#racially diverse

[comparativetarot]

Knight of Pentacles. Art by Viv Tanner and Eli Baum, from Sefirot.

“Let not my love be called idolatry, Nor my beloved as an idol show, Since all alike my songs and praises be To one, of one, still such, and ever so.”

#Viv Tanner #Eli Baum #Sefirot #Knight of Coins #Knight #Coins #Minor Arcana #Tarot #Animals #Horse #Racial Diversity

[alwaysbewoke]

#maga #dei #diversity equity and inclusion #systemic racism #racism #discrimination #racial inequality #social justice #civil rights #racial bias #racial prejudice #racial discrimination #racial justice

[thealogie]

Everyone please watch Mr and Mrs Smith I know it’s not morally ok to give Amazon the streams but we don’t get Donald Glover and Maya Erskine to be sickos together for one more season I’ll perish

#this isn’t the primary thing the show is focused on or why it’s good #but the racial dynamic on the show i can confidently say hasn’t been explored on tv before and really reminds you why you need to see #diversity. when it’s not done for points but instead in meaningful way #mr and mrs smith

[icedsodapop]

Okay, biased Martha Jones stan here but like, it just doesnt make sense to me that Donna would name her daughter Rose when it's literally established in Donna's companion era that she and Martha got along fabulously when they met each other while Donna and Rose were polite acquaintances at best, abrasive at worst?? Did rtd forget about this?

Oh and there's also the slight issue of Donna having her memories as a companion erased, no biggie.

#rose tyler critical #donna noble #martha jones #doctor who #russell t davies #rose noble #tv #imagine if Yamin Finney's character was actually named Martha Noble instead? what a lovely tribute to the first Black DW companion #who led the way for onscreen racial diversity in the Doctor Who main cast

[jayninjago]

Sometimes I look at the njgo fandom like woah nature is healing (people aren't making jay a tiny twink abomination and cole the scary big black man that often anymore)

#it was REALLY bad in 2020-2022 #especially with the 2020 culture of making everyone as diverse and stereotypical as possible #it was really hard to consume any content without seeing blatant racial caricatures #mai.txt

[pomegranateandhoney]

words mean things

i got into an argument with someone today because they said not all jews are ethnically jewish, and i said -- yes we are, and they said well converts aren't ethnically jewish. and i said... all jews are ethnically jewish, but we're not all the same race. this person was like well i think of race as a social construct and ethnicity as something you can't change, and like. the definition of ethnicity:

the quality or fact of belonging to a population group or subgroup made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent.

the definition of race:

any one of the groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits regarded as common among people of shared ancestry

and these are dictionary definitions, not my personal ones. so yeah, man, all jews including converts? ethnically jewish. my rabbi makes a point of this, actually, when discussing conversion -- converts are the same as non converts according to jewish law. you convert into the religion and ethnicity. ethnicity is not about DNA.

i dunno, it bugged me.

#judaism #jews #converts are ethnically jewish #all jews are ethnically jewish #it's an ethno-religion #stop trying to make converts 'less' jewish thanks #jews are RACIALLY diverse

[communistkenobi]

lowest bar possible but the star trek movies seem to be making a decent attempt at having actual non-white human characters in dignified speaking roles in a way that star wars is only doing like. now lol

#star trek lb #it makes some of the racial politics in the show/movies slightly more complicated #like sw straightforwardly just does the non white = alien thing #which star trek does too obviously but like the whole message of universal human values #is actually slightly bolstered by the fact that there is like an actual level of racial diversity in star fleet

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Aaron Benner

Published: Oct 2, 2015

I have been an elementary teacher almost all of my adult life, mostly in St. Paul Public Schools. First and foremost, I teach because I love kids, I love schools, I love our city, and I really love what happens when a group of kids becomes a community in a classroom and a school. For this to occur, everybody has to play a part — parents, students, teachers, building and district administration, and the broader community. As a black man, it breaks my heart to watch these communities fall apart and to see some children who look like me behave so poorly in our schools.

In 2011, I addressed the St. Paul School Board. At the time, I told them about my concerns with student behavior at Benjamin E. Mays Elementary School, where I taught sixth grade. I hoped to start a discussion about what I was witnessing. Although the media paid some attention (likely because my race made for an interesting story), the school board ignored me. I addressed the board again on May 20, 2014, regarding the same issues, but this time I was aware they were happening districtwide. Four other brave teachers accompanied me. The school board ignored us again and tried to paint us as anti-racial equity.

From 2013-15, I taught fourth grade at John A. Johnson Elementary (JAJ). The behaviors that I witnessed last year at JAJ were far worse than what I complained to the school board about in 2011 and in 2014. On a daily basis, I saw students cussing at their teachers, running out of class, yelling and screaming in the halls, and fighting. If I had a dollar for every time my class was interrupted by a student running into my room and yelling, I’d be a rich man. It was obvious to me that these behaviors were affecting learning, so when I saw the abysmal test scores this summer, I was not surprised. Out of 375 students, only 14.3 percent were proficient in Reading, 9.6 percent in Math and 9.3 percent in Science. These test scores are not acceptable in any way, shape or form.

I diligently collected data on the behaviors that I saw in our school and completed behavior referrals for the assaults. These referrals were not accurately collected. The school suspended some students, but many more assaults were ignored or questioned by administrators to the point where the assaults were not even documented. I have since learned that this tactic is widely used throughout the district to keep the numbers of referrals and suspensions low.

The parents who complained to the school board last year about behavior at Ramsey Jr. High know all too well about behaviors being ignored. The students of SPPS are being used in some sort of social experiment where they are not being held accountable for their behavior. This is only setting our children up to fail in the future, especially our black students. All of my students at JAJ were traumatized by what they experienced last year — even my black students. Safety was my number one concern, not teaching.

Who would conduct such an experiment on our kids? I blame the San Francisco-based consulting firm, Pacific Education Group (PEG). PEG was hired by SPPS in 2010 to help close the achievement gap. PEG makes no secret of the fact that its prescription for closing the gap is based on the Critical Race Theory. This theory argues that racism is so ingrained in the American way of life — its economy, schools, and government — that things must be made unequal in order to compensate for that racism. PEG pushes the idea that black students are victims of white school policies that make it difficult or impossible for them to learn. So, when a black student is disruptive, PEG, as I see it, stresses that it’s not their fault, and the student should just take a break, and then return to class shortly thereafter.

Racism and white privilege definitely exist, and there is not enough space in this paper for me to share all of the humiliating encounters I’ve experienced that are a product of racism. But to blame poor behavior and low test scores solely on white teachers is simply wrong. However, it’s the new narrative in our district, pushed by PEG.

I recently dropped out of the St. Paul School Board race to focus on my new job at a charter school, but I’m still concerned with the current state of SPPS and the direction of the school board. Here’s what I think should happen: First and foremost, the newly elected board must sever ties with Pacific Education Group. PEG has charged the taxpayers of St. Paul $3 million over the last five years. According to some reports, SPPS has matched PEG with $1.2 million. What are these matching dollars used for? It is crucial to understand that behaviors throughout the district have escalated to the point where we are at a crisis in St. Paul. PEG is not working. To add insult to injury, two weeks ago, the St. Paul School Board had the audacity to set the ceiling of next year’s tax levy 3.85 percent higher than the current year. Tax increase? This must be a joke.

Racial equity and closing the achievement gap, the correct way, are commendable goals. However, PEG’s idea of racial equity is NOT the answer. PEG stresses black culture and nothing else. What is black culture? Did PEG survey the black community of St. Paul and ask what behaviors should be acceptable in our schools? I don’t recall filling out any surveys or receiving any phone calls regarding this topic.

Because of PEG, we have forgotten about our Asian, Latino and Native communities. The St. Paul Public School district has the second most diverse school population in the country (New York City is ranked No. 1). For the record, Asians make up the largest minority group in our schools. PEG has influenced this district on major policy changes, from questionable behavioral guidelines and hiring practices to the creation of new positions with jargonistic titles.

We now have “Cultural Specialists” and “Behavior Specialists” throughout our schools. An overwhelming number of these specialists are black, and it’s not clear to me what their qualifications are. Their job seems to be to talk to students who have been involved in disruptions or altercations and return them to class as quickly as possible. Some of these “specialists” even reward disruptive students by taking them to the gym to play basketball (yes, you read that correctly). This scene plays out over and over for teachers throughout the school day. There is no limit to the number of times a disruptive student will be returned to your class. The behavior obviously has not changed, and some students have realized that their poor behavior has its benefits.

St. Paul Public Schools is in desperate need of true behaviorists to replace these “specialists.” Licensed therapists who are trained to help change and replace inappropriate behaviors. I expect that PEG would never go for this because it would contradict their excuse that “black culture” accounts for such behaviors. The newly elected school board can change that.

Another action the newly elected school board must take is to visit schools, listen to teachers, and offer them much-needed support. Teachers are currently fending for themselves when it comes to behavior concerns. Part of my frustration is with the leadership of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers. The union is so concerned with getting along with the district that they are paralyzed when the hundreds of teachers they represent bring up the issue of behavior. This needs to change.

PEG and SPPS are harming the very people whose interests they claim to represent. Follow the money. The taxpayers of St. Paul should demand to know who exactly is benefitting from PEG. Students definitely aren’t.

Aaron Anthony Benner works as the African- American Liaison/Behavior Coach and Community of Peace Academy, a public charter school in St. Paul.

--

By: Victor Skinner

Published: Sep 24, 2019

Aaron Benner, a black teacher from St. Paul, Minnesota, won a large settlement with the St. Paul School District last week over retaliation he faced for speaking out against the district’s race-based student discipline policies.

Benner argued the investigations came in retaliation for complaints to the school board about race-based student discipline policies implemented by then Superintendent Valeria Silva and promoted by President Obama. The discipline policies aimed to reduce suspensions of black students by lowering the expectations for behavior and increasing the threshold for suspensions, something Benner repeatedly, publicly argued was against the best interests of black students.

The “restorative justice” approach to student discipline was accompanied by “white privilege” teacher training sessions that cost the district taxpayers more than $3 million. Those sessions focused on the “white privilege” theory that the public education system is hopelessly stacked against black students, who shouldn’t be held accountable for poor academics or bad behavior.

In St. Paul and hundreds of schools across the country, the “white privilege” training sessions were conducted by Pacific Educational Group, also known as PEG.

“PEG was hired by SPPS in 2010 to help close the achievement gap. PEG makes no secret that its prescription for closing the gap is based on the Critical Race Theory. This theory argues that racism is so ingrained in the American way of life – its economy, schools, and government – that things must be made unequal in order to compensate for that racism,” Benner wrote in a 2015 editorial for the Press.

“Peg pushes the idea that black students are victims of white school policies that make it difficult or impossible for them to learn,” Benner wrote. “So, when a black student is disruptive, PEG, as I see it, stresses that it’s not their fault.”

Benner refused to accept that black students are less capable than their white classmates and left the school district in 2015. Benner taught at a local charter school and was later hired for a administration position at the St. Paul private school Cretin-Derham Hall, according to the Star Tribune.

After years of complaints from parents, teachers, administrators and others about violent and disruptive students running rampant with impunity, St. Paul school leaders eventually got rid of Silva and scrapped the failed student discipline policies.

Last week, the school board settled up with Benner, though the district denied any wrongdoing.

“This agreement enables the district to avoid the time, expense and uncertainty of protracted legal proceedings regarding its previous policies, practices and expectations,” board members wrote in a prepared statement.

The district contends taxpayers are responsible for $50,000 of the settlement, while its insurer will cover $475,000.

Benner told the Star Tribune he credits God for the favorable outcome.

“I thank God for all the blessings in my life,” he wrote in an email to the news site. “I turned 50 this year, got married in July and now (there is) this settlement.”

#Aaron Benner #diversity equity and inclusion #diversity #equity #inclusion #racial equity #white privilege #diversity training #educational equity #lower standards #bigotry of low expectations #neoracism #antiracism as religion #antiracism #racial discrimination #corruption of education #education #religion is a mental illness

[audioroleplayconfessions]

I usually avoid posting my own opinions, but I've seen a few posts like the one in the screenshot below creep across my feed lately and they're bugging me too much to keep my mouth shut. I censored the identity of this particular example because I don't want to start a Tumblr war or make them feel like I'm singling them out or attacking them.

I don't feel good about celebrating black history month through a character who was both written and performed by a white man. I know this is all just low-stakes fandom headcanon stuff and I'm not trying to control what other people do, but something feels not-quite-right about taking a character played by a white VA and deciding (on his behalf might I add) that he's black and using him as your example of black representation in the audio rp fandom.

There are black VAs out there, they can represent themselves. I really think it's disingenuous to sort through a cast of characters all played by the same white guy and assign POC races to them in order to give a singular white guy's one-man show racial diversity, then celebrate said "diversity".

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a Tumblr drama queen. If you're the person from the screenshot (or have posted something similar), I don't think you meant any harm. Your post probably wasn't meant to be that deep and not the worst thing in the world, but I don't know why you would pick a random character written and performed by a white guy and cheer "Rahhh, let's celebrate black history month with this!". If it really matters to you, you can celebrate a black VA, or a canonically black character, or even just a listener character that you/others HC as black. You can celebrate fan artists and writers who are black.

Why use characters played by Redacted for this? I promise I'm not trying to start a fight, or accuse people who've made posts like this of being racist or cancel anyone. I don't think they mean badly. But I see this a lot even outside of the context of BHM. It's almost always with characters written/performed by Redacted and it's always made me a little uneasy, especially with the amount of enthusiasm people throw onto the race they decided to HC for this one white man's characters.

If you disagree with me, I'm open to hearing you out. I don't want to try and dictate what people can/can't do in a fandom space or send a mob after anyone, but something feels off to me about using Redacted characters to celebrate BHM.

-Ringmaster

#I hope I don't accidentally start a tumblr war and regret this #but POC don't need to be represented by white actors #I'd rather celebrate actual black characters and black creators #just accept that you aren't going to get diverse racial representation from a series where the same white guy is playing absolutely everyon #redacted audio #black history month #BHM #not a callout post #please don't witch-hunt anyone #but seriously there are black VAs out there if black representation is important to you #some are very under-rated and could actually use a shoutout right now #there are also non-black VAs who collab with black people and have actual diverse representation in their casts #also how do you hear Erik's voice and think “that's my black king right there” #redacted fandom #audio roleplay #boyfriend asmr

[neechees]

Another thing that was weird in the Barbie movie is that its a whole plot point that Barbie starts becoming afraid of being human at first because she thinks she's becoming "ugly" for getting cellulite, and obviously that's meant to be commentary on unrealistic beauty standards, but then Barbieland has fat Barbies as well & is diverse. So why is she afraid of becoming fat.

You could argue it's JUST the cellulite itself and presumably barbies don't have that because they're made of rubber and plastic, but the societal hatred & mocking of cellulite is the implication that you are or are becoming "fat" (regardless of whether you actually are or not)

#like Barbieland is racially diverse but they know racism exists & know Native genocide exists via smallpox #but then they also have the Barbie version of Mount Rushmore which was created by a white supremacist

[comparativetarot]

El Loco. Art by Meraaaaki, from Tarot Criollo.

#Zamba Studio #Tarot Criollo #Meraaaaki #The Fool #Major Arcana #Tarot #Colombia #Animals #Dog #Favorites #Racial Diversity

[alwaysbewoke]

Imagine how many people JUST LIKE HER are in ICU, TRAUMA, BIRTH AND DELIVERY, NICU, STEP-DOWN UNITS, PYSCH WARDS, ELDERLY CARE, OBGYN, CARDIOLOGY, POST OP CARE, etc…

#indiana state university #protest #racism #hate speech #campus activism #cowboy carter #beyoncé #country music #yik yak #student activism #campus response #discrimination #protest demands #campus culture #university response #social media #campus newspaper #diversity #inclusion #racial discrimination #Code of Conduct #university administration #health care disparities #Black maternal health #structural racism #health care professionals #systemic inequities

[astaldis]

One thing the guys who criticise Netflix for its racial diversity in The Witcher always seem to forget

Had this discussion with this guy on Reddit again, always the same arguments, of course, the lore allegedly is all Slavic/white European. And then they pretend to care for the identity of other cultures and that they should be preserved and distinguishable and that there's Zerrikania on the continent for black people. Yes, Zerrikania, featuring so prominently in the books, right ...

What they totally seem to overlook, humans came to the continent through the Conjunction of the Spheres about 1,500 years before the events of the novels. They did not evolve on the continent through survival of the fittest. The distribution of skin colour on the continent ought to be mostly random. Yes, people who came from hot places in their original world and have a very dark skin colour as adaptation to the climate in their lost sphere of origin might prefer to settle regions like Zerrikania with a similar climate. But why wouldn't they settle in Toussaint, for example? Fringilla being dark skinned does not have to mean she has ancestors from Zerrikania and does not need to be explained in any way. Same with culture, people from all kinds of different cultures have very likely landed on the continent together and mixed their cultures while they were helping each other to survive in a totally new world. Why should there be distinct cultures related to skin colour and climate after only 1,500 years of populating the continent? A mix makes a lot more sense under these unique circumstances.

There was also a very funny thing one guy asked me when I wrote something like: Oh yes, the Korath desert is very Eastern European.

Did you know there's a desert in Poland? Yes, there actually is. We also have several "deserts" in Germany, but they are all so small, even a toddler would have difficulty getting lost in one of them 😂. Of course Sapkowski was exclusively thinking of this miniature Polish desert when he created the Korath 😂.

#the witcher netflix #the witcher tv #the witcher #racial diversity #wokeness #anti woke #woke #woke liberal madness #andrzej sapkowski #conjunction of the spheres #fringilla vigo

[elvisqueso]

I am on some bullshit right now, bruh

#just re-watched pocahontas for the first time in many many years and dawg #the character animation in that film is so gorgeous #like they went so hard on ACTING through the animation #im getting obsessed again like i was when i was little #like u gotta understand: the disney pocahontas character (a truly fictional character inspired by real events let's get that straight) #i was like in love with her. i wanted to be her like oh my god #and the way they animated john smith was such a departure from their other disney LI's up til then (as *i* recall) #so detailed!! the expressions!!! the fucking YEARNING!!!!!! #best love story out of all the disney flicks imho. as a Story it's so powerful #I'm gonna think about the symbolism of them having to part #after grandmother willow had told them 'only when the fighting stops can you be together' #implying that the fighting isn't over and probably never will be #fuxking painfuslfjk #i know i know: c'est ~~problématique~~ #but look. I'm from a racially diverse family okay? #my dad's side especially. nobody over there stuck to their own race/ethnic group #my parents are a mixed couple. i know how hard it is to make that work. #most interracial couples I'd seen on tv until that point were very...chaste? #mostly played for laughs (oh haha the cultural dissonance is so cute and funny!) or worse: to play up racial sterotypes #but to see one depicted as a straight-forward romance- as two people deeply in love and not played for a gag? AND as the core of the story? #mannnn that means a lot to me even all these years later #so yeah im deep in the 'hunting down feel-good fix-it fics' phase wish me luck

[hussyknee]

Not entirely sure how I'm expected to respond when I point out something is white as fuck and the person I'm criticizing goes "I'm literally PoC!!" Okay? Good for you? Get well soon??

I literally live in South Asia, a place still nursing the world's worst colonial hangover. That's like one billion brown people desperately in need of joining Bootlickers Anonymous. If I had to respect the rancid takes of every yahoo that lives here I'd have to drown myself in the sea.

Living in white countries does something odd to diaspora brains. If you call yourself BIPOC in your own head long enough you end up forgetting you're just a garden variety idiot mainlining white supremacy like everyone else.

#essay: why I hate the term BIPOC #1) it's North American as fuck #seriously the word has little meaning for Black and brown people in Europe. We're all just darkies over there bc the whites dgaf #also there's two systems of race over there. the global colour system that's a result of european colonization of the other continents #and the older system unique to the region where white Indo-Europeans hates the fuck out of everybody else #so you have to be very specific about the fact that you're coloured of skin #i mean black people in australia are aboriginals. 'black' even in the US used to be a political identity not only a racial one #2) i'm not fucking BIPOC in my own country. I just live here. #I am the default. it's whites that are alien and specified #considering we're literally the global majority‚ it would be very funny if we just called ourselves 'people' and only singled whites out #it's them that invented race after all. just so they could proclaim that white people were the master race #i know it wouldn't work bc then they'd all be like 'how DARE you call us white' like Zionists. but it would be funny #i just think that this whole BIPOC thing makes whites out to be default and makes us hyperaware of ourselves as political entities first #and fuels neoliberal identity politics that culminates in fighting over twitter hashtags and 'Diversity Equity Inclusion' bs #where they make Black and brown people mouthpieces and cops of white supremacy and imperialism #and calls it 'representation' #racism #white supremacy #colonialism #colonization #knee of huss

[aiteanngaelach]

Its so so frustrating when white Irish leftists think LGBT rights are the be all and end all of everything. like why do I see people all the time responding to fascists and white supremacist 'irish first' racists with pride flags like ye are not the target here cop on! presumably these fascists and white supremacist are homophobic and transphobic but in all fairness like ye must realise ye would be a hundred time safer in a crowd of these white supremacists as a white Irish person regardless of your sexuality than any non white irish person or immigrant would be. Put more energy into protecting the non white non Irish people in your communities that are being targeted by these white supremacists than you do into making everything about yourself

#Same energy as when I was at a cultural diversity event thing on culture night and there was a blackboard on the wall to write up what you #Liked about cultural diversity and some eejit I know wrote 'be gay do crime' when the event was explicitly about racial and ethnic diversit #In the city #And obviously this isn't just a problem with white Irish leftists id imagine white American or English or French etc leftist would be the #Same I'm just pulling from my own experiences #'leftists' #Ireland #Irish #Also when (white) socialist or communist Irish leftists try to make white supremacy in this country about themselves #Disclaimer I am white