iRobyn|iWitness Culture|iWrite
Analyzing the present "culture conjuncture"--everything is fodder for analysis!
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I oftentimes don’t ask what the message beneath the article is, but today I’m asking what that meaning is regarding the UN’s involvement around this racism issue! The Human Rights Watch comes thru for me again! Thank god I’m not dependent upon CNN or MSNBC! Narrative sure beats the passive and media controlled news! Independence pays, baby!
And why is it that the UN is urging the U.S. Empire to Eliminate Racial bias? I mean, where the hell do I live where the politics of the people truly have no power and have no impetus to become empowered. Its quite side! I feel as though we live in such a passive world and yet a 3rd party is urging this “powerful 1st world country” to eliminate racial bias! Read on, people, if you haven’t already read the article!
(New York, March 7, 2008) – The United States should immediately adopt UN recommendations to alleviate the widespread racial bias it found in the criminal justice system, Human Rights Watch said today.
The UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination harshly criticized the US record on race after considering oral and written testimony submitted by the US government. In its conclusions issued today, the committee urged the US to rectify the “stark racial disparities” in criminal justice systems throughout the country.
“The UN is telling the US that it needs to deal with an ugly aspect of its criminal justice system,” said Alison Parker, deputy director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch. “The committee outright rejected the government’s claim that more black kids get life without parole sentences because they commit more crimes.”
The UN committee condemned what it found to be racial disparities in the death penalty and in the sentencing of youth to life without parole for crimes committed when they were under 18, a practice the committee wants stopped. Further, the committee called on authorities to take steps, including a moratorium on the death penalty, to root out racial bias.
The committee also dismissed claims by the US government that it did not have the power to examine the detention of non-citizens at Guantanamo. It urged the US to guarantee “ene
As a site committed to democratizing ideas and being situated in a place of living life that I call: nomadic contours of assimilated life, I want to share the following with you…books! The reality of fighting institutional hegemonies with the politics of social justice is a fight worth fighting, I believe! Here are some books worth checking out and an event you may want to consider attending! I’ve not read any of these books and so the mere mention of them is not an endorsement but rather an opportunity to have some additional resources for your library! Should any of you read them, perhaps you could comment and let the rest of us know how these books are! And, should I attend this event, I will certainly do the same!
Celebrating New Books on Social Justice and Education
Wednesday, March 12, 6-8 PM
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Residents’ Dining Hall
800 S. Halsted
Snacks will be served.
This booksigning and reception will include a roundtable discussion with authors and educators on important issues concerning education today.
Books:
Right to Be Hostile
by Erica R. Meiners
and
The Seduction of Common Sense
by Kevin K. Kumashiro Roundtable Discussion:
Building Movements for Educational Change: Challenging the
Right, Dismantling the School-To-Prison Nexus, and Coalescing Across
Differences.
Discussion Panelists:
Mia Henry, Chicago Freedom School
Kevin Kumashiro, Center for Anti-Oppressive Education - University of
Illinois-Chicago
Erica R. Meiners, Northeastern Illinois University - St. Leonard’s Adult
High School
Janeida Rivera, Batey Urbano
For more info, please see the event website.
SAVE THE DATE:
Wednesday, March 12, 6 - 8 pm.
ADDRESS:Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
800 S. Halsted,
Chicago, IL 60605
I’m a bit behind on celebrating International Women’s Day! I was at the Dr that day, had a profound experience, and yet I want so much want to celebrate the good work of Women. Here is an article I received from the Human Rights Watch, an organization committed to the justice of all persons.
March 8, 2008
New York ? International Women?s Day is an opportunity not only to evaluate women?s progress in areas such as education, employment, and politics, but also to honor the importance of what has been traditionally viewed as ?women?s work?: cooking, cleaning, and childcare.
For many of us, an incredibly precious and important part of our lives is the well-being of our children, the comfort of our elderly parents, and a safe, clean home where we can count on nourishing meals. Yet society gives little recognition to the daily labors required to nurture a family and a home.
Lebanese women are caught in an unenviable position. While their participation in the workforce has increased, gender stereotyping and discrimination mean that they have retained the primary burden of household work. Their task has been made harder by a society that clings to the importance of a well-kept home while at the same time disparaging cooking and cleaning as trivial and unimportant in comparison to the ?real? work of making deals at an office or clocking hours at a factory. This societal attitude has deeply undermined the skills required to care for the ill, raise children, and prepare meals several times a day, and in many cases, to perform such work simultaneously.
The lack of respect for household work is shown by not only Lebanese men, but also by many Lebanese women. This is most obvious in the treatment of migrant domestic workers. Each year, tens of thousands of women from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and other countries leave their own families behind to help the Lebanese manage theirs. While many receive good treatment from their employers, far too many others are treated as if they are barely human and as if their work has little value.
Seeming to forget that they hired a domestic worker because they themselves found the demands of cleaning, cooking, and childrearing to be overwhelming, many employers think nothing of requiring domestic workers to be ?on call? around-the-clock and fail to provide them even one day of rest per week. In fact, some employers want this help without paying for it or even when they cannot afford it. Nonpayment of wages, for months and sometimes years, is one of the most common problems faced by women domestic workers.
Even the Lebanese government treats these women and their work as if they were invisible. By excluding domestic work from the labor laws, the government denies domestic workers the minimum standards of employment that other workers enjoy, such as a day off once a week, limits to working hours, and a minimum wage. This exclusion symbolizes how labor associated with traditional female roles of care-giving is not yet given full respect as work, and unfortunately gives employers wide latitude to exploit domestic workers.
Those opposed to reforming the labor laws assert that domestic work is a special case, a form of work that cannot be regulated because it takes place in private homes. Many employers claim they treat their domestic worker like their daughter or as part of the family. If this was truly the case, it is puzzling that these employers would not support basic labor protections for those they care about. Research shows that while some Lebanese families treat their domestic workers well, many others do not take this approach and do require guidance from the law ? common complaints made by domestic workers include inadequate provision of food and restrictions on their freedom of movement.
In the worst cases, employers may physically or sexually abuse domestic workers. These situations carry strikingly similar themes to domestic violence. In such cases, employers may belittle and insult the domestic worker, or beat her for small mistakes in her work. Violence such as slapping or pushing a domestic worker may often be socially sanctioned as ?discipline.?
How could treatment of domestic workers, guests in this country who spend their days and nights caring for Lebanese families get to this point? International Women?s Day is a key moment to reflect on not only the status of Lebanese women, but of all the women in Lebanon, including migrant domestic workers. This day is a reminder to see the parallels in the struggle for equal rights.
Lebanese society has a choice: to continue the status quo, liberating itself from housework by passing it on to poorer sisters from around the world, but leaving them open to exploitation and abuse. Or it can take steps to value household work, such as providing equal labor rights to domestic workers, and giving them the dignity they deserve.
Nisha Varia is a women?s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch and the author of several reports on migrant domestic workers, available at:
http://hrw.org/campaigns/women/2006/domestic_workers/reports.htm
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iRobyn dot com is the virtual web space for me to spend time blogging|researching, an opportunity to post my reading lists, and a place to house my academic thoughts.
iRobyn is rooted in the theories and practices of theological feminism[s], seeks to be faithful to culture gazing and navel gazing, is commited to being a critical social player and critic of society. Additionally, the work found on this site is a thoughtful, intentional, and critical response to the intersections of culture, gender, race and class. I seek out narrative and want to celebrate the ritual of narrative in a variety of ways, from a theological perspective to gender, politics, & culture. This site is about creating and celebrating the passion of narrative which is all rooted in the passion of friendship. I begin & end at a place of Social Ethics via the discipline of Theology.
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