East Coast/West Coast rivalry dies in the face of Prop 8 - from Sovo.com

Atlanta rallies against Proposition 8
Crowd braves rain to protest Calif. ruling

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Friday, May 29, 2009 | By: MATT SCHAFER | COMMENTS |

A crowd of nearly 100 people gathered Tuesday in Midtown to chant and hold signs protesting the California Supreme Court ruling upholding Proposition 8.

California briefly allowed gay couples to wed last year after the state’s highest court ruled that all couples must be treated equally under the state constitution. California voters passed Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, in November with 52 percent of the vote.

Photo by Matt Schafer

The California Supreme Court issued its ruling Tuesday on challenges to Proposition 8. The court upheld the measure, but allowed the 18,000 gay couples who wed prior to the vote to remain married.

The Atlanta rally was part of “Day of Decision” events taking place across the country. The Atlanta rally was organized in less that 48 hours and had between 80-100 people at the rally at one time. The crowd gathered at 5:30 p.m. at the 14th Street entrance to Piedmont Park, and later marched to 10th Street where the rally ended close to 8 p.m.

California’s November vote in favor of Proposition 8 spawned one of the largest gay rights protests in Georgia in a decade, drawing hundreds to the State Capitol and then to a rally in Midtown near Outwrite Bookstore. GLBT ATL, a new grassroots activist organization that coordinated those rallies, put on Tuesday’s protest.

“Much like the protest that was held at the Capitol, this one is to show that there are gay people in every community across the country,” organizer Todd Vierlin said. “This decision just doesn’t affect California, it affects every place across the country.”

Among the protesters demanding equality were Jennifer Bhagia and her 3-year-old son, Cameron Lewis.

“I’m here to support my friends,” Bhagia said. “I’m here because I’m interracial and because it wasn’t too long ago that I was illegal.”

Source: http://www.sovo.com/2009/5-29/news/localnews/10163.cfm

Musings on "Reverse X"

OK, so I won't be posting my own thoughts here too often (ha! I say that now), but I had to take a moment after the last post to share my thoughts about this idea of 'reverse racism'. This term is often spoken by majority/power-holding folks who feel that some minority group (or minority group member) has discriminated against them directly, or that a system has discriminated against an individual or group who has been historically well-represented (e.g. in the workplace). The term 'reverse discrimination' has recently been on the airwaves because of a recent scandal in New Haven, CT regarding test scores on a firefighter promotion test (visit http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/SCOTUS/Story?id=7393908&page=1 for an article on the story). Interestingly enough, Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor is connected to both instances.

My issue isn't with her nomination, nor with the validity of the decision to scrap the test results of all the firefighters who took that test. Rather, I am concerned for the majority/power-holding group members. And yes, maybe I'm concerned about Rush Limbaugh. See, it seems to me that the idea of 'reverse' anything that changes years/decades/centuries of oppression is a good thing - a change in direction. Let's have 'reverse sexism' or 'reverse anti-Semitism' or 'reverse homophobia'. Our society, for the most part, seems to have decided that both racism and discrimination are bad practices...scornful, even. So, if we're 'reversing' racism and discrimination, aren't we saying that we're changing them, since we agree that both are bad practices? So it seems that Mr. Limbaugh and others who use these terms are suggesting that those who practice 'reverse racism' and 'reverse discrimination' are doing good by our societal standards -- taking a stance to eradicate both from our society. I was under the impression that both ends of the political spectrum in this country wanted that.

My suggestion? If you're in power and you feel that the actions of an individual or group are racist, call it Racism. If the person is a minority group member, or the group/organization is discriminating against you because of your race, call it Racism.

"Reverse racism" does sound more polite, though...softer...

Limbaugh speaks...again; this time on Sotomayor - from Ticker @ cnn.com

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Limbaugh is going after Sonia Sotomayor.

(CNN) — While Republicans on Capitol Hill appear to be adopting a wait-and-see approach with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh is taking direct aim at President Obama's choice for the high court.

Calling Sotomayor a "racist" and a "hack" on his radio show Tuesday, Limbaugh took particular issue with a 2001 speech at Berkeley during which she stated a "wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

"Here you have a racist – you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist," Limbaugh said of that comment.

"And the [liberals] of course say that minorities cannot be racists because they don't have the power to implement their racism," he continued. "Well, those days are gone because reverse racists certainly do have the power to implement their power. Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist, and now he's appointed one."

"She's not the brain that they're portraying her to be. She's not a constitutional jurist," Limbaugh also said, referencing a New Republic article last month in which Jeffrey Rosen, the magazines legal affairs editor, wrote that "her opinions, although competent, are viewed by former prosecutors as not especially clean or tight, and sometimes miss the forest for the trees."

"She is an affirmative action case extraordinaire, and she has put down white men in favor of Latina women," Limbaugh said.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs defended Sotomayor's Berkeley comments Tuesday. "If you look at the context of the longer speech that she makes, I think what she says is very much common sense in terms of different experiences, different people," he said.

Visit http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/27/limbaugh-slams-sotomayor-reverse-racist-2/ for this post and more at cnn.com's Political Ticker

Demographic Shifts....from cnn.com

FINNEY COUNTY, Kansas (CNN) -- U.S. communities are changing complexion as ethnic diversity grows in the American heartland.

Going to church is a popular activity on Sundays in racially diverse Garden City, Kansas.

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Though not new in California, Arizona, Texas or Florida, the change of demographics is a bit more surprising in southwest Kansas.

Finney County, Kansas, is one of six counties across the nation that became majority-minority between 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau recently announced. The agency defines majority-minority as a county where more than half the population is made up of a group that is not single-race, non-Hispanic white.

Nearly 10 percent (309) of the nation's 3,142 counties were majority-minority as of July 1, 2008.

"Why there?" people ask Tim Cruz, former mayor of Garden City, Kansas, the largest town in Finney County. And then, "How do you all get along?"

"It's just another melting pot you know," Cruz says. "It makes it nice to have those different cultures. And sure they're different -- we have to understand what they celebrate and why they do it."

In the last couple of decades, massive meatpacking plants in Garden City have drawn workers from Southeast Asia and Somalia.

You can smell the major industry of Garden City before you actually reach it and the stockyards that feed the meatpacking plants have their own unmistakable odor.

After high school, Cruz worked one year in the meatpacking plant and that one year was enough for him. But he says Somalis, and many southeast Asians come to the area for the steady work, and a steady paycheck -- even if the work is tough.

"Very dangerous, long hours," he says. "I am grateful that they do that work. Now, I know why my dad said stay in school, you know."

At the Alta Brown Elementary School, the native language of about half of the 409 students is something other than English.

for the complete story, visit:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/05/22/garden.city.kansas.minorities/index.html

Hair Club for Black Men

'nuff said...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/3532376714/

as seen on www.jezebel.com

I would have copied/pasted the image, but pesky copyrights and the whole federal government thing kinda convinced me to think otherwise...

Business Case for Diversity - from diversityinc.com

'Do White People Need to Share Power?'

By Luke Visconti

May 11, 2009

 

Question:

If inclusion requires (mostly white) CEOs to share (mostly perceived) power and control, which enables a participatory/collaborative workplace culture, then higher adoption of participatory practices requires observable examples of high performance. What prime case examples are out there?

Answer: 

You used the word "inclusion" to describe diversity management. I'm sticking with diversity management because I think clarity is important.

 

Management of diversity in business doesn't require white people to share power and control. It requires equity in managing business relationships. Effectiveness demands that power and control are given to the most talented.

 

Saying that white people need to share control assumes that control should belong to them in the first place.

 

In a publicly held corporation, control belongs to shareholders and directors. Shareholders' best interests are served by the best talent being in the most effective positions. For government (in the United States), control belongs to the people. The positions of authority belong to the people, too.

 

The economic reason for doing this is simple: Science tells us that all people are created equally; therefore, talent is distributed equally.

 

If a system is a true meritocracy, people in positions of authority and power are representative of the population. Not even the companies on the DiversityInc Top 50 can say that they are meritocracies (yet) and they have representation up to double that of U.S. work-force representation--at all levels.

 

The reason most senators, representatives, Fortune 500 CEOs, judges, governors, admirals, generals and clergy are white men is systemic and historic bigotry and sexism (the two largest axes of discrimination). By the way, our data shows that sexism is still more of a problem than racism, even in the most progressive companies.

For the complete article, be sure to visit "Ask the White Guy at diversityinc.com: http://www.diversityinc.com/public/5839.cfm?gclid=CJ2F9bz8xZoCFSURFQodXXEFrg

Minorities Rising - from cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation is becoming even more diverse: More than one third of its population belongs to a minority group, and Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday that the minority population reached an estimated 104.6 million - or 34% of the nation's total population - on July 1, 2008, compared to 31% when the Census was taken in 2000. Nearly one in six residents, or 46.9 million people, are Hispanic, the agency reported.

Even more telling for the future: 44% of children under age 18 and 47% of children under the age of five are now from minority families.

for the complete story, visit:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/14/real_estate/rising_minorities/index.htm?cnn=yes

Economies of Leisure - from cnn.com

CNN) -- Cindy Goodman was having dinner with a group of girlfriends one night when the conversation took a surprising turn.

Summer at the beach may seem like fun, but more Americans are afraid to take time off.

Goodman asked her friends where they planned to go this year for their summer vacation. Nowhere, they answered. They were afraid to take time off because they didn't want to risk losing their jobs, she says.

"It's going to be an interesting summer," says Goodman, a Miami Herald business columnist. "The people who still have a job are really feeling overwhelmed and overworked. They're afraid to take vacations, but at the same time, they need them more than ever."

For the complete article, visit:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/14/real_estate/rising_minorities/index.htm?cnn=yes