Some librarians who’ve been fired as they take a stand against discrimination and banning books are turning to a federal civil-rights enforcement agency for help Read the full story.
Category: Commentary
Cohabitation rates, rights, and responsibilities
Relationship formation becomes more varied across the globe (Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) Boris Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds, (lived) together as the first unmarried couple in No 10. Downing Street. But while cohabitation is celebrated in some parts of the world, it is not in many other parts. A Zimbabwean woman…
Seven extreme accounts dominate X, formerly known as Twitter
What we found was extraordinary. A small group of seven accounts, many unknown a year ago, were racking up hundreds of millions of views each day, out-performing standard news accounts by an order of magnitude and exercising significant influence on the discourse around the war. X’s owner, Elon Musk, had interacted with or explicitly recommended…
Trolling and doxxing: Graduate students sharing their research online speak out about hate
An increasingly volatile online environment is affecting our society, including members of the academic community and research they pursue. Graduate students are especially vulnerable to online hate, because cultivating a visible social media presence is considered essential for mobilizing their research, gaining credibility and finding opportunities as they prepare to compete in an over-saturated job market. Our research has examined the…
A debate brews among Black Ivy League students over representation on campus
Michaela Glavin did not feel a sense of belonging in the Black community when she arrived as a freshman at Harvard. The Black student body was warm and welcoming, but as a multigenerational African American — a descendant of enslaved Africans brought to the U.S. — she said she felt like “a minority within a…
The scapegoating of Asian Americans
“The important thing to remember is that this is really not an exceptional moment by any means,” said Sato. “But it’s really part of a much longer genealogy of anti-Asian violence that reaches as far back as the 19th century.” Sato pointed to the Chinese massacre of 1871, when a mob in Los Angeles’ Chinatown…
International students and the types of discrimination they face
Linguistic racism First on our list of different types of discrimination is linguistic discrimination, or ethnic-accent bullying. This happens when a person is treated differently based on his or her accent. For example, a foreign student may often be “‘heard,’ ‘seen,’ or ‘imagined’ speaking ‘bad’ or ‘low proficient’ English irrespective of their actual high-level in English”. Joy Nath, a…
All the public libraries offering free access to banned books: a comprehensive guide
Brooklyn Public Library: Books Unbanned The Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned program was the first of its kind to offer access to collections to teenagers and young adults nationwide. It has expanded to several more libraries (outlined below). The details of the program: Read the full story HERE.
Publishers Refuse to Become Complicit in Texas Book Banning
“We strongly disagree with the idea that rating our books to flag certain content, or having retailers or wholesalers do this, is appropriate or helpful. We trust our teachers, trust our librarians, trust our parents, trust our student readers who are hungry to experience the world in all the ways that books allow.” READ MORE
Harvard faces civil rights complaint over its legacy admissions
The groups argue that legacy admissions, a process that gives priority in the college applications process to children of alumni or applicants related to wealthy donors, boosts white students over students of color. “The students who receive this preferential treatment — based solely on familial ties — are overwhelmingly white. Nearly 70% of donor-related applicants…
Human Rights Collective 