Archive for January, 2008
White privilege
My posts that have been tagged with the subject “white privilege” were visited several times (over 50 unique visits) by individuals who frequent the white supremacist website, stormfront.org. Due to the apparent popularity of the white privilege posts by white supremacists, I would like to take this moment to direct my new readers to an article on white privilege that was printed in the Oregon State University Daily Barometer.
White supremacists
Stormfront.org is a white supremacist/neo-nazi internet forum. This week, several people visited my website from a stormfront forum post that linked to my blog’s white privilege tag. Apparently, a white guy (that’s me) with Swiss-German ancestry who blogs about social justice caused several of their servers to melt.
I watched as more than 50 unique visits poured into my blog via the stormfront posting. By the way, the stormfront site is not a website to which people randomly surf. It’s not Amazon.com. The people who visited my blog were, in my opinion, frequent readers of stormfront postings.
Here are just a few of the places in the world that showed up in my web statistics…
Recipe – Chickpea and Spinach Soup

Chickpea and Spinach Soup serves 4:
Ingredients:
2 tsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 tsp.)
1/4 cup smooth natural peanut butter
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 oz. spinach, chopped (about 2 cups)
Dreaming is not enough
Video from Eugene, Oregon at a Martin Luther King Jr rally and march on January 21, 2008…
via Nezua
Providence, Rhode Island 12/07

These were all taken from inside a car on our way home from the RISD Museum.
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Now it isn’t easy to stand up for truth and for justice. Sometimes it means being frustrated. When you tell the truth and take a stand, sometimes it means that you will walk the streets with a burdened heart. Sometimes it means losing a job…means being abused and scorned.”
Martin Luther King Jr., “Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam”
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Sustainable Sandal Soles
Wendy received her sandals back from Chaco last week. It was the fourth time that she has had them re-soled. Inside with her newly soled sandals was a note from Chaco:
“Thank you for sending your Chaco sandals for repair. You join the thousands of people who take advantage of our on-site repair experts, a team that last year saved 13,270 pairs of sandals from an untimely visit to local landfills. By doing your part, you help us do our part to operate in the most environmentally sustainable way we can.”
Last summer, I purchased my first pair of Chacos. They are brilliant. I look forward to having them re-soled someday.
Reparations for Housing Discrimination
Study: Black Americans Should Get Reparations for Housing Discrimination
Historic housing and lending discrimination against black Americans has created a significant discrepancy in their overall wealth – a gap that may take reparations to close, according to research published by two Oregon State University faculty members.
Jonathan Kaplan, associate professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy, and Andrew Valls, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, published their study in the July issue of Public Affairs Quarterly. In the study, they argue for a shift from viewing reparations in the framework of slavery to emphasizing relatively recent housing discrimination practices which continue to put people of color at a disadvantage.
The average black American has only about 15 percent as much wealth as the average white American, even though black Americans earn about 60 percent as much as white Americans. And at every income level, white Americans have much more wealth than black.
Post = Book Chapter

My blog post on affirmative action was recently included as a chapter in a book. The book, “Issues That Concern You: Discrimination,” was published by Greenhaven Press in December, 2007. It is the first time that something that I have written has been published in a book. The book has a hardcover and yes, it is on my desk at this very moment! I am giddy with excitement.
The post (and now book chapter!) was originally written for an assignment in a philosophy class at Oregon State University. The class, Ethics of Diversity, was/is taught by Lani Roberts. I am grateful for everything that she has taught me. Thanks Lani.
More photos of Issues That Concern You: Discrimination are after the jump…
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