Archive for October, 2007
Web Developers Listserv + Sexism
I’ve been subscribed to the University Web Developers (UwebD) listserv for quite a while. It’s an interesting mix of design/code tips, recent data, job postings, etc. I wanted to post a brief exchange that occurred a little while ago on the list.
Chris posted this:
Hey guys,
We’re looking for a motivated web developer who loves what he does. ‘We’ being the guys at Arc90, based in NYC…
Missy responded:
I take it female web developers need not apply? Thanks for the heads up. Most of the time we don’t even know we’re not being considered due to our gender.
It’s very simple
Kevin Hampton is a sports writer for the Corvallis Gazette Times. His latest blog post is titled, “Out with the blackout?“. In the post, Kevin states that “the people complaining know very well that there is no connection to racism.” Ummm, nope. I think they know very well that there is a connection to racism. (see blackface and something called “historical context“).
See Kevin’s post and my inner monologue after the cut…
Google PageRank = 1
Google has apparently modified their PageRank algorithm. My site’s PageRank has dropped from a pleasant PR of 5 to a rookie year low of 1. One interesting part of the PageRank dip is that other sections of my site still have PageRanks of 2, 3, and 4.
In other techie news, one of my clients, AACRAO Consulting, has a PageRank that has increased from a PR of 0 (the effects of being brand new) to a PR of 5 (a number that I used to be fond of…).
Feel free to see if the PageRank change-o-rama has affected your site.
Bad news via Kottke.
Erase Racism Carnival Submissions
The 19th Erase Racism Carnival is going to be on my site in November. Submissions can be made via direct emails: ericstoller (A) gmail (.) com, comments on this post or at the Blog Carnival – Erase Racism Carnival submission page. Submissions are due on November 17th, and the carnival goes up around the 20th.
White liberals
Kai has written a great post on white liberals…it’s a great read for anyone who commented on my Corvallis, Oregon post.
When Kai Chang writes a book (subtle nudge), we should all get in line at the store.
Countless blogospheric discussions on racism amply demonstrate the manner in which many white liberals start acting victimized and angry if anyone attempts to burst their racism-free bubble, oftentimes inexplicably bringing up non-white friends, lovers, adopted children, relatives, ancestors; dismissing, belittling, or obtusely misreading substantive historically-informed analysis of white supremacism as either “divisive rhetoric” or “flaming”; downplaying racism as an interpersonal social stigma and bad PR, rather than an overarching system of power under which we all live and which has socialized us all; and threatening to walk away from discussion if persons of color do not conform to a narrow white-centered comfort zone. Such people aren’t necessarily racists in the hate-crime sense of the word, but they are usually acting out social dynamics created by racism and replicating the racist social relationships they were conditioned since birth to replicate.
…a solid majority of white liberals maintain a fairly hostile posture toward anti-racist discourse and critique, while of course adamantly denying this hostility. Many white liberals consider themselves rather enlightened for their ability to retroactively support the Civil Rights movement and to quote safely dead anti-racist icons, even though their present-day physical, intellectual, and political orbits remain mostly segregated.
Corvallis, Oregon
The Corvallis Tourism website has a page on media praise of Corvallis:
- “Corvallis is ranked as one of America’s Top 25 family friendly enclaves.”
- “the 8th best place in the nation to live”
- “Corvallis is a country place with a collegiate feel that’s also a high tech center and a hippie haven.”
- “Corvallis ranked 10th of all cities of all sizes in the nation.”
Renee Roman Nose’s editorial on blackface and its subsequent banning by the Daily Barometer staff was recently featured in a news story in Corvallis’ newspaper, the Gazette Times. The commentary by Corvallis residents has been appalling. The article, “Black Out Reser’ raises racial spectre,” has brought out white racist sentiment in droves. A follow-up article by Zel Brook of Corvallis-Albany NAACP, “as I see it: Blackface painting at rally was ignorant,” has been overrun with even more white racists. When I moved to Corvallis, I was told that it was a bastion of liberalism. It turns out that Corvallis is a bastion of white liberal racists who have no problem hiding behind anonymous comments that are filled with racism and sexism. By the way, I do not self-identify as a liberal, and this is exactly why I do not.
Windows gurus
The illustration is from the cover of Redmond Magazine, the “independent voice of the Microsoft IT community.” At some point in my techie journey I was placed on the Redmond Magazine subscription list. I usually skim through the magazine and analyze the content from the social justice techie perspective. The magazine primarily features white men in various information technology roles. The latest edition features the heading “Secrets of the Windows Gurus.” The illustration consists of 12 men in wizard robes. Apparently there are no feature-worthy windows gurus who are women. So either there are no women who are windows gurus or there are women who could have been featured but were not.
Blackface and the Barometer
Update: I dug through a recycling bin and found a copy of the Daily Barometer with the blackface photograph:
The Daily Barometer is the student-run newspaper at Oregon State University. A recent front page article showed a photograph of a white student in blackface. The article encouraged OSU students to “blackout” the football stadium.
Renee Roman Nose, an OSU student and frequent Daily Barometer columnist, wrote a column in response to the Barometer blackface photograph/article.
Unfortunately, the Barometer editorial staff/advisory board took umbrage with Renee’s column and have banned that column and any of her future columns from being printed in the student newspaper.
I found out about Renee’s column and sent her an email asking if I could post it on my blog. Renee’s response: “Please feel free to post it. It’s nice to know that there is freedom of speech at ericstoller.com! 
Renee’s column entitled, Blackface: It’s Just for Racists, is after the cut…
Pet spider
I have a pet spider. Bob the Spider has been outside my front door for at least a month! I even uploaded a video of Bob the Spider working on a web. It’s after the cut.
Check out the hi-res version of Bob the Spider now on my Flickr account…
A Vision of Students Today
via Digital Ethnography and the always hackable: A Collage of Citations.
This video was created by myself and the 200 students enrolled in ANTH 200: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, Spring 2007. It began as a brainstorming exercise, thinking about how students learn, what they need to learn for their future, and how our current educational system fits in.
