hashtaghumble

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We have to talk about racism.

Racism. We heard and read a lot about it lately. But what does racism cause exactly? Where does it come from? I don’t know if I will find the answers to all of these questions, but I’ll try.

Racism goes beyond words, beliefs and actions. It prevents dignity and equality based on race. It comes from unconscious biases which form in early childhood (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2017). This is not immediately a bad thing: Scientists say that grouping people up in stereotypes and expected traits is a way for the brain to not get overwhelmed by all the information it is getting. This means that we internalized certain ideas. (Devlin, 2018). Not all racism comes from hate. The Australian Human Rights Commission says it also comes from fear, anxiety, and ignorance (2017). Reason to educate yourself, I would say.

The unconscious biases that we have, makes that we act like it too. That way acts can cause disadvantage to people with another skin colour or ethnicity (Devlin, 2018). Studies show that the effects of racism can start in early childhood and even during pregnancy. It causes stress, which in pregnancy can lead to lower birth weight and child mortality. But stress can also cause changes in hormones and inflammation in kids’ bodies. This can be a sign of chronic illnesses. (McCarthy, 2019). 

Compared to white families African American, Hispanic, and American Indian families are more likely to have a lower income. This affects housing, education, nutrition, and access to health care (McCarthy, 2019). For a child this means that they are more likely to get health issues, and have less quality education, which will effect their chances on the job market (If they will be invited to an interview to begin with) and so their income later in life….It will be a vicious circle that might continue for generations. Since we just mentioned education: Black students are more likely to be suspended from preschool (US. Department of Education Office for civil rights, 2014 ). Preschool! I didn’t even know that was possible in the first place. 48% of the suspended preschoolers are black, while they only make up 18% of all preschoolers. This may be because black kids, in particular boys, are seen as less innocent, then white boys of the same age (Goff, Jackson, et al., 2014). This might be the result from the fact that the kids are mistaken to be older then they are. 

Talking about suspension. Black students are three times more suspended than white students who commit similair infractions. Having cops and security officers at school also makes that behaviour like a minor infraction is often criminalized. Because of this, the students are more likely to be in contact with the justice system. While in reality the kids would benefit more from counseling and additional education, since they often have a background with poverty, abuse and learning disabilities (ACLU, 2020). (Click here for more stats on school discipline)

“If you’re aware of these associations then you can bring to bear all of your critical skills and intelligence to see it’s wrong to think like that,” he said. “We all have the ability to control that.” - Harris

How deep the biases go, depends on the experiences you have with the group you hold the biases against (Devlin, 2018). Luckily, it is not an excuse for discriminatory behaviour, because we all have the ability to control our behaviour. Understanding where the biases come from, you will be able to change them. Because we are able to internalize new ideas and behaviour (Brooks, 2012). It just takes critical thinking skills and intelligence to think about why your actions are wrong (Devlin, 2018) . (Some people really showed they lack those two things apparently) 

Recognizing your unconscious biases is a way to avoid them (Clarkson, 2018). But to do this you have to be able to really look at yourself, your believes, and your own actions (McCarthy, 2019). You might not like what you find. But you can change that. Educate yourself. Speak up. 

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Writer’s note: It took me a while to write this. I took some time to think about what to write. There were so many ridiculous comments on the BLM movement and what all is going on, that I couldn’t even pick. It upset me to see how hateful people are. It burst my bubble of naivety (It’s not that I thought racism did not excist. I just didn’t realize how deep it went).  I mean... I did not even go deep into the f*cked up system (pardon my language), I did not even mention police brutality or how many people of colour die because they can not get the right help because of systemic problems. I honestly didn’t even know where to start with writing, and when started, where to end. Because of that this post is still way more superficial than I wanted it to be.  I realize I still don’t even grasp half of the issues that people face because of racism. Because of that, I realized more than ever before how privileged I truly am. It made me think; Did I look away? Did I make racist comments or jokes? Even though I want to say I did not. I probably did without realizing it, or without seeing the harm. I’m sorry for doing that. But with all the information I read now and it the past weeks, I educated myself. I will try my hardest to be a better person, to not look away and speak up.   And again: If you think I am wrong or incomplete. Please let me know! I will be happy to rectify the post and educate myself.

[hashtaghumble]

The first pride was a riot, more specifically a riot against police violence. Trans women like Miss Major and other people of colour paved the way for the celebration of pride today. You cannot celebrate your pride this month, or any month if you aren’t also supporting Black Lives Matter and the riots going on against police violence right now. Us white LGBTQ+ need to stand up for our black siblings and their rights, their struggles. We need to amplify their voices and show any support we can. (Edited to add links and make the image clearer)

Extensive BLM Google doc including places to donate to, education resources, etc

List of 75 things white people can do right now

Simple way to donate to the cause if you have no money to

[hashtaghumble]

I have been thinking long and hard about what has been going on since last week. And to be honest: I struggle finding the right words for it. I’ve seen too many stupid comments to even pick one to comment again. I’ve been called a nazi for backing up an Islamic girl who called a white person out for being extremely rude and racist to her. I can’t wrap my mind around it. How did these people read the history from WW2? I’m trying to make sense, I try to see where the others are coming from. I’ve been asking them to explain there opinion. But I never really get an answer. “Why do you even want to know that?” you may ask. But I think, to understand where someone is coming from, it might be easier to change their mind on a subject. In this case racism. 

I have to be honest. I am really conflicted about the protests during this pandemic. Mainly because distance is hard to be kept during the protests. That does not take away from the fact that there needs to be systematic changes done. This issue is complicated and covers multiple levels of governance and culture.

It makes me really sad to see what is going on. To see people being hurt because of how they were born. I am a white cis female. I am very priviliged. I start to realize this more and more. And I think the recent circumstances make that my bubble burst. I was way more naive about the existance of racism than I realized. All the racist comments I have seen on social media break my heart. I honestly think we should be ashamed that this is how we interact. Especially since we seem to be so connected because of the virus, just a few weeks ago. We were all in the same boat. I really thought we would all be a little kinder to eachother from now on. How wrong could I be? 

What is happening now, with black lives matter, is that I do feel the urge to help. I do want to stand behind the people who have been oppressed by a f*cked up system. They are equal to me. The colour of their skin should not matter. Their sexuality or gender should not matter. 

I will write more about this. But I’m trying to figure out on what exactly. How exactly. I want to put out the right information. If you have suggestions please let me know. 

[hashtaghumble]

Stay in your basement

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1262797667677212672

Let’s start with the fact that there’s a difference between sex and gender. It’s not as simple as male & female. And these do not necesarrily line up with the genders man & woman. But to be extra clear, I’ll discuss both. 

Okay. So sex is not just male and female. It’s not just penises and vaginas. We should also not forget some people are intersex or have a difference of sexual development. This last one, difference of sexual development decribes chromosomes, anatomy or sex charachterists that can’t be categorized as male or female (Biggers and Clements, 2018). aka: it doesn’t fit the standard xx, xy, only-penises-and-vaginas view most of us have. And yes, this is proven by science. Arboleda, Sanberg & Vilain say that 1 in 100 is born with difference of sexual development (2014). This is backed up by more biologists. This article by Ainsworth (2015) states that biologists think there is a wider spectrum than just two sexes. 

Interesting part from the article, and to make it a bit more tangible: After giving birth, a mother found out large part of her body was chromosomally male. And When operating a 70 yo male (and father to 4) on a hernia, they found out he had a womb.. (Ainsworth, 2015). If you ask me, this shows that not only people with vagina’s have womb’s (Since this person had a penis ánd a womb) and when you have a vagina it doesn’t necessarily mean you have xx chromosomes. 

This image also illustrates it very well, I think. (if you want to learn more:This article from the NHS is explaining it)

So no, scientifically there is not just two sexes. But I get it. You were talking about gender. 

It’s important to know if you are talking about gender or gender identity. Gender identity is how you identify and behave and express yourself. Gender is more of a social construct. It’s about expectations society has about how you should act because of your sex (Planned Parenthood, 2020). Check this Healthline article by Brito and Abrams (2019) that have 64 terms which desribe gender identity and expression. 

Because gender is a social construct, you can’t say there is only two. We set it up. We gave it meaning. That also means it is subject to change. Men are allowed to cry and wear nailpolish. Women can be fulltime workers, not want a baby and sit with there legs wide swearing like a sailor. Maybe you don’t like that. But that should not be everyone else’s problem. 

So have we cleared that now? Okay. Next issue. 

“The unborn child is a human (you murder them).”

Well, technically. It’s a fetus. And yes, Oxford dictionary defines fetus as: “ a young human or animal before it is born, especially a human more than eight weeks after fertilization"’ (2020).

Murder is defined by the Legal Information Institute as “the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.” (n.d.). You can argue if a mother that wants to abort a fetus is doing it with malice aforethought. Another issue is whether abortion is legal or not, what would make it lawful or unlawful. 

But I think the true questions behind the commenter’s statement are: 

What should be the rights of a human fetus? 

Should they have rights to begin with? 

And from which point on? 

That is what people disagree on. This archived BBC page gives a lot of different views on which some people think a fetus gets the right to life. It seems to be, what we call, a wicked problem.

Zhang wrote an article on why science can’t say when a baby’s life begins (2015).  For example: Where an embryologist say that life begins at gastrulation (The moment the embryo can’t divide into identical twins anymore), a neuroscientist might say that it all starts at the moment brainwaves are measurable. The threshold of viability outside of the womb is also changing as medical supports keeps getting better.

So saying “The unborn child is a human (you murder them)” is a very complicated statement. Assuming you mean to say that the unborn fetus has rights. 

The Legal Information Institute says that any human infant that is born alive is included in the words “a person”, “human being”, “child”, “individual” (n.d.).

Based on these definitions you would say that only from the moment a baby who is born alive will have “human” rights acoording to american law. But no, section c says you can’t affirm, deny, expand, or contract any legal status or right at any point prior to being ‘born alive’. So that is still useless. This means that American law doesn’t tell you when a human exactly get their rights. 

So law nor sience tells when an unborn has or gets their rights, which decides whether it is murder. What you say is based on personal opinions, views and ethics. 

Stay in your basement, sir. 

(Please, if you think something is missing in this post. Or if you think I’m wrong on something. Let me know! I’m willing to adjust and open to learn more)

Added on june 15th 2020:

https://youtu.be/cEhis4L4ohY

Adding this video of ObGyn mama Doctor Jones talking and explaining this topic.

[hashtaghumble]

Why do they need that?

I came across this article:  B.C. will hand out 3,500 smartphones to homeless across the province amid COVID-19

The article states that The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction will give pre-loaded smartphones to homeless and vulnerable populations across B.C. The goal is to ensure safe access to communication technology during the pandemic. Through the phones organisations can connect with the people about COVID-19 testing and symptoms, but also co-ordinate hygiene supplies, so says the coordinator of the Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative, Wendy Pedersen. Those hygiene products will help limiting the spread of the virus. We all know the importance of this by now. If you don’t: go wash your hands. Now. And check you’re governments website. 

The phones are funded by the Homelessness Community Actions Grant program and a partnership with 7-Eleven. So though the article states how the phones are funded, it doesn’t say wether it are new phones or (for example) refurbished, donated ones. If that would be the case; don’t most of us have old phones laying around just catching dust? 

“Free wifi to me is not fair”. Why not commenter? Don’t most of us use the free wifi from school, the library, restaurants? But because of COVID-19, these places are closed. Places where you’d usually be able to connect to internet or free wifi are all shut down. This limits the connectivity options. You might ask why that is a problem. Well a lot of the communication goes through the internet these days (the other option, good old mail, is expensive too by the way, but that’s another issue). That also means that homeless people have less options to supports and services (Minister Shane Simpson, 2020). 

But let’s answer the second commenter’s question about why homeless people would want or need a phone. Why do people use the Internet to begin with?  According to Lee Weber, there are 10 reasons: Information, communication, entertainment, work, school, relationships, market, sexuality, self expression and ask for help (2011).

We already covered ‘ask for help’, ‘information’ and ‘communication’. But Simpson also says that having a phone and being able to connect with people this way, will help social distancing in this time. This would fall under both ‘communication’ and ‘relationship’ in Weber’s view. The entertainment you can find online, can offer someone a way of winding down, a way of forgetting about the circumstances without the drugs or alcohol (Robbins, 2019).  

Kayla Robbins from the organisation “Invisible People” is making a good point saying cell phones became a necessity. They are no longer a luxury product. Rosie Spinks from the Guardian (2015) and Melia Russell from San Franciso Chronicle (2019) agree with her. Robbins points out it’s a way to call help when needed, to hear back about a job interview (2019). Not to mention that applying to a job often happens online now to begin with. If I may say; finding a job to be able to maintain yourself is pretty essential under those circumstances.

In Spink’s article Allen Baez, who is a project mananger for Mobile4All, says that phones play a role in stablishing homeless people’s lives. It provides a way to gain self-sufficiency and to contact services that might be able to help you change your life. 

So yeah. That is why homeless people need a phone. 

But let me tell you who are more likely to become homeless: Working poor and single-parent families with children (one in seven (!) users of shelters across Canada is a child), women, newcomers, seniors, visible minorities, aboriginal people, young people who are part of the LGBTQ community, disabled people, people with mental health problems or addictions. It’s a diverse group and truth is, it can happen to anyone for a lot of reasons.  And I think none of us want to be in that situation. 

Yes, second commenter. That statement about becoming homeless to get a phone probably shows how dependent we became on a phone. For you to make a comment like that. Because eventhough you won’t have a safe bed to lay in at night. You atleast have a smartphone, right?Much better.