Month: August 2015

  • How beliefs in biological differences can undergird racial and policy attitudes The London School of Economics and Political Science 2015-08-24 W. Carson Byrd, Assistant Professor of Pan-African Studies University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky Beliefs in biological differences between racial groups linger in both scientific and public discourse. Recent advances in genetics and genomics influence public…

  • White on Paper Those People 2015-08-20 John Metta My sister opening presents while I try to steal the show. Just ordinary Black children having a birthday party, unconscionably ignoring dominant stereotypes. In June, Rachel Dolezal, an activist and former president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, was outed by her parents as being a white…

  • Race in the US: What if your identity was a lie? Al Jazeera Magazine 2015-08-21 John Metta “There are no qualifiers to my blackness, and I will never again be Not Black Enough. I am a black man, and I am angry.” My father’s anger was a storm. Like many other boys, I was carefree…

  • “Race” is man-made, and much of the scientific enterprise has traditionally supported the myth that racial differences accurately represent real, biological differences among humans. These beliefs limit how scientists, policymakers, and everyday citizens can work together to tackle the real racial inequality of today. By increasing the dialogue of how we can tackle racial inequality…

  • Outside of my mother’s home, as a kid I lived a deeply black experience. Black families invited me to attend vacation Bible school. I attended black family reunions where old people would come up and pinch my cheeks and tell me who I looked like in their family. I went to black skate parties, black…

  • Biological Determinism and Racial Essentialism The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Volume 661, Number 1, September 2015 pages 8-22 DOI: 10.1177/0002716215591476 W. Carson Byrd, Assistant Professor of Pan-African Studies University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky Matthew W. Hughey, Professor of Sociology University of Connecticut In August 2012, nine months after being…

  • The Risks of Turning Races Into Genes The Huffington Post 2015-08-20 Matthew W. Hughey, Professor of Sociology University of Connecticut From 22-25 August, sociologists from around the nation and world will descend upon the Windy City of Chicago to discuss sundry issues as they participate in the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. One…

  • On Martha’s Vineyard, black elites ponder the past year Politico 2015-08-22 Sara Wheaton, White House Reporter As Obama vacations on the island, an upper-class gathering grapples with a year of unrest. EDGARTOWN, Mass. – For America’s black elite, this year’s seasonal sojourn to Martha’s Vineyard turned into a soul-searching retreat. The shooting of a young,…

  • Tony Gleaton: Photographing The African Story Across The Americas Code Switch: Frontiers of Race, Culture and Ethnicity National Public Radio 2015-08-23 Karen Grigsby Bates Photographer Tony Gleaton died last Friday after struggling with a particularly aggressive cancer for 18 months. He was working, signing prints, talking to museums (several have his work in their collections,…

  • Voodoo Chile-Jimi Hendrix / Gayageum ver. by Luna Ourstorian: Until Lions write their own history, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the Hunter 2015-08-23 From wiki: “The gayageum or kayagum is a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument, with 12 strings, though some more recent variants have 21 or other numbers of strings. It…