How do magazines that target the Black community represent Black/African American female beauty within a society that pushes a Eurocentric beauty ideal? Are these publications affected by the dominant ideal, do they resist the ideal with their own Afrocentric beauty standards, or do they find some type of compromise between the two? In this thesis, I propose that these publications present a compromise between Eurocentric and Afrocentric ideals but to the detriment of Black/African American women. To investigate my research questions, I conducted a content analysis of the advertisements in three periods of time, 1968, 1988, and 2008, in three lifestyle /news magazines that target the Black community: Jet, Essence, and Ebony. I looked at the beauty ideals represented in all three magazines by focusing on the hair type, skin color, and body shape and size of the Black/African American women portrayed. In addition I examined the historical context that supported the creation of these publications and these specific gendered and raced representations.Through a compromise between society’s dominant Eurocentric beauty ideal and an alternative Afrocentric ideal, these magazines participated in a trade-off, in which features and aesthetics of both communities were represented by Black women in advertisements. While the typical interpretation of this analysis might focus solely on the positive attributes of these representations, I argue that these representations are harmful to Black female readers because they circumscribe what constitutes Black female beauty while at the same time reinforcing negative ideas about physical attributes that are deemed “too Black” by the dominant ideals of a Eurocentric society.

As post-secondary education becomes more important for the American citizen to generate wealth, universities are struggling to retain and graduate African-Americans, the third-most represented demographic in the country, especially at predominately white colleges and universities. The Colleges of Agriculture at these particular institutions are struggling to even get Black students to apply, let alone graduate. One of the major issues is the disconnect between the African-American community and the idea of post-secondary education in the agricultural field. One way that disconnect can be combatted is new techniques and strategies in recruiting African-Americans. This study identifies three themes based on interviews with recruiters from universities throughout the country, as to why universities are struggling to effectively recruit Black students into programs. The results indicate that there is a lack of resources present and offered in recruiting said student, a perceived misconception of African-American’s views of agriculture and a major disconnect with the African-American community and colleges of agriculture. In order to combat and ultimately fix this issues, these three themes must be addressed.

Existing evidence suggests that disparities exist in the use of mental health services by Arabs in the U.S. While there are likely many factors that contribute, lack of cultural competence of mental health providers is one potentially important barrier for mental health service use among racial/ethnic minorities, including Arabs. The primary purpose of this study was to identify and examine factors related to the development and existence of cultural competence toward Arabs. Variables measuring demographics, professional characteristics, familiarity with Arabs, prior experience and knowledge of Arabs, and readiness for change were tested with a randomly selected sample of mental health providers in Northern Virginia. In order to assess baseline levels of cultural competence toward Arabs, as well as further define the potential relationships of these variables to cultural competence, a new measure of cultural competence toward Arabs [CC-A] was developed and initially validated through a focus group and pilot test. It was subsequently administered to a group of mental health providers in Northern Virginia to further assess the validity of the underlying constructs being tested and to explore relationships between this measure and other key factors. Factor analyses revealed that a unidimensional construct of cultural competence toward Arabs was being measured. Bivariate and multivariate analyses examined the way this measure related to these constructs. Regression analyses revealed that higher levels of cultural competence were significantly related to higher readiness for change, higher prior levels of knowledge toward Arabs, a greater degree of familiarity with Arabs, and utilizing books as a source of knowledge about Arabs. A model inclusive of these factors explained 19% of the variance in mean scores on the CC-A. Implications of these findings for research, clinical practice, and graduate training are discussed. These include consideration of alternative models for cultural competence, an assessment of additional methodologies to measure cultural competence, and the development and implementation of cultural competence interventions.

According to Ernest Gaines‘ personal experiences as a Southerner, without addressing the history of slavery, the quest for human dignity becomes meaningless. The discourses and the ideologies of the characters in AGathering of Old Men represent a call for social change. A Gathering of Old Men is however, more than just a novel about whites dominating blacks; it is a novel about the fight for humanity in spite of the threat of a new social order. The social repercussions of slavery and the denial of black manhood are central issues in A Gathering of Old Men, but Gaines also exhibits ways in which the demand for a social change in our society can bring about racial harmony.

The current study examined the relationship of testifier type (expert, character witness) and race. Fifty-three participants were selected via convenience sampling to read four scenarios and answer a series of questions regarding the guilt or innocence of the defendant in each scenario. The scenarios included the absence or presence of racial identifiers and the presence of either a character witness or the testimony of an expert. It was hypothesized that the scenario with the presence of expert testimony will yield more guilty verdicts as well as the effectiveness of the testimony will cause a participant to yield a guiltier verdict. The research concluded that participants rendered more guilty verdicts in the absence of race. Additionally, expert testimony was found to be more effective than the testimony of a character witness even when both testifiers presented the same information.

The overrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in crime has been an issue of debate. Some evidence, however, has shown that racial differences in offending are largely accounted for by economic disadvantage. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 4,290), the relationship between race and delinquency was examined looking at social disorganization factors. It was hypothesized that there would be racial and ethnic differences in delinquency and that these differences would be accounted for by social disorganization factors, specifically collective efficacy and economic disadvantage. The results show that compared to White adolescents Hispanic adolescents have increased odds of nonviolent and violent delinquency, and Black adolescents have increased odds of violent delinquency. Contrary to expectations, social disorganization factors did not account for the racial and ethnic differences in delinquency. Unexpectedly, higher levels of collective efficacy actually increased the odds of violent delinquency.

Immigration reform in 1965 enabled a large number of Chinese immigrants to settle in the United States. Chinese restaurants expanded quickly both quantitatively and geographically. This thesis researches the interactions between Chinese restaurant employers and employees and their customers. I focus on several Chinese restaurants in a mid-size Southeast U.S. city with a university and I analyze their methods for attracting culturally distinct groups of customers—local Americans and Chinese students or immigrants. I conducted participant observation in two Chinese restaurants and in-person interviews with 14 people from four restaurants whose roles are owners, managers, or servers. I found that Chinese restaurants in my sample shifted their cuisine to accommodate local American customers. I also found that they provided unofficial services for Chinese customers. By operating as quasi cultural centers and information hubs, the restaurants I studied cultivated loyal Chinese customers and maintained their claims to ethnic authenticity.

Background: Critical race theorist, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (2014), states that the racial climate in the United States has shifted away from the more overt forms of racism towards a race-neutral and (Bobo, 2011; Lentin, 2011; Plaut, 2010; Smith et al., 2011) color blind ideology (Alexander, 2012; Emerson & Smith, 2000; Omi & Winant, 2014; Smith et al., 2011; Wise, 2010). According to Gushue and Constantine (2007), “The conscious or unconscious minimization, denial, or distortion of race and racism is known as color blindness” (Neville et al., 2000; Neville et al., 2001). This erroneous perspective is detrimental (Atwater, 2008) to the organizational structure of the United States (Emerson & Smith, 2000), especially the Christian [church] (Bonilla-Silva, 2002; Yancey, 2010). In the state of Mississippi, approximately 170,000 (UMData, 2017) Black and White individuals identify as United Methodist. This racial composition is unique to Mississippi because Blacks make up a large proportion of the population (Census, 2010). However, little to no research has been conducted to examine the colorblind racial attitudes of adults in The United Methodist Church (UMC) or to evaluate current anti-racism programs in Mississippi’s UMC. According to The UMC’s official website, no formalized evidence-based program exist that both teaches and trains its members to be engaged in racial justice. Therefore, the development of an intervention that investigates color-blind racial ideology (Neville, et al., 2013) from a critical race theory framework is needed. Program Description: Counter Narrative is a faith-based program, set to be implemented spring of 2018 in The UMC. The program challenges three notions: racism is no longer a problem, Christians should be colorblind, and that the church is silent about racial injustices. It has three components: Revising the Narrative (anti-racism workshops), Rewriting the Narrative (cross-racial training program), and R2 (race relations task force). Aim: Engage adults in constructive dialogue around race Explore and examine participants personal attitudes, behaviors, and language towards race colorblindness Educate participants about the historical context of racism and racial equity in America and The UMC Equip participants with the resources and skills to build authentic cross-racial relationships and to become racial justice advocates Methodology: Revising the Narrative—6 anti-racism workshops will be held in one year, for approximately eight hours each. Each session will be co-facilitated by individuals trained in anti-racism and will include a worship service, an overview of the social principles, history of the church’s commitment to eradicate racism, content knowledge, and processing exercises. Evaluation: Pretest/posttest survey will be administered with multiple follow-ups. Rewriting the Narrative—31 sessions (Training, Social Events, Service Learning, and Diversity Workshop) will take place over one year. Evaluation: Pretest/posttest survey will be administered and focus groups will be conducted. R2—12 meetings will be held, once a month for two hours. Also, participants will receive at least 14 hours of anti-racism training. Evaluation: Pretest/posttest survey will be administered and in-depth interviews will be conducted at the end of the year. Long-Term Objective: Reduce racial colorblindness and racial tension between Black and White Christians.

No description available.

This paper assesses how women of different racial backgrounds and their contraceptive method choices impact their economic well-being. While there is extensive literature on the impact of contraceptive use and women’s economic outcomes, there is less concerning women’s contraceptive method choice and their economic outcomes. However, birth control is only as effective at supporting women’s economic advancement as it is effective at preventing unintended pregnancy. Given a legacy of reproductive and economic disempowerment, Women of Color in the United States have unevenly reaped the economic benefits of contraception. Therefore, it is important to look at how race and contraceptive method choice may factor into women’s economic health. In this paper, I define women’s economic well-being in terms of human capital, through the lens of educational attainment, and income. Further, I stratify contraceptive methods into three categories: high, medium, and low, based on the method’s effectiveness rate and user maintenance requirements. Using a Simple Linear Regression Model, I find that medium forms of birth control have the greatest impact on educational attainment and earnings for both White women and Women of Color.