Gender Equality In The Workplace: Will It Ever Be Equal?

  http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination

In class we have discussed the topic of Gender Equality and the way it relates to the workforce. This article reinstates that women are only making 79 cents to every dollar a man makes. The same wage pace increase has been going on for over fifty years even though the jobs that men and women have today require more skill and precision. IWPR has projected by 2059 men and women will be getting paid equally, a dollar to dollar ratio no matter the occupation.  

Women have always been seen as the "lesser or weaker" sex. Even though most women go to work and work the same work week as men, they then have to come home and either cook dinner, take care of the kids or home, or do whatever it is to get ready for the next day, women still are viewed inferior to men. This is especially important for men and women who hold the same occupation. Why should a woman be paid 21 cents less than a man but have the same responsibilities and then have to put in more work when they get home? Now I'm not saying that this is true for every household but it is a common trait that is seen across the country. Regardless of what men and women do outside of their occupation, they should be paid equally and treated fairly no matter what they do.

Should men and women of the same occupation be paid differently like they are? Or should they be paid the same? Are women more likely to be discriminated against in a workplace of all men, instead of a mix of men and women? Why do you think it is projected to take 44 years for men and women to get paid the same amount for the same occupation? Or do you ever think men and women will get paid equally?

Racism: It Is Still an Issue

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-kenski/racism-is-not-isolated_b_8106230.html


Racism happens around us everyday. If you do not take part in it, you probably will not notice it. This is a major problem that presents itself today. So many people just think that racism does not occur that often, but it is still dominant in the country today. When people think of racist events, they usual recall the ones that they hear in the news. For example, the incident with the fraternity at the University of Oklahoma or the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers are events that stand out. What most of us do not realize is that racism occurs at schools and public places everyday. The author of this article discusses instances when her daughter, who was only five-years-old at the time, was discriminated against because of her skin color by other kids at her school. Things like this happen all the time and need to come to an end.

In order to put an end to this problem, we first need to focus on the roots. When a racist event occurs we tend to think about the event itself and not the bigger picture of how we can stop it in the future. We also have to stop just pushing the issues involving race aside and try to eliminate them the best we can. I fear that racism is going to stay a problem in this country. I think people of all races should have equal opportunities and should not be discriminated against or treated with disrespect.

Do you feel that racism is still strong in parts of the country? What do you think about how we deal with racism in the United States today? Do you think that it is possible to fully eliminate racism in the country?

The Democratic Debate 2015: Political Inequality in the Democratic party

The Democratic Debate 2015: Political Inequality in the Democratic party

On October 13th, 2015, five democratic presidential candidates met in the Wynn Las Vegas resort to debate the rising issues that are affecting the United States and how each candidate would go about fixing these issues.  The candidates covered topics likes immigration, gun violence, equality of the genders and  unemployment.  While these topics are quite interesting to debate about, and I'm glad that many of these issues were brought up, another thing caught my attention during the debate.  I noticed that Senator Hilary Clinton and Bernie Senator Sanders were both allowed to speak much more than either of the other three candidates, governor Martin O'Malley, Senator Jim Webb, and governor Lincoln Chafee.  Senator Clinton was given 31 minutes to speak and Senator Sanders was 28 minutes to speak.  This is outrageous compared to the pitiful amount of time given to any of the other candidates.  O'Malley was given 18 minutes to speak, Webb 15 and a half minutes, and Governor Chafee a pathetic 9 minutes.  I thought these debates were supposed to be fair and balanced, where each candidate is given equal time to express their thoughts on the issues that are present.  Senators Clinton and Sanders combined took more time than the other three candidates combined.  While watching the debate, I noticed multiple times where O'Malley, Webb, and Chafee were trying to chime in to the discussion, but were completely ignored in exchange for Clinton or Sanders.

This type of complete disregard for a fair debate format is a disgraceful display by CNN, who was hosting the debate.  Why were Senators Clinton and Sanders given so much more time than any of the other candidates?  This kind of blatant favoritism isn't something that is just a simple mistake.  Clearly, some ulterior motive must be at hand.  I say this because the Republican debate that took place on September 16 had over 10 candidates participating in the debate, and the time allotted for each candidate to speak was much more fairly distributed.  If a debate with over 10 candidates cand be regulated very well, how could a debate with only five candidates be run so poorly?  I fear that groups with certain political affinities, such as CNN, who were involved in running the debate, may have had an effect on how this debate was skewed so far in favor of only Senators Clinton and Sanders.  Debates, especially ones as important as ones about who the future leader of this country is, need to be fair and balanced, not just for the sake of the candidates, but for the sake of the millions who are watching the debate, skeptically thinking about who they want to vote for.  This even affects all of us students, who will be allowed to vote for the very first time next year.

What do you think about this issue of political inequality?  What do you think could be done to fix this issue?  Why do you think that these inequalities exist in the first place?

Articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/election-2016/first-democratic-debate-highlights/total-candidate-speaking-time    

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/13/politics/democratic-debate-updates/

How To End Violence Against Transgender People?

Last week in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Zella Ziona, a transgender woman of color, was shot and killed. For almost 24 hours after her death, she was misgendered and misidentified by police and local media. It becomes concerning when you think about how often this occurs and what the consequences are. Back in August, the death of Jasmine Collins, a trans woman from Missouri, went unnoticed by friends and family for months, due to inaccuracies in police and media reporting. Putting basic issues of respect and dignity aside, does this seem like an intelligent way to uncover information about a crime? Does it seem like accurate journalism?

Due to their treatment by many police departments across the country, trans women are often afraid to report violence they’ve experienced. In order to address violence against trans women, the police must first stop perpetuating it. As Chai Jindasurat, co-director of public advocacy at the New York City Anti-Violence Project, put it, “this kind of misinformation contributes to a culture of violence against transgender people and leads to the under-reporting of violence and homicide affecting transgender and gender nonconforming people in this country.”

Trans women have a disproportionately high chance of being murdered. Trans women of color face an even greater risk. 98% of all violence in the trans community is targeted at trans women. Although it is very difficult to find the exact number of trans people who were murdered this year, Zella’s death is said to be the 21st of 2015, making it the most fatal year for transgender people so far in history.

What can be done to stop violence against trans people? Why do you think the majority of violence is targeted at trans women, rather than trans men?


Articles:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/zella-ziona-trans-woman-killed_56227f4ee4b02f6a900c954c

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/17/transgender-woman-killed-maryland-washington-dc-suburb

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/29/end-violence-against-trans-people-police-stop-perpetuating-it

My Brother's Keeper: Obama's Next Step After Office?

Article and video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/obama-my-brothers-keeper_n_7207328.html

Supporting article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-condemns-violence-in-baltimore-in-response-to-freddie-gray-death-1430246886

Over the past year or so we all have heard about multiple cases of police brutality inflicted upon the black community in America. Regardless on if you believe these cases to be just or unjust there has been many conversations surrounding the protests in Baltimore and Ferguson. The real question is there increased discrimination against people of color in America still? The answer appears that, yes, there still is a lot of discrimination. Throughout the protests and the violence, President Obama has spoken out multiple times on how the current violence has been mounting up for years and just has not been touched upon.

Obama is correct, do we really pay an abundance of attention to all prosecutions of people of color being arrested? I do not think we do. There have been years of documented white brutality on to black people; such as Emmet Till. Emmett Till was killed back in 1955 by two white men for whistling at a white woman. The men were not arrested nor charged for the violent murder. Emmet Till was 14. There have been numerous people before and after Emmet Till. Once we hit the 21st century there have been plenty of headlines about this problem starting with Trayvon Martin.

In the second article it mentions how Obama has probed police departments more than any other administration. It is important to notice this because Obama is a political figure who recognizes the inequality still just on a skin color basis. This issue is a hot topic at the moment regarding people like Mike Brown and Eric Garner. This has also triggered many public protests and movements with saying like "I can't breathe" and "#BlackLivesMatter." Personally, I do not believe equality has been reached yet and like Obama said in the article, this is more a social issue than a political issue. Regarding the law we mimic a state of equality but socially we have not yet gotten there. That is why the My Brother's Keeper project will be a blessing to this country.

The Blurred Lines of Class Division

Publisher: Ali Calistri

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/us/class/shadowy-lines-that-still-divide.html

Over the years, the lines that divide the different social classes have seemed to blur. Some say that the upper class would be the ones going on their swanky and expensive vacations while the working class wouldn't ever find them selves there. Now a days, class is much harder to be defined. For the most part, people dress generically or in clothes that wouldn't necessarily define their social class as when in older times, it was very easy to determine social class by how everyone was dressed. 

Though things have changed and lines have been blurred so to say, these class differences still play a major role in equality across the board. Education is one major topic that is up for dispute. It goes without saying that education matters more now that ever and success in education has been linked to class. What kinds of things would account for these relationships? Does this necessarily mean the wealthy only get higher education and the lower class will be left in the dust?

The article says "Mobility is the promise that lies at the heart of the American dream." With that being said, it can be connected to the conflict of education. Although social class and education may be linked, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's fate. I interpret this quote as saying that basically life is what you make it. Not everyone is going to have everything handed to them. Some are going to have to work harder than others and some maybe not so much. Success has to do with what you're given and how you work to get to where you want to be. 

The article talks about how more people now believe that it is completely possible to start off poor and still make a very good life for yourself. "Hard work and a good education are more important to getting ahead than connections or a wealthy background."