Huckleberry Finn Good for Starting Positive Conversations about Race

My dad and I came to an impasse again recently.  It happens whenever we get into a conversation about race.  Or more specifically, a conversation about something that happened in the news or real life where people of different races were involved.  As in “they believe this way” from him, and “you can’t call an…

“Beer Summit” Off Course. If Done Right, Could be Meaningful

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Henry Louis-Gate – Race Card www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance I’m nervous about the “Beer Summit” tonight.  It actually could be a great opportunity to have a meaningful conversation about how stereotypes and bias play out in the…

Sonia Sotomayor, meet Majority Privilege. Majority Privilege, meet Sonia Sotomayor.

It is a little ironic that some of the line of questioning in the comfirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor question whether she is too tied to her cultural identity to be impartial. It’s ironic because it assumes that those already on the bench, primarily white males, are NOT influenced by their racial,…

5 Easy Steps to an Honest and Equitable Judicial System

  In less than 30 seconds on the Internet I can find what Casanova’s job was in 1798, what Darwin had for dinner on January 3, 1834, 1,500 recipes for banana cake and how to add water to a sub-pump.  What I can’t find is how two judges could “choos(e) to treat children as commodities…

Three Tests for Racism in Cross-Cultural Advertising

 With over $600 billion in annual income/spending power at stake, advertisers more and more are embracing the importance of using images of diversity in advertising campaigns.  Sometimes it’s the strategy, as advertisers purposely create several versions of an ad to target different markets (think McDonald’s) and sometimes it’s part of the story line, as with…