Living in Maine while non-white…the 2016 update

“Similar to the criminal justice system, stark disparities, particularly with respect to race, exist in school discipline. Black students, for example, are nearly universally overrepresented in suspensions. This occurs even here in Maine, where in Bangor, while blacks represent only 2.5 percent of the student body, 12 percent of all suspensions at Bangor High School …

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Through the eyes of a white ally…up close with hope and hate

This is a guest post from a dear friend and colleague in Chicago who was on the ground at the March 11, 2016 Trump protest in Chicago. Ashley is a white woman who works in higher education and is also a member of Showing Up for Racial Justice-SURJ.  ———————————————————————— I was one of the protesters …

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The closet of hate and intolerance has been opened, or Trump in Chicago

“Also known as implicit social cognition, implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner.  These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control.  Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from …

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