Kevin Morales's Blog (7)

"On July 17, the California legislature quietly approved a landmark bill to apologize to the state's Chinese-American community for racist laws enacted as far back as the mid–19th century Gold Rush, which attracted about 25,000 Chinese from 1849 to 1852. The laws, some of which were not repealed until the 1940s, barred Chinese from owning land or property, marrying whites, working in the public sector and testifying against whites in court. The new bill also recognizes the contributions Chinese… Continue

The year is 1967. Eastern Europe has cemented itself in ardent communism and society has begun to show the strains of imposed “equality.” In its misshapen efforts to treat everyone equally, Communist governments have removed private property and business. They have also eliminated all women’s products, from the hygienic to the beautifying. For men, this might take a bit of thought before the real weight of the situation sinks in. For women, the terrible inconveniencing and dehumanizing effects o… Continue

One thing that has shaped my generation is technology. The ubiquitous computer and iPod have instilled us with a sense of electronic entitlement and we neglect to make the most our hardware’s potential. Take my computer for example. It’s a sturdy though older Apple notebook that was given to me by a friend who dropped out of college. At the moment, I use three functions on this computer: Microsoft Word Firefox Web Browser and iTunes. With this triple entente of applications, I can work, study,… Continue

As I've been trying to inform myself more and more on the workings of the Supreme Court, I found this New York Times article to be very helpful and an interesting read. Give it a whirl and feel free to comment! Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/us/politics/07affirm.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th Continue

What do you most remember from your high school history classes? Alright, besides the pretty girl whom you tried to sit next to, what do you remember of the history? George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan. Caesar Augustus, Florence Nightingale, Rameses II. Do those names ring a bell? When we learn history, we learn about individuals. We learn that singular men and women were responsible for the sort of leadership that deserves commemorating. See, when we're taught the grand histor… Continue

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade In 1936, civil war broke out in Spain between the fascist Nationalists and the revolutionary Republicans. Word of the conflict went global within days. In an age without photoblogs or Twitter feeds, this meant big news. The world's influential countries distanced themselves from Spain. The United States took a vow of non-involvement and stamped US passports "not valid for travel in Spain." While the Iberian Peninsula became a slaughter house, civilized natio… Continue

The Moving Walkway Recently I read Beverly Tatum’s book on institutional discrimination, Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? In it she introduces a thought provoking analogy: “I sometimes visualize the ongoing cycle of racism as a moving walkway at the airport.“ Racism as a moving walkway? Can prejudice really be compared to a motorized sidewalk? Think of it this way: Certain structures of discrimination and empowerment are already in place. The moving walkway… Continue