Tasty Morning Bytes – Practicing Modern Phrenology, Doing Worse Under Obama and National Black Museum
Good morning, DCentric readers. Whew, it’s already Wednesday!
White Folks Shouldn’t Worry “Racism is not a zero-sum game, but opportunities for limited resources are. This includes jobs that pay well and a quality education. When white people perceive that they are disadvantaged by a level playing field, they are correct. We’ve always known that anti-black bias is purposeful; it turns out, though, that the object isn’t to protect white women’s purity. It’s the economy, stupid.” (The New York Times)
No, You Are Not ‘Less Physically Attractive’ “Last week a piece called ‘Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?’ made the rounds on twitter, eliciting a throng of denunciations…In general, my experience has been that scientists who treat the measures of nebulous and ill-defined qualities as strident inarguable fact, are not so much practicing modern science, as they are practicing modern phrenology.” (The Atlantic)
Obama and Black Americans: the Paradox of Hope “But for all the ways black America has felt better about itself and looked better to others, it has not actually fared better. In fact, it has been doing worse. The economic gap between black and white has grown since Obama took power. Under his tenure black unemployment, poverty and foreclosures are at their highest levels for at least a decade. Millions of black kids may well aspire to the presidency now that a black man is in the White House. But such a trajectory is less likely for them now than it was under Bush.” (thenation.com)
Rep. Jim Moran: Wrong About National Black Museum “How it will address slavery in general is a major challenge for curators at the black museum on the Mall. ‘Instead of being removed from the ‘scene of the crime,’ the proposed museum would be erected within sight of locations where slave pens stood during the 1850s and the early years of the Civil War,’ (Faith Davis) Ruffins wrote. Permanent exhibits on slavery would be snug between two sacred white memorials to founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson — both slaveholders. Awkward!” (The Root)
Local Woman Aims to Create Sweet Plant Nation through Community Garden “Youth from Langston Terrace and LeDroit Park government housing facilities got their knees and hands dirty and planted organic beets, lettuce, tomatoes, parsley, oregano and flowers…The youth involvement is one sign of a growing trend. Urban community gardens are cropping up in many places throughout the District as more and more residents become aware of the benefits associated with growing your own food. Urban gardening is becoming so popular that some newly built facilities are including plots on roof tops.” (afro.com)