Perceptions of discrimination: A black and white story

By Stephanie Siek, CNN

(CNN) – A study that examines three years of opinion survey data says that black and white Americans are still miles apart regarding their perceptions of equality or inequality among blacks and whites. It identifies racial bias among whites as a potential reason for that difference in perception.

"Post-Racial? Americans and Race in the Age of Obama," released Monday by the nonprofit Greenlining Institute, found a link between white survey respondents' perception of blacks and whether they believed discriminition to be a major problem in today's society.

When asked how much discimination currently exists in America, 56.4% of black respondents said there was "a lot." Among Latinos, 26.9% gave that answer. About the same amount – 26% – of respondents who reported their race as "other" said that. But only 16% of white respondents said they thought "a lot" of discrimination existed in today’s America. The majority of white respondents said there was either "some" (44.4%) or "a little" (39.5%) discrimination.

White people who said there was "some" or "a little" discrimination were more likely to agree with statements such as "Irish, Italians, Jewish and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up.

Blacks should do the same without any special favors," and, "It’s really just a matter of some people not trying hard enough; if blacks would only try harder they could be just as well off as whites."

The Greenlining Institute study analyzed data from the American National Election Panel Survey (ANES) conducted by the University of Michigan and Stanford University, as well as census data. The ANES researchers spoke with a representative sample of about 1,800 Americans on 12 occasions between January 2008 and July 2010. Greenlining is a nonprofit policy and leadership institute whose stated goal is to work for economic and racial equality.

"Americans are diversifying and if we want to keep ahead and keep America going forward, we have to acknowledge these disparities. If we don’t, it makes it hard to tackle them," said Dr. Daniel Byrd, the Greenlining Institute's research director and the study’s primary author.

Tim Wise is anti-racist essayist and activist whose work often deals with white responses to racism.  He says that white disbelief in black claims of discrimination is nothing new – and that white people need to take a closer look at why so many people of color believe they are subject to prejudice.

"I think they need to reflect on why there’s such a division," said Wise, who is white. "There’s only two ways you can interpret it: You can either interpret that [black people] are insane and borderline neurotic, that they don't know their own life; or you could look at it and say maybe black people do know their own life, and maybe it's worth listening to them about it."

Among the study's other findings:

• Although 62% of white people questioned in the survey believed that blacks'  level of health was about the same as their own, only 43.8% of blacks agreed. But according to statistical data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Office of Minority Health, there are definite disparities in health and health care.  As of 2007, white life expectancy at birth was 4.8 years higher than for blacks.  The infant mortality rate among black women was almost two and a half times higher than for white women. The asthma rate among black children is double that of white children.
• More than two-thirds of black people surveyed (67%) believed that black people in general make less money than whites. But the majority of whites (59%) believed that they made about the same. According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, blacks' median weekly earnings were as much as $500 less than the median earnings of whites between 2009 and 2011.
• Another question asked who the U.S. government treated better: blacks or whites. Twenty-eight percent of whites believed that blacks were treated better, and 63% thought the races were treated about equally. But only 1 percent of blacks thought they were treated better, and most blacks believed that whites either received better treatment  (56.4%) or were treated about the same by the federal government (42.5%).

Why is there such a gap between how much discrimination is reported by blacks versus how much is believed to exist by whites? Wise says that the reason why whites don’t know or don't acknowledge the racism or discrimination experienced by blacks and other people of color is because they don't have to know or acknowledge it.

"No matter what I want to do with my life, to demonstrate that I know the reality of people of color is not going to be on the test," Wise said.

            "But for people of color to get a job, any job, they’re going to have to
              know the things that white folks in those fields think are valuable pieces
              of information...............................................

              People of color have to know white knowledge, white wisdom,
              and what their experience is, but white people don’t have to know
              the experiences of people of color."


Posted by Stephanie Siek -- CNN
Filed under: Black in America • Community • Ethnicity • How we live • Race • What we think

International Sector: Diaspora Philanthropy: Private Giving and Public Policy

Diaspora Philanthropy: Private Giving and Public Policy

Thursday December 15th 8:30am - 10:00am

Location: QED Group, LlC 1250 Eye St NW Suite 1100 Washington D.C. 20005

Click here to sign up

Presenter(s):     

Kathleen Newland                                    Yulya Spantchak
Migration Policy Institute                         Hudson Institute

Danial Noorani                               Josh Kram
The Citizens Foundation                The American Jewish joint Distribution Committee

Philanthropy is regarded as one of the most common ways that diasporas support development efforts in their countries of origin. Although diaspora philanthropy is by no means a new phenomenon, its relation to global trends in giving and the increasing role it plays in development are rarely explored. Philanthropic resources—both monetary and in-kind—flow from diaspora communities through multiple channels, representing a shift from traditional philanthropy practiced primarily by wealthy individuals and corporations. Partnerships have emerged to leverage collective donations that are being sent to finance community development projects.

On December 15, join Josh Kram (Washington Director of The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee), Danial Noorani (CEO of The Citizens Foundation USA), and Yulya Spantchak (a Research Fellow at the Hudson Institute) as they discuss new trends in philanthropic giving and how diaspora communities are mobilizing to support development efforts in their countries of origin. The speakers will also provide their perspectives on how public policy can shape diaspora philanthropy. The seminar will be facilitated by Kathleen Newland, Director and Co-founder of the Migration Policy Institute and one of the co-authors of the the book Diasporas, New Partners in Global Development Policy.

Half of States Received Failing Grade in Protection Against Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Report Cards

The Protected Innocence Initiative is a comprehensive strategy to promote zero tolerance for child sex trafficking. As part of the initiative Shared Hope International released 51 separate report cards, one for each state and the District of Colombia. The report cards set a national standard of protection against domestic minor sex trafficking. The hope is that policy makers at the state level will use the information to make changes that will create a safer environment for children. Shared Hope International granted 26 states the grade of "F" when it comes to meeting the standards set by the Protected Innocence Initiative.

"The Protected Innocence Legislative Framework outlines six areas of law critical to protecting children and responding to domestic minor sex trafficking. Each state’s existing laws will be measured against standards that create a safe environment for children. A formula which measures the level of protection afforded by state laws regarding sex trafficking of children will be applied to grade the state legislative framework; it does not evaluate enforcement or implementation.

The Protected Innocence Legislative Framework categories include:

1. Criminalization of domestic minor sex trafficking
2. Criminal provisions for demand (buyers)
3. Criminal provisions for traffickers (pimps)
4. Criminal provisions for facilitators (hotels, transports, websites etc.)
5. Protective provisions for the child victims
6. Criminal justice tools for investigation and prosecutions"

The report Protected Innocence Challenge: State Report Cards on the Legal Framework of Protection for the Nation's Children provides detailed charts, graphs and information of domestic minor sex trafficking, as well as a report card for each state.

EMAIL TRACKING....Avoid at all costs.

Advice from snopes.com

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1.    Any time you see an email that says "forward this on to '10' (or however many) of your friends", "sign this petition", or "you'll get bad luck" or "you'll get good luck" or "you'll see something funny on your screen after you send it" or whatever --- it almost always has an email tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and emails of those folks you forward to.

The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' email addresses to use in SPAM emails or sell to other Spammers. Even when you get emails that demand you send the email on if you're not ashamed of God/Jesus --- that is email tracking, and they are playing on our conscience.

These people don't care how they get your email addresses - just as long as they get them. Also, emails that talk about a missing child or a child with an incurable disease "how would you feel if that was your child" --- email tracking. Ignore them and don't participate!

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2.    Almost all emails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of this type of email is, is a way to get names and 'cookie' tracking information for telemarketers andSpammers -- to validate active email accounts for their own profitable purposes.

You can do your Friends and Family members a GREAT favor by sending this information to them. You will be providing a service to your friends. And you will be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam emails in the future!

Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listing regardless how inviting they might sound!

Or make you feel guilty if you don't!

It's all about getting email addresses and nothing more.

You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT!

Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly a virus attached! Plus, we are helping the Spammers get rich!

Let's not make it easy for them!

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3.    Email petitions are NOT acceptable to government or any other organization - I.e. Social security, etc. To be acceptable, petitions must have a "signed signature" and full address of the person signing the petition, so this is a waste of time and you are just helping the email trackers.

And another important point is to delete all previous names from your emails before forwarding!!! Send emails to your entire address list BCC then everyone after you doesn't get your friend's email address.

Black Male Initiative: Email Hoax, College Education

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Please be aware of an email hoax that provides misinformation about the Call Me Mister program.

Black Male Initiative: Black Collegian. Call Me Mister!

Call Me MISTER!
A Program that Recruits, Trains, Certifies, and Secures Employment for African-American Men as Teachers
by Ross Norton

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The statistic is alarming: less than 1 percent, or fewer than 200, of South Carolina's 20,300 elementary school teachers are African-American men. A unique partnership is changing that. The Call Me MISTER program has received national attention and could become a model for similar efforts to increase the number of Black male teachers coast to coast.

National numbers are little better than those in South Carolina. According to an October 2004 report by the National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, only 6 percent of the country's public school teachers are African American. The national Education Association reports that 25.8 percent of U.S. teachers are men. Only 9 percent of elementary school teachers are men. The numbers for Black males are even lower.

South Carolina's answer was launched when Clemson University and three historically Black colleges — Benedict College, Claflin University and Morris College — created the Call Me MISTER program to recruit, train, certify and secure employment for African-American men as teachers in the State's public elementary schools. The first class of MISTERs graduated in May 2004 and entered classrooms as strong, positive role models, mentors and leaders.

Another senior institution, South Carolina State University, and four two-year colleges, Midlands Technical College, Orangeburg/Calhoun Technical College, Tri-County Technical College and Trident Technical College, now join the four founding members of the partnership. Clemson is responsible for overall marketing and development, but each school is responsible for recruiting for its program.

The program appeals to young men who want to use their lives to change the lives of other African-American males. Recruits most often hear of Call Me MISTER while still in high school. The partner institution and its teacher education program first must accept students. After they're on campus, they apply to become program participants, or MISTERs.

Prospective MISTERs must demonstrate a commitment to becoming a teacher and submit to an interview before being admitted. The program includes about $5,000 in tuition assistance, but its real value to the MISTERs — and their future elementary students — is a high degree of personal development.

According to Call Me MISTER director Roy I. Jones, the MISTERs learn values, leadership skills, mentoring and how to be role models. They learn to be men. And it is those skills, paired with their academic preparation that will make them distinctive in the classroom.

"They have to know to and for whom they are to be good teachers," Jones says. "Teachers who don't know who they are don't need to be in the classroom."

Students in the modern elementary classroom are rife with personal and developmental problems. Many children are dealing with broken or dysfunctional homes. In their personal lives they are exposed to drugs, violence, a lack of supervision and, perhaps most significant, the lack of positive male role models.

For minority and non-minority children, the MISTER leading his class represents something they don't have in sports stars and entertainers: a Black man of authority whom they can reach out and touch.

"The MISTERs will have a different perspective than most of the other teachers," Jones says. "Some of them come from a dysfunctional background themselves. All of them represent a new breed of teacher: one uniquely prepared to address the whole child."

In a State where African-American men, although a significant part of the population, represent a blip on the elementary teacher rolls and 65 percent of the prison population, Jones believes Call Me MISTER will shatter stereotypes while it kicks open doors across the nation.

In 2001, Call Me MISTER was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and selected to be part of Oprah's Angel Network. The program also has received widespread recognition from former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and has been featured in such national media outlets as USA Today, TIME Magazine and National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

Call Me MISTER sponsored a national conference on "Innovations in Recruitment, training and Retention of African-American Male Teachers" on March 18-20 in Greenville, S.C. The conference urged participants, who represented various higher educational institutions from several states, to form collaborative and strategic partnerships based on the Call Me MISTER model and experience. Attendees were given CDs, which included a PowerPoint presentation of the program components.

Speakers included former U.S. Secretary of Education and former South Carolina Governor Richard E. Riley; Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, founder and publisher of African American Images and author of more than 20 books; Abigail Thernstrom, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and co-author of several books, including No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning; and Crystal Keykendall, educator, lawyer and author of several books, including From Rage to Hope: Reclaiming Black and Hispanic Students.

"I'm convinced we are on the brink of a breakthrough with the Call Me MISTER program in addressing, to some degree, the very critical issues confronting our children in school. I am very proud of our MISTERs in training as well as our graduates who are now teaching in several elementary schools," Jones says. "We are on a mission that we believe will transform every life that the program and its participants touch."

For more information about the Call Me MISTER program, visit the Web site: http://www.callmemister.clemson.edu/ or telephone 864-656-4646.

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Ross Norton is director of news at Clemson University.

Black Male Initiative: Call Me Mister

Welcome to Call Me MISTER

The mission of the Call Me MISTER (acronym for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) Initiative is to increase the pool of available teachers from a broader more diverse background particularly among the State's lowest performing elementary schools. Student participants are largely selected from among under-served, socio-economically disadvantaged and educationally at-risk communities.
The Call Me MISTER program is contributing to the talent pool of excellent teachers by identifying and supporting students like Mr. Mark Joseph (shown here), who are literally "touching the future" by teaching children. Mark's teaching degree was made possible through the Call Me MISTER program.
The project provides:

• Tuition assistance through Loan Forgiveness programs for admitted students pursuing approved programs of study in teacher education at participating colleges.
• An academic support system to help assure their success.
• A cohort system for social and cultural support.

“Call Me MISTER” was developed by some of our State’s visionary educational leaders who sincerely believe we can build a better tomorrow by getting you involved today.

Video Spotlights

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Please be aware of an email hoax that provides misinformation about our program.