Book Review of The Origins of African-American Interests in International Law & Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955

The article reviews the books The Origin of African-American Interests in International Law, by Henry J. Richardson III and Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955, by Carol Anderson

The making and selling of an illusion: an examination of racial and gender diversity in post-civil rights U.S. corporations

“Diversity” has become one of the most commonly used words by U.S. corporations. Indeed, many companies claim that they have spent millions, sometimes billions of dollars to create an egalitarian workplace for all workers. Given the amount of money spent and the increased amount of research that corporations have done on the issue of diversity, we should expect some progress in terms of equality or equal rights for minority and female workers. However, while there has been a substantial increase in the rise of corporate philosophy espousing diversity, there is also overwhelming data that suggests minorities and women are still unable to obtain opportunities or to achieve success at the same rates as their white male counterparts. How can we explain the apparent contradictions? Furthermore, why are many companies that have historically barred minorities and women from their workplace now publicizing their support for racial and gender integration? I suggest that corporations are using the word “diversity” as an ideological tool designed to promote themselves at the forefront of equality in the U.S. Using in-depth interviews conducted with 40 middle and senior-level managers and upper-level executive officers from Fortune 1000 companies, I find that while the word diversity is frequently uttered by managers (and strategically used in various media outlets), most managers are unable to clearly define diversity. Moreover, while managers claim their companies are interested in diversity, there is no convincing evidence that would suggest this is true. Thus, my findings suggest that many corporations use “diversity” as a shield to hide the fact that nothing has really changed in the structure of U.S corporations. That is, U.S. corporations have been, and continue to be, exclusive clubhouses for upper class white males

The making and selling of an illusion: an examination of racial and gender diversity in post-civil rights U.S. corporations

“Diversity” has become one of the most commonly used words by U.S. corporations. Indeed, many companies claim that they have spent millions, sometimes billions of dollars to create an egalitarian workplace for all workers. Given the amount of money spent and the increased amount of research that corporations have done on the issue of diversity, we should expect some progress in terms of equality or equal rights for minority and female workers. However, while there has been a substantial increase in the rise of corporate philosophy espousing diversity, there is also overwhelming data that suggests minorities and women are still unable to obtain opportunities or to achieve success at the same rates as their white male counterparts. How can we explain the apparent contradictions? Furthermore, why are many companies that have historically barred minorities and women from their workplace now publicizing their support for racial and gender integration? I suggest that corporations are using the word “diversity” as an ideological tool designed to promote themselves at the forefront of equality in the U.S. Using in-depth interviews conducted with 40 middle and senior-level managers and upper-level executive officers from Fortune 1000 companies, I find that while the word diversity is frequently uttered by managers (and strategically used in various media outlets), most managers are unable to clearly define diversity. Moreover, while managers claim their companies are interested in diversity, there is no convincing evidence that would suggest this is true. Thus, my findings suggest that many corporations use “diversity” as a shield to hide the fact that nothing has really changed in the structure of U.S corporations. That is, U.S. corporations have been, and continue to be, exclusive clubhouses for upper class white males

#15 - Assessing the presence of Wolbachia in the mosquito populations of Northeast Georgia, USA

Wolbachia, a Gram-negative bacterium that infects mosquitoes along with other arthropods, can suppress the spread of microfilaria through reducing the populations of mosquitoes that carry the heartworms. Historically, research has been conducted to use in the prevention of infections from parasites or viruses like Zika or yellow fever. It is important to understand ways of preventing the various infections from occurring not only by host prevention but through vector prevention or suppression. In the summer of 2018, a total of thirty-five adult female mosquitoes were collected in Oakwood, Georgia at the University of North Georgia in two locations between May 29, 2018 through August 10, 2018 to evaluate for microfilaria and Wolbachia. Following evaluation for microfilaria, DNA extraction from each mosquito was completed for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to test for Wolbachia presence and absence. Data analysis is being continued at this time. Determining the presence of Wolbachia in our adult female samples could help us better determine ways to control mosquito populations to slow or halt the spread of ultimately fatal diseases, parasites, and viruses that are transmitted through adult female mosquitoes. Research conducted through PCR could lead to larger scale research projects sampling mosquitoes for this high-impact bacterium in the future

Moving Beyond Obfuscating Racial Microaggression Discourse

In this article, we argue that the concept of racial microaggression is a white supremacy construct that is an ideological and discursive anti‐Black practice. We discuss how microaggressions’ reduction of historical and hegemonic white supremacy to everyday relations that are merely performative, not integral to sustaining such larger forces, is an analytical shortcoming. We contend that without the adequate heft of historical white supremacy as a part of capitalist and colonial expansion, genocide, and Indigenous erasure, microaggression scholars will remain enthralled with the idea that individual behavior changes can eradicate anti‐Black violence

W.E.B. DuBois for the Twenty‐First Century: On Being a Scholar‐Activist in the Digital Era

W.E.B. Du Bois began his work as a scholar-activist at the dawn of the twentieth century, and this paper argues that his example has much to teach contemporary scholar-activists in the twenty-first century. In order to publish The Crisis, the magazine of the activist organization he co-founded, DuBois purchased a printing press. This meant he could own the means of his own knowledge production and foretold both the promise of what it means to be a scholar-activist in the twenty-first century and the limitations built into the current systems of knowledge production. Du Bois was also prophetic when he identified the problem of the twentieth century as “the problem of the color line,” as the focus of both his scholarship and his activism. The forms of systemic white supremacy we face today are both a continuation of a centuries-old dimension of racism in the U.S. and part of an emerging media ecosystem powered by algorithms. The paper explores the challenges of being digital scholar-activists within legacy institutions. It concludes with speculation about what DuBois might do now

Book Review of The Origins of African-American Interests in International Law & Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955

The article reviews the books The Origin of African-American Interests in International Law, by Henry J. Richardson III and Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955, by Carol Anderson