Scientists call to end racial profiling of US-based researchers

Almost 2000 Asian American and Asian immigrant researchers based in the US have expressed their “grave concern” over the country’s attempts to clamp down on scientists with links to China.

Social Experiences of Muslim Americans Regarding the Intolerance Displayed by Non-Muslims

Non-Muslims in the United States have openly expressed their opposition regarding Muslim Americans, which has led to the racial profiling and unequal treatment of Muslim Americans. Literature regarding the intolerance displayed by majority members indicates a need for further research that explores the point of view of minorities in the United States. Intolerance is defined as the refusal and unwillingness to respect or tolerate persons of a different social group or members of minority groups who hold beliefs contrary to one’s own. The intolerance displayed among members of different religious and cultural backgrounds can limit the ability to discover new information needed in promoting positive social change among Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States. Semistructured interviews were used to explore the social experiences of Muslim Americans of Palestinian descent in Cleveland, Ohio, regarding prejudice and discrimination displayed by non-Muslims. The theory of planned behavior and impression management theory were used as the framework for this study. Convenience and purposeful sampling were used to recruit the 10 participants chosen for this study. Template analysis, Giorgio’s psychological phenomenological method, and coding were used to analyze the data obtained from this study. Participants revealed experiencing prejudice and discrimination “everywhere” and “anywhere,” including verbal attacks and emotional distress. Participants also described the intolerance among Muslims and non-Muslims as “good and bad” or “it depends.” Information from this study can help in the development of social strategies that can be used to improve the interactions among Muslims and non-Muslims in United States.

"We Need a System that's not Designed to Fail Māori": Experiences of Racism Related to Kideny Transplantation in Aotearoa New Zealand

BackgroundReported experiences of racism in Aotearoa New Zealand are consistently associated with negative measures of health, self-rated health, life satisfaction, and reduced access to high quality healthcare with subsequent poor health outcomes. In this paper we report on perceptions and experiences of prejudice and racism by Indigenous Māori with kidney disease, their family members and donors who took part in a wider study about experiences of kidney transplantation.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 Māori. Participants included those with kidney disease who had considered, were being worked up for, or who had already received a kidney transplant as well as family members and potential or previous donors. We examined the data for experiences of racism using a theoretical framework for racism on three levels: institutionalised racism, personally mediated racism, and internalised racism.ResultsWe identified subthemes at each level of racism: institutional (excluded and devalued by health system; disease stigmatisation; discriminatory body weight criteria, lack of power), personally-mediated (experiencing racial profiling; explicit racism) and internalized racism (shame and unworthiness to receive a transplant).ConclusionsThe wide-reaching experiences and perceptions of racism described by participants with kidney disease and their families in this research point to an unfair health system and suggests that racism may be contributing to kidney transplantation inequity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Addressing racism at all levels is imperative if we are to address inequitable outcomes for Māori requiring kidney transplantation.

Effects of Face Masks on Person Perception

As face masks have become more commonplace in many regions due to COVID-19, concerns have been raised about their effects on the perception of mask wearers and social cohesion more broadly, including racial profiling. In two studies we examined the effects of masks on social judgments of mask wearers, and whether masks have different effects on judgments of Black and White faces. Participants rated 20 Black and 20 White faces with and without masks on trustworthiness/approachability (Studies 1 and 2) and on dominance/competence and attractiveness (Study 2). In both studies masks increased perceived trustworthiness and reduced the effect of face race on judgments. Masks also increased perceived attractiveness, but had no effect on the perception of dominance/competence. Overall, this study found no negative effects of face masks on judgments of mask wearers, though further research is needed.

Litigating Racial Profiling: The Use of Statistical Data

The use of statistical data to prove racial discrimination by police in individual cases is relatively novel in Australia. Based on a survey of international strategies, this article argues that statistical and social science data can play three critical evidential roles in litigation. Firstly, it can form part of the social context evidence used to influence the inferences that can be drawn from other evidence led in a case. Secondly it can influence the cogency of the evidence required for claimants to meet the standard of proof, and thirdly, it can be used to shift the burden of proof. Using these evidential methods, evidence of institutional racism can be used to assist in making findings of discrimination in individual cases. This article speculates on the role that statistics could have played in the Haile-Michael race discrimination claim that settled in 2013, and in the 2019 inquest into the death of Tanya Day.

Countering Post-9/11 Stereotypes: Arab American Playwrights Make Their Voices Heard

Before 9/11Arab-American drama was sporadic and inconsistent in the sense that there was a relative absence of Arab-American theater or playwrights who made their voices heard across the USA. However, after 9/11 the American theater scene witnessed a surge of Arab-American drama and theater that aimed at addressing the American audience in order to voice the concerns, fears and anxieties of Arab Americans. They wanted to dispel much of the stereotype attributes which have been wrongly associated with them because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This study intends to examine the dramatic endeavors of Arab-American playwrights to make their voices heard through drama, performance and theater in light of transnationalism and diaspora theory. The study argues that Arab-American dramatists and theater groups write back to the hegemonic polemics against Arabs and Muslims, which has madly become characteristic of contemporary American literature and media following 9/11. Viewed in light of the anti-Arab American literary discourse, Arab-American playwrights and performers have taken giant steps towards changing the stereotypes of Arabs, and countering the loud voices of those who try to add fuel to the blazing flames of Islamophobia. To assess the contribution of Arab-American dramatists and performers to make their voices heard loud and clear in countering the stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims, Yussef El Guindi (1960-) is going to be discussed in this paper because he has been fighting the stereotypes of Arab Americans and Islamophobia in his drama and theater. El Guindi has devoted most of his plays to fight the stereotypes that are persistently attributed to Arabs and Muslims, and his drama presents issues relating to identity formation and what it means to be Arab American. A scrutiny of his plays shows that El Guindi has dealt with an assortment of topics and issues all relating to the stereotypes of Arab Americans and the Middle East. These issues include racial profiling and surveillance; stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims in the cinema and theater; and acculturation and clash of cultures. Keywords: Arab American, Identity, Theater, Stereotypes, Diaspora, Acculturation