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…These academics generally agree that the end of slavery, the dismantling of Jim Crow and the election of a black president are all clear signs that things are getting better.īut that progress has slanted the mainstream narrative too far into positive terrain, they argue, leaving many to think that racial equality has arrived. “Having Obama is, in a curious way, putting us behind,” says Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a professor of sociology at Duke and visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania… In the past, detractors have said the field itself demonizes people who identify as white.īut today, academics who teach the classes say they face a fresh hurdle, one that has its roots on the left instead of the right: the election of Barack Obama as America’s first black president. Books frequently used as textbooks in these courses include “ How the Irish Became White” by Noel Ignatiev, an American history professor at the Massachusetts College of Art and “ The History of White People” by Nell Irvin Painter, a professor emeritus of American history at Princeton but the field has its roots in the writings of black intellectuals such as W.E.B. Most of the instructors specialize in sociology, philosophy, political science and history, most of them are liberal or progressive, and most of them are, in fact, white. housing crisis, educators teach how people of different races and ethnicities often live very different lives. Using examples such as how white Americans tend not to be pulled over by the police as often as blacks and Latinos, or how lenders targeted blacks and Latinos for more expensive, subprime loans during the recent U.S. The field argues that white privilege still exists, thanks largely to structural and institutional racism, and that the playing field isn’t level, and whites benefit from it. Today, there are dozens of colleges and universities, including American University in Washington, D.C., and University of Texas at Arlington, that have a smattering of courses on the interdisciplinary subject of whiteness studies. While there are no standalone departments dedicated to the field, interdisciplinary courses on the subject quietly gained traction on college and university campuses nationwide in the 1990s. What defines you?Īmong university departments that study African-American history, Latin American or Chicano cultures and all varieties of ethnicities and nationalities, there’s a relatively obscure field of academic inquiry: whiteness studies. Only 1.2% of that sector is actually represented by a union.Has ‘whiteness studies’ run its course at colleges? I just wanted to say one last thing, is that according to 2020 data from the Labor Department, many union organizations that have tried to unionize, especially in the retail food sector, have actually failed. But they have added new vision and dental benefits, as well.īut back to the Starbucks vote. Another thing I wanted to note is that in this proposal, there aren't any changes to their health benefits. And it includes a 3% wage hike for long-time legacy workers, as well as pay increases for new transitional, as well as new, hires. They will- the agreement- they'll have to- excuse me, those workers will have to agree on this proposal by Sunday, they're going to vote on it. And we're actually seeing that with Kellogg workers, who have finally reached an agreement this week, after two months of a strike. But however, getting to that negotiating table is critical. And that's due to different level working conditions at each store. And she actually explains that there are- she acknowledges that there are operational challenges that can be resolved within the company.īut I will say that I wanted to know that the victory across these three stores will mean three separate contracts. When I reached out to Starbucks Corporation, their spokesperson actually referred me to a letter that was sent from the North America Vice President, Rossann Williams, to all employees. Another one is that high-level executives have actually visited these stores, continue to visit these stores, as well as to push to organize with new employees. What you just heard right there is just one that they've explained. So they've actually padded the vote with an additional 30 people, who they say should be able to vote in these units, when they really should not be able to.ĭANI ROMERO: And you can hear it right there, that the union organizers are accusing the company of using union-busting tactics. It should actually be quite a bit lower than that. But that's their voter list that the company submitted. MICHELLE EISEN: Yes, technically, it's a little bit under 100.