The end of the year brings with it a slew of “top 10/best of/worst of” lists. This week’s issue of Time magazine(with Ben Bernanke on the cover as Person of the Year) provides a number of lists, from books to gadgets, business deals to scandals. On the page of Top 10 Essential Stories, there isContinue reading “Segregation just isn’t news any more”
Category Archives: Race/ethnicity
The real price of oil
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about the case of indigenous groups against Texaco/Chevron for polluting the Amazonian region of Ecuador. There is a documentary on this sordid tale that has just come out in theaters (currently in NYC and LA but coming out across the country over the next few weeks). It’s called Crude:Continue reading “The real price of oil”
Environmental justice?
In the current concerns about climate change, it often seems like environmental degradation doesn’t discriminate: your economic class or color of your skin won’t necessarily save you from the thinning of the ozone layer or rising sea levels. On a more local level, however, researchers and activists have been concerned about disparate effects of environmentalContinue reading “Environmental justice?”
Housing and inequality
Our housing-market-implosion-induced financial meltdown has prompted a rethinking by increasing numbers of researchers and policymakers of how we approach housing policy in the U.S. The concerns and implications are both personal and societal. Much of the angst has arisen from the stratospheric increase in home mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. A recent NY Times feature seriesContinue reading “Housing and inequality”
Countering discrimination through education
LA Times reporter Corina Knoll provides a touching tale in her article, “Thanking her for opening my eyes,” of how important teachers can be in shaping how we view others and the world. She explains how Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliot helped her third grade class understand the dynamics and consequences of racism in the wakeContinue reading “Countering discrimination through education”
We all should care about the state of public education
Good public education has long been a staple of American democracy and social mobility; but that promise is increasingly threatened. Nowhere is this more evident than in the state where I live, California. The Golden State’s educational system from kindergarten to the university was affordable and excellent for decades; but today we have a systemContinue reading “We all should care about the state of public education”
Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California
In a previous post, I alluded to the endurance of inequality along race/ethnic lines in many socio-economic indicators. A recent report by RAND, commissioned by The California Endowment, is a good example of research documenting these disparities. The report, titled Reparable Harm, looks specifically at the gap between Latino and African American males and theirContinue reading “Disparities Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California”
Race and Inequality: the End of White America?
One of the most enduring factors in socioeconomic inequality in the U.S. has long been differences along racial lines, particularly between whites and African Americans. Due in large part to the successful presidential campaign of Barack Obama, the salience of these dynamics have come into question. If he could win over the nearly all-white populaceContinue reading “Race and Inequality: the End of White America?”
Bill Pitkin 