*The Gettysburg Address (1863) and the state of America today

Gettysburg Address from Adam Gault Studio on Vimeo.
more info here

150 years later...give or take a few years...

U.S.A in the 21st Century

In the American Economic Review:
'Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?'
Abstract
We perform a field experiment to measure racial discrimination in the labor market. We respond with fictitious resumes to help-wanted ads in Boston and Chicago newspapers. To manipulate perception of race, each resume is assigned either a very African American sounding name or a very White sounding name. The results show significant discrimination against African-American names: White names receive 50 percent more callbacks for interviews. We also find that race affects the benefits of a better resume. For White names, a higher quality resume elicits 30 percent more callbacks whereas for African Americans, it elicits a far smaller increase. Applicants living in better neighborhoods receive more callbacks but, interestingly, this effect does not differ by race. The amount of discrimination is uniform across occupations and industries. Federal contractors and employers who list Equal Opportunity Employer' in their ad discriminate as much as other employers. We find little evidence that our results are driven by employers inferring something other than race, such as social class, from the names. These results suggest that racial discrimination is still a prominent feature of the labor market.

Full paper here (pdf)


According to a report of a study by Johns Hopkins University: 
"John Hopkins University School of Medicine analyzed data from 181 trauma centers within the U.S. and shows a correlation between trauma centers that serve mainly minority patients and higher death rates than average of those patients they serve. Trauma centers that serve mainly white patients have newer and more efficient technology, better trained staff, and more access to specialists and services; these trauma centers have better outcomes and more of their patients are insured or are able to afford the healthcare costs. In contrast, due to socioeconomic reasons, minority patients are less likely to be able to afford the healthcare costs or pay for insurance in a traumatic situation. Trauma centers which serve mainly minority patients have less economic resources available to them for use in the improvement of equipment, quality of staff and maintenance; this discrepancy in funding among trauma centers in different neighborhoods leads to unnecessary deaths which would be easily avoided if the trauma centers were sufficiently funded." source

*Update: Implicit Bias


(I understand that this is a show and whether it is recording what it says it is recording may be questionable but its representation correlates with the above two findings. People will treat a white girl or boy differently from a black boy doing the same action)


According to the Huffington Post: "4 in every 10 Americans" think blackface is ok...


For many, not all, insulated "white privilege" is rampant: 17 examples 


White police are still planting drugs (yes, this is just one anecdotal piece of evidence - but who knows what else is happening):



The issue of police testimony vs. criminal/suspect/victim testimony is still problematic. 
*update (11/24): and even disconcerting still is the propensity/enculturated tendency to believe that women/girls reporting rape or sexual abuse are lying - this has been an issue on college campuses and in the military.

Hate groups and white supremacists seem to be increasing but it's difficult to gauge or measure.

Native Americans are still marginalized without proper respect or sovereignty.

In the U.S. and Britain, race is still about black and white - asians have been painted out of working class history and their contributions left largely unknown or brushed over with some mention about railroads.

Many workers in restaurants are working at a minimum wage of 2.13/hour and living off tips.
(*just as a sidenote: the 33 "whitest" jobs in America )

And one of the consequences, is the sheltered silver spoon perspective of neo-liberal and economic libertarians


While in part, I've been arguing about a strawman (shaped in part by the data, somewhat questionable surveys, anecdotes, a distasteful and arrogant young girl, the experiences and observations of others, as well as my own experiences; the composition is a construction "based on true stories"). And fully understanding that it is unfair to generalize on the grounds of skin color (and it is certainly not true that all "whites" are of the same ilk) but the pages of history have been creased and crumpled along those lines: The first European settlers and immigrants have been painted as "white". With the creation of "America" they lost their traditions and identities in their countries of origin. African-Americans and Carribean-Americans bought and sold under slavery have lost their countries of origin as well. They've been homogenized under the label "black". Native Americans have been called "red", "native" (despite the diversity and nuances amongst the tribes, we've lumped them all together), or "brown" (with other Latin-American, Polynesian-Americans, Indian-Americans, etc), the racial discourse and the legitimacy/sovereignty of Native-American sacred spaces have been largely ignored on callous utilitarian grounds. Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and Korean-Americans (Taiwanese, Philipino, Thai, Cambodia etc) have all been lumped together as "Asian" or "Oriental" (a term they still use in Britain). The countries, cultural backgrounds, and traditions are a subtext to the "Asian-American" experience as well as other minorities with rich cultures.

This discourse has created deeper valleys and seemingly permanent creases in the way of "race". This is not only a socio-political dialogue but one that has deeper implications into the way economic structures and systems operate in the various services institutionalized to serve the people. What we seem to be seeing are the ripple effects of history . . . renewed and reappropriated in different ways.

*and yes, I've pointed out the glaring negativities of the U.S. and its tensions in juxtaposition to the Gettysburg address that happened over 150 years ago. This isn't to say that good things and good people don't exist. Or that "people of color" can't be racist or bigoted. There are socially conscious folk everywhere and idiotic assholes from every country. But perhaps injustice and the ugly side of things is an appropriate place to emphasize (like Cornel West starting with catastrophe or 'funk') as opposed to praising the good things we've done so far... I don't know... I like what Chris Rock says here (ignore the titles):



He expands a bit more in the clip below (it's a bad title but the commentary is worth listening)