A city-commissioned study in Austin, Texas, found that urban design from almost a century ago cost Black residents in just five areas more than $290 million. The report comes at a time when American communities are more interested than ever in finding ways to address the legacy of housing discrimination.
The Austin City Council issued an apology for its past “segregation and systematic housing discrimination” last year and requested scholars from the University of Texas at Austin and Huston-Tillotson University, a historically Black university in the city, to examine the effects of such practices. The city’s 1928 master plan, for example, which established a “Negro District” and required Black residents to relocate east to access city facilities, effectively legalized residential racial segregation.
The first findings, which were reported by the Austin Monitor last month, were validated by a municipal official. Although it’s still not obvious how it would be set up or funded, local supporters want to use the data to put pressure on the city to create a center that provides social and economic services for Austin’s Black citizens and businesses.
According to Kellee Coleman, Austin’s interim chief equity officer, the report is “a tool for the community to be able to hold the government responsible for what it produced,” including “pervasive gaps” across health and economic measurements.
The study Austin requested is a part of a larger movement among American cities to address racial disparities in wealth and homeownership, which are a result of long-standing housing discrimination practices like redlining, where the federal government deemed majority-Black neighborhoods “hazardous” and refused to insure mortgages in and around them.
In American cities, residential racial segregation and its effects are still a problem. According to the Brookings Institution, community amenities and quality are unable to account for the difference in property values between majority-Black and non-Black communities in the average U.S. metro region.
If you can even call it that, the American history curriculum is a flimsy thing. The United States lacks national guidelines for what history lessons should cover for children in public schools, in contrast to many other nations. Each state establishes its own curriculum standards, although they are often flexible given that 13,000 school districts choose their own textbooks and that individual instructors have a significant deal of authority.
Donald Yacovone, a scholar at Harvard and the author or editor of multiple works, most of which are on the Civil War era, is the most recent author to concentrate on the topic. His first book on education, “Teaching White Supremacy,” is based, as he notes in the preface, on approximately 3,000 American history curriculum textbooks from the 1800s to the 1980s that are kept in the collection of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Yacovone’s argument that Northern publishers, universities, religious leaders, and social activists were more responsible than Southern ones for spreading a persistent ideology of white superiority and Black inferiority that outlived the institution of slavery and was vehemently expressed in school materials is compelling and convincing. This worldview frequently coexisted with ardent support for the Union and the abolition of slavery, linking the survival of the Republic to the notion of America as a white nation.
Yacovone expertly examines the pervasive racism that existed in 19th-century Northern progressive movements. Abolitionists who were white and Christian frequently wanted to send freed Black people to Africa. Some white feminists made the claim that white women were morally and intellectually superior to freshly freed Black males in order to support women’s suffrage. Black Americans were frequently seen by northern white labor advocates as undesired employment competitors. Textbooks for elementary school represented all of these concepts.
Yacovone also makes some perplexing decisions on which authors and philosophers to highlight. He seems to believe that the Democratic Party propagandist and 19th-century New York publisher John H. Van Evrie holds the key to comprehending the white supremacy seen in school textbooks. Van Evrie popularised scientific racism, such as the ridiculous polygenesis idea, which claimed that black people and white people were two distinct species and that slavery was a natural state for the lower, Black order.
Read the complete article at: The New York Times
A victim has filed a lawsuit against the lady who was caught on camera making racist statements to a group of Indian Americans outside a restaurant in Plano, Texas, last month.
The event, which was captured on a now-viral video, happened on August 24 at about 8:15 p.m. in the parking lot of the restaurant Sixty Vines on the 3700 block of Dallas Parkway.
The culprit, subsequently identified as Esmeralda Upton, approached the group of four Indian Americans as they were making their way to their automobiles after dinner and said, “Go back to India.”
She may also be seen hitting the individual who is recording the situation on the video at one point. She then tells the victim she would “blow your f*cking brains out” as she reaches for her handbag.
That evening, when Plano police came, they let Upton go. She was, however, taken into custody the next day on suspicion of assault and threatening terrorism. Following her arrest, she posted the $10,000 bail that was required for her to be detained in custody.
Dr. Bidisha Rudra, one of the four victims, filed a civil lawsuit against Upton last week in Collin County seeking compensation and punitive damages.
Indian-born Rudra became a citizen of the United States through naturalization. She has more than 20 years of residency in the nation and earned her doctorate there. One of the greatest communities of Indian Americans in the country is found in North Texas.
Veronica S. Moyé, the attorney for Rudra, asserted that Upton must bear “severe penalties” for her crimes.
The Dallas Morning News quoted Moyé as saying, “We think there has to be substantial, serious consequences for Ms. Upton to convey a message that this sort of behavior will be dealt with in the harshest possible way.” Even if an apology would be great, it would not undo all the suffering that these ladies had endured.
Republicans have come under fire from Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes supporters for running racist television advertising and mailings during the U.S. Senate campaign.
Barnes, a Democrat running to be the state’s first Black senator, is in a close contest against Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican.
Barnes’ supporters encouraged Republicans and conservative organizations to drop the contentious commercials during a press conference on Wednesday in front of a Republican Party headquarters on the city’s north side.
Calena Roberts, a field director for SEIU Wisconsin, stated, “We’re calling on Ron Johnson to reject these commercials and for national Republicans to take them down.” “We are not naive. We are aware of their activities.”
Johnson’s top advisor, Ben Voelkel, referred to the insults and the charge of racism as “absurd.” He claimed that the reason why his followers are now criticizing him is that they are unable to justify the “disastrous effects of their extreme left policies.”
They are unable to dispute Mandela Barnes’ radical leftist views, which are supported by other radical leftists and are very different from those of Wisconsin voters, according to Voelkel.
None of the commercials receiving flak were created or funded by the Johnson campaign.
During the 1988 presidential campaign, state senator Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) compared a few of the commercials to the infamous Willie Horton spot.
In that election, George H.W. Bush’s backers ran a campaign commercial attacking his rival, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, of being lax on crime while displaying a threatening mug image of Horton, a murderer who was placed on furlough while Dukakis was in power.
Additionally, Barnes’ supporters questioned a mailer sent by the state Republican Party, which darkened one side of the leaflet to include a photo of Barnes. The back side, which promotes Johnson’s campaign, is unfiltered.
Robert Sarver has announced plans to sell his two Phoenix-based basketball teams, the NBA’s Suns and Mercury.
“I am beginning the process of seeking buyers for the Suns and Mercury,” Sarver said in a statement on Wednesday.
Following an inquiry into claims of racism and sexism while serving as the owner of the Suns and Mercury, the NBA last Thursday fined Sarver $10 million and suspended him for a year. Many NBA players, including well-known athletes like LeBron James and Chris Paul, did not think the punishment was severe enough. When the sentence was issued, James posted on Twitter, saying, “Our league clearly got this wrong.” “I adore our league and have the utmost regard for our executive team. But this is wrong. Racism, sexism, and misogyny have no place in the workplace.
Jahm Najafi, the Suns’ vice chairman, and PayPal, a team sponsor, both recommended that Sarver sell the organization.
Last November, an ESPN article that was subsequently confirmed by an NBA investigation discovered that Sarver had used the N-word five times while paraphrasing the statements of others. This is when Sarver’s problems started. In addition, the study found that Sarver made offensive remarks about sex and anatomy, made sexist remarks toward female employees, including telling a pregnant worker that she wouldn’t be able to perform her job once she gave birth, and yelled and cursed at workers in ways that would be regarded as bullying “under workplace standards”. Sarver did not use “racially offensive language with the purpose to humiliate or disparage,” according to the report.
Sarver’s situation has been compared to that of former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling. After recordings of Sterling uttering racial slurs surfaced in 2014, NBA commissioner Adam Silver essentially forced the sale of the franchise by banning Sterling for life from the league.
A US judge has mandated that McDonald’s Corp. defend itself in the $10 billion racism lawsuit filed by media mogul Byron Allen, who claims that the fast-food business engaged in “racial stereotyping” by refusing to advertise in black-owned media.
According to a ruling made on Friday by US district judge Fernando Olguin in Los Angeles, Allen may attempt to show in the racism lawsuit that McDonald’s broke federal and California civil rights laws by excluding his networks from receiving the “vast bulk” of its advertising funds.
In this racism lawsuit, Allen claimed that McDonald’s denied his Entertainment Studios Networks Inc. and Weather Group LLC, which owns the Weather Channel, tens of millions of dollars in annual income by placing them in an “African American tier” with a different advertising agency and a considerably lesser advertising budget.
Olguin referenced claims that Entertainment Studios had made many fruitless attempts since its creation in 2009 to get a contract with McDonald’s, whose “racist” corporate culture damaged Allen, without making a determination about the truth of the allegations.
Olguin stated, “Plaintiffs have asserted sufficient circumstances to warrant an inference of purposeful discrimination when taken together and viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs.
McDonald’s lawyer Loretta Lynch said in a statement yesterday that the Chicago-based corporation felt the evidence would demonstrate there was no prejudice and that the case was “about money, not race.”
According to her, “Plaintiffs’ baseless charges overlook both McDonald’s reasonable economic justifications for not investing more on their channels and the company’s long-standing commercial partnerships with many other diverse-owned partners.”
The issue, according to Allen, is “about the economic participation of African American-owned enterprises in the US economy,” according to a statement.
“McDonald’s robs African American customers of billions while providing nearly little in return.”
According to the complaint, 40% of fast food patrons are black, yet McDonald’s only allocated 0.3% of their $1.6 billion US marketing budget to black-owned media in 2019.
McDonald’s said in May 2021 that it will increase national ad expenditure with black-owned media to 5% from 2% by 2024.
Olguin rejected a previous iteration of Allen’s claim last November after concluding that there was no evidence of deliberate and intentional prejudice against his enterprises.
In the encounter between Inter Miami and D.C. United on Sunday, it is alleged that DCU striker Taxi Fountas used the N-word to refer to Inter Miami defender Damian Lowe. Major League Soccer has said that it will investigate the allegation.
An Major League Soccer official told ESPN that the league “has zero tolerance for abusive and disrespectful behavior and we take these complaints very seriously.” “We will look into this situation as soon as possible. After the inquiry is finished, more details will be given.”
Additionally, a D.C. United representative released the following statement: “The claims against a player during the match versus Inter Miami CF are known to D.C. United. To examine the event, the club will collaborate closely with Major League Soccer and Inter Miami.”
The alleged assault allegedly took place during a 3-2 Miami win, during the 59th minute. It came after an altercation between Lowe and Fountas. Aime Mabika, a Miami defender, then responded furiously against Fountas. Following the incident, referee Ismail Elfath warned both Fountas and Lowe and then spoke with the managers of the two sides, Inter Miami’s Phil Neville and D.C. United’s Wayne Rooney.
Elfath responded to a post-game query from a pool reporter by claiming that neither he nor any other official heard a racist epithet being spoken. Play resumed after a wait of several minutes, but Fountas was replaced in the 66th.
Rooney remarked, “There was a complaint, and I have no doubt that it will be looked at. I don’t have much else to say.”
Neville was left to explain the nature of the conflict.
DeAndre Yedlin, a defender for Miami, subsequently said during a post-game videoconference that the players told Neville they wouldn’t play any further unless something was done about Fountas. Rooney quickly decided to replace Fountas.
US President Joe Biden has urged people to speak out against racism and promised to persuade Congress to take more action to make social media corporations liable for inciting hatred.
At the United We Stand Summit of regional leaders, professionals, and survivors on Thursday, Biden declared that “white supremacists will not have the final word.”
When Biden stated that he wants Congress to “hold social media firms accountable for propagating hate,” the audience applauded him for standing up.
The removal of social media corporations’ special immunity and the imposition of considerably stricter transparency standards for all of them, Joe Biden demanded of Congress.
The White House has advocated for the repeal of Section 230, a statute that exempts internet businesses from being held accountable for user-posted information, as well as for stepping up antitrust and transparency enforcement against technology firms.
Large technological corporations also entered the conversation. YouTube said that it was stepping up its efforts to prevent “violent extremism” by eliminating materials that promote violent behavior with the intention of motivating people to hurt others, generate money, or recruit.
Microsoft announced that it was extending the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to identify violent threats that were likely to materialize and to use games to foster empathy.
The Joe Biden administration also provided $20 million earlier this week to dozens of organizations devoted to preventing hate-related violence. Two historically Black schools and institutions, as well as two organizations that support the LGBTQ community, were among the awardees.
Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on Wednesday, “Through the grant awards we are announcing today, we are equipping local communities and organizations — including those historically underserved — with needed resources so they can become more effective partners, strengthen our security, and help the American people feel safe and secure in our daily lives.
Unfortunately, there was some racism in response to the first teaser for Halle Bailey’s portrayal of Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
And right now, Trevor Noah is warning those who are incensed. The presenter of The Daily Show, who was visibly distraught, addressed the audience members who were upset by a Black Little Mermaid, asking, “Really, people—we’re doing this again?”
Noah responded to those who said Bailey didn’t resemble Disney’s original Ariel, saying, “Nothing like? They both have red [hair], and they both have tails. “Once again, some online racists are pissed off that a fictitious character is being performed by a Black person,” he concluded. This is absurd. And to be completely honest, I don’t get the fuss. Do you folks understand that Nemo was also Black? Yeah! The focus of the entire film was a fish looking for his father.
Despite his humor, Noah urged the critics to “stop being stupid” and emphasized that the world of The Little Mermaid is, in fact, “imaginary.”
He added, “I hope this scandal doesn’t overshadow the rest of the movie. The Little Mermaid is a beautiful story about a young woman changing her core identity to please a man. Let’s not forget about that, people.”
Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid was directed by Rob Marshall and stars Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy. It’s slated to open on May 26, 2023.
With the awarding of its first government funding to demolish a road designed to sustain racial discrimination, the Biden administration is rounding off the president’s recent visit to Michigan, which was mostly focused on worker rights and transportation innovation.
The action is a part of the Biden administration and its larger initiative to redesign America’s infrastructure in a fairer way, which also includes correcting racist roadways that were built to encourage white flight and deny Black people access to housing and business opportunities.
I-375, the highway that divides Detroit’s Black Bottom neighbourhood and Paradise Valley, the city’s epicentre of Black business, will be demolished using $104.6 million in federal funds from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday.
The money is being given to Detroit as a part of a $1.5 billion grant programme for states to advance important projects called Infrastructure for Rebuilding America, or INFRA.
Buttigieg described the Detroit roadway to the AP as “cutting like a gash across the neighbourhood, one of many examples I have seen in neighbourhoods around the country where a piece of infrastructure has become a barrier.”
With the help of this money, he said, “we’re now working with the government and the neighbourhood to make it a route that will unite rather than divide.
Millions more were included in the Biden administration announcement on Thursday for various projects in Arizona, Colorado, New York, and other states throughout the nation. The large sum required to rebuild Black Bottom and its neighbourhood demonstrates how detrimental America’s racial infrastructure has been. And it’s an indication that far more money will be required to solve the issue on a national scale.
