21 Articles

Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving's Many and Complicated Needs
(2 comments) The early relationship between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag in many ways continues to be controverial, but two peoples came together in peace and mutual assistance that first year and the resulting Thanksgiving, in turn, paved the way for a half century of peace. Is this event worth celebrating, or is it yet another example of white insensitivity toward its indigenous peoples?

Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Trouble With Elves: Racial Dynamics in Harry Potter (Part 3)
(8 comments) The Harry Potter books and films have deliberate and unmistakable messages about race and racism. But what are they really saying and are these really the lessons we want our children to learn? This is the 3rd of a 3-part series examining racial dynamics in the Harry Potter universe.

Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Color of Blood: Racial Dynamics in Harry Potter (Part 2)
(9 comments) The Harry Potter books and films have deliberate and unmistakable messages about race and racism. But what are they really saying and are these really the lessons we want our children to learn? This is the 2nd of a 3-part series examining racial dynamics in the Harry Potter universe.

Thursday, July 30, 2009
A Black Boy Even Taller Than Ron: Racial Dynamics in Harry Potter (Part 1)
(13 comments) The Harry Potter books and films have deliberate and unmistakable messages about race and racism. But what are they really saying and are these really the lessons we want our children to learn?

Saturday, July 25, 2009
Gates and Crowley: It May Not Be Racist, But It Is Most Certainly Racial
(20 comments) Reasonable people may disagree on who was right and wrong, but there is an undeniable racial element to this incident that is reminiscent of the climactic scene in the film Crash.

Monday, June 29, 2009
Michael Jackson, Not Too Many Words
(3 comments) Michael Jackson changed with the times and, despite his flaws. evolved into precisely the kind of progressive force we wish all artists would be.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Is This Joke Racist?
(18 comments) A racial joke, an analysis of said joke, and a question for OEN readers.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Obama's Cairo Speech: An Imperfect but Well-Executed First Step
(20 comments) Barack Obama's speech to "the Muslim world" was highly anticipated and desperately needed. Here's a first look at what it did and didn't do.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Five Mistakes Filmmakers Make in Depicting Racial Dynamics
(1 comments) Every so often, Hollywood produces a film about racial issues that is so honest, so truthful, so powerful that I wish every person could see it. Do The Right Thing (1989) and Crash (2005) are two good examples. These aren't perfect films. They just know how to deal with the racial themes they take on. Unfortunately, these are the exceptions rather than the rule. Here are five common mistakes filmmakers make in depicting race.

Saturday, May 30, 2009
Multiculturalism is For Sale: A Photo Journal
(3 comments) Multiculturalism is for sale everywhere. But it's far from the real thing.

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Accusations of "Racism" In Sotomayor's Speech Off Base, Out of Touch, and Very Telling
(21 comments) Conservative media's response to Sonia Sotomayor's nomination is telling proof that we are not yet anywhere close to a post racial society.

Monday, March 9, 2009
Zen and the Art of Watchmen
(7 comments) This is an article about the way we perceive and judge the world. It is not intended as a movie review, but because it'll probably function as such for some readers, I tried not to give away anything of import. Nevertheless, readers who haven't read or seen Watchmen and don't want to know anything about it may not want to read any further.

Monday, February 16, 2009
Negotiation Genius (A Book Review and Upcoming OEN Feature)
(4 comments) Stephen Covey, the author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" described it as the most comprehensive, wise, practical book on the subject I've ever seen." Here's a more in-depth review, and an introduction to a series of excerpts from the book that will be posted in the coming week.

Saturday, November 22, 2008
Creating institutional change: A short primer
(7 comments) A brief overview on how individuals can change institutions.

Thursday, November 20, 2008
The "real" Thanksgiving
(14 comments) Question: What do Puritans, buckles, teepees, and turkeys have in common? Answer: They all have nothing to do with the original Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 19, 2008
"Pretty little children": Some thoughts on how racism is socialized in immigrant communities
(6 comments) Negotiating the U.S. racial hierarchy remains one of the primary and most salient experiences for most immigrants...Here's one person's story, with some critical analysis.

Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Racial Implications of a Barack Obama Presidency
(4 comments) This article describes the benefits of a Black Presidential candidate for different U.S. racial groups and society at large.

Thursday, September 11, 2008
On 9-11, patriotism, and the U.S. flag
(9 comments) I was already married and in my 30s in 2001 and already a member of the faculty at a small liberal arts college. I'd been politically conscious for years already, and, as an immigrant, had been reflecting on what it means to be "American" since early childhood. By all accounts, you'd think that I would have grasped the notion of patriotism long before 2001. Maybe I had, but 9-11 changed everything.

Sunday, September 7, 2008
Out of the ashes: A new German Jewry?
(9 comments) At the end of WWII, the roughly 750,000 German Jews were reduced to a mere 10,000. In the early 1990s, the newly unified Germany decided to rebuild its Jewish population -- by targeting Russian-speaking Jews from the former Soviet Union. Remarkably, about 200,000 Russian Jews have since emigrated to Germany. This group now comprises 90% of the nation's Jewish population. This is the story of the new Germany Jewry.

Saturday, September 6, 2008
Obama for Skeptics
(21 comments) A response to the most frequent "reasons" independents and moderates offer for not supporting Barack Obama, or for professing equal love for both candidates.

Friday, July 18, 2008
Tuning into the election's racial frequency
(3 comments) "When it comes to African-American audiences, some have called Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid a 'dual-track' candidacy, one that seeks to prove he is in tune with the needs of the black community while also not alienating whites." The purpose of this article is to examine what he needs to do in order to appeal to both of these groups and whether simultaneously appealing to both groups is even possible.