Day: May 9, 2018

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-glover-childish-gambino-this-is-america-video-tackles-gun-violence-racism/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/07/entertainment/childish-gambino-this-is-america-lyrics/index.html

Childism Gambino is out with a new song, and he’s confronting as many forms of racism as he can in the 4:04 video. Wearing Confederate army pants and opening the rap standing in the caricatured “original Jim Crow” pose, the video is rife with symbolism. Mainly centered on gun violence, many scenes feature powerful weaponry mowing down innocent backup dancers while others film from their phones.

The scary reality of being Black in America is tackled with eviscerating detail. Guns, police, and the mythical white horse – the symbolism is debated if the rider is a savior or death – are all parts of the experience that Donald Glover highlights. To be sure, the message and motifs of the piece are associate with fear, but offsetting everything is dancing. I interpreted this as the uncertainty African Americans face in everyday life, never knowing if something fun would become violent.

A poignant piece, “This is America” is a new song decrying the injustices of modern oppression, and is a meaningful contribution to art of the resistance.

http://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/kendall-students-painting-raises-questions-of-race/1168110917

The local news station in Grand Rapids, MI was informed about a painting depicting a classroom full of children – and the black kids were painted wearing prison jumpsuits. Artist Rosie Lee said the piece was inspired by an article in New York Magazine about how New York schools divided kids by race to have conversations about identity, but townsperson Cory Ward expressed distaste. Ward says that the painting, displayed without context, is potentially damaging. Lee refused to write an explanation, claiming he wants dialogue to occur but accusations of privilege discourage people from having those conversations.

This article was intriguing for several reasons, the most prominent being the artist’s refusal to explain his work. I agree with Ward that context in important for people to have productive conversations about race, because this helps avoid misconceptions. Similar to discourse about the historical value of confederate statues, I believe that the correct place for them is somewhere people can go to learn about the horrors of the Civil War and not just have art that glorifies the ‘heroes.’ Lee’s refusal appears to be an admittance that he didn’t fully consider the implications of the piece when creating it. He claims he wants productive dialogue. How does he want dialogue on the topic of the painting – the school to prison pipeline – if he doesn’t tell the audience of the piece what his intentions were behind painting it?

I think the article raises questions of how to encourage dialogue when art is created.

www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/silicon-valley-race.html

The New York Times published a piece yesterday about the lack of diversity in tech companies, with especially few positions of leadership available for Black and Latino employees. In the companies surveyed, only 1%-2% of employees were Black. The Congressional Black Caucus visited Silicon Valley to find out more. Barbara Lee, D-CA, noted “prosperity [of the tech industry] has not reached Black residents in the Bay Area,” and that the institutions of the area should be required to support the community they operate in. The Congressional Black Caucus hope to introduce legislation that would give more power to the Community Reinvestment Act, which would require tech companies to fund programs that reach out to the surrounding residents.

The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 needs to be updated to reflect the changing conditions of society.  Originally enacted to mandate financial institutions to support the “credit needs” of the community, it has been moderately successful. By expanding the Act to include tech companies, the achievements of the Act can be modernized and continue to grow and be relevant.

Outreach programs such as the ones outlined by the Act will give California residents an opportunity to influence tech companies. Through diversity and internship programs, Black residents will be able to land positions within majority white companies. However, the legislation introduced by thr Congressional Black Caucus is vital. Without it, tech companies can continue the policies they have now, which exclude people of color from their organizations. To remedy this, there must be a concerted effort for change, and the Community Reinvestment Act is the ideal starting point.

Black Americans face a difficult predicament. There has been a recent decline of Black  homeownership. From its peak of 49.1 percent in 2004, it fell to 44.9 percent in  2011 (compared to 46.9 percent for Latinos; nearly 59 percent for Asian  Americans; and more than 74 percent for Whites), according to diversitydata.org,  a research project of Brandeis University’s Institute for Child, Youth and  Family Policy. The Black Tax is the greater economic and social cost that society’s ingrained racism forces, black americans to endure. Often the price many Blacks had to pay for home loans was unjustifiably steep. During the last decade study after  study has shown that Black homebuyers were basically forced to accept subprime mortgages far more often than whites if they wished to purchase a house. Those  mortgages, would have higher interest rates and other costs than  conventional, prime mortgages, are used for buyers with substandard credit  ratings. Banks and mortgage  lending institutions forced these loans upon black buyers. These loans contained higher fees for the lender. Even if the black prospective home buyers qualified for  conventional mortgages. The study the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)  used White, Black, Latino, and  Asian-American testers who had the exact same financial credentials found that  subtle discrimination in the housing market remains widespread. “Housing Discrimination Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities  2012,”  Discusses realtors  not showing buyers of color the full  arrange of of homes available  in their price range. But  showing them neighborhoods or  streets with predominantly minority populations, and not offering them financial assistance.

I came across an article the other day about a University of Cape Town (UCT) african american Professor named Elelwani Ramugondo. She has worked at UCT since 1998. She is taking the university to court for hiring a “less qualified” white profesor as their new deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning. Ramugondo is supported by the  university’s Black Academic Caucus (BAC), which claims the institution disregarded all rules when appointing Professor Lis Lange who is white. Ramugondo told City Press on Friday she was overlooked because of institutional racism at UCT.   “I know many casualties to UCT’s institutional racism. I have chosen to stay because I believe that if we confront the problem honestly at UCT, which is a public university that is held in very high regard, it will bode well for all South Africans.”

I found this article particularly interesting due to some of the discussions we had in class. This article demonstrates how racism can still be found in modern institutions. It will be interesting to see what the court finds on whether the racial claims are true. Also if found true what punishment will be forced upon the university and the committee that demonstrated the racism.