BY DAVID WHITFIELD OLYMPIAN BOARD OF CONTRIBUTORS NOVEMBER 07, 2019 06:00 AM, UPDATED 10 HOURS 8 MINUTES AGO David Whitfield/ 2019 Olympian Board of Contributors STEVE BLOOM SBLOOM@THEOLYMPIAN.COM This is my last column as a member of the 2019 Board of Contributors. In previous columns, I’ve written about several causes of social injustice: colorblindness, transgenerational trauma among children, gender …
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We must put a stop to racial capitalism, making money off black and brown bodies BY DAVID WHITFIELD OLYMPIAN BOARD OF CONTRIBUTORS SEPTEMBER 05, 2019 06:00 AM
September 9th, 2019 | Posted by in Racial Justice - (0 Comments)https://www.theolympian.com/opinion/op-ed/article234689597.html David Whitfield/ 2019 Olympian Board of Contributors STEVE BLOOM SBLOOM@THEOLYMPIAN.COM Please walk with me through three examples of racial capitalism, a hideous impediment to social justice and a barrier to our nation’s motto: e pluribus unum. University of Denver Law Professor Nancy Leong defines Racial Capitalism as “the commodification of nonwhites for social and economic …
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Gender equity meets misogynistic hypocrisy — or the war on women
July 9th, 2019 | Posted by in Gender Justice - (0 Comments)https://www.theolympian.com/opinion/op-ed/article232225627.html#storylink=mainstage “Are you gonna work for her?” asked a male coworker and fellow officer, referring to my new boss. “Will she be your boss?” asked another. When a third asked a similar question, I asked him if he had a mother. With a strange look on his face, he said, “Yes.” My reply: “Your mother …
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Educational equity and intergenerational trauma must be addressed for students to Thrive
May 17th, 2019 | Posted by in Educational Equity | Educational Justice - (0 Comments)By David Whitfield Olympian Board of Contributors–May 01, 2019 12:20 PM https://www.theolympian.com/opinion/op-ed/article229909744.html?fbclid=IwAR23d9oMTuvFAAvjX2WQDx3L4gHKwt856w7V1hmYoRISEiCVUYZNgxVNH5c As I walked through the doors of my first integrated school in the fall of 1954, I felt naked, alone, literally horrified, ashamed. The teacher and all the students were white; the students seemed healthy, well-fed and full of laughter. I had arrived …
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Colorblindness is a form of racism, a nemesis, and a barrier to dismantling it
March 9th, 2019 | Posted by in Racial Justice - (2 Comments)https://www.theolympian.com/opinion/op-ed/article227280259.html When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was asked about the two black men arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks, he replied, “As somebody who grew up in a very diverse background as a young boy, in the projects, I didn’t see color as a young boy, and I honestly don’t see color now. …” And he wants …
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Impediments to Moving Toward Equity
September 15th, 2018 | Posted by in Educational | Equity - (3 Comments)Impediments to Moving Toward Equity Ignorance is the first impediment to our progress to racial equity, gender equity, and educational equity. Ignorance is our number one enemy; ignorance means not knowing. If I don’t know your name, I am ignorant of your name. If I don’t know Native American history, I am ignorant of it. …
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Some organizations are trauma cultures for women instigated by men, should immediately close their doors. Trump, Weinstein, Crosby, Moore, Lauer, and the like, must be held accountable for their crimes against women. What is the suitable punishment for such men? Their apologies are weak, insincere, empty, and void of substance. Apologies for such egregious, sexual …
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Still Celebrating Columbus, Leaders? What if We Broke the Rules?
October 9th, 2017 | Posted by in Global Justice | Racial Justice - (0 Comments)While serving in Da Nang, South Vietnam, in 1968, I was approached by a Vietnamese woman with the “Free World Forces,” tears streaming, saying she’d lost her mother, her, husband, grandfather, and two of her siblings as a result of a mortar attack. She asked me to help her find plywood to repair her hutch. …
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Still Celebrating Columbus, Leaders? What if we broke the rules?
October 9th, 2017 | Posted by in Global Justice | Racial Justice | Uncategorized - (0 Comments)Why does this little four-letter word keep nagging leaders? I believe it’s because most leaders don’t have the courage to engage it, don’t have the capability to discuss it, and lack the capacity to formulate strategies to resolve it. And then there are those who don’t care. As a member of the Diversity Panel for …
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