Share Your Unconscious Bias Stories With Us
The Equal Justice Society is working to deepen awareness of unconscious bias through the use of storytelling in television and movies (read more about our related activities). There are a host of interesting stories that can be packaged to Hollywood to both entertain and educate people on the ways that unintentional racism still permeates.
We are looking for real examples of unconscious bias that can serve as the basis for fictional storylines. Here are a few examples:
Imagine: Ten years ago, a black man and a white man who were both in interracial marriages were convicted in the brutal murders of their wives. The white husband was sentenced to life in prison while the black husband was sentenced to death row. A lawsuit ensues.
Something like this happened. McCleskey v. Kemp was decided by the Supreme Court in 1987. Warren McCleskey, a black man, was convicted of armed robbery and murder in the Atlanta area of Georgia. He was given the death penalty. After his conviction, McCleskey appealed the death sentence arguing that the death penalty was administered in a racially discriminatory way, violating the Fourteenth Amendment which, generally, prohibits state sponsored discrimination. McCleskey, with the help of statistical research provided from a law professor, was able to show that the state of Georgia administered the death penalty in a discriminatory manner. Indeed, the professor’s work showed that one found guilty of murdering a white person was 16 times more likely to be sentenced to death than had the victim been black. The Supreme Court held that since there was no discriminatory intent, the Fourteenth Amendment was not violated. On September 28, 1991, Warren McCleskey was executed by state of Georgia’s electric chair.
Imagine: A city has a policy of targeting black barbershops. One day, police raid a black barbershop and the cops shoot an unarmed suspected.
This could be based off a true story. Gordon v. City of Moreno Valley concerns the asserted unconstitutionality of a police raid of black barbershops in the city of Moreno Valley, California in April of 2008. Inspectors and armed police officers wearing bulletproof vests conducted warrantless searches of the barbershops during which officers ran warrant checks of individuals therein. When one owner complained, he was arrested. The plaintiffs, barbershop owners, employees and customers argued that their Fourteenth Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights (which protect individuals from unlawful searches and seizures by the state). The Fourteenth Amendment claim was that the state specifically and unlawfully targeted black barbershops. The district court held that their was discriminatory intent on behalf of the state and that the Fourteenth Amendment was violated. With regards to the Fourth Amendment, the court found that the searches were not routine inspections for which a warrant is not necessary because these were raids and far broader than a inspection done to further regulatory purposes.
These are just two examples. We’re interested in more and hope you can help.
If you have stories from your files, dockets, or recollections and can provide us with details, please contact Brando Simeo Starkey, our EJS Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellow at bstarkey@equaljusticesociety.org.
Deadline Extended to Jan. 11: Motley Fellowship 2010-2011 Applications
The Equal Justice Society has extended the deadline to accept applications for its 2010-2011 Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship, named after the first African American woman to serve on the federal bench. Those who submitted applications by the December deadline (per our October announcement) may submit supplements to their original application if they so choose.
Applications must be received in our office, not postmarked, by January 11, 2010.
EJS is a national strategy group heightening consciousness on race in the law and popular discourse. As heirs of the innovative legal and political strategists of Brown v. Board of Education, the organization broadly models its programmatic efforts after the late Honorable Constance Baker Motley and the Brown litigation team. Using a three-prong strategy of law and public policy advocacy, cross-disciplinary convenings and strategic public communications, EJS seeks to restore race equity issues to the national consciousness, build effective progressive alliances, and advance discourse on the positive role of government.
Motley Fellowship applicants should demonstrate experience in civil rights advocacy and a strong commitment to racial justice. The Fellow will work under the supervision of staff attorneys for a 12-month period. During the fellowship period, the Fellow may lead new research, advocacy, coalition building, and public education efforts related to transforming anti-discrimination law and policy. The Fellow will be a full participant in office events and activities, including staff meetings and strategic planning sessions.
The position is based in our San Francisco office and runs from October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011, with some flexibility in dates.
To be considered for the Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship, applicants should send a cover letter, resume, list of four (4) references and a writing sample (preferably on a racial/social justice topic) to info@equaljusticesociety.org with the subject line “Motley Fellowship Application” or mail hard copies to Motley Fellowship Applications, Equal Justice Society, 260 California Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94111.
Applicants should be recent law school graduates with 0-5 years of work experience after law school. Bar passage is not required. Candidates will be evaluated based upon criteria including: Demonstrated commitment to racial and social justice; Demonstrated interest in civil rights law and policy; Excellent research and oral /written communication skills.
UC Fee Hike Endangers Our Future, EJS Stands With Protesters
Photo by kendrak from Flickr used under Creative Commons license
The Equal Justice Society stands in solidarity with the thousands of student protesters opposing the 32 percent fee hike recently adopted by the University of California Board of Regents. (Follow the protest on Twitter @ucbprotest and #ucstrike)
This tuition hike will bring the total cost of a UC education to more than $10,000 per year, and will disproportionately impact the ability of low income students, undocumented students, and students of color to attend California’s public universities.
In the 13 years since the passage of California Proposition 209, enrollment of students of color at the University of California’s flagship campuses has already dwindled to levels not seen since the ’60s and 70s.
These increases will further decrease the number of students of color able to attend UCs, and will force many current students to work multiple jobs just to stay in school, or worse yet, to leave because they are no longer able to afford tuition and fees.
Moreover, by disproportionately excluding students of color and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, these hikes will prevent our state from developing the diversity of leaders that we need – which is central to the mission of the University of California.
Please stand with us in opposing the privatization of the UC system, and demanding that public education in California remain open to all students who desire to pursue higher education, not just those who can afford it.
The future of our state depends on it.
Links to other articles (and graphics):
MALDEF Honors Civil Rights Icons, EJS Board Chair Anthony Solana, Jr. and Others at 35th Annual Los Angeles Awards Gala
MALDEF last week celebrated its 35th Annual Los Angeles Awards Gala at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, honoring civil rights icons and trailblazers who have been critical partners in advancing the goals of the community and providing social justice for Latinos. More than a thousand advocates, elected officials, attorneys, corporate leaders and city officials were in attendance, including newly appointed Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck.
The gala held particular significance for the community as MALDEF celebrated the return of Thomas A. Saenz as its new president and general counsel. Saenz most recently served as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s counsel and as a MALDEF litigation attorney for 12 years. Saenz said, “The evening was a very special reunion of MALDEF friends and collaborators of many years. Our four honorees’ stories inspired everyone in attendance, adding a powerful tone to the evening.”
Among the honorees, EJS board chair Anthony Solana Jr. received the Excellence in Legal Service Award for founding For People of Color, Inc., an advocacy organization which shares MALDEF’s belief in supporting the success of minority law students.
Dr. Rodolfo Acuña was honored with the MALDEF Lifetime Achievement Award as the pioneering scholar whose many works on the U.S. Latino experience made him a leading voice in our nation’s Latino civil rights movement.
Anheuser-Busch Companies was recognized with the Corporate Social Responsibility Award for its longstanding financial commitment to MALDEF and to the Latino community.
Eva Longoria Parker received MALDEF’s Community Service Award for her activism with non-profits including Eva’s Heroes and Padres Contra El Cancer. “I am grateful to MALDEF for the honor of sharing the stage with America’s Latino civil rights legends, who are unified by the desire to serve our growing Latino community,” stated Eva Longoria Parker. “The evening was truly inspiring for me and will serve as a reminder of not only the great work that is being done by so many, but of how much yet remains to be accomplished.”
Giselle Fernandez served as the Mistress of Ceremonies with special presentations by Dolores Huerta, Antonia Hernandez, José José, Keisha Whitaker, Lupe Ontiveros, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a performance by Nydia Rojas, and a special message from former President Bill Clinton. Click here for photos of the event.
MALDEF was pleased to honor and recognize the leaders in the public and private sector who have been instrumental in advancing justice for Latinos.
Eric Yamamoto, University of Hawai’i Law Professor and EJS Board Member, Honored for Outstanding Contributions to Justice
Professor Eric Yamamoto received the 2009 Ha’aheo Award for outstanding contributions to justice for communities in Hawai’i and beyond. The award was presented by the American Board of Trial Advocates (Hawai’i Chapter), a national organization of prominent trial attorneys.
“It sounds like an exaggeration, but Eric Yamamoto truly is a model law professor in multiple ways,” said Dean Avi Soifer of the William S. Richardson School of Law. “Not only is Eric a remarkable teacher and scholar, but he has begun to create new paths towards social justice as a mentor as well as in his role as a deeply committed scholar advocate.”
Professor Yamamoto is an internationally-recognized law professor at the University of Hawai’i William S. Richardson School of Law. He is known for his legal work and scholarship on civil rights and racial justice, with an emphasis on reconciliation and reparations for historic injustice.
Professor Yamamoto was among the first legal scholars to challenge the justification for the Iraq war and to raise concerns about undermining civil liberties in that context – both in scholarly journals and in an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in a Guantanamo Bay detainee case, Rasul v. Bush. He drew upon his national security-civil liberties expertise as co-counsel to Fred Korematsu in the successful re-opening of the leading WWII Japanese American internment case, Korematsu v. U.S.
Professor Yamamoto has received national awards over the recent years for his social justice scholarship, teaching and advocacy. He was the first Professor/Scholar to receive the prestigious American Courage Award given by the Asian American Justice Center on behalf of a consortium of civil rights organizations for his exemplary civil and human rights work undertaken during difficult times.
He was selected as the national Outstanding Law Teacher Award from the Society of American Law Teachers for his creative and impassioned teaching and scholarship with an emphasis on justice for all. He also received the inaugural Scholar Advocacy Award from the San Francisco-based Equal Justice Society for creating and initiating a national pilot project that trains law students to become sophisticated legal scholars in ways that are useful for frontline justice advocates.
A prolific writer, Yamamoto has already published two books and over sixty book chapters and law review articles on social justice. His first book on interracial justice (conflict and reconciliation among racial communities) entitled Race, Rights and Reparation: Law and the Japanese American Internment received the Gustavus Meyers Award for an Outstanding Book on Social Justice for 2000.
Professor Yamamoto also worked on the legal teams for Filipino American Manuel Fragante in his accent discrimination case and for Native Hawaiian Alice Aiwohi in her successful Homelands breach of trust class action, resulting in a major reparations settlement. He served as a consultant on the African American reparations case, Alexander v. Oklahoma, and his legal work also includes many other amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, most recently as co-author in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs v. HCDCH (Hawaiian lands) and Grutter v. Michigan (affirmative action) cases, as well as an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit in Doe v. Kamemameha (Native Hawaiian education).
EJS Accepting Applications for 2010-2011 Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship
UPDATE: The deadline has been extended to Jan. 11, 2010.
The Equal Justice Society is now accepting applications for its 2010-2011 Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship, named after the first African American woman to serve on the federal bench. Applicants for the one-year paid fellowship should be recent law school graduates with up to five years of work experience after law school.
Applications must be received in our office, not postmarked by December 7, 2009.
EJS is a national strategy group heightening consciousness on race in the law and popular discourse. As heirs of the innovative legal and political strategists of Brown v. Board of Education, the organization broadly models its programmatic efforts after the late Honorable Constance Baker Motley and the Brown litigation team. Using a three-prong strategy of law and public policy advocacy, cross-disciplinary convenings and strategic public communications, EJS seeks to restore race equity issues to the national consciousness, build effective progressive alliances, and advance discourse on the positive role of government.
Motley Fellowship applicants should demonstrate experience in civil rights advocacy and a strong commitment to racial justice. The Fellow will work under the supervision of staff attorneys for a 12-month period. During the fellowship period, the Fellow may lead new research, advocacy, coalition building, and public education efforts related to transforming anti-discrimination law and policy. The Fellow will be a full participant in office events and activities, including staff meetings and strategic planning sessions.
The position is based in our San Francisco office and runs from October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011, with some flexibility in dates.
To be considered for the Judge Constance Baker Motley Civil Rights Fellowship, applicants should send a cover letter, resume, list of four (4) references and a writing sample (preferably on a racial/social justice topic) to info@equaljusticesociety.org with the subject line “Motley Fellowship Application” or mail hard copies to Motley Fellowship Applications, Equal Justice Society, 260 California Street, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94111.
Applicants should be recent law school graduates with 0-5 years of work experience after law school. Bar passage is not required. Candidates will be evaluated based upon criteria including: Demonstrated commitment to racial and social justice; Demonstrated interest in civil rights law and policy; Excellent research and oral /written communication skills.
EJS Statement on ACORN
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has championed the rights of low and moderate income level families for more than three decades. With the backing of 400,000 member families in about 75 cities across 40 states, ACORN has become a target of the Right Wing de-legitimization machine. Just as Van Jones was recently attacked with half-truths and outright lies in order to remove him from his position, so have the same forces politically assaulted ACORN for years.
It is unfortunate that the actions of few staff members would hurt the capacity of such a large organization. ACORN has taken the proper steps to remedy any potential irregularities by securing the services of former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger. He will lead an independent inquiry into the organizational systems and processes surrounding the services of the organization.
Mr. Harshbarger said of the process: “I have been asked by the leadership of ACORN to conduct an independent and comprehensive inquiry and review of the management of its service delivery to communities. The CEO and Board have also asked me to make a full report, including recommendations for restoring ACORN’s full capacities to carry out its mission on behalf of low- and moderate-income families.”
In the meantime, ACORN has suspended accepting new clients into its service programs for working-poor families including tax preparation, housing assistance programs, and benefits screening until the independent review is completed.
As promoters of racial, social and economic justice, the Equal Justice Society continues to support ACORN, its mission and its constituents. We do not support any actions that will further impair the ability of low and moderate income people to seek and access much-needed assistance. Thus, we find it regrettable that the House took the first steps to eliminate federal funding for ACORN’s services. Instead, we believe the process for seeking the truth and proper consequences includes awaiting the findings of Scott Harshbarger and holding only the necessary people accountable for any wrongdoing.