Recently in Bias Category

There are charges of racism and discrimination in the United States Secret Service in a federal lawsuit brought by black employees, and tonight the story airs on “"Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET.

According to ABC News:

“The Secret Service flatly rejects the allegations, but the lawsuit has led to the discovery of troubling internal e-mails circulated among senior Secret Service managers.

One video e-mail attachment depicts an interracial couple — a black man and a white woman — lying on the ground kissing, and then rolling over onto a white sheet. The shot then reveals a group of Ku Klux Klan members surrounding the couple and a burning cross.

That video, according to court documents, made the rounds among senior Secret Service agents.

One of the agents who was recently on the detail of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is under investigation for allegedly sending a January 2005 e-mail that included a crude sexual joke about blacks and American Indians.” READ MORE...

Photo Credit:
ABC News

FINALLY. FINALLY. Someone in the media was brave enough to comment on exactly what is and has been going in film for a long time. I somewhat alluded to this when I wrote a Cuba Gooding Jr. post last year. However, Wesley Morris, a Boston Globe staff writer, wrote a decent article entitled 'A Black Hole,' which appeared in yesterday's Boston Sunday Globe, about black actors, their roles, and black themed films.

He articulated clearly the problem we have with blacks in film. When we get to the heart of the issues, we have one extreme or another in respect to how we are presented in film and the movie industry. To quote him: In film, the choice is either bawdy and preachy or earnest but safe---with a void in between." He made much reference to Tyler Perry, giving him positive acknowledgement for his accomplishments, but on the other hand, appropriately criticizes his style, because as he states "he is black movies right now." In addition, studio executives are looking to emulate the success of Perry's clumsiness.

An important question Morris asks, and I ask myself this every time I see a Grade A actress such as an Angela Bassett landing mediocre roles, is how can a Terrence Howard play a legendary role in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," but be cast as Robert Downey Jr.'s jealous sidekick in "Iron Man?" Morris mentioned Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson's next “big” role as Jessica Parker's assistant in the “Sex and the City” movie. What is going on here?

There are reports with the source stemming from Fashionista, that top photographer Steven Meisel wrapped up photo shoots for the rumored issue. It sounds like there may be an all black model issue of Vogue Italia in the making. If true, this issue is sure to break barriers and fuel further discussion on discrimination and diversity within the fashion industry.

Out of curiosity I would probably buy a copy. It would most likely become a collector's item. And I HOPE this won't be a case of "we gave them what they want, now let them shut up," then carry on business as usual, with very little representation of black models in their publications. At best, this will be a signal of change. Therefore, I will risk betting on the side of optimism.

Fashionista reports:

This just in from a source:

xoxo.

Reference:
Fashionista
Black is finally in fashion at Vogue

The Fort Wayne, Indiana company settled an U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) age, race, and retaliation lawsuit. The company will have to pay total of $580,000 and up to $5,000 in settlement administrative expenses. It doesn’t pay to discriminate, IF you get caught.

According to the EEOC: “Renhill Services, Inc. violated federal law by failing to refer African American applicants and applicants age 40 for work assignments. Further, the EEOC said, Renhill unlawfully retaliated against employees who objected to these referral practices.” READ MORE...

HOW IRONIC? As soon as you click on Renhill's website there is a large image of a BLACK woman on the homepage, then photos of others flash. She's the first face you see.

Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is featured in two EEOC Anti-Discrimination PSA. Follow the jump to see the video.

Natasha Kelly, a 34-year-old doctoral student, says she was evicted from an apartment in Osnabrueck, Germany, because the neighbors objected to her being black and single parent. She has a 12 year old daughter, was given an eviction notice in December and is suing her landlord for discrimination and €10,000 ($15,800) in damages.

Boy did her landlord put a foot in his mouth and was quoted in the Tageszeitung newspaper: "Some of the other tenants are unhappy about the colour of your skin and your personal situation as a single mother. Some of the elderly ones have been here for 40 years and I cannot ask them to leave."

Kelly, a British woman who grew up Germany told tthe same newspaper: "I have been turned away before when I tried to rent an apartment because I am black, but I have never been thrown out because of it afterwards. If it were just me, I would have stayed and seen this out to the bitter end, but I do not want my child to grow up in a racist environment." READ MORE...

Reference:

The Local

Here is an excerpt of a copy of a discrimination complaint letter that I received from a person who says he is an African-American U.S. Army pilot. In the letter, he alleges racial discrimination in the Army, particularly in the Aviation unit. I returned an email back to the Army address on the letter, and received a response, so I will assume it is a genuine complaint from the person who replied listed in the file.

Read the letters addressed to Senator McCain, Senator Hillary Clinton, and the President(which does not have the President’s name on it). It is just addressed as the “President.” I do not know what to tell bruh, on an individual basis alone, it is hard to take on any large entity, let alone the U.S. government. This subject matter doesn’t get the media excited unless a powerful name is somehow entangled in these allegations. This sounds like stories 60 Minutes used to cover.

And I guess I am naive when it comes to the military, because I have most often heard, color does not matter much in the military, especially when you are out there on the battlefield. All for one, one for all, however, I have never served in the U.S. Armed Services, therefore, I don't have first hand experience.

The link to the letters is above the image. I have to ponder on this one and will add more comments later. Anyone care to comment?

Do you have an unusual polysyllabic name? What do people think about you when they hear your name? Does "creative" naming ultimately hurt children in the long run?

I don't watch Tyra's show, but it is surprising to learn that Tyra only recently learned that people are discriminated against based solely on their first name.

Don't forget on 2/10/8 black & other minority cartoonists, and syndicated ones will participate in a protest, where they will all draw the same comic strip with their own personal style added. The "protest" will be symbolic, because it will be seen as a jab back at newspaper decision makers and readers who treat them all as being the same. Read our related post and go to syndicated cartoonist Darrin Bell's Candorvile site. Bias even affects a cartoonist's career.

Suggestions from Darrin's site to help increase minority cartoonist representation in publications:

Write to your local newspaper or favorite website portal. Papers and websites depend on reader feedback to figure out which comics you want to read. You can help Candorville out by writing to your local paper and asking them to add it (or thanking them for running it, if Candorville’s already on their comics page), or voting for it (and getting everyone you’ve ever heard of to vote for it) when your paper runs its comic polls.

Reference:

Darrin Bell's Candorville Blog

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