Who Says?

From the Undefeated -

White immigrants weren’t always considered white — and acceptable
Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Slavs and other European groups had to overcome prejudice over many years
BY BRANDO SIMEO STARKEY

Who, exactly, is white?

The answer sounds obvious — we know a white person when we see one, we think. But when Italians poured into America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they were not considered white upon arrival. A century later, though, when Teresa Giudice of The Real Housewives of New Jersey maniacally hoisted a table on national television, she did not do so as a member of a supposedly inferior people. No, she was a crazy white lady throwing furniture.

The story of how European immigrants during that era became white enlightens us on our current political realities. Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Slavs and other European groups, at the time called “new immigrants,” sought to overcome their subordination by showing, through their behavior, to be deserving of being considered white.


In 1911, Henry Pratt Fairchild, an influential American sociologist, said about new immigrants, “If he proves himself a man, and … acquires wealth and cleans himself up — very well, we might receive him in a generation or two. But at present he is far beneath us, and the burden of proof rests with him.” They ultimately met that burden and crucial to their success was that they were not black and they actively helped in maintaining a racist society.

https://theundefeated.com/features/white-immigrants-werent-always-considered-white-and-acceptable/

A Hot Dog Is Not a Sandwich. A Burrito Is.

A Viable Alternative

An excerpt from OZY -

WHY DETENTION SUCKS ... AND MANUAL LABOR IS BETTER
By James Watkins

When OZY’s Sean Culligan, then 16, hurled a water balloon that hit a car passing outside his high school, the effect was not quite what he’d hoped. Caught in the act by a teacher, who viewed the “prank” as a serious misdemeanor, young Culligan was given a one-way ticket to detention for the rest of the week. But his punishment wasn’t to sit in silence or write “I must not throw things at cars” 100 times. Instead, detention involved janitorial work — picking up litter, carrying supplies, even cleaning the bathrooms. That was par for the course at a Catholic school back then.

Too severe? We might not see eye to eye with young Culligan’s tormentors, but something might be said for making detention a bit more … physical. When detention in the majority of schools across the world is spent in silence, reading or writing lines of penance, couldn’t it be made more productive? How about using the time to teach misbehaving children the value of hard work and community service, and respect for the environment and teamwork, rather than trying to bore them into obedience? Whether working alongside the janitor to tidy classrooms or tending to a community garden, schools should ditch detention and replace it with manual labor.

http://www.ozy.com/immodest-proposal/why-detention-sucks-and-manual-labor-is-better/74515

Unchained At Last: An Introduction

Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first US Olympian to wear a hijab

Gift Ideas

From StumbleUpon -

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1q8v12/:1Gs+Y_unE:nqF@Fcuw/mentalfloss.com/article/75376/most-popular-valentines-day-gift-searches-state

A Renaissance Man

From the Public Domain Review -

W. E. B. Du Bois’ Hand-Drawn Infographics of African-American Life (1900)

http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/w-e-b-du-bois-hand-drawn-infographics-of-african-american-life-1900/

101 Books to Read Before Kindergarten

From Pinterest -

http://growingbookbybook.com/101-books-read-kids-kindergarten/#_a5y_p=5828592

The South's First Black Millionaire

From OZY -

THE STORY OF THE SOUTH’S FIRST BLACK MILLIONAIRE
By Sean Braswell

http://www.ozy.com/flashback/the-story-of-the-souths-first-black-millionaire/75532

Jordan

Here's Why

I Wish You Were

An excerpt from the NewYork Times -

Am I Imagining This?
By Roger Cohen

The enormity of the defiling of the White House in just three weeks is staggering. For decades the world’s security was undergirded by America’s word. The words that issued from the Oval Office were solemn. It was on America’s word, as expressed by the president, that the European continent and allies like Japan built their postwar security.

Now the words that fall from Trump’s pursed lips or, often misspelled, onto his Twitter feed are trite or false or meaningless. He’s angry with Nordstrom, for heaven’s sake, because the department store chain dropped his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line! This is the concern of the leader of the free world.

Unpresidented! (sic)

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/preserving-the-sanctity-of-all-facts.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0

Dear America, Please Don't

He Spent 40 Years Alone in the Woods, and Now Scientists Love Him | Shor...

Shaking Up the World

From the Undefeated -

The Undefeated 44:  African-Americans Who Shook Up the World

https://theundefeated.com/features/the-undefeated-44-most-influential-black-americans-in-history/

His Underhanded Approach

From the Washington Post -

How Trump’s travel ban broke from the normal executive order process
President Trump differed from tradition when it came to writing, reviewing and implementing his immigration executive order, which temporarily banned people from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees from entering the United States.
By Kim Soffen and Darla Cameron

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-travel-ban-process/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_graphic-travelban-7pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Solo, the 'emotional radio' that plays music to suit your mood

Do I have ADHD?

You Aren't Supposed To Watch This

Totally Awesome Jobs You Probably Never Thought Existed in the First Place.