Laws racial discrimination

A state agency in New York has filed an administrative complaint against Amazon, alleging the e-commerce giant discriminated against pregnant and disabled workers by denying them “reasonable accommodations” and forcing them to take unpaid leave, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. Amazon has more than 39,000 workers across New York in nearly two dozen worksites, which employ in-house consultants who evaluate accommodation requests, according to a statement from the governor’s office. But the New York State Division of Human Rights, the agency that filed the complaint, alleges the retailer has a policy that allows onsite managers to override recommendations from the consultants, which has led to denials in the worker requests. State law requires all employers to provide reasonable accommodation for pregnant and disabled workers. The governor’s office lists three separate employee requests from pregnant or disabled workers that it says were denied. The complaint also … [Read more...] about NY agency files discrimination complaint against Amazon

Two days after a white gunman opened fire and killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store , teacher Elizabeth Close began her high school ethnic studies class in Austin, Texas, by reminding her students about a new state law that requires her to provide balanced perspectives on “widely debated and currently controversial issues.” Close told her students that under the law, one of several recently implemented across the country that limit the ways teachers can discuss racism and current events, she was obligated to inform them that there’s more than one way to view Saturday’s mass shooting. On one hand, she explained that authorities are investigating the killings as a racially motivated hate crime carried out by an 18-year-old who reportedly wrote of his belief in a conspiracy theory that white Americans are being “replaced” by people of color through immigration, interracial marriage and integration. “But I’m also supposed to tell you that that’s just … [Read more...] about Laws restricting lessons on racism are making it hard for teachers to discuss the massacre in Buffalo

The massacre in El Paso, Texas, has, for the moment, reminded Americans of the danger posed by far-right terrorists. Former national-security officials have demanded that the U.S. government “make addressing this form of terrorism as high a priority as countering international terrorism has become since 9/11.” Retired Marine General John Allen and the former senior U.S. diplomat Brett McGurk have argued that far-right extremism poses “an equal threat” as jihadist groups such as ISIS. This is incorrect. White nationalism is a far greater threat to American democracy than jihadism, and always has been. But there are actually two challenges posed by white nationalism: One is the threat posed to American communities by attacks like the one in El Paso, which law enforcement can and should prevent. The other is the threat the ideology the attackers support poses to American democracy, which can be defeated only through politics, and only by the American people themselves. “There’s an … [Read more...] about Only the Right Can Defeat White Nationalism

Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi have teamed up for a project that puts body and weight-shaming into perspective with a good dose of humour. Titled Double XL, A woman is so much more beautiful and complex than just being judged by a number on a scale, this is the core message of the movie. The teaser of the film was unveiled a few months ago. And in her recent interview with ETimes, the Holiday actress weighed on the topic of body shaming and what made her opt for the Huma Qureshi co-starrer. Sonakshi said, “It hit home so hard when the script came to both of us. I would never have done that film with anyone else but Huma. It’s so important to both of us. Body and weight-shaming have happened to both of us for years in our lives. It happened from the beginning of our careers in this line, and it still happens. It hasn’t stopped. No matter what size you are, people are always discussing it, which I think is bordering on the unnecessary now. We talk endlessly about cutting out … [Read more...] about Sonakshi Sinha Weighs In On Body Shaming: ‘No Matter What Size You Are, People Will Always Comment On It’

A video that has gone viral on social media has sparked massive outrage as it shows an Indian American boy being allegedly bullied and choked by a white student at a school in Texas. The video shows Shaan Pritmani getting assaulted and choked. He is also dragged out of the bench on which he was sitting. Supreme Court lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha uploaded the video on his Twitter handle as he wrote, “Unfortunate to see that Shaan Pritmani of Indian origin was harassed & bullied on camera at Coppell School, Dallas. Instead of the accused getting punished, Shaan got suspended for 3 days.” Have a look at the video: Here is partial footage of the incident. The incident raises concerns about the safety and well being of Indians in schools in the United States as well as the lack of proper support from school administration for situations like these. pic.twitter.com/D7ToGesUlE — North American Association of Indian Students (@NAAISORG) May 17, 2022 The incident took place in … [Read more...] about Indian-American Student Getting Bullied in Viral Video Has Angered Netizens

Manchester United have set up an online system encouraging supporters to report incidents of racism and other hate crimes. United’s “See Red” campaign follows Arsenal’s launch earlier this week of an action plan called #StopOnlineAbuse. United stars Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Fred have all been subjected to racist abuse this season. Fred hit back saying “we cannot feed that culture” of racism after he was racially abused following his side’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Leicester. Former Arsenal star Thierry Henry recently quit all his social media platforms in protest at the rise in internet abuse. “We challenge our fans, and indeed fans of every club, to watch this and think about their own favourite memories, their top teams and their most celebrated players,” United group managing director Richard Arnold said. “How different would those memories be without the diversity of some of the best players in the world who have graced our game and our club? Sadly, … [Read more...] about Manchester United Ask Fans to Take Active Role in Anti-racism Battle

Ko Jung-ae The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo. Inauguration speeches of past presidents were much of the same. They all praised the history of the Korean people, while describing the president as a leader who will open a new era and present many promises in all fields of national governance. For example, the last president made a promise that he will create a country that no one has ever experienced. President Yoon Suk-yeol’s address, however, was different. The difference was more significant than the simple fact that he mentioned “freedom” 35 times but never mentioned “unity.” His inaugural address was to the world audience. At the same time, nationalism was largely diluted. The speech was devoid of any mention of the Korean people. According to Yoon Pyung-joong, honorary professor at Hanshin University, nationalistic sentiments and collective unconscious is a habit of mind for the Korean people. Yoon, however, did not use it at all. In his inaugural … [Read more...] about Parsing Yoon’s inaugural address

Last year, Texas passed HB 20, a law that prohibits major internet platforms from discriminating against users on the basis of their viewpoints or beliefs. The law proceeds from a centuries-old legal tradition holding that some businesses—such as phone companies, airlines, restaurants, schools and hotels—must serve all people without discrimination. Claiming that it has a First Amendment right to discriminate against users whose views it finds objectionable, Big Tech challenged HB 20 through its trade group NetChoice, which represents the interests of companies ranging from Google to the Chinese state-affiliated platform TikTok. It secured an injunction from an Obama-appointed district court judge in December. But last Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit lifted a stay on the law, allowing it to go into effect while the court decided the merits of the legal challenge. Rather than allow the judicial system to work itself out, however, NetChoice made an … [Read more...] about Big Tech is making a desperate bid to avoid judicial scrutiny | Opinion

Three years ago, when a white-supremacist fanatic killed dozens of people in El Paso, Texas, the reaction from the right was unreserved condemnation . When another white-supremacist fanatic killed 10 people at a supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, last week, the reaction from some figures on the right was to acknowledge that the guy had a point about this whole “replacement” thing. Large sections of the manifesto attributed to the Buffalo shooter were plagiarized from the El Paso shooter’s writings. Both share the premise that violence against nonwhite people is justified to prevent “white genocide” or the “replacement” of white Americans by nonwhite immigrants. As the alleged Buffalo shooter put it, he carried out the attack because “all black people are replacers just by existing in White countries.” I would offer to explain how Black people got to the United States , but who knows if “critical race theory” remains legal where you’re reading this. In … [Read more...] about Republicans Are Defending a Sanitized Version of ‘The Great Replacement’

Several Black students who were suspended for trying to protest Confederate flag displays at their school in Georgia have filed a federal lawsuit against their school district and its board members, accusing them of allowing an extensive pattern of racism including “overt bigotry and animosity by some white students and teachers against African American students.” The students, joined by their mothers as plaintiffs, already made news when their protest at Coosa High School was stifled last fall. Now, in their lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Floyd County school district and its board members, they allege an extensive pattern of racism, including white students reenacting the murder of George Floyd and posting it on social media, and a student who carried what appeared to be a whip and told a Black student “we used to whip you.” They also allege unfair punishment: Students are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, but Confederate flag apparel is acceptable under … [Read more...] about Georgia students sue over blocked protest against rebel flag