Category Archives: Race

Karol G: ‘Why should I limit how I express myself because I’m a woman?’

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The vastly popular Colombian singer is challenging outdated views of women in Latin pop – but her naive racial politics have sparked controversy

I catch Colombian singer Karol G in a rare moment of calm, while she is in a car on her way to a hotel. She has just landed in New York to film a music video, but home is Miami, she clarifies, the engine humming in the background. “I love it there because there are so many Latinos!”

Born Carolina Giraldo Navarro in Medellín, Karol G, 30, is one of Latin America’s biggest pop stars, an expressive performer who uses beautiful hooks for lyrics that explore female desire and sexual agency – a rarity in the male-dominated Latin music scene, where, she says, women have historically been treated like “products”.

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Editor of top US medical journal put on leave amid outcry over racism podcast

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Jama’s Howard Bauchner replaced by interim editor after ‘offensive’ remarks by deputy on podcast about structural racism

The editor-in-chief of Jama, the Journal of the American Medical Association, has been placed on leave amid controversy over comments about structural racism made on a podcast by one of his deputies.

The New York Times reported that the American Medical Association told staff on Thursday Dr Howard Bauchner would be replaced by an interim editor while an investigation was carried out.

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Black farmers speak out against the ‘festering wound’ of racism in agriculture

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House agriculture committee hearing comes on the heels of $5bn being allocated to farmers of color earlier this month

For the first time in US history, members of the House agriculture committee heard from Black farmers on the impact of systemic discrimination by the department of agriculture (USDA).

Thursday’s hearing came on the heels of $5bn being allocated to socially disadvantaged farmers of color earlier this month as part of the coronavirus relief and economic stimulus package. The funding – $4bn for debt forgiveness, $1bn for other forms of support – is meant to account for generations of mistreatment of farmers of color by the USDA.

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British black power: stars of BBC documentary reflect on UK activism

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As a new film on 60s and 70s resistance is released, its subjects discuss what progress, if any, has been made

When Zainab Abbas, a renowned activist and former member of the Black Liberation Front, was asked if things had improved for black people in the UK over the past 50 years, she didn’t hesitate with her response.

“I don’t think it’s got better, I really don’t,” she said, pointing to rates of stop and search, black unemployment and rising hate crimes. “It’s important to remember that things haven’t changed because they were able to wipe out our history.”

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Elderly Asian woman who fought attacker donates nearly $1m from GoFundMe

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Fundraiser was created to cover Xiao Zhen Xie’s medical expenses after she was punched in San Francisco

An elderly Asian woman who received nearly $1m on GoFundMe after she fought back against someone randomly attacking her is planning to donate all of the money to her community to fight racism, her family has announced.

The violent incident against Xiao Zhen Xie was one of many recent attacks against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in America. Stop AAPI Hate tracked nearly 3,800 discriminatory incidents that occured against this community from 19 March 2020 to 28 February 2021.

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Royal family consider diversity tsar under modernisation plans

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Buckingham Palace acknowledges ‘more needs to be done’ after reviewing policies and procedures

The royal family are considering appointing a diversity tsar under new plans to modernise the monarchy.

The move comes after Buckingham Palace conducted a review of policies, procedures and programmes currently in place and found that not enough progress had been made, with an acknowledgement that “more needs to be done”.

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‘We all know hate when we see it’: Warnock rejects FBI chief’s view of Atlanta shootings

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Law enforcement officials including the director of the FBI have said the shootings in Atlanta in which eight people were killed do not appear to have been racially motivated, but the Georgia senator Raphael Warnock said on Sunday: “We all know hate when we see it.”

Related: Atlanta spa shootings: Georgia hate crimes law could see first big test

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‘A new chapter in an old story’: what the Atlanta shootings reveal about the US

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After killings that followed a year of escalating hatred, Asian Americans ask why no one heeded the warnings

At 4.54pm on Tuesday, a Hyundai SUV pulled up outside Young’s Asian Massage parlor in the Atlanta suburb of Acworth. Earlier that day the driver, a white man, had popped into Big Woods Goods, a gun store that prides itself on being “fast and friendly”.

Service in the shop was so fast, in fact, that with the benefit of Georgia’s loose gun laws the man was able to buy a 9mm firearm on the spot.

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Atlanta spa shootings: Georgia hate crimes law could see first big test

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A hate crimes law passed in Georgia amid outrage over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery could get its first major test as part of the murder case against a white man charged with shooting and killing six women of Asian descent at Atlanta-area massage businesses this week.

Related: 'It's time for people to hear us': Georgia's Asian Americans vow to stand up against hate

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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris condemn attacks on Asian Americans – video

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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris offered solace to Asian Americans and a reeling nation on Friday as they visited Atlanta just days after a white gunman killed eight people, most of them Asian American women. The visit, during a nationwide spike of anti-Asian violence, has added resonance with the presence of Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to hold national office

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‘Our silence is complicity’: Biden and Harris condemn anti-Asian violence during Atlanta visit

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President and vice-president address nation reckoning with ‘heinous act’ that killed eight, including six women of Asian descent

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have condemned a “heinous act of violence” during a trip to Atlanta, hoping to console a city and Asian American communities rocked by the attack this week that left eight people dead and one injured.

Delivering remarks on Friday evening at Emory University after a day spent meeting with Asian American community leaders and politicians, the president and vice-president spoke out forcefully against the shooting, in which six of the victims were women of Asian descent, as well as the rise in anti-Asian violence.

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Atlanta shootings: Democrats warn violence against Asian Americans at ‘crisis point’ – live

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The Georgia sheriff’s captain who said Robert Aaron Long was “having a really bad day” when he allegedly killed eight people has been removed as a spokesperson on the case, according to the WSB-TV news channel.

Nicole Carr, a journalist at WSB-TV, reported that Capt Jay Baker “will no longer be spokesperson” on the shootings case. According to Carr, the Cherokee County Sheriff department is also “evaluating what [Baker’s] future at the Sheriff’s Office looks like”.

NEW:Confirmed w Cherokee Sheriff that Cpt.Baker will no longer be spokesperson on spa shootings case,they’re evaluating what his future at the Sheriff’s Office looks like and consulting the D.A.’s office to see if they should hand their portion of case to GBI See you at 6 @wsbtv https://t.co/cI1sQHcrRV

Charles Hampton, deputy chief of Atlanta police, said officers are “working diligently to ascertain all the facts” in the spa shootings.

“We had four Asian females that were killed, and so we are looking at everything to make sure we discover and determine what the motive of our homicides were,” Hampton said during a press conference.

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RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under contestant apologises for past performances in blackface

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Two cast members of the Australia and New Zealand edition of the reality TV show have apologised for their past, after racially insensitive images resurfaced online

RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under has already been marred with controversy after two contestants apologised for past racially insensitive behaviour, one having performed in blackface multiple times.

Less than a week after the cast of the hit drag reality competition’s Australia and New Zealand iteration was announced, images emerged of contestant Anthony Price, known for his drag persona, Scarlet Adams, in multiple costumes appearing to imitate other cultures.

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Atlanta spa shootings: suspect charged with eight counts of murder

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  • Eight killed, including six women of Asian descent
  • Police say suspect may have planned more attacks

The suspect behind shooting attacks that killed eight people in Atlanta was charged with eight counts of murder on Wednesday, with officials saying he may have planned further attacks.

Police and city leaders also indicated they believe Robert Aaron Long, 21, who did not resist arrest when he was apprehended, was on his way to Florida after Tuesday evening’s attack, where they suspect he may have planned to “carry out additional shootings”.

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Georgia officer condemned for saying Atlanta shooter was ‘having a bad day’

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Capt Jay Baker also reportedly posted images on Facebook of T-shirts with racist slogan on China and coronavirus

A Georgia sheriff’s captain has faced widespread criticism for appearing to characterise the actions of Robert Aaron Long, the 21-year-old charged with killing eight people in Atlanta, six of them women of Asian descent, as “having a really bad day”.

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Capt Jay Baker of the Cherokee county sheriff’s office said investigators had interviewed Long that morning.

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Denmark plans to limit ‘non-western’ residents in disadvantaged areas

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Interior ministry’s proposed limit of 30% part of bill to crack down further on poor neighbourhoods

Denmark has announced plans to crack down further on disadvantaged neighbourhoods by reducing the number of “non-western” residents, scrapping the controversial term “ghetto” in its proposed legislation.

In the bill – a review of existing legislation on combatting “parallel societies” – the interior ministry proposed that the share of residents of “non-western” origin in each neighbourhood be limited to a maximum of 30% within 10 years.

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Claude James obituary

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My friend and colleague Claude James, who has died aged 90, was the first black person to be elected to a railway trade union executive committee and the first black manager of Euston station. He fought for fairness and and against racism in the UK.

The eldest of six, Claude was born in Guyana to Gladys and Cyril, and lived in Kitty village. His grandmother was influential in his early life, taking him to meetings to discuss current affairs. He enjoyed his time at Britain high school in Queenstown before starting work for the City Engineer Council. He sailed for Britain alone in 1954.

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How can we help end hair discrimination? – video explainer

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Black and mixed-race people can face discrimination over the hair they were born with. Students are excluded from school, people report losing out on jobs, and others say they can feel ostracised at work. 

At least 93% of black people with afro hair in the UK have experienced micro-aggressions related to their hair, according to a survey released last month for the haircare brand Pantene.

In 2019 California became the first state to legally prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles such as dreadlocks, cornlocks and afros. New Jersey, New York and Virginia later followed. 

Activist Zina Alfa says hair discrimination is a 'conduit for racism' and explains why she believes similar legislation in the UK is critical to tackling the issue 

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Teen Vogue: controversy continues after editor-in-chief apologizes for anti-Asian tweets

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Ulta Beauty ‘paused’ advertising campaign with the magazine because of Alexi McCammond’s tweets

Controversy around the new Teen Vogue editor in chief Alexi McCammond continues after she apologized for tweeting anti-Asian remarks in 2011.

McCammond apologised for the tweets in 2019 and again this week, calling them “offensive, idiotic” posts. On Thursday she posted a new statement to Twitter in which she said: “I’ve dedicated my career to giving a voice to the voiceless, and the last thing I’d ever want is to make anyone – especially our Asian brothers and sisters in particular – feel more invisible,” she wrote. “And I know that that is a unique source of pain in all of this, too: That historically the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community has been left out or ignored in critical conversations around race, racism, justice and equality. I am determined to play a part in changing that.”

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