The date marking the birth of any nation is a cause for celebration.July 4, 2020, marked 244 years since the United States threw off the yoke of British colonization.The victors gathered in Philadelphia not just to celebrate but to write a constitution that institutionalized the democratic process.

The constitution reflected the historical period and included sacrosanct rights such as the Bill of Rights that has withstood the test of time.That would include freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to due process, and certain stipulations that were reserved for the states in the federal system.

The original constitution defined African Americans and indigenous Americans as three-fifths of a man.Only white men with property were given the right to vote.Property-less whites were initially excluded from the political process.

Many of the founding fathers were slaveholders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.Slavery was more widespread in the South but merchants in the Northern States were engaged in the slave trade as they owned many of the ships that transported Africans in the onerous Middle Passage.

Not every African who was captured made it to the Caribbean or to the United States.W.E.B. DuBois in his research estimated that millions of Africans died during the horrendous conditions during the Middle Passage, the voyage from West Africa to the New World.

Thomas Jefferson who served as Ambassador to France and as President of the United States had a long-lasting relationship with a female slave, Sally Hemmings, who became the mother of Jeffersons offsprings.Jefferson was not just a founding father but the author of the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal.

At the time of Americas independence and the writing of the constitution, not much of any discussion dealt with the contradiction of slavery and the notion of equality.

The crop that buoyed production in the West Indies was sugar and in the United States, the crop essential to early capital accumulation was cotton and less so, tobacco.

Dr. Eric Williams, the historian and former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago wrote the classic, Capitalism, and Slavery.

Williams thesis is that abolition that took effect in the Caribbean in 1833 had nothing to do with just humanistic efforts in the Mother country but was propelled that the capitalist developmental process which needed slavery in the early stages of capital accumulation, slavery was indispensable but as capitalism moved from mercantilism to industrial capitalism, free labor was necessary for further expansion.

Slavery became an impediment to the further development of capitalism in Britain and thus emancipation synchronized not with the weakened planter class but with the political hegemony of burgeoning capital industrialists.

In the case of the United States where industrial capitalism was concentrated in northern states, northern capitalists were willing to co-exist or look the other way on the question of slavery.Where the tension boiled over is on the question as to whether slavery would be allowed to expand to the western region and thus diminish the political influence of Northern states and expand the power of the slave states.

This contradiction of plantation slave labor and industrial capitalism with the need for free labor began exploding in the middle of the nineteenth century.

There is the saying that the unexamined life is not worth living.Normally this saying applies to individuals but it is also applicable to a nation-state. Often in a nation, extreme nationalism becomes the traditional line of march, and there is an absence of introspection.

Such reflex action of repeating ad nauseum about the greatness of the nation becomes more of a weakness than it is representative of strength. The boasting of American exceptionalism and that America is the greatest nation on the planet thwarts the developmental process.

What the movement Black Lives Matter is communicating not that just all lives matter but it is necessary for America to come to terms with slavery, with Jim Crow, with the Confederacy, and with systemic racism.That kind of intellectual honesty and introspection is essential to making America a coveted city on the hill.

Even after the thirteen amendments were incorporated into the Constitution, conventional historians like Ulrich Bonnell Phillips were writing works making the case that the slave system in America was comprised of the happy darkies.This falsehood was rejected by non-conventional historians like Herbert Aptheker, Eugene Genovese, Herbert Gutman, W.E.B. DuBois, and John Hope Franklin.

Slavery is by its very nature a vicious, exploitative, and malicious system.Despite its undemocratic nature, the sons and daughters of the confederacy were willing to wage a Civil War to preserve such an evil way of life.

Over 600,000 lives were lost in the bloody civil war yet when the remnants of the Confederacy were allowed back into the Union the Federal Government looked askance and allowed them to establish a system of racial dehumanization.

The Trump administration in celebrating Americas independence defines patriotism and the love of America in the most simplistic way possible.Even more frightening in celebration of 244 years of independence the focus was not on the humanity of the American people but on the arsenal of advanced weaponry that as a country we have assembled.

Trump engaged in typical intellectual dishonesty and defined the Black Lives Matter Movement as constituting folks who do not love America.

We have arrived at a momentous moment in American history that entails Truth and Reconciliation. There are times when a nation must fight in wars but a nation has to be mindful that it does not develop a praetorian culture that glorifies death and war and is oblivious to health care and a runaway pandemic as we are experiencing in the United States.

The country cannot deny the prevalence of systemic racism and police brutality.This entails intellectual honesty not the perpetuation of mythology.The country must learn from the Movement Black Lives Matter and put behind us the worst aspects of frontier capitalism.

See the original post:

The founding fathers and the fexing question of slavery | New York Carib News - NYCaribNews

Leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi embodied compelling visions of peaceful progress.

On Independence Day last weekend, we celebrated the unification of 13 former British colonies into an independent and sovereign nation.

The fateful moment is enshrined in a document, the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence.

This was a transcendent vision, a dream worthy of risking everything to achieve: Government by consent of those governed. It would take years to evolve the details and enshrine them in our national Constitution, and that quest has never ended.

As our nation matured, amendments and a body of interpretive law have documented the ongoing realization of that vision. In service of our vision we ended slavery, gave women the vote, and banned segregation. And were not done yet.

Great leaders come to embody transcendent vision. This week we celebrate Nelson Mandela. We credit him with leading South Africa out of apartheid. He was a man of character, conscience, and big ideas.

His life was one of service to humanity. He sought to bring people together, to find constructive solutions, to make peace. His power was not grounded in fear of his strength; he did not "speak softly and carry a big stick." He was not physically imposing. But he had vision and courage.

Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. also embodied compelling visions of peaceful progress. Their vision, like Mandelas, rallied millions to rise up in non-violent rebellion against things as they were. The dream of things as they could be inspired individuals to place themselves in harms way to make real the dream of freedom, dignity, equality and peace.

Newtowns Edward Hicks, a celebrated Quaker, was and is known by his paintings of a vision in which lions and oxen are at peace with each other. The paintings symbolize our aspiration to achieve a world where people no longer prey upon each other, where fear and violence are replaced by loving communities that resolve differences amicably.

Today, we face a deep rift in American society that is an affront to our national vision of equality and justice.

Each of us is confronted by the realization that all Americans do not share equally in the blessings of liberty.

Privilege is accorded to those who are raised with wealth, and especially to those who are born of wealthy white parents. As a nation, thats not our dream for America. It doesnt square with the example and teaching of any of our spiritual leaders.

We need to learn to wage peace. Waging peace starts with a vision that transcends our individual need for comfort and inspires us to take personal risks for the greater good. Peace is a neglected vocation. West Point and Annapolis teach the art of waging war, but nowhere do we have great institutions that teach us the arts of peace. Locals may point to Langhornes Peace Center, but you cant go there for professional credentials.

Learning to wage peace requires spiritual self-awareness. Certainly there are peace techniques, tactics and strategies. But these are not what empowered King, Mandela and Gandhi. These leaders possessed an inner guiding light. They acted with dignity and humility. They spoke of and served a vision that overshadowed their personalities a transcendent vision for humanity that called them to take risks and endure hardships.

Now, in these troubled times, each of us is called to examine what matters most and to ask, "What vision of America is bigger than I and more important than my life and my comfort? What social or political norms encumber me? What spiritual insights inspire me?

"How, with divine assistance, can I personally wage peace in service to my vision?"

Richmond Shreve is a member of the Newtown Friends Meeting and lives in Newtown. From a Faith Perspective is a weekly column written by members of local faith communities.

Read the rest here:

Faith: Visions of peace - Lifestyle - The Intelligencer

Updated: ASI divests from Boohoo with damning assessment of its response to slavery investigation

An Aberdeen Standard Investments fund that invests in UK companies with good employment practices is one of four responsible investment products that hold Boohoo, which now is under investigation for slavery in its supply chain.

Boohoos shares dropped 13.9% by midday Monday after The Times revealed over the weekend that UK workers were paid as little as 3.50 an hour to make clothes destined for the fast fashion business. The minimum wage in the UK for people over 25 is 8.72.

The National Crime Agency is now investigating modern slavery in the Leicester factories involved at the direction of the home secretary.

It is not the first time substandard working conditions have been exposed among Boohoos factory workers with a Channel 4 investigation in 2017 revealing similar findings.

See also: A global systemic issue: the risks of modern slavery

Boohoo is the largest holding in Lesley Duncans ASI UK Impact Employment Opportunities fund, which has an objective to investment in companies that promote and implement good employment opportunities and practices.

It represents 3.4% of the portfolio, according to FE Fundinfo. The IA All Companies fund launched in February 2018.

Several other Aberdeen Standard funds with broader responsible investment mandates also invest in the company: the ASI UK Ethical Equity fund, also run by Duncan (pictured), has a 4.7% allocation and the ASI UK Responsible Equity fund has 3.6%.

The Premier Ethical fund also has a 3% allocation to Boohoo, according to FE Fundinfo.

The ASI allocations come despite the fact Standard Life Aberdeen stated in its modern slavery statement that it could drive change by taking environmental, social and governance factors into consideration when investing.

An Aberdeen Standard Investments spokesperson said the business had been engaging with Boohoo on its supply chain management for some time and would be speaking to management in light of the slavery allegations to understand what action they are taking in response.

We continue to monitor the appropriateness of all the holdings in our values-led funds on an ongoing basis, the spokesperson said.

Premier Miton said it had been in contact with Boohoo and will assess their response.

See also: Will investors call time on fast fashion?

But the responsible investments are not the funds with the largest holdings.

The Merian UK Mid Cap fund has a 12.5% weighting while the Quilter Investors Equity 1 fund, also run by Merian, holds 11.2%. Merian UK Dynamic Equity holds 10.7%.

A Jupiter spokesperson, speaking on behalf of the Merian funds, said the company had done site visits to several of Boohoos UK suppliers and had been engaging with the company over supply chain management. We have been given strong assurances by management that any suppliers found to be in breach of the companys strict code of conduct will be terminated immediately and we will continue to engage with the firm regarding this situation.

Both Jupiters and Premier Mitons modern slavery and human trafficking statements focus on their own supply chain with no mention of the companies they invest in and therefore deem themselves low risk.

The Global Slavery Index, which Jupiter uses to determines the countries, goods and services most at risk of being involved in slavery, states 136,000 people in the UK suffer under modern day slavery.

See also: Investors lose patience over slavery in supply chains

By Jessica Tasman-Jones, 6 Jul 20

Read this article:

ASI exposed to Boohoo slavery investigation via ethical funds - Portfolio Adviser

The way we conduct ourselves and treat others has been thrown into sharp focus recently, due to the coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement.

So when you hear of vulnerable people being exploited in order to line the pockets of billionaires, it makes you sick to the core.

There were allegations this week that workers in garment factories that supply fashion chain Boohoo were being forced to come into work while sick with Covid-19.

Claims also emerged that they are paid as little as 3.50 per hour, and work in squalid and dire conditions.

It all came to light when Leicester was singled out to stay in lockdown because of a recent spike in Covid-19 cases.

The outbreak seems to be concentrated around the citys clothing manufacturing centre, where it is claimed many of the factories and workshops failed to properly shut down during national lockdown.

Local councillor Mustafa Malik said: Certainly, there are factories that abided by the regulations, but there were some which were just breaching all those rules.

Thulsi Narayanasamy, a labour rights researcher, investigated conditions in Leicester earlier this year and noted: Ive been inside garment factories in Bangladesh, China and Sri Lanka, and I can honestly say that what I saw in the middle of the UK was worse than anything Ive witnessed overseas.

Im particularly enraged by the fact that the majority of workers in this industry are of BAME backgrounds the most vulnerable to Covid-19.

They often live in multi-generational homes, so can easily pass on the virus to their loved ones, some of whom will have underlying health issues.

Campaign group Labour Behind the Label focused a recent report on Boohoos influence in Leicester, where 75-80 per cent of its garments are reportedly produced.

It is a national disgrace that vulnerable people are being paid less than the minimum wage while business owners such as Boohoos Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane have become billionaires by selling cheap fast fashion.

Ordinary people in the UK do not want to be associated with brands that ignore the welfare of workers and this was clearly demonstrated when 2billion was wiped off Boohoos value.

Thats what you get if you put profits before values.

Read more:

Saira Khan: It's time to stop the dreadful slavery to 3.50-an-hour fashion - Mirror Online

Editor's Note: This article is part of a series by The Cavalier Daily exploring a list of demands submitted to President Jim Ryans racial equity task force by a group of Black student activists and also a separate list of demands published by the Black Student Alliance. The full series of articles is linked below.

After gathering over 1,900 signatures from University community members and 180 signatures from student organizations on an initial draft of a letter and list of demands to be sent to University President Jim Ryan, a group of predominantly Black student activists submitted a revised statement and list of demands June 12 to the new racial equity task force recently formed by Ryan.

The group of students had initially published their statement and list of demands June 1 in response to a statement released May 31 by Ryan addressing nationwide protests in response to the murder of George Floyd and police brutality. In their response, the students expressed disappointment towards Ryans initial statement and called upon him and the University to not be complacent when it comes to fighting against systemic racism and inequality, which the University regularly fails to do.

Ryans initial statement released May 31 was met with criticism from community members for what they saw as its failure to sufficiently address the underlying causes of ongoing national protests. Ryan subsequently released a follow-up statement June 3 in which he recognized his previous statement as having been inadequate and announced the formation of a new racial equity task force assembled to address the growing list of recommendations, suggestions and demands regarding the subject of racial equity at the University. Based upon their findings, the group will present to Ryan in August a concrete and prioritized set of recommendations about the best steps forward, including actions that can be implemented right away.

The students list of demands is divided into 13 short-term, mid-term and long-term goals, including the following four mid-term goals and two long-term goals upon which have been elaborated.

MID-TERM GOALS

Replace the current implicit bias module offered to incoming students with a new module focused on the history of U.Va.:

In fall 2017, the University implemented a requirement for all first-years to take upon arriving on Grounds an implicit bias module, designed to make students aware of their own subconscious biases and prejudices. However, the student authors of the petition argue that the module is insufficient.

Frankly, from interacting with non-people of color on campus and white folks, I dont think that the [implicit bias training] is enough, said Sarandon Elliot, a rising fourth-year College student and one of the letters authors.

In lieu of the implicit bias module, the students call for complete engaging modules that present a nuanced detailing of the history of racism at U.Va. and that are focused on the macro and micro levels of racism as it pertains to systemic racism at the University and beyond.

In their list of demands, BSA also included the [expansion of] current curriculum and increase[d] funding of initiatives committed to combating racism.

Provide comprehensive anti-racism training for all residential advisors, senior advisors and Housing and Residence Life staff members:

The students call for not only the implementation of reading requirements for Housing and Residence Life staff members but also training for residential advisors to lead group discussions on cultural competencies and implicit biases. Furthermore, the students urge the Universitys administration and the Housing and Residential Life leadership to work to increase the amount of [Black, Indigenous, and People of Color] residential advisors and senior advisors on Grounds.

Currently, approximately 43 percent of residential advisors identify as white, 16 percent as Black, 18 percent as Asian American and 9 percent as Latinx. Among senior advisors, 44 percent identify as white, 12 percent as Black, 28 percent as Asian American and 4 percent as Latinx.

Elliot described how the University environment can be so overwhelming for Black students in particular.

The last place you want to feel like youre being judged or that you cant talk to anyone is when you go back to your dorm your home, she said. I think it would be really important for Black students to see another Black or Brown face and be like, I feel like I can speak to them about any issues I have.

Provide required, comprehensive programming at New Student Orientation regarding the Universitys history of slavery and racial injustice:

The students call upon the University to provide a comprehensive program to incoming first-year students known as Unpacking Privilege that would act as a crash course for students before later completing a more in-depth module on race and the University as highlighted in a previous demand.

Although the students recognize efforts made to make orientation the best experience possible, the students also argue that orientation programming is currently lacking dialogue of race and racism in order to gain a better understanding of place. The recommended curriculum for the crash course includes three sessions revolving around the history of slavery at the University, systemic racism and privilege.

I think that one of the biggest things with history is that it can be used as either a teaching tool or propaganda, [such as with] Confederate monuments, Elliot said. I think its really important to tackle [history] honestly.

New Student Orientation sessions for incoming first-year and transfer students will be conducted online, and programming will occur throughout July.

Among the Orientation Leaders working this summer, approximately 32 percent identify as Black, 24 percent as Asian American, 22 percent as white, 7 percent as Latinx and 5 percent as multiracial.

According to an email statement to The Cavalier Daily from Sarah Dodge, assistant director for Orientation and New Student Programs, their team take[s] a critical eye to [their] program each year and assesses how they have accomplished outcomes aligned with their three core principles of discovery, development, and diversity.

We acknowledge that context matters and that the individual stories of new students and their experiences matter, Dodge said. As an office we work to amplify the voices and stories of our new students. We aim to create an environment where new students can engage across differences and share their perspectives with one another.

Create more professorships, fellowships, and tenure-track opportunities for Black faculty entering the University and endow the Carter G. Woodson Institute, specifically the Fellowship program, and expand the Institute to occupy all of Minor Hall:

With regards to the number of Black faculty members at the University and resources for classes focused on Black politics and history, the two separate demands call for the University to increase the number of full-time, tenured Black faculty in all schools and for the establishment of an endowment for the Department of African American and African Studies, the Carter G. Woodson Institute.

As of 2019, there are 108 African American faculty members across all schools at the University, or about 3.7 percent of all faculty members. While the number of African American faculty members has increased in the past decade, their overall representation among all University faculty has only grown from about 3.5 percent in 2009 to 3.7 percent in 2019. While the University does not release specific data regarding the number of African American faculty members with tenure, people of color made up about 26 percent of all tenure and tenure-track faculty in 2019 as compared to 20 percent in 2015.

Amidst claims of potential racial bias and inconsistencies in the process, Assistant Curry School Professor Paul Harris was denied his chance at achieving tenure this past spring by the Curry School Tenure and Promotion Committee a decision which Harris, who is Black, appealed but was also denied by University Provost Liz Magill.

The students also ask for additional course opportunities for undergraduate students relating to the history of Black activism and Black politics at the University. During the fall semester, the University currently plans on offering about three dozen courses across several academic departments relating to a variety of historical, social and political topics relevant to African American and African studies.

For the Woodson Institute specifically, the students call for the establishment of an endowment as means of securing long term and consistent funding for the department and its endeavors, adding that similar endowments have already been created for other departments at the University such as the Department of Politics and the School of Music.

With regards to the physical space in which the Woodson Institute is housed currently occupying several office spaces in Minor Hall the students ask that the department be given the entirety of Minor Hall to better accommodate more space for additional faculty, fellowships, and professors.

The Institutes Pre and Post-11 doctoral Fellowship programs have produced over a hundred scholars who have gone on to be employed in many prominent institutions throughout the country, the demand reads. Thus, the Woodson Institute is a crucial source for the training and distribution of Africana Studies The current political climate has exposed the underlying presence of systemic racism and injustice worldwide. Therefore, now, more than ever, there is an increasing need for students to be equipped to facilitate conversations regarding race.

Elliot said that symbolic initiatives by the University to recognize its racist history such as the recently-completed Memorial to Enslaved Laborers are insufficient in addressing deeper, systemic racial disparities.

I think that U.Va. in particular has been trying to deal with their legacy of slavery on campus and the effects of it, Elliot said. When you look at higher ed in general, why is it that there are [fewer] Black and Brown professors? Its because of the legacy of slavery, its because of the legacy of Jim Crow its all built up on one another.

She added that current University leaders must take a meaningful role in addressing the current impacts of this legacy by actively supporting Black students.

Jim Ryan and the administration can build all the fancy monuments they want, but until they recognize that this is our legacy, and this is how we still continue to play into it today [through] not hiring Black faculty or not giving Black students voices and places to be creative and express themselves, [theyre] not supporting the Black community, and theyre a part of the problem, Elliot said.

The BSA statement also reiterates the longstanding demand for increasing funding for the Woodson Institute and African American and Afrian studies and programs at the University more broadly, including dramatic increases in Black, full-time faculty at the University that is at least proportional to the approximately six percent of Black students that currently make up the University population.

Established in 1981, the Woodson Institute achieved department status in the fall of 2017 after years of advocacy from members of the institute. At the time, Prof. Deborah McDowell, director of the Woodson Institute and Alice Griffin Professor of English, said she hoped that institutes new status would allow it to receive a greater budget allocation from the University to fund a graduate program and fellowships. By the fall of 2018, the institute had hired two new faculty members and observed substantial increases in enrollment for classes offered in the department. At that time, 56 students had declared a major in the department.

In 2018, the Woodson Institute had an annual budget of $1,378,442 and by 2020, it has grown to nearly $1.7 million a roughly 23 percent increase. By comparison, two other academic departments in the College that tend to offer classes relating to historical, social and political topics relevant to race relations and African American and African studies the Department of Sociology and the Department of History received $3,126,830 and $4,929,779 in 2018, respectively. In 2020, the History Department budget has grown by roughly seven percent to $5,284,480, while the Sociology Departments budget has increased by two percent to $3,174,784. For the 2019-2020 academic year, the College had a combined total of $381,435,265 at its disposal for covering its expenses.

Across the three departments, there were 66 tenure-track and general faculty members in August of 2017, increasing to 82 positions by August of 2019. In 2017, 11 of these individuals identified as Black of African American, increasing to 14 in 2020. It is unclear how many of these individuals have full-time tenured positions.

Prof. McDowell did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

LONG-TERM GOALS

Require all students to take a course on race and ethnic relations in America as a requirement to graduate throughout the University

The students argue that the incorporation of anti-racist teachings into University-wide curriculum requirements is fundamental to transforming the overall embodiment of the Universitys values because of the Universitys history and relationships with enslavement and Confederate values.

The students recommend the courses should be modeled after existing race and ethnic relations courses to avoid politicizing the content.

A lot of people at this school...dont know how race functions, and they dont know how to get uncomfortable about talking about race, said Lauren Cochran, a rising third-year Batten and College student and one of the demand authors. You really have to make sure that these people are educated before they graduate on race and ethnic relations.

With the Universitys transition to the New College Curriculum, most incoming first-year College students in the fall of 2020 will be required to take one two-credit course in each of the four Engagements, one of which is entitled Engaging Differences. According to information provided on the Colleges website, through the Engaging Differences courses, students can expect to consider how we encounter one another across social boundaries, perform and express our differences, clash, develop prejudices and construct forms of discrimination.

The other schools of the University do not have similar requirements for a course with an explicit focus on addressing prejudice and discrimination.

Cochran highlighted how students in all professions will encounter people of different races and therefore everyone should know what a microaggression or other acts of prejudice and discrimination might look like.

Scholarship programs specifically for students who are descendants of enslaved laborers who built the University and surrounding Charlottesville community:

Among the recommendations included in the Presidents Commission on Slavery and the Universitys 2018 report presented to then-President Teresa Sullivan was the creation of African American scholarship programs. The Commission asserted that, despite being barred by a 4th Circuit Court decision from using race as a factor in admissions, the University should still make a visible commitment to increasing the number of African American students who enroll.

In their statement, the students stressed that the University should not only contact already known descendants of enslaved laborers at the University to inform them of scholarship opportunities but also continue to seek out records of unknown descendants in order to inform them of the scholarship opportunities as well.

According to Elliot, this particular demand is significant because of the historical obstacles to education that Black people have faced in the wake of slavery and the Jim Crow era.

It wasnt until the summer of 1950 that the first Black student matriculated at the University. Gregory Swanson, a graduate of Howard Law School, applied to take graduate school law courses at the University but was denied. Swanson sued the University, and his case was successfully appealed in the US Circuit Court of Appeals thanks to the help of NAACP lawyers Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston.

Swanson dropped out in 1951, but in June 1953, Walter Ridley received a doctorate degree from the Universitys school of education, and one month later, E. Louise Stokes-Hunter became the second Black person and first Black woman to earn a degree at the University, also receiving a doctorate in education. In 1959, Engineering student Robert Bland became the first Black undergraduate student to earn a degree at the University.

To Elliot, creating scholarship programs for the descendants of enslaved laborers who built the University and were not paid for their labor is the least we can do for folks.

They never got those reparations, Elliot said. Their ancestors never got a paycheck. They couldnt send their kids to school.

With regards to shifting the broader culture at the University, Elliot emphasized that the students work on their statement and list of demands is a continuation of work done by previous students at the University.

People have been fighting this fight long before us, like BSA and Living Wage [Campaign], and I think there is still so much work to be done, Elliot said. Sometimes I feel like progress at U.Va. is almost like a facade, like were not really getting to the root issues of things.We dont want words. We want action.

The full series:

Go here to read the rest:

'We don't want words, we want action': Black student activists call for 'a comprehensive culture shift' at the University - University of Virginia The...

Whether or not you believe in making America great again, it's pretty clear right now that things, they ain't so great.

From a sputtering economy to burgeoning racial unrest, from a spiking pandemic (if you believe in that sort of thing) to a worsening climate (ditto), from our present-day divisiveness to our uncertain future, one can only wonder: how did it come to this?

The mess we're in now didn't start this year. And, believe it or not, it didn't start four years ago. No, today we're reaping a harvest of problems that have been swept under the rug for decades, if not centuries. And that rug is falling apart.

It took a long time to build up this country. Yet our efforts to tear it apart seem to be moving at a much faster pace. So how, you may wonder, does one destroy America? Here, then, is a primer on how to dismantle a nation in 12 easy steps:

Create the greatest country the world has ever known, but compromise on one key issue: slavery. And then allow the injustice that springs from that decision to continue to haunt the nation for the next two-and-half centuries.

Create a country built on tired, poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free, a system which works pretty well for the first 100 or so years, then spend the next 100 or so trying to figure out how to close the barn door a bit, and, finally, the last four unable to find a compromise between opening it up completely to let everyone in and building a wall across it to keep everyone out.

Defeat Germany and Japan in World War II. Then rebuild their countries. Keep South Korea from being overrun by the North. Then rebuild their country. Bolster up South Vietnam with billions in arms, material and cash. Then lose the entire investment. Invade Iraq. Then rebuild their country. Invade Afghanistan. Then spend the next 19 years rebuilding and policing their country. All this over the course of 75 years, while our own infrastructure slowly falls apart.

Allow more and more of the nation's wealth to trickle into the pockets of fewer and fewer people. Then establish laws to make sure it stays there. Put more and more of a tax burden on the middle class, forcing it to blame either the entitled rich or entitlements to the poor for its ever-diminishing slice of the American pie.

Cut pay and benefits of workers in the private sector to a minimum, all while compensating CEOs at a rate nearly 300 times higher than the wage of an average employee even when that company is losing money, downsizing or going bankrupt.

Create fabulous pay and benefits for workers in the public sector, along with mathematically unsustainable pension packages that will enable them to retire years earlier than their private-sector counterparts. Have circuit and state supreme court judges (who draw pensions from those same plans) uphold them as constitutionally inviolate.

Raise children to take great pride in their own uniqueness, but neglect to teach them humility. Shelter them from competition while praising them for mere participation. Above all, provide them with instant gratification for all their wants and needs. And then wonder why they turn on you when they become adults.

Ignore or ridicule any scientific explanation of how the increase in temperature, pollution and population is affecting the environment. Downplay this current pandemic thing as nothing more than the common flu. Dismiss mask wearing and social distancing as unpatriotic and stupid.

Create a culture of divisiveness that highlights only the differences between men and women, old and young, right and left, black and white, straight and gay and any other category that can be exploited. Dismiss the concept of "one nation, one people" as another relic of our failed past.

Judge those who came before us by today's standards without fully understanding their challenges. Rewrite the past without reading history. Preserve myths that are blatantly false. Condemn those who shouldn't be condemned; defend those who shouldn't be defended.

Allow political activity to be dominated by fringe elements from the far right and far left, and force the rest of the country to choose between one or the other. Label all Republicans as fascists and all Democrats as communists. Discourage any interaction between the two camps. Dismiss compromise as weakness.

Finally, utilize the greatest advances in history technologies raising science, medicine and communication to unimaginable heights merely to spread lies, rumors and cat videos via cell phone.

And it's those damn cat videos that will finally do us in.

Bill Wimbiscus is a former reporter and editor at The Herald-News.

View post:

How to dismantle an entire nation in 12 easy steps - The Herald-News

At this moment faculty, students, and administrators at our universities are busily meeting to discuss the renaming of buildings. At Emory in Atlanta, there is a call to rename Longstreet Means residence hall. The case against the name is this: Augustus Longstreet fought for the confederacy and Alexander Means supported the confederacy and wrote about his familys slaves in his journals. William & Mary has begun a working group of administrators, alumni, students, faculty and staff to develop principles on the naming and renaming of buildings, spaces and structures on campus. While these are new efforts emerging in the wake the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed, they are also part of an ongoing effort by universities to address the sins of the past.

In 2011 Emory made a very public apology for the universitys ties to slavery. Emory regrets both this undeniable wrong and the universitys decades of delay in acknowledging slaverys harmful legacy, then-President James Wagner said. In 2015 William & Mary worked in earnest to remove the most visible manifestations and iconography of the Confederacy from campus. Every version of the argument for redressing faults in the past takes a similar form (in President Wagners words): society must admit its mistakes [in the past] so it can deal with future challenges. Emory, Wagner says, must live by those words as well.

Emory and William & Mary are anything but unique in this ongoing process of atonement. Statues are coming down across the United States and in Europe. Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, the Confederate War Memorial in Dallas, Silent Sam in Chapel Hill have all come down, confederate flags are no longer welcome at state capitols and sporting events. To this we say: good riddance.

Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that students at the University of Wisconsin are calling for the removal of the Abraham Lincoln statue on the Madison campus. Not only did Lincoln lead the United States in a civil war against southern traitors and their slave economy, but the statue was paid for in part by freedmen, a celebratory dedication to a hero. At this moment, debate is swirling around the fate of a statue in Washington, DC. The statue depicts Lincoln holding a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. Kneeling at his feet is an unshackled black man. This week the Boston arts commission voted unanimously to remove a replica of the statue that stands in the Boston Common. What is the argument against the sculpture? Some say it diminishes the agency of black people in securing their own liberation. Others suggest it promotes white supremacy. Like the Lincoln statue in Madison, the Boston and DC statues were paid for by donations from freed slaves. When the statue was unveiled in 1876, Frederick Douglass delivered his most famous speech, the Oration delivered on the occasion of the unveiling of the Freedmens Monument. And if the Freedmens Monument is up for destruction, what do we do about Douglass himself? It was Douglass who, on his travels to Ireland to meet with the great abolitionist Daniel OConnell, came to the conclusion that the main cause of the extreme poverty and beggary devastating Ireland during the potato famine was Drunkenness. Even Douglass repeated the colonial powers racist rationale for dominating and starving a colonized people. If our monuments are memorials to moral purity, then our streets may end up very clean.

From the sublime heights of statue iconoclasm, to the more mundane business of commodity rebranding, name changes are under way for some commodity icons including Aunt Jemima, Uncle Bens, Cream of Wheat, Mrs. Butterworths. All of these products are in the process of a rebrandand of course a new rolloutin light of their dubious racial associations. Consider as well the fact that several Realtor groups are dropping the master bedroom and bathroom terms from their listings, and the owners of a popular Jewish deli will implement new training and have changed bagel names that referred to Black athletes and musicians on the menu.

No doubt every moment of protest and unrest is accompanied by confusion and mistakes as well as progress and success. Some of these actions are a long time in coming and bring about positive changes. Others, less so. But what we want to address here is the fact that all of them are politics in the symbolic register. Consider, for instance, the logic of Wagners claim; it is basic to every version of the naming controversy: society must admit its mistakes so it can deal with future challenges.The thought is right, but the logic is unclear.

We are inevitably invited to read it as saying white people must admit to their racist past and to their current (unconscious or institutionally supported) racist actions. The implicit claim that slavery is motivated by racism and that the problem is that white people have not taken responsibility for it.Whom does this mea culpa serve? Since virtually everyone in the audience for this statement, and those in support of renaming efforts, is certainly antislavery and antiracist (however imperfectly), there is a real danger that the aim of these efforts is to bask in our own disapproval of the past, to broadcast our superiority to past racists, while leaving unaddressed exploitation occurring in the present. This formulation misidentifies the historical wrong by substituting racism for slavery. It likewise substitutes whiteness, an ascriptive category, for slaveholding, which is an activity. Both moves render the actual historical wrong harder to see. What ends does this confusion serve?

"A symbolic politics has meaning of a certain kind, but no urgency.Scrubbing ignominious names off buildings is progress, but whatever symbolic efficacy it holds should not displace the immediate aim of confronting the exploitation that occurs within and around the walls of our newly named buildings."While the renaming campaign goes forward it might also be worth asking a few questions about actually existing minorities (so to speak)rather than the long dead racistsat our universities:Were your custodial and food-service staff paid a living wage before COVID?Did they receive good healthcare? And job protections? Were they paid throughout the shutdown?Will cleaning crews be supplied proper PPE, and a living wage, as they clean our classrooms every day? Did contingent faculty lose salary and healthcare to protect an endowment (or because an endowment was so heavily invested in risky, illiquid funds that the university suddenly experienced a cashflow problem)?These are the questions that determine who gets to put food on the table and whether the way they do it is fair to them and conducive to general wellbeing.

Adolph Reed Jr. reflected on the last round of monument controversy as it swept through his hometown of New Orleans. Reed was happy to see confederate monuments come down, but as he also observed, removing them is ultimately a rearguard undertaking and one entirely compatible with the dominant neoliberal ideal of social and racial justice. As in that earlier moment, so it is today that antiracist activists believe that struggle over symbolic residues of an obnoxious past can fuel or condense challenges to inequalities in the present. But if the aim is to address inequalities in the present, Reed writes, then it cant be the case that white supremacy was the problem. Rather, the monuments [themselves] were about legitimizing a social order by displacing its political-economic foundation and imperatives onto a celebratory narrative of white racial-cultural heritage. That being the case, then the antiracist critics todaythe ones in charge of the destruction and renaming processaccept that [legitimizing] narrative, that orders ideological halo, on its own terms and demand only that its nonwhite victims and opponents be acknowledged and celebrated instead in the interest of righting past wrongs at the level of symbolic recognition.

SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

Get our best delivered to your inbox.

The question were asking here is what kind of work is renaming doing and supposed to do? What aspects of racism and discrimination is it addressing, what does it exclude, and what do these controversies aim to exclude? Black people remain disproportionately exposed to the worst of capitalisms exploitation, so the real question going forward is will there be further exploitation or will there be fair labor practices?A symbolic politics has meaning of a certain kind, but no urgency.Scrubbing ignominious names off buildings is progress, but whatever symbolic efficacy it holds should not displace the immediate aim of confronting the exploitation that occurs within and around the walls of our newly named buildings.

What does symbolic politics distract us from? In spring 2010, students at Emory began raising concerns about contract labor, roughly 10 percent of the universitys total nonacademic workforce, while part-time employment is around 20 percent. In response, a Committee on Class and Labor was convened to study labor issues at the school. In its Report and Recommendations, the committee concludes that the challenge is to find ways to honor positive dimensions of class differencessuch as increased diversity of experience and backgroundwhile minimizing their inappropriate and unjust impact on the quality of our work life together. What could they possibly mean by positive dimensions of class difference? They can only mean what we think they mean: poverty is an identity, being rich is an identity, vive la diffrence. The point about class differenceversus race, gender, cultureis to get rid of it, not to celebrate it. But the report assumes class difference is intractable and recommends we combat an attitude rather than exploitation, focus on an identity rather than our policies.

When we turn to Appendix D, class difference is once again about money. There, employee compensation is broken out into segmentsminimum, maximum, and the deciles that separate the two. (Executive administrators are palpably absent from the data.) The weighted average minimum compensation figure is $23,510. The first decile is $26,246. A comparison between each segment and the Atlanta labor market follows, which shows that, while Emory stacks up against the local economy better the higher up the compensation scale one travels, it is roughly equivalent to the local labor market.

The problem is that Atlanta is the current and perennial champion of income inequality in the United States. Atlanta scored a Gini coefficient of 0.57 in 2018. A Gini coefficient of 0.0 indicates a perfectly even distribution of income; a 1.0 indicates a perfectly uneven distribution. The U.S. as a whole scored a 0.38 in the same year. Norway received a 0.25. Atlanta came in right between Namibias 0.55 and South Africas 0.58, among the countries studied the number one and number two most unequal countries in the world. To assuage fears that youre exploiting your workers by pointing to your parity with the wider Atlanta labor market is a sordid strategy. It is quite literally to reassure those protesting workers unfair compensation by saying its every bit as just as South African labor, and nearly as good as Namibian.

A few years after the 2013 study was submitted, the university reported on IRS forms 990 compensation paid to its vice president of investments and chief investment officer, Mary Cahill, of $1,750,936 (fiscal year 2016) and $3,300,143 (fiscal year 2017, which includes severance and other compensation in excess of base pay and bonuses). Assuming that the compensation of the least well-paid workers at Emory remained roughly flat between the report and fiscal year 2016, Cahills compensation was about 74 times that of the lowest paid workers. In 2017, the year of her windfall, its more like 140 times.

What came of the Committee on Class and Labors report? Its hard to say. It arose from students concerns about contract laborspecifically concerning the food-service contractor Sodexo. Sodexo was removed and replaced in 2015 by Bon Apptit Management Company. So how do things stand now under the new regime? Under Sodexo, with their historic commitments to union-busting and low wages, full-time workers still typically received 40 hours and overtime. Under Bon Apptit, as one cook described the new situation, They cut you off at 37 or 38 hoursthey make sure nobody works overtime. Bon Apptit management seemed to confirm the new reality. According to their communications director, while the company tries to give its full-time employees 40 hours per week, it must also focus on balancing the needs of our business. The general manager at the dining hall described the reduced hours as an effort to provide staff with a sustainable lifestyle. According to Bon Apptits mission statement, they aim to provide sustainable foods, a mission that is apparently made possible by the enforcement of a sustainable lifestyle among their employees on the floor. A healthy lifestyle that does not include benefits, overtime, or a living wage.

Sean Connelly, CEO of ConAgra, the company that owns the Mrs. Butterworths brand, one of the consumer products undergoing a precipitous rebranding campaign, made about $14.4 million in 2019, which is about 550 times what a laborer at ConAgra makes. Thats much worse than Cahills multiple of 140, but its the same order of magnitude. Of course, if we wanted to calculate the multiple using the compensation of a Bon Apptit worker, the task would be of a different kind. Apparently, even the Bon Apptit worker doesnt know what the months wage will be.

Why do we bring up these facts and figures? Because they describe a problem to which our symbolic politics offers not a solution but an alternative. No one had to protest to convince Connelly that Mrs. Butterworths needed a rebrand. Whoever made that decision understood it was about selling a product, and not about improving the lives of its employees.

No one can right the wrongs perpetrated in the past. At best, we can revise the way we represent our relation to them. What we can set right is the injustice committed here and now.

View post:

Take It Down!: Symbolic Politics Is Just That - Common Dreams

London, July 5

A clothing factory named Jaswal Fashions based in the eastern England city of Leicester faces a modern slavery investigation after an undercover reporter alleged sweatshop-like conditions and below minimum wage payments to its workers, many of them from India.

According to The Sunday Times, its undercover reporter found that workers were being paid as little as 3.50 pounds an hour as against the UKs legal minimum wage of 8.72 pounds an hour and was also operating last week during the localised coronavirus lockdown imposed on the city.

Wont tolerate labour exploitation

The allegations are truly appalling. I will not tolerate sick criminals forcing innocent people into slave labour and a life of exploitation. Let this be a warning to those who are exploiting people in sweatshops. Priti Patel, UK Home Secretary

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel described the allegations as truly appalling and commended the undercover investigation for its role in uncovering such abhorrent practices. I will not tolerate sick criminals forcing innocent people into slave labour and a life of exploitation, said Patel. Let this be a warning to those who are exploiting people in sweatshops like these for their own commercial gain. This is just the start. What you are doing is illegal, it will not be tolerated and we are coming after you, she said. Last week, the senior Cabinet minister had directed the UKs National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate modern slavery allegations in Leicesters clothing factories after alarm was raised that they were a key source of the spike in coronavirus infections in the region, which led to Englands first localised Covid-19 lockdown for the city.

Within the last few days NCA officers, along with Leicestershire police and other partner agencies, attended a number of business premises in the Leicester area to assess concerns of modern slavery and human trafficking, the NCA said, which is looking into the undercover reports.

The newspapers undercover reporter spent two days at Jaswal Fashions, a factory which supplies garments to one of Britains fastest-growing online retailer Boohoo. PTI

Go here to read the rest:

UK clothing unit with Indian workers faces slavery probe - The Tribune

UNDER the rubric of Black Lives Matter (UK limited) it is time that the objective of the discourse and movement is swiftly moved on from felling statues and begins to confront the political, moral and historical consequences of the terrible reality of West Indian enslavement.

Caricom, the 20-member association of Caribbean states (all but two, Haiti and Suriname, were former British colonial territories) have since 2104 submitted a 10-point reparations programme to the EU and specifically the UK Government.

Before laying out the details of the Caricom document that needs much greater popular support, allow me to indulge my personal/political reflections.

My partner of 40 years from Barbados can trace her mothers family back to enslavement (but not yet to Africa), all of whom either as chattle-slaves or low-wage labour worked the land on a Drax plantation in St John, Barbados. The Drax family, through James Drax, was the first to introduce chattel African enslavement in 1650 in Drax Hall, Barbados.

READ MORE:Gerry Hassan: A Scottish Border or a Great Divide?

His brother William established a huge slave property in Jamaica, again Drax Hall, while Henry Drax (an 18th-century MP for Dorset) established the St John plantation. The Drax family had a keen interest in protecting the West Indian plantocracy with a very long line of members of parliament. Indeed Richard Drax currently sits on the family seat in Dorset as a backbench Tory member. Some statues live.

Barbados is per capita one of the worlds centres for diabetic amputations after centuries of harmful diets of heavily imported salted fish, starches and sugar. My partners mother, a wonderful woman who after years of night school left the fields, lost half a leg (below the knee) and her left foot. Aunt Shirl went blind and lost both legs. The grandmother who helped raise my wife was wheelchair-bound for more than 30 years. My partner, with hypertension, had a triple bypass three years ago and my eldest son is already a diabetic. I want to expose these details so that when the 10-point declaration is raised, in which the Caribbean public health crisis is brought up, be assured black lives do matter.

Point five of the Caricom Reparation Commission declaration states: The African descended population in the Caribbean has the highest incidence in the world of chronic diseases in the forms of hypertension and type two diabetes. This pandemic is the direct result of the nutritional experience, physical and emotional brutality, and overall stress profiles associated with slavery, genocide, and apartheid.

Over 10 million Africans were imported into the Caribbean during 200 years of slavery. At the end of slavery in the late 19th century less than two million remained. The chronic health condition of Caribbean blacks now constitutes the greatest financial risk to sustainability in the region. Arresting this pandemic requires the injection of science, technology, and capital beyond the capacity of the region.

There is so much more. Below is a summary of the proposals submitted

and asserts that these several actions could constitute crimes against humanity.

The Caricom Reparation Commission asserts that European governments:

l Were owners and traders of enslaved Africans and instructed genocidal actions upon indigenous communities

l Created the legal, financial and fiscal policies necessary for the enslavement of Africans

l Defined and enforced African enslavement and native genocide as in their national interests

l Refused compensation to the enslaved with the ending of their enslavement

l Compensated slave owners at emancipation for the loss of legal property rights in enslaved Africans

l Imposed a further 100 years of racial apartheid upon the emancipated

l Imposed for another 100 years policies designed to perpetuate suffering upon the emancipated and survivors of genocide

l And have refused to acknowledge such crimes or to compensate victims and their descendants.

READ MORE:Revealed: Scottish landowners bid to shoot more birds to save salmon

Some of us may still need reminding of the atrocities and injustices perpetrated in the Caribbean.

When Columbus found the archipelago (and the figures are only for the island chain) there was an estimated 4 million Taino, Carib or Arawak indigenous people . By the time Cromwell sent in his troops in 1665 there were an estimated 2.5 to 3 million (Caricom figures). Today there are less than 30,000 across the 30-plus island archipelago.

Caricom estimates an approximate total of 10 million Africans were imported as enslaved labour in around 200 years. At Emancipation in the 1830s (later in French territories and Cuba) the figure was less than two million. More precise figures for Barbados indicate a total African population of 660,000 (from 1650 -1807) with 84,000 left in 1834. That is genocide in Holocaust dimensions.

This long Caribbean (the sea of the Caribs) chapter in European history with Spain in the vanguard followed by France, England then Scotland, Wales and Ireland joining in plus Denmark, and The Netherlands all have to answer to history and begin the process of healing. Scotland, with a historically long list of around 30 major enslavement investors and another several thousand second-tier participants, will need to address the Caricom concerns.

There are challenges to overcome. Why should we socialise the blame and reparations when it was private gain that lead the charge, supported by pro-enslavement Westminster Governments?

When enslavement has to be compensated in some form, what about shameful imperial commercial activity in other distant parts of the Empire? There is quite a catalogue.

While Scotland seeks its own road to some form of anti-imperialist sovereignty it must come to terms with its own historic commercial imperialism.

Thom Cross

Carluke

See more here:

Reparations must be made for the toxic legacy of West Indian slavery - The National

We hear a lot about modern slavery these days, but what does it actually mean?

Well, a fly-on-the-wall documentary following police in Derby last week gave a telling insight. The inspector leading a 'multi-agency initiative' appeared to suggest the term applied to anybody paid below the minimum wage. Now that may be wrong and illegal, but it's not slavery as most people understand it.

The officer said anyone charging less than 7 to wash a car was viewed with suspicion. Which I guess means bob-a-job week has gone by the board.

He added that it was difficult making charges stick as many workers were quite content earning 45 a day, and didn't want to put their jobs at risk. So why is this a police matter?

Now I'm sure modern slavery exists, and should be dealt with seriously. But the police surely have more pressing things to do than checking pay rates at car washes.

Which brings us to the officers from Staffordshire Police who, on receiving complaints about unruly behaviour and criminal damage by travellers in Great Wyrley, did they (a) investigate the allegations, and arrest those involved, or (b) escort them to a school playing field in Willenhall where they caused more trouble?

I guess that's what they call 'neighbourhood policing' pass the trouble onto your neighbours up the road.

Like many people, I joined in with the weekly 'Clap for Carers' at the height of the pandemic. But I'm afraid I gave Sunday night's applause to mark the 72nd anniversary of the NHS a miss.

It's one thing showing our appreciation for all the NHS workers who put their lives on the line to help others, as well as all the medical staff and care workers outside the NHS. But standing on your doorstep to applaud the birthday of a government institution? That feels just a little authoritarian, a bit 'Soviet Union' for my tastes. What next cheering the completion of a five-year plan?

Arboricultural genius Rishi Sunak, whose cultivation of The Magic Money Tree has proved more fruitful than anyone could have imagined, has just grown another 1.57 billion to support the arts. Some of this will be handed out to theatres and concert halls, so that they can afford to stay shut.

Great news for Wolverhampton Civic. Just a shame they didn't start it five years ago.

And yes, you did hear that right. The Chancellor really is doling out 10 vouchers to anybody who fancies a cheap meal down the pub. What next? Free champagne flutes at every petrol station? Green Shield stamps?

And there is still the small matter of us supposedly being in the middle of an obesity epidemic.

Of course, none of this is really free, we will all have to pay for it one way or another. Still, Rishi might as well have gone the whole hog. And delivered his 'Summer Statement' in a gold lam suit.

Continue reading here:

Mark Andrews on Saturday: There's no such thing as a free lunch, Rishi - expressandstar.com

Outside Princeton Universitys Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 2015.(Dominick Reuter/Reuters)Erasing all memory of our founding principles would pave the way for a socialist future.

Princeton Universitys decision to remove the name Woodrow Wilson from its School of Public and International Affairs is a big win for progressive activists, and the implications will extend far beyond the campus.

It hardly surprises me, in todays polarizing environment, that my alma mater caved to pressure from radical progressives. What is surprising, however, is that the school caved now, after resolutely standing against the pressure for so many years.

Five years ago, as part of a broader nationwide effort to rewrite American history, Princeton students mounted a campaign to remove President Woodrow Wilsons name from the school because of his racist views and his efforts to prevent the enrollment of black students. In response, the Board of Trustees formed a committee to review the matter. The following year, the board released a report detailing how to handle President Wilsons legacy.

The 2016 report drew this important conclusion:

The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Woodrow Wilson College should retain their current names and . . . the University needs to be honest and forthcoming about its history. This requires transparency in recognizing Wilsons failings and shortcomings as well as the visions and achievements that led to the naming of the school and the college in the first place.

How refreshing a recognition that the school should be honest and forthcoming about its history and employ a sophisticated approach to reconciling Wilsons moral failings with his accomplishments for the university.

Princetons own statement tacitly acknowledges the key factor here. It was not the name Woodrow Wilson that was under attack; history itself was the target. As we see across the nation, progressives now use Alinsky tactics on history itself. Saul Alinskys formula of picking a target, freezing it, personalizing it, and finally polarizing it is no longer reserved for living people; historical figures and even episodes in history receive the Alinsky treatment.

Back in 1852, Daniel Webster delivered a speech to the New York Historical Society, on the importance and dignity of history. The dignity of history, he orated, consists in reciting events with truth and accuracy. History is unapologetic in its presentation of facts. History demands that we examine facts and incidents that make us uncomfortable. Such study challenges us, inspires us, and serves as a call to action in our own lives. The progressive pressure campaign is not about progress. Rather, it is an attempt to erase parts of history leftists do not like. This is a slippery slope, as many left-wing activists are even attempting to tear down statues of Abraham Lincoln, the president who ushered in the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves.

History, it turns out, is little concerned with our comfort level.

In the speech, Webster also explained that historys main purpose is to illustrate the general progress of society. History and progress are inextricably linked. History tells the story of progress, and progress is possible by studying history and, in some cases, learning from past mistakes.

What the Princeton incident reminds us of, however, is how little progressives care for progress. They are unable to recognize the progress the university has made, which the school noted in its 2016 report, in rejecting Wilsons racist policies and championing the enrollment of black students. Former first lady, Michelle Obama, a Princeton graduate, frequently cites her experience at Princeton as an empowering opportunity one that was possible only through the schools progress.

How do we celebrate Americas accomplishments if we do not acknowledge where we started?

The Princeton name change is part of a larger movement of destruction. As Americans watch in horror and disbelief while statues, national monuments, and even war memorials are removed and defaced, we are left to wonder: What is the end goal of all of this destruction? When will it stop?

Elihu Yale, an early benefactor of Yale University, actively participated in trading slaves, including purchasing and shipping slaves to the English colony of St. Helena. American universities are littered with this type of racism: William Marsh Rice, the Lowell family of Boston, Thomas Jefferson, and Jesuit priests in Maryland all used the profits derived from slave labor to build some of the most prestigious universities in the country. Will tearing down these institutions achieve progressives goal?

Will changing a colleges name or removing the statue of a Founding Father change a Klansmans deeply held racist beliefs? Will erasing certain books and movies from our public lexicon truly change the hate in someones soul? These changes might appease progressives for now, but their goal is much larger.

In my forthcoming book, The Capitol of Freedom: Restoring American Greatness, I explore this very topic. Progressives are determined to destroy not just statues, but historical memories, because they know American history is incompatible with their goals. Americas founding documents, and even the stories behind the statues in the U.S. Capitol building, tell the story of American greatness and offer a roadmap for us to renew our commitment to our founding principles.

Slavery is a dreadful part of our history. Despite what progressives say, the abolition of slavery occurred because of, not in spite of, our history and foundation. A nation that was formed with liberty as the chief objective of government was on the right path. The 19th century improved what the 18th century got horribly wrong, and the 20th century continued to build upon the 19th centurys advancements. With each century that passes, we move toward a more perfect union. That is progress.

From its founding, our nations history is the story of individual freedom and personal responsibility, with limited government as a means for accomplishing both. Our Constitution simultaneously protects individual liberty and thwarts the progressive agenda. Progressives are constantly frustrated in their attempts to remake America into a socialist and godless society because of our Constitution. Is it any wonder that they devote so much of their energy to undermining, subverting, and circumventing the Constitution?

Progressives know that what can be erased can be replaced. Knocking down statues and removing names of institutions are the necessary first step in reshaping Americas future.

For Americans hoping to stop the progressives destruction, Princeton provides the answer. No, not the Princeton of 2020 with its disappointing decision to abandon Woodrow Wilsons name, but the Princeton of 2016 that recognized the importance of being truthful about our history.

In our fight against the progressive agenda, our history is not only what we seek to protect it is also our primary weapon.

Read the rest here:

Why Progressives Wage War on History - National Review

A care home manager - whose reaction to Boris Johnson's comments on the sector were quoted in the Commons - has invited the Prime Minister to "come and apologise" to staff at her facility.

Debbie Adams called the PM a "joke"after the prime minister suggested too manycare homesdid not properly follow procedures during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Johnson has since avoided apologising for his comments, despite coming under sustained criticism during Prime Minister's Question on Wednesday.

Speaking to ITV News, Ms Adams said: "I think the prime minister needs to apologise.

"I'd invite him down to come and apologise to my staff - definitely."

She added: "He needs to actually try to make right what he said.

"If we go back to the words that he said, that 'we didn't follow procedure'... Really Boris Johnson?"

The care home manager said the sector adhered to the guidance the government gave them, but criticised it for "not knowing what the procedure was".

After Mr Johnson stopped short of a full apology in the Commons, Ms Adams branded the PM "very insincere" adding: "My staff are absolutely fuming and I don't blame them they've worked very very hard."

Care home manager Debbie Adams says the PM 'blamed the care homes'

Earlier on Wednesday, the Prime Minister dodged requests from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to backtrack on his criticism of the social care system.

Sir Keir said: On Monday, when asked why care home deaths had been so high the Prime Minister said, and I quote, too many care homes didnt really follow the procedures in the way that they could have.

That has caused huge offence to frontline care workers.

"It has now been 48 hours.

"Will the Prime Minister apologise to care workers?

Mr Johnson provided a carefully worded response to Sir Keir, but stopped short of saying sorry for his remarks.

The last thing I wanted to do is to blame care workers for what has happened or for any of them to think that I was blaming them because theyve worked hard, incredibly hard, throughout this crisis, looking after some of the most vulnerable people in our country and doing an outstanding job," Mr Johnson replied.

And as he knows, tragically, 257 of them have lost their lives.

And when it comes to taking blame, I take full responsibility for what has happened.

Mr Johnson was pushed by Sir Keir to reverse his comments about those working in a sector which has undergone a tough time during the pandemic.

Sir Keir added: By refusing to apologise the prime minister rubs salt into the wounds of the very people that he stood at his front door and clapped.

The prime minister and the health secretary must be the only people left in the country who think they put a protective ring around care homes.

"Those on the front line know that wasnt the case.

After Sir Keir quoted a frustrated care home manager interview by ITV News, Mr Johnson told the Commons that the government appreciates the incredible work of care home workers before pledging to reform the sector.

'A joke': Watch care home manager Debbie Adams' reaction to Boris Johnson's comments

The Prime Minister said he hoped it would be on a cross-party basis to which Sir Keir agreed, although noted: His government has been in power for 10 years with no plan no White Paper.

"Of course well join in plans for reforming social care but 10 years wasted.

Sir Keir Starmer said more than 19,000 care home residents have died from Covid-19, adding: Overall around one in 20 care home residents are estimated to have died from the virus. Its chilling.

These are extraordinary numbers but the prime minister has consistently ducked responsibility for this.

"Will he accept it isnt care workers who are to blame, its his government?

Boris Johnson accused the Labour leader of reading out pre-prepared questions, adding: Ive made it clear this government takes responsibility for everything that weve done throughout this crisis.

Sir Keir said the PM continues to insult those on the frontline by not taking these issues seriously, before adding huge mistakes have been made.

He went on: The decision to discharge 25,000 people to care homes without tests was clearly a mistake.

"Will the Prime Minister simply accept his government was just too slow to act on care homes?

Mr Johnson said the understanding of the disease changed dramatically over recent months and defended the governments action plan.

In other matters raised, Labours Anna McMorrin questioned the PM on the issue of modern slavery in fast fashion clothing factories.

Ms McMorrin said: I am shocked and angered at workers in UK clothing factories like Boohoo being paid a mere 3.50 an hour and being forced to work in totally unacceptable conditions.

In the 21st century there must be no room for exploitation and modern slavery, we must call time on fast fashion for the sake of people and our planet.

So my question is simple what will the Prime Minister do about it?

Mr Johnson replied: First of all it is this Conservative Government that set up laws against modern slavery, its this Conservative Government that massively increased the living wage, not only instituted the living wage, but massively increased it.

And we would hope that it would be the Labour mayor of Leicester who would stand up for the interest of the workforce in his community and thats what we will do.

Read the original:

Care home manager invites Boris Johnson to 'come and apologise to my staff' over comments | ITV News - ITV News

Fimbel moved here in 2007. She has been a vocal advocate for measures to end de facto school segregation.

WILMINGTON -- More than a century after the 1898 Massacre, during which a mob of white supremacists overthrew the biracial government and murdered dozens (perhaps more) of Black residents, some argue the Black community has never fully recovered from the damage it did and the inequality it enshrined in Wilmingtons way of life -- inequality that they say remains in the DNA of the citys institutions and culture.

G.K. Fimbel Fimbel moved here with her family from the Washington, D.C., area in 2007. She has children in New Hanover County Schools and has been a vocal advocate for measures to end de facto school segregation.

This is what she had to say about where things currently stand for Black residents in Wilmington, and what needs to happen to make Wilmington more inclusive.

What are your thoughts about the current state of Black people living in Wilmington?

The African-American community here is an incredibly tenacious, resilient, resourceful group of people. They have endured generational trauma and violent assaults on their dignity since before 1898 and many years after.

The other way to answer that question speaks to the past and present conditions that our country and community have imposed upon African-Americans. Are they given access to true equality? How has our city reckoned with violent crimes and transgressions against them? How are we restoring what is broken? Unfortunately, I think the answer to those questions is that we have not done enough to usher in justice and restoration.

Over the past 25 years, Wilmington's population has grown and overall prosperity has increased. How have Black residents fared during that time?

Ask the child still plagued to live in substandard housing even though their parent is working a 40-hour a week job at minimum wage. Ask the child whose closest park is poorly maintained and whose facilities are denigrating. Ask the child who is criminalized and arrested at school. Ask the child in fourth grade why she was asked to role-play slavery, including shackles and punishment, in a classroom full of white peers. Ask the hundreds of children who are disproportionately suspended at higher rates for the same behaviors as white children. All of these children, and more, could answer this question much better than I could. My privilege, including the color of my skin, shields me from many of these things.

As a white person, what do you sense has gotten worse for African Americans here?

It has always been bad for Black people as well as other people of color in America, so I can't say that anything has gotten worse. White supremacy is a gas that runs through different engines but continues to fuel racism. There has been a movement in Wilmington, thankfully, exposing the 1898 coup. But it was certainly not the singular act of violence against Black people in our country or city. I recently heard that white people are lucky that Black people are seeking justice and not revenge, and it resonated with me. The violence that white people have committed against Black people in this country is long and harsh.

What has gotten better?

I am hopeful that our honesty about racial injustice will propel us to a better way. Speaking truth is always powerful, and we need a complete transformation in this area. I should not have been in my 30s, learning the truth about Christopher Columbus for the first time. We have to teach real history, even though it may be painful. Black history is so much more than a story of struggle; Black history is a story of resistance, overcoming, and thriving in the face of brutal odds. We need to tell those stories. We also need to tell stories about the white people who stood with them in the fight for freedom. They did exist, and we have to stop absolving white people from responsibility because "it was just the time they lived in." That's bologna. I have ancestors who enslaved other human beings, but I also have ancestors who fought against it and broke ties with our family because of it.

----------

[Editors note: To read what others had to say about whether Wilmington can again become a place for Black opportunity, click here.]

Ready for full coverage of Southeastern North Carolina? Subscribe to the StarNews

Reporter Scott Nunn can be reached at 910-343-2272 or Scott.Nunn@StarNewsOnline.com.

Read more from the original source:

G.K. Fimbel: We have to teach real history, even though it may be painful - Asheboro Courier Tribune

Modern-day slavery is not new, it has been happening in UK cities for years, and around the world. In fact, it is estimated that there are at least 40.3 million people worldwide are currently in enslaved, which is more than those exploited by the transatlantic slave trade.

The second lockdown in Leicester, as a result of the rising number of Covid-19 cases, revealed that during the lockdown, a textile factory or sweatshop continued to operate and exploit workers by paying them as little as 3.50 an hour.

The majority of those trapped in modern slavery endure appalling conditions, threats to their safety, restrictions on their freedom, and intimidation. In 2018, for example, modern slavery raids in Newham, Ilford and Barking revealed people living in highly overcrowded situations. 22 people were discovered living in a small, terraced house in Ilford. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committees 2019 report, Fixing Fashion: Clothing consumption and sustainability, reported the problem in Leicester stating: Leicester has the second-highest concentration of textile manufacturers in the country with 700 factories employing 10,000 textile workers. Unite the Union said that while the majority of the factories are compliant, there are a small number of factories which break the law to maximise profits.

For decades, various industry sectors have been a source of modern-day slavery, from the once-thriving rag trade in Brick Lane where Bangladesh garment workers worked in small dangerous factors for pittance, to current barbershops in Brent. In February this year, the Metropolitan Police investigated reports of human trafficking after concerns were raised about workers in barbershops in London. After visiting addresses in Brent, Barnet and Harrow, the suspected victims were taken to a receptions centre for support and medical treatment.

The pandemic has only further thrown light on a matter that has always been there, so why is it still happening?

Some people may ask why these people do not reach out for help. The simple answer is that they are afraid. Many of them have been lured to the UK under the promise of a better life than they have back home, dangling carrots of employment, money, food and accommodation. If they speak out, then they risk being sent back to a situation that may not be much better than that which they are currently enduring. Sometimes, the workers are driven into debt, hence tightening their employers hold over them.

The Salvation Army website shares victims stories, such as that of Ferda, who was trafficked to the UK from the Czech Republic after ending up on the streets following his wifes death. When he arrived in the UK, he was told that he had to pay back the cost of his travel, so most of his wage paid off his debt and the cost of his accommodation. He said: I was working 12 hours a day, six days a week for very little. When he was no longer able to work because of ill health, he was evicted and left on the streets.

As Christine Jardine, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson quite rightly said: "We have to be on our guard to ensure that the inexcusable scourge of modern slavery does not grow under cover of COVID-19. Sadly, as job losses due to the crisis mount, more and more people may be forced [to] accept underpaid jobs in unsafe conditions to avoid complete destitution if we do not act.

Celebrities, such as Kylie Jenner, who has been accused along with her sister, Kendall Jenner, of not paying Bangladesh factory workers during the pandemic (claims they strongly deny), should condemn modern-day slavery. These recent accusations aside, this isn't the first time one of the Jenners has been asked to handle the issue of modern slavery more sensitively, most notably after Kylie Jenner threw a Handmaids Tale themed party.

Consumers also have a responsibility not to support modern-day slavery. If, for example, you are buying a top for under 5, there is a high probability that it was made in a sweatshop.

NCA has launched a touring photographic exhibition which aims to portray the signs of slavery and exploitation. Entitled Invisible People, the exhibition will tour the country as part of the National Crime Agencys campaign to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking.

National Crime Agency

Child trafficking for sexual exploitationTraffickers use grooming techniques to gain the trust of a child, family or community. The childrenare recruited, transported and then sold for sex, often returning to their homes immediately afterwards, only to be picked up by the same people again. This is happening here in the UK, to migrant and British-born children.Spot the signs of child trafficking:Often, children wont be sure which country, city or town theyre in.They may be orphaned or living apart from their family, in unregulated private foster care, or in substandard accommodation. They may possess unaccounted-for money or goods or repeatedly have new, unexplained injuries.

National Crime Agency

Some workers in the farming sector, harvesting grains or root vegetables, tending livestock or fruit picking, are being exploited every day in the UK.Victims of this crime in the agricultural sector are often Eastern European men and women, who were promised a job by traffickers, or they could be individuals on the fringes of society, homeless or destitute. Through threats, violence, coercion or forced drug and alcohol dependency, theyre enslaved, working for little or no money, living in squalid conditions having had their identity documents taken from them.Spot the signs of exploitative labour in agriculture:Agricultural slaves often have their wages paid into the same bank account, meaning an illegal gangmaster is likely collecting all their wages.Exploited agriculture workers often dont have suitable protective equipment, working instead in cheap sports clothing and trainers, and dont have a different change of clothes from day-to-day.

National Crime Agency

Polish or Slovakian men are brought to the UK with the offer of employment and, after arrival, gangmasters seize documents, opening multiple bank and utility accounts in their names butrefuse to handover access to the accounts or bank cards. Hours are long and the work is gruelling and dangerous. Workers are abused and are controlled by threats of harm to their families at home.Spot the signs:Those exploited wear inappropriate clothes and often no safety gear despite working with dangerous and life-threatening equipment. They may often have untreated injuries and be refused medical attention, and will live and work in agricultural outhouses.

National Crime Agency

Labour-intensive sectors like construction, where temporary and irregular work are common, are high-risk sectors for forced labour. With new homes, offices and buildings being constructed or upgraded in great quantity, labour exploitation is the second most common type of modern slavery, after sexual exploitation.Spot the signs of exploitative labour in construction:Exploited workers are often not provided with protective clothing or equipment, and may show signs of abuse or carry old untreated injuries.Slave workers are also likely to work extremely long work hours for six or seven days a week without any leave.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: I wanted this image to communicate that despite being forced to live, eat, wash and sleep where theyre working, in cramped and unhygienic conditions, that there is a human instinct to domesticate. I wanted to show how there is still hope and dignity in the most squalid and difficult of circumstances.

National Crime Agency

In the tough maritime industry young men, often Filipino or Indian, Eastern European or African, are promised a better life, but instead find themselves in a cycle of debt and exploitation.Unable to read, they are offered a job, given papers to sign and begin working on a trial-basis, only to be told they have failed and owe money, and have to work more to settle the debt. They may be forced to work for long hours in intense, hazardous and difficult conditions.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: In the 80s, Chris Killip published a series of images called In Flagrante, and these images were at the forefront of my mind while composing this shot. I wanted to show the utter desperation of these men - how passed their limit they are. The broken floats and the entire decaying environment around him, I saw as a metaphor for his existence.

Rory Carnegie/National Crime Agency

Each year, women from across Eastern Europe and West Africa are lured to the UK by the dream of a better life. Whether by fake migration services or unscrupulous individuals who befriend and then betray them, women fall into a dark spiral of sexual exploitation and forced, unpaid prostitution, unable to escape.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: What I really wanted for this image, was to depict how women are used as commodities, the complete control slavery has over them the helplessness of having to sit and wait for man after man, until no more men arrive. I wanted the image to show how lonely and eventually numbing that experience is, and for that ugliness to be contrasted against the bright blue of the wig a fancy dress item that we would usually associate with a fun event but here is used as a disguise, perhaps of her own identity to herself - to further emphasise how unjust the situation is.

NCA

The cannabis industry hides a dark secret in the house next door. Gangs bring young boys to the UK from countries like Vietnam and deliver them to a house where, once in, they wont be able to leave. Forced to tend cannabis plants that fill specially rigged houses, the boys are often locked in and forced to work, sleep and eat in one confined and dirty room. The chemicals used on the cannabis are poisonous, and often victims dont know where they are or how to get help if they do escape. The eyes, ears and compassion of the local community are essential.Spot the signs:Aside from the strong and prolonged smell of cannabis, have you noticed a house that looks unusual? Are the windows covered or usual entry points blocked? Buildings might be over-heated in very cold weather is the roof without frost, because the house is being kept warm to grow plants

National Crime Agency

Some workers in the farming sector, harvesting grains or root vegetables, tending livestock or fruit picking, are being exploited every day in the UK.Victims of this crime in the agricultural sector are often Eastern European men and women, who were promised a job by traffickers, or they could be individuals on the fringes of society, homeless or destitute. Through threats, violence, coercion or forced drug and alcohol dependency, theyre enslaved, working for little or no money, living in squalid conditions having had their identity documents taken from them.Spot the signs of exploitative labour in agriculture:Agricultural slaves often have their wages paid into the same bank account, meaning an illegal gangmaster is likely collecting all their wages.Exploited agriculture workers often dont have suitable protective equipment, working instead in cheap sports clothing and trainers, and dont have a different change of clothes from day-to-day

National Crime Agency

Spot the signs of forced prostitution:Victims of this type of crime might appear withdrawn or scared, avoid eye contact, and be untrusting. Poor English language skills could indicate exploitation because it suggests someone else must be arranging the work. A brothel is likely to be an average house on a normal looking street, but may have curtains which are usually closed and many different men coming and going frequently.

National Crime Agency

Spot the signs of exploitative labour in the maritime sector:Victims might appear withdrawn or frightened, often unable to answer questions directed at them or speak for themselves,. They might be afraid of authorities like police, immigration or the tax office, and may perceive themselves to be in debt to someone else. They may not have been given proper protective equipment so can suffer illness or injury.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: Throughout the series of images, I wanted to juxtapose the harshness of the lives of slaves against bright primary colours colours we traditionally associate with happiness or a feeling of wellbeing to provoke a reaction. The image, as rich as it is, communicates how completely uncomfortable this person is. I wanted to show how his body is not his own, and how he has no right to avoid hardship, avoid the ice, or wear better shoes, he is utterly controlled.

Rory Carnegie/National Crime Agency

Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: This image communicates utter exhaustion and dejection. We can see how dire his situation is. He has no protective gear on, and we can see the extreme tiredness that leads him to a place of anxiety and distraction, where he doesnt care about whether hes operating machinery safely, or putting himself at risk.

National Crime Agency

The exhibition comprises a series of large, freestanding cubes displaying images capturing snapshots of life within different types of modern slavery - in agriculture, construction, maritime, cannabis farming and food processing, child trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced prostitution.Each image comes with written commentary describing what the viewer is seeing, and information about signs which may indicate someone is a victim.

National Crime Agency

NCA has launched a touring photographic exhibition which aims to portray the signs of slavery and exploitation. Entitled Invisible People, the exhibition will tour the country as part of the National Crime Agencys campaign to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking.

National Crime Agency

Child trafficking for sexual exploitationTraffickers use grooming techniques to gain the trust of a child, family or community. The childrenare recruited, transported and then sold for sex, often returning to their homes immediately afterwards, only to be picked up by the same people again. This is happening here in the UK, to migrant and British-born children.Spot the signs of child trafficking:Often, children wont be sure which country, city or town theyre in.They may be orphaned or living apart from their family, in unregulated private foster care, or in substandard accommodation. They may possess unaccounted-for money or goods or repeatedly have new, unexplained injuries.

National Crime Agency

Some workers in the farming sector, harvesting grains or root vegetables, tending livestock or fruit picking, are being exploited every day in the UK.Victims of this crime in the agricultural sector are often Eastern European men and women, who were promised a job by traffickers, or they could be individuals on the fringes of society, homeless or destitute. Through threats, violence, coercion or forced drug and alcohol dependency, theyre enslaved, working for little or no money, living in squalid conditions having had their identity documents taken from them.Spot the signs of exploitative labour in agriculture:Agricultural slaves often have their wages paid into the same bank account, meaning an illegal gangmaster is likely collecting all their wages.Exploited agriculture workers often dont have suitable protective equipment, working instead in cheap sports clothing and trainers, and dont have a different change of clothes from day-to-day.

National Crime Agency

Polish or Slovakian men are brought to the UK with the offer of employment and, after arrival, gangmasters seize documents, opening multiple bank and utility accounts in their names butrefuse to handover access to the accounts or bank cards. Hours are long and the work is gruelling and dangerous. Workers are abused and are controlled by threats of harm to their families at home.Spot the signs:Those exploited wear inappropriate clothes and often no safety gear despite working with dangerous and life-threatening equipment. They may often have untreated injuries and be refused medical attention, and will live and work in agricultural outhouses.

National Crime Agency

Labour-intensive sectors like construction, where temporary and irregular work are common, are high-risk sectors for forced labour. With new homes, offices and buildings being constructed or upgraded in great quantity, labour exploitation is the second most common type of modern slavery, after sexual exploitation.Spot the signs of exploitative labour in construction:Exploited workers are often not provided with protective clothing or equipment, and may show signs of abuse or carry old untreated injuries.Slave workers are also likely to work extremely long work hours for six or seven days a week without any leave.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: I wanted this image to communicate that despite being forced to live, eat, wash and sleep where theyre working, in cramped and unhygienic conditions, that there is a human instinct to domesticate. I wanted to show how there is still hope and dignity in the most squalid and difficult of circumstances.

National Crime Agency

In the tough maritime industry young men, often Filipino or Indian, Eastern European or African, are promised a better life, but instead find themselves in a cycle of debt and exploitation.Unable to read, they are offered a job, given papers to sign and begin working on a trial-basis, only to be told they have failed and owe money, and have to work more to settle the debt. They may be forced to work for long hours in intense, hazardous and difficult conditions.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: In the 80s, Chris Killip published a series of images called In Flagrante, and these images were at the forefront of my mind while composing this shot. I wanted to show the utter desperation of these men - how passed their limit they are. The broken floats and the entire decaying environment around him, I saw as a metaphor for his existence.

Rory Carnegie/National Crime Agency

Each year, women from across Eastern Europe and West Africa are lured to the UK by the dream of a better life. Whether by fake migration services or unscrupulous individuals who befriend and then betray them, women fall into a dark spiral of sexual exploitation and forced, unpaid prostitution, unable to escape.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: What I really wanted for this image, was to depict how women are used as commodities, the complete control slavery has over them the helplessness of having to sit and wait for man after man, until no more men arrive. I wanted the image to show how lonely and eventually numbing that experience is, and for that ugliness to be contrasted against the bright blue of the wig a fancy dress item that we would usually associate with a fun event but here is used as a disguise, perhaps of her own identity to herself - to further emphasise how unjust the situation is.

NCA

The cannabis industry hides a dark secret in the house next door. Gangs bring young boys to the UK from countries like Vietnam and deliver them to a house where, once in, they wont be able to leave. Forced to tend cannabis plants that fill specially rigged houses, the boys are often locked in and forced to work, sleep and eat in one confined and dirty room. The chemicals used on the cannabis are poisonous, and often victims dont know where they are or how to get help if they do escape. The eyes, ears and compassion of the local community are essential.Spot the signs:Aside from the strong and prolonged smell of cannabis, have you noticed a house that looks unusual? Are the windows covered or usual entry points blocked? Buildings might be over-heated in very cold weather is the roof without frost, because the house is being kept warm to grow plants

National Crime Agency

Some workers in the farming sector, harvesting grains or root vegetables, tending livestock or fruit picking, are being exploited every day in the UK.Victims of this crime in the agricultural sector are often Eastern European men and women, who were promised a job by traffickers, or they could be individuals on the fringes of society, homeless or destitute. Through threats, violence, coercion or forced drug and alcohol dependency, theyre enslaved, working for little or no money, living in squalid conditions having had their identity documents taken from them.Spot the signs of exploitative labour in agriculture:Agricultural slaves often have their wages paid into the same bank account, meaning an illegal gangmaster is likely collecting all their wages.Exploited agriculture workers often dont have suitable protective equipment, working instead in cheap sports clothing and trainers, and dont have a different change of clothes from day-to-day

National Crime Agency

Spot the signs of forced prostitution:Victims of this type of crime might appear withdrawn or scared, avoid eye contact, and be untrusting. Poor English language skills could indicate exploitation because it suggests someone else must be arranging the work. A brothel is likely to be an average house on a normal looking street, but may have curtains which are usually closed and many different men coming and going frequently.

National Crime Agency

Spot the signs of exploitative labour in the maritime sector:Victims might appear withdrawn or frightened, often unable to answer questions directed at them or speak for themselves,. They might be afraid of authorities like police, immigration or the tax office, and may perceive themselves to be in debt to someone else. They may not have been given proper protective equipment so can suffer illness or injury.Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: Throughout the series of images, I wanted to juxtapose the harshness of the lives of slaves against bright primary colours colours we traditionally associate with happiness or a feeling of wellbeing to provoke a reaction. The image, as rich as it is, communicates how completely uncomfortable this person is. I wanted to show how his body is not his own, and how he has no right to avoid hardship, avoid the ice, or wear better shoes, he is utterly controlled.

Rory Carnegie/National Crime Agency

Photographer Rory Carnegie, said: This image communicates utter exhaustion and dejection. We can see how dire his situation is. He has no protective gear on, and we can see the extreme tiredness that leads him to a place of anxiety and distraction, where he doesnt care about whether hes operating machinery safely, or putting himself at risk.

National Crime Agency

The exhibition comprises a series of large, freestanding cubes displaying images capturing snapshots of life within different types of modern slavery - in agriculture, construction, maritime, cannabis farming and food processing, child trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced prostitution.Each image comes with written commentary describing what the viewer is seeing, and information about signs which may indicate someone is a victim.

National Crime Agency

Although we live in an era of disposable fashion, it is not just cheap brands, but designer brands who are exploiting people for financial gain. Women and girls comprise 71 per cent of all modern slavery victims and, shockingly, children make up 25 per cent and account for 10 million of all enslaved peopleworldwide.

So, the next time you pick up a beautiful item of clothing, ask yourself, Was this made by an enslaved person?

We can all do something to help.

Rabina Khan is a Liberal Democrat councillor for Shadwell in Tower Hamlets Council

If you suspect that someone is being trafficked, you can call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700 or visit the Anti-Slavery website for advice and a list of other helpful phone numbers

Excerpt from:

Modern slavery is operating in plain sight. If our leaders wont shoulder the burden, we have to - The Independent

The statue-toppling Black Lives Matter mob is on a revisionist rampage. Even abolitionists are starting to show up on its s-list.

According to BLM and its Woke mob pals, Martin Luther King had it all wrong.

Skin color is indeed grounds for judging a person's character.

So even the statues of Lincoln and Grant who won the Civil War and ended slavery must come down. They were white guys, you see. And skin color not only counts, it's an essential criterion.

So then, who's to be next on the angry mobs' ever-expanding s-list?

The likely candidate: the Democratic Party.

Right now the party is pleased to have BLM function in effect as its political shock troops.

Let the Woke revolutionaries raise holy hell, until a weary populace decides that things are out of and concludes that Trump's gotta go. That seems to be the Democratic Party game plan.

But revolutions check out the French and Russian ones tend to seek out new foes and to start finding them within their own ranks.

This being so, it's only a matter of time before BLM and the Woke gang turn their righteous ferocity on the Democratic Party. For it's an unavoidable historical fact that the party carries in its very bloodstream the dread virus of racism. "Systemic racism," you might say. You can look it up in the history books.

The Woke revolutionaries' in fact have already started to turn on the Democratic Party. The neo-Taliban iconoclasts have shifted their attention from obscure Confederacy statuary to a previously revered founding father of progressivism none other than President Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson was the very personification of high-minded liberalism, with his PhD, his pince-nez spectacles and his Princeton University academic perch. But suddenly the Woke mob is bent on mounting his intellectual egghead noggin atop a pike.

Wilson's name has been moved to the "most wanted" spot on the PC orthodoxy s-list. That he championed the eight-hour work day and additional pay for overtime is not likely to save his skin now.

The Ivy League professoriate has taken note, if a bit belatedly, that Dr. Wilson aside from his voluminous good works in the cause of domestic reforms and international peace was really no better than a bible-and-gun-clinging deplorable when it came to race relations.

It remains a matter of curiosity why it took the sages of academe an entire century to take note of Wilson's conspicuously unenlightened attitudes toward

African Americans. Maybe that curiosity will serve as grist for future doctoral theses.

In any event, the man who won the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the League of Nations, forerunner to the United Nations, and who led America triumphantly through the monarchy-smashing era of World War I, is now regarded in bien-pensant circles as little more than a bookish version of Donald Trump.

It's too late to force old Woodrow to apologize, to resign and slink off into disgraced oblivion. But it's not too late to throw a rope around his statues wherever they're found and pull 'em down, to give the author of "New Freedom" and "Fourteen Points" a valedictory along the lines of that given to Saddam Hussain's sculptural likeness when Baghdad fell.

In the new estimation of the Woke revisionists, Wilson, despite his hoity-toity airs the man once taught ancient Greek and Roman history at the fancy ladies' college, Bryn Mawr was really of the same ilk as those smelly Walmart shoppers, same ilk as those plebes with mere voc-tech high school diplomas.

Therefore, Princeton will have to be scrubbed of all imagery linking itself to the man who was once the school's president and governor of New Jersey. His snooty elitism was always acceptable, but not, ultimately, the part of his snootiness that manifested itself in racial superciliousness.

The truth is that Wilson's racial snootiness was the single and lone quality that gave this haughty progressive any claim to being a man of the people. With that gone, there's no saving his legacy now.

But wait. Speaking of racism racism being very loosely defined, as it always is nowadays then what about Princeton itself? Might not the university have to be toppled like a horse-mounted Jeb Stuart sculpture on some Deep South courthouse square?

How many black kids were ever admitted to Old Nassau's hallowed halls? How many even today? Do not the answers to those two questions give off the telltale odor of the ubiquitous racism that, according to the New York Times, festers at the nation's rotten core?

Indeed, might it not be said consonant with today's rhetorical themes that the elite university's history fairly exudes an exclusionary stink indicative of white- supremacist, academic apartheid?

If that is a somewhat exaggerated assessment, do not today's rules of public discourse allow, indeed encourage, the accommodation of such over-inflated hyperbole?

What's more, Wilson may be the least of Princeton's problems. There's the university's most distinguished alumnus, James Madison Father of the Constitution.

Although Madison recognized slavery as a blight that must be terminated, eventually, he nevertheless owned slaves himself. His papers show that he once sold a batch of them to raise funds to cover unanticipated household expenses.

According to the dictates of Wokeism, this historical fact must now totally define Madison to the exclusion of everything else he did. Never mind his authorship of the

Bill of Rights and co-authorship of the Federalist Papers. Madison's gotta go, too.

Come to think of it, Madison's slavery connection makes it sounds like Princeton U. would be an ideal candidate for the privileged white snots of Antifa to set up an "autonomous zone" and occupy it until the school agrees to redistribute its massive endowment riches to the cause of slavery reparations.

But even the dismantlement of Princeton looks to be only a first step on the long journey to racial justice. The road on that journey leads no avoiding it to the elimination of the Democratic Party itself. For, you see, the party and racism are inextricably entangled.

The party's founding presidential candidate, Andrew Jackson, despite his populist sympathies for the little man and his heroic military actions preserving the existence of the young United States, was a slave owner, too. Case closed against him. Down with Old Hickory! Erase his offensive mug from the $20 bill!

But how do you throw out Jackson without also jettisoning the party he founded and long personified? It's not as if, regarding dubious views on race, Jackson and

Wilson were Democratic Party outliers.

The PC propaganda sessions that now pass as history classes in our schools don't go near the subject, but an unenlightened attitude where race is concerned has been the recurring leitmotif of the Democratic Party throughout its history.

Democrats were the driving constituency behind secession and creation of the Confederacy. They were the political constituency that waged a Civil War not only in defense of existing slavery but in support of its westward expansion.

Thwarted in that goal, an entrenched faction of the party proceeded, post war, to wage a long rear-guard action in opposition to civil rights.

To this end, Democrats founded the Ku Klux Klan. All through the last four decades of the 19th Century and the first five decades of the 20th Century, a powerful faction of congressional Democrats the "Dixiecrats" resisted even legislation aimed at eliminating the scourge of racial lynchings, forget about civil rights.

All of the memorable and powerful black-harassing segregationists were Democrats. All of them. Every last one. Bull Connor. Orval Faubus. George

Wallace. Lester Maddox. Democrats all.

To note this, let us hasten to say, is not to try to sneak in a good word for the GOP.

While fraudulently posing as advocates of mom-and-pop free enterprise, that party has long been the political toadies of powerful transnational corporations, of resourcefully contrived legal entities that have more allegiance to the bottom line than to America that have, as a matter of fact, refused to open board meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance out of fear of offending, say, the Politburo overlords of China with whom they have profitable business arrangements.

Decades ago the Republican Party morphed into a party of surreptitious agendas including, for example, "free trade" arrangements that disassembled U.S. factories and reassembled them abroad to take advantage of cheap labor.

The GOP also morphed into the party that on the sly favors open-door immigration to bid down wages. And it morphed into the party that favored disastrous military meddling in distant squabbles of marginal concern to Americans.

Ironically, there were certain Swamp Democrats who, in a spirit of bipartisanship, found none of this particularly objectionable, for example ahem Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump was the politician who tore up this script, which fact surely accounts for at least some of the establishment-ruffling hysteria he arouses.

Aside from all this, the Republican Party has over the years been perfectly content to ignore African Americans and, whether out of racism or (more likely) out of indifference, to concede the Black vote to the other party as its captive constituency.

Apart from forfeiting an entire racial constituency, Republicans find themselves at a further tactical disadvantage. They're no competition for Democrats when it comes to stirring up envy and resentment and offering voters utopian visions of the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Democrats have long excelled at promising freebies for all, leaving dyspeptic Republicans grumping that their rich pals might get stuck paying the bill.

Taking into full account the GOP's agenda and attitude, African Americans' lockstep political support for the Democratic Party becomes a somewhat less baffling phenomenon. Still, there's no denying the Republican Party its noble historical legacy regarding matters racial noble at least in comparison to the other party.

The GOP was the party that opposed slavery, or at least opposed its westward expansion. The party was founded with that single objective as the reason for its establishment.

The GOP was the party of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment. The Democratic Party was the party that opposed all of these, that fought against them tooth and nail.

When Lyndon Johnson became president upon John Kennedy's assassination, he departed company with his old segregationist Democratic buddies on Capitol Hill and introduced the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. His old buddies, however, stood firm against the legislation.

The measure was rescued from defeat when Republicans rallied behind it and delivered the votes necessary for passage. In the House, 60% of Democrats voted against it, in contrast to nearly 75% of Republicans who voted for it. In the Senate, 46% of Democrats voted against the historic bill, in contrast to 78% of Republicans who supported it.

The Democratic senators who stood firm against the Civil Rights Act constituted a Who's Who of the nation's political luminaries. They were the Democratic poobahs who chaired the powerful committee fiefdoms and held the key party leadership posts.

They included the likes of Sen. William Fulbright, D-Ark., foreign policy intellectual, proof that erudition does not always preclude the ignorance of bigotry. To keep himself in office, Fulbright, boyhood idol of Bill Clinton, voted consistently segregationist.

Opponents of the Civil Rights Act also included Sen. Robert Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, a man who entered politics via the Ku Klux Klan, attaining the rank of

Exalted Cyclops before, decades later, belatedly renouncing the organization. His half-century long service in Congress was fulsomely hailed by such colleagues as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Joe Biden.

Other staunch foes of the Civil Rights Act included Sen. Al Gore Sr., Tennessee Democrat, father of Al Gore Jr., and Sen. Sam Erwin, North Carolina Democrat, later to become a heroic figure of the Nixon impeachment.

Filling out the phalanx of civil rights opponents were the Senate's most powerful Democratic bosses Richard Russell, Ga.; George Smathers, Fla.; Russel Long, La.; James Eastland, Miss.; John Stennis, Miss.; Strom Thurmond, S.C. (who later changed parties to Republican), and Harry Byrd, Va.

If iconoclasm is to be the BLM rule of the day, surely this list of Democratic worthies offers plenty of statues, busts and portraits as targets. And surely the list offers up the Democratic Party as a juicy target itself for having surrendered the moral high ground for more than a century to those who maintained that the words of the Declaration of Independence the words that all Americans are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness did not apply to Blacks.

The Woke vandals, BLM and others, have instead targeted a statue of Republican Theodore Roosevelt, first president to invite a Black man to the White House as a dinner guest, a gesture that rippled through the ranks of the Democratic Party as a ghastly scandal.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd, the one-time Exalted Cyclops, could all by himself keep the BLM's idol-topplers busy fulltime. As chairman of the Senate's appropriations committee barony, he funneled more than $1 billion of pork into his home turf.

Now bearing the old Cyclops' name are the Robert C. Byrd Highway, the Robert C. Byrd Bridge, the Robert C. Byrd Auditorium and National Conservation Training Center, the Robert C. Byrd High School, the Robert C. Byrd Greenbank Telescope, the Robert C. Byrd United Technology Center, the Robert C. Byrd Bio-Technology Science Center, the Robert C. Byrd Cancer Research Center, the Robert C. Byrd Library and so on and so on.

How long can the Democratic Party keep itself off of BLM's s-list? The guess here is surely not much longer.

Follow this link:

Provocations: Who's next to fall to BLM's wokeism? (DAVE NEESE Column) - The Trentonian

Aberdeen Standard Investments has divested from Boohoo in its responsible investment funds describing its response to allegations of slavery and poor conditions within its supply chain as inadequate in scope, timeliness and gravity.

Boohoo came under fire last weekend after an undercover investigation fromThe Times revealed workers at one Leicester factory were being paid as little as 3.50 an hour, less than half the minimum wage for workers over 25 years. Several days earlier, areport raised concerns Leicester factory conditions were putting workers in the Boohoo supply chain at risk of Covid-19 infection.

Its suppliers now under investigation by the National Crime Agency for modern slavery under orders from the Home Office.

The ASI UK Ethical Equity, UK Responsible Equity and UK Impact Employment Opportunities Equity funds were all were revealed to hold the fashion brand.But ASI revealed on Friday that these funds began selling out of Boohoo last week and were fully divested by Thursday afternoon.

The Boohoo share pricefell 43.2% to 219.2p in the three days following The Times investigation with Next and Asos announcing they had ceased distributing Boohoo items. But the share price rebounded substantially on Thursday and had hit 308p by Friday morning.

Premier Miton, the only other responsible investment fund in the Investment Association universe with exposure to Boohoo, has also removed the company from its Ethical fund in light of the controversy.

See also: Boohoo shines spotlight on fast fashion in funds peddled as responsible investments

ASI deputy head of UK equities Lesley Duncan (pictured) gave a damning assessment of Boohoos response to the labour scandal.

Having spoken to Boohoos management team a number of times this week in light of recent concerning allegations, we view their response as inadequate in scope, timeliness and gravity, Duncan said.

We strive to use our influence as significant investors to achieve progress. In instances where our standards have not been met, divestment is both appropriate as responsible stewards of our clients capital and aligned to our goal of investing for better outcomes.

ASI invested in the company at IPO, at which stage it passed its ethical screens, but it had become disillusioned with progress being made on ESG issues in the last few weeks,Duncan said.

An Aberdeen Standard Investments note examining the ESG case around Boohoo from March said the company had given it reassurance around the level of auditing within its Leicester factories. It noted its intention to visit the factories later in the year.

The note concluded ASI was encouraged by progress Boohoo had made during the engagement process. We believe that it will be rewarded in the long run by delivering on its aspirations of being a leader in sustainability.

The divestment from responsible investment funds come as Boohoo tries to rebuild its reputation with investors and consumers.But not everyone was put off investing in the company.

On Monday, in the immediate aftermath of the The Times investigationJupiter topped up its position from 9.62% to 10.12%.

Jupiter is one of the companys biggest shareholders due to punchy holdings across a number of funds including Richard Watts Merian UK Mid Cap fund and Luke Kerrs UK Dynamic Equity fund, which both hold weightings over 10%.

Following conversations with management about its strategy, the fund manager decided to top up the position based on share price weakness, a Jupiter spokesperson said. We will continue to engage with the business regarding the ongoing investigation.

In a regulatory filing issued on Wednesday morning, two days after Jupiter started buying into the share price dip, Boohoo announced it had launched an independent review of its supply chain, committed 10m to eradicate supply chain malpractice and accelerated an existing independent review into its third party supply chain. Boohoo said it had not found evidence of workers being paid 3.50 but had found other evidence of non-compliance with our code of conduct and terminated contracts with two suppliers.

The terms of reference for Boohoos independent review, which is being led by Alison Levitt QC, will be published in late July. It will update investors on its supply chain review in September and January.

By Jessica Tasman-Jones, 10 Jul 20

Read the original here:

ASI divests from Boohoo with damning assessment of its response to... - Portfolio Adviser

Spinney Hills and North Evington in Leicester are like many other British inner-city areas: terraced-housing, a multicultural population, various religious buildings. Like these other areas, they suffer from deprivation. But unlike, say, Brixton in London, Handsworth in Birmingham, or Longsight in Manchester, Spinney Hills and Evington offer residents opportunities for employment in locally-owned businesses. This is because Leicester has a long and continuous history of involvement in the textile industry. Once a powerhouse of British industry during the Industrial Revolution, the textile industry has remained strong in the city throughout the 20thCentury. Now, many smaller, locally-owned businesses have become integrated into the fast-fashion industry, with factories providing clothes for major online retailers.

That isnt to say that these employment opportunities are good, or even safe. Indeed, as recent events in the city have demonstrated, many of these jobs are highly dangerous. The BBC writes: Textile factories in Leicester have come under the spotlight after the government said it was "concerned" about working conditions in the city.

Some employees told the BBC they worked throughout lockdown for less than minimum wage in conditions where it was "impossible" to stay safe, saying they felt they had no other choice.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday he was "very worried about the employment practices in some factories" and Public Health England (PHE) said the combination of living and working conditions in the east of the city will have likely contributed to the high numbers there.

The factories in question are suppliers to online fashion retailer, Boohoo. The company is aimed at a young market, and belongs to the fast-fashion sector; where clothes come in and out of fashion much more rapidly than the traditional seasons, and new styles and lines are constantly marketed to create new demand. For example, at the beginning of lockdown, Boohoo began aggressively marketing (and developing) new lines of pyjamas, which were marketed as chic indoor clothes products. Local paper, The Leicester Mercury, comments: Management at the Boohoo fashion giant have said they are grateful to the Sunday Times for highlighting alleged sweatshop conditions at a Leicester factory apparently making items for it. The Manchester-based online retailer has been hit by suggestions that suppliers to it in Leicester were paying workers below the minimum wage - and making staff work through the lockdown.

The development has had a major impact on the city, with Leicester being placed under lockdown once again. Not only does this fit a wider trend of Coronavirus outbreaks in Europe occurring in deprived areas, it raises some serious questions about employment practises. Bloomberg writes: The continents latest string offlare-ups are now occurring in some of [the]most deprived neighbourhoods, often those inhabited by minorities or immigrants who work in low-paidjobs that arecrucial to buttressing the economy.

Questions have also been raised about the prospect of modern slavery taking place in these factories: The visits were from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), Leicestershire Police, Leicester City Council, National Crime Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue and Immigration Enforcement.

In a statement to theManchester Evening News, the GLAA said: "No enforcement has been used during the visits and officers have not at this stage identified any offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.""

What constitutes slavery, however?The incidents thus far do not appear to involve forced labour, or human trafficking; but perhaps there is a grey area between slavery and precariousness. This grey area, called exploitation, is exactly what has happened at the Leicester factories: people in need of work, with little social and union protections, being made to work for less than minimum wage during a health crisis. Reports of intimidation and threats against workers speaking out have also occurred.

Furthermore, the cases raise major questions about why these people have not been protected by the government, or through social safety nets with adequate welfare. We may also find it worthwhile to question the nature of our industries and economies, with some sectors relying on exploitation.

There are many areas like Spinney Hills and North Evington in the UK and Europe. How many similar cases will we see in the near future.

Image by jotoler

Read the original:

Coronavirus highlights exploitation in the UK - Fairplanet

In light of recent allegations of slavery, low pay and worker mistreatment at fashion giant, Boohoo, many people are now looking to shop more ethically.

Owner of brands like Nasty Gal and Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo has found itself embroiled in controversy after a Sunday Times report alleged that it was paying workers as little as 3.50, and forcing them to work in unsafe conditions.

Its left many looking to make more ethical choices when it comes to fashion, searching for retailers with a more sustainable and humane supply chain.

These are some of the high street brands that have made commitments to safe working conditions and sustainability when it comes to making clothes.

Marks and Spencer

Marks and Spencers Modern Slavery Statement has been ranked as a leader in the FTSE100, with all factories visited and inspected regularly to ensure workers human rights are upheld.

The brand is also independently certified by SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audit who look at universal human rights in global supply chains and business practices.

Marks and Spencer also have a good environmental record, with its Plan A scheme covering 180 specific commitments to tackling social and environmental issues.

John Lewis

Employees who work in John Lewis stores have high employee satisfaction, owing to employee-friendly policies such as all workers having a share in the company.

The company is also part of the Ethical Trading Initiative, which is an alliance of trade union, business and voluntary organisations working to improve the lives of poor and vulnerable people working in factories and farms worldwide.

H&M

H&M has made a lot of noise in the past few years regarding the production of sustainable and ethically-produced products, and is generally committed to improving standards.

While they have a good record and have made good steps towards sustainability and better labour conditions, H&M is still reported to have some problems with environmental impact and working conditions.

Monki

Owned by H&M, Monki has a fairly good record on living wage, transparency and worker empowerment.

For instance, it traces all or almost all of its supply chain to ensure that no subcontracting - where standards might slip - takes place in the production of its clothes.

While it has made environmental commitments - including using renewable energy in part of its supply chain - it reportedly uses non-environmentally friendly materials for some of its products.

The White Company

The White Company also has a fairly good reputation when it comes to treatment of workers. It is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative and monitors conditions in factories.

However, its record on good environmental practices is reportedly less consistent, with few specific commitments made to reducing its environmental impact.

How do I know if a brand is ethical or not?

Generally, you should pause for thought if the clothes youre buying are incredibly cheap - often this means somebody was exploited in order to make them, and/or that they were made unsustainably.

To be sure, the best thing to do is research a brand to find out more about their working and environmental practices before you buy.

Independent judgements - rather than company statements - are usually the most reliable sources of information.

Good on you is just one example of an online directory where you can check out brands policies on the environment and working conditions in factories. Here, you can also search for brands with good ethical practices.

You should check whether the information youre reading is up-to-date, and cross-reference with other sources to make sure its accurate.

Read the original:

Conscious shopping: 5 ethical high street fashion brands - Hereford Times

The unrest in cities across the U.S. this week is just the latest manifestation of a struggle that will continue until the wealth gap between white people and black people is addressed, black economists said.

What is the wealth gap? It is the stark divide between how much capital white people and black people control.

By one estimate, the typical white family has wealth of $171,000. This is nearly ten times greater than the $17,150 for an average black family.

Put another way, the typical black household remains poorer than 80% of white households.

This stunning wealth gap between the races has persisted, in good times and bad, for the past 70 years. It did not get better after the civil rights era legislation was passed in the 1960s or during the Obama administration.

And it will continue to fuel unrest, economists said.

As long as we have racial wealth gap, were going to have a problems with race, said Patrick Mason, an economics professor at Florida State University.

The wealth gap is one of the reasons there are protests today, said Linwood Tauheed, a professor of economics at The University of Missouri-Kansas City and the president of the National Economics Association.

I dont necessarily want to use the phase it was the straw that broke the camels back...but we have lots of evidence that this economic system is not benefitting the majority of the population, he said.

African Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are thats not new for us but now you find young college students dissatisfied with their future.

See: Protesters support Floyd, Black Lives Matter on 3 continents

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fact that African-Americans have a lack of income to buy necessary health care, food and medicine and are suffering in greater numbers than white Americans.

Since the 1960s, the wealth gap has been largely ignored by the economics profession, black economists say.

For years, black economists struggled in the American Economics Association to even study the subject of wealth disparity between the races, black economists said. Universities and think tanks also didnt support the work.

Black economists formed their own association, the National Economics Association, in 1969 to study the economic situation of black Americans.

It was very difficult for a black economist to present a paper at an AEA conference that was questioning whether mainstream economists were understanding the economic disparity between the white and black community, Tauheed said.

So called mainstream economists were really interested in more efficiency. The wage gap is a question of equity or how to expand the pie, said Karl Boulware, an economics professor at Wesleyan University. The best way to think of wealth is to think of it as power, he said.

In a statement to her membership Friday, former Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen, who is the president of the AEA, said her organization has only begun to understand racism and its impact on our profession and our discipline.

Black economists say one historical cause of the wage gap is slavery.

I dont want to offend anybody, and dont want to be labeled a radical but the wealth gap has its roots in the starting of America, said Samuel Myers, an economist at the University of Minnesota.

JIm Crow laws put in place shortly after the Civil War also kept black people impoverished.

A more recent and complex cause was the systemic exclusion of black people from the U.S. housing market beginning in the 1920. Housing is one of the main engines of accumulating wealth in America.

Restrictive covenants were put on houses that limited where black people could live, said Tauheed. These covenants, combined with discriminatory credit policies, kept black people from building wealth.

At the same time, government policies were put in place to assist whites to build wealth through housing.

For instance, in Minneapolis, where the current protests began after the death of George Floyd while being detained by police, white Americans first benefitted from the Homestead Act.

Then white soldiers coming home from World War II were given cheap loans to buy homes in the surrounding suburbs. These neighborhoods were off limits to black people, said Myers.

And the only prosperous black community in the city was razed to the ground to build a highway to St. Paul, he added.

My feeling is until and unless white people acknowledge that their wealth holdings and therefore the wealth gap is attributable to unearned entitlements from public policy, then were not going to even have a conversation about solutions to the wealth gap, Professor Myers said.

Black economists think that reparations the direct payment to descendents of former slaves would narrow the wealth gap.

But they are under no illusion that this policy could be easily become law as blacks make up 12% of the population.

Reparations run into conflict with the American mythology of how you get ahead, which says that its all individual effort, said Professor Mason from Florida State.

Sen. Cory Booker, the black U.S. Senator from New Jersey, pushed for baby bonds during his brief run for the presidency last year. The accounts, presented at birth, would be seeded with $1,000 and receive up to $2,000 extra every year depending on family income. They could only be used once the child reached the age of 18, with the funds limited for paying college, a home, or to start a business.

This idea is race-neutral and poor whites would benefit the most from such a program, Professor Myers noted.

I dont really think in the final analysis baby bonds are going to dramatically narrow the wealth gap but Id be really happy if Im wrong, Myers said.

See also: Black Americans, their lives and livelihoods on the line, suffer most from the pandemic

Read the original here:

The only way to truly solve the race problem in America is to narrow the wealth gap, black economists say - MarketWatch

A number of people have asked me if the protests happening across the nation are what I was predicting in my latest book, The Storm Before the Calm. They asked because they thought my predictions were arriving too early. This unrest is very much the kind of thing I was expecting and about the time I expected it to start. But we are not even close to the end. I wrote in my book that the 2020s will be a decade of social, economic and international instability. Not all crises will be this intense. Many, particularly the economic crises, will be less intense but will last longer.

To get a sense of where we stand now, think of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968, Martin Luther King was murdered and riots broke out across the country, with the police and National Guard using force to control the rioters. In summer of 1968, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, thousands of anti-war protesters showed up against the Democratic Party, which they saw as the party of imperialist wars and domestic oppression. Richard Nixon was elected that year, and in 1971, facing what was really minor inflation compared to what came later, he imposed wage and price controls, and impulsively took the U.S. off the gold standard. He later resigned to avoid being impeached following the Watergate scandal.

There was then a period of relative peace under Gerald Ford, who took over from Nixon in 1974. During this time in the U.S. there was also a massive economic crisis, with high inflation, soaring interest rates and unemployment nearing 10%. This was driven by the Arab oil embargo, triggered by an Arab war with Israel, which left Americans waiting in long lines at gasoline stations only to find there was none available. Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976 and tried to take the country back to the model that Franklin Roosevelt created. It failed, and he delivered a famous speech about the countrys malaise. Then the Iranian revolution and kidnapping of diplomats came, ending in a disastrous hostage rescue attempt. The Roosevelt era was exhausted. Ronald Reagan was elected and created a radically new structure that led to a cycle of prosperity.

Now the Reagan Cycle is coming to an end. And just as the Roosevelt Cycle culminated in a bit more than a decade of dysfunction and even despair, so too we are now entering such a phase. The coronavirus signaled that, although it had nothing to do with the failing system. But the eruption of nationwide protests are a more systemic announcement of the beginning of the transition.

The original American sin was not slavery. (Americans were not unique in holding slaves.) Rather it was a betrayal of the nations own principles.

Just as the final decade of the Roosevelt Cycle had near its beginning a racial event, the end of the Reagan Cycle is being signaled by the death of George Floyd, with consequences similar to those after Martin Luther King was killed. There is an intimate relationship between race and the American economy that goes back to the country's founding. As I said in my book, the original American sin was not slavery. (Americans were not unique in holding slaves.) Rather it was a betrayal of the nations own principles where Thomas Jefferson had written, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

Read: George Floyd laid to rest in Houston; He is going to change the world, brother says

The South was a plantation society dependent on cheap labor. It needed slaves to function. It also needed power against a growing North that had slaves but was not dependent on them, and had a nascent abolitionist movement. The South rejected the idea of freeing the slaves. But it demanded that the slaves be counted in the census, so that the Souths representation in Congress would be as large as possible. The North objected, and there could be no republic without a compromise. The compromise was that slaves counted as three-fifths of a person.

The founders believed deeply in the equality of men. But they could not form a republic if blacks were seen as equal. So in the act of designating them three-fifths of a person, they declared them less than human. In this way, they preserved the principle of universal equality but did so by designating a class of humans as subhuman.

The Hayes era grew out of the Civil War, which was about the status of blacks. The Roosevelt era was forged out of an alliance of Southern segregationists and Northern blacks. One of the central features of the era that spanned from Roosevelt to Carter was the civil rights movement and the attack on segregation. The Reagan era struggled with the issue as well, with heated debates over affirmative action and other measures.

The issue of race has torn the country apart many times, and many explanations can be offered as to why. Its a personal issue for all of us. I went to a predominantly black high school in the mid-1960s. It was a frightening experience. High school boys emerge as men through testing themselves physically. In the suburbs, football was the key. Jackson High in Queens, N.Y. had no football team. The tests were found in fighting and violence, and I was forced to face black teenagers who were bigger and tougher than me. I learned to fear them. They were doing nothing but what was normal for 16-year-olds, but they posed what seemed at that time an existential challenge to me.

It took years for me to move beyond my high school experience and to realize the kids I went to school with were just kids like any others, and likely had the same fear of me that I had of them. They saw in me the perpetual sin that was perpetrated against them. Did I ever learn to lose the fear? I think so, yet does anyone really lose the fears that dominated him when he was young? Each day is combat for boys, and that combat shapes them. That is my story. Each one of us experiences the tension of race and each emerges from it differently.

Whenever a cycle fails, and things that were certain suddenly become mysteries, one of the first things that emerges is the deeply rooted tension between black and white. It is a tension that is always there. The history is long and deep and filled with fear. When things become uncertain the thing that suddenly shows itself is the fear between the races, and the attempt on all sides to use that fear to their advantage. It is as if the Israelites were freed, but continued to live in Egypt.

Americas original sin still haunts it, and goodwill and wishes are just words.

I felt myself at war with blacks and losing. A teenage boy cant imagine the degree to which blacks felt they were losing, and the truth is that, for the most part, they were losing. They knew that, and the fights we had were rooted in that knowledge. When they see one of their own slowly strangled to death, they feel rage but also, as I understand in retrospect, helplessness and despair. This is the original sin of our republic, and none of us know how to solve it, least of all the enlightened whites who side with them.

The problem is that we are not monsters, white or black. We are humans and we are filled with fear, hope and a breathtaking inability to understand the complex realities that come from being human. And we love to feel superior to those who are different and those who disagree with us.

So to the question of whether I expected this, the answer is yes, and much of what I say here is scattered throughout my book. But this is not the end. Race is always there, and frequently the breakout of race-related protests and violence is just the beginning. But it is never the end because Americas original sin still haunts it, and goodwill and wishes are just words. So, the U.S. begins the 2020s, a decade of transformation, as it began other transformations with the matter of race.

George Friedman is chairman ofGeopolitical Futuresand author ofThe Storm Before the Calm: Americas Discord, the Coming Crisis of the 2020s, and the Triumph Beyond. (Doubleday, 2020)

More:The only way to truly solve the race problem in America is to narrow the wealth gap, black economists say

Plus: George Floyd, white supremacy and the otherization of African-American men

Read the rest here:

We are not even close to the end. America faces another economic and social upheaval and once again it includes race - MarketWatch