Pritzker Demands Black Queer History in AP African-American Studies — nationalreview.com In case you don’t know who “Pritzker” is, which I didn’t, J.B. Pritzker is the governor of Illinois. The College Board is putting together a new AP African-American Studies (APAAS) course. Florida governor Ron DeSantis, whom you probably do know, recently rejected the APAAS course, said he would not allow it to be taught in Florida, because the curriculum includes topics that seem to be included for political purposes rather than their relevance to African-American studies. Like “queer history.” I’m not aware of any state ever previously vetoing an AP course. Pritzker sent a letter to the College Board in which he attacked what he called “Florida’s racist and homophobic laws” and pledged that Illinois would “reject any curriculum modifications designed to appease extremists like the Florida Governor and his allies.” I don’t think until fairly recently, it would… Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Race
Is Diversity Training Doing More Harm Than Good?
From the New York Times: Diversity trainings have been around for decades, long before the country’s latest round of racial reckoning. But after George Floyd’s murder — as companies faced pressure to demonstrate a commitment to racial justice — interest in the diversity, equity and inclusion (D.E.I.) industry exploded. The American market reached an estimated $3.4 billion in 2020. Though diversity trainings have been around in one form or another since at least the 1960s, few of them are ever subjected to rigorous evaluation, and those that are mostly appear to have little or no positive long-term effects. The lack of evidence is “disappointing,” wrote Elizabeth Levy Paluck of Princeton and her co-authors in a 2021 Annual Review of Psychology article, “considering the frequency with which calls for diversity training emerge in the wake of widely publicized instances of discriminatory conduct.” But there’s a darker possibility: Some diversity initiatives might… Read more →
Median Income by Ethnicity
It would be nice if modesty prevented me from saying that my household income is much higher than the median Indian household income. A lot of you white people out there are pulling down the average. Read more →
The Law of Unintended Consequences Strikes Again
Black Lives Matter wants LAPD to stop responding to minor traffic incidents https://t.co/zHvBVAJnDI — O.C. Register (@ocregister) January 17, 2023 Well, the Law of Unintended Consequences has already kicked in on this one. I feel like if I know this, someone at BLM should know it. In the aftermath of George Floyd and Defund the Police, cops — the ones who were still funded — didn’t engage with Black citizens because, you know, if that’s the way you feel about cops, go ahead and do whatever you want. One result, as you can see in the chart, is a spike in traffic fatalities for both Black men and women. The same unintended consequence affected the murder rate: Read more →
Why Is a Same-Sex Marriage Bill Historic When It’s Already Legal in Every State?
I’ve seen a lot of coverage on this and I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve seen the bill described as “historic.” I can, however, count the number of times I’ve seen mention of the fact that same-sex marriage and interracial marriage are already legal in all 50 states: Zero. I know people, probably you do as well, who’ve been in same-sex marriages for decades. I know people (including me) who’ve been in interracial marriages for decades. So what is historic? Read more →
What Does “Woke” Mean?
Recently I’ve heard “woke” defined as being awake to injustice, particularly racial injustice. That takes the edge off it. It makes it sound like a good thing, except to the extent that it propagates untrue ideas like racism is everywhere, or anything you don’t like is racist. Having an awareness of injustice is universal though, isn’t it? Although people have very different ideas about what’s just or unjust, everyone has their own sense of it. It doesn’t require a new word. We have words like “compassionate” and “empathetic” that seem to mean the same thing. I don’t think even the person or persons who coined the word “woke” meant it to be as inoffensive as “being awake to injustice.” I think it was intended to be confrontational. Here’s another possible definition: Making sweeping, prejudicial generalizations about race, gender and sexual orientation. I like that definition better. I think it’s useful… Read more →
Can You Pass the Harvard Entrance Exam?
Yes! On the question that asks for your race, the correct answer is Black. Veritas! Read more →
When a Mass Murder is of No Interest
Three University of Virginia football players were shot to death a few days ago. This has not set off a national media frenzy despite the fact that the victims were young, black, unarmed and not involved in the commission of a crime at the time of their death. They won’t get the “say his name,” George Floyd martyr treatment, no Black Lives Matter protests or condemnations, and very little press coverage at all, considering we’re talking about a mass murder of three black college students sitting on a bus. Why? Because the shooter looks like this: Read more →
Harvard, Yale, Berkeley Pull Out of Law School Rankings
Law schools at Harvard, Yale and UC Berkeley have pulled out of U.S. News & World Report’s rankings over concerns that the system is biased against equity programs. It seems unlikely that the system is biased against equity programs or that the rankings even consider equity programs, but if “equity programs” means what I think it does, it means that the schools reject accomplished candidates who are White, Asian or Jewish in favor of less accomplished candidates who are not White, Asian or Jewish. That would show up indirectly in rankings if the rankings look, as I’m sure they do, at LSAT scores, GPA and other indications of merit. It seems like one of two things can happen as a result of equity programs. One is that the schools teach classes to the level of the students, so if you reduce the qualifications of the students, you teach classes at… Read more →
Abolish the Police
Last night a POC tried to mug me. I said he was more than welcome to my purse or if interested in we could fool around behind the dumpsters over there. He ran away. It hurt my feelings but it’s proof social workers can handle these crimes. #abolishThePolice — Dr. Carol X Lunz PhD She/Him,GED Alumni,commentary (@marinasmigielsk) October 21, 2022 Read more →
Rachel Dolezal on OnlyFans
There’s nothing that Rachel Dolezal (who still self-identifies as black, btw) could post on OnlyFans that would induce me to pay money to see it, but if you disagree then it’s your lucky day, because her nude photos have been leaked on social media. The success of OnlyFans has always puzzled me given the quantity of free pornography (so I’ve heard) available online, and obviously even OnlyFans content can turn up for free. Read more →
USC Cardinal Divas
As a USC alum, I'm very proud of this. And there is no sane "backlash." Every time a black person does something, there's a "backlash," real or imagined. A couple of wingnuts on Twitter is not a "backlash." https://t.co/cbEJlRLQgj — Paul Epps (@paulepps) October 7, 2022 Read more →
And That’s the Truth: White People Gotta Commit More Violent Crimes
[And That’s the Truth is a feature by our guest blogger, Sojourner Truth– PE] I just read that black people commit the majority of violent crimes in America. And there ain’t that many black people! They shouldn’t be committin more violent crimes than every other race put together. And I hates to say it but I can tell just from readin a headline whether or not I click through on the link I’m gonna see a black face on the other side. Man Kills Restaurant Worker Because His French Fries Were Cold — That’s a black guy. Restaurant Worker Kills Man for Complaining That His French Fries Were Cold — That’s a black guy. Man Killed Resisting Arrest — That’s a black guy. Man Kills His Wife Because She Won’t Shut Up — Ok, that could be anybody. Nine People Shot Outside a Club — Black guys. Wake up, white… Read more →
It All Depends on Who’s Slinging the Hash
"Cries." Boo hoo. Maybe you disagree but wishing the Queen of England an excruciating death is something one could take exception to without even knowing the race of the person who said it. https://t.co/07rFN8AVfi — Paul Epps (@paulepps) September 16, 2022 I don’t think the sentiment would play any better coming from a white person. The article goes on to say that the professor has faced “violent threats, harassment and abuse.” OK, first of all, let’s all keep our hands to ourselves. No violence. But still, of all the people who claim to have received violent threats or death threats, how many have actually been violently attacked? How many have died? The only case that comes to my mind is Salman Rushdie, and he didn’t get a death threat from a lone nut, he got a death threat from a global religion. Other than that, I have to call bullshit… Read more →
Frolicking in the Rain
Maybe black creators invented "frolicking"? Is it different from dancing and singing in the rain? I saw Gene Kelly doing that in the 1950s. It looked a lot like frolicking to me. Granted, Gene Kelly didn't post to TikTok. Maybe black creators invented the TikTok part. https://t.co/FnjXU2ohtp — Paul Epps (@paulepps) August 28, 2022 Read more →
And That’s the Truth: The Wrong Way to Go
[And That’s the Truth is a feature by our guest blogger, Sojourner Truth– PE] View this post on Instagram A post shared by Gianno Caldwell (@giannocaldwell) I feels just terrible for the man an his little brother, not just cuz he got shot but he got shot just standin around instead a gettin shot resistin arrest, in which case he’d be a national hero. Police found 50 shell casings at the scene. Somebody took 50 shots at 3 people and only killed one of em?! I said it befo but thank the Lord black people caint shoot straight, no tellin how many people be dead. And that’s the Truth! Read more →
Focusing on the Stuff That’s Important
This should drive down inflation and cause the market to rebound. https://t.co/c2XR6hM5p6 — Paul Epps (@paulepps) June 13, 2022 Read more →
Paul Pelosi DUI Charges Dropped
White privilege! Although unlike Ted Kennedy, Paul Pelosi didn't actually kill anyone in his DUI accident. Democrats are getting better at drunk driving. https://t.co/VdCaOAsagD — Paul Epps (@paulepps) June 8, 2022 Read more →
Assessing the Dangers That We Face in Life
Since a mentally disturbed 18-year-old white supremacist murdered 10 African Americans and injured three others at a Buffalo market May 14, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) report “Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2021” has been cited repeatedly as evidence of the lethal threat posed by far-right extremists. There are a lot of problems with the ADL data, starting with the fact that many of the “white supremacist” killings were not hate crimes aimed at terrorizing blacks or other minorities. For example: Two members of a white supremacist prison gang allegedly killed a member of the rival Southwest Honkeys prison gang. A New Jersey man who had vandalized synagogues and distributed neo-Nazi pamphlets strangled his wife. A white supremacist with a swastika and SS tattoos on his face killed another man in an extended-stay hotel following an argument over a social media post. A member of a white supremacist… Read more →
What the Gun Debate Misses
From Kevin D. Williamson: Almost every single substantive gun-control proposal put forward by our progressive friends is oriented toward adding new restrictions and regulatory burdens to federally licensed firearms dealers and the people who do business with them: what they can sell and what they cannot sell, to whom they can sell, under what conditions they may sell, etc. But, as I often remark, gun-store customers are just about the most law-abiding demographic in the United States. The best information we have comes from the Department of Justice, which found in 2019 that less than 2 percent of all prisoners had a firearm obtained from a retail source at the time they committed their crimes. Criminals mostly don’t get their guns at gun stores — because they mostly can’t. The great majority of murders committed in the United States — upwards of 80 percent — are committed by people… Read more →