Digital Commons Network^™

Ecopsychology And Race : An Exploratory Study, Luke B. Woodward

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

While ecopsychology has brought critical attention to the relationship between the natural environment and the human psyche, very little has been written about how race and racism shape our experience of the natural world. This qualitative study asked the following central question: How are race and racism relevant to ecopsychology in theory and practice? Twelve semistructured interviews were conducted with a racially diverse group of ecopsychologists, environmental justice activists and spiritual leaders. Interview data emphasized the importance of employing a broad definition of ecopsychology that encompasses not only the relationship between psyche and nature, but the relationship between psyche, nature …

Perspective On Diversity, Human Nature, And Social Inclusion, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

Perspective on Diversity, Human Nature, and Social Inclusion

Supporting Caste: The Origins Of Racism In Colonial Virginia, Patrick D. Anderson

Grand Valley Journal of History

In 17th century Virginia, lower class whites and blacks coordinated on multiple occasions to resist the power of the ruling class elites. By the late 19th century, white laborers viewed the newly freed slaves through racist precepts and the two groups clashed on a regular basis. The aim of this essay is to explain how the shift from racial solidarity to racial antagonism occurred. Racist ideology originated in the minds of the elites and they attempted to separate the restless lower class along racial lines, first, by legal reforms, second, by creating a separate class of enslaved blacks. Anti-black racism …

Deadly Viper Character Assassins: Cyber Discourse On Asian American Marginalization And Identity, Eileen Wang

Communication Theses

This study examines how Asian Americans articulate their marginalization and identity, as well as other issues related to race, through the use of blogs. Specifically, I look at discourse surrounding the Deadly Viper Character Assassins publication controversy on three different blogs. I draw upon critical discourse analysis (CDA) to compile patterns, themes, and anomalies from the online discussions. This paper highlights key findings, given the scarceness of Asian American voices in public culture, that prompt ongoing discussions about identity and the use of blogs as a platform to speak and conceptualize Asian American identity.

Secular Damnation: Thomas Jefferson And The Imperative Of Race, Robert Forbes

Robert P Forbes

Race, we are told, is a “social construction.” If this is so, Thomas Jefferson was its principal architect. Jefferson consciously framed his only published book, Notes on the State of Virginia, to check the rising status of Africans and to combat growing critiques of slavery from America’s European friends. Jefferson did this by importing the slaveholder’s sense of slaves as chattel into an Enlightenment world view, providing a metaphysical foundation for prejudice by transmuting the traditional Christian concept of the saved vs. the damned into material and aesthetic terms. Recasting in quasi-scientific language the ancient doctrine of the mark …

President's Message On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Janet M. Riggs

Reports from the President’s Office

Last spring I announced that we would take time this year to focus some of our thinking and conversation on the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion. There are many reasons for us to direct our efforts to this topic: the changing demographics in our society and the need to provide a welcoming environment to a diverse student body, faculty and staff; our responsibility to prepare students for living in diverse communities and working in diverse workplaces; and our desire to prepare citizens who will be sensitive to social injustices and motivated to right them. In addition, we cannot dismiss …

Race And The Criminal Justice System: A Study Of Racial Bias And Racial Injustice, Nicole C. Haug

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Midwest Or Lesbian? Gender, Rurality, And Sexuality, Emily Kazyak

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Research suggests a gendered dimension to the geography of sexual minorities, as gay couples are more likely to live in cities than are lesbian couples. Using data from 60 interviews with rural gays and lesbians, this article employs an intersectional analysis of the mutually constitutive relationships among place, gender, and sexuality in order to assess how acceptance of gays and lesbians in small towns is gendered. Findings indicate that femininity aligns with gay sexuality but not rurality. In contrast, masculinity underpins both the categories “rural” and “lesbian.” Furthermore, both lesbian women and gay men gain acceptance in rural areas by …

Real Women? Gender And Race In Prime Time Police Shows, Rondrek Juwayne Cowans

Dissertations

For the past 25 years, reality shows, in particular, police reality shows has figured prominently in American culture as a true representation of police/criminal interactions. This dissertation is a case study that examined the portrayal of African Americans as criminals on the police reality show entitled The Police Women of Cincinnati, Memphis, Dallas, Maricopa County (Phoenix, AZ) and Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale, FL). The cities were chosen because they represent the entire five seasons that the series has been on television. This particular police reality show was also chosen due to its mirror image of local and national television newscasts. …

From The "War On Poverty" To Reagan's "New Right," What's In A Name? : The Symbolic Significance Of The "Welfare Queen" In Politics And Public Discourse., Kem Roper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a rhetorical analysis of the political discourse surrounding the role of poor African American women within the American social and political economy beginning in 1965 with Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty initiatives and extending to the early 1980s with Ronald Reagan and the "religious right." I argue that an ideology of whiteness permeates both the Johnson and Reagan administrations even though each worked towards different ends. In Chapter 1, I begin by discussing how America's establishment as a capitalist society made it a nation ill-fitted for government-funded social programs. In particular, I discuss the impact of distinctions …

Milking The New Sacred Cow: The Supreme Court Limits The Peremptory Challenge On Racial Grounds In Powers V. Ohio And Edmonson V. Leesville Concrete Co., Bradley R. Kirk

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Not Getting By: Poverty Management And Homelessness In Miami, Karen M. Mahar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Urban inequality has emerged as one of the dominant themes of modern life and globalization. More than three million people experienced homelessness in the United States last year; in Miami-Dade, more than 15,000 individuals were homeless. Surviving extreme poverty, and exiting or avoiding homelessness, involves negotiating a complex mix of public and private assistance. However, a range of factors influence what types of help are available and how they can be accessed. Frequently, larger social structures determine which resource are available, leaving many choices entirely out of the individual’s control. For single men, who are ineligible for many benefits, homelessness …

Did Teachers’ Race And Verbal Ability Matter In The 1960’S? Coleman Revisited, Ronald Ehrenberg, Dominic Brewer

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Our paper reanalyzes data from the classic 1966 study Equality of Educational Opportunity, or Coleman Report. It addresses whether teacher characteristics, including race and verbal ability, influenced "synthetic gain scores" of students (mean test scores of upper grade students in a school minus mean test scores of lower grade students in a school), in the context of an econometric model that allows for the possibility that teacher characteristics in a school are endogenously determined. We find that verbal aptitude scores of teachers influenced synthetic gain scores for both black and white students. Verbal aptitude mattered as much for black teachers …

Examining The Validity Of The Gre General Test Scores And Undergraduate Gpa For Predicting Success In Graduate School At A Large Racially And Ethnically Diverse Public University In Southeast Florida, Myung Sook Hyun

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine the degree of relationships among GRE scores, undergraduate GPA (UGPA), and success in graduate school, as measured by first year graduate GPA (FGPA), cumulative graduate GPA, and degree attainment status. A second aim of the study was to determine whether the relationships between the composite predictor (GRE scores and UGPA) and the three success measures differed by race/ethnicity and sex.

A total of 7,367 graduate student records (masters, 5,990; doctoral: 1,377) from 2000 to 2010 were used to evaluate the relationships among GRE scores, UGPA and the three success measures. Pearson’s correlation, …

Race Matters: Whether We Know It, Or Like It, Or Not: Implicit Racial Attitudes And Their Effect On Accounting-Based, Balanced Scorecard Performance Evaluations, David R. Upton, Cecil E. Arrington

Ed Arrington

One of the dominant themes in critical accounting theory over the past two decades has to do with the relation between the construction of human identities and accounting discourse and practices. Though with strong antecedents in Marxist –inspired critique of ideology, genealogical studies (e.g., Miller & O’Leary, 19XX), deconstructive studies (e.g., Shearer & Arrington, 19XX), and critical-rational studies (e.g., Power & Laughlin, 19XX) are examples of different theoretical and methodological ways to probe the constructive force of accounting over human identity and subjectivity. This paper offers a fourth approach grounded in social-cognitive concerns with ways in which implicit attitudes, or …

The Broadband Digital Divide And The Nexus Of Race, Competition, And Quality, James Prieger, Wei-Min Hu

James E. Prieger

We examine the gap in broadband access to the Internet between minority groups and white households with geographically fine data on DSL subscription. In addition to income and demographics, we also examine quality of service and competition as components of the Digital Divide. The gaps in DSL demand for blacks and Hispanics do not disappear when income, education, and other demographic variables are accounted for. However, lack of competition is an important driver of the Digital Divide for blacks. Service quality is an important determinant of demand, and ignoring it masks the true size of the DSL gap for Hispanics.

An Economic Theory Of Discrimination, Nadeem Naqvi

Nadeem Naqvi

Discrimination involves rewarding or penalizing persons based on their respective social identities rather than on their merits or qualifications. All explanations of discrimination, including contributions in Becker (1957) and Akerlof and Kranton (2000), ascribe a utility function to each individual. This is deeply problematic, because I prove that assigning to individuals binary preferences or their utility function representations entails the impossibility of interpersonal social-identity diversification, rendering all persons in society indistinguishable by identity. Instead, I identify individuals with non-binary preferences, and prove the existence of endogenous social diversification in a Pareto optimal state that exhibits discrimination.

The Obama Effect: A Radical Rorschach Test, Jill Gill

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

Watching Barack Obama’s presidential victory in November 2008, nearly every observer seemed to grasp the historic importance of the moment. Our nation, born amid ideals of human equality while economically tethered to black slavery—and then for a century more to federally-condoned, nationwide discrimination—had just elected its first black commander in chief. Clearly, America had taken another huge stride toward living out the meaning of its creed. After all, Obama unexpectedly beat Hillary Clinton in very white states like Idaho and Iowa to win his party’s nomination. Then he picked up some unlikely victories within the former Confederacy, namely Virginia, Florida …

Boardroom Diversity: Why It Matters, Lawrence J. Trautman

Lawrence J. Trautman Sr.

What exactly is board diversity and why does it matter? How does diversity fit in an attempt to build the best board for an organization? What attributes and skills are required by law and what mix of experiences and talents provide the best corporate governance? Even though most companies say they are looking for diversity, why has there been such little progress? Are required director attributes, which are a must for all boards, consistent with future diversity gains and aligned with achieving high performance and optimal board composition? How might women and people of color best cultivate the skills necessary …

Cornering The Black Market: A Role For The Corner Store In Community Development, Seneca Vaught

Seneca Vaught

This paper addresses these important themes by examining the impact of corner stores in two American cities: Buffalo, New York and Atlanta, Georgia. The paper illustrates how corner stores can effectively address unique demands in urban niche markets and the problems and possibilities these approaches present. The paper puts these developments into a historical, economic and spatial context that illustrates how neighborhood stores emerge and the dynamics of race, economics, and geography that they engage. Finally, the paper illustrates several models for effective small propriety grocers that specifically address issues of economic disparity and racial divisions, illustrating how these examples …

Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections Of Race And Class For Women In Academia, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Carmen G. Gonzalez

Presumed Incompetent is a pathbreaking account of the intersecting roles of race, gender, and class in the working lives of women faculty of color. Through personal narratives and qualitative empirical studies, more than 40 authors expose the daunting challenges faced by academic women of color as they navigate the often hostile terrain of higher education, including hiring, promotion, tenure, and relations with students, colleagues, and administrators. The narratives are filled with wit, wisdom, and concrete recommendations, and provide a window into the struggles of professional women in a racially stratified but increasingly multicultural America. The downloadable document contains the Introduction …

Insights Into Teaching About Race, Class And Gender: Pedagogy And Curriculum, Evan Poata-Smith

Evan S. Te Ahu Poata-Smith

No abstract provided.

The Haunting Of Abigail Fisher: Race, Affirmative Action, And The Ghosts Of Legal History, Hilary A. Leewong

Hilary A Leewong

What is race in 2012, and why does it matter?

At the end of the current term, the Supreme Court will decide Fisher v. University of Texas. In doing so, the Court revisits the role of affirmative action and the meaning of race much sooner than constitutional law scholars, and likely the average college applicant, expected it would.

The Court’s last definitive take on the subject was conveyed by Justice O’Connor in 2003’s Grutter v. Bollinger. Justice O’Connor’s opinion conveyed disappointment that race-based admissions in higher education was still necessary this long after Brown v. Board of Education, heralded the …

Antidiscrimination Law And The Multiracial Experience: A Reply To Nancy Leong, Tina F. Botts J.D., Ph.D.

Tina F Botts J.D., Ph.D.

Nancy Leong’s thesis, in “Judicial Erasure of Mixed-Race Discrimination,” is that antidiscrimination law should make a switch from defining race “categorically” to defining it in terms of the perception of the would-be discriminator so as to better accommodate claims of multiracial discrimination and so as to better achieve what Leong sees as the goals of antidiscrimination law, i.e., the promotion of racial understanding, and the elimination of racism and racial discrimination. But, while Leong’s goals are admirable, the method she proposes for achieving these goals will not succeed. Antidiscrimination law cannot operate to promote racial understanding, or to eliminate racism …

Race Talk: Patricia J. Williams' Seeing A Color-Blind Future: The Paradox Of Race, Taunya Lovell Banks

Taunya Lovell Banks

No abstract provided.

Rebranding Diversity: Colorblind Racism Inside The U.S. Advertising Industry, Christopher Boulton

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines race inequality inside the United States advertising industry. Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted at three large agencies in New York City during the summer of 2010 (including ethnographic observations, affinity-based focus groups, in-depth interviews, and open-ended surveys), I argue that the industry's good faith effort to diversify through internship-based affirmative action programs is overwhelmed by the more widespread material practices of closed network hiring--a system that advantages affluent Whites through referral hires, subjective notions of "chemistry" or "fit," and outright nepotism through "must-hires." Furthermore, the discriminatory nature of White affirmative action is hidden from view, masked by …

Essays On Urban Sprawl, Race, And Ethnicity, Jared M. Ragusett

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the economic consequences of urban sprawl for US minorities. Each essay focuses on a key empirical debate related to that relationship. The first essay establishes a set of attributes and empirical measures of sprawl based upon a comprehensive review of the literature. I define sprawl as a multi-faceted pattern of three land-use attributes: low density, deconcentration, and decentralization. I then resolve several methodological inconsistencies in the measurement of sprawl. Extensive analysis of spatial and economic data finds that metropolitan areas do not commonly exhibit high-sprawl (or low-sprawl) features across multiple measures. Instead, they often exhibit unique combinations …

Miscegenation In The Marvelous: Race And Hybridity In The Fantasy Novels Of Neil Gaiman And China Miéville, Nikolai Rodrigues

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Fantasy literature in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries uses the construction of new races as a mirror through which to see the human race more clearly. Categorizations of fantasy have tended to avoid discussions of race, in part because it is an uncomfortable gray area since fantasy literature does not yet have a clear taxonomy. Nevertheless, race is often an unavoidable component of fantasy literature. This thesis considers J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as a taproot text for fantasy literature before moving on to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station, both newer fantasy …

Bias Crime And Minority Threat, Michele Stacey

Dissertations

Beginning in the 1980s, the term hate crime became part of the research canon of criminologists across the United States. Researchers have examined the characteristics of hate crime victims, offenders, and offenses. However, little is known about the context of hate crime, and more specifically about the ways that the changing demographics of the United States have contributed to hate crime. The dissertation examines the relationship between these demographic shifts and the trend in hate crime from 2000 to 2007 through the use of population averaged panel models. These models assess changes over time and across place in the number …

[Review Of The Book Discrimination In Labor Markets], Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] In sum, I consider Discrimination in Labor Markets a fine volume. Anyone who has the slightest interest in the analysis of labor-market discrimination should seriously contemplate purchasing it. The relatively nontechnical nature of the papers will appeal to a wide range of readers, and the book should quickly find its way onto reading lists for undergraduate and graduate courses that discuss the economics of discrimination.