All Entries in the "Race and Ethnicity" Category

Judging from the human infatuation with canines of every size, shape and color--not to mention zoos, conservatories, and pet stores stocked with every imaginable critter--it is safe to conclude that humans are perhaps the world's most enthusiastic supporters of, with one caveat, genetic diversity. Of course, that one caveat is highly consequential. Remarkable as the human enthusiasm for diversity may be among non-human species, among our own species, humans tend to deplore diversity. That is, to put it mildly, a rich irony.

Racism and Hypocrisy: Celebrating Diversity–Just Not Among Humans

As Darwin pointed out in the The Origin of Species (1859), species often exhibit enormous variation. Darwin was a pigeon breeder and described at length the astounding variation that, with the help of artificial selection, pigeon breeders had succeeded in cultivating in an otherwise humdrum bird species. Similar forces operate on Canis familiaris and, if anything, have [...]

Timothy McGettigan | Mar 07, 2013 | Comments 2

The Moral and Empirical Decline of the GOP – Losing Touch With Reality, Economics, and Values

We like to see the world in black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, usually with our side being on the side of right and the other side being on the side of wrong. Therefore, it is refreshing to see an individual embrace more of a “new energy” perspective on things where a supporter on the side of “right” says ‘hey, wait a minute, we need to look inside for a moment.” That is just what this sociologist does as he examines not only what’s great, but what is not so great, in America’s Grand Old Party (GOP). Now if we could just get the left to do the same.

Dr. Owen Brown | Mar 08, 2012 | Comments 1

A Book Review: Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey (2010)

History is written by the winners, that is certainly true. Living in a nation of “winners” we never hear the stories of those who lose. We exalt those who are triumphant, tell their stories, and forget the pain and the suffering that has resulted from the struggle. But not always. Dr. Owen Brown of Medgar Evers College, CUNY introduces us to a pictorial history of America where the story isn’t about the winners, it is about the colonial disenfranchised and their epic struggles to survive and thrive in a hostile and racist world. It is a story, told in pictures, that is both enlightening and, we hope, inspiring.

Dr. Owen Brown | Feb 08, 2012 | Comments 0