Digital Commons Network^™

Racial Differences In Performance In A Matched Savings Program, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Michael Sherraden

Center for Social Development Research

This study examines the saving performance of low income African Americans and Caucasian participants in an Individual Development Accounts (IDA) program. IDAs are matched saving for home ownership, education, and small business capitalization. Using data from the American Dream Demonstration (N = 2,364), this study compares the savings performance of Black and White participants in IDAs. The results indicate that low-income African Americans on average save successfully in IDAs, though in smaller amounts than Caucasians. Results of separateregressions for Blacks and Whites indicate that mostly individual characteristics are associatedwith saving performance among Caucasians. In contrast, mostly institutional characteristics areassociated with …

The Impacts Of Household Wealth On Child Development, Trina Williams Shanks

Center for Social Development Research

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines the influence of wealth relative to income across several child development outcomes. The wealth measures include net worth and whether the household has certain specific asset holdings. The child development measures cover two domains: academic achievement and socio-emotional behavior. The intent is to examine which measures of wealth have the most explanatory value with respect to child development outcomes and test whether these are distinct from income. Results show that wealth is a significant predictor of two out of three dependent variables and that these predictors have different …

The Social Construction Of Workplace "Diversity", Brenda G. Shawver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a study of "workplace diversity" from a social constructionist perspective. The perspective holds that while human meaning is socially created, it is the social order which gives us resources for making this meaning. There is much literature about workplace diversity from objectivist standpoints that takes for granted the term "diversity." What is missing is a comprehensive understanding of diversity: what does this term mean? What does it conceal? I attempt to contribute to a better understanding of diversity by interrogating its construction in popular culture.

I analyze the content of an advertising supplement called "Diversity Works," published in …

Native Americans In Philanthropy: A Demographic Profile Of Independently Incorporated Native American Foundations And Selected Funds In The United States, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Native Americans In Philanthropy, Louis T. Delgado

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

In partnership with Native Americans In Philanthropy this report gives basic demographic information on 60 grant making entities grouped into three categories: 1) Native foundations that are independently incorporated; 2) 501c3 Native organizations; and 3) tribal funds. These categories capture the variety of Native controlled approaches currently at work in the field.

The Native Foundations category includes thirty-six Native controlled, independently incorporated grant making foundations that were operating in the United States during the years 2001-2003. These foundations received their 501c3 charitable designation from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and are largely committed to carrying out a grant making function. …

Setting The Record Straight: Maryland's First Black Women Law Graduates, Taunya Lovell Banks

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Justice By Geography And Race: The Administration Of The Death Penalty In Maryland, 1978-1999, Raymond Paternoster, Robert Brame, Sarah Bacon, Andrew Ditchfield

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Memphis Sings 'Soul' Music, Rural Does Country: School Finance Litigation In Tennessee, Lee A. Harris

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Reform Or Retrenchment: Single Sex Education And The Construction Of Race And Gender, Verna L. Williams

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

As parents, policymakers, and educators search for solutions to the crisis in the nation's public schools, single sex education emerges time and again as a promising strategy, particularly for African American students. This article argues that, in order to comprehend fully the implications of single sex schooling in inner city schools, examining the history of sex-based and race-based segregation in education is essential.

History demonstrates that sex and racial segregation in education has supported gender and hierarchies and the attendant subordination of African Americans and white women. For example, when public education became available for Blacks, its primary purpose was …

[Review Of] Andrew Pilkington, Racial Disadvantage And Ethnic Diversity In Britain, Simboonath Singh

Ethnic Studies Review

Andrew Pilkington's Racial Disadvantage and Ethnic Diversity in Britain (2003) is a comprehensive and systematic study of race and ethnicity in contemporary Britain. The approach taken is decidedly sociological but incorporates an inter-disciplinary perspective, drawing upon areas such as History, Politics, Geography and Cultural Studies. In Chapter 1 the author makes a fine conceptual distinction between core concepts such as race and ethnicity and theoretically subscribes to the more dynamic social constructionist approach to ethnicity as an acceptable alternative to previous models. Racialization is invoked as an alternative problematic of racism to alert the reader to the dangers of reification …

What's In A Name? Racial And Ethnic Classifications And The Meaning Of Hispanic/Latino In The United States, Keith M. Kilty, Maria Videl De Haymes

Ethnic Studies Review

The first national census was conducted in 1790, and has been repeated at ten year intervals ever since. While census taking has been consistent, the way individuals have been counted and categorized on the basis of race and ethnicity has varied over time. This paper examines how the official census definition of Latinos has changed over the twenty-two census periods. The modifications of the official definition of this group are discussed in relation to changes in national borders, variations in methodology used for census data gathering, and shifting political contexts.

Is There A Place For Race As A Legal Concept, Sharona Hoffman

Faculty Publications

What does "race" mean? The word "race" is omnipresent in American social, political, and legal discourse. The concept of "race" is central to contemporary debate about affirmative action, racial profiling, hate crimes, health inequities, and many other issues. Nevertheless, the best research in genetics, medicine, and the social sciences reveals that the concept of "race" is elusive and has no reliable definition.

This article argues that "race" is an unnecessary and potentially pernicious concept. As evidenced by the history of slavery, segregation, the Holocaust, and other human tragedies, the idea of "race" can perpetuate prejudices and misconceptions and serve as …

Culture, Hybridity And The Dialogical Self: Cases From The South Asian-American Diaspora, Sunil Bhatia, Anjali Ram

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

This article outlines a dialogical approach to understanding how South Asian-American women living in diasporic locations negotiate their multiple and often conflicting cultural identities. We specifically use the concept of voice to articulate the different forms of dialogicality--polyphonization, expropriation, and ventriloquation--that are involved in the acculturation experiences of two 2nd-generation South Asian-American women. In particular, we argue that it is important to think of acculturation of the South Asian-American women as essentially a contested, dynamic, and dialogical process. We demonstrate that such a dialogical process involves a constant moving back and forth between various cultural voices that are connected to …

[Review Of] Henk Van Woerden. The Assassin: A Story Of Race And Rage In The Land Of Apartheid. Translated By Dan Jacobson., Ashton Wesley Welch

Ethnic Studies Review

This small volume deserves to be read by those engaged in the study of modern South Africa. It also has interests for students of biography. The Assassin: A Story of Race and Rage in the Land of Apartheid is the first biography of Demitrios Tasfendas. Were it not for his assassination of Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, the South African Prime Minister, Tsafendas most likely would not have merited even a historical footnote. The Assassin saved Tsafendas from the historical anonymity accorded to the assassins of 20th century notables such as the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Princess Sophie, Mohandas Gandhi, …

Managing Black Guys: Representation, Corporate Culture, And The Nba, Glyn Hughes

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This article explores the intersection of representation, management, and race in the National Basketball Association (NBA) through a larger question on the relationship between corporate strategies for managing racialized subjects and popular representations of race. The NBA “brand” is situated in terms of recent developments in corporate and popular culture and then analyzed as an example of diversity management. Relying on original interviews with NBA corporate employees, as well as business and marketing industry reporting, the article analyzes the NBA as simultaneously an organization and a brand. As such, the NBA helps to “articulate” the corporate with the popular, largely …

Critical Race Histories: In And Out, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

Insider critiques of CRT also require critical assessment. Recent internal critics complain that racial identity discourse, including multidimensionality theory, marginalizes more important attention to material, class, or economic issues. If their claim holds true, the material harm critics serve a vital purpose: because racial injustice causes and interacts with economic deprivation, any progressive racial justice movement should interrogate class and economic inequality concems. Nevertheless, the analysis of the material harm critics suffers because it dichotomizes class and multidimensionality. Although these critics bifurcate multiplicity and class analysis, multiplicity theories relate to class analysis in two important respects. First, poverty has multidimensional …

Not Separate But Still Unequal: Disparities, Invisibility And Bias In Access And Quality Of Health Care In Michigan, Kelly Kammeraad

McNair Scholars Journal

Current research points to race and ethnicity as predictive of disparities in access and quality of health care. A 2002 Institute of Medicine Study found that African-American patients tend not to receive the same type of care as White patients, even when controlling for socioeconomic status. Self-reported perceptions of racial bias within the patient provider relationship, from the patient’s perspective, are analyzed to uncover the subtle ways perceptions of differential treatment based on racial bias work to create barriers or perpetuate disparities in health outcomes for African-American breast cancer survivors in Michigan.

Towards Heterogeneous Faith Communities: Understanding Transitional Processes In Seventh-Day Adventist Churches In South Africa, Alan Parker, Ph.D.

Faculty Works

This dissertation examines racial transition toward heterogeneity in three Seventh-day Adventist congregations in South Africa. This dissertation aims to uncover social factors involved in this change as well as to set forth a theological direction with application to the local faith community.

The first section examines recent studies and literature on multiracial congregations, indicating a possible breakdown between theory and practice. Using insights from Kuhn, Gadamer, Habermas, and Geertz, a critical correlational approach is proposed using narrative, community-based praxis, dialectical thinking, and eschatological vision. The theological methods of Groome and Browning are combined to suggest a four-phase approach to practical …

Understanding The Mark: Race, Stigma, And Equality In Context, Robin A. Lenhardt

Faculty Scholarship

In its Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence, the Supreme Court regards intentional discrimination as the principal source of racial injury in the United States. In this Article, R.A. Lenhardt argues that racial stigma, not intentional discrimination, constitutes the main source of racial harm and that courts must take the social science insight that most racialized conduct or thought is unconscious, rather than intentional, into account in their constitutional analyses of acts or policies challenged on the grounds of race. Drawing on the social science work of Erving Goffman and the ground-breaking work of Charles H. Lawrence, Professor Lenhardt argues that courts should …

The Bottom Rung Of America's Race Ladder: After The September 11 Catastrophe Are American Muslims Becoming America's New N....S, Jonathan K. Stubbs

Law Faculty Publications

On September 11, 2001, did American Muslims become America's newest race? This essay offers preliminary observations regarding that question. ...

Race And Ethnicity, Race, Labor, And The Fair Equality Of Opportunity Principle, Seana Valentine Shiffrin

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States' Trade Policy And The Exportation Of United States' Culture, Beverly I. Moran

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The United States Trade Representative and the policies that he (or she) attempt to impose on our trading partners have the serious and perhaps unintended effect of destroying local culture particularly in the area of film production.

Race, Health, And Health Care, David R. Williams

Saint Louis University Law Journal

No abstract provided.

"Insolent And Contemptuous Carriages": Re-Conceptualizing Illegitimacy In Colonial British America, John Watkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This Master's thesis investigates one particular aspect of sexuality in colonial Anglo America--the products of non-marital intercourse. Earlier historical research emphasized the importance of economic considerations in the creation of bastardy laws and the prosecution and punishment for violators of these statutes. Undoubtedly, financial anxieties were a major concern in out-of-wedlock births, but they were only one concern of many. Class, race, and gender dynamics were prominent in colonists' conceptualization of illegitimacy and largely defined who was at risk for having an "insolent and contemptuous carriage" and the resulting punishment for the debauched act. Elite, white officials made women, servants, …

Minding The Gap: An Assessment Of Racial Disparity In Metropolitan Chicago, Center For Urban Research And Learning, The Human Relations Foundation/Jane Addams Policy Initiative

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

In cooperation with the Human Relations Foundation of Chicago (HRF), CURL and the Jane Addams Hull House examined inequalities among racial and ethnic groups in Chicago. Drawing from a broad range of existing data sources, researchers documented areas of reduced inequality as well as other areas of persistent inequality.

Minding the Gap: An Assessment of Racial Disparity in Metropolitan Chicago examines seven quality of life measurements: income, wealth and employment, education, housing, transportation, health, the lives of children and the criminal justice system. This report, by examining these seven systems, not just one, creates a unique context for understanding both …

Race, Crime, And Institutional Design, Erik Luna

Law and Contemporary Problems

Minorities are gravely overrepresented in every stage of the criminal process--from pedestrian and automobile stops, to searches and seizures, to arrests and convictions, to incarceration and capital punishment. While racial data can provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs, such information rarely satisfies questions of causation, and usually only sets the scene for normative theory.

Strivers And Underachievers: Effects On First Year College Grades And Retention, Heather M. O'Neill

Business and Economics Faculty Publications

In 1999, the Educational Testing Service created a Strivers Index where students who scored 200 points higher than expected on the SAT exam, based on their socioeconomic background, were called Strivers. Similarly, an Underachiever is a student who scores 200 below expected on the SAT. The presumption is that tagging a student as Striver or Underachiever will assist admissions offices in selecting the students. How Strivers and Underachievers perform in their first year academically and their college persistence patterns are examined in this paper.

Poverty And Macroeconomic Performance Across Space, Race, And Family Structure, Craig Gundersen, James P. Ziliak

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Understanding the link between poverty and economic growth is of long-standing interest, but heretofore it has not received much attention within the context of the dramatic changes in recent business-cycle conditions and social policies. In this paper we use state-level panel data from the 1981–2000 waves of the Current Population Survey to examine the impacts of the macroeconomy and welfare reform on family poverty. We estimate models of before-tax and after-tax poverty rates and squared poverty gaps for all families, by family structure, and by race. Our results indicate that a strong macroeconomy at both the state and national levels …

Ethnic And Racial Definitions As Manifestations Of American Public Policy, Ashton Wesley Welch

Ethnic Studies Review

Official definitions of race and ethnicity in American law reveal a great deal about public policy in an environment of ethnic pluralism. Despite some ambiguity over who is black or Hispanic or an Aleut, relatively few people fall between the wide cracks in the American patchwork of identity classifications. Those cracks, however, tell us a great deal about the ambivalence of the American polity toward ethnicity.1

Getting Into The Game: The Trickster In American Ethnic Fiction, Helen Lock

Ethnic Studies Review

Trickster novels, especially those by Gerald Vizenor and Maxine Hong Kingston, can be used to destabilize and undermine ethnic stereotypes. As many studies show, the trickster him/herself cannot be stable and thus resists the limitations of definition as the embodiment of ambiguity. Both insider and outsider, s/he plays with the whole concept of "sides" so as to erase the distinction between them. The trickster plays the game, including the game of language, in order to break and exploit its rules and thus destabilizes linguistic markers. Kingston and Vizenor use their novels to subvert the rules of the linguistic game and …

[Review Of] Jun Xing And Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, Eds. Reversing The Lens: Ethnicity, Race, Gender, And Sexuality Through Film, Susan Crutchfield

Ethnic Studies Review

The fourteen essays collected in Xing and Hirabayashi's new volume make a strong argument for serious intellectual work involved not only in the college-level study of moving images for their messages about minority groups but also in pedagogical approaches that take film and video as their primary texts. Written by a collection of scholars who work in ethnic and racial studies and various allied fields, the essays share a concern with pedagogy and with showing "how visual media can be used to facilitate cross-cultural understanding and communications, particularly with respect to the thorny topics of ethnicity and race" (3). Indeed, …