Ithaca City School District: "We could have done more"

We could have done more to shield student, educator says
Testimony concludes in Kearney's case against ICSD

By Topher Sanders
Journal Staff

ITHACA — More could have been done to protect Amelia Kearney's daughter from racial harassment during the 2005-06 school year, current and former Ithaca City School District officials said on Thursday.

The testimony came during the second and final day of a New York State Division of Human Rights hearing in the case of Kearney vs. Ithaca City School District. There was more than 10 hours of testimony Thursday.

...

The first to testify that more could have been done to shield Kearney's daughter from the harassment was Jamie Thomas, who was the associate principal of DeWitt Middle School during the 2005-06 school year and who called the bus Kearney's daughter rode that year a “hell hole.”

The day after Kearney's daughter was spit on and punched by two different DeWitt students, the school acted quickly and suspended the students, Thomas said.

But both of the boys rode the bus home with Kearney's daughter the day of their suspensions where they again harassed her with mention of a “gun with (her) name on it.”

For the complete article, click on title of post above.

Amanda Kearney Speaks: First Day of Public Hearing

Girl speaks in first day of ICSD hearing
Teen felt ‘worthless' after repeated verbal abuse, threats on school bus

By Topher Sanders
Journal Staff

Ithaca, NY. It was an emotional first day at the human rights hearing that will decide whether the Ithaca City School District responded adequately to the racial discrimination charges of a middle-school mother during the 2005-06 school year.

The public and Administration Law Judge Christine Kellett heard the firsthand account of Amelia Kearney's daughter, the 14-year-old girl at the heart of the case. The hearing was held at the Tompkins County Public Library, and as many as 60 people were in attendance in the early hours.

Daughter speaks

Kearney's attorney Raymond Schlather asked the 14-year-old how she felt about being called a “bitch, slut, whore and n----.” The girl's answers came in low tones.

“I felt worthless and mad at myself that I couldn't do more to stop it,” Kearney's daughter, now in high school, said. “I felt ashamed of what happened to me. It was hard for me to talk about and still is.”

For complete article click on title of post above.

Lucecita Benítez- Soy de una raza pura

When I was a kid I was in love with Lucecita.

Solo le pido a Dios

Solo le pido a Dios 

Que el dolor no me sea indiferente, 

Que la reseca 

Muerta no me encuentre 

Vacio y solo sin haber hecho lo suficiente. 


Solo le pido a Dios 

Que lo injusto no me sea indiferente, 

Que no me abofeteen la otra mejilla 

Despues que una garra me araño esta suerte. 


Solo le pido a Dios 

Que la guerra no me sea indiferente, 

Es un monstruo grande y pisa fuerte 
Toda la pobre inocencia de la gente.

Solo le pido a Dios 

Que el engaño no me sea indiferente 

Si un traidor puede mas que unos cuantos, 

Que esos cantos no lo olviden facilmente. 


Solo le pido a Dios 

Que el futuro no me sea indiferente, 

Desahuciado esta el que tiene que marchar 

A vivir una cultura diferente.

-- Mercedes Sosa

Promotion To Full Professor of Psychology

I've been promoted to full Professor of Psychology at Wells College, Aurora, New York. When I can think of some words, I'll post them here.

Juan Luis Guerra - El niagara en bicicleta

It's impossible to cross the Niagara on a bike. This is Juan Luis Guerra's metaphor for what's involved in getting health care.

Reconsidering The Origins of Thanksgiving

From "Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond"; Produced by Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui, WESU

What are the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US? Some Americans commemorate a harvest feast celebrated in 1621 at Plymouth between the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims. Then, there is the 1637 proclamation by Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop, who claimed the first official "a Day of Thanksgiving" to celebrate the colonists who massacred the Pequots at Mystic, Connecticut.

These are two very different occasions, one an indigenous feast, and the other a white settler celebration of a genocidal campaign. How are these different narratives alternately celebrated and erased? How was the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday a way of solidifying American national identity?

This show explores the politics of Thanksgiving with interviews that provide two very different perspectives. Join host Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui, and guests, Ramona Nosapocket Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag), cultural worker and artist, and Moonanum James (Aquinnah Wampanoag), co-leader of the United American Indians of New England, who hosts an annual "National Day of Mourning," on Cole Hill, MA, as an alternative.

For the complete audio of this radio show with Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui, featured on the front page of Pacifica Radio webpage (right on, Pacifica!), click on title of this post above. It's definitely worth listening to the whole program. It rocks.

Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui is Associate Professor of Anthropology and American Studies at Wesleyan University, Connecticut and produces the radio program, "Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond," at Wesleyan.

"Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond" with J. Kehaulani Kauanui is on the air live every Tuesday on WESU from 4pm-4:55pm. Copy and paste http://www.wesufm.org/tues.html into your browser to stream it live.

November 20, 2007 - 9th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials in dozens of cities across the world.

For more information click on title of this post above.

Dr. Garcia Remembers Will

Dr. Garcia attended the memorial service for Will at Wells, which is where we first met and became friends. He also spoke at the memorial service for Will at SU. Below are the remarks Alejandro made in Hendricks Chapel, an enormous place that for a little while was our small place of comfort. Thought you might enjoy reading these words, too. Gracias, Profesor Garcia.

By Alejandro Garcia
Director and Professor, School of Social Work
Syracuse University

Will Liberi was a charmer, a rogue, an independent thinker, an activist, an educator. He was my student, but I have a sense that I learned more from him than he did from me.

He taught me about the challenges of being a transgender person. He taught me about transformation and change, about metamorphoses.

He taught me about being uncompromising in maintaining one’s integrity.

He taught me about the need to be oneself in spite of everyone else’s demands to conform to their expectations. He knew who he was and he constantly worked to get the whole world to come to the same understanding.

He challenged my thinking, although not always with the greatest of social skills. In fact, he challenged the thinking of the many people he touched.

At Wells College, he unwittingly became the first male student in the College at a time when the college was not yet coed.
When he sang that song of himself by changing the name on his door at Wells from Joy to Will, he told me that he met resistance from his fellow students, and his name sign was often mutilated and the name changed back to Joy, but he persisted. He simply refused to allow others to define him.

Taking into consideration his status as a transgender student and the difficulty society has about persons using gender-assigned bathrooms, he also pushed to have Wells College create bathrooms open to all, regardless of their gender, and he succeeded.

While at Syracuse University, his hormone therapy finally started to work and he began to grow facial hair. He had a few hairs on his chin and he was pleased with that change. But he worked in one of the University’s cafeterias and he was forced to shave. He was frustrated. He told me that he had spent several thousand dollars to grow those few hairs, and how he was being forced to eliminate them in order to keep his job. But the issue was more than a few facial hairs. It was about his integrity being violated.

As I was thinking about Will the last few days, I remember my guru, the noted family therapist Virginia Satir, whose words of personal affirmation are fitting as we remember Will today:

I am me.
In all the world,
there is no one else exactly like me -
everything that comes out of me is authentically mine,
because I alone choose it - I own everything about me - my body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions,
whether they be to others or to myself -
I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears -
I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me - by so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts -
I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me,
and other aspects that I do not know -
but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself,
I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me -
However I look and sound, whatever I say and do,
and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me - If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought and felt turned out to be unfitting, I can discard that which I feel is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded -
I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do.
I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive,
and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me -
I own me, and therefore I can engineer me -
I am me &
I AM OKAY

And finally, as we wish Will a self-fulfilling journey to advocate for wayward angels and other spirits, I have a blessing from Fred Small, the folk singer, that I thought was especially appropriate. It is from a folk song that he dedicated to a friend who is a folk singer. It is appropriately titled “To Willie:”

Night falls hard in a faraway place
When you never knew the name and you can't recall the face
Your timing's off, you're tired, you can't imagine why they hired you
We are there in the silence by your side.
May the rain run off your shoulder when you're caught in a storm
When the frost comes a-calling may it find you safe and warm
May your place be set, may your promises be kept,
May you never forget you are loved.

Decline of the Tenure Track Raises Concerns

By ALAN FINDER
The New York Times, November 20, 2007

DEARBORN, Mich. — Professors with tenure or who are on a tenure track are now a distinct minority on the country’s campuses, as the ranks of part-time instructors and professors hired on a contract have swelled, according to federal figures analyzed by the American Association of University Professors.

Click on title of post above for complete article.

Hate Crimes Rose 8 Percent In 2006

Thousands of people march around the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, during the "March Against Hate Crimes" to protest hate crime issues. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hate crime incidents rose nearly 8 percent last year -- more than half motivated by racial prejudice, the FBI reported Monday, as civil rights advocates increasingly take to the streets to protest what they call official indifference to intimidation and attacks against blacks and other minorities.

For complete article in The New York Times click on title of post above.

Creating a Safe Space in Burlington, Vermont

Eliza and Tiffany, sending all good thoughts for Transgender Day of Remembrance up in Burlington. Thanks for all you do up that way.

In DNA Era, New Worries About Prejudice

from The New York Times

By AMY HARMON
Published: November 11, 2007

Research is exploring how DNA explains racial differences, but it could give discredited prejudices a new potency.

“We are living through an era of the ascendance of biology, and we have to be very careful,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. “We will all be walking a fine line between using biology and allowing it to be abused.”

For the complete article, click on title of this post above.

Not Just Here, But Everywhere: Whose Voice Dominates Campus Culture?

Memo to the Reed College community from Lisa Moore, assistant dean for multicultural affairs
Posted by The Oregonian November 07, 2007 19:32PM

Dear Reed College Students, Faculty, and Staff:

What is happening to our campus? This semester Multicultural Affairs has been unusually busy addressing the responses of individuals representing a variety of constituencies who have been disappointed and disturbed by violent and sexist party-posters, racially tinged graffiti on the Edifice Complex display, and now the Halloween display of figures hanging from nooses. Students at Reed frequently and proudly talk about how open and liberal the campus is, yet when it comes to addressing issues that many would call racist, sexist, homophobic, or anti-Semitic I just as frequently hear stories about how people are scared to challenge others for fear of being disrespected. As a black woman who is personally and professionally invested in Reed being successful around becoming a diverse campus, my position shapes the perspective I bring to this conversation. I appreciated the leadership taken by Senate, the President, feminist student union and individual staff and faculty on countering the intended or unintended actions of a few, but more of us need to be thinking about and addressing whose voice dominates campus culture.

What seems to be affecting people as much as these offensive expressions is how others respond during casual conversations in ways that are condescending and dismissive to opposing points of view. As the Assistant Dean of Multicultural Affairs, I have for the first time felt it was necessary to send out a letter to the campus community. The cumulative events of this semester, combined with the individual concerns that have been expressed to me, as well as, Daymond Glenn and Serilda Summers in the MRC, from students, faculty, and staff about the climate make me very concerned about the current direction of campus culture. I decided it was important to share my thoughts with everyone.


For the complete letter -- it is very worth reading -- click on the title of this post above.

Back to School

This most recent article (click on the title of this post above for the article) published in The Ithaca Journal on the racial tensions at the Ithaca High School and the communities it serves, shows how important it is for diverse communities to work together. It also indicates how segregated the neighborhoods continue to be even in very liberal Ithaca. It's worth asking, who is your neighbor? If that person is a lot like you or if you are the only one like you, you’re likely living in a segregated neighborhood.

What's happened at the Ithaca High School also shows that "celebrating diversity" is only genuine after conflicts have been addressed, otherwise it's just another party, which is nice don’t get me wrong, but don't call it social justice, equity, or multicultural education.

The last several weeks at Ithaca High School are a microcosm, not just of our region but also in the U.S. This is going to seem obvious, but here it goes; high school students attend college and therefore the same issues that are present in high schools come to colleges. The three months (for traditional aged students) between high school and college are not enough time to unlearn the biases and prejudices that have been socially learned for the previous years. Most bias and prejudice arises out of fear and not knowing people different from ourselves. And this happens because we live in segregated neighborhoods based on race and class as well as in a society which continues to be racist, classist, sexist, abilist, ageist, and homophobic (and a whole lot more of intolerant and violent things). So when we all get together at school, whether it’s high school or college and I’m including here students, staff, and faculty, most people don’t know how to be friends with the stranger because we lack experience of living with people different from ourselves and are socially conditioned to fear the other (xenophobia). It’s a pretty big shock to be thrown together like that in a classroom and celebrate it, too.

The vote by the ICSD School Board which reversed its previous decision and the new attempts at bringing understanding about what people have in common as well as what is different is a good step. But it came about not through celebration, but through active student and parent protest. What will now happen with the Kearney vs. ICSD case remains to be seen, but this community has begun to look itself in the mirror. I have to say, what’s been going on in Ithaca is likely one of the best lessons about diversity ever taught at that school. It hasn't been nice and it hasn't been pretty, but it's been real.

Oh, and here is a weird thing. Last night I got a text message that said, "Hi babe its me. My phones being gay" and then another text from the same number, "Text me on here." I checked the number because it was one that I didn't know. The call came from Utica, NY. It must have been a mistake. But, still... you get my point. This is out there. Let's face it.

James Watson Retires After Racial Remarks

from The New York Times
By CORNELIA DEAN
Published: October 25, 2007

James D. Watson, the eminent biologist who ignited an uproar last week with remarks about the intelligence of people of African descent, retired today as chancellor of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island and from its board.

In a statement, he noted that, at 79, he is “overdue” to surrender leadership positions at the lab, which he joined as director in 1968 and served as president until 2003. But he said the circumstances of his resignation “are not those which I could ever have anticipated or desired.”

Dr. Watson, who shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for describing the double-helix structure of DNA, and later headed the American government’s part in the international Human Genome Project, was quoted in The Times of London last week as suggesting that, overall, people of African descent are not as intelligent as people of European descent. In the ensuing uproar, he issued a statement apologizing “unreservedly” for the comments, adding “there is no scientific basis for such a belief.”

But Dr. Watson, who has a reputation for making sometimes incendiary off-the-cuff remarks, did not say he had been misquoted.

for the complete article click on the title of this post.

Doing The Right Thing (Finally, and Closer to Home)

Pastel, facing calls to resign, looks to move ICSD forward
By Topher Sanders
Journal Staff

The day after the Ithaca City School District Board of Education unanimously voted to withdraw a controversial challenge of New York's human rights law, Superintendent Judith Pastel apologized for her part in the challenge.

The challenge was brought to an end Tuesday; the board initially supported the move with a 5-3 vote and one abstention on Sept. 25. The district's attorney contacted the Third Department of New York's Appellate Division on Wednesday to inform the court of their intention to withdraw the challenge.

Changes of heart

Before casting their votes to end the challenge, every board member shared words with the public Tuesday about the current state of the district and the reason for their change of heart.

The overriding theme in board members' comments was healing and moving forward, while telling the public that the board heard their messages.

“Every vote I have ever taken, I have taken because I sincerely believed that what I was doing, what I was voting for, was in the best interest of children in the district,” board member Deborah O'Connor said during the meeting. “I voted for the appeal initially because I truly believed it was in the best interest of our children. I never, ever intended to deprive our families and children of recourse to discrimination.

“Since then I have learned some new information, since then many things have happened in our community and when it comes time to vote, I am going change my vote,” O'Connor said to applause from the crowd. “I'm willing to listen, and when I am wrong, I'm willing to change my vote.”

O'Connor's sentiments were echoed by the other board members.

for the complete article in The Ithaca Journal click on title of this post.

Bomshel's Power of One

This is from Debbie whose son works with Bomshel. Maybe this duo could get me back to listening to country. One by one we add up to something. Thanks for sending this Debbie.

Bruce Springsteen - Long Walk Home

Here everybody has a neighbor
Everybody has a friend
Everybody has a reason to begin again

My father said "Son, we're lucky in this town, It's a beautiful place to be born.
It just wraps its arms around you, Nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone"

"Your flag flyin' over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone.
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't"

It's gonna be a long walk home.

Few Answers About Nooses, But Much Talk Of Jim Crow

from The New York Times

By PAUL VITELLO

Published: October 21, 2007

At least seven times in the past few weeks, nooses have been anonymously tossed over pipes or hung on doorknobs in the New York metropolitan area.

BALDWIN, N.Y., Oct. 19 — All the nooses are different, the police say. Some are coiled six times, some eight. Some are simple knots. The one found here the other day, suspended from a fence in a Highway Department yard, was wrapped with duct tape. All are blunt instruments of racial intimidation because of what they represent.

“They represent terrorizing black people and keeping them in their place,” said Ruth Roberson, a parks employee who is black, pausing on Friday morning while raking leaves. “Now they don’t lynch you. It’s all about jobs.”

Willie Warren, a county worker, won a discrimination suit.
Photo credit: Kirk Condyles for The New York Times

For the complete article click on title of this post.

Lambda Legal Urges Ithaca City School District to Retract Its Stance on New York Human Rights Law

'The human rights law is the only effective law that expressly addresses antigay discrimination in New York schools. Attacking it jeopardizes LGBT students.'

(New York, October 18, 2007) — In an effort to persuade the Ithaca City School District to abandon its stance that the New York Human Rights Law does not apply to public schools, Lambda Legal today sent school board members a letter critiquing the board's argument and explaining the potential harm the board's position could cause.

"The human rights law is the only effective law that expressly addresses antigay discrimination in New York Schools," said Hayley Gorenberg, Deputy Legal Director at Lambda Legal. Attacking it jeopardizes LGBT students."

In response to charges of racial discrimination, the Ithaca City School District defended itself by challenging the New York Human Rights Law, stating that the law should be interpreted to exclude public school students from its protections.

In the case that raised the issue, a young African-American girl alleged relentless harassment by a group of white students while riding the public school bus to DeWitt Middle School. Her mother, Amelia Kearney, said she reported the incidents but was given little to no help. She claims that the district failed to protect her daughter from racial harassment. In defense against this claim, the Ithaca City School District not only contested the specific facts, but argued that the human rights law does not apply to public schools. When a state Supreme Court judge ruled on September 11, 2007, that the law applied to schools, the school district launched an appeal contesting that holding. Its decision to challenge the NYHRL has garnered harsh criticism from community members and civil rights organizations.

At its October 23 meeting the Board of Education will discuss a proposal to discontinue its challenge to the applicability of the NYHRL.

The above is a press release from Lambda Legal. For more information click on title of this post above which will take you to the press release and the actual letter (pdf file) Lambda Legal sent to the ICSD School Board. Also, there is an article in today's Ithaca Journal.
...
The connections being made here between the rights of LGBT students and students of color to seek remedies for discriminatory and unlawful actions underline the importance of how civil rights for TLGB people against homophobia and the struggles by people of color against racism are inseparable. For those of us who are TLGB people of color, race and sexual orientation have been inseparable in struggles for civil rights because we are never just gay or just ethnic. Race, sexual orientation, gender, class, ability, all of these are inseparable one from the other. To consider any of these social categories "one at a time" or in isolation from each other results in a very incomplete analysis of any particular situation. Because homophobia, sexism, classism, and racism are systemic, any system that enables and supports one most likely supports the other forms of oppression. This is why speaking out and taking action against only one, i.e. homophobia, will always be incomplete action. What is happening at the Ithaca High School and the impact this is having on the larger community is a microcosm of society. It is a local eruption of national issues. If this is what is going on in Ithaca, arguably the most liberal city in central New York, what can we expect more broadly in our more conservative region?

Telephone Threat Closes County Human Rights Office

By Raymond Drumsta
Ithaca Journal Staff

ITHACA — The Tompkins County Human Rights Commission closed its office and relocated its staff Thursday because of a vague threat made by an unidentified male caller in the morning, according to commission officials.

The man called twice, and both calls seemed to be related to the ongoing racial tensions at Ithaca High School.

On his first call, the man said the commission staff should be ashamed of themselves, and he contended the commission isn't standing up for white children's rights, according to Shawn Martel-Moore, the director of the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission.

When the staff member encouraged the caller to come in to the office, on State Street, to file a complaint if he had one, the man asked who funded the commission and whom it answered to, Moore said. Though the staff member responded that the county did, the man hung up, she added.

...

for the complete article click on title of post above.

Absences Spike Over Ithaca High School Safety

Nearly half of students absent; Ithaca police continue patrols
By Topher Sanders
Ithaca Journal Staff

ITHACA — Almost half of Ithaca High School's student body was absent from school for at least half of Thursday, estimated Ithaca City School District Superintendent Judith Pastel.

The absences came after parents expressed concern for their children's safety due to rumors this week that something violent would occur at the school.

...

for the complete article click on title of this post above.

Message Received

Bias incidents, hate speech, and hate crimes target individuals but are meant to send a message to everyone from that culture, race, sexuality, gender.

City of Ithaca and Cornell University Address Intolerance

City, Cornell address intolerance
By Krisy Gashler
Journal Staff

ITHACA — Two of the community's biggest institutions — the City of Ithaca and Cornell University — have given public declarations about tolerance and diversity in the last two weeks.

“Recent incidents in our community and elsewhere serve to remind us that intolerance remains a continuing problem in American society,” said Cornell President David Skorton in an Oct. 11 statement.
...
Cornell spokesman Simeon Moss said Skorton's statement was prompted by national, local and campus news, and by last week's visit by the Dalai Lama.

“It's really not specifically pointed at any incident, and I think it's also a message of tolerance and the university's historic support of diversity, keeping with the recently expressed message of the Dalai Lama.”

When asked if the statement was prompted in any way by the racial tension exposed in the last month by the Ithaca City School District's challenge of the state's Human Rights Law, Moss said the statement is meant to address “the things that have been in the media, recently and in the past year.”

The school district is defending itself against a claim that it did not protect a student who was allegedly repeatedly racially harassed in school and on the bus. The suit has resulted in protests at the district administration building, at a board of education meeting and at Ithaca High School.

In a separate incident last February, a white Cornell student stabbed a black visitor on campus after the visitor confronted the student for shouting racial epithets.

The city proclamation was largely motivated by an incident reported by former Common Council alderman Shane Seger, D-1st, according to Common Council alderwoman Maria Coles, D-1st.

At the Common Council meeting Coles reported that while Seger and his partner were walking in the city, they were “verbally abused by a group of young men with reference being made to the fact that Shane is gay.”

“It was one of the few times in his life, here in Ithaca, the only time that he really felt afraid,” Coles said.

For the complete article from The Ithaca Journal, click on title of this post above.

Even closer to home, Nick Foos (Wells '08) has started a group on Facebook called, "I will NOT condone Homophobia at Wells College" as a response to recent bias incidents on campus. This group is open to everyone, so if you are on Facebook check it out.

From David Skorton, President, Cornell University

Friday, October 12, 2007

We must reach beyond our comfort zones and connect with one another.

Recent incidents in our community and elsewhere serve to remind us that intolerance remains a continuing problem in American society. Despite the progress we have made as a campus and as a nation, too many people in our own country and around the world judge others on the basis of their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability status or other such characteristics. Closer to home it is clear that Ithaca, for all its charms, is not immune to the affliction.

As a campus and as a society, we must find avenues to encourage all of us to learn to engage cultures and people who differ from us. Cornell has been pursuing these avenues through efforts that include A Tapestry of Possibilities, University Diversity Council public forums and, of course, our curriculum.

This year we will be launching four additional diversity programs. We believe that these programs will help us to identify areas of the campus climate that need work and help us to develop strategies to understand and engage unfamiliar cultures and contexts on campus, across the U.S. and around the world.

I encourage you to get involved in these programs (see http://www.cornell.edu/diversity/whatarewedoing/initiatives.cfm ).
I also encourage you to get in touch with the University Diversity Council, a group I co-chair with Provost Biddy Martin. We are eager to hear from students, staff, faculty, alumni and visitors. You can e-mail us at diversityinput@cornell.edu.

Last but certainly not least, I challenge each of us to get out of our comfort zones regularly so that we might understand the
perspectives of others.

This week Cornell was privileged to host one of the world's foremost spiritual leaders, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whose message of tolerance and peace speaks directly to the moral thinker who resides in each of us whatever our worldview may be. The Dalai Lama's ethos is one to be emulated, given the disturbing increase of high-profile news stories reporting incidents of intolerance across America and right here in Ithaca.

Let us remember the Dalai Lama's message: We are brothers and sisters, all part of the same humanity.

For more coverage on this and to see what Ithaca and Cornell are doing against racism and homophobia check out the article in The Ithaca Journal by clicking on the title of this post above.

American Psychological Association Takes Position Against Racism

APA Opinion-Editorial

This week, another college campus was the scene of a noose carefully placed to threaten, intimidate and shock. On Tuesday, a faculty member found the meticulously tied rope on the office door of Dr. Madonna Constantine, a well-respected African-American psychologist at Columbia University’s Teachers College.

This incident comes on the heels of nooses found outside the African-American cultural center at the University of Maryland, in the personal belongings of a black cadet and a white faculty member at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and, perhaps most notoriously in recent months, on the so-called "white tree” at a high school in Jena, La. The people who employ these symbols are certainly aware of their power. For black Americans, the noose is a potent reminder of the nearly 5,000 African-American men and women who were hanged by whites from 1890 through the 1960s.

This spate of noose placements serves as confirmation of the findings of a significant body of psychological studies showing that discrimination and prejudice persist in significant and demonstrable ways in our country.

Research has indicated that while most people believe themselves to be free of prejudice, many also harbor attitudes that may lead to subtle discriminatory beliefs or behaviors. This contradiction between self-perception and actual behavior indicates that everyone needs to be vigilant about their own attitudes -- and what we might be inadvertently teaching others around us, particularly children and students.

There is also widespread agreement among social scientists that the social categorization process -- making assumptions about people based on their race or ethnic group, including racial stereotyping -- is a virtually automatic and often unconscious process.

The strategic placement of a noose, however, involves forethought, planning and outright hostility. Indeed, these campus incidents are being investigated as hate crimes, and the perpetrators most certainly deserve strong sanctions that clearly condemn such despicable acts.

What does psychology tell us about the backgrounds and motivations of people who commit hate crimes? For one thing, they are not mentally ill in the traditional sense; according to psychological scientists, they're not diagnosably schizophrenic or manic depressive, for example. What those who engage in hate crimes do share, however, is a high level of aggression and antisocial behavior. More than just a prank people who commit hate crimes "are not psychotic, but they're consistently very troubled, very disturbed, very problematic members of our community who pose a huge risk for future violence," according to Dr. Edward Dunbar, a psychologist at UCLA who has studied hate crime perpetrators from a clinical and forensic perspective. Dunbar also notes that childhood histories of such offenders show high levels of parental or caretaker abuse and use of violence to solve family problems. Alcohol and drugs sometimes help fuel these crimes, but the main determinant seems to be personal prejudice, which distorts people’s
judgment, blinding them to the immorality of what they are doing.

People who commit bias crimes are more likely to deliberate and plan their attacks than those who commit other types of crimes, Dunbar adds. In addition, those who commit hate crimes show a history of such actions, beginning with smaller incidents and moving up to more serious ones. As for those who bear the brunt of these vicious acts, they tend to suffer emotional damage, often with the hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder. Hate crimes can create intense feelings of vulnerability, anger and depression.

On a more positive note, research has demonstrated that stereotypical thinking may be reduced as a consequence of contact between people of different races. For example, research results indicate that interactions among students of different races can diminish racial stereotyping, contribute to building cross-cultural respect, and enhance social and communication skills. What’s especially encouraging about these findings is that they are particularly strong among children in K-12 learning environments. Thus, early positive experiences of diversity prepare children for the diverse world they will inhabit.

The impact of diversity is indeed complex, but for most of us, it is not double-edged. Once we can overcome any initial discomfort with new experiences, we are prepared to derive many long-term personal, occupational and social benefits. Violence and hate crimes can have serious consequences for the mental health and well-being of victims and communities.

My colleague Dr. Constantine is particularly knowledgeable about the various experiences that produce an individual who engages in hate crimes. I hope that her many years of research, teaching and advocating for cultural competence can help her to withstand this unconscionable attack. But mostly, I hope these repugnant incidents will be a catalyst for us all to become more committed to eliminating racism and hate.

Sharon Stephens Brehm, PhD
President
American Psychological Association

Getting the Message

Dr. Madonna Constantine is arguably one of the most well known psychologists who work on issues of race and racism in the United States. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association’s divisions 17 and 45, and a member of division 35. The designation of “Fellow” in APA is an honor. Dr. Constantine does not limit herself to working against racism, she works to engage students in processes of transformation which can get at the roots and routes of other biases and prejudices which are harmful for human development; sexism, classism, and homophobia.

Whoever placed a noose on the office door of Professor Madonna Constantine sent a message to all faculty who engage with, theorize on, work against racism on our college campuses. To place a noose at her door, places a noose at all our doors. Our message back should be as clear as what Professor Constantine said to supporters outside the doors of Teachers College, “I will not be silenced.”

The responses by Teachers College students and the wider Columbia University community largely state that racism is alive and well. It just takes an incident like this – whether a “prank” or a real threat, to bring what is always under the surface back into the light of day. The noose as symbol and historical fact in the hateful crimes of lynching is today a reminder that working against racism is still work which puts you at risk and makes you a target.

Some weeks ago I wrote a post on the UCE signs and what my sister and her partner thought while driving on “The Scenic Byway” where these signs crowd out the beautiful view. These signs are also messages of intolerance that not only affect the Cayuga Nation but anyone who is against intolerance in Cayuga Count(r)y. Ultimately, they affect all of us because they become part of the landscape. Intolerance becomes taken-for-granted; just another overgrown weed along the road. Literally, intolerance becomes part of the scenery.

A noose at Professor Constantine’s office, signs which denigrate the rights of sovereignty of the Cayuga Nation, and the raiding of work places to arrest Latin@s who have children born in the U.S. who are indeed left behind because their parents are being sent back across borders without due process: These are part of the larger social context of injustice within which we all live.

Each message is written to you even though it is happening to someone else.

Noose Case Puts Focus on a Scholar of Race

Prof. Madonna G. Constantine being greeted Thursday at Columbia’s Teachers College.

By ELISSA GOOTMAN
Published: October 12, 2007

In Madonna G. Constantine’s classroom at Columbia University’s Teachers College, emotions can run high.

“People have cried in class,” said Dr. Constantine, 44, a professor of psychology and education who specializes in the study of how race and racial prejudice can affect clinical and educational interactions. “Uncovering those issues, students often get to a place where it can be painful."

For the complete report from the New York Times click on the title of this post above.

Photo credit: James Estrin/The New York Times

Noose at Columbia University

Hate Crime @ Teachers College

Professor Targeted in Hate Crime at Teachers College, Columbia University

Madonna Constantine, Professor of Psychology and Education and Director of the Cultural Winter Roundtable on Psychology and Education. She has written many books and articles on racism, cultural competency, education, and psychology.

Dr. Emo writes, "Not just in Louisiana schools, mi gente. Right here at an Ivy League university in New York. And not just in the Big Apple either. Let's be honest about racism. It's here, too."

For the complete article in The Columbia Spectator and to read the comments posted in response to this news, click on the title of this post above.

from CNN: 3:20PM Oct. 10, 2007. Dr. Constantine spoke with protesters who are voicing their support for her and demanding action against racism. Dr. Constantine stated, "I will not be silenced."

"Instead of sending soldiers, send students"

from The Ithaca Journal

Seek peace from within, Dalai Lama tells crowd in Cornell’s Barton Hall

By Krisy Gashler
kgashler@ithacajournal.com
Journal Staff
Oct. 9, 2007

ITHACA — From the home of Cornell’s ROTC program, His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke today about peace.

Five thousand people filled Barton Hall to capacity for the first of three public events in the Dalai Lama’s third visit to Ithaca.

“Genuine peace comes through inner peace,” he said. “Internally, (if you’re) full of hatred, full of suspicion, full of fear, then through that way, (it is) impossible to achieve genuine peace.”

The Dalai Lama told his university audience that they could help alleviate inequality and suffering in developing countries by educating students from these countries.

“Bring or welcome more students from these poorer countries,” he said. “Give them vision, give them self-confidence, give them skill.”

He ended his speech by praising America’s Peace Corps, instituted under President John F. Kennedy.

“Instead of sending soldiers, send more students,” he said. “America part of humanity, Africa, same human family. Brothers, sisters who have prosperity, go (to) these areas and bring more prosperity."

Photo credit: SIMON WHEELER / Journal Staff

You can hear/see the talks by His Holiness the Dalai Lama streamed live on-line. Click on title of this post above to get the schedule.

Introspection as Resistance and Revolt: Transgender Pedagogies and Interdisciplinary Queer Studies

That's some long title, ¿verdad? And what does it mean?!?! That's what we're going to find out. I'm not kidding, we really are trying to figure out what this means by having a dialogue. Ednie Kaeh Garrison and I will be part of a dialogue session at the American Studies Association annual conference this week with Kate Bornstein, Susan Stryker, and our very own Jenna Basiliere (Wells '05). If you'd like to see what we'll be talking about click on the title of this post above to download PDF file (it's also the title of our dialogue session). I'll let you know how it went when I get back and what transgender pedagogies might look like. Let's just say that if we take gender seriously as having some effect/affect on our teaching, what would it mean to queer gender in our teaching? We're dedicating our session to Will Liberi. Will was the first guy to take Psychology of Women with me at Wells when we were still a women's college.

ENDA

Sign the petition to tell Congress to support the original Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ENDA, and accept no substitutes. Click on ENDA (title of post) above for more information.

Word

This week I went to a talk at Cornell by Andrea Smith, author of the book, Conquest: Sexual Violence And American Indian Genocide. Professor Smith is at the University of Michigan. Smith made so many connections between violence against Native women and the global oppressions of capitalist industrial complexes such as, academia, the military, and the state that I couldn’t help but start to try and write out a few connections of my own.

First, Smith deconstructed the word “Crime” and then “Hate.” So, what happens when these words are put together by the State and we get, “Hate Crimes?” Smith argued brilliantly that what we get is that the State gets to define what is hate and what is a crime and guess what? Genocide isn’t a hate crime. Hate crimes, as concept, physical violence, and law, becomes co-opted by the State and used to benefit all those who already benefit. Yet, most people would say the Hate Crimes bills are good and necessary. This is a tension because both positions are true. Smith asked us to imagine other ways of eradicating violence against oppressed peoples that don’t fit within this paradigm. Can you do it?

I’d been thinking a lot about diversity as a word, exclamation, and question. These are the ways I’ve been thinking about the word: “Diversity!” and “Diversity?”

The first way, “Diversity!”, represents a multicultural sampling approach where everything is delicious even if a bit strange and exotic but not too hard to swallow after all you can brush your teeth in a few minutes. Don’t forget to floss. It’s fun to stand in line and taste good food. Music also falls into this category because everyone knows that whether you love this diversity music or not you will be able to turn it off in just a minute and as soon as you get to your car you can get back to NPR. Folkloric speakers and dancers fall into the multicultural sampling as well because these can be consumed as products of another culture without any changes of heart but let you feel good about having participated from the comfort of your own dominant spaces. Applause applause applause, wasn’t that beautiful?

Now, there most definitely is a place for beauty. No, let me correct that, there must be beauty. I cannot live without beauty. But beauty as multicultural sampling by itself is fashion and here I’m trying to see if “Diversity!” is more than fad. Multicultural sampling as representative of the “Diversity!” approach is fundamentally about consuming the other as a commodity with the concomitant capitalist action of having a “choice” of what to consume. If you like it, you buy it, you stay. If you hate it, you leave. In either case, nothing changes but you participated, you had a choice, you can tell people you love chicharrones. I mean you wouldn’t eat them everyday because they clog your arteries, but it was nice to have a taste of that fried food.

So what does “Diversity?” have to offer that is any different from exploitation and consumption of the other? Well, it has this question to deal with for starters. It also is a question rather than a claiming of the other’s beauty, food, and music. But is a question enough? No. It’s a different start. What if you went to a “Diversity!” event and asked, “How is this changing systems of exploitation?” “Am I consuming the other like any other brand of product?” It sounds kind of like this; “Today we’ll have a speaker from X country to talk about her people’s struggle against genocide. Free and open to the public.”

Okay, these words need to be deconstructed in a manner that Smith was advocating. What do these words produce in you? What do they allow you to imagine? How is the public constructed? Is genocide just a word you can go and listen to and then go eat chicharrones? What does it mean that this talk is free? Even saying that it is free is to say that we could charge you for this, we could ask for money. Requiring tickets more clearly illustrates that diversity is a product you would need to buy. And if you have to buy it, you’ll decide whether or not it’s worth your money. You might ask yourself, “Diversity?” But, I’m not advocating for selling tickets to “Diversity!” What I’d like to know is if you can imagine something different than “Diversity!” and “Diversity?”

Remembering Will

Over the last week or so there have been emails and postings on Facebook and other places. Each one of us reaching out to another in ways that show generosity and kindness. One person writing that she didn’t see eye to eye with another, that other writing back saying that she didn’t see things her way, but then both agreeing to work it out. To work it through to make a memorial for Will. Another writes that Will was about building bridges. It seems everyone who knew Will decided to go ahead and extend a hand across differences to remember what it is we’re doing here.

Waiting for my friends from SU in front of Dorie’s so I could show them where we were going, I got to thinking about when Will and I went up to SU for the “Transgender Teach-In” event organized by the wonderful Adrea L. Jaehnig, Director, Syracuse University LGBT Resource Center and Co-Chair, Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals. As usual Will said something that made me irritated, like that he “hated labels” which always drives a social scientist crazy. “Okay, you hate labels,” I thought, “So what should we call ourselves. People? Just plain people?” But it wasn’t that easy. You said that you were in the “In-between space” and that was difficult. Neither here nor there but moving somewhere. Where? Yes, the in-between space. Transgender spaces that meet the spaces of race and ethnicities and histories that don’t fit neatly anywhere anymore.

I see the SU friends in the rearview mirror and pull out into Main Street. We park in front of Main Building and the SU folks emerge from the car. One by one we greet each other across introductions. “Where are you from?” Alejandro asks me. “Puerto Rico.” “Ah, eres Boricua.” “Si.” “And you where are you from?” “Colonized Mexico.” I say, “Which state?” “Texas.” We walk toward the chapel slowly.

Alejandro and Adrea say beautiful words about Will. Leigh brings sandwiches and her courage to run a race later that day with “Will” written on her leg. “Running right beside me” Leigh says. People remember stories of Will and their connections with him. There is the laughter of recognition. Yes, he was like that. We remember. He had a big heart. Lee reminds everyone that it is time to talk about what being transgender means at Wells and not wait for someone to die. “Will was lost here,” Lee says. The memorial service which was student organized is abruptly cut short by a Dean just when we were getting started to talk about how not to lose each other. Out of grief, no one protests. Out of respect the ceremony ends. But it doesn’t end there. Let’s not lose each other, mi gente, in this in-between space. Through our transitions we will find each other and recognize each other in all the spaces we occupy. I hope we can find a way to remember Will in ways that continue the work.

Photo credit: S. Bear Bergman

Honoring the Life of William Liberi '05

foto: S. Bear Bergman

September 18, 2007 — Police identify man found dead

The Canandaigua Police Department has identified the person found dead in an apartment Friday.

William Liberi, 23, was found dead Friday around 12:30 p.m. in his home at 348 Jefferson Ave., Apt. 39, police said.

His cause of death has yet to be determined.

Police encouraged anyone with information about the case to call them at (585) 396-5044.


Before Wells was “co-ed” we already had full-time students who were men. Nick and Will were the first and then others followed. Both Nick and Will transitioned at Wells and found that a women’s college is both a safe place for queer students as well as a strange place for gender changes. Within our small LGB community the T was added and dialogues began that had never been heard around campus. Will was in the thick of it. Educating and listening. He wanted to become the “counselor he never had” for LGBT youth.

After graduating from Wells, majoring in Psychology with minors in Religion and Creative Writing, Will began at Syracuse University in the Counseling Psychology program. Following his dream. He would write to me over email and keep in touch. It was good to hear from him. The last time I heard from him he wrote that he was thinking of me and that I should know that I am loved. That was Will. Reminding every one of us queer folk that someone loves us and that someone was most likely Will. His handle was Papa Will and he would answer questions from all sorts of people about trans issues with a patience and kindness that left me speechless. Yes, he was a counselor at heart.

Will was my psychology advisee and my TA for two years. We did a lot of work together. Organizing transgender speakers and performances to raise awareness on campus. He was empathic and caring, always able to support others through difficult times. He fought the good fight against co-ed even though for him, as a young man, it was difficult to hear how much the women students did not want men in their classes. He understood even though it made him angry. What made him angrier though was how the students were no longer listened to after co-ed. Will wrote campus-wide emails advocating dialogue, demanding to be heard.

There are weeks like this, mi gente, where in a short few days the fullest of lives moves on to the next and the very young who barely got started are called away. Let’s send our prayers and remember the courageous among us never leave, they wait for us to catch up.

Prendan unas velitas, herman@s, mandale a Don Willie y el joven Will todo el amor que tienes en tu corazon destrozado. De tripas, corazones. That's all I got.

Written by Will on his LJ:

Sunday, September 9th, 2007
8:57 pm

One little star

If one little star
In all the sky
Winks out in the night,
Who would notice?

For once,
I don't ask this
Looking for justification
Of wanting to die in peace.

I ask as a planet,
Which will continue to orbit
A cooled sun.
Gravity. Loyalty. Habit.


From Leigh Gershman a senior at Wells and friend of Will's:

Dear Wells Community,
With a heavy heart and many tears I need to inform you all that William Nicholas Liberi, birth name Joy Liberi, died last Tuesday, September 11, at his apartment in Canadaigua, NY. He was 23.Will was a great friend, role model, mentor and asset to Wells at the wane of single sex education. Will was an integral part of the then LBQTA (now Q&A), he WRC and was TA for the psych department. He was a bellringer, Student Diversity Club representative, Hillel member and supporter of Henry's VIII,a club that accepted another transgender student, Nick, during Will's freshman year. I founded a Scrabble Club back in 2004 and he gladly attended meetings.

As a transgender student and only male resident at Wells, Will experienced some hate from other Wells students, but support from others. Allies, transquestioning, transgender and homosexual alike sought out his advice on campuswide matters (administrative policies, the co-ed decision, etc.)

When I described Will to my friends and family back home I called him the on-campus shrink (his ambition was to be a social worker to help gender-questioning people) who we could turn to for an open mind, open heart and wealth of ideas to handle our dilenmas. From the first day of orientation when he helped me move into my room, through the personal struggles I had changing majors and taking time off, Will was a great friend with a wonderful sense of humor and open heart.

His cousin, who I had e-mail corresponded just two weeks back regarding getting in touch with Will, brought me the news yesterday.

I would like to arrange a memorial service for Will this week. Please join me in wishing a Wells alum farewell. On Thursday afternoon I will run in Will's honor at Keuka College's inaugural race.

Kindest regards,
Leigh Gershman

Honoring the life of Mr. Willie Green

Willard H. "Willie" Green

Greigsville/Geneseo: September 12, 2007, at age 81 years. Survived by his wife, Florence; children, Karen R. Green of Allentown, PA, Christopher D. (Yvette) Green of Brighton, Vicki D. Wright of Chatham, VA, and her husband, Rev. Harry S. Wright Jr. of Atlanta, GA; grandchildren, Christian E. Green, Cortland E. Akine, Marshall Nixon; 2 sisters, Dorothy Hillery and Eleanor Perkins, both of Rochester, NY; sister-in-law, Essie Green of Cleveland, OH; many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Friends may call on Saturday, 4-7 PM at the Rector-Hicks Funeral Home, Inc., 111 Main St., Geneseo. Memorial Service, Sunday, 2 PM at the Second Baptist Church in Mumford, with a Reception to follow at the Cozy Kitchen Restaurant, 3103 Main St., Caledonia, NY. Burial, Pleasant Valley Cemetery, York.

Memorials to James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, 90 Brandon Woods Drive, Rochester, NY 14618.

This photo was taken just a few months back, on July 1, at a family gathering to celebrate the many years of love and support among family. Mr. Green is enjoying delicious food by his son, Chris, owner of the Cozy Kitchen Restaurant in Caledonia. I like this picture a lot because of that enjoyment of life and also because I can see Dean Green in his face. Mr. Green will be missed by all who knew him well and all who knew of him through family stories.

New York Route 90 Scenic Byway?

Taking a scenic drive along Route 90 in Cayuga County, my sister and her partner came across the sign above. They were horrified and decided to create their own version. I never have understood how these signs can be placed along a designated "scenic byway."

Criticism of a Gender Theory, and a Scientist Under Siege

By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: August 21, 2007
New York Times

In academic feuds, as in war, there is no telling how far people will go once the shooting starts.

Earlier this month, members of the International Academy of Sex Research, gathering for their annual meeting in Vancouver, informally discussed one of the most contentious and personal social science controversies in recent memory.

The central figure, J. Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University, has promoted a theory that his critics think is inaccurate, insulting and potentially damaging to transgender women. In the past few years, several prominent academics who are transgender have made a series of accusations against the psychologist, including that he committed ethics violations. A transgender woman he wrote about has accused him of a sexual impropriety, and Dr. Bailey has become a reviled figure for some in the gay and transgender communities.

For the complete article, click on the title of this post above. It's an interesting and detailed piece. My commentary follows below.

Several people sent me the link to the article above today individually and through a listserve for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health of which I am a member. I had already posted it on the blog here, but thanks!

I read Bailey's book, and I read it carefully, as soon as it was published in 2003. The image on the front cover is a clue to what's within. It is a photograph of the view of two legs from the back from the knees down that are muscled with feet pointed outward in pointy high heeled shoes. The image is pure stereotype. The title of the text while meant to be humurous and literary (nodding to Kipling's, The Man Who Would be King) pokes fun not at the author, but at those subjected to his study. But let's not judge a book by its cover...

The first background piece to be published on his book for the higher education audience was in The Chronicle in June 20, 2003 with the provocative title, "Dr. Sex." The article did indeed provoke responses. Several faculty wrote letters to The Chronicle which appeared in August 1, 2003, incIuding a very detailed one by Professor of Psychology and Provost at Wheaton College, Ill., Stanton Jones which actually critiques the report by The Chronicle. The other letters critique Bailey's methods.

Among transgender, gay, and queer researchers and among those who do research with transgender and/or gay people there is a diversity of opinion on what is good research and who benefits from that research. Recently, among reseachers who study transgender and transsexual people there was a call for commentary on Bailey's work. The ethical issues raised by Bailey's study are still very much in question.

There is much more to write about all this, but one thing is clear to me; this is another unfortunate example of the problems, ethical and methodological, of studying "the other" in ways that try to pass as science. Read the book carefully for yourself. You decide. In the meantime, here is an illustrative excerpt:

'When I ask my gay friends about what feminine traits they dislike, they usually begin by talking about voice. An older acquaintance related how once in a gay bathhouse, he was on the verge of having sex with a very attractive and muscular stranger, when the stranger spoke. 'When he opened his mouth, a purse fell out. I got limp.' But when I went to a Halsted bar with my gay graduate student, he was able to determine which men he would likely reject merely by watching them move. We don't yet really know what gay men mean when they say they dislike femmes. This leaves the question of why. When I talk about this with other psychologists, the most common suggestion is internalized femiphobia -- femininity has been punished so often by the straight world that gay men, too, come to hate it... It is certainly an unfortunate state of affairs that gay men tend to be feminine, tend to be less attracted to femininity, but tend to be stuck with each other. There are similar ironies in straight relationships. The designer of the universe has a perverse sense of humor." pp. 80 - 81.

Science? Well, no, but he is well within his academic freedom to print these views and I can disagree with them all. The history of sex research is full of controversies and chilly receptions to unorthodox ideas, methods, and results. At the same time, the right for marginalized people to self-determine also has a history and one which is being brought to bear on contemporary researchers. These histories clash here today. Results: Unknown.

You Don't Have To Hate Other Groups To Love Your Own, Psychologist Says

The American Psychological Association is holding its annual convention in San Francisco now. Here is an excerpt from research presented this week:

While it may appear that conflict is an inevitable part of interaction between groups, research actually suggests that fighting, hating and contempt between groups is not a necessary part of human nature, according to an Ohio State University professor of psychology.

“There's still this belief that a group's cohesion depends on conflict with other groups, but the evidence doesn't support that,” said Marilynn Brewer of Ohio State.

“Despite evidence to the contrary, you still see this theory in the research literature and in many textbooks.” Brewer has spent much of her career studying “ingroups” – the groups we belong to – and their relations with “outgroups” – those groups to which others belong.

“Simply put, we prefer people of our kind, people we know we can rely on. That doesn't mean you have to hate anyone else. But you will be more likely to trust people from your own group,” Brewer said.

That doesn't mean ingroup bias is benign, Brewer said. Ingroup bias is the basis for discrimination, the favoring of people in your group over those in another.

“You don't have to hate people from other groups in order to disadvantage them and to deny them the opportunities you have in your group,” she said. “That's a real downside to ingroup bias.”

She discussed the nature of these intergroup relations in her address Saturday August 18 in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

A real downside to ingroup bias indeed! This is what makes Dr. Emo very glum. Not the research, but its results which have been repeated over and over and yet when will we pay attention? It could be a simple start, for example, admitting that one's preference is for folks like oneself and then taking the next step to ponder, how do my preferences for people of my kind disadvantage folks different from me? The research supports asking this question, especially by people who benefit from being within an ingroup that has power over and more privilege than others. It is not a small matter to make the statement, “You don't have to hate people from other groups in order to disadvantage them and to deny them the opportunities you have in your group.”

For the complete piece, it's actually a press release, click on the title of this post above.

Where Have the New Faculty of Color at Wells College Gone? And...Why?

July 31, 2007

Dear faculty, staff, and students,

Last week Assistant Professor of Education, Dr. Ethel King-McKenzie, resigned from Wells College. In her letter to me, Professor King-McKenzie explained that her family situation has changed, making it important for her to be near her family.

Professor King-McKenzie came to Wells in 2004. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, her M.A. in Social Studies and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and Curriculum Theory from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Before coming to Wells, Professor King-McKenzie taught at Ashland University in Ohio. At Wells, Dr. King-McKenzie taught many different courses in the education program. Highlights of her work at Wells include two courses she developed: Educ 320, Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, and a Wlls 101 section, Education and Third World Women.

Professor King-McKenzie wrote that she "will treasure" her time at Wells. We will miss her enthusiasm and involvement in many campus events. I'm sure you will join with me in wishing Dr. King-McKenzie all the best in her future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Leslie Miller-Bernal
Dean of the College

Dr. King-McKenzie, who was a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Education at Wells, is now working at






August 13, 2007

Dear Members of the Wells Community:

At the end of last week, I received a letter of resignation from Jill S. H. Hill, Assistant Professor of Psychology. Dr. Hill received her B.A. in psychology, with honors, and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology, from Loyola College in Maryland; she received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. At Wells Dr. Hill taught a wide range of courses, including indigenous psychologies, psychotherapy, abnormal psychology, and educational psychology. She also helped the College engage in program assessment, and with Professor Olson, developed the First Nations and Indigenous Studies Minor.

Professor Hill explained that she has accepted another professional position. She wrote that she “can only hope” that her future students “will be as dedicated, passionate, and self-aware as the women and men of Wells.”

I know you will join me in wishing Professor Hill fulfillment and success in her new position.

Leslie Miller-Bernal
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College

Dr. Hill, who was a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wells, is now working at




No email sent about Professor Raúl Delgado Rodríguez who was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Wells for three years.

In Mourning: Lo Perdido/What Is Lost

Size Effects?

Photograph: Antonin Kratochvil/VII, for The New York Times

A recent study found that friends who gain weight influence how much weight their friends gain. The researchers attribute this effect to “social networks.” Weight gain can be spread through social networks similar to how a common cold is generously shared among friends or children in grade school.

Gina Kolata has an interesting piece on this in the NYTimes. Click on the post title, Size Effects? above to read her article. Here is a excerpt:

"Now, scientists believe that social networks not only can spread diseases, like the common cold, but also may influence many types of behavior — negative and positive — which then affect an individual’s health, as well as a community’s."

This got me thinking that if negative and positive behavior can be "spread like a cold" imagine the consequences of a community where almost everyone feels badly about what's happening. Do hatred, bigotry, intolerance, unhappiness spread like a cold? If so, what's the cure?

Judith Herman (1993) in her book, Trauma and Recovery, wrote "Trauma is contagious." The idea that social networks spread emotions and behaviors is not new, but what we still haven't figured out is how to cure an unhealthy community which continuously reinfects itself through close contact. It seems then that small communities especially need to be mindful of how negative behavior spreads quickly and before you know it, everyone is sick with it. Is the cure to quarantine and isolate or to make a healthy community for everyone? You decide.