Tag Archives: black people

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Call Psychology Today … Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org


On Friday, after more than 70,000 of you spoke up, Psychology Today finally issued a statement apologizing for Kanazawa‘s racist and dehumanizing article that they published. But they failed to explain the steps they’re taking to prevent such articles from being published in the future1, which is critical for holding them accountable.

Can you take a moment to call them and demand that they do? Just click the link below to get started:

http://act.colorofchange.org/call/ptcalls

For almost two weeks, Psychology Today remained silent after publishing “Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?” In their statement Friday they took responsibility for Kanazawa’s article, an important first step.

However, they remained silent on what they’d do differently in the future — leaving it unclear what will prevent similar articles from being published, or if Kanazawa will continue to write for the publication. Given the level of the offense, it is important that Psychology Today provide such an explanation before declaring the issue resolved.

Your phone call is about more than Psychology Today — it’s about standing up to any media outlet that becomes a vehicle for unfair attacks on our communities. Please join us in calling Psychology Today:

http://act.colorofchange.org/call/ptcalls

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfchange.org team
May 31st, 2011

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Psychology Today asks “Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive​?” …from Change.org


A week ago, the magazine Psychology Today published an article titled “Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?” on its website. Within hours, following widespread outrage and criticism, the post disappeared.

Colleagues and peers of Satoshi Kanazawa, the article’s author, have since analyzed his same data and unanimously (and unsurprisingly) found his conclusions in error.

Yet Psychology Today has remained silent. They have refused to apologize or even explain why they published the article.

Articles like Kanazawa’s are more than offensive or spurious—they’re deeply harmful because they promote racist and sexist stereotypes as science.

That’s why documentary filmmaker Aishah Simmons and academic Alisa Bierria are leading a petition on Change.org to call on Psychology Today to apologize and take transparent steps to prevent the publication of racist and sexist material in the future. Click here to sign Aishah and Alisa’s petition.

 http://www.change.org/petitions/psychology-today-stop-publishing-racist-sexist-articles?utm_medium=email&alert_id=mRVloIAZvg_mWBTSGXHfX&utm_source=action_alert

Kanazawa’s article never would have survived a thorough and responsible editorial process. In fact, the author himself doesn’t stand up to review.

Kanazawa has a history of pushing discredited research and is particularly notorious for making meritless claims about race and gender. (He is also known as the mind behind the much-mocked book Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters.)

In an attempt to defend previous publications, Kanazawa wrote, “If what I say is wrong (because it is illogical or lacks credible scientific evidence), then it is my problem. If what I say offends you, it is your problem.”

Well, as Khadijah Britton of Scientific American put it, “Satoshi Kanazawa has a problem.” So does Psychology Today.

Prominent women’s rights advocates, including Gloria Steinem and Beverly Guy Sheftall, former President of the National Women’s Studies Association, have already declared their support for the campaign.

Please click here to add your name to theirs:

http://www.change.org/petitions/psychology-today-stop-publishing-racist-sexist-articles?utm_medium=email&alert_id=mRVloIAZvg_mWBTSGXHfX&utm_source=action_alert

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

ColorOfchange.org —It’s a “fact” that Black women are ugly?


Nearly 20 years after a black parent documented how hard it was to hear, “Mommy, I want to be white,”1 Psychology Today reinforced the false and hurtful sentiment that Black women aren’t attractive.

Last week they published an article claiming it to be scientific fact that Black women are less beautiful than women of other races,2 penned by Satoshi Kanazawa, who is notorious for hiding behind pseudoscience to promote discredited racist and sexist ideas.3

By giving Kanazawa a platform and validating his ideas, Psychology Today dehumanized Black women and girls everywhere. After widespread public outcry, they removed the article from their website.4 But that alone won’t erase the damage they’ve done by validating these discredited ideas — the editors need to apologize, explain how this happened, and let us know that it won’t happen again. Please join us in demanding they do so immediately, and then ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://act.colorofchange.org/go/827?akid=1987.1174326.Gg4MZA&t=3

Kanazawa’s article is flawed from top to bottom.5 Using a dataset from an unrelated study of teenagers, he draws the obviously false conclusion that Black women are “objectively” less attractive than women from other racial groups.

Kanazawa has a long history of hiding behind pseudo-science to express racist and sexist views. He once wrote an article asking “Are All Women Essentially Prostitutes?” and another suggesting that the US should have dropped nuclear bombs across the entire Middle East after 9/11 because it would have wiped out Muslim terrorists.6

So why does Psychology Today continue to give him a platform? Black women constantly face both subtle and explicit messages that they are valued less than women of other races — messages that are especially damaging to Black girls. Now Psychology Today has served as launching point for yet another attack, this time in the name of science.

Almost as if to cover up the racism inherent in his piece, Kanazawa says that black men are, “if anything more attractive” than their counterparts of other races because of “greater testosterone.”7 But even here Kanazawa relies on the same pseudoscience to describe black men in familiar terms — brutish, hypermasculine, oversexed, exotic. And that’s dangerous, too.

He uses a modern-day version of the faulty logic used to dehumanize blacks as inferior for hundreds of years, from the social Darwinists and eugenicists of the 19th century to The Bell Curve just 15 years ago. Psychology Today has a responsibility not to give such false logic a stage, nor validation.

To undo the damage it’s done, Psychology Today needs to explicitly reject Kanazawa’s ideas. Please join us in demanding that their editors apologize, explain how this article was published in the first place and what they’ll do to ensure it won’t happen again in the future. It takes just a moment

http://act.colorofchange.org/go/827?akid=1987.1174326.Gg4MZA&t=4

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfchange.org team

~ my 2cents ...

TGIF & some News


featured pic is a campaign poster –

President Obama will be in the NYC today speaking from a General Electric Plant about JOBs and our economy he will then go to Maryland for a retreat with others from the Democratic Party.

Changes are happening …they are in the air and i like it.

If you listen to the tone of the Republican Tea Party since the midterm elections… the talk seems filled with a little more fear. The promises made to create JOBs have yet to happen or be attempted and while the public is beginning to finally hear, see and reject the carpetbaggers for who they really are I wonder if it will take all of the next two years for the Republican Tea Party to stop saying the midterm elections signaled a change and they heard the American people and are doing what they want. It is a fact that contrary to what Republicans keep saying …”talking points” or lies the polls by CBS say 48% want to keep President Obama’s new health care law and just 40% want to repeal it. In addition, pundits, reporters and talking heads suggest that politicians on both sides of the aisle are beginning to not only understand the new law better but are starting to like the new HCR law because it will help older folks, women, folks with pre-existing condition and children under 26 years old. It would be tragic if legislation done in a good faith effort for the people were struck down by Republican Tea Party. Still, I cannot begin to express how offensive the right was by campaigning with the promise to work on Jobs, Jobs, Jobs only to have decided to denounce and malign President Obama like Michele Bachmann who stated she and her comrades want to repeal not just legislation but this President instead of working for We the People to create Jobs.

The negative, nasty, ugly diatribe coming from the very people we placed in positions of power who get paid by American tax payers seem to be abusing it because the latest comments definitely give this voter the idea that they do not represent all the people of their States but those from Corporate America.

In an article this morning, the USA today reported that conservatives would end the federal government support of Amtrak, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Agency for International Development. I believe that this is just a start because rumors before the midterm elections were that the Departments of Educational and Agriculture would be cut if they had their way. The group promises to eliminate about $200 million a year for the District of Columbia. The article quotes Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen, calling the GOP proposal “radical” and Van Hollen’s spokesman, Doug Thornell told ABC news “Putting forward a plan that puts more people out of work and endangers our economic recovery calls into question how serious the GOP is about tackling our nation’s most difficult challenges.” This plan along with some other conflicts in what needs to be cut from the federal budget is developing a GOP rift. In contrast,  an interview today among other things, President Obama stated,”Republicans will need to explain to taxpayers how tax cuts for the wealthy squares with their desire to start reducing deficits and debt.”

While Folks like palin, cheney, boehner, limbaugh and other Republicans Conservatives continue to attack Obama for any move toward collaboration with other countries calling him a Socialist, twisting his words and the meaning, practicing fear mongering and otherwise being obstacles of change… which, is what we need … a way forward, an implementation of the changes “We the People” (53%) put President Obama into office that will move Americans toward the 21st Century contrary to what the right seems to want to do.

What was the past has to be accepted, exorcised and released for room to provide change we can believe in.

my take

Other News …

 **Vets and Doctors reports say that unless you don’t care it is better to stop letting you pets share your bed, lick you or kiss  …. for fear of detrimental diseases -cats are far more likely to infect you …open cuts sores etc.

**Gov.Brewer continues to make it harder for people to get the help they need for transplants -at least 2 patients have died -now she wants to drop folks from Medicaid …specifically those with mental issues

**Congresswoman Giffords will be moved to Houston for great care and so her husband will be able to work and be close to him as well

**WSJ reports 50% approve of what our President is doing …across the board  

**Iran and 6 World Powers begin nuke talks

**Obama picks GE Chief for Board —focus on jobs

**House GOP wants to cut $2.5trillion in the fed budget  by – go to USAtoday.com for article

  **Obama states “Republicans will need to explain to taxpayers how tax cuts for the wealthy squares with their desire to start reducing deficits and debt.”

**Manson denied parole

**FBI nabs numorous mafia

**rep. Cantwell is reported as looking for ways to put Boeing back on top

 

**Gov.Brown says Education is a civil rights issue