White Feminists Built a Narrative of Innocence To Mask Their Racism
The violence of white feminists relies on the carefully constructed myth of white womanhood’s innocence, purity, and righteousness. An important yet overlooked scene of the 2004 movie, Iron Jawed Angels, was the disservice of Ida B. Wells (Adilah Barnes) at the
Safety is Not Just About Shootings: American Students Face Multiple Threats
The conversation regarding school safety cannot start and stop with guns and shootings.
Since 2018 began, at least 8 school shootings have occurred in the US involving injury or death. In the days since the most recent widely publicized shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, several conversations have erupted regarding U.S. school safety. Similar to other shootings, gun control has re-emerged in the mainstream discourse. As well, there are discussions regarding arming teachers and increasing militarization of U.S. public schools. For example, in Broward County, Florida where the shooting took place, the police have reportedly stated that sheriff’s deputies will carry rifles on school grounds going forward. But amidst the growing discourse surrounding violence and guns, one particular discussion about school safety has been erased: that US students have been under threat and are under threat everyday. Understandably it is a worrisome and frightening and grave situation when a school shooting occurs, but “school safety” is more than just about school shootings. And this hyperfocus on the state of US schools only when widely publicized events happen, obscures that schools have been unsafe and that teachers and students are constantly threatened and in dangerous situations. In particular, the conversation on increasing police presence in schools or further incorporating metal detectors and other scanners or arming teachers, ignores that many schools are already militarized and policed in this way. Many schools already have policies in place for metal detectors and drug-sniffing dogs, especially among schools with a greater concentration poor students and students of color. The National Center for Education Statistics notes that up to 24% of U.S. schools have random drug-sniffs by dogs and almost 9% of high schools have random metal detector scans.Related: GUN VIOLENCE AND TOXIC MASCULINITY: WHAT HAPPENED IN FLORIDA IS NO ANOMALY
Dear Non-Black Asian-Americans: We Need to Stop Appropriating AAVE
Dear non-Black Asian-Americans (and other non-Black folks), we have a real issue with appropriating AAVE, and it needs to stop. AAVE stands for African American Vernacular English, and it refers to a distinct language—consisting of words, phrases, intonations, gestures, but also,
How White Millennials Became Neo-Nazis
Why is the overrepresentation of millennials in the alt-right movement important to note? Because it proves racism is passing to new generations. Southern California. Philadelphia. Oregon. Berkeley. What do these places have common? They are certifiable proof that the "peace" and "healing" that
Playwright Reviving “The Green Book,” A Travel Guide for Blacks in the Jim Crow South
Playwright Calvin Ramsey calls The Green Book a "love letter" to black Americans. Many of you may not know who Victor Green is. During the segregation era, he penned The Green Book, a travel guide/survival tool written specifically with black motorists in