The wealth gap between Black and white Americans has been persistent and extreme, writes Liz Mineo. It represents, scholars say, the accumulated effects of four centuries of institutional and systemic racism and bears major responsibility for disparities in income, health, education, and opportunity that continue to this day, she said. Consider that right now the…
Category: Commentary
Tech Companies Made Big Pledges to Fight Racism Last Year — here’s how They’re Doing so Far
Last June, social media feeds became flooded with corporate statements about how companies would promote racial equity within and beyond their workforce writes Lauren Feiner. The commitments came after the police murder of George Floyd sparked protests around the country. One year after those initial statements, many tech companies seem to have met several of their…
The Invention of Race’: Documentary Explores how the Concept of Race Developed
What we don’t often consider is where the idea of different races came from. God? Nature? Or was it man-made? — and if so, why? the story says. “The Invention of Race,” a documentary produced and hosted by John Biewen, explores how these concepts developed from the ancient world to today. According to MPR, in…
The Percentage of Churchgoing Americans is Steadily Falling, and the Swirl of Rightwing Politics and Christianity is Playing a Key Role
Fewer than half of Americans belong to a house of worship, a new study shows, but religion – and Christianity in particular – continues to have an outsize influence in US politics, especially because it is declining faster among Democrats than Republicans, according to an article by Adam Gabutt. Just 47% of the US population…
Charges after US Capitol Insurrection Roil Far-Right Groups
More than three dozen members and associates across both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers have been charged with crimes, KTVB reports. Some local chapters cut ties with national leadership in the weeks after the deadly siege, the story says. The Proud Boys’ chairman called for a pause in the rallies that often have led to clashes with…
Stay Tuned for Financial Literacy Tips from Ayriss Paije Torres
Empowering the Latinx community with financial knowledge is the key to reducing the wealth gap. Hispanics’ personal finance knowledge is generally lower than that of the overall U.S. adult population, according to TIAA Institute. The difference is prevalent across all demographic groups, except for young (ages 18-34) U.S.-born Hispanics, whose financial literacy is close to…
Ta-Nehisi Coates took Black Panther to Dark Places — and it Paid Off
After five years, it comes to an end: the acclaimed run of one of the most important Black minds of a generation scripting the most important Black superhero of all time, the Washington Post Reports. Ta-NehisiCoates’s last issue of Black Panther was published by Marvel Comics on Wednesday, wrapping up a job that he debuted…
How White NBA Fans Can Be Racist
White fans at NBA games know that they can berate and demean Black players with little to no consequence – and they love doing it, writes Shaun King. “I’ve had NBA players tell me this for a decade. The first time I ever heard someone unpack how strange it is for white people to somehow…
More than 200 Bodies Found at Indigenous School, Where First Nations Children were Forced into Canadian Assimilation
From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 First Nations children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society, according KTVB. They were forced to convert to Christianity and not allowed to speak their native languages. Many were beaten and verbally abused, and…
After Outcry Over Contentious Job Listing, Indiana Candy Shop Owner Selling Business
The proprietor was accused of sexism. Last week, Randy Good, the owner of Good’s Candy Shop in Anderson, Indiana, posted a lengthy job listing (since deleted) and shared his poor experiences with certain types of employee behaviors, including laziness, manipulation, lying and “worst of all combined, the splitters,” the Idaho Statesman reports. “Splitting is a behavior of…