No Racial Gap Seen in ’08 Vote Turnout
May 1, 2009
Mr. Obama scored upsets in several Southern states. Those victories were attributed to the growing number of migrants from other parts of the country, younger voters and a surge in turnout among blacks.
In other words: populations change, deal with it.
Lois Lane
April 27, 2009
via Video Bathroom
“With him as president, people seem to be working together toward the same goals and that has helped race relations,” she said. “Before there was more of a separation, blacks working for black goals and whites for white goals. Obama has helped change the perception of blacks in a positive way, but it’s also the times. ‘’
via Poll Suggests Obama’s Term Is Altering Views on Race – NYTimes.com.
The Obama Effect
January 24, 2009
Documenting what Friedman and his co-authors call the “Obama Effect,” the study found the performance gap between black and white Americans in a series of online tests was dramatically reduced during key moments of the 2008 presidential campaign, when Obama’s accomplishments garnered the most national attention.
This is truly amazing and shows how far a little positive reinforcement can go. Something I said in my masters thesis about imagines of Asian Americans in various media.
So it begins…
November 18, 2008
The election of America's first black president has triggered more than 200 hate-related incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center – a record in modern presidential elections. Moreover, the white nationalist movement, bemoaning an election that confirmed voters' comfort with a multiracial demography, expects Mr. Obama's election to be a potent recruiting tool – one that watchdog groups warn could give new impetus to a mostly defanged fringe element.
via After Obama’s win, white backlash festers in US | csmonitor.com
‘Suntanned’ Barack Obama jibe
November 10, 2008
The Italian-born Ms Bruni, who became a French national following her marriage to President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this year, said: "When I hear Silvio Berlusconi making light of the event Obama's election and joking about the fact that Obama is "always tanned", it feels strange to me.
"Some people will no doubt put it down to humour, but often I find that I am pleased to have become French."
Italy's left-wing opposition parties have accused Mr Berlusconi of embarrassing the nation with the quip.
He responded by calling them "imbeciles" with no sense of humour.
via Carla Bruni angry at Silvio Berlusconi’s ’suntanned’ Barack Obama jibe – Telegraph
Obama Bucks
October 16, 2008
“I didn’t see it the way that it’s being taken. I never connected,” she said. “It was just food to me. It didn’t mean anything else.”
What is Intelligence?
December 13, 2007
Just read a great review of a review of James Flynn’s What is Intelligence?. Over at Offsprung. Amanda Marcotte goes on to describe some of the best ways to use the long-used I.Q. test to refute racism rather than (supposedly) bolster it.
Basically, the Flynn effect of I.Q. scores (that each generation is testing better than the last), causes test makers to recalibrate the test every so often, throwing a wrench in the old racist stand-by. If the I.Q. test is constantly changing, then how can any of the racial-gap data be accurate?
Of course racists assume an I.Q. test is an unbiased tool to measure intelligence, so that any disparity from two or more arbitrarily chosen people (i.e., race categorized) must be the result of fundamental genetic racial difference on intelligence. There are so many holes in this argument, it’s amazing it keeps getting posited. And now, thanks to Flynn’s book, there’ a few more holes.
Nooses alive and well
October 30, 2007
Racism alive and well indeed. Recently, since mid 2006, there have been a rash of nooses springing up all over the nation. Not lynchings per se, but the a noose hanging ready in an area frequented by the supposed black targets is a very powerful symbol of hate and oppression.
Frankly, I only read about these nooses recently and it boggles my mind that in the 21st century, this is still a problem. DiversityInc has a good noose wrap-up article and “Noose Watch,” complete with an interactive map of recent reports.
