An institutional problem in Boston area police departments?
July 31, 2009 at 10:35 am | Posted in police, prison system, race | Leave a commentJust as the controversy over the arrest of black scholar Herny L. Gates at his Cambridge home by a white police officer appeared to be nearing an end, a Boston police officer has written a letter to the Boston Globe comparing Gates (multiple times) to a “jungle monkey”: “If I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana-eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance. “ Officer Justin Barrett has been suspended; he insists he is not a racist. (Barrett’s lawyer explains that his client’s comparison would have been “much less offensive, if [his client had] used a different species of animal.” [!]) Mayor Menino wants him fired. Watch the NECN report, via boston.com. Is this a free speech issue? Is it evidence of an institutional problem in Boston area police departments? As the Boston Globe reports, detective Larry Ellison, president of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, points to multiple incidents, including that of a white officer who posted an article, “Slavery: Best Thing that Ever Happened to Blacks.” For more on police department culture, see the blog of sociologist and police officer Peter Moskos .
Group emerges to oppose “creative class” movement in Toronto
July 23, 2009 at 3:19 pm | Posted in amenities, cities, creative class, economic development | 3 CommentsThe Toronto Star reports that an activist group, Creative Class Struggle, has emerged to oppose the influence of Richard Florida and the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think-tank at the University of Toronto. Florida is known for arguing that today’s cities will prosper to the extent they can attract artists, engineers, intellectuals, and other professionals who constitute what he terms the “creative class.” Members of this class are attracted by tolerant environments and a plethora of ammenities, such as cafes, galeries, and restaurants. The activist group complains that Florida’s model ignores that these “glorified professionals” are “supported by an invisible army of low-wage service workers.”
Report finds reduction of Chicago’s “food desert” between 2006 and 2009
July 13, 2009 at 9:07 pm | Posted in food deserts, grocery stores, health, neighborhoods, organizational density, poverty, what to read | Leave a commentThe Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group has released a follow-up of its 2006 report on “food deserts”—areas deprived of grocery stores selling high quality foods—in Chicago. The researchers find that, on average, the total Chicago food desert became smaller by 1.4 square miles. However, the change was uneven, and in some neighborhoods conditions worsened. The study finds that most neighborhoods deprived of quality grocery stores are located on the West and South sides.
Study finds racial difference in prevalence of political advocacy organizations
July 9, 2009 at 10:26 am | Posted in immigrants, non-profits, organizational density, political organizations, social movements, what to read | Leave a comment
Sarah Reckhow’s “The Distinct Patterns of Organized and Elected Representation of Racial and Ethnic Groups,” published in Urban Affairs, uses data from Melissa DATA and newspaper accounts. She finds that, for Latinos and Asian-Americans, the group’s proportion in the population increases the number of political advocay organizations; for African-Americans, however, the pattern does not hold. From the abstract: Studies of minority political incorporation have demonstrated that advocacy organizations are critical for advancing minority electoral success and policy change. Drawing on an original data set of 30 midsized U.S. cities, the author evaluates the extent of organized representation of racial and ethnic groups and the effect of organized representation on elected representation. Latinos and Asian-Americans both have greater numbers of local advocacy organizations as the groups’ proportion of the population increases. Yet many cities with sizable African-American populations have a lower density of advocacy organizations than cities with fewer African-Americans. A smaller field of organizations increases elected representation for African-Americans but not for Latinos.
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