Algorithms of Opporession: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

Jazmin JD Dantzler reviews Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Stafiya Umoja Noble, published by NYU Press, 2018

Developing Environmental Education, Nature-Based Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Initiatives on a Solid Waste Management Site in Conway, South Carolina

The Horry County South Carolina Solid Waste Authority wanted to create a space that could serve the duties of the landfill and as an environmental education and recreation facility on a tract of land they own. Several areas of minimal ecological importance are used as sorting facilities for storm debris and cap dirt excavation areas for use on the active landfill. The remainder of the tract is planned for the development of an environmental education, nature-based tourism, and outdoor recreation center. A natural resources management plan was produced to promote and protect the ecological diversity of the tract. A geographic information system (GIS) was then produced for the tract and used to assist in making decisions on the placement of interpretive trails. This was followed up by a historical analysis of the area. These elements were then combined to create a comprehensive educational web site for the property

How It Lives in Me Is the Work: A Mother and Daughter’s Critical Collaborative Inquiry Navigating and Deconstructing White Fragility

Through this critical collaborative inquiry, we (Margaret and Julie) - an adult mother and daughter - worked to understand our white identities, strengthen our racial consciousness, and interrupt our white fragility (D’Angelo, 2011, 2018). Framed in critical whiteness studies (Bahattacharya, 2013; Cann & DeMeulenaere, 2012), critical family histories (Sleeter, 2013), and racial socialization (Coard & Sellers, 2005; Hughes et al., 2006), we worked to understand how whiteness and systems perpetuating it shape our personal lives and vocations (teacher and counselor). Data sources included a) family-photograph elicited memory-based discussions about race, b) personal memos/individually written reflections related to our collective readings on whiteness, white fragility, and structural racism, and c) drafted racial autoethnographies. We analyzed data using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and In Vivo coding (Saldana, 2016). Through analysis, we discovered that systems and decisions centering and privileging whiteness shaped our racialized identities and unexamined racial biases that influenced our personal and professional lives. We were racially socialized and conditioned during our childhoods through: a) experiences, traditions, and relationships that fostered and maintained racial isolation and white exceptionalism, b) misrepresentations of racism as individual acts of overt bigotry rather than systems of hegemony and privilege that we benefitted from, and c) the revision of history to create heroic family narratives of white beneficence. We uncovered manifestations of centering norms of white supremacy and white fragility which were and are perpetuated in our personal and professional lives and larger school and social contexts. Through this process, we encountered cognitive dissonances while uncovering the influence white supremacy on our personal relationships and professional practice such as our lack of understanding of how our white centering behaviors and biases influence how we engage alongside our students and clients of color. This inquiry adds to a growing body of research that supports white teacher identity development and how whiteness influences a teacher’s practice. Implications for teachers, school systems, teacher preparation programs, and university faculty are offered. Additionally, we provide recommendations for white individuals committed to becoming co-conspirators (Love, 2019) and dismantling their own fragility and the structures that uphold and perpetuate white supremacy

Renal organic anion transport: a comparative and cellular perspective

AbstractA major system for net transepithelial secretion of a wide range of hydrophobic organic anions (OAs) exists in the proximal renal tubules of almost all vertebrates. This process involves transport into the cells against an electrochemical gradient at the basolateral membrane and movement from the cells into the lumen down an electrochemical gradient. Transport into the cells at the basolateral membrane, which is the dominant, rate-limiting step, is a tertiary active transport process, the final step which involves countertransport of the OA into the cells against its electrochemical gradient in exchange for α-ketoglutarate moving out of the cells down its electrochemical gradient. The outwardly directed gradient for α-ketoglutarate is maintained by metabolism (∼40%) and by transport into the cells across both the basolateral and luminal membranes by separate sodium-dicarboxylate cotransporters (∼60%). The inwardly directed sodium gradient driving α-ketoglutarate uptake is maintained by the basolateral Na+–K+–ATPase, the primary energy-requiring transport step in the total tertiary process. The basolateral OA/α-ketoglutarate exchange process now appears to be physiologically regulated by several factors in mammalian tubules, including peptide hormones (e.g., bradykinin) and the autonomic nervous system acting via protein kinase C (PKC) pathways and epidermal growth factor (EGF) working via the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway

Static, Yet Fluctuating: The Evolution of Batman and His Audiences

The Batman media franchise (comics, movies, novels, television, and cartoons) is unique because no other form of written or visual texts has as many artists, audiences, and forms of expression. Understanding the various artists and audiences and what Batman means to them is to understand changing trends and thinking in American culture. The character of Batman has developed into a symbol with relevant characteristics that develop and evolve with each new story and new author. The Batman canon has become so large and contains so many different audiences that it has become a franchise that can morph to fit any group of viewers/readers. Our understanding of Batman and the many readings of him gives us insight into ourselves as a culture in our particular place in history

Policy Analysis of Kentucky Senate Bill 192

Needle sharing has become an important factor in the prevalence of HIV and viral hepatitis rates as injection drug use of illicit substances, such as heroin and prescription opioids, has increased across the United States. Kentucky, much like the rest of the nation, has also been devastated by the recent surge of injection drug use. In 2010, drug overdose rates ranked Kentucky as the third highest state in the nation. Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) rates within Kentucky have been consistently higher than the national rate since 2007 and 2003, respectively. Hospital discharge costs related to HCV infections have increased by $167 million. In response to this public health problem, the Commonwealth of Kentucky passed Senate Bill 192 (KY SB 192), a comprehensive drug policy with a goals to mitigate the spread of HIV and viral hepatitis. Provisions of the bill include harsher penalties for heroin trafficking, additional allocation of funds for addiction treatment, legal immunity for reporting a drug overdose victim, an increase in the availability of Naloxone, and authorization of needle and syringe exchange programs (NSEP). KY SB 192 is a multifaceted drug policy, the needle exchange provision was highly debated and embodies the four characteristics of a morality policy: marked by controversy, symbolic nature, the policy attracts a diverse policy community, and enduring controversy. The implementation of NSEP in the state of Kentucky carries the following projections: An average decrease of 1 to 6 HIV cases per year and an approximate annual decline in rate by 0.04 to 0.50 per 100,000 (or 1.8 – 22.1 cases per 100,000) for HCV. This amounts to approximately$2 million in cost savings for both HIV and HCV treatment

A Psychological Approach to the Special Composition Question

When does composition occur? There are historical accounts that claim there are no composite objects, or that composite objects can consist of any given objects. These views fail to preserve our intuitions and warrant a different understanding of the term “object”. I present a psychological approach wherein observers ascribe objecthood to an arrangement in the form of a secondary quality. This subjective behavior can be traced back to the development of our perceptual capacities in our natural history

Black-White Earnings and Employment Differences in the K-12 Teaching Labor Market – Potential Impact on Black Males with Learning Disabilities

This study addresses one possible barrier to more African American (or Black) males with learning disabilities moving through the educational pipeline – the dearth of African American (or Black) teachers. Despite recent attention being given to the educational benefits to Black (and other) students from the presence and contributions of Black teachers, the K-12 teacher labor market in the United States remains largely represented by White teachers. In order to assess whether Black teachers are treated unfairly in this labor market, the notion of competitive labor markets eroding racial disparities over time is studied. In particular, this study builds on prior work analyzing racial earnings and employment differences in the K-12 teaching labor market in the United States by Dantzler et al (2014) and examines the wage differential between Black and White teachers that remains after controlling for factors likely to affect wages in addition to race as well as attempt to understand employment probability disparities in the labor market, based on membership in a minority racial/ethnic group. The study’s contribution to the literature is decomposing wage and probit regression equations following Blinder (1973) and Oaxaca (1973), revealing non-trivial portions of differentials which cannot be explained by differences in productive characteristics. Therefore, one cannot rule out the possibility of racial disparities in the K-12 teaching labor market or the need for targeted Black teacher recruitment and retention strategies in order to enhance the capacity of schools to better serve students such as African American males with learning disabilities

What Should Be Said or Silenced: Opinions of Necessary and Inappropriate End-of-life Communication Between the Living and the Dying

End-of-life (EOL) communication experiences between the Dying and the Living in various roles (e.g., family, clergy, healthcare providers, and hospice workers) have often been studied; however, no research has examined what people believe are necessary as well as inappropriate EOL conversation topics with the Dying. Extant studies in family communication have identified common EOL topics in retrospective accounts of previous conversations with the Dying, but no research has asked individuals with and without such experiences what they think should and should not be talked about during EOL interactions. The current study addressed this gap. Participants (N = 145) ages 18 through 88 years-old completed a qualitative online questionnaire comprised primarily of open-ended questions. Reported necessary topics (N = 558) included “reflections on life and living”; “preparation of the Dying’s transition and impending death”, and “planning for the future”. Participants reported that certain topics should be talked about (N = 564) because, for example, they “bring comfort to the Dying”, “honor and respect the wants and needs of the Dying”, and create a sense of closure. Reported topics that the Living should not discuss with the Dying include those that are “negative, painful, and upsetting matters”, “address money, possessions, and inheritances”, and are about “the Living’s needs, problems, wishes, and beliefs.” The primary reasons for avoiding such topics included that by not talking about them the Living can “bring comfort to the Dying”, “avoid futile or insignificant conversations”, and those topics recognized as “selfish, and mean-spirited, in poor taste, insensitive, rude, hurtful, or greedy.” These findings increase awareness of what people believe to be necessary conversation content and existing barriers that may prevent competent interpersonal communication