper, said Jeffries and Johnson would “settle the mooted question of supremacy.” The Daily News in Omaha, Nebraska, reported that a Jeffries victory would restore <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L07wCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT10&lpg=PT10&dq=Johnson+would+settle+the+mooted+question+of+supremacy&source=bl&ots=Irf6RpfNOu&sig=ACfU3U0YUdyayxVqHeqRW_6mouIHYoLeSg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFu4ej4LXxAhXPKs0KHeMMAFYQ6AEwA3oECAkQAw#v=onepage&q=Johnson%20would%20settle%20the%20mooted%20question%20of%20supremacy&f=false">superiority to the white race</a>. </p>
<p>Before the fight, there were signs whites feared a Jeffries loss – and that this loss would not be restricted to the boxing ring but would have ramifications for all of society. </p>
<p>The New York Times warned, “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=L07wCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT10&lpg=PT10&dq=%22If+the+black+man+wins,+the+New+York+Times+editorialized,+%22thousands+and+thousands%22&source=bl&ots=Irf6RwhTIv&sig=ACfU3U03XhwVDEzCZVB9yIX_6RR0mjJUnw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk_sfB7rfxAhVBpZ4KHcN7CBEQ6AEwAHoECAQQAw#v=onepage&q=%22If%20the%20black%20man%20wins%2C%20the%20New%20York%20Times%20editorialized%2C%20%22thousands%20and%20thousands%22&f=false">If the black man wins</a>, thousands and thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret his victory.” The message was clear: If Jeffries won, white superiority would be proved – but if he lost, whites would still be superior. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BnMJL36_oCs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Footage of the Johnson-Jeffries fight.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Seeking to retain power</h2>
<p>After Johnson easily defeated Jeffries, the Los Angeles Times reinforced white supremacy, telling Blacks: “<a href="https://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/2012/10/07/a-word-to-the-black-man-a-reminder/">Do not point your nose too high</a>. Do not swell your chest too much. Do not boast too loudly. Do not get puffed up. … Your place in the world is just what is was. You are on no higher place, deserve no new consideration, and will get none.” Nearly a century later, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-jan-14-ed-johnson14-story.html">the newspaper</a> apologized for that 1910 editorial.</p>
<p>In response to the violence, <a href="https://timeline.com/when-a-black-fighter-won-the-fight-of-the-century-race-riots-erupted-across-america-3730b8bf9c98">many cities forbade a film</a> of the fight to be shown in theaters. In 1912, Congress, citing the same motion picture, passed the Sims Act, <a href="https://reason.com/2018/05/25/jack-johnson-fight-films/">banning the transport of fight</a> films over state lines.</p>
<p>In doing so, it kept Blacks and whites from seeing Johnson beat a white man. Historian Jeffrey Sammons says, “in many ways, Johnson represented the ‘bad n—–’ that whites were so willing to parade as an example of why <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/fight-jack-johnson-1878-1946/">blacks must be kept in ‘their place.</a>’”</p>
<h2>An outpouring of violence</h2>
<p>No white boxer could defeat Johnson in the ring, so white America worked to defeat him outside the ring. Johnson was <a href="https://www.history.com/news/white-slave-mann-act-jack-johnson-pardon">arrested in 1912</a> and charged <a href="https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unforgivable-blackness/mann-act/">with violating the Mann Act</a>, which made it illegal to transport women across state lines “for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” He served <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-pardon-trump.html">10 months in federal prison</a>. </p>
<p>But he was much more than one man. “No longer the respectful darky asking, hat in hand, for massa’s permission, Johnson was seen as the prototype of the independent black who acted as he pleased and accepted no bar to his conduct,” Randy Roberts wrote in “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Papa-Jack/Randy-Roberts/9780029269008">Papa Jack</a>,” his biography of Johnson. “As such, Johnson was transformed into a racial symbol that threatened America’s social order.”</p>
<p>Whites responded to Johnson’s triumph by using violence to keep Blacks in their place by any and all means. When Black construction workers celebrated Johnson’s victory near the town of Uvalda, Georgia, whites began shooting. As the Blacks tried to escape into the woods, the whites hunted them down, killing three and injuring five, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Papa-Jack/Randy-Roberts/9780029269008">Roberts wrote</a>. </p>
<p>Such scenes were <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1910/07/05/Race-riots-in-dozen-cities-follow-Johnson-fight-victory/8746818371120/">repeated throughout the country</a>, according to local media reports. </p>
<p>When a Black man in Houston expressed his joy over the fight’s outcome, a white man “slashed his throat from ear to ear.” Another Black man in Wheeling, West Virginia, who was driving an expensive car, just like Johnson was known for, was dragged from his car by a mob and lynched. A white mob in New York City set fire to a Black tenement and then blocked the doorway to <a href="https://timeline.com/when-a-black-fighter-won-the-fight-of-the-century-race-riots-erupted-across-america-3730b8bf9c98">keep the occupants from escaping</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A newspaper front page showing news of the fight result and ensuing violence" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408933/original/file-20210629-28-18jepxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Leavenworth Times in Kansas on July 5, 1910, published news of Johnson’s win and racial violence across the nation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hchm.org/floats-of-every-description-the-fight-of-the-century-july-4-1910/">Leavenworth Times via Harvey County Historical Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The sports world responds</h2>
<p>Johnson’s punishment served as a cautionary tale for Blacks during the Jim Crow era. Black athletes, however talented, whether it was sprinter Jesse Owens or boxer <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/fight-black-boxers-and-idea-great-white-hope/">Joe Louis</a>, were warned they had to be the “right type” of Black person, one who knew his place and did not challenge the racial status quo. </p>
<p>In those sports where Blacks were not banned and instead begrudgingly allowed to compete with and against whites, there were violent attacks on Black athletes. <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/jack-trice-life-and-football-career-were-tragically-cut-short/">Jack Trice</a>, an Iowa State football player, died of injuries from the attack he suffered in a game against the University of Minnesota in 1923. </p>
<p>The end of professional baseball’s color line in 1946 line was possible only because Jackie Robinson promised he would <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/02/17/jackie-robinson-spring-training-story-75-years-ago/4488581001/">not respond to racist epithets</a> and physical abuse so that he would be acceptable to white America.</p>
<p>In the 1960s, white America taught Muhammad Ali, whom many considered the “wrong type” of Black athlete, the lesson it had once taught Jack Johnson. Ali, a brash Muslim who refused to defer to the demands of white supremacy, <a href="https://www.si.com/boxing/2020/04/28/this-day-sports-history-muhammad-ali-refuses-induction-army-stripped-title">was convicted of draft evasion</a> for refusing to be inducted into the armed services. He was stripped of his heavyweight title and sentenced to prison. </p>
<p>Other Black athletes, like sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, baseball player <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/09/07/curt-flood-fought-for-free-agency-and-against-racism-but-who-remembers/">Curt Flood</a> and football player <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/02/09/black-history-tommie-smith-colin-kaepernick-athlete-activism/6484313002/">Colin Kaepernick</a>, all found themselves punished and ostracized for challenging white supremacy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163413/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Lamb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Johnson’s victory, in the manliest of sports, contradicted claims of racial supremacy by whites and demonstrated that Blacks were no longer willing to acquiesce to white dominance.
Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, Indiana University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163461
2021-06-29T12:05:39Z
2021-06-29T12:05:39Z
Infrastructure spending has always involved social engineering
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408430/original/file-20210625-14120-1cg8b11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4815%2C3575&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In 1872, John Gast painted 'American Progress,' showing trains and roads spreading across the American West.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Progress_(John_Gast_painting).jpg">John Gast, Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The effort by Democrats and Republicans in Congress to find agreement over a federal infrastructure spending bill has hinged on a number of factors, including what “infrastructure” actually is – but the debate ignores a key historical fact.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/infrastructure-plan-opinion-poll/">widespread public support for public investment</a> in building and repairing roads and bridges, water pipes and public schools – as well as providing more elder care and expanding broadband internet access. All of those were part of President Joe Biden’s <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-unveils-dollar23-trillion-infrastructure-plan/ar-BB1f9oDy">initial US$2.3 trillion infrastructure plan</a>, announced in March 2021.</p>
<p>Republicans criticized the plan in part because of disputes about how to pay for it all, but also by saying that its inclusion of paid sick leave, efforts to fight climate change and investments in child care and medical care were <a href="https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/columnists/mike-kelly/2021/04/09/joe-biden-should-leave-social-programs-out-infrastructure-proposal/7129159002/">not really “infrastructure”</a> but rather “social programs.”</p>
<p>A smaller plan may be passed in a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-senate-infrastructure-deal-731487d7540cdf7e48c27124c43cc2d1">new compromise agreement</a>, but as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HfGQnXEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">historians</a>, we believe it’s important for Americans to understand that infrastructure investment has always involved social programming. That has inevitably meant that it benefited some and disadvantaged others. In our view, Americans have been far too hesitant to acknowledge that many infrastructure projects, whether consciously or through neglect, have hurt communities of color. </p>
<h2>Infrastructure in American history</h2>
<p>It’s true that the most basic or traditional understanding of national infrastructure has focused on transportation. Benjamin Franklin, the nation’s <a href="https://www.history.com/news/us-post-office-benjamin-franklin">first postmaster general</a>, was at the head of a long line of policymakers and presidents to highlight the construction of roads as a way to build the nation’s economy. </p>
<p>They knew it was important for farmers to get goods to market and for our nation’s residents to be able to get timely news from distant locales. Passable roads helped tie the 13 Colonies together. <a href="https://xroads.virginia.edu/%7EHyper/DETOC/transport/canal.html">Canal</a> building <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/back0103.cfm">road building</a> and then the construction of <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?459416-5/railroads-american-culture-19th-century&event=459416&playEvent">railroads</a> were key elements of both building the economy and the nation itself. </p>
<p>As those roads and railroads spread throughout the U.S. in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, they also carried new waves of migrants into land inhabited over millennia by Native Americans. Those migrants brought diseases and violent land seizures, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/where-the-buffalo-no-longer-roamed-3067904/">pushing out Native Americans</a>.</p>
<p>For example, in the 1820s, white planters moved into the land taken from the Creeks and other tribes in what is now the Deep South. Millions of enslaved African Americans who had built strong families and communities within the brutal confines of slavery were torn from their homes in the Upper South, some by planters moving to take up cotton land in the new territories, and others by slave traders who purchased enslaved people and sent them to be sold in the <a href="https://slate.com/transcripts/cnVqejZJVVVGTXR4VmFoVVkvWUoyc1MzRnZvVlhuVkhmemdaL3RkZ2hXaz0=">cotton South</a>. </p>
<p>Some roads and <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/TRR">railroad projects</a> were aimed at displacing or removing Native Americans from their homelands as part of a larger social agenda to force them to either <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/traumatic-legacy-indian-boarding-schools/584293/">assimilate</a> or “disappear” – a euphemism for cultural destruction. </p>
<p>Private companies received enormous public subsidies from the federal government – often in the form of Native-occupied land – to build railroads through the Plains. When they did so, they explicitly sought to exterminate bison both to prevent dangerous collisions with locomotives and to starve the Native peoples <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/05/the-buffalo-killers/482349/">resisting Western expansion</a>. </p>
<p>In 1867, the <a href="http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/stbuff.Html">Kansas Pacific Railway</a> held bison-hunting events in which the car would slow so passengers could slaughter the large animals from their windows. That same year, an Army official famously <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=pVGrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=Kill+every+buffalo+you+can!+Every+buffalo+dead+is+an+Indian+gone&source=bl&ots=R9On_o9HnQ&sig=JGxsXQ0W0NZ4QqBzJIPaqvdx6zs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY0aWIo9fMAhUG4yYKHZ-vAs84ChDoAQgnMAI#v=onepage&q=Kill%20every%20buffalo%20you%20can!%20Every%20buffalo%20dead%20is%20an%20Indian%20gone&f=false">quipped</a>: “Kill every buffalo you can! Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.” </p>
<p>Other projects may not have been intended to be so overtly malicious, but their effects were no less harmful to the societies they affected. There is no evidence, for example, that those who took land from the Creeks gave any thought to the lives of enslaved Virginians, but the resulting interstate slave trade <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/life-in-black-and-white-9780195118032?cc=us&lang=en&">devastated the communities that enslaved Virginians had built over the preceding century</a>. </p>
<p>The infrastructure projects – the building of the roads – were intended to contribute to the nation’s economic development and to benefit white citizens who built prosperous plantations in the Mississippi Delta. They accomplished that. But they did so at enormous, and largely unacknowledged, cost to communities of color.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A historic view of Detroit, Michigan, showing the city bisected by an interstate highway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408672/original/file-20210628-17-8tgwqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1955 photograph of Detroit, Michigan, shows the city bisected by a newly built interstate highway.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/resultsDisplayImg.cfm?img=mi_ford_1955.jpg&results=">U.S. Federal Highway Administration</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Infrastructure as social policy</h2>
<p>The tradition of carrying out social transformation through transportation projects – both what got funded and how it was designed – continued with the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=629">National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956</a>, which built the nation’s web of interstate highways.</p>
<p>The massive new roads had benefits, <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/history.cfm">tying the sprawling nation more closely together</a>. But they also divided existing communities, often in ways that exacerbated racial and class inequities. </p>
<p>Some of those highways, such as I-26 on the <a href="https://www.postandcourier.com/news/local_state_news/why-highways-were-designed-to-run-through-black-communities-sc-faces-historic-dilemma-again/article_576f3fce-0976-11eb-a46c-635e6fad5d38.html">Charleston</a> peninsula in South Carolina, cut straight through or successfully isolated <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/npr/2021/04/12/984784455/a-brief-history-of-how-racism-shaped-interstate-highways/">African American</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/specials/america-highways-inequality/">Latino communities</a>, and even destroyed homes and businesses to make way <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/03/role-of-highways-in-american-poverty/474282/">for pavement</a>.</p>
<p>The result created “physical barriers to integration” and often worked “to physically entrench racial inequality,” as New York University law professor <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/984784455">Deborah Archer told NPR</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Building an infrastructure of inclusion?</h2>
<p>The history of American infrastructure development has always been linked to social development, with productive consequences for some and often-disastrous effects on others.</p>
<p>The compromise bill that will go before Congress is inherently both an infrastructure bill and a social policy bill, regardless of how politicians describe it. It will provide long-awaited and much-needed funds to build new roads and repair dams to foster economic development and may extend broadband to the various communities that have been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-19/where-the-u-s-underestimates-the-digital-divide">left out of the digital economy</a>. But those benefits may not come equally to Americans of all races and economic classes. </p>
<p>People are already attuned to how infrastructure can hurt local communities as much as it can help them. For instance, America’s biggest current environmental battle is being fought in Minnesota, where <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/infrastructure/559660-americas-biggest-environmental-battle-erupts">Native American activists</a> oppose the construction of yet another fossil-fuel pipeline that threatens the waterways and ecology of the entire region.</p>
<p>As history shows, infrastructure simply cannot be considered separately from social programs. Trying to do so makes it less likely that leaders and society as a whole will notice, or seek to improve, the social consequences of what gets built – to those who benefit, and those at whose expense the development may come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163461/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Government investment in roads, railroads and other public services has always involved social programming, both for good and for ill.
Erika M Bsumek, Associate Professor of History, The University of Texas at Austin
James Sidbury, Professor of History, Rice University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162837
2021-06-24T12:09:26Z
2021-06-24T12:09:26Z
How the billions MacKenzie Scott is giving to colleges attended by students of color will help everyone in America
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407765/original/file-20210622-25-1afat81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C423%2C1785%2C1171&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scott is giving dozens of predominantly nonwhite schools their biggest donations ever, including Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/melissa-gomes-right-fixes-the-tassel-as-new-graduate-sarah-news-photo/1215219419">Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When billionaire <a href="https://www.highereddive.com/news/mackenzie-scott-announces-more-donations-to-colleges-higher-ed-groups/601843/">philanthropist MacKenzie Scott</a> announced her third round of charitable gifts in June 2021, she said she was giving US$2.7 billion to 286 organizations. This list includes 31 colleges and universities serving people of color and other underserved communities.</p>
<p>That’s on top of the $4.2 billion <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/12/16/mackenzie-scott-gives-away-42-billion-and-colleges-rejoice">Scott announced in December 2020</a> to support 384 organizations, including 30 colleges and universities. Her <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">initial plan, announced in July 2020</a>, included $1.7 billion for 116 organizations, including several Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pmb/eeo/doi-minority-serving-institutions-program">minority-serving institutions</a>.</p>
<p>For example, Scott is giving Xavier University of Louisiana, a school that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/a-prescription-for-more-black-doctors.html">sends more Black graduates to medical school</a> than any other university in the U.S., <a href="https://www.bizneworleans.com/ex-wife-of-amazon-founder-donates-20m-to-xavier/">$20 million</a>; <a href="https://datausa.io/profile/university/long-beach-city-college">Long Beach City College</a>, a California school where more than 85% of students are people of color, <a href="https://www.lbcc.edu/press-release/lbcc-receives-historic-30-million-gift-philanthropist-mackenzie-scott">$30 million</a>; and <a href="https://www.cbs7.com/2021/06/15/odessa-college-receives-7-million-donation-mackenzie-scott/">Odessa College</a>, a Texas school where <a href="https://datausa.io/profile/university/odessa-college">74% of students are nonwhite</a>, $7 million. All three colleges said Scott’s donations were the largest they had ever received.</p>
<p>As a counseling psychology professor <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=nr_dqLUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">who conducts research regarding the education of Black students</a>, I am encouraged to see Scott, a novelist who was formerly married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, depart from how billionaires tend to approach their higher education giving. <a href="https://thebestschools.org/features/most-generous-alumni-donors/">Most make donations to prestigious universities</a> that already have <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/how-do-university-endowments-work/">large endowments</a> – money raised from alumni and other donors that they invest in stocks, bonds and other assets. This wealth can cover the cost of scholarships, salaries, construction and any other expenses. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="MacKenzie Scott and her husband Dan Jewett" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407758/original/file-20210622-25-x1jfgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">MacKenzie Scott’s new husband, Dan Jewett, has joined her in a pledge to give away most of their fortune.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=393">Giving Pledge</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Most wealthy people donate to wealthy schools</h2>
<p>Mike Bloomberg, for example, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/19/18102994/michael-bloomberg-johns-hopkins-financial-aid-donation">donated $1.8 billion</a> to John Hopkins University, his alma mater, in 2018. Notably, <a href="https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.85.2.0097">that prestigious school receives</a> more money from federal grants than all of the nation’s 100 HBCUs combined.</p>
<p>Similarly, I question how donations to Harvard University, such as the <a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/3/7/zuckerberg-donates-30million/">$30 million</a> from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, can be considered charitable when it already has <a href="https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/09/harvard-endowment-41-9-billion-on-7-3-percent-investment-return">$41.9 billion in its endowment</a>. Harvard earned a 7.3% return on its endowment assets for its fiscal year that ended in June 2020 – about $3 billion.</p>
<p>Interestingly, I’ve calculated that the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/Help/View/1">total combined annual operating cost of all private HBCUs</a> is also about $3 billion.</p>
<h2>Fewer students of color attend ‘national universities’</h2>
<p>U.S. News and World Report considers <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/rankings-faq">389 schools to be “national universities</a>” <a href="https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/">because of their stature</a> and academic offerings. These universities are more likely to receive charitable contributions than others because of their reputation and the large number of affluent people who graduate from them. But these colleges and universities represent <a href="https://www.urbanedjournal.org/education/how-many-colleges-are-in-the-us-numbers-of-colleges-and-educational-institutions/">fewer than 10% of all institutions of higher education</a>.</p>
<p>When I analyzed <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data">raw data files from the leading federal database for educational data</a>, I found that students of color are less likely to enroll at national universities than their white peers.</p>
<p>I also found that the schools enrolling the most students of color are more likely to be two-year colleges as opposed to a four-year institution; less likely to be prominent research universities; more likely to have significantly high percentages of low-income students; and more likely to have smaller-than-average endowments.</p>
<p>When announcing Scott’s historic donations, many colleges and universities have noted their success with graduating science, technology, engineering and math students.</p>
<p>Florida International University, for example, announced that Scott’s $40 million gift will be used for “<a href="https://news.fiu.edu/2021/mackenzie-scott-makes-a-40-million-gift-to-fiu-that-will-transform-the-student-experience">student success programs</a>.” That school noted its number 6 ranking in terms of awarding engineering degrees to African Americans and the high percentage of its Latino students who earn STEM degrees.</p>
<p><a href="https://affordableschools.net/25-largest-hbcu-bachelors-colleges-enrollment/">North Carolina A&T</a>, the nation’s largest HBCU, announced plans to spend Scott’s <a href="https://abc11.com/mackenzie-scott-worth-who-is-north-carolina-a--t-university-winston-salem-state/8818615/">$45 million donation</a> in “<a href="https://www.ncat.edu/news/2020/12/mackenzie-scott-donation.php">areas of critical national need, including professions in STEM</a>.” The selection of multiple HBCUs, Hispanic-serving and tribal colleges with a track record of graduating underrepresented STEM students seems intentional.</p>
<p>What’s more, recent data suggests that <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25257/minority-serving-institutions-americas-underutilized-resource-for-strengthening-the-stem">prominent national universities are not graduating enough students</a> overall, apart from racial, ethnic and class considerations, to satisfy the needs of the future workforce.</p>
<p>In 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine predicted that the <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25257/minority-serving-institutions-americas-underutilized-resource-for-strengthening-the-stem">nation will need 1 million</a> more STEM professionals than are on pace to earn higher education degrees in the 2020s.</p>
<p>The National Science Board, the governing board for the National Science Foundation, called this impending shortage of STEM professionals the “<a href="https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/news_summ.jsp">missing millions</a>.” It passed a resolution to address the “urgent need” for more underrepresented groups in the U.S. science and engineering workforce.</p>
<p>A STEM workforce that represents the diversity of the U.S. population can <a href="https://itif.org/publications/2019/09/12/why-federal-rd-policy-needs-prioritize-productivity-drive-growth-and-reduce">contribute to economic growth</a>. Washington Center for Equitable Growth <a href="https://live-equitablegrowth.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/10153405/0115-ach-gap-report.pdf">estimated</a> the nation could earn $5.3 trillion in increased tax revenue from a more skilled workforce if we closed the achievement gap in math and science over the next 60 years. Similarly, a <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED526954.pdf">Harvard University report</a> estimated, by calculating national income projections over an 80-year period, the U.S. would add $75 trillion to the GDP if math education was equal.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25257/minority-serving-institutions-americas-underutilized-resource-for-strengthening-the-stem">more than 700 minority-serving institutions</a> across the U.S. These <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25257/minority-serving-institutions-americas-underutilized-resource-for-strengthening-the-stem">colleges and universities enroll nearly 30%</a> of all undergraduates in America. Learners of color, research indicates, <a href="https://doi.org/10.7709/jnegroeducation.82.4.0359">find such schools to be more accessible and welcoming</a> than primarily white schools.</p>
<p>What’s more, about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1521025117690159">half of the students attending minority-serving institutions</a> get Pell Grants, which help cover educational costs for low-income students. And they enroll many students who are the <a href="https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/content/brief-history-msis">first in their families to go to college</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A masked woman and man speak under a spotlight in a booklined room" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/407760/original/file-20210622-21-pe95se.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm speaks with Howard University student Christopher Flowers about the need for more diversity among STEM students and workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jennifer-granholm-u-s-energy-secretary-speaks-to-howard-news-photo/1232671043">Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A welcome trend</h2>
<p>Scott’s <a href="https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=393">approach to giving</a>, with its <a href="https://theconversation.com/racial-justice-giving-is-booming-4-trends-145526">emphasis on racial justice</a>, appears to be inspiring others to take a similar approach with their educational philanthropy.</p>
<p>Days after her June 2021 announcement, for example, <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/google-announces-50-million-in-grants-for-hbcus/">Google confirmed its plans</a> to commit $50 million to build infrastructure and support scholarships at HBCUs. </p>
<p>I see many <a href="https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/reports/">reasons beyond charity</a> for philanthropists, the government and corporations to consider donating to colleges and universities that mostly enroll students of color. Among them: It’s a key strategy for helping everyone in America.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivory A. Toldson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Her giving style is unusual for a billionaire donor.
Ivory A. Toldson, Professor of Counseling Psychology, Howard University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160227
2021-06-10T15:44:21Z
2021-06-10T15:44:21Z
6 ways to approach urban green spaces in the push for racial justice and health equity
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405447/original/file-20210609-14804-vcpzcl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=341%2C179%2C5652%2C3774&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Green spaces are inequitably distributed across cities: The quality and quantity are lower in racialized neighbourhoods.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Multiple pandemics have been raging over the past year. Those of us in North America witnessed the convergence of three systemic issues focused on people’s health, green spaces and racial justice. </p>
<p>Black, Indigenous and people of colour face increased surveillance, suspicion, harassment and violence in public green spaces, like parks and ravines. This influences behaviours — who feels comfortable to linger in a park and who is seen as out of place, trespassing or suspicious? The perceptions of who belongs stem in part from a history of <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/public-space-park-space-and-racialized-space">parks as spaces for primarily upper class, able-bodied, white men</a>.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic quickly highlighted the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00215-4">underlying social and health inequities</a> that have always been present. In addition, people in cities have been increasingly seeking public green spaces in the face of lockdowns. Finally, calls for racial justice have been amplified with the increased mainstream awareness of racism — especially <a href="https://blacklivesmatter.com/">anti-Black</a>, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/06/01/seven-of-my-grandfathers-siblings-lay-in-residential-school-graves-the-215-children-found-confirms-what-indigenous-people-have-known-about-canada.html">anti-Indigenous</a> and anti-Asian racism.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cities-can-avoid-green-gentrification-and-make-urban-forests-accessible-160226">How cities can avoid 'green gentrification' and make urban forests accessible</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The increased use of <a href="https://policyresponse.ca/how-city-parks-can-be-part-of-the-covid-19-recovery/">green space during the pandemic</a> shows how it is a key part of the process to “build back better” after COVID-19. The UN-Habitat’s recent report “<a href="https://unhabitat.org/cities-and-pandemics-towards-a-more-just-green-and-healthy-future-0">Cities and Pandemics: Towards a More Just, Green and Healthy Future</a>” shares strategies for post-pandemic urban life, but falls short in naming systemic racism as a factor to address.</p>
<p>How can we take an <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality?language=en">intersectional</a>, <a href="https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/06/18/Whose-Streets-Black-Streets/">anti-racist approach to planning</a> urban green spaces as a public health measure? Policy-makers, planners and public health professionals can learn from <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5441df7ee4b02f59465d2869/t/5d8e9fdec6720c0557cf55fa/1569628126531/DELGADO++Critical+Race+Theory.pdf">critical race</a> and critical theory scholars in pushing for multidisciplinary action. </p>
<p>This is vital to stop upholding harmful practices that are rooted in systemic oppression. This critical framing is a prerequisite to create socially equitable green spaces that benefit public health post-pandemic. </p>
<p>Here are six ideas for policy-makers, city officials, public health, city builders and planners to consider in research, policy and practice:</p>
<h2>1. Resist romanticizing nature and green spaces</h2>
<p>Public green spaces have the potential to <a href="https://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Green-Space-Scoping-Review-of-Reviews.pdf">promote physical and mental health</a>. However, there is a tendency to romanticize nature and presume that all green spaces are universally good for everyone. </p>
<p>Green spaces, like <a href="https://www.safeinpublicspace.com/content/tour-2">other public spaces</a>, are subject to the same <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ravines-are-a-toronto-treasure-but-everyone-needs-an-equal-chance-to/?">social and systemic factors</a> that govern how people navigate and interact within them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man holding a laptop and a woman, both wearing masks, talk with two police officers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404940/original/file-20210607-23-tf2p7t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police talk with people in a park in Montréal during the COVID-19 pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a racialized person in Toronto, I have been told to “go back home” and received sidelong glances when walking through certain neighbourhoods. As a woman, I have been whistled at and followed in public. As someone with chronic pain, I have had to turn back when confronted with a long flight of stairs.</p>
<p>Not everyone experiences a green space in the same way. The presumption that they do undermines the potential for green spaces to improve health in an equitable way, especially for Black, Indigenous and racialized people.</p>
<h2>2. Address the structural determinants of health</h2>
<p>Social determinants of health include factors like race, ability, gender and income, whereas the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425845/">structural determinants of health are the root causes</a> that make those identities subject to health disparities. Structural determinants include racism, <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-to-address-internalized-white-supremacy-and-its-impact-on-health-152667">white supremacy</a>, ableism, classism, sexism, transphobia and xenophobia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Men sitting on bleachers watching a cricket game" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2986%2C1966&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404943/original/file-20210607-135198-1nk60bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People play cricket in a city park in Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Toronto, neighbourhoods are <a href="http://3cities.neighbourhoodchange.ca/">divided along racial and income lines</a> that <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/09/30/toronto-is-segregated-by-race-and-income-and-the-numbers-are-ugly.html">continue to grow</a>. This divide is the legacy of historical exclusionary policies.</p>
<p>Current policies and processes need to be grounded in principles of equity and anti-oppression to address injustices. Allocating the same resources now does not account for decades of discriminatory practices. Why does one neighbourhood get a playground quickly rebuilt after a fire, where another gets a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/yourcitymycity/2010/07/10/porter_playground_politics_are_unfair.html">second-hand playground after years of delays</a>? </p>
<h2>3. Engage meaningfully with people who are racialized</h2>
<p>An anti-racist approach to creating equitable urban spaces ensures that the needs of racialized communities are being met. Existing urban planning processes and health promotion initiatives around green spaces need to be <a href="https://www.kelmanonline.com/httpdocs/files/CIP/plancanadaspring2021/">reimagined to embed racial and social equity</a> in revamping education, theory and practice.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/finding-a-patch-of-green-covid-19-highlights-inequities-in-toronto-park-space-experts-say-1.5640852">quantity and quality of green space</a> available in racialized neighbourhoods is lower than in predominantly white and higher-income neighbourhoods, linking back to systemic issues about where green spaces are protected, developed and maintained.</p>
<p>Long-term accountability and transparency are non-negotiable. How do we address hundreds of years of slavery and settler colonialism, especially when it comes to <a href="https://native-land.ca/">Indigenous lands</a>? Who do we see in leadership positions in government and within institutions? What initiatives get funded? Situations like that of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-26/amy-cooper-exposes-green-space-s-race-problem">Christian Cooper, a Black man and birdwatcher, who was threatened</a> and had the police falsely called on him, continue to happen. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-you-should-know-about-black-birders-139812">What you should know about Black birders</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>My current research focuses on the experiences of people who are racialized in public, green spaces in Toronto. My discussions with community members include questions about who gets consulted in city engagement processes and whose concerns are addressed, versus who might be labelled as problematic. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42979498">Silencing and ignoring certain voices</a> is an insidious and longtime strategy in upholding oppression, including racism, ableism and patriarchy.</p>
<h2>4. Expand the concept of access</h2>
<p>Although physical access (like ramps, clear access points and signage) is important, the definition of access to green space needs to be expanded to include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.126991">social access</a>. </p>
<p>There are deeply embedded ideas within western society about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxnIU6tfQNw">who belongs and who is seen as an outsider</a>. These ideas impact people’s experiences in green spaces.</p>
<p>This social access lens must include a nuanced understanding of race relations and a historical understanding of <a href="https://nccdh.ca/images/uploads/comments/Lets-Talk-Racism-and-Health-Equity-EN.pdf">systemic racism</a> in Canada.</p>
<h2>5. Build solidarity between groups</h2>
<p>While it is important to understand unique group experiences and histories, particularly when it comes to Black and Indigenous people, it is necessary to <a href="https://theconversation.com/searching-for-anti-racism-agendas-in-south-asian-canadian-communities-142431?">build solidarity</a> through common ground. An entrenched focus on differences only <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs23/420117763">serves oppressive systems</a> like white supremacy through fragmentation. </p>
<p>Solidarity extends to include LGBTQ+ groups, those who are undocumented, migrant workers and those experiencing poverty and/or homelessness, for instance. Multiple oppressions can exist simultaneously and should not be presented as contradictions.</p>
<h2>6. Document and share processes and actions</h2>
<p>Documenting both processes and actions is a crucial part of <a href="https://via.library.depaul.edu/lawfacpubs/715/">recording histories</a> that often do not make it into mainstream venues. While not always an easy task, this is especially important for community groups pushing for change to document what has taken place, noting both challenges and opportunities for others to learn from and build on in solidarity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man sitting in front of a tennis court, next to a tent and shopping carts." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404938/original/file-20210607-130403-1lqrhma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man sits beside his tent in a park in Toronto while others play tennis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What will the archived narratives and stories from this period of crises be? For example, in Toronto, groups like the <a href="https://www.encampmentsupportnetwork.com/">Encampment Support Network</a> and the <a href="https://stjamestowncoop.org/">St. James Town Community Co-op</a> are responding to system-driven crises like homelessness and food insecurity, and documenting them in newsletters and social media.</p>
<p>In moving beyond this pandemic, we must critically consider how urban green spaces are a part of moving towards healthier, equitable cities that are racially and socially just.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadha Hassen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is on the Board of Directors for the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice.</span></em></p>
Green spaces can be part of the plan to ‘build back better’ after COVID-19. But city officials and policy-makers must address systemic racism for urban green spaces to benefit public health.
Nadha Hassen, PhD Candidate and Vanier Scholar, York University, Canada
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/161563
2021-06-09T12:38:48Z
2021-06-09T12:38:48Z
Protesters marching in Elizabeth City, N.C., over Andrew Brown’s killing are walking in the footsteps of centuries of fighters for Black rights
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404914/original/file-20210607-19-qvk91i.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4831%2C3218&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A march along historic South Road Street in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, protesting the police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NorthCarolinaDeputyShooting/5e57166dc4e344dc89feb0dce2e0f8a5/photo?Query=Elizabeth%20AND%20City&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1925&currentItemNo=60">AP Photo/Steve Helber</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Protests have been taking place in a small North Carolina city for the past two months, sparked by the <a href="https://www.pilotonline.com/news/crime/vp-nw-officer-shoots-person-elizabeth-city-20210421-wsvxysu47verbkfnjavtigsd2a-story.html">early morning report on April 21, 2021, that Andrew Brown Jr.</a>, a local African American man, had been shot and killed by county sheriff’s deputies serving search and arrest warrants.</p>
<p>Eleven months after the murder of George Floyd and just one day after former police officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction, Brown’s killing immediately became part of a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/05/25/police-brutality-statistics-shootings-george-floyd-489803">larger national story</a> about African Americans being killed by law enforcement agents and subsequent demands for accountability and reform.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2021/05/24/elizabeth-city-nc-protests-continue-month-after-andrew-brown-jr-s-death/5213478001/">For weeks</a>, protesters have held daily marches along Road, Ehringhaus, Main and Water Streets in Elizabeth City. They have also marched through the <a href="https://www.livingplaces.com/NC/Pasquotank_County/Elizabeth_City/Shepard_Street-South_Road_Street_Historic_District.html">Shepard Street-South Road Historic District</a>, a historically African American neighborhood that Andrew Brown called home and where his life was taken.</p>
<p>Protesters have also staged rallies at nearby Waterfront Park and in front of the county sheriff’s office. Some have engaged in acts of civil disobedience, <a href="https://www.wavy.com/news/north-carolina/brown-family-lawyers-to-share-autopsy-results-tuesday-church-leaders-also-meeting-to-declare-moral-emergency/">challenging a city-imposed curfew</a> and blocking traffic at key intersections.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.wavy.com/andrew-brown/protests-in-elizabeth-city-continue-for-8th-day-following-judges-ruling-not-to-release-body-camera-footage-to-public/">intersections</a> – Morgan’s Corner, located outside of town, and Elizabeth and Water streets, which front the Camden Causeway Bridge – are key transportation arteries in this part of North Carolina. Respectively, they connect Elizabeth City to U.S. Highway 17 and to the Outer Banks, an iconic North Carolina vacation spot.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Protesters lying on the ground near the county sheriff's office and the Camden Causeway Bridge in Elizabeth City." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404926/original/file-20210607-28372-5jngu4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters block traffic on Elizabeth Street near the county sheriff’s office and Camden Causeway Bridge in Elizabeth City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NorthCarolinaDeputyShooting/8467eeb1c0d546298f7d2c263c2e69f0/photo?Query=Elizabeth%20AND%20City&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1925&currentItemNo=108">AP Photo/Gerry Broome</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The shooting and ensuing protests have brought <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56907658">international</a> attention to Elizabeth City and, for many Americans, this fraught moment is their first exposure to the North Carolina city.</p>
<p>However, as a resident of Elizabeth City and a history professor at Elizabeth City State University, I know that today’s protesters are not the first to march here. Instead, they follow in the footsteps of previous generations of freedom seekers. </p>
<p>From Road Street to Water Street, from Ehringhaus Street to Elizabeth Street, this picturesque city has long been a site where quintessential African American struggles for freedom have taken place.</p>
<h2>Maroons and fugitives</h2>
<p>Elizabeth City is located on the edge of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/04/11/great-dismal-swamp-slavery-descendants/">Great Dismal Swamp</a>. During the era of slavery, this dense wetland served as home to unknown numbers of escaped slaves, known as <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/deep-swamps-archaeologists-fugitive-slaves-kept-freedom-180960122/">maroons</a>. </p>
<p>The Great Dismal also offered respite to slaves who were “lying out” – <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/runaway-slaves-9780195084511?cc=us&lang=en&">temporarily escaping</a> the brutality of plantation life. In addition, the swamp was a <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/world/paradise-of-serpents-runaway-slaves-lived-in-the-great-dismal-swamp-before-escape-to-canada">way station</a> along the Underground Railroad, hiding many fugitive slaves along their journeys to free states.</p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15036/15036-h/15036-h.htm">The Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy</a>,” the life story of a former slave, Grandy described the privations of many who sought refuge in the Great Dismal Swamp. One such person was his sister, Tamar.</p>
<p><iframe id="nZDcc" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nZDcc/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Tamar escaped from a slave trader by hiding in the swamp. For several years she lived in a “<a href="https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/grandy/grandy.html">den she made for herself</a>” in the woods. Occasionally she hid “in a hollow under the floor” of her mother’s home at the edge of the swamp, Moses Grandy wrote. </p>
<p>Tamar remained hidden in the Great Dismal long enough to bear three children. Eventually she was caught, returned to bondage and transported to Georgia. After securing his own freedom, Moses Grandy spent years trying to free Tamar and other family members from slavery.</p>
<p>Today, the Great Dismal Swamp and the Pasquotank River, whose tributaries connect the swamp to Elizabeth City, are listed as part of the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad <a href="https://greensboro.com/news/slaves-used-n-c-river-to-flee/article_9b492222-a4c2-54e9-bfa9-4bf698d1914a.html">Network to Freedom</a>, a group of sites throughout the country with a <a href="https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1205/index.htm">verifiable connection</a> to the Underground Railroad.</p>
<h2>United States Colored Troops</h2>
<p>During the <a href="https://www.pilotonline.com/news/vp-nw-wild-raid-20200216-ajmehzdlsfgbdk5r22xscjb6ne-story.html">Civil War</a>, the roads and waterways surrounding Elizabeth City were used for the large-scale liberation of slaves.</p>
<p>The U.S. Navy <a href="https://www.ncpedia.org/elizabeth-city-battle">captured Elizabeth City’s port in 1862</a>. The following year, the U.S. Army twice deployed several regiments of <a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/article.html">U.S. Colored Troops</a> to the city.</p>
<p>In December 1863, <a href="https://lsupress.org/books/detail/executing-daniel-bright/">the Black soldiers marched</a> from southern Virginia to Elizabeth City. Many of them were from the area and knew it well. They confidently navigated the Great Dismal Swamp and maneuvered down roads that today form part of U.S. 17. As they moved through the territory, they raided plantations and freed slaves, including their own family members.</p>
<p><iframe id="bJ99x" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bJ99x/9/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Once in Elizabeth City, <a href="https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2021/01/responding-to-the-call-engaging-the-public-in-conversations-about-african-american-civil-war-participation/">these U.S. Colored Troops encamped</a> on the waterfront near Elizabeth and Water streets. The Black soldiers patrolled and held drills along these and other downtown streets. Freedom-seeking slaves flocked to their camp. </p>
<p>Describing the scene, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1864/01/09/archives/gen-butlers-department-invasion-of-north-carolina-by-gen-wilds.html">New York Times</a> correspondent wrote, “The lately deserted streets of the city were thronged with liberated slaves that came pouring in from the country in every direction.”</p>
<p>In the aftermath of Andrew Brown’s killing, the streets near this former U.S. Colored Troops’ encampment have become a <a href="https://www.wavy.com/andrew-brown/elizabeth-city-police-declare-unlawful-assembly-after-protesters-block-roadway-wednesday/">staging ground</a> for police who have arrested protesters for violating curfew and for blocking the bridge.</p>
<p>After the Civil War, Elizabeth City’s Black veterans paraded annually on Emancipation Day, Jan. 1, and on Memorial Day. Long before any monument to the Confederacy was erected here, Elizabeth City’s African American community commemorated its freedom by marching from the Shepard Street-Road Street neighborhood to the courthouse and other downtown destinations.</p>
<p>Just like today’s marchers, they laid claim to the streets of Elizabeth City by filling these spaces with their bodies and their voices.</p>
<h2>Desegregation, picketing and sit-ins</h2>
<p>During the civil rights era, a new generation of Black freedom seekers followed in these veterans’ footsteps.</p>
<p>Local residents, along with students at what was then Elizabeth City State College, <a href="http://reedhistory.net/hngreen/documentaries/the-long-civil-rights-movement/">picketed and staged sit-ins</a> on Main Street to desegregate Elizabeth City’s downtown businesses.</p>
<p>College student Willie Thurman battled through fear and complacency to participate in the 1963 protests. Describing what he was feelings <a href="https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2015236572/1963-09-01/ed-1/seq-2/">while marching to town, Thurman wrote</a>, “There is no choice. Who wishes to remain lost, except a fool? I don’t. Consequently, I am following the mass, one hundred twenty demonstrators.” </p>
<p>Thurman was one of the hundreds of Elizabeth City State students jeered at, threatened, assaulted or arrested while protesting against segregation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402992/original/file-20210526-15-530po9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Civil War Trails marker in Elizabeth City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Melissa Stuckey</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>In the footsteps</h2>
<p>Since April 21, with the exception of a brief pause on a quiet Monday in early May, protesters have moved along these same streets every day. They have done so while crying for accountability and reform in the name of Andrew Brown and chanting in unison that “Black lives matter” in their city. <a href="https://www.wavy.com/andrew-brown/elizabeth-city-to-paint-black-lives-matter-on-street-in-front-of-pasquotank-county-sheriffs-office/?fbclid=IwAR200qFPs1qfa6WdqQGvqSsP9Rf5kfSIy4Ry6CLtb5iNyBqjY5K2jmASKew">City councilors voted</a> in May to paint the phrase on Colonial Avenue, in front of the county sheriff’s office.</p>
<p>The pause from daily protests took place on May 3. On this day <a href="https://www.dailyadvance.com/news/local/mourners-celebrate-browns-life-demand-justice/article_7298e771-4371-5090-b9f3-66e973e977b2.html">Andrew Brown Jr. was memorialized</a>. A public viewing of his casket was held at the <a href="https://www.museumofthealbemarle.com/">Museum of the Albemarle</a>. The museum faces Waterfront Park, a regular starting point for marches.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>After the viewing, the very roads that have borne the feet of three centuries of Black freedom seekers in Elizabeth City bore Brown on a final journey. <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article251123849.html">In solemn procession</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2021/photos-funeral-andrew-brown-jr/">a horse-drawn carriage carried</a> Brown’s coffin down Water and Ehringhaus streets. </p>
<p>The journey ended at a church on U.S. 17 where his funeral was held. The Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy. Later, Sharpton reflected on the ongoing protests. </p>
<p>“Elizabeth City is not a, quote, ‘activist’ town. [And yet],” he said, “they’ve <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/05/03/993205269/rev-al-sharpton-reflects-after-delivering-andrew-brown-jr-s-eulogy">been</a> marching every day.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa N. Stuckey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Many Americans first heard of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, when protests began after Andrew Brown Jr. was killed by sheriff’s deputies. But the city has a long history of fighting racial injustice.
Melissa N. Stuckey, Assistant Professor of History, Elizabeth City State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157316
2021-04-19T12:25:00Z
2021-04-19T12:25:00Z
Forget the debate over public health versus jobs – the same people suffer the most either way
<p>Throughout the pandemic, millions of Americans wondered: “Is the cure worse than the disease?” </p>
<p>The question implies a trade-off between “the cure,” in the form of economic shutdowns, and “the disease,” COVID-19. This debate <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/23/coronavirus-trump-weighs-easing-up-guidelines-amid-economic-fears/2900884001/">dominated headlines</a> in the first months of the pandemic. More than a year later, it continues to be a partisan lighting rod. </p>
<p>But our research shows that mortality during the pandemic in America has never fit the narrative that pits economic shutdowns against COVID-19.</p>
<p><a href="https://profiles.ucsf.edu/alicia.riley">We</a> <a href="https://profiles.ucsf.edu/kate.duchowny">three</a> <a href="https://profiles.ucsf.edu/ellicott.matthay">are</a> a research team of social epidemiologists who study the various ways social policies and conditions influence health. Our latest research <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306095">in the American Journal of Public Health</a> estimates how many excess deaths are likely to result from job losses at the start of the pandemic. We found that those at greatest risk of dying of pandemic-related unemployment are also those more likely to die from COVID-19. </p>
<p>This double burden of both coronavirus and job loss reflects the fact that most state and national pandemic policies have ignored those for whom neither mass shutdowns nor reopening provide relief. Rather, these policies cater to those who already possess the most advantages. The “cure-versus-disease” debate fails to acknowledge this combined suffering. </p>
<h2>Pandemic harms are double jeopardy</h2>
<p>Job loss is known to increase mortality generally. The reasons range from the impacts of financial trauma, to <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/10/toll-job-loss">declines in mental health</a>, to <a href="https://doi.org/10.26099/q9p1-tz63">delays in accessing health care due to loss of insurance</a>. In our study, we asked how many excess deaths are likely to result from the biggest wave of job losses at the start of the pandemic, and which groups would be more affected than others. </p>
<p>To answer that question, we gathered and analyzed three sets of data: how many people lost their jobs in March and April 2020, how much losing a job increases one’s risk of dying and the rate of pre-pandemic mortality for each population group. </p>
<p>We projected that between April 2020 and March 2021, the United States should expect 30,231 “excess” deaths – deaths in addition to the number experienced in a “normal” year – from pandemic unemployment in the working-age population. Because death certificates do not tell the full story of why someone died, projections informed by past research are one of the best ways to assess the impact of the spike in unemployment on mortality.</p>
<p>That number is far smaller than the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/22/us-coronavirus-death-toll-passes-500000">more than 550,000 COVID-19 deaths</a> the U.S. has seen over the same time period. But what’s more striking is who is doing the dying. </p>
<p>When we looked at the distribution of those excess unemployment-related deaths across demographic groups, we found that men, older workers, individuals with the least education and Black Americans – groups that are also more likely to die of COVID-19 – are more likely to die from pandemic-related job loss. </p>
<p>For example, individuals with a high school education or less made up 37% of the working-age population but 72% of projected deaths related to pandemic-driven unemployment. Similarly, Blacks represented 12% of the working-age population but 19% of unemployment-related deaths. </p>
<p>These findings complement a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR10-508.pdf">major Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study</a>, released in February 2021, which found that overall life expectancy declined by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-health-mortality/u-s-life-expectancy-fell-by-one-year-in-2020-cdc-data-shows-idUSKBN2AI2AP">one year in the first half of 2020</a>. Life expectancy declined by three years for non-Hispanic Black males and by 2.4 years for non-Hispanic Black females, far more than the declines for the other large racial/ethnic groups. </p>
<p>According to CDC data, the Black-white gap in life expectancy is now <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_07-508.pdf">larger than it has been in 22 years</a>.</p>
<p>One could say America is protecting wealth and whiteness at the expense of Black lives. </p>
<p>Taken together, these studies reveal the sharp <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2774273">contrast in pandemic mortality between those who are most marginalized and those with the most privilege</a>. They underscore how the “cure-versus-disease” debate has obscured the pandemic’s uneven toll on our society: The people most likely to die from pandemic-related unemployment are also the people dying disproportionately from COVID-19. </p>
<p>A different subset of people has managed to escape both the brunt of COVID-19 death and the health harms of the unemployment crisis. </p>
<h2>Who benefits from pandemic policies?</h2>
<p>For much of the pandemic, lawmakers and public health officials have relied on two main strategies to stem COVID-19 transmission: individual behavior changes and economic shutdowns. However, as our research shows, these responses are set against the nation’s backdrop of economic and racial inequality leaving many people unprotected. Only by evaluating policy responses in the context of social inequality will it be possible to take steps that protect the most vulnerable populations from premature death. </p>
<p>Vaccination has brought a degree of hope for relief. But just like COVID-19 and unemployment-related mortality, policies for vaccine distribution and eligibility have benefited the privileged and <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.25.21254272v2">left behind those who need the most protection</a>. In California, for example, whites have made up only <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/latest-data-on-covid-19-vaccinations-race-ethnicity/">20% of COVID-19 cases but 34% of vaccinations</a>.</p>
<p>Pandemic responses that have prioritized the most vulnerable have delivered some of the lowest or most equitable infection or mortality nationwide. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/19/21541810/vermont-covid-19-coronavirus-social-distancing">Vermont’s programs to pay low-wage essential workers hazard pay and provide unhoused individuals state-subsidized motel rooms for social distancing</a> helped keep its infection rates low through much of 2020. In Michigan, where Black residents make up about 14% of the population, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/14/best-state-responses-to-pandemic-429376">a targeted health equity task force</a> helped reduce proportion of deaths among Black residents from 40% in the spring of 2020 to 8% by the end of September. </p>
<p>Until policies are implemented that disrupt the fundamental ways that being poor, Black, Indigenous or less educated in America are punished with premature death, any perceived progress toward recovery is likely to exacerbate mortality inequities. There may not have been a moment in recent decades when policy decisions mattered more in the nation’s struggle for health equity than they do now. Our research shows that moving beyond the “cure-versus-disease” debate is a necessary first step.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alicia R. Riley receives funding from the National Institute on Aging T32AG049663 and has previously received funding from the National Opinion Research Center.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellicott C. Matthay receives funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Evidence for Action program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Duchowny receives funding from the National Institute of Aging</span></em></p>
Most pandemic policies have benefited those already best off in US society and ignored people for whom neither mass shutdowns nor reopening offer relief.
Alicia R. Riley, Postdoctoral Scholar in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco
Ellicott C. Matthay, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, San Francisco
Kate Duchowny, Postdoctoral Scholar in Epidemiology, University of California, San Francisco
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/158505
2021-04-12T12:27:06Z
2021-04-12T12:27:06Z
Derek Chauvin trial: 3 questions America needs to ask about seeking racial justice in a court of law
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394151/original/file-20210409-17-1jnexdt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C16%2C5517%2C3921&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A demonstration outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on March 29, 2021, the day Derek Chauvin's trial began on charges he murdered George Floyd. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-gather-during-a-demonstration-outside-the-hennepin-news-photo/1232011841?adppopup=true">Stephen Maturen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a difference between enforcing the law and being the law. The world is now witnessing another in a long history of struggles for racial justice in which this distinction may be ignored.</p>
<p>Derek Chauvin, a 45-year-old white former Minneapolis police officer, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/04/15/derek-chauvin-trial-jury-what-happens-next-george-floyd/7238364002/">is on trial</a> for second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man.</p>
<p>There are three questions I find important to consider as the trial unfolds. These questions address the legal, moral and political legitimacy of any verdict in the trial. I offer them from my perspective as <a href="https://philosophy.uconn.edu/person/lewis-gordon/">an Afro-Jewish philosopher and political thinker</a> who studies oppression, justice and freedom. They also speak to the divergence between how a trial is conducted, what rules govern it – and the larger issue of <a href="https://www.governing.com/now/Derek-Chauvin-Trial-and-Americas-Racial-Justice-Reckoning.html">racial justice raised by George Floyd’s death</a> after Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes. They are questions that need to be asked: </p>
<h2>1. Can Chauvin be judged as guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/presumption_of_innocence">The presumption of innocence</a> in criminal trials is a feature of the U.S. criminal justice system. And a prosecutor must <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/beyond_a_reasonable_doubt">prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt</a> to a jury of the defendant’s peers. </p>
<p>The history of the United States reveals, however, that these two conditions apply primarily to white citizens. Black defendants tend to be treated as <a href="https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/images/press/docs/pdf/ASARaceCrime.pdf">guilty until proved innocent</a>.</p>
<p>Racism often leads to presumptions of reasonableness and good intentions when defendants and witnesses are white, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5004736/">irrationality and ill intent when defendants, witnesses and even victims are black</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An activist watching the trial on a cellphone outside the government building in Minneapolis where the trial is taking place." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394164/original/file-20210409-23-9a2chp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An activist watches the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on March 30, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-activist-listens-to-judge-cahill-outside-the-hennepin-news-photo/1232030116?adppopup=true">Kerem Yucel / AFP/via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=nulr_online">race affects jury selection</a>. <a href="https://eji.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/illegal-racial-discrimination-in-jury-selection.pdf">The history of all-white juries</a> for black defendants and <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/diversity-inclusion/articles/2015/lack-of-jury-diversity-national-problem-individual-consequences/">rarely having black jurors for white ones</a> is evidence of a presumption of white people’s validity of judgment versus that of Black Americans. Doubt can be afforded to a white defendant in circumstances <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/2014_vol_40/vol_40_no_1_50_years_later/presumption_of_guilt/">where it would be denied a black one</a>.</p>
<p>Thus, Chauvin, as white, could be granted that exculpating doubt despite the evidence shared before millions of viewers in a live-streamed trial.</p>
<h2>2. What is the difference between force and violence?</h2>
<p>The customary questioning of police officers who harm people focuses on their use of what’s called “<a href="https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/11-15-Police-Force.pdf">excessive force</a>.” <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20160729160353/https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/231176.pdf">This presumes the legal legitimacy of using force in the first place</a> in the specific situation. </p>
<p>Violence, however, is the use of illegitimate force. As a result of racism, Black people are often portrayed as <a href="https://eji.org/issues/presumption-of-guilt/">preemptively guilty and dangerous</a>. It follows that the perceived threat of danger makes “force” the appropriate description when a police officer claims to be preventing violence. </p>
<p>This understanding makes it <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-its-still-so-rare-for-police-officers-to-face-legal-consequences-for-misconduct/">difficult to find police officers guilty of violence</a>. To call the act “violence” is to acknowledge that it is improper and thus falls, in the case of physical acts of violence, under the purview of criminal law. <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/8/13/17938234/police-shootings-killings-prosecutions-court">Once their use of force is presumed legitimate</a>, the question of degree makes it <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/us/police-killings-prosecution-charges.html">nearly impossible for jurors to find officers guilty</a>.</p>
<p>Floyd, who was suspected of purchasing items from a store <a href="https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2020/06/03/what-we-know-fake-currency-and-george-floyds-death-minneapolis-counterfeit-police/5310999002/">with a counterfeit $20 bill</a>, was handcuffed and complained of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/08/george-floyd-police-killing-transcript-i-cant-breathe">not being able to breathe</a> when Chauvin pulled him from the police vehicle and he fell face down on the ground. </p>
<p>Footage from the incident revealed that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/derek-chauvin-george-floyd-kneel-9-minutes-29-seconds.html">Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck</a> for nine minutes and 29 seconds. Floyd was motionless several minutes in, and <a href="https://www.startribune.com/derek-chauvin-s-supervisor-testifies-he-wasn-t-told-immediately-of-knee-on-george-floyd-s-neck-or-fo/600040991/">he had no pulse when Alexander Kueng, one of the officers, checked</a>. Chauvin didn’t remove his knee until paramedics arrived and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56606418">asked him to get off of Floyd</a> so they could examine the motionless patient. </p>
<p>If force under the circumstances is unwarranted, then its use would constitute violence in both legal and moral senses. Where force is legitimate (for example, to prevent violence) but things go wrong, the presumption is that a mistake, instead of intentional wrongdoing, occurred.</p>
<p>An important, related distinction is between justification and excuse. Violence, if the action is illegitimate, is not justified. Force, however, when justified, can become excessive. The question at that point is whether a reasonable person could understand the excess. That understanding makes the action morally excusable. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo in the witness box at the Chauvin trial, fingering his badge." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=336&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394167/original/file-20210409-23-1j5hymo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified,</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/GeorgeFloydOfficerTrial/e8aecd02002b4054a0edb0a81b0fb36b/photo?Query=Medaria%20Arradondo%20Chauvin&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=18&currentItemNo=11">Court TV via AP, Pool</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Is there ever excusable police violence?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/5/31/17937874/police-officers-use-of-force-shootings-killings-legal-law">Police are allowed to use force to prevent violence</a>. But at what point does the force become violence? When its use is illegitimate. In U.S. law, the force is illegitimate when done “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/16">in the course of committing an offense</a>.” </p>
<p>Sgt. David Pleoger, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/us/Derek-Chauvin-George-Floyd-supervisor-restraint.html">Chauvin’s former supervisor, stated</a> in the trial: “When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint.”</p>
<p>Minneapolis <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/us/george-floyd-murder-trial.html">Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified</a>, “To continue to apply that level of force to a person proned-out, handcuffed behind their back, that in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy.” He declared, “I vehemently disagree that that was an appropriate use of force.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.startribune.com/derek-chauvin-charges-trial-george-floyd-murder-manslaughter-police-minneapolis-minnesota/600030691/">That an act was deemed by prosecutors to be violent, defined as an illegitimate use of force resulting in death, is a necessary conclusion for charges of murder and manslaughter</a>. Both require ill intent or, in legal terms, a mens rea (“evil mind”). The absence of a reasonable excuse affects the legal interpretation of the act. That the act was not preventing violence but was, instead, one of committing it, made the action inexcusable.</p>
<p>The Chauvin case, like so many others, leads to the question: What is the difference between enforcing the law and imagining being the law? <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/deprivation-rights-under-color-law">Enforcing the law means one is acting within the law</a>. That makes the action legitimate. Being the law forces others, even law-abiding people, below the enforcer, subject to their actions. </p>
<p>If no one is equal to or above the enforcer, then <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/above-the-law-police-and-the-excessive-use-of-force/oclc/30413561&referer=brief_results">the enforcer is raised above the law</a>. Such people would be accountable only to themselves. Police officers and any state officials who believe they are the law, versus implementers or enforcers of the law, place themselves above the law. Legal justice requires pulling such officials back under the jurisdiction of law.</p>
<p>The purpose of a trial is, in principle, to subject the accused to the law instead of placing him, her, or them above it. Where the accused is placed above the law, there is an unjust system of justice.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to correct the charges Chauvin is facing.</em></p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lewis R. Gordon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
There’s a divergence in how a trial is conducted, what rules govern it – and the larger issue of racial justice. That divergence affects the legitimacy of any verdict.
Lewis R. Gordon, Professor of Philosophy, University of Connecticut
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152308
2021-03-01T13:18:07Z
2021-03-01T13:18:07Z
Colleges confront their links to slavery and wrestle with how to atone for past sins
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386756/original/file-20210226-21-1oelrib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4075%2C2717&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students at Georgetown University protest in 2019, demanding the school make amends for its history with reparations. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-at-georgetown-university-protested-for-the-school-news-photo/1179276294?adppopup=true">Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Colleges and universities across the U.S. have been taking a hard look at their ties to slavery.</p>
<p>This isn’t an entirely new phenomenon. Back in 2006, Brown University published a report showing that the university – from its construction to its endowment – <a href="https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/institutional-diversity/resources-initiatives/slavery-justice-report">participated in and benefited from the slave trade and slavery</a>.</p>
<p>And since then, several other colleges and universities have disclosed their ties to the use of slave labor.</p>
<p>For instance, Johns Hopkins University – whose namesake and founder has historically been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/arts/johns-hopkins-slavery-abolitionist.html">portrayed as an abolitionist</a> – <a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/12/09/johns-hopkins-ties-to-slaveholding-reexamined/">reported in December 2020</a> that its founder actually employed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/arts/johns-hopkins-slavery-abolitionist.html">four enslaved individuals in his Baltimore household</a>.</p>
<p>At the University of Mississippi, a slavery research group has found that at least <a href="https://mississippitoday.org/2020/12/29/university-of-mississippi-professors-research-the-legacy-of-slavery-at-states-flagship-university/">11 enslaved people labored on the campus</a>.</p>
<p>At Georgetown University, officials disclosed in 2016 that one of its presidents – Thomas Mulledy – <a href="https://slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu/collections/show/1">sold 272 enslaved men, women and children</a> in 1838 <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/history-slaves-sold-georgetown-detailed-new-genealogical-website">to save the university from bankruptcy</a>. The revelation sparked an effort to track down descendants of the people and to atone by offering <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/04/28/526085106/georgetown-university-to-offer-slave-descendants-preferential-admissions">preferential admission</a> – but <a href="https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/09/09/georgetown-preferential-admission-descendants-slaves-financial-aid/">not scholarships</a> – for them to study at Georgetown.</p>
<p>Georgetown University has since committed to raising <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/10/31/20940665/georgetown-reparations-fund-slavery-history-colleges">$400,000 a year for reparations</a> to help the living descendants of enslaved people sold by the school’s president in 1838. But some students have <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/11/04/georgetown-reparations-plan-slaves-sold-university-draws-criticism">criticized the plan</a> as not going far enough. Meanwhile, implementation has apparently <a href="https://thehoya.com/editorial-pressure-administration-on-gu272/">stalled</a>.</p>
<h2>Action steps debated</h2>
<p>Many universities benefited from slavery, and there has been a growing discussion about what, if anything, universities owe to the descendants of the people they enslaved and what they can do to atone.</p>
<p>In Virginia, for example, the Virginia House approved <a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=211&typ=bil&val=HB1980">a bill</a> to require five state universities founded before 1865 to <a href="https://diverseeducation.com/article/204721/">offer economic assistance and four-year scholarships</a> to descendants of enslaved people who labored on the campuses. The Virginia Senate has yet to take up the measure, known as <a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?211+sum+HB1980">HB 1980</a>. </p>
<p>From my vantage point as a historian of <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=YvLOBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=calvin+schermerhorn&ots=satW3Z-B_1&sig=pK-XGqdT_SpC3scLfGYIkklBlOs#v=onepage&q=calvin%20schermerhorn&f=false">slavery, capitalism</a> and racial inequality, the issue goes beyond whatever “<a href="https://time.com/5013728/slavery-universities-america/">connections</a>” U.S. colleges and universities have had to slavery. Even after slavery, these schools continued to oppress Black people by <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/121382/forgotten-racist-past-american-universities">not allowing</a> them to enroll as students.</p>
<h2>Inequitable access</h2>
<p>Institutions that used slave labor were slow to open to African American students. Georgetown graduated its <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2963372">first Black undergraduate</a>, Samuel A. Halsey Jr., in <a href="https://thehoya.com/first-black-undergraduate-dies-2/">1953</a>. </p>
<p>The University of Virginia graduated its first Black <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2963173">undergraduate</a>, Robert Bland, in <a href="https://news.virginia.edu/content/first-african-american-graduate-says-failure-was-never-option">1959</a>. </p>
<p>Yet admission to traditionally white universities is one piece of the higher education puzzle. Historically Black colleges and universities, commonly known as HBCUs, continue to have an <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=667#:%7E:text=In%202018%2C%20non%2DBlack%20students,percent%20in%201976%20">outsize role</a> in ensuring African American upward mobility through higher education. Even though the nation’s <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=667#:%7E:text=In%202018%2C%20non%2DBlack%20students,percent%20in%201976%20">100 or so</a> HBCUs represent less than 3% of the nation’s <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=84">4,360</a> colleges and universities, they graduated <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=667">13%</a> of Black undergraduate college students nationally in the 2017-2018 school year.</p>
<p>And the institutions that tend to enroll <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/reports/2018/05/23/451186/neglected-college-race-gap-racial-disparities-among-college-completers/">higher proportions</a> of historically underrepresented groups – including African Americans – also tend to be the <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/policy-strategies-pursuing-adequate-funding-community-colleges/">least well funded</a>. That matters because students who attend better-funded colleges tend to <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/07/12/study-shows-students-more-likely-graduate-wealthier-institutions">graduate at higher rates</a>.</p>
<h2>Financial disparities</h2>
<p>The disparities transcend higher education. White families, on average, tend to have <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/02/27/examining-the-black-white-wealth-gap/">10 times the wealth of Black families</a>. That <a href="https://higherlearningadvocates.org/2020/03/12/student-debt-and-the-racial-wealth-gap-reform-should-narrow-the-chasm/">gap</a> is likely to grow in part because the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/opinion/sunday/race-wage-gap.html">racial wage gap</a> is expanding.</p>
<p>Student loan debt also disproportionately affects Black Americans.</p>
<p>Four years after they graduate, Black Americans have <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/black-white-disparity-in-student-loan-debt-more-than-triples-after-graduation/">$25,000 more debt</a> than their white counterparts, in part because of additional graduate borrowing and accrual of interest. Consequently, African Americans face more difficulties <a href="https://www.trellisfoundation.org/black-student-debt-a-summary-of-recent-research/">repaying loans</a> than their white counterparts.</p>
<h2>Are reparations enough?</h2>
<p>Universities are beginning to put resources toward efforts to atone for their roles in slavery.</p>
<p>The Virginia Theological Seminary is designating <a href="https://vts.edu/mission/multicultural-ministries/reparations/">$1.7 million</a> as a reparations fund that will be spent on scholarships and new curriculum. Princeton Theological Seminary is contributing a <a href="https://gather.ptsem.edu/princeton-theological-seminary-announces-plan-to-repent-for-ties-to-slavery/">$27 million</a> endowment expected to fund scholarships, community engagement, curriculum development and other efforts to atone for its ties to slavery.</p>
<figure>
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<p>St. Mary’s College of Maryland has built the <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/526936-see-the-first-memorial-to-the-enslaved-peoples-of-southern">first memorial</a> to enslaved people of Southern Maryland on its campus. I spoke with St. Mary’s history professor Garrey Dennie, who says that the college is building “a curriculum that is attentive to the experiences of African Americans both in the present and in the past” as part of an effort to right past wrongs. </p>
<p>Yet scholars and economists studying racial economic inequality, such as <a href="https://thenextsystem.org/for-reparations">William A. Darity Jr.</a>, point to the need for federal action. This action could range from <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469654973/from-here-to-equality/">economic reparations</a> and <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/06/15/black-reparations-and-the-racial-wealth-gap/">endowment-building at HBCUs</a> to <a href="https://www.responsiblelending.org/research-publication/quicksand-borrowers-color-student-debt-crisis">debt forgiveness</a> for Black students.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>As colleges and universities continue to examine how they benefited from slavery and shut out African Americans from their campuses for a century after slavery was abolished, reparations only to the descendants of those who were enslaved by agents of a particular college might be just one part of the equation.</p>
<p>To eliminate the educational disparities that they helped uphold after slavery, former slaveholding colleges must, I believe, address inequality on a much broader level. At the heart of the matter is the extent to which Black Americans can afford to pay schools that once paid nothing for the labor of the people they enslaved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Calvin Schermerhorn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Are reparations for slavery enough for colleges to make amends? A scholar argues that access and student loan debt must also be addressed.
Calvin Schermerhorn, Professor of History, Arizona State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/154466
2021-02-09T16:01:13Z
2021-02-09T16:01:13Z
What the $25 billion the biggest US donors gave in 2020 says about high-dollar charity today
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/383115/original/file-20210208-17-1uft0gw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C66%2C3637%2C2166&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, seen here before they divorced in 2019, were the top two U.S. charitable donors the following year. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-and-his-wife-mackenzie-bezos-arrive-news-photo/950770310">Jorg Carstensen/dpa/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: According to <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/package/the-new-focus-of-2020s-top-donors?cid=theconversation">The Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>, the top 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2020 committed to giving a total of US$24.7 billion to hospitals, homeless shelters, universities, museums and more – a boost of roughly 54% from 2019 levels. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VYsdAEIAAAAJ&hl=en">David Campbell</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=tu70lmIAAAAJ">Elizabeth Dale</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=uqv9NgwAAAAJ">Jasmine McGinnis Johnson</a>, three scholars of philanthropy, assess what these gifts mean, the possible motivations behind them and what they hope to see in the future in terms of charitable giving in the United States.</em></p>
<h2>What trends stand out?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> Pandemic. Pandemic. Pandemic. The share of giving that went to <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.categories&categoryid=6">social service nonprofits</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-food-banks-help-americans-who-have-trouble-getting-enough-to-eat-148150">food banks</a> and homelessness assistance groups rose sharply. At the same time, performing arts organizations, largely shut down as a result of the pandemic and <a href="https://www.americantheatre.org/2020/09/30/study-shows-steep-revenue-plunge-for-theatres-some-hope-for-2021/">starved of revenue from ticket sales</a>, received more support from big donors in 2020 than in 2019, with charitable gifts and pledges to them increasing to $65 million from $51 million.</p>
<p><strong>McGinnis Johnson:</strong> Likewise, Racial justice. Racial justice. Racial justice.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/michael-jordans-brand-donates-100-million-to-anti-racist-groups.html">basketball legend Michael Jordan</a> declared that he would personally give at least $50 million to racial equity and education causes over the next decade, with his footwear and clothing company kicking in another $50 million. Also, Netflix CEO <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/netflix-s-reed-hastings-patty-quillin-donate-120m-black-education-n1231267">Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillan</a> gave a total of $120 million divided into three equal gifts to <a href="https://uncf.org/news/patty-quillin-and-reed-hastings-give-120-million-to-support-historically-black-colleges-and-universities">Morehouse College, Spelman College and UNCF</a> – the group previously called United Negro College Fund that pays for students to attend <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/how-hbcus-are-using-more-than-250-million-in-donations/">historically black colleges and universities</a>. Neither Jordan nor <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/netflix-s-reed-hastings-patty-quillin-donate-120m-black-education-n1231267">Hastings and Quillan</a>, who said their increased awareness about the country’s racial injustices and the deaths of Black people in police custody inspired them to give, made the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/billion-dollar-giving-streak-shows-new-sense-of-urgency-among-50-top-donors/">Chronicle’s list of top donors in 2019</a>.</p>
<p>These and other unusually large <a href="https://theconversation.com/racial-justice-giving-is-booming-4-trends-145526">gifts taking aim at racial injustice</a>, and other forms of social injustice (not counting HBCU donations), totaled $66 million in 2020. But I had anticipated that there would be even more of this giving by the biggest donors.</p>
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<p><strong>Dale:</strong> In particular, <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-mackenzie-scotts-5-8-billion-commitment-to-social-and-economic-justice-is-a-model-for-other-donors-152206">MacKenzie Scott</a> – Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife – made <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/04/mackenzie-scott-surprises-hbcus-tribal-colleges-and-community-colleges-multimillion">many gifts to HBCUs</a>. These donations included $50 million for Prairie View A&M University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Morgan State University. In addition to racial justice, <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-takeaways-from-mackenzie-scotts-1-7-billion-in-support-for-social-justice-causes-143659">her philanthropy</a> has raised the profile of causes like civic engagement, community development and the need to address the <a href="https://ripmedicaldebt.org/press-release/gift-from-philanthropist-mackenzie-scott/">medical debt crisis</a> in the U.S. Scott was the second-largest donor for the year, after Bezos. Combined, their commitments totaled nearly $16 billion. Neither made the top 50 in 2019.</p>
<p>Until now, the ultra-rich haven’t typically supported causes like these. Instead, extremely wealthy donors have historically been more inclined to fund <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-1-gives-more-money-to-arts-culture-and-sports-than-to-fighting-climate-change-survey-of-billionaires-finds-2020-01-23">higher education and health care</a>, largely with big donations to elite universities, hospitals and arts institutions like museums and operas.</p>
<p>The other aspect that strikes me is the “who” part of the list. There are many new faces: Eight of the 20 top donors didn’t make an appearance on the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/the-philanthropy-50/?cid2=gen_login_refresh&cid=gen_sign_in#id=table_2019">Philanthropy 50 list for their 2019 giving</a>. </p>
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<h2>What concerns do you have?</h2>
<p><strong>McGinnis Johnson:</strong> A total of about $14 billion of this giving went to foundations led by the givers themselves and <a href="https://learning.candid.org/resources/knowledge-base/donor-advised-funds">donor-advised funds</a>, which work somewhat like foundations in that donors set money aside for charity before they actually give those funds to nonprofits. When wealthy people set aside money this way, they receive tax benefits before giving those funds. In a troubling development, <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/foundations-are-sending-more-dollars-to-donor-advised-funds-chronicle-analysis-finds">some foundations</a> have begun to put some of their disbursed money, which was already designated for charity, into donor-advised funds rather than addressing today’s many urgent needs, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/18-million-us-children-are-at-risk-of-hunger-how-is-the-problem-being-addressed-and-what-more-can-be-done-151821">alleviating hunger</a> and <a href="https://fox17.com/news/nation-world/eviction-moratorium-gave-renters-relief-but-property-owners-face-billions-in-unpaid-rent">staving off evictions</a> amid a major economic crisis.</p>
<p><strong>Dale:</strong> This list reminds me of the limits of philanthropy, especially with a problem as widespread as the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if you add all of the social service gifts together, including donations to food banks, efforts to help the homeless and gifts to pay off medical debt, it adds up to only about $700 million. Compared to the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/biden-lays-out-1-9-trillion-covid-19-relief-package-n1254334">trillions of dollars in relief</a> the government is providing <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/05/15/854774681/congress-has-approved-3-trillion-for-coronavirus-relief-so-far-heres-a-breakdown">individuals and small businesses</a> for economic problems that <a href="https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2020/dec/covid-19-relief-bill-addresses-key-ppp-issues.html">began in 2020</a>, you can see that philanthropy from the very wealthiest Americans doesn’t come close to meeting all of the nation’s needs.</p>
<p>One possible way Congress could encourage more donations is by increasing the share of assets that foundations must give away every year. A <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-19/wealthy-donors-press-congress-to-require-higher-giving-in-crisis">coalition of wealthy donors</a> including Walt Disney Co. heiress <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-are-we-waiting-for-multimillionaires-want-the-new-stimulus-bill-to-force-other-rich-people-to-give-more-money-to-charity-2020-07-22">Abigail Disney</a> and at least two members of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pritzker-family">Pritzker family</a> – heirs to the Hyatt fortune – supports this change.</p>
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<h2>What do you expect to see in 2021 and beyond?</h2>
<p><strong>McGinnis Johnson:</strong> I think that major gifts in support of racial and social justice causes may continue. I also expect to see the emergence of new donors spurred on by these crises who can give in new and different ways. And I hope that more wealthy donors begin to pay more attention to leadership, by supporting <a href="https://cep.org/a-new-wave-of-philanthropy-to-support-black-led-organizations/">organizations led by people of color</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> Donors like <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">MacKenzie Scott</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/@susansandlerfund/my-cancer-milestone-and-my-philanthropic-legacy-a338d03bfc94">Susan Sandler</a> – the heir to a fortune made in the home-mortgage business – and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/01/robin-hood-foundation-launches-fund-to-help-groups-run-by-people-of-color.html">some foundations</a> are going out of their way to invest in people, places and organizations that have long been ignored or marginalized.</p>
<p>Also, their public statements about their giving, along with Twitter CEO <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1-eGxq2mMoEGwgSpNVL5j2sa6ToojZUZ-Zun8h2oBAR4/htmlview">Jack Dorsey’s spreadsheet listing his donations</a>, have raised the bar for transparency in philanthropy.</p>
<p>I believe these new approaches can engage the public in an ongoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-students-see-giving-money-away-as-a-good-thing-but-theyre-getting-leery-of-billionaire-donors-116627">debate about the best way to use charitable dollars</a> to build a better world. The question is, will other wealthy donors follow their lead?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Campbell is vice chair of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation in Binghamton, New York. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth J. Dale has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation via Indiana University and The Giving USA Foundation for her research on philanthropy. The views expressed in this essay are strictly my own and do not reflect policy stances of Seattle University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jasmine McGinnis Johnson is a Visiting Fellow at Urban Institute, the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy.</span></em></p>
While support for social services and historically black colleges and universities rose sharply, these donors spent a tiny fraction of what the government distributed to people who needed help.
David Campbell, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Elizabeth J. Dale, Assistant Professor of Nonprofit Leadership, Seattle University
Jasmine McGinnis Johnson, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/150610
2021-01-21T13:16:15Z
2021-01-21T13:16:15Z
5 ways Biden can help rural America thrive and bridge the rural-urban divide
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376870/original/file-20201231-57963-rwm7s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1347%2C1206%2C1818%2C1105&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Joe Biden talked about healing the rifts and uniting America in his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/colemans-bar-b-que-is-a-popular-place-to-eat-and-show-off-news-photo/696487040">Michael S. Williamson/Washington Post</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s no secret that rural and urban people have grown apart culturally and <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/gaps-in-u-s-rural-and-urban-economic-growth-widened-in-the-post-great-recession-economy-with-implications-amid-the-coronavirus-recession/">economically</a> in recent years. A quick glance at the media – especially social media – confirms an ideological gap has also widened.</p>
<p>City folks have long been detached from rural conditions. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/20/books/review-ramp-hollow-ordeal-of-appalachia-steven-stoll.html">Even in the 1700s</a>, urbanites labeled <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/books/review/white-trash-by-nancy-isenberg.html">rural people as backward</a> or different. And lately, urban views of rural people have <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1770062">deteriorated</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/faculty_and_staff/directory/eisenberg_ann.php">All three</a> <a href="https://law.ucdavis.edu/faculty/pruitt/">of us are</a> <a href="https://law.unl.edu/jessica-shoemaker/">law professors</a> who study and advocate intervention to assist distressed rural communities. The response we often hear is, “You expect me to care about those far-off places, especially given the way the people there vote?”</p>
<p>Our answer is “yes.”</p>
<p>Rural communities provide much of the food and <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793623102/Urban-Dependency-The-Inescapable-Reality-of-the-Energy-Economy">energy</a> that fuel our lives. They are made up of people who, after decades of exploitative resource extraction and neglect, need strong connective infrastructure and opportunities to pursue regional prosperity. A lack of investment in broadband, schools, jobs, sustainable farms, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/claryestes/2020/02/24/1-4-rural-hospitals-are-at-risk-of-closure-and-the-problem-is-getting-worse/">hospitals</a>, roads and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/business/in-rural-america-fears-that-beloved-post-offices-will-close.html">even the U.S. Postal Service</a> has increasingly driven rural voters to seek change from national politics. And this sharp hunger for change gave Trump’s promises to disrupt the status quo <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.10.045">particular appeal</a> in rural areas.</p>
<p>Metropolitan stakeholders often complain that the Electoral College and U.S. Senate give less populous states disproportionate power nationally. Yet that power has not steered enough resources, infrastructure investment and jobs to rural America for communities to survive and thrive.</p>
<p>So, how can the federal government help?</p>
<p>Based on our years of research into rural issues, here are five federal initiatives that would go a long way toward empowering distressed rural communities to improve their destinies, while also helping bridge the urban/rural divide.</p>
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<h2>1. Get high-speed internet to the rest of rural America</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 era has made more acute something rural communities were already familiar with: High-speed internet is the gateway to everything. Education, work, health care, information access and even a social life depend directly on broadband.</p>
<p>Yet 22.3% of rural residents and 27.7% of tribal lands residents <a href="https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-20-50A1.pdf">lacked access to high-speed internet</a> as of 2018, compared with 1.5% of urban residents.</p>
<p>The Trump administration undermined progress on the digital divide in 2018 by <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3554721">reversing an Obama-era rule</a> that categorized broadband as a public utility, like electricity. When broadband was regulated as a utility, the government could ensure fairer access even in regions that were <a href="https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/12/6/22150163/covid-19-broadband-internet-service-open-access-public-utility-infrastructure-remote-work-learning">less profitable for service providers</a>. The reversal left rural communities more vulnerable to the whims of competitive markets.</p>
<p>Although President Joe Biden has signaled support for rural broadband expansion, it’s not yet clear what the Federal Communications Commission might do under his leadership. <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/21557495/biden-fcc-digital-divide-net-neutrality-section-230">Recategorizing broadband as a public utility</a> could help close the digital divide. </p>
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<h2>2. Help local governments avoid going broke</h2>
<p>It’s easy to take for granted the everyday things <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3222719">local governments do</a>, like trash pickup, building code enforcement and overseeing public health. So, what happens <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2579369">when a local government goes broke</a>?</p>
<p>A lot of rural local governments are dealing with an invisible crisis of <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-risk-of-fiscal-collapse-in-coal-reliant-communities/">fiscal collapse</a>. Regions that have <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3346576">lost traditional livelihoods</a> in manufacturing, mining, timber and agriculture are stuck in a downward cycle: Jobs loss and population decline mean less tax revenue to keep local government running.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A street in Schuylkill Haven." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376869/original/file-20201231-17-x8rcow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376869/original/file-20201231-17-x8rcow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376869/original/file-20201231-17-x8rcow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376869/original/file-20201231-17-x8rcow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376869/original/file-20201231-17-x8rcow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376869/original/file-20201231-17-x8rcow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376869/original/file-20201231-17-x8rcow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, was once known for coal mining, an industry that has declined as the economy has changed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/street-sign-marks-forget-me-not-street-on-september-15-2020-news-photo/1273090214">Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Federal institutions could help by expanding capacity-building programs, like <a href="https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg/">Community Development Block Grants</a> and <a href="https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/rural-economic-development-loan-grant-program">Rural Economic Development Loans and Grants</a> that let communities invest in long-term assets like main street improvements and housing. </p>
<p>Rural activists are also calling for a <a href="https://www.stormlake.com/articles/joe-biden-should-pledge-to-create-a-national-office-of-rural-prosperity/">federal office of rural prosperity</a> or <a href="https://nationaleconomictransition.org/">economic transitions</a> that could provide leadership on the widespread need to reverse declining rural communities’ fates.</p>
<h2>3. Rein in big agriculture</h2>
<p>Only <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=58290">6% of rural people</a> still live in counties with economies that are farming dependent.</p>
<p>Decades of policies favoring <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13056">consolidation of</a> <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/74672/eib-161.pdf?v=2338">agriculture</a> have emptied out large swaths of rural landscapes. The largest 8% of farms in America now <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2019/2017Census_Farms_Farmland.pdf">control more than 70%</a> of American farmland, and the rural people who remain increasingly bear the brunt of decisions made in urban agribusiness boardrooms.</p>
<p>Rural communities get less and less of the wealth. Those in counties with industrialized agricultural are more likely to have <a href="https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/trouble-in-farm-country.php">unsafe drinking water</a>, lower incomes and <a href="http://www.pcifapia.org/_images/212-8_PCIFAP_RuralCom_Finaltc.pdf">greater economic inequality</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/01/democrats-rural-vote-wisconsin-441458">What many rural people want</a> from agricultural policy is increased antitrust enforcement to break up agricultural monopolies, improved conditions for agricultural workers, conservation policies that actually protect rural health, and a food policy that addresses rural hunger, which <a href="https://frac.org/hunger-poverty-america/rural-hunger">outpaces food insecurity in urban areas</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fields all the way to the horizon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376868/original/file-20201231-23-1r8brtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376868/original/file-20201231-23-1r8brtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376868/original/file-20201231-23-1r8brtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376868/original/file-20201231-23-1r8brtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376868/original/file-20201231-23-1r8brtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376868/original/file-20201231-23-1r8brtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376868/original/file-20201231-23-1r8brtg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The largest 8% of farms control more than 70% of U.S. farmland today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/barley-harvest-in-reardan-washington-news-photo/1162778108">VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Access to affordable land is another huge issue. <a href="https://www.youngfarmers.org/landaccess/">Beginning farmers cite that</a> as their biggest obstacle. Federal support for these new farmers, like that imagined in the proposed <a href="https://www.booker.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/JBF%20Section%20by%20Section%2011.16.20.pdf">Justice for Black Farmers Act</a> or in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3714326">other property-law reforms</a>, could help rebuild an agriculture system that is diversified, sustainable and rooted in close connections to rural communities.</p>
<p>Biden’s plan to bring former Secretary of Agriculture <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/09/black-farmers-tom-vilsack-agriculture-usda-biden-cabinet-444077">Tom Vilsack</a> back in the same role he held in the Obama administration has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/12/11/democrat-tom-vilsack-usda-secretary-farms/">cast doubt</a> on whether Biden is really committed to change. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tom-vilsacks-lonely-fight-for-a-forgotten-rural-america/2016/09/26/62d7ee64-7830-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html">Vilsack</a> built a <a href="https://medium.com/political-sense/biden-picks-vilsack-for-usda-secretary-what-a-disappointment-4f24843643fe">suspect record</a> on racial equity and has spent the past four years as a <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/food/2020/12/biden-vilsack-usda-agriculture-shirley-sherrod/">marketing executive for big dairy</a>, leading many to worry his leadership will result in “<a href="https://thecounter.org/biden-usda-tom-vilsack-ag-secretary-backlash/">agribusiness as usual</a>.”</p>
<h2>4. Pursue broad racial justice in rural America</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=99538">One in five</a> rural residents are people of color, and they are two to three times more likely to be poor than rural whites. Diverse rural residents are also significantly more likely to live in impoverished areas that have been described as “<a href="https://www.degruyter.com/columbia/abstract/book/9780231544719/10.7312/tick17222-009.xml">rural ghettos</a>.”</p>
<p>More than <a href="https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/6326380">98% of U.S. agricultural land</a> is owned by white people, while over <a href="https://globalmigration.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk821/files/inline-files/naws_research_report_13jan2019.pdf">83% of farmworkers</a> are Hispanic.</p>
<p>Criminal justice and law enforcement reforms occurring in cities are <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3591431">less likely to reach</a> small or remote communities, leaving rural minorities <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/hllr14&div=21&id=&page=">vulnerable</a> to discrimination and vigilantism, with limited avenues for redress.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Farmworkers in a field in California." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376867/original/file-20201231-49513-1hjbr1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376867/original/file-20201231-49513-1hjbr1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376867/original/file-20201231-49513-1hjbr1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376867/original/file-20201231-49513-1hjbr1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376867/original/file-20201231-49513-1hjbr1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376867/original/file-20201231-49513-1hjbr1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376867/original/file-20201231-49513-1hjbr1x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Over 83% of U.S. farmworkers are Hispanic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/farm-laborers-from-fresh-harvest-working-with-an-h-2a-visa-news-photo/1211310309">Brent Stirton/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At a minimum, the federal government can enhance workplace protections for <a href="https://repository.law.wisc.edu/s/uwlaw/item/19752">farm laborers</a>, strengthen protections of <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/09/21/racial-justice-push-creates-momentum-to-protect-black-owned-land">ancestral lands</a> and <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/economy-indian-country-can-help-solve-rural-americas-decline-opinion">tribal sovereignty</a> and <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2019/09/16/474354/civil-justice-needs-federal-leadership/">provide leadership</a> for improving <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3198411">rural access to justice</a>.</p>
<h2>5. Focus on the basics</h2>
<p>People who live in distressed rural communities have <a href="http://legalruralism.blogspot.com/search/label/attachment%20to%20place">important place-based connections</a>. In many cases, the idea of “<a href="http://www.youthcirculations.com/blog/2020/2/26/the-just-move-argument-reflections-on-distributive-justice-mobility-and-rural-america">just move someplace else</a>” <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/struggling-americans-once-sought-greener-pasturesnow-theyre-stuck-1501686801">is a myth</a>.</p>
<p>The greatest historic progress on rural poverty followed large-scale federal intervention via Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Although these reforms were implemented in ways that were <a href="https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jflp/vol13/iss1/7/">racially unjust</a>, they offer models for ameliorating rural poverty.</p>
<p>They created public jobs programs that addressed important social needs like conservation and school building repair; established relationships between universities and communities for agricultural and economic progress; provided <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40365025?seq=1">federal funding</a> for K-12 schools and made higher education more affordable; and expanded the social safety net to address hunger and other health needs.</p>
<p>A new federal antipoverty program – which urban communities also need – could go a long way to improving rural quality of life. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act targeted many of these issues. But urban communities’ <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/gaps-in-u-s-rural-and-urban-economic-growth-widened-in-the-post-great-recession-economy-with-implications-amid-the-coronavirus-recession/">quicker and stronger</a> recovery from the Great Recession than rural ones shows that this program neglected key rural challenges.</p>
<p>Some of these steps will also require Congress’s involvement. So the question is, will federal leadership take the bold steps necessary to address rural marginalization and start mending these divisions? Or will it pay lip service to those steps while continuing the patterns of neglect and exploitation that have gotten the U.S. to where it is today: facing an untenable stalemate shaped by inequality and mutual distrust.</p>
<p><em>This article was updated to clarify that the largest 8% of U.S. farms control more than 70% of U.S. farmland.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150610/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A new federal antipoverty program for both rural and urban areas is part of the solution, but the power of Big Ag, lack of internet and struggling towns need attention, too.
Ann Eisenberg, Associate Professor of Law, University of South Carolina
Jessica A. Shoemaker, Professor of Law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lisa R. Pruitt, Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Law, University of California, Davis
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152206
2020-12-16T20:52:05Z
2020-12-16T20:52:05Z
5 ways MacKenzie Scott’s $5.8 billion commitment to social and economic justice is a model for other donors
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375535/original/file-20201216-15-1csl6on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C37%2C4124%2C2885&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The philanthropist is giving away billions of dollars quickly to help people like these Floridians seeking donated food.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-aerial-view-from-a-drone-volunteers-load-boxes-of-news-photo/1230043517">Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The author and <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/384-ways-to-help-45d0b9ac6ad8">philanthropist MacKenzie Scott</a> announced on Dec. 15 that she had given almost US$4.2 billion to hundreds of nonprofits. It was her second announcement of this kind since she first publicly discussed her giving intentions in <a href="https://theconversation.com/mackenzie-bezoss-17-billion-pledge-tops-a-growing-list-of-women-giving-big-117964">May of 2019</a>.</p>
<p>In July 2020, Scott revealed that she’d already given away nearly <a href="https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">$1.7 billion</a> to 116 organizations, many of which focused on racial justice, women’s rights, LGBTQ equality, democracy and climate change. All told, her 2020 philanthropy totals more than $5.8 billion.
Scott directed her latest round of giving to <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/384-ways-to-help-45d0b9ac6ad8">384 organizations</a> to support people disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. She made dozens of gifts to food banks, United Way chapters, YMCAs and YWCAs – organizations that have seen increased demand for services and, in some cases, <a href="https://afpglobal.org/half-charities-expecting-drop-donations-2020-and-beyond">declines in philanthropic gifts</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">two blog</a> <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">posts she has written</a> to break the news, Scott has encouraged donors of all means to join her, whether those gifts are money or time.</p>
<p>Previously married to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the philanthropist announced in July that from now on she’ll be using her middle name as her new last name. She left it up to the causes she’s funding to reveal precise totals for each gift.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/morgan-state-university-receives-historic-gift-of-40m-from-philanthropist-mackenzie-scott-301193421.html">Morgan State University</a> and <a href="https://www.cbs19news.com/story/43063099/mackenzie-scott-donates-30m-to-virginia-state-university">Virginia State University</a>, two of several historically Black colleges and universities receiving her donations, said these were the biggest gifts they’d ever gotten from an individual donor. A number of her gifts are also funding tribal colleges as well as community colleges.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tu70lmIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholar of philanthropy</a>, I believe that Scott is modeling five best practices for <a href="https://resourcegeneration.org/what-we-do/social-justice-philanthropy-and-giving/">social change giving</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="ywfjW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ywfjW/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>1. Don’t attach strings</h2>
<p>All of Scott’s gifts – many in the millions or tens of millions, like the $30 million she gave <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/us/hbcus-largest-donation-history-mackenzie-scott-trnd/index.html">Hampton University</a> and the $40 million to the <a href="https://www.lisc.org/our-stories/story/mackenzie-scott-transformative-gift-lisc">Local Initiatives Support Corporation</a>, which advocates for and builds affordable housing – were made without restrictions. Rather than specify a purpose, as <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/power_and_pleasure_of_unrestricted_funding#">many large donors</a> do, Scott made it clear that she trusts the organizations’ leaders by providing absolute flexibility in terms of how to use her money to pursue their missions. This hands-off approach <a href="https://theconversation.com/nonprofits-that-scrimp-on-overhead-arent-necessarily-better-than-those-spending-more-111700">gives nonprofits</a> an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764007300386">unusual amount of freedom</a> to innovate while equipping them to <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-survey-shows-that-social-service-nonprofits-are-trying-to-help-more-people-on-smaller-budgets-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-economic-downturn-unfold-138252">weather crises like the coronavirus pandemic</a> without stringent restrictions imposed by donors. </p>
<h2>2. Champion representation</h2>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">According to Scott</a>, 91% of the racial equity organizations she funded in her initial round of massive giving, such as the Movement for Black Lives and LatinoJustice, are run by leaders of color. All of the LGBTQ equity organizations, such as the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center, that she’s backing are led by LGBTQ leaders. And 83% of the gender equity organizations, such as the Indian nonprofit <a href="https://www.educategirls.ngo/">Educate Girls</a>, are run by women. She says this approach brings “lived experience to solutions for imbalanced social systems.” Backing groups led by people directly affected by an issue is a common tenet of social justice giving at a time when organizations led by people of color <a href="https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/philanthropy/disparities-nonprofit-funding-for-leaders-of-color">receive less funding than white-led groups</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, some of her other gifts to grassroots organizations like <a href="https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/song/">Southerners on New Ground</a>, an LGBTQ community-organizing nonprofit, and Southern Partners Fund direct support to a region of the U.S. <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/philanthropy-in-the-south/">that is often overlooked by donors and foundations</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A participant holds a 'Listen to Black Women' sign at a protest in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, N.Y." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350270/original/file-20200729-33-n6h211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C46%2C2932%2C1494&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350270/original/file-20200729-33-n6h211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350270/original/file-20200729-33-n6h211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350270/original/file-20200729-33-n6h211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350270/original/file-20200729-33-n6h211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350270/original/file-20200729-33-n6h211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350270/original/file-20200729-33-n6h211.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To support these causes, Scott sought out nonprofits led by people from the communities involved.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/participant-holding-a-listen-to-black-women-sign-at-the-news-photo/1224873256">Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. Act first, talk later</h2>
<p>Rather than making lengthy announcements about her plans, Scott chose to distribute this money rapidly and directly. Unlike philanthropic peers like Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, or Bill and Melinda Gates, Scott’s first round of giving wasn’t channeled through a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/2/11/21133298/bill-gates-melinda-gates-money-foundation">large-scale foundation</a> or other entity, like the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/chan-zuckerberg-initiative-what-is-it-doing-so-far.html">Chan Zuckerberg Initiative</a>, bearing her own name or that of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-buffett-charities/warren-buffett-donates-2-9-billion-to-gates-foundation-family-charities-idUSKBN2492AA">another billionaire</a>. And when she made her public announcement, the gifts were already made.</p>
<h2>4. Don’t obsess about scale</h2>
<p>Many of the organizations receiving these gifts are relatively small in scale and lack widespread name recognition. The multiracial justice group <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943311784">Forward Together</a> and the Campaign for Female Education, a global aid group often called <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/542033897">CAMFED</a>, for example, until recently operated on annual budgets of $5.5 million or less, while the <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/472802851">Millennial Action Project</a> had an even smaller budget.</p>
<h2>5. Leverage more than money</h2>
<p>Philanthropy that’s intended to bring about social change inherently expresses the donor’s values, Scott acknowledged in her announcement. She also recognized her immense privilege, highlighting the need to address societal structures that sustain inequality. And <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/all-in.html">like the many women donors I’ve interviewed and studied</a>, she is using her position as the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-28/mackenzie-bezos-donates-1-7-billion-to-charity-within-months?sref=Hjm5biAW">world’s second-wealthiest woman</a> to amplify the voices of the leaders and groups she supported. Her goal is to encourage others to give, join or volunteer to support those same causes.</p>
<p>As Scott noted, the issues her philanthropy addresses are complex and will require sustained and broad-based efforts to solve.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-takeaways-from-mackenzie-scotts-1-7-billion-in-support-for-social-justice-causes-143659">July 30, 2020.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth J. Dale has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation via Indiana University, and The Giving USA Foundation for her research on philanthropy. The views expressed in this essay are strictly her own and do not reflect policy stances of Seattle University.</span></em></p>
By not attaching any strings to the money, championing representation and generally taking care to respect nonprofit leaders, she’s following five best practices.
Elizabeth J. Dale, Assistant Professor of Nonprofit Leadership, Seattle University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147733
2020-12-02T13:28:00Z
2020-12-02T13:28:00Z
Cicely was young, Black and enslaved – her death during an epidemic in 1714 has lessons that resonate in today’s pandemic
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369846/original/file-20201117-15-sppuek.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C960&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Over 1.4 million people have died from COVID-19 so far this year. How history memorializes them will reflect those we most value.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What I believe to be the <a href="https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-03-23/acre">oldest surviving gravestone</a> for a Black person in the Americas memorializes an enslaved teenager named Cicely. </p>
<p>Cicely’s body is interred across from Harvard’s Johnston Gate in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She died in 1714 during a measles epidemic brought to the college by a student after the summer recess of 1713. Another tombstone in the same burial ground remembers Jane, an enslaved woman who died in 1741 during an outbreak of diphtheria, or “throat distemper.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An old grave marker sits in a grassy burial ground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368259/original/file-20201109-13-gw0emy.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A grave marker for an enslaved woman named Jane uses the archaic ‘1740/1’ Julian calendar notation to denote her death in early 1741.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicole Maskiell</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When diseases struck in the Colonial era, many city residents fled to the safety of the country. Poor and enslaved people, like Jane and Cicely – the essential frontline workers of the time – stayed behind. </p>
<p>Why were Cicely and Jane memorialized when so many other enslaved people were not? The archival record doesn’t provide a clear answer, but the question of <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-there-be-a-monument-to-the-covid-19-pandemic-146827">who should be remembered</a> with monuments and commemorations is timely. </p>
<p>Throughout the United States, as COVID-19 affects frontline workers and communities of color <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/black-workers-covid">far more than other demographic groups</a>, and protesters agitate for racial justice, American society is wrestling with its racial memory and judging <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/historians-debate-americas-sordid-history-racism-confederate-monuments/story?id=71486827">which monuments and memorials</a> deserve a place. </p>
<p>Against this backdrop, I believe it’s important to look back at how a few marginalized and oppressed people who served on the front lines of prior epidemics have been treated and remembered. After all, those whom society chooses to memorialize reflect what accomplishments – honorable or horrific – <a href="https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/monuments-roundtable-stuyvesant-and-hudson">society values</a>.</p>
<h2>Unsung sacrifices</h2>
<p>The lives, labor and sacrifices of women and girls of color have been overlooked for centuries. Of the 3.5 million books in Widener Library – the <a href="https://gsas.harvard.edu/student-life/harvard-resources/libraries">centerpiece of Harvard’s vast library</a> system – I found that not one was devoted to Cicely or Jane, and few focus on women like them. </p>
<p>For early-American <a href="https://www.nicolemaskiell.com">historians of Northern slavery like me</a>, such fragmentary and untold stories are both intriguing and challenging. But this particular story was also personal, because when I first stumbled on Cicely’s tombstone, I was also a Black teen. </p>
<p>I was a sophomore studying history at Harvard when I came upon the headstone while wandering in the Colonial-era graveyard adjacent to campus. It had a carving of a <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/iconography-gravestones-burying-grounds">death’s head</a> on top and winding vines down the sides. It was both ordinary and extraordinary – it looked like other tombstones in the graveyard, but this one memorialized a young Black girl.</p>
<p>I wondered about Cicely. She most likely did domestic work in and around Harvard, as <a href="https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/2055">her enslaver</a> was a Cambridge minister and a tutor at the college. But what else did she do during her short life, and why did her enslavers memorialize her with a tombstone? These questions and the mystery of her life inspired me to become a historian. Over the years, I have been passionate about piecing together fragments of her and Jane’s lives. </p>
<p>Jane’s enslaver kept <a href="https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/4/resources/4254/collection_organization">a diary</a> that provided some details about her life, but I found little written about Cicely beyond her <a href="https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Iufi5eVXCGoC&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA134">adult baptismal record</a>, dated just two months before her death.</p>
<h2>Racial unrest and disease</h2>
<p>Cicely lived and died during a time of racial unrest and disease. A slave revolt in 1712 in New York City led to several brutal <a href="https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/AppenC.pdf">executions and deportations</a>. News of the revolt spread throughout the Colonies, stoking concerns of a wider uprising. <a href="https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid%2Finfoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=EANX&req_dat=0D0CB4F0E6B93180&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Aimage%252Fv2%253A1036CD221971FE08%2540EANX-1056625160187997%25402346459-1056625196BEC5B4%25401-10566251F0040E27%2540New-York%25252C%252BApril%252B7th%2Fhlterms%3A">Colonists armed themselves</a> in fear. </p>
<p>Slavery existed in every Colony, including the North. At the time of the revolt, the Northern Colonies – from Nova Scotia down to Delaware – were home to around <a href="https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1960/compendia/hist_stats_colonial-1957/hist_stats_colonial-1957-chZ.pdf">9,000 enslaved people</a>, representing a third of the enslaved population of the British mainland colonies. New York City had 5,841 residents, of which 975 were <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951000005142w&view=1up&seq=203&size=125">held as slaves</a>. Boston had roughly <a href="https://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/CT1970p2-13.pdf">400 enslaved people</a>.</p>
<p>Racial unrest was quickly followed by contagion. A measles outbreak the next year followed the same path up the coast as news of the revolt had traveled. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/1713-oct-1714-measles-epidemic-boston-ma-also-ct-ri-ny-nj-nh-pa-109/&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=1604992342010000&usg=AFQjCNFwXheWqyP12QgBg_xB8iGm91rKqg">epidemic</a> started in Newport, Rhode Island, in the summer of 1713 and hit Cambridge, Massachusetts, that September. It broke out at Harvard before spreading to Boston. More than 400 Bostonians died – about <a href="https://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/105662B6683AE209/0D0CB61A15FF3EC0">18% of them people of color</a> – at a time when <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3491467">Black people</a> were only <a href="https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/colonialbostonpops.pdf">4% of the total population</a>.</p>
<p>Racial discord and disease continued throughout the Colonial period. Between Cicely and Jane’s deaths in 1714 and 1741, a smallpox crisis gripped Boston, <a href="https://www.wgbh.org/news/2016/07/03/local-news/slave-who-transformed-cotton-mather-witch-hunter-science-innovator">inflaming racial tensions</a>. An enslaved person named Onesimus helped introduce <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/smallpox/sp_variolation.html">an early form of inoculation called “variolation.”</a> This technique was practiced on both white and Black Bostonians, to the consternation of many. On its heels, a five-year diphtheria outbreak ravaged New England, <a href="https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/great-throat-distemper-1735">killing 5,000 people</a>, including Jane. </p>
<h2>History repeats</h2>
<p>Much like today, Colonists received mixed messages during disease outbreaks, with some leaders touting the <a href="http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/2546057R">value of inoculations</a> while others <a href="http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/special-edition-on-infectious-disease/2014/the-fight-over-inoculation-during-the-1721-boston-smallpox-epidemic">stood fast against them</a>. As Jane toiled in the shadow of Harvard in 1740, the male landowners of Cambridge held a contentious election that saw <a href="https://docs.newsbank.com/s/HistArchive/ahnpdoc/EANX/1056660DD83DF255/0D0CB61A15FF3EC0">very high voter turnout</a> amid a diphtheria epidemic.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>History can show us how diseases disproportionately harm vulnerable and marginalized populations; how discord and strife lead to racial antipathy; and how epidemics are managed and mismanaged. </p>
<p>Cicely’s and Jane’s lives mattered outside of the value they provided to their enslavers. In a time of disease and racial unrest that echoes the experiences of generations past, the lives of oppressed people like Cicely and Jane are worthy of remembrance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole S. Maskiell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
US monuments and memorials have overlooked frontline workers and people of color affected by past epidemics. Will we repeat history?
Nicole S. Maskiell, Assistant Professor of History Peter and Bonnie McCausland Fellow of History, University of South Carolina
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/143322
2020-10-21T12:21:21Z
2020-10-21T12:21:21Z
From Macedonia to America: Civics lessons from the former Yugoslavia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360052/original/file-20200925-20-m2pkyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=129%2C172%2C4591%2C2910&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Police officers push back demonstrators next to St. John's Episcopal Church outside of the White House, June 1, 2020 in Washington D.C.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/police-officers-wearing-riot-gear-push-back-demonstrators-news-photo/1216832807?adppopup=true">Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/08/portland-protests-medics-police">Americans protesting police violence</a> may find inspiration in the activism of Macedonian citizens in the <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/07/yugoslav-socialism-tito-self-management-serbia-balkans">last years of Communist rule in Yugoslavia</a>. </p>
<p>In August 1987, Communist party leaders imposed, without local input, a major infrastructure project on the village of Vevcani: to redirect water from its springs to other settlements. The villagers saw the lack of consultation as a betrayal. They also viewed the loss of control over water resources as a threat to their children’s futures. </p>
<p>So they resorted to civil disobedience. They blocked village streets with makeshift barricades and their bodies. They held up pictures of Tito, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Josip-Broz-Tito">the Yugoslav leader</a> who had died seven years earlier, to signal their loyalty to the country’s ideals. Their fight was against the abuse of state power.</p>
<p>The authorities responded by deploying the militia. They used physical force, including stun batons, to disperse the peaceful demonstrations. Participants, mostly women and children, were physically injured or psychologically traumatized. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/3172586">professor of global studies</a>, I have been <a href="https://vimeo.com/311996116">researching the last days of Yugoslavia</a>, before the country came apart in the ethnic violence of the early 1990s. </p>
<p>I’ve found that the 1987 “Vevcani affair” was the spark for a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/06/world/macedonia-tolerates-a-republic-in-its-midst.html">creative campaign of nonviolence</a> that catalyzed opposition countrywide to the Communist regime across Yugoslavia. </p>
<p>And this summer I also found that Vevcani holds what I believe to be an important lesson for Americans <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/reuters-ipsos-data-police-reform-george-floyd-2020-06-12">peacefully protesting for police reform</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/04/06/feature/in-reaction-to-trump-millions-of-americans-are-joining-protests-and-getting-political/">government accountability</a>. </p>
<h2>From Macedonia to Lafayette Square</h2>
<p>In early June, just before President Donald Trump walked from the White House to St. John’s Church for a photo op, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/forceful-removal-of-protesters-from-outside-white-house-spurs-debate-11591125435">U.S. Park Police used chemical irritants</a> and rubber bullets to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867532070/trumps-unannounced-church-visit-angers-church-officials">disperse peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square</a>.</p>
<p>Watching this footage and hearing testimony from <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/hearings/hybrid-full-committee-oversight-hearing_june-29-2020">people targeted by the police</a>, I was transported to Vevcani and the few images that exist depicting the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYgKRR6zSVQ">militia assaults</a>.</p>
<p>I found that <a href="https://dotsub.com/view/56d64421-8e34-42e5-80fd-75293e8a6f81">the villagers’ descriptions of chokeholds, electric shocks and unwarranted detention</a> had new and troubling resonance, as the Trump administration has <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/trump-cbp-units-border-portland-moms-attacked.html">deployed paramilitary units</a> to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-protests-agents/u-s-homeland-security-confirms-three-units-sent-paramilitary-officers-to-portland-idUSKCN24M2RL">quash protests not only in Lafayette Square but in cities across the United States</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/352893/original/file-20200814-22-98yea4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Photograph of militiamen in Vevcani in August 1987, taken by anonymous activist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">From the collection of Anastas Kjushkoski</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When asked who gave the order to use force in Lafayette Square, White House Press Secretary <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/05/barr-says-he-didnt-give-tactical-order-to-clear-protesters-304323">Kayleigh McEnany pointed to Attorney General William Barr</a>. Barr denied this, indicating that a <a href="https://apnews.com/1a993a6e99b4ecd1062a7552efed2d96">law enforcement officer made the “tactical” decision</a>. In congressional testimony in early July, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stated that it was <a href="https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-military-leaders-still-unclear-who-ordered-dc-protesters-removed">“still unclear” who gave the order.</a></p>
<p>Witnessing the Trump administration’s obfuscation and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/officials-challenge-trump-administration-claim-of-what-drove-aggressive-expulsion-of-lafayette-square-protesters/2020/06/14/f2177e1e-acd4-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html">shifting of the blame</a> invites parallels with the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/my-mother-and-the-failed-experiment-of-yugoslavia">last gasp of the Yugoslav regime</a>. Faced with citizen anger, the ruling party spewed misinformation to sow doubt about the protesters’ character and motives.</p>
<p>The party retaliated against village leaders, blocking access to educational or employment opportunities for them and their families. The regime deployed all its state machinery to show strength and break the will of the movement.</p>
<p>It didn’t work. </p>
<h2>Growth of a mass movement</h2>
<p>Vevcani villagers defied further efforts to silence them. They pursued a campaign of creative, nonviolent protest to build a coalition of allies across Yugoslavia. </p>
<p>They enlisted artists, poets and journalists to their cause.</p>
<p>Theater director Vladimir Milcin, for example, published a powerful critique of Macedonian intellectuals’ complicity with the regime and helped Vevcani’s <a href="http://www.kuddrimkol.mk/teatar_istorijat.php?lang=en">amateur theater troupe</a> reach broader audiences. </p>
<p>Slovenian poet Dane Zaec spoke out against government-sponsored violence. And Montenegrin filmmaker Krsto Skanata told Vevcani’s story in his award-winning short film, “Thank you for Freedom.”</p>
<p>The villagers’ commitment to nonviolence and civility, and to the presentation of firsthand, eye-witness testimony of government brutality, contrasted sharply with the regime’s bullying tactics of bluster and denial. </p>
<p>By persistently asking party leaders a simple, direct question – who gave the order to use violence? – the villagers confronted authoritarianism. They called out those they judged responsible, listing their names on a mock gravestone in the village square.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363008/original/file-20201012-15-w10xzx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Vevcani village square anti-monument, which lists the names of party officials that activists held responsible for the use of force against peaceful protesters in August 1987.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Keith Brown</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their solidarity was fully displayed in May 1989. Vevcani’s leaders organized a mass march from the village to the central party headquarters in Skopje, over 100 miles away. More than 2,000 people assembled to demand a face-to-face meeting with the party leadership and a full inquiry into the infrastructure project. </p>
<p>By this time, a number of influential, reform-minded journalists and politicians in Macedonia had embraced the villagers’ cause.</p>
<p>Within a month, following a parliamentary debate and broad media coverage, the government’s interior minister and his deputy were forced to resign. By the end of 1989, the party had committed to reform, including a secret ballot to elect a new party head. An economist, Petar Gosev, won and led the reformers to <a href="https://balkaninsight.com/2011/04/28/past-election-results-in-macedonia/">introduce multiparty elections in 1990</a>. </p>
<p>The persistence and moral clarity of Vevcani’s mobilization kick-started the political transition from authoritarianism to pluralism. Thirty years on, <a href="https://www.ndi.org/central-and-eastern-europe/north-macedonia">international organizations identify government accountability</a> as a top priority for citizens in the Republic of North Macedonia. </p>
<h2>Sabotaging the rule of law</h2>
<p>Their story offers a broader lesson for the United States. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>For defenders of democracy, it is a reminder of the power of simple, direct questions to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/09/18/united-states-is-backsliding-into-autocracy-under-trump-scholars-warn/">expose authoritarianism</a>.</p>
<p>When governments deploy violence against peaceful protesters in the name of law and order, they are the ones <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/repairing-rule-law-agenda-post-trump-reform">sabotaging the rule of law</a>. </p>
<p>And to those tempted to abandon core democratic principles and resort to brute physical force, the Vevcani affair might serve as reminder of what happens to those, like the hardliners of Communist Yugoslavia, who find themselves on the wrong side of history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Brown's research in the Republic of Macedonia (now the Republic of North Macedonia) was supported by the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research and the Fulbright Program.</span></em></p>
Demonstrations by Macedonian villagers in the 1980s, which helped spark the end of Communist rule in the former Yugoslavia, hold vital lessons for Americans peacefully protesting for police reform.
Keith Brown, Professor of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145526
2020-10-05T12:08:51Z
2020-10-05T12:08:51Z
Racial justice giving is booming: 4 trends
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359629/original/file-20200923-14-1tvijmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=220%2C393%2C5028%2C3100&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's been an outpouring of giving in honor of Ahmaud Arbery and other victims of racial injustice.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakTexasArberyMural/41be3980bd884bb79e9afb4e518e74fd/photo?boardId=37be9465fcce45d283d5431cccb20a6a&st=boards&mediaType=audio,photo,video,graphic&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=25&currentItemNo=8">AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The tragic, high-profile <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/906786745/many-black-people-say-police-killings-arent-going-to-be-fixed-overnight">killings of George Floyd</a> and other Black Americans in 2020 have sparked a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/16/902179773/summer-of-racial-reckoning-the-match-lit">reckoning on race</a>. As <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Una-Okonkwo-Osili-11047902">researchers</a> of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vbP7wlwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">philanthropy</a>, we’re keeping an eye on how this national awakening is affecting charitable giving across the nation.</p>
<p>We are seeing an <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Grant-Making-for-Racial/249004">outpouring of donations</a> from individuals, corporations and foundations that began to grow as soon as protests and other activities in support of racial and social justice started to spread across the country.</p>
<p>Much of this funding will likely support Black-led groups engaged in criminal justice reform and fighting for education equality. Wealthy donors in the first half of the year gave <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Companies-Lead-Philanthropic/249287">nearly US$6 billion in donations of $1 million or more</a>, but <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/07/beyond-protests-college-students-donate-money-to-make-change-happen.html">people of at various income and wealth levels</a> are also increasingly supporting racial equity causes and organizations.</p>
<h2>1. Crowdfunding related to victims of racial injustice</h2>
<p>The GoFundMe pages crowdfunding to seek justice for <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd">George Floyd</a>, <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud">Ahmaud Arbery</a>, <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/9v4q2-justice-for-breonna-taylor?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet">Breonna Taylor</a> and <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/justiceforjacobblake">Jacob Blake</a> have all attracted at least $1 million so far.</p>
<p>Floyd’s GoFundMe memorial campaign has garnered <a href="https://www.insider.com/george-floyd-gofundme-most-donations-all-time-report-2020-6">more donations than any other campaign</a> in the online platform’s history, raising over $14 million with 500,000 individual donors from 140 countries worldwide. Many of these gifts to the impacted families of police violence were for $5 and few were for $50,000 or more.</p>
<p><iframe id="7AlHa" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/7AlHa/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>2. Direct support for grassroots organizations</h2>
<p>After Memorial Day weekend, when Floyd died while in custody of the Minneapolis police, many Black-led grassroots organizations began to draw much higher levels of support as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/us/politics/black-lives-matter-racism-donations.html">protests garnered more participation and attention</a>.</p>
<p>For example, when protests erupted, the <a href="https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/">Minnesota Freedom Fund</a>, which advocates for a more equitable system of cash bail, turned its attention to bailing out arrested protesters. Once the fund reached a total of <a href="https://www.complex.com/life/what-is-the-minnesota-freedom-fund-explainer">$20 million</a> in donations, its organizers urged donors to support <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/george-floyd-protests-how-to-help-where-to-donate.html">Black-led organizations</a>.
Other grassroots organizations and networks also received support, such as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53284611">National Bail Fund Network</a>, which received $80 million in donations in late spring.</p>
<p>Even before the protests erupted, the Movement for Black Lives had received $5 million in the first five months of 2020 to support Black communities affected by the pandemic and to address broader issues of racial equity. This was <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/The-Movement-for-Black-Lives/248960/">nearly double the $2.7 million</a> the group, founded in 2014 following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, raised in all of 2019, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. </p>
<p>The Libra Foundation announced that a dozen grant-making organizations were joining together to give a total of <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/new-funder-collaborative-commits-36-million-to-black-movement-leaders">$36 million to Black-led organizations</a> and social movements like The Black Youth Project and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance.</p>
<p>These numbers provide only a partial estimate of total giving to these causes, and it will take at least until mid-2021 for the IRS to begin to release the official records and statistics needed for a fuller picture of giving to these groups. Based on data from Candid, a research group, institutional funders and large donors have contributed <a href="https://www-philanthropy-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/article/Companies-Lead-Philanthropic/249287">$5.9 billion for organizations primarily engaged in in racial equity work</a> to date. </p>
<h2>3. Shoring up HBCUs</h2>
<p>Historically Black colleges and universities, often called HBCUs, and <a href="https://uncf.org/">related groups</a> that <a href="https://www.tmcf.org/">fund scholarships</a> for the students who attend them, are getting more donations in 2020.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.educationdive.com/news/5-hbcu-funding-trends-to-watch-in-2020/570949/">HBCUs in the past</a> received <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-10-hbcus-were-financially-fragile-before-covid-19-endangered-all-colleges-and-universities-140528">fewer donations</a> of <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/files/file/jga_million_dollar_ready_academic_working_paper_final_for_upload_2.pdf">$1 million or more</a> than other institutions, a pattern our colleague <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tyrone-mckinley-freeman-443150">Tyrone Freeman</a> has been studying for years. As a result, HBCU endowments are relatively small.</p>
<p>All told, the roughly 100 HBCUs have a total of <a href="https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/big-philanthropic-investments-a-bright-spot-for-hbcus-amid-financial-uncertainty-worsened-by-pandemic/">only $2 billion</a> in their endowments. By comparison, 54 predominantly white colleges and universities have $2 billion or more in their own endowment.</p>
<p>In 2018, for example, there were seven of these major gifts totaling $48 million. In contrast, there were at least 33 of these donations by mid-September of 2020, totaling $347 million, according a list of these donations of $1 million or more compiled by <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/research/million-dollar-list/index.html">The Chronicle of Philanthropy</a> and tracking by statistician <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/people-directory/han-xiao.html">Xiao Han</a> of additional news reports and public information disclosed by donors and the schools. </p>
<p>These <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-10-hbcus-were-financially-fragile-before-covid-19-endangered-all-colleges-and-universities-140528">philanthropic lifelines</a> for Howard University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and other schools have totaled in the hundreds of millions of dollars from donors like <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hbcu-record-donations-schools-histories-howard-hampton-xavier/">MacKenzie Scott</a> – Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife – <a>Netflix CEO Reed Hastings</a> and former New York City Mayor <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/bloomberg-equity-initiatives-first-investment-is-100-million-gift/">Michael Bloomberg</a>.</p>
<p>Corporate giving for Black colleges and other causes is also on the rise. In early June, the Financial Times reported that Microsoft, Google, Amazon and other large corporations had recently pledged at least <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5a83fcff-9def-4a66-b65d-2b030759f755">$458 million to support progress toward racial equity</a>, including support for higher education. All told, <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-ceo-tim-cook-announces-100-million-racial-equity-and-justice-initiative/">Apple has said it donated $100 million or more</a> to assorted racial equity initiatives.</p>
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<h2>4. Black philanthropists are leading the way</h2>
<p>Donors from all backgrounds have turned their attention to increasing calls for racial equity. While new donors are turning their giving to racial equity issues, <a href="https://theconversation.com/400-years-of-black-giving-from-the-days-of-slavery-to-the-2019-morehouse-graduation-121402">wealthy African Americans</a> have contributed to causes that support racial justice and equity.</p>
<p>In recent years, we have continued to see affluent Black people, such as the entertainer and fashion icon <a href="https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2020/8/31/from-climate-resilience-to-covid-response-rihanna-is-becoming-a-major-philanthropic-player">Rihanna</a> and basketball great <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrasternlicht/2020/06/05/michael-jordan--jordan-brand-pledge-100-million-to-racial-equality/#63c1ece95934">Michael Jordan</a>, make significant <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2019/10/21/why-michael-jordan-has-donated-30-million-to-activist-projects-including-health-clinics-and-hurricane-relief/#7ecbec0e7720">philanthropic commitments</a>.</p>
<p>Along with other colleagues at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and in partnership with the Bank of America, we are conducting a long-term <a href="https://www.privatebank.bankofamerica.com/articles/2018-us-trust-study-of-high-net-worth-philanthropy.html">research project regarding affluent donors</a>. Based on our findings in our 2018 report, at least half of all wealthy Black donors supported African American causes, compared to 6.5% overall of all surveyed donors.</p>
<p>Additionally, 43.8% of the wealthy Black donors surveyed indicated that they made giving to groups that aim to improve race relations a high priority, as opposed to an average of 5.7% all donors.</p>
<p>A diverse range of donors are also increasingly participating in providing large racial justice gifts. These gifts include <a href="https://www.newsbreak.com/news/0PFyaZKE/kroger-ceo-addresses-racial-injustice">Kroger supermarket chain CEO Rodney McMullen</a> and the hedge fund investor <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/a-220-million-investment-in-racial-justice">George Soros’ Open Society Foundations</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>In mid-September, philanthropist <a href="https://medium.com/@susansandlerfund/my-cancer-milestone-and-my-philanthropic-legacy-a338d03bfc94">Susan Sandler</a> announced that she was giving a total of $200 million to an array of racial justice groups. Sandler’s disclosure echoed <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-takeaways-from-mackenzie-scotts-1-7-billion-in-support-for-social-justice-causes-143659">Scott’s announcement</a>, in <a href="https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d">July 2020</a>, that she was giving $587 million to HBCUs and racial justice organizations.</p>
<p>That means established civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and the Urban League, and newer racial justice groups like the <a href="https://wlos.com/news/local/project-aims-to-recognize-buncombe-county-lynching-victims">Equal Justice Initiative</a>, which aims to end mass incarceration and advance racial equity, and the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/28/21405770/google-assistant-feature-donation-center-of-policing-equity-racial-inequality">Center for Policing Equity</a>, a think tank focused on improving racial equity within police departments, are all getting a boost.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145526/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
From thousands of people chipping in as little as $5 to George Floyd’s GoFundMe to donations well in excess of $1 million to HBCUs, anti-racist philanthropy is rising.
Kim Williams-Pulfer, Postdoctoral Research Appointee-Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy, IUPUI
Una Osili, Professor, Economics and Philanthropic Studies; Associate Dean for Research and International Programs, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUI
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145610
2020-09-14T11:49:49Z
2020-09-14T11:49:49Z
Far from being anti-religious, faith and spirituality run deep in Black Lives Matter
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357697/original/file-20200911-22-yss5b4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C20%2C6689%2C4406&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sage burning as a spiritual cleansing ritual is common at Black Lives Matter protests. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/danielle-ruffen-right-burns-sage-over-a-memorial-as-she-news-photo/1225248888?adppopup=true">Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Black Lives Matters (BLM) has been portrayed by its detractors as many things: <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-anthem-kneeling-black-lives-matter-marxist">Marxist</a>, radical, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/video/rudy-giuliani-black-lives-matter-is-racist-anti-american/">anti-American</a>. Added to this growing list of charges is that it is either irreligious or <a href="https://medium.com/@katelynnrichardson/blm-is-ushering-in-a-new-religion-d059a8fc1ede">doing religion wrong</a>.</p>
<p>In late July, for instance, conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan <a href="https://twitter.com/sullydish/status/1287057974834462720?lang=en">tweeted</a> that BLM was “incompatible” with Christianity. </p>
<p>He isn’t alone in that belief. Despite receiving the backing of diverse faith leaders and groups, BLM has been attacked by sections of the religious right. One evangelical institution felt compelled <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-seminary-condemns-black-lives-matter-movement-wokeness-ideology.html">to issue a statement</a> warning Christians about the movement’s “Godless agenda.” Other evangelicals have gone further, accusing BLM founders of being “witches” and “<a href="https://www.afa.net/the-stand/culture/2020/08/blm-movement-driven-by-occultic-practice/">operating in the demonic realm</a>.”</p>
<p>Joining conservative Christians are some self-proclaimed liberals and atheists who have also denounced BLM as a social movement that functions like a
“<a href="https://newdiscourses.com/2020/06/cult-dynamics-wokeness/">cult</a>” or “<a href="https://reason.com/2020/06/29/kneeling-in-the-church-of-social-justice/">pseudo</a>” religion.</p>
<p>As scholars of religion, we believe such views fail to acknowledge – let alone engage with – the rich spiritual and religious pluralism of Black Lives Matter. For the past few years, <a href="https://crcc.usc.edu/jstor-daily-and-rns-hebah-farrag-on-healing-spirituality-and-black-lives-matter">we have been observing</a> the way the movement and affiliated organizations express faith and spirituality.</p>
<p>Since 2015 we have interviewed BLM leaders and organizers as well as Buddhist leaders inspired by the movement. What we found was that BLM was not only a movement seeking radical political reform, but a <a href="https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/the-fight-for-black-lives-is-a-spiritual-movement">spiritual movement</a> seeking to heal and empower while
inspiring other <a href="https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/buddhists-racial-justice/">religious allies</a> seeking inclusivity.</p>
<h2>A love letter</h2>
<p>Black Lives Matter was born from a love letter.</p>
<p>On July 13, 2013 – the day of the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who had killed an unarmed black teenage named Trayvon Martin – soon-to-be BLM co-founder Alicia Garza, posted “<a href="https://www.vernonmorningstar.com/trending-now/morning-start-blacklivesmatter-started-with-a-love-letter/">A Love Letter to Black People</a>” on Facebook. She declared:</p>
<p>“We don’t deserve to be killed with impunity. We need to love ourselves and fight for a world where black lives matter. Black people, I love you. I love us. We matter. Our lives matter.”</p>
<p>Since its inception, BLM organizers have expressed their founding spirit of love through an emphasis on spiritual healing, principles, and practices in their racial justice work.</p>
<p>BLM leaders, such as co-founder <a href="https://patrissecullors.com/">Patrisse Cullors</a>, are deeply committed to incorporating spiritual leadership. Cullors grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and later became ordained in Ifà, a west African Yoruba religion. Drawing on Native American, Buddhist and mindfulness traditions, her syncretic spiritual practice is <a href="https://crcc.usc.edu/the-role-of-the-spirit-in-blacklivesmatter-movement/">fundamental to her work</a>. As Cullors explained to us, “The fight to save your life is a spiritual fight.”</p>
<p>Theologian <a href="http://www.triciahersey.com/">Tricia Hersey</a>, known as the “<a href="https://www.bonappetit.com/story/tricia-hersey-patrick">Nap Bishop</a>,” a nod to her Divinity degree and her work advocating for rest as a form of resistance, founded the BLM affiliated organization, <a href="https://thenapministry.wordpress.com/">The Nap Ministry</a> in 2016.</p>
<p>In an interview with Cullors, Hersey said she considers human bodies as “sites of liberation” that connect Black Americans to the “creator, ancestors, and universe.” She describes rest as a spiritual practice for community healing and resistance and naps as “<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/3/1974185/-Q-amp-A-Nap-Ministry-s-Tricia-Hersey-talks-rest-and-racial-justice">healing portals</a>.” Hersey connects this belief to her upbringing in the Black Pentecostal Church of God in Christ, where, she explained, “I was able to see the body being a vehicle for spirit.”</p>
<p>The movement is committed to spiritual principles, such as “<a href="https://uwm.edu/community/wp-content/uploads/sites/239/2020/07/Radically-Healing-Blacks-Lives.pdf">healing</a> justice” – which uses a range of holistic approaches to address trauma and oppression by centering emotional and spiritual well-being – and “<a href="https://daily.jstor.org/healing-and-spirituality-in-the-movement-for-black-lives/">transformative justice</a>” which assists with creating processes to repair harm without violence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357699/original/file-20200911-18-k85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357699/original/file-20200911-18-k85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357699/original/file-20200911-18-k85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357699/original/file-20200911-18-k85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357699/original/file-20200911-18-k85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357699/original/file-20200911-18-k85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357699/original/file-20200911-18-k85y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black Lives Matter protesters pray near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrators-pray-near-the-lincoln-memorial-while-news-photo/1218014301?adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/2019/04/abolition-and-reparations-histories-of-resistance-transformative-justice-and-accountability/">Transformative justice</a>, central to the beliefs of many in the BLM movement, is a philosophic approach to peacemaking. With roots in the Quaker tradition, it approaches harms committed as an opportunity for education. Crime is taken to be a community problem to be solved through mutual understanding, as often seen in work to decriminalize sex work and drug addiction.</p>
<p>BLM affiliated organizer Cara Page, who coined the term “<a href="https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/video/healing-justice-71932989">healing justice</a>,” did so in response to watching decades of activists commit themselves completely to social justice causes to the detriment of their physical and mental health. She <a href="http://micemagazine.ca/issue-two/not-so-brief-personal-history-healing-justice-movement-2010%E2%80%932016">advocates</a> that “movements themselves have to be healing, or there’s no point to them.”</p>
<h2>‘Without healing, no justice’</h2>
<p>BLM-affiliated organizations utilize spiritual tools such as meditation, reiki, acupuncture, plant medicine, chanting, and prayer, along with other African and Indigenous spiritualities to connect and care for those directly impacted by state violence and white supremacy.</p>
<p>For instance, <a href="http://dignityandpowernow.org/">Dignity and Power Now</a> or DPN, an organization founded by Cullors in Los Angeles in 2012, hosts almost weekly wellness clinics on Sundays, often referred to as “<a href="https://crcc.usc.edu/dignity-and-power-now-the-spirituality-of-black-lives-matter/">church</a>” by attendees. </p>
<p>On July 26, 2020, they held a virtual event called <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CC9H6bVgiJ0/">Calm-Unity</a>, to remind people that “without healing there is no justice.” Classes included yoga, meditation, African dance, Chinese medicine, and altar making.</p>
<p>In interviews, movement leaders described honoring their body, mind and soul as an <a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/patrisse-cullors-and-robert-ross-the-spiritual-work-of-black-lives-matter-may2017/">act of resilience</a>. They see themselves as inheritors of the spiritual duty to fight for racial justice, following in the footsteps of freedom fighters like <a href="https://theconversation.com/faith-made-harriet-tubman-fearless-as-she-rescued-slaves-127592">abolitionist Harriet Tubman</a>.</p>
<p>BLM leaders often invoke the names of abolitionist ancestors in a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CA87si5BVne/">ceremony</a> used at the beginning of protests. In fact, protests often contain many spiritual purification, protection and healing practices including the burning of sage, the practice of <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/black-trans-live-matter-protest-dressed-in-white">wearing white</a> and the creation of <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90527831/what-should-become-of-the-place-where-george-floyd-was-killed">sacred sites and altars</a> at locations of mourning.</p>
<h2>‘More religion, not less’</h2>
<p>BLM’s rich spiritual expressions have also inspired and transformed many American faith leaders. Black evangelical leader <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/how-black-lives-matter-is-changing-the-church?utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&mbid=social_twitter&utm_brand=tny">Barbara Salter McNeil</a> credits BLM activists in Ferguson as changing the Christian church by showing racism must be tackled structurally and not just as individual sin. </p>
<p>U.S. Buddhist leaders presented <a href="https://jackkornfield.com/statement-on-racism-from-buddhist-teachers-leaders-in-the-united-states/">a statement on racial justice</a> to the White House in which they shared they were “inspired by the courage and leadership” of Black Lives Matter. <a href="https://www.bendthearc.us/american_jews_black_lives_matter">Jewish</a>, <a href="https://muslimadvocates.org/police-violence-statement/">Muslim</a> and many other religious organizations, have incorporated BLM principles to make their communities more inclusive and justice oriented.</p>
<p>As University of Arizona scholar <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biR9ufz0TlU">Erika Gault</a> observes, “The Black church is not the only religious well from which Black movements have historically drawn,” and with Black Lives Matter, “We are actually seeing more religion, not less.”</p>
<h2>Religious pluralism</h2>
<p>Attempts to erase the rich religious landscape of Black Lives Matter by both <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/voices/are-blm-leaders-calling-on-the-spirits-of-the-dead.html">conservative</a> and <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/antiracism-our-flawed-new-religion">liberal voices</a> continues a <a href="https://tif.ssrc.org/2018/06/26/conversion-and-race-in-colonial-slavery/">long history</a> of denouncing Black spirituality as inauthentic and threatening.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The history of white supremacy, often <a href="https://theconversation.com/protestantisms-troubling-history-with-white-supremacy-in-the-us-141438">enacted within institutional Christianity</a>, has often vilified and criminalized <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/traumatic-legacy-indian-boarding-schools/584293/">Indigenous</a> and African beliefs, promoted the idea that Black people are <a href="https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/opinion/guest-commentary/2020/02/slavery-divinely-inspired-and-medically-approved/">divinely destined to servitude</a>, and subjected communities to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jaar/article/86/4/1153/5046752">forced conversions</a>.</p>
<p>As Cullors said to us in response to current attacks against BLM as demonic, “For centuries, the way we are allowed to commune with the divine has been policed; in the movement for Black lives, we believe that all connections to the creator are sacred and essential.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145610/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
BLM has been accused of being ‘Godless’ and operating in a ‘demonic realm.’ But scholars of religion see a deep spirituality at work in the movement.
Hebah H. Farrag, Assistant Director of Research, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ann Gleig, Associate Professor of Religion, University of Central Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/143588
2020-09-01T12:24:13Z
2020-09-01T12:24:13Z
Can a college course teach students to ‘unlearn’ racism?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354446/original/file-20200824-16-dvgrjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C35%2C4742%2C3126&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Can a college course help students understand people of different races?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakUniversities/a447a73de8904af9949f013823f570c7/photo?Query=campus%20AND%20students&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=7298&currentItemNo=9">AP Photo/Gerry Broome</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Many Americans are asking how they can be more sensitive to members of different racial groups, a desire fueling sales of books like “How to be an Anti-racist” and the presence of “Hate has no home here” signs in front yards. But how to achieve that goal is anything but clear. Jeni Cross is a sociologist at Colorado State University who says she’s found an effective approach in her course ‘Social Production of Reality.’</em></p>
<h2>Can a college course unteach racism?</h2>
<p>Many of my students tell me it can. They say my course improves their tolerance toward others, allows them to put themselves in another person’s shoes and makes them more willing to take action to end discrimination and inequality. </p>
<p>Twenty years ago, I started asking this question on my final exam: “What is one thing you’ve learned from this class that you’ll remember long after this class is over?” Year after year, about 25% of the class says something like, “I have learned to be more tolerant of people who are different from me.” </p>
<p>When this first started happening, I was surprised. I never once mention the word tolerance in class, nor is increasing tolerance a learning objective.</p>
<p>When I asked for more detail, every student detailed how the class increased awareness of their own thoughts, how they their increased effort to suspend judgment and made new efforts to listen and understand the viewpoint and experiences of others. Many also described taking new actions based on seeing their own privilege more clearly.</p>
<p>One student said, “I will remember that some people’s reality is different and not the same as mine. I learned a lot about others culturally and maybe a glimpse of what it’s like to be a minority or ‘different’ in some way. That has helped me to be more compassionate.” </p>
<p>I used a survey to compare how students’ attitudes changed in a variety of social science classes – not just my own. I found that student attitudes about their political ideology, empathy and race changed very little after most classes. My course stood out because attitudes related to both race and empathy improved substantially. </p>
<p>So what sets my course apart? I believe it is the focus on teaching students to be aware of their own thoughts and judgments and how those thoughts shape their actions.</p>
<h2>What does your course say about race?</h2>
<p>Rather than focus on race, the class explores theories which emphasize the social nature of reality. One example is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03389-6">Thomas Theorem</a>, which states that when people define a situation as real, then it is real in its consequences. </p>
<p>Take baseball. Fans may argue with the umpire’s call, but we agree to give the umpire authority and so the scoreboard and history books record that call, thus making it reality. Believing that there will be a toilet paper shortage can create one if enough people believe it, even when the supply of toilet paper hasn’t changed. Race, like baseball and toilet paper shortages, becomes real because of how we see it, define it and then act toward each other based on those meanings.</p>
<p>Sociologists <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Racial-Formation-in-the-United-States/Omi-Winant/p/book/9780203076804">Michael Omi and Howard Winant</a> wrote, “Race is not something rooted in nature…but it is not an illusion. While it may not be real in a biological sense, race is indeed real as a social category with definite social consequences.” Race is created not from our biology, but from the ways in which we understand ourselves, interact with others and build our society. </p>
<h2>Why does ‘race’ feel so real?</h2>
<p>We are constantly reinforcing the idea of race and our individual identities. While our <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK24694/">racial identities cannot be identified by genetic uniqueness</a>, we have taught ourselves to see race in our skin color, facial features, hair texture and culture. Race then becomes socially and culturally real, with some really unjust consequences. Blacks are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2019.1593007">3-5 times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana than whites</a>. Black women are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnancy-deaths.html">three times more likely to die in a pregnancy-related death than white women</a>. These facts are real, and they are produced not by biology but by social relationships, health and environmental inequalities, policies and institutional practices that treat Black men and women differently than white men and women.</p>
<p>We are faced with a paradox. As long as we see and label race, we then act as though it is a meaningful difference, which ultimately produces unequal consequences. In contrast, if we act as though we don’t see race or claim <a href="https://rowman.com/isbn/9781442276239/racism-without-racists-color-blind-racism-and-the-persistence-of-racial-inequality-in-america-fifth-edition">color blindness</a>, then we are denying that race is a vital social category in our culture which shapes all our lives. </p>
<p>Sociologist <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122418816958">Eduardo Bonilla Silva</a> argued that developing empathy <em>with</em> others is one of the prerequisites for redefining the racial order. While the students in my class call it tolerance, their descriptions are better named empathy.</p>
<h2>How can one semester matter?</h2>
<p>One semester is all it takes to learn to become aware of your own thoughts and to actively choose to change your judgments and build a new capacity for empathy. When we endeavor to deeply understand other people’s experiences, we also build the capacity and will for new actions. Like all things, it takes practice to make it a habit. All semester I tell the students, “In every moment, every interaction, you have a choice, a choice to repeat the scripts you were taught and reinforce our current social rules and experiences, or to choose a new path and create a new reality.” </p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Does the color of the instructor matter?</h2>
<p>Teaching about race and racism brings challenges for all instructors <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13613320802478960">regardless of their own race</a>. What’s more, it is problematic to leave this challenging work only to instructors of color, who are a minority in American higher education.</p>
<p>Building trust and being vulnerable, telling stories of my own mistakes and growth, makes it possible for a white woman like me to talk about race in ways that help white students not feel defensive and allow students of color to feel safe. I can’t say I’ve always been perfect, but my students have been brave enough to teach me and learn with me to build our capacity for empathy and action.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143588/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer E. Cross does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Many Americans want to become more open to people of other races but don’t know how. A professor in Colorado shares what works in her sociology class.
Jennifer E. Cross, Professor of Sociology, Colorado State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144909
2020-08-28T05:33:39Z
2020-08-28T05:33:39Z
Trump accepts the nomination from the White House lawn, portraying a nation in crisis and himself as its hero
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355244/original/file-20200828-16-1vx94eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trump accepts the nomination from the South Lawn of the White House.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Election%202020%20RNC%20Trump/77a9583865024774a6b318a75ca2bf37?Query=Trump&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=187959&currentItemNo=32">AP Photo/Evan Vucci</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/27/901381398/fact-check-trumps-address-to-the-republican-convention-annotated">Donald Trump delivered</a> his second Republican Party acceptance speech from the White House on Aug. 27, shattering the <a href="https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1299162605345550336">norm</a> that presidents do not campaign at the public’s expense, and describing a nation in crisis.</p>
<p>Trump spoke of internal enemies intent on destroying the American way of life and offered himself as the nation’s only protection against widespread rampaging violence.</p>
<p>It was a speech meant to draw a stark contrast between Trump’s view of America and what he portrayed as his Democratic opponent Joseph Biden’s view of America. </p>
<p>I’ve been analyzing Trump’s rhetoric since <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rhetorical-brilliance-of-trump-the-demagogue-51984">2015</a>. I wrote about Trump’s appeal to authoritarian voters at his 2016 nomination acceptance speech in my new book, “<a href="https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781623499068/demagogue-for-president/">Demagogue For President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump</a>.” </p>
<p>This year’s speech was a repeat performance.</p>
<p>Trump repeatedly tried to create a sense of urgency about his reelection, <a href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/media/president-trumps-republican-nomination-acceptance-remarks/">calling</a> this the “most important election in the history of our country.” </p>
<p>Trump said that “if the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns, and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other Constitutional freedoms.” </p>
<p>“No one will be safe in Biden’s America,” Trump warned.</p>
<p>Biden borrowed from Trump’s playbook, tweeting out a response to the speech. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1299164296329523200"}"></div></p>
<h2>‘A wicked nation’</h2>
<p>The months long <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/06/police-violence-protests-us-george-floyd">protests against police violence</a> and systemic racism against African Americans, the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/confederate-statues-removed-george-floyd-trnd/index.html">movement to pull down Confederate monuments</a>, and even The New York Times’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html">1619 Project</a> provided the background for Trump’s attack on Biden’s view of America and his defense of his own record in office. </p>
<p>Trump claimed that “Joe Biden and his party repeatedly assailed America as a land of racial, economic and social injustice.” He told his audience that “in the left’s backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just, and exceptional nation on earth. Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.”</p>
<p>In so doing, Trump’s speech rejected the concerns that a <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/06/12/amid-protests-majorities-across-racial-and-ethnic-groups-express-support-for-the-black-lives-matter-movement/">majority</a> of Americans have about systemic racism while it offered solace to those Americans who think that the movement has gone too far.</p>
<p>Trump spoke in stark terms about the choice facing Americans in November. “This election will decide whether we will defend the American Way of Life, or whether we allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it,” he said.</p>
<p>And Trump promised to be the nation’s hero. He said that he would protect “the patriotic heroes who keep America safe,” while his opponents would “stand with anarchists, agitators, rioters, looters and flag-burners.”</p>
<p>He quoted one of his own memes, saying he is the only thing standing between vulnerable Americans and what he calls the nation’s dangerous enemies within. “Always remember,” he said, “they are coming after me, because I am fighting for you.” </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355253/original/file-20200828-19-w0vnge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355253/original/file-20200828-19-w0vnge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355253/original/file-20200828-19-w0vnge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355253/original/file-20200828-19-w0vnge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=859&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355253/original/file-20200828-19-w0vnge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355253/original/file-20200828-19-w0vnge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355253/original/file-20200828-19-w0vnge.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1079&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Image posted on Donald Trump’s Twitter feed December 20, 2019.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Trump’s Republican nomination acceptance speech didn’t reach across the aisle to draw in the support of Democrats or Democrat-leaning Independents. It wasn’t a speech for all of America – it was a speech designed to appeal to Trump’s base and terrify them into voting for him. That’s authoritarian.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144909/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Mercieca does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Republican National Convention wrapped up with Trump sounding familiar themes but speaking from an unusual location.
Jennifer Mercieca, Associate Professor of Communication, Texas A&M University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/142029
2020-08-19T12:19:56Z
2020-08-19T12:19:56Z
Ancient cancel cultures: The defacement of statues in America replicates a tradition going back millennia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350013/original/file-20200728-15-1gm20iq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C108%2C956%2C619&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Intentionally mutilated head of Egyptian Pharaoh Hatshepsut.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/8a9b0fee-058c-4bc5-a656-0c7db5c47383">Elizabeth Ellis</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amid pleas for racial justice, protesters across the United States have mutilated hundreds of monuments. They have <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/christopher-columbus-statues-beheaded-torn-down-180975079/">decapitated statues of Christopher Columbus</a>, <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/06/16/confederate-statues-are-being-torn-down-across-america">spray-painted graffiti on memorials to Robert E. Lee</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/us/richmond-jefferson-davis-statue-pulled-down-trnd/index.html">mutilated tributes to Jefferson Davis</a>.</p>
<p>As statues tumble, a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/opinions/confederate-statues-monuments/">national conversation has emerged about American monuments</a>. For some, the defacement of monuments, particularly those <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/07/toppling-statues-is-first-step-toward-ending-confederate-myths/#close">dedicated to Confederate leaders</a>, helps debunk myths of white supremacy. For others, their destruction equals vigilantism and lawlessness.</p>
<p>The result of months of protests over racial injustice and monument destruction may seem like a modern form of American political speech. It’s not. </p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/anthropology/sarah-kurnick">anthropology professor</a> and archaeologist who has written about how <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278416518301302">ancient peoples navigate their pasts</a>, I believe it mirrors an age-old practice long used to discredit once revered people and repudiate once venerated ideas. </p>
<h2><strong>Power in the present</strong></h2>
<p>In response to the recent defacement of monuments in the U.S., President Donald Trump issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-protecting-american-monuments-memorials-statues-combating-recent-criminal-violence/">executive order</a> in June stating that his administration “will not allow violent mobs…to become the arbiters of the aspects of history that can be celebrated in public spaces.” He added that the protesters’ “selection of targets reveals a deep ignorance of history.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C65%2C2568%2C1716&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C65%2C2568%2C1716&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349010/original/file-20200722-22-kranun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters against police violence and racism continue to rally at the Richmond, Virginia monument to Confederate General Robert E. Lee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protesters-against-police-violence-and-racism-continue-to-news-photo/1221109105?adppopup=true">Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>President Trump is partly correct. The recent destruction of monuments is about power in the present. Protesters today, like their ancient counterparts, have challenged the social order by questioning who should and should not be publicly venerated, who should be remembered or forgotten.</p>
<p>But Trump is also mistaken. Those defacing monuments are not oblivious to history.</p>
<h2><strong>Power in the past</strong></h2>
<p>Since at least the third millennium B.C., economically, socially and politically marginalized people have questioned authority by mutilating public images of rulers. And those in power have destroyed monuments to reinforce their authority and erase the names and accomplishments of their predecessors. </p>
<p>As art historian <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/style/confederate-statue-columbus-analysis.html">Erin L. Thompson recently explained</a>, “destruction is the norm and preservation is the rare exception.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ancient.eu/akkad/#:%7E:text=According%20to%20the%20Sumerian%20King,142%20years%20before%20it%20collapsed.">Akkadians</a>, who lived in Mesopotamia between about 2300 and 2150 B.C., created a bronze likeness of one of their living rulers. This portrait probably represents King Sargon of Akkad, known for conquering nearby Sumerian city-states. Although the likeness initially glorified the king, it was later purposefully mutilated. Akkadians cut off its ears, broke its nose and gouged out one of its eyes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=837&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347989/original/file-20200716-15-4qfom3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1052&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sargon of Akkad.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/0268a6fc-ff1c-4c45-b51d-6bb4c8994acc">By Hans Ollermann</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, Akkadians chose to mar rather than obliterate this monument to Sargon. Their goal was not to erase history but to show in dramatic fashion the downfall and ultimate humiliation of a once powerful leader. </p>
<p>Thousands of years later, Mesoamericans engaged in a similar practice. <a href="https://www.archaeology.org/issues/249-1703/features/5300-olmec-tres-zapotes-government">The Olmec</a>, who lived in the lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico between approximately 1400 B.C. and A.D. 400, purposefully disfigured colossal heads. </p>
<p>These portraits of rulers’ faces were carved from basalt boulders. The largest weighs about 40 tons and measures over 10 feet high. Many have had pieces of their noses or lips broken off. Others have gouges carved into their surfaces or pox marks ground into their faces. Many were also buried. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350014/original/file-20200728-31-b5kdvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Olmec colossal head from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, Veracruz, Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/5a24e6e9-8299-4c9b-916a-1e58748dca55">Maribel Ponce Ixba</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scholars have proposed several <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/article/672/olmec-colossal-stone-heads/">theories to explain the defacement of Olmec colossal heads</a>. It may be that these monuments were ritually killed to neutralize the powers of rulers after their deaths. Or it may be that incoming rulers defaced the heads of their predecessors to help justify their newfound authority.</p>
<p>Many details about the Olmec colossal heads remain unknown. Elsewhere in Mesoamerica, however, the circumstances are more clear. In some instances, commoners purposefully destroyed and reused portraits of rulers. </p>
<p><a href="https://indigenousmexico.org/oaxaca/the-mixtecs-and-zapotecs-two-enduring-cultures-of-oaxaca/">Ancestral Chatinos occupied coastal Oaxaca</a> prior to the arrival of the Mixtecs around A.D. 1100. At Río Viejo in Oaxaca, archaeologist <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Mixtecs_Zapotecs_and_Chatinos.html?id=gQHy8ln34aIC">Arthur Joyce</a> and colleagues excavated the ruins of an ancestral Chatino residence dating to approximately A.D. 800-1100.</p>
<p>At that residence, Joyce found a piece of a carved stone monument depicting the face of a ruler. In a politically motivated move, the peasants chose to reuse the monument fragment, a powerful symbol of authority, as a metate – a stone for grinding grain and seeds.</p>
<p>In other cases, we know that incoming rulers intentionally defaced monuments dedicated to their predecessors. Ancient Egyptians built numerous statues depicting pharaohs, including Ramesses II and Tutankhamun, or King Tut. </p>
<p>Near the end of Pharaoh Thutmose III’s reign, between about 1479 and 1425 B.C., members of his regime attempted to erase <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/collection-insights/2018/hatshepsut-female-pharaoh-egypt">the memory of Hatshepsut</a>, his predecessor, co-regent and mother. Statues of Hatshepsut were smashed, her obelisks covered and her cartouches removed from temple walls. As <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/hatshepsut_01.shtml">Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley told the BBC</a> in 2011, Thutmose III could thereby “incorporate her reign into his own” and claim her accomplishment as his own. He could rewrite history. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Because the decision of whom to remember, humiliate or ignore has always been a political choice, it should not be surprising that, as journalist Jacey Fortin has written, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/controversial-statues-monuments-destroyed.html">history is littered with the shattered remains of toppled statues</a>.”</p>
<p>Archaeology shows that the presentation of people, events and ideas through history has always been contentious and tied to contemporary political concerns, including nationalism, racism and xenophobia. Just like American protesters today, ancient Mesopotamians, Mesoamericans and Egyptians altered their political present by changing how they displayed their past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Kurnick receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>
As US protesters deface monuments of once revered leaders, they are drawing from an ancient tradition used by both marginalized people and those in power.
Sarah Kurnick, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/144323
2020-08-19T12:18:43Z
2020-08-19T12:18:43Z
Suffragists used hunger strikes as a powerful tool of resistance – a tactic still employed by protesters 100 years on
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353454/original/file-20200818-16-jx3009.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C33%2C2741%2C2004&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Suffragists march from New York to Washington D.C. in 1913.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-United-States-WO-/9ee531bb9ae5da11af9f0014c2589dfb/48/0">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Asylum seekers held in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in California have launched a series of <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2020/8/4/ice_jails_hunger_strikes">hunger strikes</a> to demand <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/using-ppe.html">personal protective equipment</a>, medical care and provisional release as COVID-19 cases surge among incarcerated populations. </p>
<p>In Kentucky, four activists went on a 25-day <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/breonna-taylor/2020/08/14/breonna-taylor-hunger-strikers-end-protest-after-25-days/5585009002/">hunger strike</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hungerstrikersforbreonna">seeking justice for Breonna Taylor</a>, the African American woman police officers killed in her home in March 2020. </p>
<p>As Americans celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in <a href="https://museum.archives.gov/rightfully-hers">August 1920</a>, these protesters and many others owe a debt of gratitude to the militant suffragists who elevated the hunger strike as a powerful form of protest.</p>
<h2>The hunger strike</h2>
<p>The prison system, as it developed in the second half of the <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/55026/discipline-and-punish-by-michel-foucault-and-alan-sheridan/">19th century</a>, rendered prisoners largely invisible to the outside world. </p>
<p>Imprisoned hunger strikers and their supporters outside the prison gates made visible what was invisible. As a <a href="https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/history/faculty/faculty-directory.host.html/content/shared/arts-sciences/history/profiles/wolcott-victoria.html">historian</a> of American social movements, I have studied the origins of this tactic.</p>
<p>Although there were earlier examples of hunger strikes in early modern Europe and Russia, Marion Dunlop, a British suffragist, carried out the first modern-day hunger strike in 1909 in London’s <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-militant-suffrage-movement-9780197531037?cc=us&lang=en&">Holloway Prison</a>.</p>
<p>In both Great Britain and North America, the immediate motivation for suffragists to embark on hunger strikes was the demand to be considered a political prisoner. Political prisoners had more rights than other prisoners and were not considered <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9780312218539">merely criminals</a>.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration showing prison wardens force-feeding a hunger striking suffragette in Holloway Prison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-illustration-showing-prison-wardens-force-feeding-a-news-photo/613455944?adppopup=true">Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Dunlop and other suffragists sought public sympathy when they refused to eat, playing on popular ideas that white female bodies were vulnerable and passive. Hunger strikers made their starving bodies a form of speech that could breach <a href="https://broadviewpress.com/product/literature-of-the-womens-suffrage-campaign-in-england/">prison walls</a> through testimonials, picketing and protests.</p>
<p>That sympathy increased when suffragists like Dunlop were routinely subjected to brutal force-feedings. Initially devised to feed patients in asylums, force-feeding often damaged suffragists’ teeth, gums and throat. In some cases, when food went into lungs, it even <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612020701627977">resulted in pneumonia</a>. </p>
<p>One suffragist, <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319311128">Mary Leigh</a>, who was forcibly fed in 1909 after her arrest protesting for women’s suffrage, recalled the horror of the experience. She <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319311128">wrote</a>: “The sensation is most painful – the drums of the ear seem to be bursting, a horrible pain in the throat and the breast. The tube is pushed down 20 inches … I resist and am overcome.”</p>
<p>Suffragists argued that their rough handling and force-feeding revealed the brutality of the government. After their release, Dunlop, Leigh and others wrote prison narratives and spoke at rallies to encourage other women to follow their <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Spectacular_Confessions.html?id=rLEdBAeINvEC">example</a> and join the movement. </p>
<h2>American suffragists</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353458/original/file-20200818-22-1vzyoaq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Suffragist Alice Paul.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/npcc/01200/01205r.jpg">Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540</a></span>
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<p>These narratives soon reached American ears, and by the 1910s some American suffragists adopted the more militant <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300042283/grounding-modern-feminism">British tactics</a>, rather than the lobbying and polite protests of earlier decades. They were led by <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/alice-paul">Alice Paul</a>, the author of the Equal Rights Amendment, who had spent time in England learning from her <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Alice_Paul.html?id=Xit8AwAAQBAJ">British counterparts</a>. </p>
<p>When arrested for offenses such as obstructing traffic during demonstrations or chaining themselves to the White House fence, suffragists began their own hunger strikes. They too were <a href="https://www.blackdogandleventhal.com/titles/doris-stevens/jailed-for-freedom/9780762496938/">forcibly fed</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most spectacular attempt to bring publicity to the hunger strikers was undertaken by American journalist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Djuna-Barnes">Djuna Barnes</a>. In 1914 Barnes staged a forcible feeding to demonstrate the brutality of the process. The staged event was covered by New York World Magazine and both horrified and fascinated readers. </p>
<p>Photographs of her experience appeared beside <a href="https://digital.lib.umd.edu/image?pid=umd:91977">her article</a> in which she stated that she “shared the greatest experience of the bravest of my sex.”</p>
<p>This form of performative journalism brought the spectacle of physical punishment outside the prison walls to the American public. </p>
<h2>International repercussions</h2>
<p>Suffragists directly influenced the use of the hunger strike by British colonial subjects in Ireland and India. When Marion Dunlop was released from prison after her hunger strike in 1909, she gave a <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203714638">public speech</a> attended by a visiting Indian lawyer, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. </p>
<p>Male Irish Republicans employed hunger strikes after the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/easter-rising">1916 Easter Rising</a> against British rule – some four years after female suffragists in the country employed the same tactic. The Republican men, however, did not acknowledge the <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674331082">precedent set by women</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353460/original/file-20200818-20-s67hia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353460/original/file-20200818-20-s67hia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353460/original/file-20200818-20-s67hia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353460/original/file-20200818-20-s67hia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353460/original/file-20200818-20-s67hia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353460/original/file-20200818-20-s67hia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353460/original/file-20200818-20-s67hia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gandhi on hunger strike in 1933.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-mahatma-gandhi-in-india-on-march-24-1933-during-his-news-photo/104418419?adppopup=true">Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In the West, Gandhi’s emaciated and frail body came to symbolize the spectacle of a colonized India seeking its freedom through <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/13359.html">nonviolence</a>. In the United States, civil rights activists like <a href="https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/rustin-bayard">Bayard Rustin</a> began using Gandhi’s tactic of nonviolent direct action by the early 1940s. </p>
<p>During World War II, Rustin and other male pacifists served in Civilian Public Service camps, which offered an alternative to military service, or, in some cases, in prison. Imprisoned pacifists launched <a href="https://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2010/a-few-small-candles/">hunger strikes</a> to protest racial segregation and mistreatment. Many of the pacifists suffered painful force-feeding by <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Pacifism_in_the_Twentieth_Century.html?id=C20WAQAAIAAJ">prison authorities</a>. </p>
<h2>Pacifism and hunger strike</h2>
<p>While during the war years male pacifists took center stage, at the war’s end Black and white women began to actively engage in nonviolent direct action. Radical pacifist women routinely used <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14288.html">hunger strikes</a> as a form of protest.</p>
<p>An African American women, Eroseanna Robinson, exemplifies this trend. She was a member of the Peacemakers, a radical pacifist organization that practiced civil disobedience and tax refusal and took to hunger strikes when in <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807859384/kingdom-to-commune/">jail</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>In 1960, when Robinson was arrested for not paying her taxes, she practiced total noncompliance and refused to submit to what she perceived as undemocratic and coercive power. During her year of imprisonment, Robinson refused all nourishment and suffered <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Cold_War_and_The_Income_Tax.html?id=H04ll_yq7NgC">painful force-feedings</a>. </p>
<p>Robinson’s ability to control her own body through self-discipline gave her the strength she needed to endure months of fasting and force-feeding. And as in the case of the suffragists, Robinson’s defiance revealed the brutality of the <a href="https://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/CDGA.M-R/Peacemakers.html">state</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353461/original/file-20200818-20-1q308i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353461/original/file-20200818-20-1q308i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353461/original/file-20200818-20-1q308i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353461/original/file-20200818-20-1q308i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353461/original/file-20200818-20-1q308i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353461/original/file-20200818-20-1q308i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353461/original/file-20200818-20-1q308i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A memorial to Breonna Taylor in Portland, Oregon. In Kentucky, four activists went on a hunger strike.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/memorial-to-breonna-taylor-is-seen-here-during-a-black-news-photo/1227888691?adppopup=true">Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Pacifists and civil rights activists who engaged in hunger strikes were directly indebted to the suffragists who had preceded them. These activists used their bodies to subvert the prison system. </p>
<p>Today, prisoners and those fighting for racial justice are attempting much the same to bring attention and a measure of justice to the suffering world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144323/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria W. Wolcott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
As Americans celebrate the legacy of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, it is also a moment to acknowledge how suffragists first used hunger strike as a form of protest.
Victoria W. Wolcott, Professor of History, University at Buffalo
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.