Racial Justice
If Your Teacher Looks Likes You, You May Do Better In School
Think back to grade school for a moment and envision that one teacher who could captivate you more than any other. Did that teacher look a bit like you? One recent study says: probably. There’s mounting evidence that when black students have black teachers, those students are more likely to graduate high school. That new…
KC Vet Recalls Discrimination in Vietnam
Thomas “Buck” Jenkins doesn’t like to talk much about his year of Army duty in the Vietnam War — a time in his life with too many bad memories from too many bad experiences. Like many, Jenkins returned home to people who criticized his service, yet had never walked five steps in his shoes as…
The Fatigue of Discomfort
Unless you often enter a space where you need to do an instinctive assessment of your environment based on race, you may not get why I’m so tired. This past weekend, between errands in another part of town, I spent a couple of hours knitting in a coffee shop. It was a hopping place. But…
Protecting the Playwright Preserves Our Truth
Edward Albee and Shonda Rhimes. Funny how the twain can meet. The other night, a tornado watch interrupted the season finale of the TV show “Scandal.” That lead to a protracted ripple of conversation among my friends regarding the intense monologue by a character in that episode on the state of being a black woman…
To Diversify The Landscape, Diversify Who Works It
Farmers in the U.S. like to point out that their products feed people all over the world. And while this is a diverse country, the people working on farms and elsewhere in agriculture often don’t reflect the nation’s demographics. Changing that is becoming a priority, in hopes new people will bring fresh ideas to meet…
By Planting Corn, A Native American Man Hopes To Return To Indigenous Foods
Long before European settlers plowed the Plains, corn was an important part of the diet of Native American tribes like the Omaha, Ponca and Cherokee. Today, members of some tribes are hoping to revive their food and farming traditions by planting the kinds of indigenous crops their ancestors once grew. Taylor Keen is hoping to…
Common Grounds | Flip the Script: A Police Take on the Issues
One of the story lines of this election year has been alarm over law and order in cities and police shootings of unarmed black Americans. This week in our Common Grounds coffee conversation series, we head to Kansas City, Kansas, where we get a police take on that polarizing issue. We bring together five KCK…
Commentary | The Prejudices of Patriotism
We have a funny relationship with patriotism in our country. Patriotism is about loyalty to and pride in our country. And, in many respects, nowhere does that get highlighted more than with the Olympics, where we salute gladiator-like battles every four years against other countries. Unfortunately, our competitors are allowed but one identity — American…
In the Crossfire
Just this week, the New York Times detailed a study finding that police are more likely to rough up blacks than whites, meaning tactics like cuffs, pepper spray, and forcing the suspect against a wall. However, it also found no racial bias in lethal force, the deadly shootings we’ve come to rally around. The graphic below doesn’t…
What If I Told You That Kansas City Is Not A Racist Community?
What if I told you that Kansas City is not a racist community? Instead, I tell you that Kansas City is a great city, with a lot of great people. It is also inhabited by a miniscule number of racially divisive people that come from all ethnic backgrounds. Terrelle Pryor, Sr., wide receiver for the…