January 29 - February 4, 2021

On June 19, 2020, I made a commitment to educate myself on the lingering effects of racism, discrimination, and bias in America. Every day through June 18, 2021, I will read an article or book chapter, listen to a podcast, watch a movie or documentary, view a webinar, or do something substantive to educate myself in these areas. As part of that commitment, I will post to this blog each Friday with a list of what I've done over the past week as well as any pertinent thoughts or reflections.

Today's post covers the week of January 29 - February 4, 2021.

 

Can Chloe Valdary Sell Skeptics on DEI? 

Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic profiles Chloe Valdary, developer of the Theory of Enchantment. The article begins by describing some common obstacles to traditional training around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Valdary's approach rejects racial essentialism and instead focuses on self-discovery as a path to empathy and unconditional love. The Theory of Enchantment rests on three basic principles: 1) Treat people like human beings, not political abstractions; 2) Criticize to uplift and empower, never to tear down, never to destroy; and 3) Root everything you do in love and compassion.

 

Race on Campus: The Mental Burden of Minority Professors 

In this edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education's weekly Race on Campus column, Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez looks into the added responsibility faculty of color often feel to serve as the voice or perspective of minority groups. These responsibilities include teaching particular ethnic-based courses, counseling students on racial inequities, and serving on diversity committees. As a result, faculty of color sometimes feel behind on their core responsibilities of teaching and research. Without proper support from the institution, these faculty may suffer mental health issues and end up leaving their institutions for other opportunities. 

Be Well: Leading With Purpose

Ursula Burns, former CEO of Xerox, and Erika James, Dean of the Wharton School of Business, are featured in this video interview from the Washington Post. Burns notes that CEOs need to take stands on social justice because their constituents are asking for it. Issues of justice, diversity, inclusion are not political and shouldn't be controversial. James says that students coming to business school today are different than previous generations. They have expectations about engagement in social matters. Students are driving this topic and leading the conversations.

 

The Plan to Build a Capital for Black Capitalism

Kelefa Sanneh reviews Thomas Healy's new book Soul City, which profiles an attempt by Floyd McKissick to develop a Black city in North Carolina in the late 1960s. Sanneh traces the origins of Black capitalism to Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and Elijah Muhammad before McKissick tries to build Soul City. “Unless the Black Man attains economic independence,” McKissick wrote, “any ‘political independence’ will be an illusion.” Housing and Urban Development helped fund Soul City but eventually foreclosed on the property in 1980.

 

Justice Department Drops Yale University Admissions Lawsuit 

Melissa Korn and Sadie Gurman report this story for the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped a lawsuit against Yale that alleged discrimination against Asian and white applicants for admission. The dismissal comes on the heals of a federal appeals court decision from November which found that Harvard didn't violate federal civil rights law in its admissions policies. The Justice Department's new position reflects a change in approach from the Trump administration to the Biden administration.

Origins of Black History Month

This note from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) traces the origins of Black History Month back more than 100 years to a man named Carter G. Woodson. Woodson, a University of Chicago graduate with a doctorate from Harvard, co-founded the ASALH in 1912 and established the Journal of Negro History in 1916. Over the course of the following decade, the ASALH and Omega Psi Phi started celebrating Black history with Negro History Week, which gradually morphed into Black History Month several years later.

 

Missing in School Reopening Plans: Black Families' Trust 

As public schools that closed during the pandemic consider plans to reopen, statistics show that Black families are less willing to send their children back to in-person instruction, according to this article from the New York Times. Long-standing issues of trust in public education among communities of color and schools have been exacerbated by the pandemic. By one estimate, a $23 billion gap, or $2226 per student, separates funding for predominately white districts and nonwhite districts.