Monday, December 5, 2016

Bryan Stevenson and Just Mercy



At NCSS 2016 in Washington DC I had the amazing opportunity to see Mr. Bryan Stevenson speak and to meet him afterwards.

Stevenson is a Harvard Law School graduate who founded the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery Alabama.  From the EJI website, their mission is:
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
The vulnerable people who Stevenson and the EJI help include low-income, minority, and children.   Stevenson became famous for his book called Just Mercy.  The book details Mr. Stevenson's journey from Law student to founding the EJI and the numerous cases which he has worked on.  It is a very powerful narrative that strongly makes the case that inequality in the United States is persistent among the most vulnerable groups in our society.

For Sociology, the book can be used to teach myriad concepts.  But the book might also be useful in other class like:  government, US history, law, criminal justice.

Here is a teaching guide:  http://www.randomhousebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/justmercy_studyguidev7_Final.pdf

Here is a review from the New Yorker.

Here is a review from the New York Times.

Here is Mr. Stevenson's Ted Talk.




At NCSS, Mr Stevenson spoke about 5 things that people need to do in order to create change in the world:


1. Be compassionate.
2. Get proximate.
3. Change the narrative.
4.  Stay hopeful.
5.  Be willing to be uncomfortable.











Here is Mr. Stevenson talking about staying hopeful:




Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Our society creates very limited ways of being masculine.


1.  Who is likely to commit random acts of school violence?





2.  Why do they do this?






3.  What can males and females do to change this violent masculinity?


In another post I blogged a little more seriously about the violent masculinity that is socially constructed in America. (see Mask You linity). This video is humorous because
A.it's my life, but
B.because it is still so different and uncool to think of stay-at-home dads as being a exciting and meaningful in our society.

If you like that video, there are lots more very funny videoes by that artist (Lajoie), but especially related to this post is another video called everyday guy, which is a humorous rap about being a regular guy - the average guy that the media neglects. Why is being a stay-at-home dad or a "regular guy" so funny? Because our notions of what is acceptable to be a "real man" is so messed up. So, what is your definition of a real man? Let me give some examples of what I think a real man should be:
A real man...
is able to wake up in the middle of the night to comfort a crying baby
has opinions but restrains emotions of anger
allows someone else to save face even if it makes him look bad
Is willing to take the lead but is not concerned with who gets the credit
is able to empathize
tries to be respective of others' feelings, but says sorry when he is at fault
is willing to try things that are difficult but can ask for help when he needs it
forgives someone who wrongs him
doesn't whine but is not afraid to say is hurt, vulnerable, or that he cares.

Here is an article from the NY Times called Teaching Men to Be Emotionally Honest.  It is another example of how to re-define masculinity.

Many males put on a tough guise to pretend that they are a tough guy because that is the only acceptable way to be masculine in our society.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Veteran's Day at Sal Squadron!


Stopped by my local American Legion today to make a donation.  

The relationship between veterans and poverty is complex. Nationally, poverty among veterans is half that compared to the general public. But when vets fall through the cracks, they can fall hard. Poverty coupled with other factors like a lack of support networks or substandard housing has made it 50 percent more likely for veterans to become homeless than other Americans. There are still 1.5 million young veterans who live with incomes below the poverty line. In 2011, about 900,000 veterans lived in households that relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a government food stamp program. Government cuts to the program will affect about 5,000 troops according to the Pentagon. http://wheaton.patch.com/groups/newscruncher/p/map-do-veterans-live-in-the-impoverished-parts-of-town-wheaton

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

American Culture and Tues With Morrie (3 of 3)

Happiness v. Work, Personal Achievement, Success, Materialism
What are some ways that Mitch values hard work, achievement, success? Is this true for you or your parents? Does this start in high school or even sooner? What ways? Is it possible to obtain a different type of success? Think about (click here for more info) the Nothing assignment and how we connect what we do to who we are as people. Our culture constructs a reality where we are not allowed to just be. We must be doing at all times; it is valuing personal achievement, time, work, competition, materialism and success. Note that happiness is never a a part of the equation.  The hegemonic assumption is that happiness simply comes with those values.  See this post about happiness and it's relationship to money.  Contrast these values with the values that Michael Buettner writes about in his book Thrive.  What are the lessons you learned from Thrive?  How would you like to live your life differently after reading this?  What would be a message you would like to share with the rest of your classmates who don't have the privilege of being in our class?  This value cluster also reminds me of this joke about an American businessman and a Mexican fisherman

American Culture and Tues With Morrie (2 of 3)

Understanding and Applying the American value cluster of Independence, Freedom, Individualism & Personal Control v. Dependency

1.  Individually, reflect on Tuesdays with Morrie.  What are some examples within the movie of characters being individualistic (as opposed to being dependent)?  How does the value of Individualism combine with the value of personal control?  Cite examples from the movie.



2.  What are some ways that you see the values of individualism and personal control shaping your own life or the lives of your parents/siblings/friends?



-------------Do not continue until instructed to do so------------------------

3.    After you discussed number one above in your small group, do you understand how the American cultural values can shape individuals’ lives?
_____Yes
_____No
If yes, what was one example from your group partners that was a good example?
If no, why not?  What questions do you have?



------------Do not continue until instructed to do so------------------------

4.  Close your eyes.  Think of someone influential in your life.  Now write down who you thought about and why you thought about that person.


When you are finished, click here.


In what ways are Americans afraid of being dependent on others? Do you think that this is related to our value of independence and freedom? In what ways do you depend on other people? Does this bother you? Another great example of these values influencing us negatively is explored in this TED talk by Brene Brown. She speaks about vulnerability and our culture. We want to numb our feelings of vulnerability, but in doing so we also numb our feelings of connection to others and our sense of worthiness which allows us to feel love and happiness.
The feeling of individualism and independence that creates this lack of invulnerability may also detach us from feelings of gratitude that help contribute to our happiness.

Friday, October 7, 2016

American Culture and Tues With Morrie (1of 3)

Tuesdays with Morrie can be a case study in examining American values.  If we think with sociological mindfulness we can see how these values become a part of who we are and how we help to promote the values.  Then, we can start to choose how and when the values influence us.  This can help us prioritize our life.  Here is a link to a story about priorities.

Death v. Materialism, Individualism
Are Americans afraid of death? Is death a taboo topic? Why do you think this is the case? How might our feelings about death be related to our materialism? I also think that our feelings about death are rooted in our culture's individualism. See this post about the way our culture associates individualism with grieving one's death.  That is why I think most students would say the movie was a sad movie (at least parts of it) even though those same students would admit that Morrie doesn't want them to be sad.  Morrie himself explains,"Don't be so sad because I'm going to die Mitch...Death ends a life but not a relationship..." And Morrie explains, I'll still love you and you'll always love me.

 Love v. Individualism, Materialism
Do you think that Americans are afraid to love each other, or show that they love each other? If we are afraid to love, why might that be? Does our culture socially construct our reality so that we are afraid to love? What values in our culture might make us feel this way? How can we overcome this? What is the difference between the value of “romantic love” and real love - the love Morrie talks about?   I think these different types of love are related to American values too.  See this post for more on the idea of romantic love vs. real love.  How is this a part of your life?

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Tuesdays With Morrie

We watched Tuesdays With Morrie as an example of American culture. Watch it here on mediacast. The movie reflects on both American norms and taboos and on American values.

As you watch the movie, look for all of the ways that the American values  affect Mitch and look for the ways that Morrie talks about those values.
Try to think about how those values show up in your own life and in your parents' lives.

Here is a list of quotes from the book.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

When I realized I was an American...



When I was in Italy, I felt like I was returning home. I had always thought that because my Grandfather emmigrated from Italy, that I was Italian too. I looked Italian. I had an Italian surname. So when I went to Italy I met Italians and I told them that I was Italian too.
They said, "Where were you born?"
"In Chicago," I answered.
[LAUGHS] "You are not Italian!"
"But my grandfather was born in Italy."
"Ohh, your grandfather is Italian, but YOU are American."
"Really?"
"Look at you - blue jeans, baseball cap, gym shoes...you are American!"

This was such a revelation for me. I had always thought of myself as Italian, but bow I realize that my heritage was Italian, but my nationality was American.

Although it is difficult to define at times, Americans do have their own unique culture. There are reasons that this culture is difficult to understand. Some of the difficulties in understanding American culture are:
Real vs. Ideal Culture - Sometimes a culture of people will believe in an ideal, but their reality is different.  For example most people in the U.S. will agree that equality is an ideal, but the reality is that we are more unequal than most countries and realistically we do not support a lot of programs designed to equalize people, instead that is seen as socialism and is frowned upon.
Value Contradiction - Some values contradict each other, such as individualism and equality.  It is difficult to see all people as individuals and treat them equally.  Inherently, if you are an individual, you are not equal, you are different and unique.
Value Cluster - Sometimes values work together to create a really strong system of belief, such as: personal control, work, achievement, success, materialism.
Globalization and cultural leveling - Some values from the United States have spread around the world so we see them as natural, but really it just our influence that has spread them.

But those who study culture have identified values that Americans hold that make them unique.

 Kohl's "Values Americans Live By" is a really succinct explanation of American values.




American Values                                        vs.Other Cultures’ Values
Personal control/responsibility                   vs Fate/destiny
Change seen as natural/positive/Progress  vs. Stability/tradition
Time and its control                                     vs. Human Interaction
Equality/fairness                                          vs. Hierarchy/rank/status
Individualism/independence/freedom   vs. Group welfare/dependence
Self-Help/initiative                                    vs. Birthright/inheritance
Competition                                               vs. Cooperation
Future orientation                                     vs. Past orientation
Action/work                                                vs. “Being”
Informality                                                 vs. Formality
Directness/openness/Honesty                    vs. Indirectness/ritual/”face”
Practicality/efficiency                                 vs. Idealism/theory
Materialism/Acquisitiveness                        vs. Spiritualism/detachment
Achievement/Success                                   vs. Acceptance/Status Quo
Morality/judgement                        vs.Consequentialism/situational ethics

Robin Williams (The sociologist, not the actor), studied American culture in the 1970s and came up with his own list of values, which is largely still applicable today.

Can you apply any of these American values to your own life? Perhaps you can show how these values pervade your experience at school?  Note that the values are subtle but strong.  They affect you in so many subtle ways that you don't notice but you are shaped by them in a profound way.  Here is an example of how we are shaped as a culture in subtle ways:

The Subtle Way that Values Shape Your Life

Let's think with sociological mindfulness for a second about values.  They shape you in so many different ways. And they also shape the entire culture in certain ways.  These values lead to behaviors that we all participate in unconsciously.  These behaviors can have an enormous impact on a culture when you view them as cultural behaviors.  Watch this TED talk by Chris Jordan to see how the behaviors impact our culture:


After watching that video, take a moment and think about this:
1. What are the behaviors that SHS students participate in unconsciously that when taken as a whole, has a huge impact?
2. Try to estimate what the total impact of that behvior is. Use data/research to figure that out.
3. What American cultural values shape the behavior in your example?
4. How could you display that data for others to see?
5.  How is Chris Jordan's work an example of sociological mindfulness?

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Volunteer Op: A Just Harvest


 Mrs. Fainman will be taking students to the Just Harvest soup kitchen friday, Oct 7 in Evanston. If you are interested, please email her at mfainman@d125.org. If you volunteer for this opportunity, SHS will provide a bus and you will leave school PROMPTLY at 3:30 and return to school at 7:30.  Wear closed-toed shoes.  There will also be opportunities to go to this on the second Friday of each month.   If you need more info, please contact Mrs. Fainman.

Monday, August 29, 2016

3 Perspectives and sports


Today we talked about the three perspectives of sociology and how they relate to sports.

I like to think about the three perspectives as three different ways of having a sociological imagination.  Three specific ways of having a sociological imagination are the three founding perspectives of sociology.  These three perspectives were the beginning of sociology.  All three of them were a reaction to the extraordinary changes of the industrial revolution taking place in Europe in the 1800s.  The founder of each of these theories is considered one of the founding fathers of sociology.  Here are the ways that we applied each theory to the tv show:

What are the groups and what functions do they serve? Are there negative influences from any of the groups (dysfunctions)? This is functional theory. It was developed by Emile Durkheim.

Who has power? How or why do they have power? How do they use it? This is conflict theory. It was first developed by Karl Marx.

What are the important symbols? Note that the symbols might be an object, but also might be an idea, an event or something else. How do people act based on the symbols they find important? This is symbolic interactionism. I like to connect symbolic interactionism to Max Weber.

Can you relate any of these theories to your own life? How can the things you do be interpreted through one of these theories? For example why do you wear what you wear or why are you going to college or why do you stress yourself out to get "good" grades?

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Flag Football Volunteer Opportunity

This Weekend!

You can volunteer with the Special Olympics at Stevenson for Flag Football.

There are positions from 9am-4pm


Here is Registration code: CAAiXn



Saturday, August 13, 2016

Three ways Sociologists can discuss Trump as the 2016-17 year begins

1.  Sociological imagination and understanding Donal Trump from the Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/5/22/1528098/-The-sociological-imagination-racism-and-Donald-Trump

"The sociological imagination is the connection between personal experience and the broader social and political world. This concept is one of the most powerful frameworks for understanding the human experience and how we locate it within a given society and/or cultural milieu.
As such, the sociological imagination has been invaluable in my efforts to make sense of politics in the Age of Obama, the rise of “Trumpmania,” and the radical rightward move of the Republican Party and movement conservatism."

2.  From Sociological Images of the Society Pages, a humor theorist explains Trump's joke about killing Hilary and how it relates to identity, function of groups and  ingroups/outgroups, 

https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2016/08/10/humor-theorist-explains-trumps-joke-about-killing-hillary-clinton/


3.  Stephanie Coontz, family scholar and author of The Way We Never Were offers insight on the nostalgia that Trump calls into consciousness to stir up his voters. 
https://thesocietypages.org/ccf/2016/08/04/taking-the-nostalgia-of-trump-supporters-seriously/
we should recognize that there are reasons people in precarious circumstances may resent immigration –- reasons entirely different from but also vulnerable to racist lies about crime and violence. In some areas illegal immigration does displace the least-educated native workers. It can also create tensions in neighborhoods that are experiencing cutbacks in public investment even as educational resources and other community amenities multiply in the increasingly isolated enclaves of the very rich.


Saturday, July 30, 2016

The beauty of human skin in every shade...Humanae

Angélica Dass is a photographer who used her art to highlight that human traits, such as skin color are not discrete groups but instead a spectrum of different shades.



 Dass created a palette of color based on the people she photographed:




Her photography challenges how we think about skin color and ethnic identity. In her Ted Talk, she explains the inspiration behind her portrait project, Humanæ, and her pursuit to document humanity's true colors rather than the untrue white, red, black and yellow associated with race.


Friday, July 29, 2016

Tinder's in-house sociologist



http://www.lamag.com/longform/tinder-sociologist/

Kismet” is the word Jessica Carbino likes to use. She joined Tinder in October 2013, about a year after it launched in Los Angeles. Carbino was 27 and “looking.” She was also a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at UCLA, writing her thesis on online dating. An undergraduate student had tipped her off about the free app, explaining how it pulls up an endless scroll of photos of people around you, displaying minimal, if any, biographical details about them. If you “like” someone, she was told, you swipe right; if you don’t, go left. A chat box appears only when both parties are into each other.
Her interest piqued, Carbino gave the app a spin. One of the photos she swiped right on was of a twentysomething with short dark hair and a stare intense enough to knock down walls. He swiped right on her, too. The guy, it turned out, was the company CEO, Sean Rad. Instead of a date, Carbino landed a job as the start-up’s in-house sociologist.
Close to three years later she’s leading me through Tinder’s headquarters several stories above the Sunset Strip. Tinder moved here last October, and the space still has a just-out-of-the-box vibe. The building belongs to Barry Diller’s IAC, a media conglomerate that owns four dozen dating sites, including OkCupid, Match.com, and PlentyOfFish as well as a controlling stake in Tinder. Yet those holdings constitute only a tiny fraction of the nearly 4,000 sites that make up the $2.2 billion online dating market. You can bet more will be emerging. Because as much as computers and smartphones have changed the dating game, what hasn’t changed is the central challenge everyone contends with: how to lock in a better match.
To a large degree the sector has staked its success on algorithms—proprietary math formulas that use a combination of profile information and online behaviors—to come up with the answers. For end users, though, providing the data to feed those algorithms can feel like a drag, what with the tedious profiles, the Psych 101 personality tests, and the interminable questionnaires (eHarmony’s has more than 150 questions). The payoff isn’t always there, either. “Chemistry [needs to] kick in, and that’s the toughest area—how to know someone’s going to have a good pheromones effect,” says Mark Brooks, president of New York-based Courtland Brooks, a consulting firm that has worked with many dating sites.
With Tinder, Rad has seemingly bypassed all that stuff and focused on one underlying premise: Attraction, at least with that initial spark, might really only be skin deep. Four years and 10 billion right swipes later, more than three-quarters of the app’s users are between 18 and 34 years old, a traditionally elusive demographic for the dating industry. Now Tinder is pushing for growth and revenue by adding extra features. It launched a tiered subscription service early last year, charging those over 30 a $20 monthly fee (and those younger, $10) for the privilege of undoing an accidental left swipe and the ability to search for prospects in other cities. In November the app started allowing users to include their employment and education information to provide a slightly more complete, as in more right-swipable, snapshot of themselves.
That’s where Carbino’s work comes in: to find out what users want and what they don’t know they want. “I think Tinder is far more complex than simply physical attractiveness,” she says. “With photos, people are not simply looking at whether someone has a nice smile or a nice face per se. They are looking at other factors related to that individual’s attributes—like socioenomic status, whether they think they are kind, nice, or mean.” We’re standing at her workstation by the marketing department, which at 10:30 a.m. (early by tech standards) has yet to clock in. Her portion of the cubicle consists of a chair, a desk, and a PC. That’s all the hardware Carbino, a petite and fast-talking 30-year-old brunet, needs to do her job, which entails running focus groups, creating surveys for Tinder and non-Tinder users, and filtering loads of data through the lens of social behaviors.
One project she spent seven months on involved poring over 12,000 images of Tinder users in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York, cataloging in minute detail the visual qualities users deem “attractive” and taking the definition beyond hot or not. The analysis draws on a long-established concept in psychology called “thin slicing,” which has to do with the vast amount of nonverbal cues first impressions can give us about a stranger. For instance, men with a softer jawline are generally perceived by women as kinder than, say, a guy with a Christian Bale thing going on. Carbino has also found that the selfie is the most common type of photo on the app, that women with makeup tend to get swiped right more by men, that a group shot should never be someone’s first photo, and that men in L.A. are more clean-shaven than those in other cities. There’s also this: About 80 percent of Tinder users are seeking long-term relationships, according to Carbino’s research.
All of her findings make their way into marketing pitches and tip sheets for users, but they are being used as well to refine the “product,” including its algorithm. Yes, even Tinder uses one. Called “Elo,” a chess reference, the formula assigns an undisclosed rating to each profile based on the frequency of right swipes. It’s one variable the app uses to determine which profiles someone sees (not that people at Tinder will say anything else about it).
////
The challenge Tinder faces is how to retain its photocentric simplicity while adapting to an ever-evolving marketplace. Pleasing those on the hunt for one-night stands is easy (like Grindr, the gay hookup app, Tinder gets flak for encouraging promiscuity—despite the fact that Carbino’s research shows otherwise). But it’s considerably harder to sell users who are interested in something longer term on looks alone. One competitor, the League, follows the tried-and-true route of exclusivity by focusing on ambitious professionals. (“You’ll never have to wonder if that Harvard hottie is too good to be true on The League” is one of its pitch lines.) With another app, the Bumble, women have to make the first move to connect.
“Photos are very important but very limited,” says Brooks, the dating industry consultant. “Character is not being communicated there. I think Tinder will prompt us to think differently about how to match-make behind the scenes. And that’s important because that’s the evolution required for the industry to really reach its potential.”
Brooks’s expertise is tech-based dating, but what he’s pointing to are the limitations that Katie Chen capitalizes on. “Everyone online looks kind of similar, especially in the L.A. metro area. Everyone’s going to dress nice, they all work out, they all hike, they all love dining, love having good friends and traveling,” says Chen, who cofounded the Pico-Robertson-based Catch Matchmaking, which offers what Tinder doesn’t: personalized service. “You would think that online dating and matchmaking would grow in different directions, almost like if online dating is popular, matchmaking would go away,” she says. But the opposite is true. Too many choices can overwhelm a shopper. Catch’s clients are “busy professionals” in their late twenties through seventies, who are willing to shell out for a more tailor-made experience that includes pointers on how to dress and how to take a better photo. Sometimes they even get an honest talking-to about attitude and expectation. “They really are sick of online dating and app dating,” says Chen. “They’re like, ‘I’ll just hire you because if one more girl shows up and she doesn’t look like her photo…’ or ‘I’m not good at writing my profile’ or ‘I am not good at texting.’ They’d rather outsource it.”
Of course a matchmaker can cost thousands, which is partly why online dating cropped up in the first place. About 15 percent of American adults have used a dating site or app, according to a Pew study conducted earlier this year. The scholarly view of online dating is that it emerged because of socioeconomic forces: As people move around for jobs and school, they leave behind the network of family and friends that has traditionally helped them meet their other half. With those connections far away, the Internet became the most viable option.
It’s a phenomenon ripe for examination. Carbino certainly isn’t the first academic to be lured by the dating industry. Anthropologist Helen Fisher, who works for Match, famously created a personality test for Chemistry.com, another IAC property. And the now-defunct Perfectmatch.com was built on an algorithm developed by sociologist Pepper Schwartz. But every generation needs its interpreters. “I am a young sociologist, and it’s a young company,” Carbino says. “I think that’s my unique standpoint in the field.”
She became intrigued by online dating after starting her graduate program at UCLA, where she knew “not a soul.” Carbino figured that joining JDate, the Jewish singles site, was her best bet for meeting someone. “I went on one good date and saw the person on and off for a while,” she says. “I also went on many bad dates.” She quickly moved on to Ok-Cupid, Match.com, Jswipe, Hinge, and Coffee Meets Bagel. The more she browsed, the more curious she became. “The thing that was interesting to me is how people presented themselves. No one was studying that at the time,” she says.
As for her personal relationship with online dating, she called it quits long ago. A month after she started at Tinder the company, she met her boyfriend on Tinder the app. The couple have lived together for nearly two years with a pair of Maltipoos they rescued as puppies. Their names are Bonnie and Clyde.

Schools are more likely to suspend minority students

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/06/chicago-public-schools-discipline-gap-education-department_n_1323681.html

and




http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=2b97c788-27fe-4c5f-9057-ee8fbc2d7085
By Joy Resmovits
Tribune Newspapers
Schools suspend minority students at much higher rates than their peers, sometimes starting from preschool.
The Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, surveyed over 50 million students at more than 95,000 schools and found that while suspensions decreased by almost 20 percentage points between the 2011-12 and 2013-14 school years, gaps between the suspension rates of different groups of students remained, according to results released late Monday.
The survey included 1,439,188 preschool students enrolled in 28,783 schools. Of those, 6,743 preschool students or .47 percent were suspended out of school once or more than once. While black girls represent 20 percent of preschool enrollment, 54 percent of preschool girls suspended once or more were black. And black preschool children overall were 3.6 times as likely to be suspended as young white children.
The results don't “paint a very good picture,” said Liz King, senior policy analyst and director of education policy at the Leadership for Civil and Human Rights.
Across all grades, 2.8 million students were suspended once or more than once. Black students were nearly four times as likely to be suspended and almost twice as likely to be expelled as white students. Students with disabilities were also twice as likely to be suspended as general education students.
The disparity “tears at the moral fabric of the nation,” said Secretary of Education John King. “We will not compromise away the civil right of all students to an excellent education.”
The findings come amid a major nationwide debate over school discipline and just what statistics like these mean.
School districts across the country have reexamined the way they chastise students for misbehaving, in part because of previous civil rights survey results.
Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, states must review schools' disciplinary statistics to reduce an “overuse of suspension.”
The disparities invite further investigation, said Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education responsible of the Office for Civil Rights. “Data by itself is not a reason to think there's intentional discrimination, but they are a reason to ask further questions,” she said.
Jason Okonofua, a social psychologist at Stanford University, found in his studies that the disparities stem from problems in the relationships between teachers and students. Minority students, he found, expect to be the victim of bias — which leads them to be less cooperative. On the other hand, he said, if a teacher feels disrespected, and as if the student is a troublemaker, the student will get punished more severely, causing the cycle to continue.
Okonofua asked 190 teachers to review information about a student misbehaving. He presented a scenario in which a student interrupted class by walking around. For some teachers, the scenario involved a boy named Jake, and for others, it involved a boy named Darnell, a name more often used among African-Americans. The teachers opted to discipline either boy almost the same way.
But when presented with another scenario — this time, Jake/Darnell fell asleep in class — some teachers punished Darnell more harshly.
The federal survey also tracked access to high-level courses and found that half of high schools don't offer calculus and more than one-quarter don't offer chemistry. While 56 percent of schools with low minority populations offered calculus, one-third of those with high black and Latino populations did.
“Right now we're talking a good game about college and career readiness, but not all students attend schools that offer courses that are necessary for college readiness,” said Daria Hall, interim vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based education advocacy group. “You look across all of this information, and it becomes very clear why we have gaps in achievement.”

Study: Minority students far more likely suspended
By Joy Resmovits
Tribune Newspapers
Schools suspend minority students at much higher rates than their peers, sometimes starting from preschool.
The Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, surveyed over 50 million students at more than 95,000 schools and found that while suspensions decreased by almost 20 percentage points between the 2011-12 and 2013-14 school years, gaps between the suspension rates of different groups of students remained, according to results released late Monday.
The survey included 1,439,188 preschool students enrolled in 28,783 schools. Of those, 6,743 preschool students or .47 percent were suspended out of school once or more than once. While black girls represent 20 percent of preschool enrollment, 54 percent of preschool girls suspended once or more were black. And black preschool children overall were 3.6 times as likely to be suspended as young white children.
The results don't “paint a very good picture,” said Liz King, senior policy analyst and director of education policy at the Leadership for Civil and Human Rights.
Across all grades, 2.8 million students were suspended once or more than once. Black students were nearly four times as likely to be suspended and almost twice as likely to be expelled as white students. Students with disabilities were also twice as likely to be suspended as general education students.
The disparity “tears at the moral fabric of the nation,” said Secretary of Education John King. “We will not compromise away the civil right of all students to an excellent education.”
The findings come amid a major nationwide debate over school discipline and just what statistics like these mean.
School districts across the country have reexamined the way they chastise students for misbehaving, in part because of previous civil rights survey results.
Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, states must review schools' disciplinary statistics to reduce an “overuse of suspension.”
The disparities invite further investigation, said Catherine Lhamon, the assistant secretary of education responsible of the Office for Civil Rights. “Data by itself is not a reason to think there's intentional discrimination, but they are a reason to ask further questions,” she said.
Jason Okonofua, a social psychologist at Stanford University, found in his studies that the disparities stem from problems in the relationships between teachers and students. Minority students, he found, expect to be the victim of bias — which leads them to be less cooperative. On the other hand, he said, if a teacher feels disrespected, and as if the student is a troublemaker, the student will get punished more severely, causing the cycle to continue.
Okonofua asked 190 teachers to review information about a student misbehaving. He presented a scenario in which a student interrupted class by walking around. For some teachers, the scenario involved a boy named Jake, and for others, it involved a boy named Darnell, a name more often used among African-Americans. The teachers opted to discipline either boy almost the same way.
But when presented with another scenario — this time, Jake/Darnell fell asleep in class — some teachers punished Darnell more harshly.
The federal survey also tracked access to high-level courses and found that half of high schools don't offer calculus and more than one-quarter don't offer chemistry. While 56 percent of schools with low minority populations offered calculus, one-third of those with high black and Latino populations did.
“Right now we're talking a good game about college and career readiness, but not all students attend schools that offer courses that are necessary for college readiness,” said Daria Hall, interim vice president for government affairs and communications at the Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based education advocacy group. “You look across all of this information, and it becomes very clear why we have gaps in achievement.”
- See more at: http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=2b97c788-27fe-4c5f-9057-ee8fbc2d7085#sthash.LWuIMSiG.dpuf

Study finds Social Inequality could cause civilization collapse

Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for 'irreversible collapse'?



https://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/14/nasa-civilisation-irreversible-collapse-study-scientists

"While some members of society might raise the alarm that the system is moving towards an impending collapse and therefore advocate structural changes to society in order to avoid it, Elites and their supporters, who opposed making these changes, could point to the long sustainable trajectory 'so far' in support of doing nothing."

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Race and identity

Because the US is  so race conscious, race matters to people even if it biologically doesn't make sense.  Here are some examples of race and how people identify (or have trouble doing so):



Here are the current definitions of "race" according to the US census:
https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html

Here are the changes being considered for the 2020 census:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/18/census-considers-new-approach-to-asking-about-race-by-not-using-the-term-at-all/



Here are some articles on the difficulty of categorizing Hispanics:

The Census Can't Fit Latinos Into A Race Box And It's Causing More ...

www.huffingtonpost.com/.../census-latinos-some-other_n_53758...
The Huffington Post
May 22, 2014 - The Census Can't Fit Latinos Into A Race Box And It's Causing More Confusion ... U.S. Latinos changed their race category from “some other race” to “white” between the 2000 ... Latinos Who Don't Get A Race On The Census ...

Is being Hispanic a matter of race, ethnicity or both? | Pew Research ...

www.pewresearch.org/.../is-being-hispanic-a-matter-of-race-ethni...
Pew Research Center
Jun 15, 2015 - When it comes to reporting their racial identity, Latinos stand out from other ... at least one of the five standard, government-defined racial categories ... This suggests that Hispanics have a unique view of race that doesn't necessarily fit ..... into one group even though a good 20 % don't speak Spanish at all ...

Hispanics Resist Racial Grouping by Census - The New York Times

www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/.../20041025monday.html
The New York Times
Oct 25, 2004 - "We don't fit into the categories that the Anglos want us to fit in," Mr. ... of Hispanics who would include themselves in traditional racial groups ...

Here is another example of the difficulty of racial categories:


In The Latinos of Asia, Anthony Christian Ocampo shows that what "color" you are depends largely on your social context. Filipino Americans, for example, helped establish the Asian American movement and are classified by the U.S. Census as Asian. But the legacy of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines means that they share many cultural characteristics with Latinos, such as last names, religion, and language. Thus, Filipinos' "color"—their sense of connection with other racial groups—changes depending on their social context. 
From NPR:

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/05/24/478560399/filipino-americans-blending-cultures-redefining-race

Friday, May 20, 2016

Why racial jokes are NOT okay.

If, after reading my explicit racism post, you thought, "Hmmm, those frat party costumes don't seem so bad.  It's just a joke.  It's just funny."

Think again.  I want you to open your mind with a beginner mind and re-think about those parties after considering this post.

First, from the beginning of the year, we have tried to make Michael Schwalbe's sociological mindfulness a goal.  Even Schwalbe used racial jokes as an example.  In being aware that we affect society, we should realize that we can't see how far our influence goes and it helps to re-affirm or challenge social norms.  In this case, a funny joke might also help to re-affirm stereotypes, make other people feel like outsiders and, even in small ways, help justify violence against others.

Remember that these "jokes" are being conducted in a society that has widespread stereotypes.  As one example, let us consider Donald Trump.  I do not want to attack Trump personally but as a representative of the larger society.  Mr. Trump represents a very real possibility of being the next U.S. President.  He garners enormous media attention.  So he is an important cultural barometer for the U.S.  And despite his large media presence and serious political aspirations, he has said outlandish, offensive, outrageous and erroneous things about minority groups in the U.S.  For reference, from the Huffington Post, here is 9 outrageous things he has said about Latinos, including that Mexican immigrants are rapists and killers and criminals.  So, when these ethnic jokes occur, especially frat parties, realize that they are happening within the context of a country that is already tolerating hurtful, hateful ideas about these ethnic groups. 

Furthermore, think about the ingroup-outgroup mentality that we learned about in unit one.  I believe that often these parties do not involve anyone from the ethnic group that is being targeted.  In otherwords, it is not an inside joke, but it is a group of outsiders making fun of other people.  In many cases, those other people are on the same campuses where these jokes occurred!  Imagine seeing people who are not a part of one of your own groups making fun of that very group.  For example, imagine a group of Latinos dressed up like Donald Trump calling themselves white people and saying "I am white so I hate black people and I hate hispanics."

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Racial Formation

Today we read Omi and Winant's reading called Racial Formation.  Here are the guided reading questions:

-->
 Read silently and then pause to answer each of the following questions in your group.

Read the questions to ponder section at the beginning, then answer the following:

1.  Is the first question a valid question? Why or why not? Answer below, then share with your group.

2.  We have already learned that gender is a social construction.  Is it possible that race is also a social construction?  Describe why or why not.  Answer below, then share with your group.

Read the first page (9, on the handout).  Then discuss question 3 and 4 and write your answers below. 
3.  What does it mean to be “one-thirty second black”? 

4.  Do you think one-thirty second black should mean someone is considered black?  If so, why?  If not, why not, and what should be the demarcation for being considered black?

Read page 10.  Then answer as a group:
5.  What does polygenesis mean?  What are the ways Europeans would treat people differently based on idea of polygenesis – list at least 3.

6.  How do biologists and anthropologists feel about the idea of race?

Read page 11.
7.  What does the author mean by “race is indeed a pre-eminently socio-historical concept”?

8.  What does “hypo-descent” mean?

Read page 12.
9.  How does classification of race differ in Brazil?

10.   What does “passing” mean?

11. How do people use race in everyday life?

Read page 13.  Then discuss as a group.
12.  What are at least three non-biological assumptions that race provides about an individual in the U.S.?

Read 14 and 15.  Then discuss these as a group:
13.  What role has race played in economics?

14.  What is the author’s thesis? Explain it.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Post 8: Social Class

For this post, we have explored how deviance is relative and how that relativity is related to social class.  We also looked at all of the components of social class that shape an individual's possibilities and problems.  Some things to consider for this post are: Do you see how social class is played out at SHS?  How do you see social class playing a role in your own life?  How are you affected by it? How might someone in poverty be affected by it?   Some sources to consider using are the websites related to social class, the Ted Talk about Monopoly, the reading Nickel and Dimed and the video The Line.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Service Opportunity: GLASA

I was hoping you would still be able to pass along some opportunities that we need TONS of volunteers for (by tons I mean hundreds)!  If you have any questions about any of these I’d be more than happy to give you more of the deets but here are the basic descriptions and attached are the flyers and forms that give a little more detail for each.  Thanks again!

·         Special Events Flyer- outlines a ton of opportunities we have coming up (clinics and competitions, summer Camps, fundraising events, etc.)
·         Great Lakes Regional Games (GLRG) Flyer- a 5 day, international, adaptive sports competition for track & field (last qualifying event before the Paralympics in Rio), archery, swimming, powerlifting, and boccia.
o   **Definitely the best event to be a part of, I was a volunteer last year and it was such an amazing experience that I now work for the organization!
·         Spring Volunteer Interest Form- outlines the programs we have left for the Spring Season (Goalball, Tennis, Swim, and Track & Field)

If your students are unfamiliar on GLASA, feel free to show them these videos.  Both are good representations of who we are.
https://youtu.be/DNK-Suuxhzk (I showed this one last semester)

Again, any questions at all please let me know.  Because we need so many volunteers for the upcoming months, please pass this onto friends, family, coworkers, or anyone you think wuold be interested!  I appreciate you spreading the word about GLASA! 

Micaela

Micaela Fedyniak
GLASA Volunteer Coordinator
847-293-4152 (cell)


Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Happy Equal Pay Day!

This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.

http://www.pay-equity.org/day.html




Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Service Op: Special Olympics Bocce Ball

Once again, sociology has partnered with the Special Olympics to provide an amazing community service experience.  We will provide all of the volunteers (80) for the Area 13 Special Olympics of Illinois Bocce Ball tournament.  This will take place:

At Stevenson High School on the Port Clinton field.

On Sunday April 17, 2016 from 8am to 3:30pm.  There will also be a training  session on thursday April 14th, the week before during 8th and 9th periods (choose one period to attend a training session).

Here is a google form if you are interested, or fill out the form embedded below:

Friday, March 11, 2016

Don't just do something, stand there! Nothing and Thriving


"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."
- Blaise Pascal

Our culture constructs a reality where we are not allowed to just be. We must be doing at all times; it is valuing personal achievement, time, work, competition, materialism and success. Note that happiness is never a apart of the equation.  The hegemonic assumption is that happiness simply comes with those values.  See this post about happiness and it's relationship to money.  Contrast these values with the values that Michael Buettner writes about in his book Thrive.  What are the lessons you learned from Thrive?  How would you like to live your life differently after reading this?  What would be a message you would like to share with the rest of your classmates who don't have the privilege of being in our class?

Bernard McGrane's experiment explores the idea of doing nothing in American culture. In his book, The Un-Tv and the 10mph Car he explores doing nothing as a way of being able to detach and see all that is actually going on - both in others and in ourselves. By detaching from the social world, can you see the ways the world controls who you are? We go about our daily lives without question drifting along doing the things that we do. We never have to stop and think about why we are doing what we do and whether we want to do that. Some of the questions McGrane addresses are: How did you react and what occurred to you in being unoccupied? How did the world around you react to doing nothing? How does this relate our work to our identity? See this link for a discussion guide to the nothing experiment. This is from McGrane's book. If you don't know why we did that experiment please read it!
The last point about work and identity reminds me of how Americans get acquainted with one another. The first question is usually "What is your name?" (usually answered very individualistically with the first name.) And the next question is usually "What do you do?" This highlights the importance of job and work identity. What does this mean for teens who might not have a job or parents who spend their days taking care of children and making a home. It is a sad message. An example of a different way that some cultures do these introductions is something someone from Australia told me. He said they get acquainted by asking "Where have you been?" So the focus is more on one's previous life experiences and travels. Another example is described in Richard Strozzi Heckler's book Holding the Center. In it, he describes a group of presenters at a health conference who were introducing themselves,
The distinguished men and women described their degrees, awards, publications, university positions, and their current research. The sixth person was an Ojibway Native American who introduced himself first by naming his tribe and family lineage and then describing in specific detail the land in which he and his tribe lived. He spoke of his relatives, many generations back on both sides of his family, who his sisters, brothers, and children married, his relationship with his aunts and uncles, and then the birds, fish and animals, the trees, rivers, lakes. He finished by saying, "this is who I am." He then politely requested that others provide the same information.


This is a marvelous example of other ways of defining their identity. Whereas Americans would define their identity based on their individuality and that would have a strong focus on their job, others (like the example above) would define their identity by their community and where they came from. It is much more communal than individual and less focused on your individual role. Finally,Here is a funny video of a group that appears to do nothing, but they are actually doing "freezing". For the purposes of McGrane's experiment, they are not detached, but it is funny nonetheless to watch.

Our culture constructs a reality where we are not allowed to just be. We must be doing at all times; it is valuing personal achievement, time, work, competition, materialism and success. Note that happiness is never a apart of the equation.  The hegemonic assumption is that happiness simply comes with those values.  See this post about happiness and it's relationship to money.  Contrast these values with the values that Michael Buettner writes about in his book Thrive.  What are the lessons you learned from Thrive?  How would you like to live your life differently after reading this?  What would be a message you would like to share with the rest of your classmates who don't have the privilege of being in our class?

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter Movement
The Black Lives Matter Movement was started as a response specifically to the death of Trayvon Martin, but generally to the long history of black Americans being killed and no one being held accountable.  In this particular case, Trayvon Martin was talking on his cell phone with his girlfriend when he was confronted by George Zimmerman who was specifically told by 911 responders to remain in his car.  Instead, Zimmerman got out and shot Trayvon Martin.  Zimmerman was found not guilty and the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter was born.  Below is a timeline that details the events that created Black Lives Matter and the thin blue line.

February 26, 2012  Trayvon Martin
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida, calls 911 to report "a suspicious person" in the neighborhood.  He is instructed not to get out of his SUV or approach the person.  Zimmerman disregards the instructions. Moments later, neighbors report hearing gunfire. Zimmerman acknowledges that he shot Martin, claiming it was in self-defense.


July 2013 Black Lives Matter Movement Begins on Twitter 

The movement began with Alicia Garza using the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. From The Guardian, Garza logged on to Facebook. She wrote an impassioned online message, “essentially a love note to black people”, and posted it on her page. It ended with: “Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter.”  Garza’s close friend, Patrisse Cullors, read the post in a motel room 300 miles away from Oakland that same night. Cullors, also a community organiser working in prison reform, started sharing Garza’s words with her friends online. She used a hashtag each time she reposted: #blacklivesmatter. The following day, Garza and Cullors spoke about how they could organise a campaign around these sentiments.  More on the history here from the Smithsonian.  Also detailed on Wikipedia here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter



Despite the hashtag, there were still numerous high-profile cases of black Americans being killed and no one held accountable.  Below are a few of them.

April 30, 2014: Dontre Hamilton (Milwaukee)
Dontre Hamilton, 31, was fatally shot 14 times by a police officer in a Milwaukee park. The officer was responding to a call from employees at a nearby Starbucks alleging that Hamilton, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was disturbing the peace.  The officers who arrived first determined that Hamilton wasn't doing anything illegal. Officer Christopher Manney showed up later and, after trying to pat Hamilton down, engaged in a struggle with him that led to the shooting. Manney was not charged.

July 17, 2014: Eric Garner (New York)
Eric Garner, 43, was killed after he was put in an illegal chokehold for 15 seconds by a white police officer — allegedly for selling loose cigarettes. Garner said "I can't breathe" 11 times as he was held down by several officers on a sidewalk.  The officer who put Garner in the chokehold, Daniel Pantaleo, was not charged. Garner's death sparked peaceful protests across the nation, with demonstrators adopting the phrase "I Can't Breathe" as a symbol and slogan of protest.  Video is at the link below.  You can see Mr. Garner with his hands up and you can hear him say "I can't breathe".
Eric Garner with his hands up moments before he is tackled and choked to death.

Aug. 5, 2014: John Crawford III (Dayton, Ohio) 
John Crawford, 22, was shot and killed by a police officer at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio. There did not appear to be a confrontation with the police, and Crawford was unarmed — he had been holding a toy BB gun.  The officers involved in the shooting, Sean Williams and David Darkow, were not charged.

Mr. Crawford holding a pellet gun that he picked up off the shelf at a Walmart before he is killed by police within seconds of their arrival.

Aug. 9, 2014: Michael Brown Jr. (Ferguson, Missouri)
Unarmed Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
In November, a grand jury declined to charge Wilson in the fatal shooting. Brown's death and the lack of charges against Wilson sparked protests, some of them violent, in Ferguson and across the nation.  For more on Ferguson and the protests that ensued, see my post about it here.

Aug. 11, 2014: Ezell Ford (Florence, California)
Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old mentally ill man, was shot three times, including once in the back, by a white police officer. He was unarmed.  The investigation is still ongoing, but it has been placed on an "investigative hold". So far, no charges have been filed against Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas, the two officers involved.


Police were on the scene for just seconds when they shoot Mr Powell is shot dead a second after this photo.

Aug 19, 2014 Kjieme Powell, St. Louis
Just 10 days after Michael Brown was shot to death, this happened in nearby St Louis.  The police were called because this man stole two soft drinks from a convenience store.  The police showed up and within 20 seconds the police had shot him 12 times.  Then they proceeded to handcuff the lifeless body with hands behind his back.  The video is available at the link below.

Sept. 4, 2014 Dashcam Video Shows State Trooper Shooting Black Man Reaching for His Driver’s License

State trooper rolls up on Mr. Jones and says can I see your license please?  Jones reaches for his license and the policeman shoots him in a split second. Afterwards, the man says why did you shoot me?  Video is available at the link below.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/09/south-carolina-dashcam-shooting-sean-groubert-levar-jones-incident-on-video.html

https://youtu.be/XhAklMWqLnI


October 2014 Laquan McDonald (Chicago)

Nov. 13, 2014: Tanisha Anderson (Cleveland)
Tanisha Anderson, 37, died after officers in Cleveland allegedly slammed her head on the pavement while taking her into custody.  Anderson's family said she had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Nov. 20, 2014: Akai Gurley (Brooklyn, New York)
Akai Gurley, 28, was shot and killed by a police officer while walking in a dimly lit New York City public housing stairwell with his girlfriend. Gurley, who was unarmed, was pronounced dead at a hospital. New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton called the shooting an "accidental discharge."

Nov. 22, 2014: Tamir Rice (Cleveland)
Tamir Rice, 12, was shot and killed by Cleveland police after officers mistook his toy gun for a real weapon.  The two police officers involved, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, have not been charged.  The video is available at the link below.


Tamir Rice (12 yrs old) is shot within seconds of police arriving on scene. He was holding a toy gun.

Dec. 2, 2014: Rumain Brisbon (Phoenix)
Rumain Brisbon, 34, was shot and killed by a Phoenix police officer who mistook a pill bottle for a weapon. The officer, Mark Rine, was not charged following a probe by the Maricopa County attorney's office, according to the New York Daily News.  Jerame Reid, 36, was shot and killed by police officers in Bridgeton, New Jersey. He was a passenger in a car driven by his friend, who was pulled over by police.

Until this time, the phrases Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter were being used interchangeably.  However, a number of events that occurred between Dec 2014 and Jan 2015 polarized the movement to be only Black Lives Matter.

Dec 10, 2014 First documented incident of "black lives matter" being changed to "all lives matter" to co-opt the message from Americans who are black
Two students put up the poster Friday, but Chandler Clothier, the student who designed the poster, said she was called to the principal's office on Monday. Principal Linda MacKenzie told her that she failed to get prior approval for the poster and needed to change the title, "#blacklivesmatter" to "all lives matter," or take the poster down.

Dec 17, 2014 College administrator shouted down for saying "all" lives not "black" lives.
The apologies continued at Smith College, after President Kathleen McCartney publicly joined demonstrators and declared "all lives matter." But she was immediately denounced for not saying "black lives matter." McCartney asked forgiveness and promised not to stray from the expected language.

And then in December of 2014, two NYC police officers were killed in a targeted homicide by a troubled individual with a criminal history.  It was a heinous assassination of police officers.  This became a spark that ignited a movement to counter the black lives matter movement.  

Dec. 30, 2014: Jerame Reid (Bridgeton, New Jersey)
In dashcam video footage of the stop, an officer is heard claiming that there is a gun in the glove compartment. Police shouted at Reid not to exit the car, but he did, with his hands apparently in front of his chest. That's when officers Braheme Days and Roger Worley opened fire, striking Reid.

Jan 2015 American Dialectic Society declares “#blacklivesmatter” as the “word of the year” for 2014.


April 2, 2015: Eric Harris (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Eric Harris, 44, was shot and killed by a 73-year-old reserve deputy officer who allegedly mistook his own gun for a Taser.  The entire incident was captured on a dashcam video.  The officer, Robert Bates, was charged with manslaughter.




Eric Harris a second before being shot from behind by police.

April 4, 2015: Walter Scott (North Charleston, South Carolina)
Walter Scott, 50, was shot by a police officer while running away from a traffic stop for a broken taillight.  Officer Michael Slager claimed Scott had taken his stun gun.  Slager was subsequently fired and charged with murder after a video surfaced showing Scott running away, his back to the officer, as Slager fired his gun.  Video is available at the link below.

Mr. Scott in green is running from a police officer when he is shot in the back.

April 19, 2015: Freddie Gray (Baltimore)
Freddie Gray, 25, died of a spinal cord injury a week after he was arrested by Baltimore police.  It's still unclear how Gray sustained the injury. Officials say he was stopped after fleeing "unprovoked upon noticing police presence" and arrested for allegedly possessing a switchblade.  He was put in a police van, which is where police say he suffered a medical emergency. The officers involved in his arrest were placed on leave, and on Friday, the state's attorney announced that they had been criminally charged in connection with Gray's homicide.  For more about the protests that followed Freddie Gray's death see my post about it here, which also contradicts the racist trope that Americans who are black never protest black on black crime, only white on black crime, which simply is not true. 

July 2015, Sandra Bland (Texas)
Sandra Bland, a black woman from Chicago is driving to Texas for a new job.  She is pulled over for a specious traffic violation, failing to signal a lane change.  The officer that pulls her over asks her if she is annoyed and she responds affirmatively to him.  This leads to an argument that results in the officer drawing his gun and pointing it at her,  forcibly removing her from her car, calling for back up and arresting her.  She is found dead in her jail cell less than 72 hours later.  Guardian story and dash cam video here.   The Nation details the incident and her history here.

Oct 2015 Black Lives Matter PAC is formed in St Louis, but unaffiliated with the original movement.

Up to this point, Alicia Garza, who started the hashtag more than two years earlier, encouraged the use of the slogan BLM as a decentralized social movement, especially on social media, that promoted the idea that black lives matter.  It was not until Oct 2015 that a distinct political organization developed.As detailed in Colorlines, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza told ThinkProgress that the PAC is not officially connected to the movement. “[What] our folks have said to us is we don’t want to endorse candidates, but to push [the] system of democracy to another level. … That’s where we’re headed,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for people who want to do different things. But I have questions: Who are they connected to, what are they gonna do with that?” Garza also said that she sees the value in their proposed work: “Everybody has something to contribute. The idea is not that we should all be doing the same thing. In [the] history of social movements, they were many different planks and impact from all of them.”


The above divergence is IMPORTANT to note.  Many people oppose particular political positions espoused by particular groups that have emerged under the verbage of black lives matter.  But dismissing the the phrase black lives matter and every sign/symbol/group that uses it because of opposition to specific political positions taken by particular political groups is reductionist. It lacks an understanding or acknowledgment of the origins of the phrase black lives matter and a blanket dismissal of blm is at best ignoring racism but perhaps allowing it to continue.  It is naive to ignore the ongoing racism that is so well documented.  And, I would argue that reducing blm to a particular group that you disagree with politically is akin to reducing the definition of conservative to white supremacy because of groups like the Council of Conservative Citizens or to indict Christianity because of this Christian mass murderer.    


Nov 23, 2015 Black Lives Matter Protester beaten up at Trump rally and thrown out while crowd chants "All Lives Matter"
The important part starts around the one-minute mark of the original video, when the protester is pulled up off the floor and led away by members of the event security staff and some of the more aggressive volunteers from the crowd. The man is wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Black Lives Matter”. At least one Trump supporter standing near the video camera starts chanting a refutation: “All lives matter.”  It’s valuable to see images of a black man being shoved and pushed and jeered and taunted to the soundtrack of these words. In 2015, in America, those three words, “all lives matter”, are a racist slogan. Any other interpretation is wrong.  Watch the video at the link below.


Black lives matter protester is beaten at Trump rally while crowd chants "All lives matter."
February 28, 2016  Candidate Trump throws out Black Lives Matter Protesters and incites crowd with All Lives Matter Chant
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpijYTMpz3k
 http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/02/28/blacklivesmatter_protests_trump_in_alabama_trump_responds_all_lives_matter.html
Trump throws out Black lives Matter Protesters and he incites the crowd by yelling "All lives matter." Here are some metaphors to help explain why the Black Lives Matter movement is important and it shouldn't be trumped by "all lives matter".  And if there is any doubt that Trump has been associated with the flag, see this package deal for sale:


July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling shot dead at close range by two white Baton Rouge Police Department officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The officers were attempting to control Sterling's arms, and Sterling was shot by them after reportedly reaching for the loaded 38 caliber handgun in his pocket.[4] Police were responding to a report that a man in a red shirt was selling CDs and that he had used a gun to threaten a man outside a convenience store.[5] The owner of the store where the shooting occurred said that Sterling had started carrying a gun a few days prior to the event as other CD vendors had been robbed recently. He also said that Sterling was "not the one causing trouble" during the situation that led to the police being called.[6][7][8] The shooting was recorded by multiple bystanders.


July 6, 2016 Philando Castile,[a] killed during traffic stop with three year old in back seat.

A 32-year-old 
African-American, was pulled over while driving in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and killed by Jeronimo Yanez, a St. Anthony, Minnesota Latino police officer. Castile had been driving a car at 9:00 pm with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter when he was pulled over by Yanez and another officer in a suburb of Saint Paul, MN.[3][4] After being asked for his license and registration, Castile had told Officer Yanez that he had a firearm, to which Yanez replied, "Don't reach for it then", and Castile said "I'm, I, I was reaching for..." Yanez said "Don't pull it out", Castile replied "I'm not pulling it out", and Reynolds said "He's not..." Yanez repeated "Don't pull it out"[5] and then shot Castile seven times.[6]

July 18, 2016Charles Kinseya mental health therapist, was shot by police in North Miami, Florida.
Kinsey, had been retrieving his autistic 23-year-old patient, Arnaldo Rios Soto, who had wandered from his group home. Police encountered the pair while searching for an armed suicidal man. Kinsey was lying on the ground with his hands in the air and trying to negotiate between officers and his patient when he was shot.  While Kinsey lay on the ground with his hands raised, one officer, identified by the city as North Miami Police Department Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member Jonathan Aledda, fired three rounds from a rifle, with one bullet striking Kinsey in the leg.[1][6] The shooting occurred a block from the group home where Kinsey worked at 1365 NE 128th St.[7]



November 2, 2016Des Moines Police Department officer Anthony Beminio and Urbandale Police Department officer Justin Martin were killed in separate "ambush-style" shootings in and near Des Moines, Iowa. The perpetrator in both shootings, identified as 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene of Urbandale, Iowa, was apprehended by police hours later.  Greene was taken into custody unharmed!  President Obama publicly praised the police officers and decried the violence against them as heinous.


November 2016  Joshua Beal is shot 8 times by an officer with a history of racial incidents
Beal was shot eight times during a fight with plainclothes officers that erupted after a vehicle in a motorcade leaving a funeral he was part of was stopped by an off-duty firefighter for blocking a fire lane in Mount Greenwood, a majority-white Southwest Side neighborhood home to many members of law enforcement. Beal and the group he was with were black and the shooting sparked days of contentious protestsOne of the officers, Sgt. Thomas Derouin, has a history of being involved in racially charged cases of excessive force, as detailed in The Chicago Reporter’s Settling for Misconduct database of all Chicago police lawsuit settlements from 2011 to 2017. He was named in the $55,000 settlement for a 2012 case in which officers tased, threw to the ground, and pressed a gun to the head of a man who they also used racial epithets against. The man was later cleared of charges.  Racial epithets were also used in a 2008 incident, which was later settled for $10,000, in which Derouin and another officer are alleged to have violently stopped a man in South Shore whose ribs were broken in the encounter. The charge against the man was later dismissed. Derouin also has more than 25 complaints filed against him, which is more than 94% of other officers, according to the Citizens Police Data Project, including allegations of use of force, illegal search, and false arrest.

On Aug 23, 2020 Jacob Blake is shot in the back seven times and paralyzed from the waist down while his children watched from the back seat of their car.



Trump at a rally 2/29/2016
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpijYTMpz3k
 
and: 

Trump throws out Black lives Matter Protesters and he incites the crowd by yelling "All lives matter." Here's some metaphors to help explain why the Black Lives Matter movement is important and it shouldn't be trumped by "all lives matter".


After Ferguson, black men still face the highest risk of being killed by police https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/after-ferguson-black-men-and-boys-still-face-the-highest-risk-of-being-killed-by-police

A Flag for Trump’s America; The power of strength

 

Divergent discourse between protests and counter-protests: #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter.

Since the shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown by White police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, the protest hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has amplified critiques of extrajudicial killings of Black Americans. In response to #BlackLivesMatter, other Twitter users have adopted #AllLivesMatter, a counter-protest hashtag whose content argues that equal attention should be given to all lives regardless of race. Through a multi-level analysis of over 860,000 tweets, we study how these protests and counter-protests diverge by quantifying aspects of their discourse. We find that #AllLivesMatter facilitates opposition between #BlackLivesMatter and hashtags such as #PoliceLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter in such a way that historically echoes the tension between Black protesters and law enforcement. In addition, we show that a significant portion of #AllLivesMatter use stems from hijacking by #BlackLivesMatter advocates. Beyond simply injecting #AllLivesMatter with #BlackLivesMatter content, these hijackers use the hashtag to directly confront the counter-protest notion of "All lives matter." Our findings suggest that Black Lives Matter movement was able to grow, exhibit diverse conversations, and avoid derailment on social media by making discussion of counter-protest opinions a central topic of #AllLivesMatter, rather than the movement itself.

Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter? Color-blindness and Epistemic Injustice*

Those who take ‘All lives matter’ to oppose ‘Black lives matter’ take the latter to mean something like ‘Only black lives matter.’ Those who regard this exclusionary construal as mistaken hold the error to be due to an ideology of color-blindness. It has further been argued that the ideologically-motivated suppression of racial discourse has resulted in an epistemic injustice, blinding objectors to the fact that ‘Black lives matter’ really means ‘Black lives matter, too’. I will argue that attempts to make sense of this interpretive response in terms of color-blindness are mistaken. As I will discuss, the interpretive debates surrounding the words ‘Black lives matter’ are reminiscent of those surrounding ‘Black Power,’ which unfolded long before color-blindness could be said to have been a prevailing ethos. Critical affirmations such as ‘Black Power’ and ‘Black lives matter’ have proved difficult for many interpreters to understand because of the way that they manifest resistance to white supremacy, eschewing both racial exclusion and racial inclusion (the latter fact being masked by inclusive reconstructions such as ‘Black lives matter, too’). As I argue, however, the critical function of these statements calls into question the applicability of standard accounts of epistemic injustice.


Current CNN ongoing list of controversial police encounters


Black Lives Matter Metaphors:

Bob
Bob is sitting at the dinner table.  Everyone else there gets a plate of food except Bob.  Bob says, “Bob deserves food.” Everyone at the table responds with, “Everyone deserves food!” and they continue eating.  Although everyone deserves food is a true statement, it does nothing to actually rectify the fact that Bob has NO food!

The Doctor
A man goes to the doctor for a broken arm, and the doctor starts examining the rest of the man’s body.  The injured man says, “Doc, it’s my arm that’s broken; everything else is fine,” and the doctor responds, “All bones matter.”  Of course they all do, but they aren’t the ones broken now!

Jesus
When Jesus said “Blessed are the poor, “  no one stood up and yelled “Blessed is everyone!”

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Randall Barnes puts February 2016 into perspective with a detailed analysis of Blackish: