Archive for the ‘African American’ Category
Sunday, February 5th, 2012
(Examiner.com) With the 2012 presidential election less than one year away, all eyes are focused on President Obama and the potential Republican candidates he will be running against. The biggest issue heading into the race is the economy and with positive jobs number's again in January, re-election for President Obama is looking better each month.
One of the biggest supporters of President Obama in 2008 was African-Americans. In 2008, President Obama was able to garner 96% of African-American votes, making up 13% of the electorate. If President Obama wants to win re-election he will have to repeat his support in the African-American community as well as other minorities. African-American unemployment hit a 27 year high this past summer, reaching 16.7%. That number is higher than anyone would like, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. According to the new January jobs report for 2012, African-American unemployment dropped significantly.
Full story…
Tags: barack obama, black, economy, GOP, jobs, Republican, unemployment
Posted in African American, Politics, Workplace | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
(CTpost.com) The student stabbed Ryan in the back with a mechanical pencil and walked away. There was no explanation, no words exchanged at all. But Ryan knew why it happened. Scared to tell the teacher, all Ryan could do was to go to the bathroom to wash off the blood.
It was all because of the color of his skin, his mom, Gail Rodriguez said. He was often the only light-skinned student in his classes, which were predominantly black. Ryan, who is half white and half Puerto Rican, was called names like "stupid white cracker."
Full story…
Tags: Ansonia, bullied, bully, bullying, Connecticut, Gail Rodriguez, Puerto Rican, Ryan Rodriguez, school
Posted in African American, Education, Hate crime | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
(Sojourners, Lisa Sharon Harper) During a roundtable chat with a group of emerging young evangelical leaders recently, someone posed the question: “Has America become a post racial society?”
Well, we haven’t had a race riot in a while — does that mean race isn’t relevant anymore?
A black president just gave the State of the Union Address. How about that? Does that mean America’s OK with the race thing?
Our nation is a more ethnically diverse nation than it’s ever been. Does that count for anything?
Full story…
Tags: black, history, jeopardy, Lisa Sharon Harper, racial
Posted in African American, Civil Rights, Politics | No Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
(Los Angeles Times) LMFAO’s head-pounding “Party Rock Anthem” pulsated through North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre as a multiracial group of young performers stormed the stage, promising in song to provide a lively evening of laughs. They then launched into a rapid-fire parade of sketches filled with gleeful raunch and pokes at racial stereotypes.
The performance had the usual trappings of a night out at any comedy club around town. But little about this invitation-only night was typical. The actors, writers and directors were all amateur, and they were mostly people of color — young blacks, Latinos, Asians, Indians — performing original material they had helped to develop before a crowd of managers, agents and creative executives from major networks and studios.
The event marked the culmination of this year’s CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase, an annual talent forum that also functions as a three-month boot camp designed to boost the chances of minorities hoping to land roles on TV comedies and dramas.
Full story…
Tags: CBS, diversity showcase, latino, minority, TV
Posted in African American, Asian American, Diversity, Hispanic American, Media/Entertainment | No Comments »
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
(New York Times) “Patriotic,” “jingoistic,” “old-fashioned,” “corny” and “inspirational for teenage boys.” Those are the words of George Lucas, the ex
ecutive producer of “Red Tails,” describing his whiz-bang action film about African-American fighter pilots in World War II on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.”
Mr. Lucas financed the $58 million movie, which the major studios didn’t want to touch, because of the box office limitations of its mostly African-American cast. “It is exactly like ‘Flying Leathernecks,’ only this one was held up for release since 1942, when it was shot,” Mr. Lucas said. In structure and tone, “Red Tails” proudly harks back to the 1940s and ’50s, when good guys were good, and bad guys bad.
Full story…
Tags: film, George Lucas, movie, Red Tails
Posted in African American, Media/Entertainment | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
(Washington Post) Rich or poor, educated or not, black women sometimes feel as though myths are stalking them like shadows, their lives reduced to a string of labels.
The angry black woman. The strong black woman. The unfeeling black woman. The manless black woman.
“Black women haven’t really defined themselves,” says author Sophia Nelson, who urges her fellow sisters to take control of their image. “We were always defined as workhorses, strong. We carry the burdens, we carry the family. We don’t need. We don’t want.”
Full story…
Tags: black, racism, religion, Rosalind Brewer, Sams Club, WalMart, women
Posted in African American, Diversity, Glass ceiling, Workplace | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
(The Root) Wal-Mart made history on Friday when it named a black woman the first female and African American CEO of Sam's Club.
Rosalind Brewer, 49, was the former president of the retailer's U.S. East business unit. She also held a number of executive positions at Kimberly-Clark Corp. She begins her position on Feb. 1.
Wal-Mart's Sam's Club warehouse business accounts for 12 percent of Wal-Mart's annual sales. Revenue rose 5.7 percent at the store in the third quarter of 2011.
Full story…
Tags: CEO, Rosalind Brewer, Sams Club, WalMart
Posted in African American, Business, Diversity, Glass ceiling, Workplace | Comments Off
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
(Think Progress) On the campaign trail, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has repeatedly referred to President Obama as a food stamps president. Many have claimed the comment, and others, are dog whistles for “ugly racial stereotypes” and are insulting to African Americans.
This morning, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the highest-ranking African American in the House, told CNN’s Candy Crowley this morning that he would not call Newt Gingrich a racist, but said the presidential candidate has been using language that appeals to those in the GOP who “will see President Obama as different from all other presidents that we’ve had.” Crowley asked if the term “food stamps president” was a racial comment. Clyburn replied that it’s similar to other racially-coded comments that are not explicitly racist.
Full story…
Tags: dog whistle politics, food stamps, James Clyburn, Newt Gingrich, racial stereotypes, welfare
Posted in African American, Politics | Comments Off
Friday, January 20th, 2012
(Planetizen) Foreclosures continue to decimate communities around the nation, with black neighborhoods being the hardest hit. However, it is investors, not homeowners, who account for the adverse impact on the nation's black communities, write John Gilderbloom and Gregory Squires.
Foreclosures continue to decimate communities around the nation, with black neighborhoods being the hardest hit. Some pundits and politicians point to federal policies that encouraged homeownership in low- and moderate-income communities, coupled with reckless behavior on the part of greedy homeowners, as the crux of the problem. As Fox News reporter Neil Cavuto observed "loaning to minorities and risky borrowers is a disaster." But our recent research demonstrates that it is investors, not homeowners, who account for the adverse impact on our nation's black communities.
Full story…
Tags: foreclosure, investor, mortgage, Neil Cavuto, real estate
Posted in African American, Business, Housing | Comments Off
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
(Daily Markets) PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP) will now have to shell out $3.13 million as a price for alleged racial discrimination. Pepsi Beverages Company – the manufacturing, sales and distribution operating unit of Pepsi in United States, Canada and Mexico – allegedly carried irrelevant criminal background checks on several African American applicants, and thereafter denied them jobs in the organization.
The racial discrimination charge was filed in the Minneapolis Area Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and upon investigation it “found reasonable cause to believe” that Pepsi’s criminal background check discriminated the ‘black people’ and affected more than 300 ‘black applicants’. Pepsi has agreed to pay the aforementioned amount and will also provide job offers and training to the applicants, or the victims of the former criminal background check policy, who still want jobs at Pepsi and are qualified for the jobs for which they apply.
Full story…
Tags: background checks, discrimination, EEOC, Pepsi
Posted in African American, Civil Rights, Workplace | Comments Off
