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NPR News and Notes With Farai Chideya

Archive for May, 2007

31 May

Quantifying Racism

Harvard Professor Roland Fryer is someone you should know about. He works to quantify the impact of race and inequality on American society. An Economics professor, Fryer applies the tools of economic modelling and analysis to investigate situations that are often discussed without a framework for evaluation. His studies include:
‘The Causes and Consequences of Distinctly Black Names’
‘Acting white: [...]

30 May

The Topsoil: Mexican Wedding

Contributor Andrew Padula has been in situations throughout his life where he has been compelled to deal with racial issues from unusual perspectives. I believe his point of view adds a lot to our discussion, so I welcome Andrew and his column The Topsoil to Allaboutrace.com. As Andrew says, “You gotta turn the topsoil to plant [...]

29 May

The Problem with ‘Cavemen’

I always get a queasy feeling when any of the television networks declare that they have a show that is ‘thought provoking.’ That dull discomfort crests into full blown nausea when the thoughts they purport to provoke revolve around race in America. I have just watched a clip from ABC’s Fall series ‘Cavemen,’ and discussed the [...]

28 May

Memorial Day

Young sailors taking in the sights during New York’s Fleet Week 2007.
Photo courtesty Joseph O. Holmes www.joesnyc.com / www.manhattanusersguide.com

24 May

Color Neutral Casting

Yet another intriguing issue has been raised by Angelina Jolie. This time it’s Jolie’s portrayal of Mariane Pearl in the upcoming film ’A Mighty Heart.’ Already some in the blogoshpere have dubbed Jolie’s acting a performance in blackface. They’ve got this one all wrong.

I get a little rush whenever I hear that a role originally written with [...]

23 May

Three Nooses

UPDATE - 6/28/07 - UPDATE - PLEASE READ
The latest racial assault in Jena, Louisiana began on the morning of September 1st 2006, when three nooses were found dangling from a tree at the local high school. The day before, at a school assembly, an African American student had asked the vice principal if he could sit [...]

22 May

Open Call

A lot of hurt and unexpressed frustration are going around.  Every time allaboutrace.com first comes up in discussion, the person I’m talking to expresses concern about the tense state of race relations in America. It seems to be an almost universal concern which cuts across racial, religious and political labels. I’d thought that quite a few people would see the whole [...]

18 May

Remembering Tio

Contributor Andrew Padula obtained his AA in Mass Communications at Montgomery College and then went on to receive his BA in Media Arts from the University of Maryland. He tossed it, his words, to do post graduate studies at Musicians Institute of Hollywood (rock star school). Andrew has been teaching and touring the U.S. and [...]

17 May

‘A nation split…’

The New York Times confirms something I have observed anecdotally. In today’s article ‘New Demographic Racial Gap Emerges,’ reporter Sam Roberts cites new Census data and asserts:
With the number of nonwhite Americans above 100 million for the first time, demographers are identifying an emerging racial generation gap. That development may portend a nation split between an older, [...]

16 May

Questioning the Source

One of the most important actions we can take to get a clearer picture of what is going on around us is to relentlessly question the source of information presented to us. Because of my experience in network news, I talk a lot about this with friends. In my experience, network news production staffs could [...]

15 May

Hutto & Me

I was not aware of the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility until nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez, creator of The Unapologetic Mexican site, posted this in early March. The entire post is stimulating and I encourage you to read it. But, here is the line that grabbed my attention:
HUTTO PRISON recycles devious yet tired tactics. Smile [...]

14 May

The Power of Words

In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court ruled that people of African ancestry were not, and could never become, citizens of the United States of America. The Dred Scott decision asserted that blacks were property. And because no state or federal government could take a citizen’s property away from him, this decision meant [...]

10 May

Site Overhaul!

It’s been exactly two months since the inception of Allaboutrace.com. March 10th was chosen because in 1990, President George H.W. Bush declared that day Harriet Tubman Day.
Starting Monday, you’ll find the site’s appearance changed for the better. We’ve got a big week ahead. Stay tuned.
Best,
Carmen

02 May

On the Road

Greetings all! I will have inconsistent web access for the next several days. I will post if I can, but things will be up and running again next week. In the meantime, please click around Allaboutrace.com and maybe check out some posts you missed. Your comments and ideas are always welcomed.
In advance, thank you for [...]

01 May

A Book & Its Cover

Contributor Andrew Padula obtained his AA in Mass Communications at Montgomery College and then went on to receive his BA in Media Arts from the University of Maryland. He tossed it, his words, to do post graduate studies at Musicians Institute of Hollywood (rock star school). Andrew has been teaching and touring the U.S. and [...]