Author: TheConversation

Economic history repeats itself: Black Americans are enduring the brunt of the coronavirus recession

By William M. Rodgers III, Professor of Public Policy and Chief Economist, Rutgers University As the COVID-19 pandemic became worse in April, many Americans were shocked by the extent that black Americans were being disproportionately impacted: higher infection rates, more deaths and greater job loss. But many black Americans were not surprised. This is not new. The same dynamic has been going on at times of crisis for decades and generations. As a labor economist and former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor under the Clinton administration, I know that history has shown that black Americans consistently...

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Lack of Accountability: Police unions are a formidable obstacle in the struggle to transform policing

By Jill McCorkel, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, Villanova University Protesters and community organizers are increasingly calling for defunding and disbanding the police as a way to end police violence. Advocates argue that moderate reforms like enhanced training and greater community oversight have failed to curb police violence and misconduct. But there’s a major, and usually insurmountable, obstacle to reform: police unions. Research suggests that these unions play a critical role in thwarting the transformation of police departments. Union officials like John McNesby in Philadelphia, where I live and work as a scholar of law and the criminal justice...

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Instigation and Accelerationism: Why far-right extremists protest the deaths of black people

By Matthew Valasik, Associate Professor of Sociology, Louisiana State University; and Shannon Reid, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina – Charlotte As protests about police violence among black people continue and become more widespread across the United States, certain individuals and groups have begun to stand out – including anarchists, agitators and members of a variety of far-right groups. With the country’s long history of racist killings, it may be confusing to think that racists and white supremacists are among those objecting to the killing of people of color. But people affiliated with far-right groups aren’t trying to be...

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Reopening the economy has become a partisan issue between the rule followers and rule breakers

By Michele Gelfand, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Since Republicans, on average, are five times more likely than Democrats to believe it is safe now to resume normal business activity, reopening the economy has often been framed as a partisan issue. But within households, many families are having their own arguments about how lax or strict they should be about the threat of the virus. Is it OK to have friends over? Can we invite Aunt Sally to our birthday party? Can dad slip away to the golf course? Can mom get a haircut? These...

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Tear gas used on peaceful protesters is a chemical weapon banned by Geneva Convention during war

By Janice Chambers, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine; Director, Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Mississippi State University Over recent days there have been reports of tear gas being used to control crowds protesting the death of George Floyd, so questions have arisen on the dangers of crowd control chemicals. I am a toxicologist interested in chemicals that could be used as weapons and I do research to develop therapies for some of these chemicals. What is tear gas? The term tear gas refers to a group of chemical irritants that can be used to control or disperse crowds. The...

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A Darkness Made Visible: Creating art to cope with the affects of mental illness

By William Doan, Professor of Theatre, Pennsylvania State University I’ve lived much of my life with anxiety and depression, including the negative feelings – shame and self-doubt – that seduced me into believing the stigma around mental illness: that people knew I wasn’t good enough; that they would avoid me because I was different or unstable; and that I had to find a way to make them like me. It took me some time – I’m a classic late bloomer – but just before I turned 60, I discovered that sharing my story by drawing could be an effective...

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