November 20, 2014

The Death of Akai Gurley

In a housing project stairwell, a rookie cop shot and killed unarmed Brooklyn native Akai Gurley, who presented no threat to anyone. For four minutes, the NYC police officer argued with his partner over whether to tell their superiors about the murder because of his fear of "being fired."

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

The police who killed Gurley was performing a routine search of public housing buildings known as a vertical patrol--a practice that assumes that low-income minority-dominated buildings are likely to host criminal acitvity. Given such expectations, officers assumed Gurley to be a criminal requiring excessive force, and before even ascertaining of what he might be guilty, they killed him.

For more on the case see, " The life and Death of Akai Gurley " 

April 6, 2016

Brutality of Sureshbhai Patel

57-year-old Patel was visiting his son in Alabama from India. A neighbor saw him standing in front of the family home and called the police to report "suspcious behavior." Patel, who does not speak any English, was confused by the situation. The police slammed the man on the ground within 90 seconds of arrival. He suffered severe injuries and is now partially paralyzed as a result.

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

The neighbor who called the police described Patel as a "skinny black man wearing a toboggan." Patel's proximity to blackness made him "suspcious"; another example racial profiling followed by excessive force, both of which are common in law enforcement incidents.

For more the Sureshbhai Patel case see, " Police Chief Guilty of Contempt in Surshbhai Patel Excessive Force Case "

January 8, 2018

New Jersey Bans the Book, “The New Jim Crow”

After being called out by social justice advocates, the New Jersey Department of Corrections reversed their ban on, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”. In the book, author Michelle Alexander explores how today’s criminal justice system is similar to the old “Jim Crow”, which systemically and structurally promoted disparate treatment, sentencing, and outcomes that disadvantage black and brown people. The ban was previously implemented in at least two New Jersey prisons.

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO STRUCUTRAL RACISM?

The NJ Department of Corrections’ ban was a form of censorship that kept inmates oblivious to systematic inequities and injustices that directly impact them. One has to wonder why a book chronicling structural racism and oppression was banned but Adolf Hitler’s autobiography is permitted. A recent New York Times article says that, “According to data from The Sentencing Project, a prison reform advocacy group, New Jersey has the highest disparity between black and white inmates of any state, with 12.2 black inmates for every white inmate.”

Inmates deserve the right to educate themselves on issues that affect them. Laws and policies have disproportionately impacted people of color throughout history. Campaigns like the War on Drugs and Stop-and-Frisk have targeted African American and Latino communities, leading to the mass incarceration of more than a hundred-thousand people of color. Felony convictions result in socioeconomic disadvantages that include the inability to access social services, limited job opportunities, and political disenfranchisement due to the loss of voting rights. The racial disparities produced in the prison industrial complex are a reflection of structural racism. Banning a book that sheds light on this injustice is itself a compounding result of existing structural racism, i.e. structurally denying black and brown inmates of this knowledge.

For more on the book banning see, "Ban on Book About Mass Incarceration Lifted in NJ Prisons After ACLU Protest".

December 20, 2017

GOP Tax Plan

On December 20, 2017, Congress passed the most extensive revisions to the tax code in the last thirty years. The new tax code will ease the tax burden on corporations and the wealthy but not for low and middle-income Americans. It permanently cuts corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 21 percent. Unlike the permanent business tax cuts, individual tax cuts will expire in 2025. According to the Tax Policy Center, Americans in the lowest earning fifth of the population would see their income increase by a fraction of a percent while Americans in the top-earning fifth would see an increase of nearly 3 percent.Obamacare mandates that citizens must purchase insurance or pay a penalty fee, unless they qualify for a limited number of exemptions. This mandate was put in place so that everyone would have access to affordable health insurance.

Obamacare stabilized the health insurance market by increasing the amount of people who bought health insurance. The healthy people who purchased insurance but did not use it subsidized the sick. Obamacare prohibited health insurance companies from overcharging or denying sick consumers but without Obamacare it is not likely that insurance companies will continue to charge affordable rates due to an expected decrease in insurance buyers. Although the Obamacare subsidy structure will not be affected by the tax bill, those who make too much to qualify for assistance may find higher insurance rates and will most likely decline to purchase insurance. This will lead insurance companies to revert back to overcharging or denying the sick, in order to make a profit. Additionally, the value of tax credits that affordable housing developers use will fall, eventually causing fewer units to be built and limiting the availability of affordable housing.

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?

America is increasingly divided along economic lines and, unfortunately, policies like this widen the disparity. Policies that favor affordable housing and health insurance are being replaced by policies that drive structural inequalities. Healthcare disparities exist between different racial and economic groups and repealing the Obamacare mandate will cause many who most need it to lose their healthcare. Likewise, the lack of affordable housing will further segregate neighborhoods and schools. Overall, the new tax code perpetuates racial group inequity.

For more on the GOP Tax Plan, see " How the GOP Tax Plan Scrooges Middle Class, Retired, and Poor " . 

Febuary 15, 2015

New York Schools Illegally Disciminate Against Immigrant Children

The New York Civil Liberties Union released findings from a review of approximately 20% of New York State school districts, which revealed that the majority of those districts were unlawfully barring the enrollment of immigrant students. While neighborhood residency is the only requirement to gain access to a public school, districts were found illegally requesting documentation of citizenship.

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

Throughout the history of the US, public services, such as public schools, government subsidizes, and government backed mortgages, have been denied to people of color. This latest example is just one way that people of color continue to be treated as undeserving of access to public goods.

For more information read, "New York Compels 20 School Districts to Lower Barriers to Immigrants " 

May 11, 2013

"IQ and Immigration Policy" Dissertation

Jason Richwine of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank located in Washington DC, released a paper claiming that the intelligence levels and mental capabilities of the non-white immigrant population are far lower than that of the "white native population." Richwine further suggested that Hispanic immigrants recieve an IQ test before being admitted into the United States and to only allow entry to the "smart immigrants."

WHY IS THIS RELATED TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?

"Phrenology", popular in the 19th century, was a pseudoscientific technic of measuring the size and shape of someone's head to determine brain size and shape (as a measure for intelligence and emotional stability). "Scientists" and slave-owners used this tool to justify slavery, claiming that Africans had enlarged areas of the brain that correlated with their need for "a master." The practice has since found to be false, not unlike Richwine's claims, because there is no genetic or scientific difference between the brain's and intelligence of people by race. Continuing to perpetuate this myth means an endorsment of the claims for white supremacy.

For more see, " Why Did Harvard Give a PhD for a Discredited Approach to Race & IQ ? "

November 2, 2013

Shooting of Renisha McBride

Renisha McBride crashed her car at a street in Detroit, and then walked to a neighborhood in Dearborn Heights where she knocked on the door of a house. The homeowner, Theodore Wafer, opened the door and immediately shot McBride with a shotgun.

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

While McBrade knocked on the door to ask for help, Wafer said he assumed his house was being broken into. This is an example of how the overrepresentation of African Americans as criminals in the media can lead to extreme racial violence against African Americans.

November 26, 2012

Student Told to Cut Her Hair or Leave School

Despite other students teasing 12-year-old African American student Vanessa VanDyke, the young girl said that she loved her poofy, natural hair. However, after VanDyke's parents informed school officials that there daughter was being teased, the school informed VanDyke that she had a week to decide whether to cut her natural hair or leave Faith Christian Academy, citing it as a "distraction" to other students. Fortunately, after the story began to circulate and the controversy reached the press, the school decided to retract their ultimatum.

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

Throughout history, "natural hair", for both African-American women and men, has been the subject of extensive controversy; from the banning of protective styles in the military to the emotional stress of not living up to dominant "standards of beauty."

For more on the policing of Black women's hair see, "Black Women Natural Hair At the Workplace"

September 20, 2012

"Lynching" Empty Chairs

At the Republican National Convention, actor Clint Eastwood performed a 12-minute skit in which he criticized an empty chair representing President Obama. The speech quickly became a hit with republican voters around the country. In a violent twist, instances of citizens "lynching" these symbolic empty chairs from trees began to pop up, often adding American flags and labels that referred to President Obama. When reached out for questioning, the citizens who hung the chairs defended their actions.

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

Symbolic lynching serves as a culture reminder of white supremacy and while they do not directly inflict physical violence, they inspire and reinforce discriminatory behavior that sometimes leads to physical violence.

For more on lynching see, "The Lynching of Empty Chairs".

June 4, 2010

Jake Knotts

South Carolina Senator Jake Knotts lobbed racial slurs at candidate Nikki Healy, who is of Indian descent, and President Barack Obama, claiming "We've already got a raghead in the White House, we don't need another raghead in the governor's mansion." Knotts defended his comments bystating that they were meant jokingly.

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

When politicians are openly and unapologetically hateful, they send a message to their constituents that it is acceptable to be racist.

For more see, " Knotts Calls Jaley, Obama 'rag-heads' on Online Talk Show ".