The Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku feels football should adopt “stronger positions” than just taking the knee, calling for a players’ summit with social media companies, governments and stakeholders to help combat online racism.
Earlier this week the Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso explained his decision to stop taking the knee before matches, instead continuing to stand and point to the “No To Racism” badge on his shirt, as he feels taking the knee has lost some of its impact.
Last season the Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha stopped taking the knee, opting to stand instead in his own protest against racism and discrimination. Lukaku can understand those viewpoints, with online abuse still continuing despite the players’ direct action.
“I think we can take stronger positions, basically,” Lukaku told CNN Sport. “Yeah, we are taking the knee, but in the end, everybody’s clapping but sometimes after the game, you see another insult.”
Lukaku returned to Chelsea during the summer and has made an impressive start to the season, his goals helping to put Thomas Tuchel’s men joint-top of the Premier League. The 28-year-old wants high-profile players to sit down with social media executives and other stakeholders to discuss solutions to the ongoing problem of racism on their platforms.
“The captains of every team, and four or five players, like the big personalities of every team, should have a meeting with the CEOs of Instagram and governments and the FA and the PFA, and we should just sit around the table and have a big meeting about it,” Lukaku said. “How we can attack it straight away, not only from the men’s game, but also from the women’s game.
“I think just all of us together and just have a big meeting and have a conference and just talk about stuff that needs to be addressed to protect the players, but also to protect fans and younger players that want to become professional footballers.”
Source: The Guardian
Also Read: Olympic soccer players take a knee against racism
The School of Nursing (SON) at York University takes very seriously all issues related to systemic racism and other forms of discrimination. We understand that systemic racism is expressed in multiple ways and at various levels. It is our belief that racism is a public health crisis requiring urgent collaborative political action, tangible investment, and system-wide change.
The SoN is committed to instituting a philosophy and curriculum centered around York University’s goal of promoting “a culture of respect, equity, diversity and inclusivity, where we value each other’s differences and exercise our strengths.”
Aligned with the positions on racism of the Canadian Nurses Association (2020) and Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (2020), faculty and staff have also committed to critical reflection on the history and legacy of racism in and through nursing.
In the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020, we further initiated a series of internal discussions and an educational Town Hall with the aim of arriving at a clear understanding of the work required to address systemic racism and discrimination in our own institution, and commit to a collective stance to take action.
As a School, we recognize that “words are not enough.” We must ensure the burden is not on people who identify as Black, Indigenous, Racialized, LGBTQ2+, with or without a religion, dis-abled and/or neuro-diverse, and those who are undocumented to report and be responsible for managing discrimination.
We also recognize that people can have more than one identity across place and time. Addressing racism and discrimination is a shared responsibility that necessitates opening channels of communication and implementing strategies that encourage the expression of different worldviews, deep listening, lifelong learning, advocacy, activism, strengths-based approaches, and relational care.
Source: York U
Also Read: Massachusetts Nurses Association takes a stand against racism
The N.F.L. will allow players to display messages of social justice on their helmets and will stencil the slogans “It Takes All of Us” and “End Racism” on the end zones at every field as part of an effort to show solidarity with the protest movements against racism and police brutality, league officials said.
As the league prepares for the first game of the season on Thursday, an N.F.L. spokesman said that players would be allowed to choose a decal with one of six messages to place on the back of their helmets: “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “It Takes All of Us,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Inspire Change” and “Say Their Stories.”
Last season, the N.F.L. also allowed players to display messages such as “Stop Hate” and “Black Lives Matter” on their helmets, as well as the names of Black people, such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery, whose deaths set off widespread protests.
The efforts represent a continued shift for the league, which in the past had been criticized as slow to support, or hostile to, players who had demonstrated against racism and police violence.
About 70 percent of active players on the league’s rosters are Black and league officials have been trying to show unity with those who have demonstrated against injustice, particularly after the murder of Mr. Floyd in May 2020.
“It’s an opportunity to highlight messages that are important to the league, players and personnel and our communities,” Brian McCarthy, the N.F.L. spokesman, said on Saturday. “We’ve seen tremendous work done by our players to make an impact, and we can increase that through the high-visibility platform that the N.F.L. provides.”
Critics of the N.F.L.’s decision say that the league has no reason to inject social justice issues into football games and that it risks alienating fans.
The league’s efforts have been shadowed by the specter of Colin Kaepernick, the onetime quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, who in 2016 began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality against African Americans.
Source: NY Times
Also Read: NFL stars joined students in virtual chats about racism
As state lawmakers continue to introduce legislation that would limit how schools can teach about racism and sexism, some teachers are pushing back and speaking out.
This past weekend, educators in more than 50 cities held in-person and virtual events pledging to “teach truth”—in other words, to continue teaching about oppression and injustice in the face of new laws that they believe attempt to stifle these kinds of discussions.
These rallies and teach-ins are an initiative of the Zinn Education Project, a resource for teachers coordinated by the nonprofit organizations Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change. The group provides free lessons and materials aligned with historian Howard Zinn’s approach to teaching history—foregrounding the perspectives of people whose stories have been marginalized or ignored in dominant narratives.
Teachers who use this approach fear their work will be threatened by the recent pushback to classroom discussions of historical and present-day racism. Over the past year, 27 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict how teachers can discuss race. Twelve states have enacted bans on such classroom discussions, either through legislation or other avenues.
The laws aim to discourage teachers from making race or gender salient in conversations about power and oppression. And they target the kinds of diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings that many schools adopted amid last spring’s protests against police brutality, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020.
More than 6,500 educators have signed the Zinn Education Project’s pledge to “teach truth” in response to these laws. “We the undersigned educators will not be bullied. We will continue our commitment to develop critical thinking that supports students to better understand problems in our society, and to develop collective solutions to those problems,” the pledge reads.
Source: Ed Week
Also Read: No Black voices during Missouri hearing on racism teachings
Nearly 75% of white parents rarely or never discuss race with their children, according to a 2019 report. And if they’re not talking about race, they’re almost surely not talking about racism. That’s a problem, because “if we don’t talk about racism, we’re going to perpetuate it,” says Riana Elyse Anderson, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.
If you’re a white family, know that it’s truly never too late to have these talks with your kids, though the earlier the better. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that by ages 2 to 4, children can already internalize racial bias.
“Think about it like this: If Black children are old enough to experience racism, then white children are old enough to learn about it,” says Anderson. Not sure what to say, or how to start? Here’s what to know.
1. Assess yourself first.
It’s 100% true that you don’t need to be an expert on race and racism to start a conversation with your child. What’s also true: “You’re going to be ineffective if you haven’t assessed how aware you are about racism and what knowledge you have,” says Anderson, noting that doing your own reading and reflecting is your first priority.
Start with exploring the history of racism in the U.S. and your own personal biases. “It’s important to think about your own journey growing up in a racist society,” says Aisha White, Ph.D., director of the Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education program at the University of Pittsburgh. “Take a look at your own decisions that may have contributed to—or ignored—racism.”
For example, have you ever made assumptions about a so-called “bad” part of town? Have you ever stayed silent when someone told a racist joke?
…
Source: Prevention
Also Read: Some Black parents see less bullying, racism with online learning and are keeping kids home
The German government said Wednesday it will strengthen its battle against the quickly growing anti-Semitism in the country by investing 35 million euros ($41.5 million) into research and educational projects focused on understanding its causes and effectively fighting hatred of Jews.
Police registered 2,351 cases of antisemitism in Germany last year, which was an increase of 15% compared to the year before, officials reported.
“This is the highest number in the last couple of years,” German Education and Research Minister Anja Karliczek said. “There’s reason for worry that this is only the tip of the iceberg and that the unreported number of daily attacks on Jews is substantially higher.”
Karliczek said that the government wants to invest millions into researching the causes of antisemitism “because we need deep knowledge in order to be able to efficiently fight” it.
She said millions would be given to universities to examine the different facets of hatred against Jews and to develop strategies on what to best do against it. Various projects will focus on anti-Semitism in schools, in the German justice system or on the internet and social media.
Funds will also be given to hire junior scholars focusing on the topic and to support projects trying to educate the non-Jewish majority in the country about Jewish life, customs and religious rituals.
In a second step, scientists will be tasked to develop practical guidelines based on their findings to help teachers and others tackle the growing hatred.
“It is a shame that Jews feel threatened in our country,” the minister said. “Especially in view of our history, we have a special obligation to protect Jews and Jewish life in Germany.”
Six million European Jews were killed in the Holocaust, the German-orchestrated genocide during World War II.
Source: ynet news
Also Read: Canceling Jewish talk show prompts claims of antisemitism against WMN
Last year, dozens of communities rushed to declare racism a public health crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests against police brutality, both of which disproportionately affect people of color.
More than 200 cities, counties, local governments, public health and educational entities made such declarations since 2020, according to the American Public Health Association – up from just seven in 2019. (At least one city, Holyoke, Massachusetts, has rescinded its declaration.)
And the trend has continued as leaders in Chicago, Salt Lake City and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made similar declarations.
Public health experts and local leaders heralded these declarations as important first steps in addressing the role racism plays in public health but warned that they required action. Although many of the declarations look similar, what steps communities took to address the systemic inequalities vary widely.
In Wisconsin, for example, Gov. Tony Evers called racism a public health crisis during a news conference last June, but he did not issue a formal declaration like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak did.
Though Sisolak’s declaration did not include specific proposals, Whitmer’s executive order required implicit-bias training for all state employees and created an advisory council to examine problems affecting Black residents.
Most of the resolutions are statements of intent that aren’t legally binding, but many include proposed strategies, said Dawn Hunter, a public health lawyer who has analyzed the declarations.
Hunter said the most common commitments fall into six categories: policy and practice; accountability; funding and infrastructure; partnerships and collaborations; specific issues; or a call to action to other leaders.
Some communities have made progress on those commitments, but many are still early in the process of determining how to take action, said Hunter, deputy director of the Network for Public Health Law’s Southeastern Region Office.
Source: Yahoo!
Also Read: Virginia is set to become first Southern state to declare racism a public health crisis
According to TMZ, the Jerry Maguire actor has been spending his Saturdays putting his MMA skills to good use with fellow actor and martial artist Remi Franklin.
The duo have been busy in the Fairfax District making sure worshippers are able to safely come and go from temple after a slew of anti-Semitic attacks that have plagued the neighborhood in recent months.
Last May, a group of pro-Palestinian men attacked Jewish diners outside of Sushi Fumi. Since the hate crime took place, more and more violence against local Orthodox Jews has occurred, including attempts to run over children.
The Hollywood good Samaritan is no actor when it comes to his ability to fight. Lipnicki — who also starred in family classics like Stuart Little and The Little Vampire — is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and has competed in MMA competitions for years.
In 2020 Lipnicki wrote on his Instagram page, “I’m in shock. I don’t know how to express exactly how I feel. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Blackbelt!!! I have been training roughly 14 years, and jiu-jitsu has been there for me through the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
“I am an actor, so people often assume I’m going to suck or have been exclusively privately trained. That is not the case here, but that has sure made me work harder!”
“I roll with everybody! I have had my a– kicked since I was 15 years old, and it has both simultaneously built my confidence and kept me humble. I have had to take time off when I do film, but I have always made an effort to come back when I’m done and get back into the mix.”
TMZ spoke to Lipnicki about his heroic use of MMA to stop attacks.
“[The group was started] to make sure people got home and to the synagogue safely…families, women, children,” the young actor stated, going on to say, “everybody should have the right to worship without being discriminated against.”
Source: Ok! Magazine
Also Read: Canadian Jewish leaders raise alarm after string of anti-Semitic assaults in Toronto
Give Salt Lake Mayor Erin Mendenhall credit. While activists in other cities have tried to attack problems of systemic racism by calling for the defunding of police departments, she recently raised department salaries by 30% for new recruits and 12% for senior officers.
Her reasoning was that doing so would help the city attract and keep the best officers. We would add that it brings a level of dignity to the job of a law enforcement officer, which promotes a high standard of performance.
This move gave the mayor and the City Council the credibility to proclaim last Tuesday that racism is a public health crisis, with a resolve to look closely for racist legacies within the city’s own policy framework and beyond.
Perhaps the most galling aspect of a hyperpartisan culture is that words like “racism,” which ought to unite people in condemnation, have become politicized. People find conspiracies and hidden agendas that twist and burden meanings with heavy layers of sinister intentions.
The city’s resolution rests on a more straightforward definition, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Racism is a system — consisting of structures, policies, practices, and norms — that assigns value and determines opportunity based on the way people look or the color of their skin.”
That sounds a lot like the Utah Compact on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, which former Gov. Gary Herbert and other political and community leaders unveiled last December. At the time, Herbert said the compact was just a beginning; something “individuals and businesses can rally around” to examine themselves and come up with better anti-racist policies and actions.
Herbert said the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers had “pricked our conscience.” He added that it “reminded us all we have not gotten to the promised land yet. We are not where we wanted to be or should be.”
Source: Deseret News
Also Read: Utah Hospitals Vow To Fight ‘Systemic Racism’ In Healthcare, Starting With Their Own Staff
Utah’s Utah’s
Communities where Black Lives Matter protests have been held in recent years saw a subsequent drop in the number of police homicides, by as much as 15 to 20 percent, or roughly 300 fewer deaths at the hands of authorities, recent research from UMass Amherst shows.
The findings were first released in February and updated last month in “Black Lives Matter’s Effect on Police Lethal Use-of-Force” by Travis Campbell, a graduate student in UMass Amherst’s Economics Department.
Campbell said despite the national attention and discourse the protest movement has generated over the years, he was surprised to learn little research actually exists regarding its impact on law enforcement.
Also surprising was the result of his research, which is now being peer-reviewed, he said.
“Growing up, we’re always told that protests don’t do anything,” Campbell, 26, told Boston.com. “But there’s a pretty sizable literature showing that they actually do.”
The key findings
According to Campbell’s research, the decreases were recorded between 2014, when unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, and 2019.
Campbell opted not to include 2020 in his data set due to the unusual set of circumstances the COVID-19 pandemic presented. (Protests and COVID-related shutdowns, he said, were likely more probable in Democratic-leaning cities. Lockdowns could have also resulted in fewer interactions between the public and police than in a typical year, he added.)
The result of protesting appears to be striking, his paper notes.
“The payoff for protesting is substantial; around every 5 of the 1,724 protests in the sample corresponds with approximately one less person killed by the police over the following years, depending on specification,” Campbell writes. “The police killed around one less person for every twelve hundred participants.”
Read the complete article at: Boston.com
Also read: N.J. cop called Black Lives Matter protesters terrorists. How the comments got her fired.
