Test of racism

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html
You might find it interesting to take one of the tests at this site. It contains a series of tests of implicit preference -- religion, race, age, gender, etc. Each one only takes a few minutes. Have no idea how valid the data are, but they're interesting.

Follow up to last night's case study

http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2007/02/14/journalism_programs_to_be_race_blind/
Cut and paste this link for a follow up to last night's discussion of the minority journalism program. Should provide further insight -- and a picture!

Discrimination

In class we debated shortly the difference between discrimination against women and racism against ethnic minority groups. I said that these two discriminations are very similar. To clarify my point, in the sense of civil rights in America, women and blacks have followed a similar path, in which they both have worked for years for their freedoms, suffrage, respect, and to strive to bring a more equal meaning to the phrase "all men are created equal." Although in different forms, we see racism and sexism still today, in the workplace (the glass ceiling), in our media, etc. In that way, I believe the two issues are one in the same.

I also thought tonight's class went well. It often seemed like we veered away from the questions that were asked by some of the teachers, but I think we were always discussing and debating over very revalent and important issues concerning race, civil rights and change. See you all on Wednesday!

I thought tonight went well, and am looking forward to the next session. We got lost in the debate but it was in a good way and seemed to be a good start to this seminar.

Loving v. Virginia Panel Discussion

Did you know that until 1967 interracial marriage was illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia? To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned the prohibition (ironically named Loving v. Virginia), the University of Virginia is hosting a panel discussion of the case. It will be held in the Kaleidoscope Lounge in Newcomb Hall from 4:00-6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 15th and is open to the public.

Happy spring break everybody!

testing

sweetness, this works!! testing....

New Format

I thought this might be a better format given that some of our posts might be extensive. This gives us more room to write. Does it meet with the everyone's approval?

A Curious Sitkoff Reference

On the first page of The Struggle For Black Equality the author states the following:

Nourished by anger, revolutins are born of hope. They are the offspring of belief and bitterness, of faith in the attainment of one's goals and indignation at the limited rate and extent of change. Rarely in history are the two stirrings confluent in a sufficient force to generate an effective, radical social movement. They would be so in African America in the
1960's. (emphasis mine)

I find the reference to "African America" to be quite interesting and I am wondering what the author's intention is here. Sitkoff could have referred to the black Americans within the South during the 1960's or to the United States more generally. The latter would set up the civil rights movement as a struggle that ultimately shaped its national identity. The reference to Africa seems to imply a distinct community along political, legal, and cultural lines. Perhaps the author is implying an "otherness" when referencing black Americans. My concern, however, is that this oversimplifies the complex relations that existed between black and white Americans. Sitkoff clearly demonstrates that Jim Crow laws resulted in the disfranchisement of the largest percentages of black Americans from participating in the political process, but the political and legal consequences do not necessarily imply (if I am interpreting him properly) an "African America." Black and white still understood themselves in relationship to one another; the relationship is symbiotic. I say this in full acknowledgment of Marcus Garvey's agenda and later Malcolm X's call for black Americans to rediscover their African roots.

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Ballin mr. levin!

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Digging Up The Past

The FBI is currently investigating over 100 cases involving murders committed during the Civil Rights Era. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez seems committed to prosecuting as many of these cases as possible even though many may be far beyond the boundaries of what the federal government can legally prosecute. He had this to say:

Much time has passed on these crimes. The wounds they left are deep, and still many of them have not healed. But we are committed to re-examining these cases and doing all we can to bring justice to the criminals who may have avoided punishment for so long.

In contrast to Gonzalez's strong tone of reconciliation and belief that justice can still be served Horace Harned, 86, a former Mississippi legislator and member of the segregationist Sovereignty Commission, said: "I think we shouldn't dig up too much of these things."

One of the high-profile cases being investigated involves Maceo Snipes, a black WWII veteran who was shot by four white men after he voted for the first time in 1946. There is no evidence that an investigation was ever opened by the state of Georgia.

oh and also, mr. levin is totally a closet basketball player, nice work tonight! And thanks again for helping us out

this blogging thing is new to me but pretty interesting.... testing

Testing

Test run two . . . Is anyone out there? Perhaps eventually we can use this site for "real" communications!

John N

Once again, a test run. I'm going to read Kevin's other e-mails and try to access the other (new?) site.

John N

Virginia Apologizes for Slavery

See the article from the Atlanta Constitution. Excerpt:

"Resolved by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, that the General Assembly hereby acknowledge with profound regret the involuntary servitude of Africans and the exploitation of Native Americans and call for reconciliation among all Virginians," states the resolution.

"The moral standards of liberty and equality have been transgressed during much of Virginia's and America's history," the resolution states. It labels slavery "the most horrendous of all depredations of human rights and violations of our founding ideals in our nation's history."

In an extraordinary public confessional debated for weeks, the resolution concedes that "the most abject apology for past wrongs cannot right them; yet the spirit of true repentance on behalf of a government, and, through it, a people, can promote reconciliation and healing." The bill's chief patron in the House, Delegate A. Donald McEachin, 45, is the great-grandson of a North Carolina slave who moved to Virginia after the Civil War.

McEachin, who is studying theology, said his personal history and spiritual journey merged with Virginia's as he took his seat in the legislative body descended from the assembly that began passing slave laws shortly after the first Africans arrived near Jamestown in chains in 1619.

"Words matter, and expressions of regret and apology matter and are important for the healing process," he said in a telephone interview shortly after the House approved the resolution in the former Confederate capital.

McEachin, a Democrat, said his office has been contacted by aides from legislatures in Mississippi, Maryland and Missouri — states with difficult slave histories of their own — and the National Conference of State Legislatures, all expressing interest in passing similar resolutions.

"It's my hope that what we have done here in Virginia will continue elsewhere — if not through the [U.S.] Congress, then through the states," said McEachin.