Tag Archives: Northern America

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

U.S. News | Interfaith

Muslim and Arab-American groups rally to support black churches affected by recent spate of arson
  • Organized by the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, the Arab-American Association of New York, and Ummah Wide, the “Respond With Love” campaign has sought to provide financial support towards the reconstruction of damaged or destroyed houses of worship in Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
  • The campaign has raised almost $25,000 from more than 500 individual supporters.
  • Although the fires have not been deemed hate crimes, campaign leaders note that black churches have historically been particularly vulnerable targets of oppression and persecution by hate-motivated individuals.

“It doesn’t matter to us how or why these churches burned down, we want to help our Black sisters and brothers get back in to their houses of worship as soon as they can. … Ramadan is a time of giving and what better cause to give to than one that rebuilds houses of worship where God’s name is constantly called, remembered and loved.”

Read the full story at the Huffington Post.

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Racial Symbols

Confederate flag removed from South Carolina capitol grounds
  • Governor Nikki Haley signed into law the bill calling for the removal of the flag from the statehouse following its passage by the state legislature.
  • The flag was placed in the South Carolina State Museum, which houses artifacts of the state’s history.
  • Originally hoisted in 1962 in response to the growing civil rights movement, the flag remained atop the dome of the statehouse until 2000, when it was moved to a pole next to a Confederate monument on the grounds.

“Twenty-two days ago, I didn’t know that I would ever be able to say this again. … But today I’m very proud to say that it is a great day in South Carolina.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed.

(Image Credit: nbcnews.com, via BuzzFeed)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Interregional Feature | Bhutanese

Bhutan’s Refugees

Al Jazeera traces the history and future of the more than 120,000 ethnic Nepalis who have been driven from the country by an authoritarian government hostile to their culture and presence.  The feature follows a group of Bhutanese refugees as they make their way from their refugee camp in Nepal to the U.S.

View the full feature at Al Jazeera.

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | People of Color

95% of elected prosecutors in the U.S. are white, exacerbating distrust in the legal system for minorities
  • The study commissioned by the Women Donors Network and undertaken by the Center for Technology and Civic Life also found that white males account for 79% of elected prosecutors in 2014 and two-thirds of states that elect prosecutors have no black people in those positions,
  • While much attention has been focused on police behavior and demographics, prosecutors wield a more heady influence on the justice system, driving important decision-making such as whether to bring charges, which charges are brought, and determining punishments in widely used plea bargains.
  • Redressing the imbalance will be difficult as 85% of incumbent prosecutors are reelected unopposed, according to one study.

“I think most people know that we’ve had a significant problem with lack of diversity in decision-making roles in the criminal justice system for a long time. I think what these numbers dramatize is that the reality is much worse than most people imagine and that we are making almost no progress.”

Read the full story at the New York Times.

(Image Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images, via The New York Times)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Latinos

Latino students outpace white counterparts in admissions for second year in a row in the University of California system
  • This year, 30% of the 92,324 students admitted into the nine-school system were Latino, while 25% were white, 36% were Asian, and 4% were black.
  • Latino students comprise over 50% of K-12 public school students in California.
  • The Irvine, Merced, and Riverside campuses–already the schools with the highest Latino enrollment–added more Latino students this year, while enrollment fell across other campuses.

“As a majority-minority state, where one in two children under the age of 18 is Latino, we simply cannot meet our economic or workforce needs without ensuring significantly more Latino and black students are admitted to the UC, including flagship institutions like UCLA and UC Berkeley.”

Read the full story at Fox News Latino.

(Image Credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, via Fox News)

Religion + Belief, Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | LGB

U.S. Episcopal Church assembly votes to enable clergy to perform same-sex marriages
  • Episcopal leaders overwhelmingly voted in favor of the change to gender-neutral language from “man and woman” in its marriage canon.
  • The vote does not compel clergy to perform same-sex marriages, only allows for their doing so without repercussion.
  • The Episcopal Church joins the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church in allowing all of its clergy to perform marriages regardless of partners’ gender.

Read the full story at BuzzFeed.

(Image Credit: Rick Bowmer/AP, via BuzzFeed)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Black Women

American Ballet Theater names the first African-American female principal in its history
  • Misty Copeland, 32, has now become only the third black principal to be named in the renowned New York-based ballet company’s history.
  • Copeland has enjoyed a standing in popular culture rare for ballet dancers, having appeared in commercials and music videos, written books, and established a substantial social media following.
  • Image prejudices, stereotypes, and lack of community and early development resources are believed to have contributed to the lack of black principals, the first of whom, Arthur Mitchell, was named in New York City Ballet in 1962.

“I had moments of doubting myself, and wanting to quit, because I didn’t know that there would be a future for an African-American woman to make it to this level. … At the same time, it made me so hungry to push through, to carry the next generation. So it’s not me up here — and I’m constantly saying that — it’s everyone that came before me that got me to this position.”

Read the full story at The New York Times.

(Image Credit: Julieta Cervantes/The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

U.S. & India News | Indian

First Indian-born player drafted into the NBA by Dallas Mavericks
  • Satnam Singh Bhamara, 19, was introduced to basketball by his father while growing up in Ballo Ke, a Punjab village.
  • An early standout due to his extraordinary size (7’2″ and 290 lbs), Bhamara trained at the Indian government-funded Ludhiana Basketball Academy before traveling from India to Florida on scholarship at the age of 14 to the renowned IMG Academy, a player development program.
  • In a league that has 85 international players from 39 countries, Canadian Sim Bullhar became the first player of Indian descent to play earlier in the year when he played in three games for the Sacramento Kings.

“I feel good about it because in India there are a lot of Indian players who could have a chance to come here and play in college and high schools. … I think I can open the door for everyone to come here and play. So it’s good for India and all the players. It’s good for me and my country.”

Read the full story at the Hindustan Times.

(Image Credit: NBA/Twitter photo, via the Hindustan Times)

Nationality + Migration

U.S. News | Immigrants

Majority of California counties now extend healthcare coverage to undocumented population
  • The County Medical Services Program, which pools resources for health service provision in California’s rural and sparsely populated areas, announced the agreement, which affects 35 counties throughout the state.
  • Officials hope that extending the coverage, which includes doctor visits and up to $1,000 in prescription drugs, will deter the spread of communicable diseases and limit the use of emergency facilities for routine healthcare.
  • 47 of California’s 58 counties now extend coverage to the state’s 2.7 million undocumented immigrants, including L.A. County.

“Frankly, it’s just the right thing to do. … For us to have an underclass that is left out is unconscionable.”

Read the full AP story at CBS Los Angeles.

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. Research | Hispanics/Latinos

U.S. Hispanic population grows by 1.2 million over one-year period
  • According to figures recently released by the Census Bureau, Hispanics now number 55.4 million, with the greatest growth in the states that have been the traditional homes of most U.S. Hispanics: California, Texas, and Florida.
  • Non-white majority states and federal districts are California, New Mexico, Texas, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C., with New Mexico containing the highest proportion of Hispanics at 47.7%.
  • The total U.S. population grew 2.5 million over the same period to 318.9 million.

Read the full story at the Latin American Herald Tribune.

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

U.S. News | Black Christians

Arsonists strike predominantly black churches across southern U.S.
  • Four churches were burned in the last week in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, with at least three suspected to be the result of arson.
  • Investigators have not ruled any of them as being a hate crime yet, although investigations are ongoing.
  • The fires have occurred less than a week after the massacre at the historic black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, that left nine dead.

“The most important thing is people. … We’re going to build it back better than ever.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed.

(Image Credit: Larry Wood/Twitter photo, via BuzzFeed)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Canada News | LGBT

Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad facilitates rescue of persecuted individuals from LGBT-unfriendly countries
  • Founded in 2006, the charity focuses on identifying endangered individuals and raising the money necessary to cover the logistics of moving them to safer countries.
  • Despite managing 30-50 cases at any given time, the organization was volunteer-based until 2013, when a grant from TD Bank allowed for the signing on of one full-time employee.
  • With the grant expiring at the end of the year, Rainbow Railroad is raising funds to ensure that it will be able to maintain its current level of work.

Read the full story at the Toronto Star.

(Image Credit: Rainbow Railroad, via the Toronto Star)

Gender

U.S. News | Women

Ohio Senate passes legislation outlawing abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy
  • Republicans drove through the legislation that will make it a fourth-degree felony for doctors to perform abortion procedures after 20 weeks, sending it to the House of Representatives for approval.
  • Other politicians and reproductive rights advocates have criticized the bill for its lack of exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or severe fetal medical anomalies.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand federal rulings striking down similar laws in Idaho and Arizona.

“Most women targeted by this bill are suffering from medical complications with a wanted pregnancy. Doctors shouldn’t have their hands tied by legislators, they need to be able to treat their patients in the way that is best for their patient and their family.”

Read the full story at Cleveland.com.

(Image Credit: Robert Higgs/Northeast Ohio Media Group, via Cleveland.com)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | LGB

U.S. becomes 25th country to guarantee same-sex marriage rights nationwide with Supreme Court decision
  • Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion in the 5-4 ruling, which cast same-sex marriage as a fundamental constitutional right.
  • The ruling legalizes same-sex marriage in the 13 remaining states that have yet to have pass marriage equality legislation or have judicial rulings issued effectively legalizing the recognition.
  • The decision is the culmination of a nearly unbroken line of state and federal court decisions that have dismantled bans on same-sex marriage, most spurred by the Supreme Court’s US v. Windsor decision that ruled much of the federal legislation banning same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

“It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. … Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

Read the full story at the New York Times and Quartz.

Gender, Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Canada News | Minorities

Toronto government works to boost proportion of minority-led and diverse businesses receiving government contracts
  • The city council has begun rolling out a social procurement framework for business development, which could lead to a policy in which one of three short-listed bids for city contracts would be from diverse or minority-led businesses (including those identified as immigrant, racial/ethnic minorities, women, and/or gay or lesbian).
  • In 2012, 7% of bidders were minority-led or -controlled and received C$339 million in contracts, while in 2013, 5% were and received C$434 million.
  • The city and business leaders acknowledge that the highest hurdles facing minority business owners are lack of awareness about minority-friendly programs, aversion to working with the government because of perceived rigidity, and self-selection out of the contracting process from fear of lacking necessary connections.

Read the full story at Inside Toronto.