Israeli Proposal to Commemorate Armenian Genocide Causes Tension

At Los Angeles Times, "Tension over Israeli proposal to commemorate Armenian genocide."

Also at New York Times, "Turkey's Leader Counters French Law With Accusations of Colonial-Era Genocide."

World Premiere: 'In the Land of Blood and Honey'

Another film that looks interesting, although Steven Spielberg is a tough act to follow.

At New York Times, "Behind the Camera, but Still the Star."

Injustice on Our Plates: Immigrant Women in the U.S. Food Industry

"Legalizing undocumented workers would raise the U.S. gross domestic product by $1.5 trillion over a decade. On the other hand, if the government were to deport all 10.8 million undocumented immigrants living on U.S. soil, our economy would decline by $2.6 trillion over a decade, not including the massive cost of such an endeavor.

Each year, undocumented immigrants contribute as much as $1.5 billion to the Medicare system and $7 billion to the Social Security system, even though they will never be able to collect benefits upon retirement."

• A mere 8 percent of farmworkers report being covered by employer-provided health insurance, a rate that dropped to 5 percent for farmworkers who are employed seasonally and not year-round.⁷
• According to the U.S. Department of Labor, farmworkers suffer from higher rates of toxic chemical injuries and skin disorders than any other workers in the country.⁸ The children of migrant farmworkers, also, have higher rates of pesticide exposure than the general public.⁹
• Each year, there are an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 cases of physician-diagnosed pesticide poisoning among U.S. farmworkers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.¹⁰
• Farmworkers are not covered by workers’ compensation laws in many states. They are not entitled to overtime pay under federal law. On smaller farms and in short harvest seasons, they are not entitled to the federal minimum wage.¹¹ They are excluded from many state health and safety laws.¹²
• Because of special exemptions for agriculture, children as young as 10 may work in the fields. Also, many states exempt farmworker children from compulsory education laws.

-Southern Poverty Law Center

American Brainwash

If you grew up in the U.S. - do you feel the history you were taught was incomplete?

In kindergarten I learned the song "This land is your land..."

The song made me feel like the whole U.S. was for everyone. The song doesn't mention the land was occupied for 40,000 years before the English arrived.

In fourth grade I learned the history of the U.S. trafficking humans from Africa. I didn't learn in grammar school that in America there were many white slaves called indentured servants. I also didn't learn in grammar school that indigenous native American's were sold as slaves.

Another area I was mis-lead is that the U.S. government uses the term "Indian" for people who are not Indians, but indigenous Native Americans. The reason our government and our society has decided to call indigenous Native American's "Indians" is because if the correct term term was used, the non-indigenous would constantly be reminded that this land was stolen from the original owners.

We are bombarded with the term 'race' as if there are just 3 races (or 4, or 6 or 30) in the world and everyone can check a box to fit into one of those categories.

Here's the poetic truth: There is one race - the human race.

Here's the scientific truth: There is one human species - the human species.

Here's the anthropological truth: There are no races - only clines.

What is a clien? It means subtle variations. In this case it means subtle variations based on geographic differences within a species.

What important information do you feel was missing in your childhood education?

Justicia para Oscar Grant!

Mehserle's letter to the public.

What makes us who we are

Glenn's Map
Click graphic to enlarge

Ethnicity is amorphous, and only

a small fraction of what makes us who we are.

Charo's Map

Make your map free at bubbl.us

"There are no races, there are only clines."

-Frank Livingstone, anthropologist

It has been illegal for the government of France to collect data on ethnicity and race since 1789.

Race and ethnicity questions serve to divide and exclude.

Colors are not races.

People are Tints and Shades of flesh color.

Original photo from National Geographic.

If there were black and white people, their offspring would be grey.

"Citing Blumenbach by name, Emerson agrees that races shade into each other imperceptibly."

-Nell Irvin Painter, The History of White People

The 'race' check boxes are not derived from physical science, but from political science with an underlying ideology of exclusion.

Makeup from brushesbykaren

Hair from headkandy

In 1997, the American Association of Physical Anthropologists urged the American governmnet to phase out the use of race as a data category and to substitute ethnic categories instead. Geneticists studying DNA ... were also concluding that race as a biological category made no sense. --Nell Irvin Painter

The book "Modernizing the U.S. Census" sums up the race and ethnicity question saying that the question will continue to have an amorphous answer and will soon be inconsequential.

Modernizing the U.S. Census

Chapter 7: Data on Race and Ethnicity

Modernizing the U.S. Census

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Modernizing the U.S. Census

Quality of Data on Race and Ethnicity

YouTube response explaining One Human Race

Here is the information I could not find on the US census website. The answers to the questions:

How many 'race' categories does the US feel are worthy of recognizing?

Why has the US been collecting data on race and ethnicity?

What do they do with the data?

From the webpage:

A Brief History of Census “Race”

Frank W. Sweet, author of Legal History of the Color Line

Changes in “Racial” Categories

A problem faced by the census today is that many Americans no longer take the “race” question seriously. This is a consequence of the 1960 switch to self-reporting. Having opened the door to self-classification, the bureau has been unable to stop millions of Americans from checking off the “other” category and filling in “human,” or something equally frivolous or non-racial. To discourage such lack of cooperation, the bureau has threatened criminal prosecution of anyone who fails to choose a government-approved “race.”
From 1790 to 1880, the census recorded only “color,” not “race.”

The word “race” first appeared in the census in 1900. From 1900 to 1940, the census asked each person’s “color or race.”

In 1950, the word “color” was dropped and the census asked only for the person’s “race”.

In 1970, “color” made a brief comeback. The census asked each person’s “color or race,” as in the 1900-1940 period. This was the last census to use the word “color.”

Changes in Stated “Racial” Goals

The earliest mention of the need to classify free Americans by “race” was in the late 17th century, long before the census (or the nation) was founded). At that time (1691-1723), the reason given was that: (1) Racial classification was necessary to prevent intermarriage, (2) Intermarriage had to be prevented to stop the birth of Americans of mixed Euro-Afro ancestry, (3) The existence of mixed-ancestry Americans would enable alliance between European and African involuntary forced laborers, and (4) Such alliance would overthrow English rule and turn colonies into free maroon communities.[19] In fact, Latin American colonies encouraged intermarriage (and consequent mixed-ancestry colonists) and yet were not overthrown.


In the 1830s, as a consequence of the Nat Turner incident, free African Americans came to be seen as a threat. The justification for “racially” classifying Americans on the census was to prevent African-American migration to the free states. Several Midwestern states’ constitutions forbade African-American immigration.[20] In fact, no evidence ever emerged that free African Americans were a threat.


In the 1850s, intermarriage was believed to produce mentally defective offspring. Census “scientists” published findings that mixed-ancestry children were usually born retarded or insane. And so, the justification for “racially” classifying Americans on the census was to prevent intermarriage and thus protect public health.[21] In fact, even cursory examination of the data shows it to be falsified, since many communities reported more insane mixed-race individuals than their entire population.


In the Jim Crow era (1900-1965), the elites in power argued the importance of preserving “White racial purity.” The justification for “racially” classifying Americans on the census was that it helped to prevent contamination of the White “race.”[22] In fact, liaisons between White males and Black females were encouraged while the reverse was often punished with death by public torture.[23]


Since 1970, U.S. society has tried to atone for slavery and the state-sponsored terrorism of the Jim Crow era by enforcing laws, regulations, entitlements, policies, and practices that favor African Americans. Since that time, “racially” classifying Americans on the census has been justified on the grounds that such classification is needed in order to fight “racism.”[24] In fact, no “anti-racist” or civil rights federal regulation or law enforcement over the past 30 years has ever used census data.[25]

-Frank W Sweet, A Brief History of Census “Race”

Multiracialism In America - Jane Junn

Choose one or more:
☐ Mixed
☐ Other
☐ Unsure
☐ Don't know
☐ None of your business

Snoop finds out what percentage of Native American, European and African he is.

Should I stop using the word "race"?

Unless you are a physical anthropologist, or discussing the word itself, the word 'race' should be avoided.

Replace the word 'race' with ethnicity. True, the meaning is different, but conversations about human differences usually revolve around ethnic differences.

The term 'race' equates to the noun 'breed'. Humans do not want to be thought of as breeds.

Nell Irvin Painter
Professor of American History, Princeton
Speaking about the History of White People

Using the term 'race' runs the risk of sounding uneducated, and worse, the risk of sounding racist.

‪NYTimes.com - Being Multiracial in America‬

‪Mixed‬
Listen at 3:20

Learn More about 'race' and ethnicity at understandingrace.org