Dangerous Tactics

Thomas Friedman has written an article about the potential results when hateful words cross red lines. We've had some presidential candidates try to build their own hierarchies through comments about people who are not in the dominant race or religion.

Friedman is suggesting we see the movie, "Rabin: The Last Day," so that we will pay attention, and be careful not to ignore or rationalize the divisive, bigoted campaigns of Trump and Carson. The movie chronicles the incitement campaign leading to the assassination of a Prime Minister.

http://amestrib.com/opinion/thomas-friedman-politicians-seeing-evil-hearing-evil-speaking-evil

Gun Control Results

A recent study shows that states with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths. The study uses data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As typical of groups that demand a position on top, such as the NRA, we can predict that the facts will be explained away so that they can maintain their control and keep whatever policies benefit themselves.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/50-state-study-more-gun-laws-fewer-deaths/

Voices from Below

It's an enlightening experience to listen to people in lower groups – that is, lower than our own group. If we acknowledge that we may feel uncomfortable, and then relax and just be comfortable with being uncomfortable, we can smile as we hear new perspectives. We may relate to some of the observations and feelings because we have seen them when the players are changed and we are in a lower group.

For those of us who haven't used a wheelchair:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Ehk15etNU&feature=youtu.be

For those of us who aren't black. The question, "Why is it that white crime is seen as an isolated incident but black crime is a representation of my entire community?" describes a typical scenario across many hierarchies. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuVMJmC0V98

Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Breaking Down Hierarchies in Theater

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is being featured in a September 6, 2015 print article in the New York Times describing its efforts to include diversity in all phases of its productions.

Bill Rauch, the festival’s artistic director since 2007, is the head of the organization committed on every level — whether it’s in commissioning plays, hiring actors, directors and other artistic staff, or reaching out to new audiences — to broadening its cultural reach and its diversity.

As he noted in a phone interview: “The theater in general lags behind in representing the America of today and the future. So we in leadership positions need to do everything we can to reflect the world we live in.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/theater/the-oregon-shakespeare-festival-focuses-on-diversity.html

Denali - Returning to Our Roots

As we honor our first citizens, the tallest mountain in North America will be renamed Denali, with an executive order by President Obama today. The name was changed from Mount McKinley, regarded as an example of cultural imperialism in which a Native American name with historical roots was replaced by an American one having little to do with the place.

Denali, means “the high one” or “the great one.”

“There’s no denying that for some Americans, the deck’s been stacked against them, sometimes for generations, and that’s been true of many Native Americans,” Mr. Obama said at the time. “But if we’re working together, we can make things better.”

We are working together as white people stop putting native peoples lower on their hierarchies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/us/mount-mckinley-will-be-renamed-denali.html?_r=0

Girls Can Be Everything - Their Clothes Tell it All

So many of the clothes marketed to girls reinforce the gender hierarchy where boys are taught to be smart and strong, and girls are taught to be weak and shop.

A group of mothers has gotten together to create clothes that speak to the fact that the possibilities for girls are endless, and that we should not be encouraging girls even from the time they are born to strive to be pink and pretty.

So take a look, people who have an influence on supplying clothing for girls, and even if you don't buy any clothes, the images can be uplifting.

http://www.upworthy.com/tired-of-stereotypical-girls-clothes-these-women-did-something-about-it-then-banded-together?c=ufb1

Hey Men, Want to Have a Better Relationship with Women?

Most men do many things day in and day out that indirectly or directly contribute to our culture of gender inequality.

Here is a great list of 35 ways that men can further gender equality in their own lives. This list is not a surprise to women, but might be to men. And guess what men, if you do some of these things, chances are great you will have a better relationship with women, including your sex life.

http://www.xojane.com/issues/feminism-men-practical-steps