Racist Facebook AppPlus: Another BP Spill? • Rethinking Haiti Relief • 50% of Children Missing • Prisons vs. Schools • Poverty-Creating Jobs This past week, Vaseline launched a controversial Facebook application that encouraged users to lighten the appearance of their skin. The application was targeted at users in India, who were asked to upload their profile photos and whiten their faces. This isn’t the first time Unilever — which owns Vaseline — has used less-than-discreet attempts to market the virtues of white skin in India. Back in 2008, the multinational began hawking a skin-whitening product called “White Beauty.” The difference now is that by using Facebook, Unilever has the potential to reach its more than 500 million users around the world, and spread its racially charged message that white is beautiful. The skin whitening industry has taken off across India and other Asian countries, and creams are sold on shelves in black neighborhoods in the U.S. as well. The last thing we need is a tool on Facebook to extend this disturbing trend online. While Unilever’s application is offensive, it gives Facebook the opportunity to draw a line in the sand of what sort of applications it is willing to host, and what kind of values it hopes to advance. As the largest social network in the world, the company has an unprecedented opportunity to advance tolerance and understanding. Let’s make sure it serves that purpose rather than serving as a platform for prejudice. Join us in calling on Facebook to remove Unilever’s racially charged application today. For more news and commentary on this week in change, see the summaries from your favorite causes below. |
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Another BP Spill? in ENVIRONMENT There’s another disaster waiting to happen in the Gulf. The BP Atlantis — the world’s largest oil and gas platform – pumps out 200,000 barrels of oil every day, despite grave safety concerns a whistleblower brought to Food & Water Watch last year. Ever since, the group has been pushing for federal officials to shut down the facility until it can ensure proper safety plans. So far, even after the spill, their concerns have fallen on ears deafened by cozy relationships with the industry. The group’s director, Wenonah Hauter, asks you to join their campaign to prevent another catastrophe. Read more » |
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Rethinking Haiti Relief in GLOBAL POVERTY Looks like Haiti’s “15 minutes of fame” are up. The journalists who flooded the zone following the earthquake have since fled, and donor patience is wearing thin. Meanwhile, rain floods Haiti’s rubble-strewn streets, and tent cities still house over a million survivors. Six months after the country was devastated by an earthquake, writes Changemaker Ruth Messinger, it’s time to re-think the relief effort. Read more » |
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50% of Children Missing in END HUMAN TRAFFICKING How do you lose half the children in your care? Ask the United Kingdom. A recent study found that 50% of child trafficking victims in the U.K. have gone missing. that’s right, just “poof” disappeared. Except when these children disappear, it’s usually back into exploitation in human trafficking rings. Read more » |
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Prisons vs. Schools in CRIMINAL JUSTICE They say your priorities are reflected in how you spend your money. If that’s the case, consider the fact that California spends $216,000 per incarcerated youth, and just $8,000 on each student in Oakland’s public schools. Nationwide, juvenile crime prevention programs are badly underfunded. Join Criminal Justice blogger Elizabeth Renter in telling Congress that it’s time to change this math. Read more » |
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Poverty-Creating Jobs in POVERTY IN AMERICA Post-recession job creation is coming, the experts say. Unfortunately, many of these jobs will pay less than $10 an hour. We’ve already got plenty of those professions, writes Poverty in America blogger Josie Raymond, including fast food service, farm work and more. What they all have in common is that they’re all professions that almost guarantee you’ll live below the poverty line. Read more » |
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| Have a great week,
– The Change.org Team |
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