Racial Inequity in USA: Need for Movement

In this day and age, you’d think that racism, bigotry, and other issues would be the hatchet that as buried, a long time ago, but, that isn’t the case. It seems as if tensions are still high, and the ugliness of discrimination still exists, and seems to some as if it at an all time high. Sure, we have things such as affirmative action, but, that even can be skirted around, so it isn’t a sure all that people will get hired fairly, especially in this poor economy. There are different aspects to this access, not only from an employment angle, but other angles, as well.

Police brutality seems to be the hot topic of late, for longer than what all of us are comfortable with. We hear it on the television, hear it on the radio, read it in the newspapers, and shows up in social media. Sometimes, it seems so blown out of proportion, or is this issue in that desperate need of awareness, to tackle it, head on? I’d love to get discussions rolling on this, aside from just saying that it is a huge problem, or to say it isn’t there. Real discussion that looks at the issues, and why (or why not) it is an issue. I will include links to my research, to make my points. I’d love to see yours, as well, whether it agrees or not with my stance, and explain your viewpoint, so we can understand where you are coming from. Thanks.

According to the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s article called The Color of Justice, there are numerous issues with our legal system. A statistic from Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis states that per capita, the likelihood of black people or Hispanics will face a higher incarceration rate than white people, despite the fact that people of color are minorities. Even taking into consideration of economics, minorities, especially black people, still are lagging in being able to find household sustaining jobs. But, please pay particular attention to the 2nd paragraph under the Arrest section. The positive note is that when we have a diverse group of people on a jury, the group as a whole seems to be able to get things done, which shows that a mutual respected situation can always make the situation better. It’s too bad we don’t necessarily apply this outside of the legal system.

An article from the Huffington Post talks about 18 Examples of Racism in the Criminal Legal System. Please keep in mind the statistics in each category, such as the fact that whites and blacks use drugs at similar rates, yet black people are more likely to be arrested and incarcerated, according to the FBI. The scariest stat, to me, is that “Over 65 percent of prisoners serving life without parole for nonviolent offenses are black”, and are 3 times higher to lose voting privileges. In a Republic/Democracy, where we like to brag that we live in a free country, it seems the definition of free country changes, depending on your demographics, that have more to do with your skin color, as opposed to economics or anything else.

Here are more articles that relate to this same issue of disparity. From US News, No, Justice is Not Colorblind. All of the statistics point to the fact that the darker your skin color, the more likely you are to be arrested, and please pay extra attention to the Gun Homicides by Strangers, and how they were seamed justifiable. I will leave you with this link from the National Institute of Corrections, with all of that information about Racial Disparities & Dynamics in the Criminal Justice System.

But, the disparity does not stop with the criminal justice system. It is saturated in society, in so many ways. The injustice includes victimology, healthcare access, and even during day to day living. Yet, so many seem to think that bringing up this information is only adding to the problem, when, if we are to proudly say we are a diverse set of American people of this country, we must address the racism issue, or, we are not a proud people.

Even for victims, support seems to be stacked against people of color, as well. About a year ago, I had a conversation on Twitter with a woman who had given various stats and education materials online, about how black women seem to be taken less seriously when they are a crime victim of domestic violence and/or sexual assault, and how even in support groups, they are not heard or understood as much as white counterparts. I had those saved, but lost the info when my computer crashed. Of course, if anyone is a part of the LGBTQ community, the situation could be compounded further, especially if there are ethnic issues on top of it.

Here is a research post published about Racial and Ethnic Disparity of Access to Health Insurance and Health Care, by The Kaiser Group. It talks about how minorities don’t have the means to get the quality health care they need. Another publication by Forbes talks about Why Health Care Is Different If You’re Black, Hispanic, Or Poor. Even more about the topic by the Prevention Research of the University of Michigan in the article African American History and Health Disparities. All of these articles talk about the fact that our dark skinned brothers and sisters on this planet cannot get the care they need for the health issues they experience, like white and Asians do. I read another article with a study on the situation by another big university that black people and often, Hispanic people, get less than useful healthcare, even when they access to it. So while an MRI can find different things, it won’t test for things like Sickle Cell Anemia or thyroid issues, yet, this is what they get, which is makes it low value.

This isn’t about white guilt, nor is this about “thinking” the system is somehow unfair. This is what I’ve read, plus more, and this is why I support the Black Lives Matter movement, because these disparities should never exist. At least, not in my mind. If these are incorrect, please enlighten me as to how it really is, because I honestly don’t know. I just know that this big pink elephant in the room needed to be addressed a long time ago. I leave you with these videos, on how this racial divide is permeated in our society, and it needs to stop.

Diane Sawyer: 1991 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xp...

Changing the way we see racism? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrh...

Washington Park Class of 87 Reunion: 09/15-17/2017

It was a fun weekend, this whole weekend with the #park30reunion. Being part of the planning committee was also pretty fun, and I won’t speak for anyone else, but, I love planning parties, and feeding people, too.

Friday Night, was an awesome ice breaker at Blue Rock, owned and operated by one of our own, Mark Thomas. It was nice, hanging out up on the 2nd floor, and Mark made 3 pizzas. They’re really good pizzas. Eleazar brought his homemade pico de gallo with chips, and if you didn’t have any, you missed out, big time! And, being that I wanted to give people their money’s worth for the reunion, I’d made a ton of food... It was delicious, and I was a little disappointed that more of it didn’t get eaten up, but, I did get to give some out to one of the mayoral candidate’s volunteer staff, so that was a good save. Here are pictures of what I made, with the help of my hubby, Mike, and he was very helpful, because my back really was aching making all of it. But, for those who ate, I hope it was suffice.

Mini Indian Tacos

Here is a little history on Indian tacos... When the Native Americans were first put onto their respected reservations, one of the few things that were given for cooking purposes was those old fashioned deep fryers in a thing similar to Olla pots, and large amounts of government cooking oil, that no one else seemed to want. Bread dough ended up being deep fried, and here was the birth of “fry bread”, and is used in place of the tortillas, therefore, Indian tacos.

Spinach Balls & Vegetarian Indian Tacos

Here are vegetarian Indian tacos, on the right.

On the left, is a pan of Spinach Balls. I know it seems weird, I thought so, too, but, when I tried it, it was pretty good. So, I figured I’d test it out on my classmates, though I don’t think they went over well, since anything like spinach balls sounds, well. I don’t know... It’s spinach, stuffing croutons, Parmesana eggs, onion, and seasoning. It’s actually pretty good.

3 different types of my sushi rolls

With sushi being a big craze, it was fun making these different rolls. I wanted to go with meatless options, and I also wanted to do something different. Here they are, courtesy of, me. lol

1) Spanish-Italian Rolls: Mix of mostly sushi grade white rice with quinoa, another whole grain, seasoned with traditional sushi rice seasonings, as well as garlic and basil (that’s the Italian part). In the middle, were Spanish bell pepper and green onion. Unique, and it came out really well.

2) Under the Forest Rolls: Traditional sushi rice, with seasoned shiitake mushrooms, which grows in forested areas, green onions/chives, which seem to like to grow in somewhat wooded areas, and takuan, a pickled Japanese radish called daikon. This is my favorite vegetable based roll, and I don’t recall seeing this in any restaurants. So, my maiden name, Morishita, means under the forest, so that is what I call it.

3) Root River rolls: Made with water from the Root River. Okay, just kidding. It’s not. I used balsamic vinegar in place of the usual, and because it is dark, it “murks” the color of the rice, similar to how the Root River water is murky. The flavor is a pleasant change from the usual, but not super distinct. I used bell pepper and green onion, though you can be creative as to what you roll in the middle. It’s the balsamic vinegar that makes it “root river”, after our pride and joy, feeding into our Great Lake Michigan.

Japanese style sesame chicken

This sesame chicken has the distinct sesame flavor, but there is no thick breading, and does not have a sauce covering it. The sesame is in the marinade. Equally good as the Chinese restaurant counterpart, but also unique in its own way.

It was fun, and then, of course, Saturday was over at Dewey’s. With the set up, it was nice, because all of the food was catered. It was a nice spread, with cheese, crackers, soft pretzels w/ cheese, pita chips with hummus, shrimp cocktail, fresh veggie tray, sliders, and fresh fruit! The fresh fruit on a stick was my favorite. Oh, and there were cupcakes, too. It was super good.

The best part of Saturday was Duo Sonic, and everybody shaking their stuff. We had a really good crowd, and I think even the bar tender had fun, too. The band even played a little bit extra for us. It was cool. My personal contribution for Saturday’s event was the class/memorial video, to commemorate those from our class that we lost, as well as to celebrate the rest of us, all wrapped up in one. Music on the video is me, on harmonica w/ the Park fight song, Forever Young by Alphaville, and Never Say Goodbye by Bon Jovi, our class song. Thank you for watching, and your kind/encouraging words about the video.

Sunday afternoon, we had a cookout at OTL (short for On The Level), and we had a more relaxed pace to the fun. Another one of our own, Darrick Pittman, owns OTL. A big shout out goes to Sabina’s BF, for being the grill master for this event. Perfect burgers, hot dogs, and brats. Thank you. Again, I made a couple of things.

Potato Salad

There is a ton of veggies in this recipe, because it calls for a bell pepper, celery sticks, 3 bunches of green onion, and some radishes, all minced. Then, just put enough salad dressing (Miracle Whip) to make it damp. I let people add their own salt and pepper on their plates. It has good flavor w/o adding more, to be able to taste the different things in there. I think this went over pretty well.

Baked Beans

People who know me well, know that I do not have a kitchen in my house. It’s actually a dysfunctional kitchen... But it’s a science lab, that produces things good to eat. I like to use dry pinto beans or black beans, for extra flavor. Recipes are often just a suggestion, or a guide. This batch of baked beans also had a hint of Lazer, because I used some of his pico de gallo to add even more flavor into the mix. The rest, is my mad scientist secret.

Anyways, I’d like to give huge kudos to Krissy, Sabi, Lazer, and Vikki for all of their hard work and dedication to make this weekend a rocking party weekend. I figure I kind of had the easy part, stalking all of you for your current addresses, and then doing what I do, which is cook. Thank you for being awesome teammates in planning this event. I think we got to bond and get to know each other better, in ways that we weren’t able to back in high school.

I also want to thank every person who came, especially those who ate my food. Satisfaction is watching people enjoy what is served. We had a blast, the whole weekend. My back and knees will be talking to me for a while, from the stair climbing on both Friday and Saturday nights, and dancing on Saturday, but it will be worth the connections.

A recurring thought between Serena, Michael, Connie, myself, and a few others are that we should not wait until the next reunion, nor should we wait for a funeral to get back together. Life is short, and life is precious. We need to stay in touch better, more often, and have no regrets. Thanks to everyone who came, for helping to make the events totally fun. Let’s stay in touch, and not be strangers.