MetaFilter posts tagged with minorities

Election Fever

Hollywood Upstairs Medical College — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:32:00 -0800

An opposition provincial official in a hotly contested election has threatened to arrest international election observers monitoring for fraud and voter intimidation. In an area with a rich history of secessionist fervor, ballot box stuffing, and repeated infringements on the voting rights and representation of ethnic minorities, this pronouncement is certainly controversial. Rogue vigilantes, organized in this province, are expected to deploy to polling sites across the nation, causing alarm. It is not a chaotic contest in a fledgling democracy. It is Texas, the United States. Previously. Texas is not the only state with election protection issues as the 2012 federal, state, and local elections draw near. In Ohio, the election may come down to a "nightmare scenario" of provisional ballots, and absentee ballots were mailed with the wrong election day. In Florida, absentee ballots were mis-printed, and are now being hand-copied. Voter registrations in Virginia were found trashed by Republican-connected contractors. If there is any hint of a problem when voting on Election Day, or if you observe any hint of voter intimidation or suppression beforehand, call toll-free 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683), a hotline sponsored by a consortium of non-profits. For aid in Spanish, call 1-888-Ve-Y-Vota (1-888-839-8682). Click on your state for a list of regulations and your voting rights. If you are not volunteering on Election Day for voter contact or mobilization, consider volunteering as an poll watcher or legal help, especially if you are a lawyer.

We used to get 김치 on the corner....

zarq — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:03:36 -0800

In the 1960's, 70's and 80's, urban decay and high crime rates caused retail chain supermarkets to flee New York City. (google books link) Korean immigrants filled the gap with corner grocery stores. For nearly two decades they were ubiquitous -- symbols of the group's ongoing quest to achieve the American Dream. But 30 years later, Where Did The Korean Greengrocers Go? A shorter version of this article appeared in the New York Daily News earlier this week. Some blame New York City's "growing chain-store massacre" (in part.) But other cities are seeing a decline in Korean-owned grocery stores as well: The situation is widespread and brings with it serious implications. In Philadelphia, for example, the grocery business has been almost single-handedly responsible for building up the economy of the Korean-American community. Ever since the earliest days of Korean immigration to America, grocery stores have been the entry-level business of choice for countless numbers of Korean immigrants. Through the steady presence of their groceries, Koreans have added stability to neighborhoods experiencing ethnic change. Grocery stores provided Korean immigrants not only a precious foothold in their new country, but the opportunity to achieve economic independence. These ma-and-pa-run groceries have become almost cultural stereotypes in inner-city life. In some ways, Koreans inherited the role once held by local, neighborhood Jewish merchants. Through hard work and sacrifice, Koreans in Philadelphia managed to increase the number of groceries to over 1,000. Now, however, there are as few as 150 left.

Minority Graduation Rates

l33tpolicywonk — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:54:05 -0800

Using its College Results Online database, The Education Trust has released two reports examining the black-white and Hispanic-white college graduation gap. The worst offenders? Wayne State University in Detroit, where fewer than one in ten African-American students graduate in six years, and CUNY Brooklyn College, where 19% less Hispanic students graduate on-time than whites.

At nearly two-thirds of the colleges and universities in the study, fewer than half the African-American students emerge with a degree. And though the vast majority of Latino students in the study entrust their futures to public colleges and universities, more than 60 percent of the institutions they attend graduate fewer than half their Latino students in six years.

Earlier this year, Ed Trust also released two reports on what some colleges are doing to close the gap.

"Black Genocide"

zarq — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:52:42 -0800

In the US, the conservative movement’s latest rallying cry against abortion claims pro-choice groups are conducting a systematic eugenics campaign to turn African Americans into an "endangered species." The idea is finding renewed traction and condemnation in Black communities. Several bloggers at RHRealityCheck are offering counter-arguments. From the ABC link: To the surprise of many, the anti-abortionists behind the billboards are black themselves and say they were motivated by a record number of abortions among black women. Of the 36,094 women in Georgia who had abortions in 2008, nearly 21,000 were African-American, more than twice the number of white women. Nationally, the CDC says black women are still three times more likely than white women to get an abortion.
YouTube version of the ABC World News segment is here.

Shifting Demographics of Electorate

gandledorf — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:42:48 -0800

With President Bush hoping to make Hillary the democratic nominee so the Republicans will be ensured a victory, recent Republican decisions in the face of a huge demographic shift may be suggesting an electorate which leans further left in some traditional Republican strongholds. Are Bush's actions a last ditch attempt in the face of long term shift in the Democrats' favor?

Griko, Ladino and ethnolinguistics

huskerdont — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 19:31:26 -0800

Griko is a language used by the descendents of ancient Greek colonists in southern Italy that still has thousands of speakers. Pennsylvania Dutch, the only German language native to North America, was used as a first language until well into the twentieth century. Ladino ia a variant of medieval Spanish written in the Hebrew alphabet that florished among refugees from the Spanish Inquisition in modern Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece. Welcome to the world of ethnolinguistics.

No More Black and White

fugitivefromchaingang — Wed, 10 May 2006 14:30:14 -0800

No More Black and White. An article in the Washington Post about a census report released today shows that 45 percent of children under 5 are racial or ethnic minorities, with Hispanics the largest group. Interestingly enough, as Andrew Sullivan notes, among the under-5 population only 4% are black, a trend he's seen in the time he's lived in Washington D.C. ("It's only gotten whiter and browner.") This has happened/is happening perhaps most dramatically in New Orleans (previously).

Brown Equals Terroist

falconred — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 11:18:30 -0800

Brown Equals Terroist - the story of a photography student who refuses to provide his ID to a security officer, and is swiftly confronted by Homeland Security. His ongoing struggle with the event is chronicled in the related blog.

minority extremists

coyroy — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 15:00:32 -0800

today's challenge: what do you do with those darn minority extremists when their numbers keep growing?

Her name is Trisha Meili.

kirkaracha — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 07:38:09 -0800

Her name is Trisha Meili. She was attacked in Central Park fourteen years ago. Now she's written a book (excerpt) telling her story.

NASCAR, Nee-Ha!

owillis — Sun, 09 Mar 2003 09:32:14 -0800

Are you ready for some... NASCAR? "Consider, 4 out of 5 NBA players are African American, 67 percent of NFL players are minorities, and last season, 23 percent of major league baseball players were born in Spanish-speaking countries (an increase of 40 percent from 1989). All of those sports, except football, are experiencing a dip in popularity. Meanwhile, the conspicuously white NASCAR is on an unprecedented run up the profit chart."

Dhimmi, Goyim, and alike

bokononito — Mon, 02 Dec 2002 12:14:56 -0800

Bat Yeor is a researcher of the life of dhimmi (non-Muslims) under Islam. How do other religions treat the 'infidels'? Judaism has the goy, but what's his rights? What about Christianity? Hinduism? Shinto? How has the legal view of the minorities developed in socio-political systems informed by different religions?...

Should majorities also have a say?

bonaldi — Mon, 04 Nov 2002 18:29:14 -0800

Should majorities also have a say? Why doesn't Russia get to vote on Chechen independence? Why can't Britain vote on expelling Northern Ireland ... or the English on Scottish devolution? Should minorities be allowed to hold a gun to the heads of the majority?

Life as a Blackman: The Game.

josephtate — Mon, 12 Aug 2002 21:41:30 -0800

Life as a Blackman: The Game. A board game that depicts life from the perspective of a minority.

"For the first time

darukaru — Sat, 13 Apr 2002 09:53:57 -0800

"For the first time since the University of California tossed out race-based admissions, the percentage of Latino, American Indian and black students admitted exceeds what it was during the last days of affirmative action.… 'On a personal level, I am glad to see it happen. It reinforces my view that black kids can perform as well as anyone else, and you don't need to give them any affirmative action,' [UC Regent Ward Connerly] said."

America, Heal Thyself.

fold_and_mutilate — Wed, 20 Mar 2002 11:45:17 -0800

America, Heal Thyself. "Racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive lower-quality health care than whites do, even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable, says a new report from the National Academies' Institute of Medicine. 'Disparities in the health care delivered to racial and ethnic minorities are real and are associated with worse outcomes in many cases, which is unacceptable. The real challenge lies not in debating whether disparities exist, because the evidence is overwhelming, but in developing and implementing strategies to reduce and eliminate them.'"

It's simple: Don't let the blacks vote, your guy "wins".

owillis — Tue, 05 Jun 2001 01:09:22 -0800

It's simple: Don't let the blacks vote, your guy "wins". "Florida's conduct of the 2000 presidential election was marked by "injustice, ineptitude and inefficiency" that unfairly penalized minority voters, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has concluded in a report that criticizes top state officials -- particularly Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris -- for allowing disparate treatment of voters."

"A computer analysis by The Post showed that the more black and Democratic a precinct, the more likely it was to suffer high rates of invalidated votes."

"No inquiry so far has been as broad as that conducted by the commission -- or as specifically focused on the rights of minorities. The commission held three days of hearings, interviewed 100 witnesses and reviewed 118,000 documents."

The word "minority" to be banned in San Diego.

Postroad — Tue, 03 Apr 2001 08:15:38 -0800

The word "minority" to be banned in San Diego. (via Fark) That should take care of minority problems. Heck, and just when in California whites would have been the newest minority.

Honkies no longer in the majority

mathowie — Fri, 30 Mar 2001 11:03:02 -0800

Honkies no longer in the majority in California, according to recent census. How long until the government makeup and laws reflect that? (would something like prop 187 ever pass again?)