- Let’s Call Trump’s Language What It Is | The Root – By: Elon James White
- Oh, look. The president has a birth certificate. Apparently he isn't a sleeper terror agent trying to bring down the country. What a relief.
…it's really hard for a black American to watch the first black president get treated like no other president before him: basically being forced to show his teeth, …and…having the rich white guy say that he needs to look and see if things actually check out. …
Many news organizations cover Trump as if they're covering a circus act. They give us the nod and wink and point at the crazy billionaire, but they aren't acknowledging that they are the ones giving him the platform to spread this specialized (and racialized) commentary. …
Is it really code when anyone who's paying attention can plainly see it? The media are so afraid of playing the "race card" that when something is actually about race, they stand impotent.
…[This] keeps Trump looking like a contender within the GOP presidential-nominee race.
- Pregnant Teen Like Me | The Root
- For six months the 17-year-old had been posing as pregnant. As part of Rodriguez's senior project, which she called "Stereotypes, Rumors and Statistics," the straight-A student wore increasingly baggier clothes and fashioned a makeshift baby bump with wire mesh and quilt batting.
Just one of Rodriguez's seven siblings knew the truth. …
When Rodriguez finally pulled off her fake belly, students were "speechless." …Rodriguez revealed how alienated she'd felt over the past six months and how ashamed others had made her feel. …At the assembly, she passed out note cards with the whispered insults written on them.
…But much like the skinny girl who puts on a fat suit for a few hours, the college-bound Rodriguez could unhook her burden at the end of the day when no one was watching.
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- Maternal Death and African-American Women: Alarming Study | The Root
- In California, African-American women are dying of pregnancy-related causes at rates four times higher than those of white women and other ethnic groups, and as high as those seen in some developing countries.
According to PBS News, a new report from the California Department of Public Health has highlighted that stark disparity: …
- Apartheid Photographer Honored by South Africa | The Root
- Sam Nzima, a South African photographer whose work exposed apartheid's brutality to the world, is being formally recognized by the country for his most famous photo. The image is of a dying Hector Pieterson, a 13-year-old shot by police during the June 16, 1976, Soweto uprising.
Pieterson was the first person killed by police after a demonstration in which students protested an order that black students be taught in Afrikaans, the language of the white-minority rulers. …
…he'll receive the Order of Ikhamanga, which recognizes South Africans who excel in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism and sports. …
- Study: Unconscious Racial Bias Affects Whom We Trust | The Root
- …Leslie Hausmann, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, says the point is that people tend to be totally unaware of the forces driving their decisions. She says that implicit bias is "still something that a lot of people don't internalize within their own lives and behavior" and "there's a reluctance to admit that in our day-to-day lives."
- Black Unemployment: Depression-Level Highs in Some Cities | The Root
- …joblessness has remained so critically elevated among African Americans that it is challenging long-standing ideas about what it takes to find work in the modern-day economy.
Ross writes, "Millions of people like Nolan, who have precisely followed the oft-dictated recipe for economic success — work hard, get an education, seek advancement — are slipping backward. …"
Trading down has become a painful truth for much of working America, and the disparity between unemployed college-educated whites and college-educated blacks has widened.
[The disparity's growth rate is worse at lower levels of education, too. -L]
- Best Black Weddings in Film and TV | The Root
- As royal-wedding fever takes over the world, The Root decided to take a look back at some memorable ceremonies from the big and small screens.
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- Yes, America, There Is A Canada | TPMDC
- In the country's national election this Monday, their multi-party system is being shaken up dramatically by the sudden rise — and quite possible parliamentary victory — of their traditional third party, the left-wing New Democrats (NDP).
…Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is determined to win the prize that has eluded them – an actual majority of seats in Parliament. But if the current polls prove accurate, and the NDP broke through into a strong second place, that would place the country in a whole new territory.
But let's take a step back and get a primer in Canadian politics.
- Wis. GOPers Could Dodge Court Challenge, Pass Anti-Union Law Again | TPMDC
- In addition, a labor source has told TPM that there is some expectation of action beginning this Tuesday, May 3, which according to the legislative schedule is the next scheduled day for the Joint Finance Committee.
In late March, Dane County (Madison) Judge Maryann Sumi blocked the law on procedural grounds, issuing a temporary restraining order on the grounds the plaintiff, the Dane County District Attorney, had a likelihood of success in his complaint that a key conference committee used to advance the bill — and to get around the state Senate Dems' walkout from the state — had violated the state's open-meetings law by failing to give proper 24-hours notice.
The Walker administration then made multiple attempts to disregard the ruling and implement the law anyway, before ultimately backing down in the face of repeated orders.
- Washington Post Gives GOP ‘Two Pinocchios’ For Claiming Privatized Medicare Like Health Care Members Of Congress Have | TPMDC
- Like other employers who provide health care to their employees, the federal government agrees to pick up a fixed percentage of their employees' premiums, no matter how quickly they grow. The GOP's Medicare plan, by contrast, would provide seniors a fixed amount, pegged to regular old inflation, which means over time, a larger and larger chunk of their already-expensive premiums will fall on them.
"Indeed, the main reason for making the proposal is to help bring down health-care costs for the federal government and thus get a handle on the deficit," Kessler wrote. "The CBO suggests this will be accomplished largely by shifting the costs onto beneficiaries"
- OK GOPer Apologizes For Saying Black People Don’t Work As Hard | TPMDC
- Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern (R) has apologized for her comments about black people not working as hard, saying that "my words were, obviously, not spoken correctly and for that I humbly apologize." …
She later added that "another elephant in the room that hasn't been mentioned, what about reverse discrimination? There are all kinds of Supreme Court cases where the Supreme Court said there is reverse discrimination."
Kern also came under fire for saying that women don't make as much money as men because they tend to want to spend more time with their families. According to Kern's transcript, the full quote (which seemingly got a negative reaction from other members of the House) is: "You see women usually don't want to work as hard as a man because, how I mean, wait a minute, now listen to me, women, hang on, women tend to think a little more about their family, wanting to be at home more time, want to have a little more leisure time. That's all I mean."
- Trump On China: ‘Listen You Mother F***ers’ (VIDEO) | TPMDC
- From reports of the speech in local press, the message wasn't much different from the populism-heavy address he gave at a Florida tea party rally Apr. 16, a speech seen as the first "serious" address of his maybe-candidacy. There was one slight addition to all the populist talk however.
Here's the partial transcript, as posted (and edited) by KTNV-TV:…
[My bookmarks live at delicious.com/camryl. In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. Also, signal boosts are awesome! --L.]
The Of interest (Fri, Apr 29th, 9am) by Lee Salazar, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at leesalazar.com.