Plant Money makes a T-shirt

Consider the global supply and production chain involved in making a simple clothing article, such as a T-shirt. NPR's Plant Money recently did, and from it created this enlightening rich-media series. Each of the five parts (cotton, machines, people, boxes, you) is comprised of a short overview video, followed by images, text, graphics, and links to additional resources, deconstructing the process. The series was initially funded as a Kickstarter project, in which the intent was to finance the manufacture of 2,000 shirts; 25,000 were ultimately made. Note: the deadline for ordering a project T-shirt is December 31, 2013. (YouTube playlist available at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Zod7Sd3rQ&list=PLp-wXwmbv3z8aAJrhyttiqPMiKy0WVJym).

knockout game, media, and race

Racial political controversy is heating up again as the conservative press recently began keying off on the "knockout game," a pastime presumably perpetrated by black youths against unsuspecting whites encountered in public space. Two recent articles put this phenomenon into context. These NPR and NY Times pieces address it in terms of larger issues of violent assault and youth crime. The latter article also suggests it may well be simply "urban myth."

"catch an illegal immigrant" contest backfires

A recent attempt by a campus club, the Young Conservatives of Texas, to generate discussion about the issue of undocumented immigration was called off after UT Austin administrators stated that it would violate the school's "honor code." However, publicity about the contest did spark a counter demonstration on campus, which included a pro-immigrant statement by actress America Ferrera (see this newstory for information relevant to the organization's rationale for the event and reasons for cancelling it).   

black bruin

viral homeless vet video

This timelapse of Jim Wolf, homeless Army veteran, has had over 7 million YouTube hits since Nov 6. It was placed on the Internet as a fundraising vehicle by Degage Ministries and has already generated more than $15,000 of its $20,000 goal. The Grand Rapids, Michigan charity claims that Wolf's participation in the project has also transformed his life in other ways as he is now involved with AA. 

self-sufficiency standard

Critics have long held that the federal poverty line underestimates the real level of economic hardship in our society. Based largely on the market-basket price of groceries for households of various sizes, the official poverty measure has been criticized for failing to reflect the rising cost of other basic necessities, as well as changed consumption patterns over the past 50 years. A more realistic measure, the Self-Sufficiency Standard, is now being touted as superior as it takes into consideration how much income is minimally necessary to meet a list of key expenses for households of varying size and composition across diverse U.S. places, such that households would not have to receive welfare assistance. In this recent PBS NewsHour story, Dana Pearce of the University of Washington School of Social Work, discusses the measure she developed and how it is being used.

the most unequal place in America

This short documentary, which explores Lake Providence, LA, presumably the "most unequal place in America," is part of a recent CNN series on economic inequality in America 
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/29/opinion/sutter-lake-providence-income-inequality/index.html, which in turn is a part of a larger series entitled "Change the List," a project addressing the 5 most extreme-case problems as defined by CNN viewers 
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/18/opinion/sutter-ctl-vote-results/index.html .  

racial profiling: stop and frisk

See the full infographic at http://www.vera.org/stop-and-frisk-study-infographic

The Vera Institute has recently published a study on stop and frisk practices in New York City based on survey interviews with about 500 young adults. The full report can be downloaded at 

http://www.vera.org/pubs/special/stop-and-frisk-reports

An excellent companion to any treatment of racial profiling is the short video, Stigma, produced in 2011 by the Yale Law School Visual Law Project. 

hunger amid plenty

This recent KQED documentary details the irony of severe hunger among workers in California agriculture.

know the chain

Modern slavery is everywhere around us, and we are likely to be supporting it in terms of the goods we purchase!
As discussed in this Free The Slave Blog article http://ftsblog.net/2013/10/21/slavery-in-your-shopping-cart-new-website-helps-you-know/ slave labor is common in the supply chain of modern production. Now a new website, Know The Chain https://www.knowthechain.org/, spells out the extent of involvement of hundreds of corporations.

intersectionality

What about those of us who belong to more than one subordinate group? For example, are you perhaps, black, poor, and female? This relates to the concept of "intersectionality." Check-out this great information graphic by Miriam Dobson that appeared several months ago in The Sociological Imagination: 
http://sociologicalimagination.org/archives/12975.

lobster boy: new Republican poster child

As discussed in this NPR story, Congressional Republicans have seized upon this FOX News video in their attempts to generate support for cutting back the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). See the entire collection of FOX News' "Great Food Stamp Binge" at http://youtu.be/rXoTX1sP-jo.

PhDs as indentured servants

Source: Online-PhD-Programs.org

PhDs in many fields face significant obstacles to gainful employment in academia. This information graphic defines the problematic nature and scope of the current exploitation of adjunct professors.

British social class calculator

The BBC has published this interactive calculator allowing readers to determine their class position. The tool was developed by a team of sociologists based on recent survey data of the adult UK population (N>160,000). Seven categories were derived from the study which presumably reflects the contemporary class structure more accurately than previous definitions.

income mobility and location in U.S.

Today's NY Times mentions a provocative new study by a team of economists from Harvard on the correlation between place of residence and intergenerational income mobility. The study suggests substantial variability across the U.S. in the likelihood of rising substantially in income. Among notable findings is that mobility among those in the South and Midwest appears to be generally lower than for those living elsewhere. The Times piece also includes some great interactive graphics.

inequality for all

Former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, stars in a new documentary, Inequality for All, about growing economic disparities in the U.S. The full hour and one-half version is available for rental on YouTube. The video premiered at the Sundance Festival earlier this year...

faces of hope

This post was contributed by SOC 3013 student, Jessica Raasch.

Before becoming employed at Haven for Hope, my thoughts about the homeless population were pretty much like those of the average American. I firmly believed that we are fully responsible for ourselves, and that if we worked hard, we would get what we wanted out of life. The homeless were therefore likely deficient in important ways as human beings. Since working with Haven for Hope, I have come to see that homeless people, like all other people, defy easy stereotypes. If nothing else, the above video asks us to see the homeless population as comprised of real people who have confronted incredibly difficult life challenges. It illustrates that those without housing are not of one race, sex, personality type, or common story. In these tough times, for example, one could lose a job and soon be out on the street, or living on the street might be far better than continuing to live in an abusive home. Those in the video admit to the world the mistakes they have made, but also suggest the compassion, empowerment, and transition brought in their lives.

rape in the fields

The following post was contributed by SOC 3193 student, Roxana Guerrero.

Rape in the Fields addresses the experiences of immigrant farm-worker women who have been raped by their supervisors. These women come to the United States with hopes of a better life for themselves and their families, and they are mainly undocumented. They risk much to cross the border, and the risk of losing their jobs and being deported makes speaking out about this crime extremely difficult. Although so ashamed, they also fear reprisal so much that they may continue to bear repeated assault.

Most of the U.S.-grown food we eat has been touched by women like these who work long, difficult hours for poverty wages. Field labor is physically hard and exposes workers to dangerous equipment and the elements, as well as pesticides. These hazards and hardships are compounded by criminal victimization. Female workers endure sexual coercion and are consistently in fear. Their supervisors see them as easy, disposable targets. There are always more women behind them desperate for work. The value of machismo tends to amplify the problem. Men dominate women, and women are submissive to men. This leads men to see women as objects they can use whenever they want without a thought to their feelings.

My father supervised many undocumented immigrants years ago in the orange groves across the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. He typically had about fifteen people working for him. Most were men, but wives often worked alongside them. I told him about this documentary and asked him if he knew of instances in which women were assaulted or harassed while on the job. He told me that he could see how assault could happen. Orange groves are often located on the outskirts of town, isolated from the population, and stretching for miles on end.  If she yelled at all, a woman’s cry for help would be hard to hear. Many women in these jobs were in such need that they would have endured almost anything. The fact that only a few women spoke out is not hard to believe. Although my dad said he never witnessed such behavior, he did say he heard verbal abuse at times that would lead to scuffles between men.

This documentary helps to give voice to women all over the country who fall victim to assault at the hands of their bosses. Obviously, all women, documented or undocumented, should have the right to work without fear of harassment or violence. At present, the only federal agency that is pursuing this problem is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Victims are reluctant to come forward, but as they do, this will empower others to do the same. I admire these women for their strength and courage, and hope that more will be done to protect them should they continue to labor in the fields.

virginity, sexual property, stratification

   

You are invited to create a post or submit a comment on this video. Should you want to write a post, be sure to include your ideas about how the video could be employed for teaching and learning purposes, particularly as related to the study of social stratification. Send your post to me at michael.miller@utsa.edu. I reserve the right to edit post submissions.

This video is available at http://testtube.com/lacigreen/virginity.

super rich kids

Frank Ocean - Super Rich Kids from dustin sussman on Vimeo.
This post was contributed by SOC 3013 student, Brittany Nicole Cannan.

In my opinion, Frank Ocean is one of the best rap artists of our time. He recently came out with an album, Channel Orange, and "Super Rich Kids" is one of its feature songs. I've posted the lyrics below along with the video so you can better visualize what he is saying. The song is a play on children who grow up in families with lots of money, but with parents who are neglectful due to over-involvement with careers. These kids then are often unsupervised and have plenty of time to mess around. I really relate to this as much of my childhood and teen years was also spent at home alone, and although I didn't get into too much trouble, plenty of other children in my neighborhood did. There were parties thrown every weekend, kids getting arrested, and cops always seemed to be circling the neighborhood. This song includes drug references as well, such as "too many bowls of that green, no lucky charms" and "too many white lies and white lines." In all, Ocean provides vivid insights about some of the struggles facing children who grow up in otherwise privileged homes.

Too many bottles of this wine we can’t pronounce
Too many bowls of that green, no Lucky Charms
The maids come around too much
Parents ain’t around enough
Too many joy rides in daddy’s Jaguar
Too many white lies and white lines
Super rich kids with nothing but loose ends
Super rich kids with nothing but fake friends
[Verse 1: Frank Ocean]
Start my day up on the roof
There’s nothing like this type of view
Point the clicker at the tube
I prefer expensive news
New car, new girl
New ice, new glass
New watch, good times babe
It's good times, yeah
She wash my back three times a day
This shower head feels so amazing
We’ll both be high, the help don’t stare
They just walk by, they must don’t care
A million one, a million two
A hundred more will never do
[Refrain]
[Bridge]
Real love, I’m searching for a real love
Real love, I’m searching for a real love
Oh, real love
[Verse 2: Earl Sweatshirt]
Close your eyes to what you can't imagine
We are the xany-gnashing
Caddy-smashing, bratty ass
He mad, he snatched his daddy's Jag
And used the shit for batting practice
Adam and Annie thrashing
Purchasing crappy grams with half the hand of cash you handed
Panic and patch me up
Pappy done latch-keyed us
Toying with Raggy Anns and Mammy done had enough
Brash as fuck, breaching all these aqueducts
Don’t believe us
Treat us like we can’t erupt, yup
[Alternate Verse 2: Frank Ocean]
Polo sweats and Hermes blankets
Them label hoes be stealing my shit
And all they clothes revealing they tits
Pills, high enough to touch the rim in that bitch
We party in my living room
Cause father is gone
And he left me this empire
That runs on its own
So all I got to do is whatever the fuck I want
All we ever do is whatever the fuck we want
[Verse 3: Frank Ocean]
We end our day up on the roof
I say I’ll jump, I never do
But when I’m drunk I act a fool
Talking bout, do they sew wings on tailored suits
I’m on that ledge, she grabs my arm
She slaps my head
It's good times, yeah
Sleeve rips off, I slip, I fall
The market's down like 60 stories
And some don’t end the way they should
My silver spoon has fed me good
A million one, a million cash
Close my eyes and feel the crash
[Refrain]
[Outro]
Real love, ain't that something rare
I’m searching for a real love, talking bout real love
Real love yeah
Real love
I’m searching for a real love

Talking bout a real love

austerity versus possibility

This post was contributed by SOC 3013 student, Rebekah Miller. 

Austerity is supposed to be a miracle fix for the economy, but the promises made when cuts are proposed often do not come true. Political power goes hand in hand with those holding the most money. When political control is concentrated among a small elite, austerity programs will likely work against the masses, and particularly those classes with the least power. 

This short video by Workers Uniting summarizes the issues that working-class and poor people are now facing across the country: lowered wages, unemployment, and welfare cuts. Canadian economist Armine Yalnizyan makes a statement at 4:41, "You can't cut your way into growth..." She later refers to these cuts being made as a "fiscal fantasy"--that cutting programs will magically solve budget deficits and help redistribute wealth. This logic is a bit backwards. If it were this easy to solve economic problems, would it be right to cut those programs that assist our "have-not" citizens? At 7:07 Robert Kuttner suggests that we end politics that bring austerity, and elect those who will bring "possibility". Government needs to find alternatives to grow the economy, and in turn slash deficits without cutting programs that help the under-represented 99%.

Burn joins Detropia: docs on community collapse

Detropia, last year's acclaimed doc on the disintegration of Detroit, is now joined by a companion film providing a graphic description of the city's ongoing physical destruction from the standpoint of firefighters battling the problem of arson there. Read this article by Jones for a review of Burn.

perks of privilege: doing Disney NYC-rich style

Some Manhattan visitors to Disney World apparently have translated their wealth into significant social privilege. Paying over $1,000 a day for an off-duty disabled Disney "tour concierge" is a common practice among those who wish to avoid long lines at the Florida theme park (see original NY Post article and CNN interview with whistleblower, Wednesday Martin).

global rich list

Feeling overworked, underpaid, and tapped out? Visit the Global Rich List, and you may be surprised to learn you're actually among the global economic elite. Developed by Poke out of the UK, the interactive first went online in 2003 as a response to lists focusing on the super-rich, such as that published by Forbes. According to partner, Believe.in, these lists tend to distort the true picture of global inequality by ignoring the fact that the general populations of developed nations are incredibly better-off than the masses elsewhere. Like the first edition, the interactive encourages you to plug in personal data relative to income and then compares where you stand to the rest of the world. Comparisons are interestingly localized to enhance contrasts and to stimulate user contributions to Care International. The new edition however also includes a wealth option, and as well incorporates continually updated comparative information.

code switch

NPR has a great series running since last week relative to the changing nature of race and ethnicity in the U.S.  Check it out at http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/

As I Am: poverty in Memphis

Check out this incredible Alan Spearman video about high school student Chris Dean's poetic take on life in his impoverished Memphis neighborhood. It was recently named winner of the NAPPA "Best Use of Multimedia" award (see story at https://nppa.org/node/60194).

stop owlcatraz!

The GEO Group, a private prison corporation, is willing to pay Florida Atlantic University 6 million dollars for the naming rights to the new university football stadium, and this has sparked demonstrations by FAU students. The protest organization, Stop Owlcatraz, claims the corporation engages in human rights abuses, particularly against minority prisoners, and they don't want it to be associated with their university. A recent story in The Nation has framed the controversy as the "ground zero fight against new Jim Crow."

wealth inequality: perceptions and reality

Although uploaded to YouTube last November, this animated video has gone viral in recent days. It provides a graphic overview about current inequalities in the U.S. by considering disparities in wealth in terms of (a.) how Americans think wealth is actually distributed, (b.)  how Americans believe wealth should be distributed, and (c.) how wealth is actually distributed. Of particular note is the great discrepancy between perceptions and beliefs versus reality: actual wealth inequality is so much greater than how we perceive it to be distributed and how we believe it should be ideally distributed. The video is an excellent example of how video can transform complex, abstract ideas into compelling, understandable terms. Read this story in the Daily Kos for the possible role of such videos in sparking public action and social change. For a conservative critique of the video, see this article from National Review Online. 

Inocente wins Oscar

Inocente is a teen artist, who also happens to be homeless and undocumented. A film about her won the Academy Award last Sunday as "Best Documentary Short." The making of Inocente was funded in part through donations to the Kickstarter project.  

saving the savior: Africa for Norway

The following post was written by Lester Andrist and originally appeared at The Sociological Cinema.

The broad claim that certain groups have power over others—that racism, sexism, and classism exist—is hardly controversial. Yet mention privilege and tempers flare. But privilege is simply the other side of the power coin. Just as some racial groups are systematically oppressed and marginalized, other racial groups are systematically privileged, and just as forms of oppression vary, so too do forms of privilege. For instance, a white privilege might simply be living in a world where one can count on being paid more on average than Blacks or Latinos. While pay gaps may be easily quantified, forms of privilege that are less amenable to statistical analysis exist as well. Consider the male privilege of being immersed in a media environment that consistently depicts men as important and powerful. Or consider the white privilege of living in a media environment that assures audiences that white heroes are nearly always capable of transcending adversity. The above clip is from "Africa for Norway" and parodies the narrative typically deployed by Western charity organizations in their campaigns to secure funds and drum up support. It draws attention to a kind of Western privilege, a privilege both forged from and bound up with the experience of colonialism, the application of the rule of colonial difference (i.e., representing the 'other' as inferior and radically different), and Western racism. Whether it is the Kony 2012 campaign or the 1985 song "We Are the World," the story being peddled to publics is of a compassionate West saving the 'other' from unbearable poverty or some other grave injustice. Author Teju Cole famously named this dominant cultural narrative and the practices it calls forth the white savior industrial complex. While the components of the narrative can be spotted in the viral videos of these NGOs, Cole points out that it can also be found in countless Hollywood films, such as Out of Africa and The Constant Gardener. Time and again, moviegoers and YouTubers are asked to consider a rather narrowly defined hero. He's a compassionate white westerner, who stands apart in his uncommon ability to recognize the basic humanity of the many black and brown foreigners he has encountered while on his journey through an unfamiliar land; and against the advice of civilization, he heroically commits himself to the mission of saving these people from their plight. Although the perception that it is a criticism against charity will likely be a point of contention with viewers, the real critique, which is aimed at neocolonialism and the privileges it supports is incisive. It is a peculiar kind of Western privilege to be able to wade through the media pool each day, soaked by the various incarnations of this narrative, a day full of subtle reminders of one's intrinsic goodness and extraordinary abilities.

as black as we wish to be

Hear a fascinating audio documentary about a county in Ohio where racial identity has been historically defined by place of residence and exceptionally ambiguous for generations. This State of the Re:Union story is comprised of interviews about local racial formation practices and attitudes, where physical features and ethnic identity often do not match. The interviews are set within a historical narrative on racism within the locale. In this area
"...residents have shared the common bond of identifying as African-American despite the fact that they look white. Racial lines have been blurred to invisibility, and people inside the same family can vehemently disagree about whether they are black or white. It can be tense and confusing. As a result, everyone’s choosing: Am I black? Am I mixed race? Or, am I white?"

American Experience: biographies of wealth

PBS' American Experience recently broadcast documentaries on the life and times of John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford. Made in 2000, the 3+ hour treatment of Rockefeller and family is now available online, as is a new 2-hour examination of Henry Ford. Both documentaries include extensive supporting articles, clips, and interactives. Unfortunately, the first part of the early-capitalist trilogy by American Experience, that on Andrew Carnegie, is not available online, although many of its clips and supporting documents are (one of the more interesting ancillaries is an article on Carnegie's relationship with the Social Darwinist, Herbert Spencer).

why change? aren't we the best?

Ethnocentrism is universal to all societies, but we Americans are particularly given to assuming that our nation and way of life are superior. However, as suggested in the above clip from a recent episode of HBO's The Newsroom, our nation fares rather poorly in comparison to many others on numerous indicators of life quality, and the reasons it does so largely seem to be linked to social and economic inequality. In related vein, this recent article by Mark Santow places the notion of American "exceptionalism" into perspective as he describes the various ways inequality exacerbates life for many of us.

shades of gay

Dominant conceptions of sexual orientation are both inaccurate and destructive, according to this excellent TED presentation. iO Tillett Wright describes her unique personal experiences with gender and sexuality, critiques mainstream notions of gayness, and previews her photographic project to document variability across the LBGTQ population.

This video dovetails nicely with scientific treatment of sexual orientation that goes back to the work of Alfred Kinsey over 60 years ago (see/take Kinsey Scale).

world's wealthiest individuals

 

Visualize the world's 100 richest people via this new interactive graphic available at Bloomberg.com, allowing drill-down to wealth estimate, place, industry, source (self-made/inherited), age, and sex. Graphic is a useful complement to annual World's Richest compilations provided by Forbes (latest edition includes a "25th anniversary" timeline, encouraging users to reflect on the changing fortunes of world's wealthiest over past quarter century). See also latest edition of Forbes 400, The Richest People in America.

migration is beautiful!

Voice of Art is putting together a series of videos about the importance of art for driving social justice action. In this video, Favianna Rodriguez discusses her artwork in behalf of those workers and families without visas being persecuted by government and media (see related parts two and three). Provocative work by other artists is also available at VOA site.

Favianna is also founder of CultureStr/ke, an initiative "...to produce visual, written, video and other works to educate the public about the devastating effects of our nation’s policies toward immigrants, while mobilizing communities to fight discriminatory immigration laws nationwide." Voice of Art and Favianna's work was brought to my attention in this CultureStr/ke article.

stratification on the dance floor

This is a slightly edited version of a post written by Stephanie Medley-Rath that appeared recently in Sociology in Focus.

As well as being big business, prom night also holds important meaning for both individual participants and American culture overall. This rite-of-passage makes regular appearances on film. Consider the importance of prom in Grease, Carrie, American Pie, and more recently, Prom.

In my own life, I devoted the night before taking my ACT, not to preparing or resting for the exam, but instead had a friend over who practiced styling my hair for the big night.

We can think of prom night as a fun, expensive evening in formal wear, but this is not the only way to think about it. As sociologists we can see much more going on; and most clearly we can see a lot of stratification.

In the book Prom Night (2000), sociologist Amy Best points out how racial divides are recreated through decisions made regarding the music played during the dance and in more extreme cases, by holding racially segregated proms. More recently, Morgan Freeman paid for a Mississippi high school's first racially integrated prom as documented in the film Prom Night in Mississippi (view above).

For gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (GLBTQ) students, attendance at prom with a same-sex date may prompt the school to cancel the prom altogether. In 2012, a student body president was removed because he proposed allowing gay and lesbian students to compete for prom king and queen, while other schools have elected gay and lesbian king and queens. Straight students may stress out over who they might ask to the big dance, but GLBTQ students face the additional difficulty of wondering whether their schools will allow them to attend with their date of choice.

For many high school students, prom is a rite-of-passage. For others, prom is a rite-of-passage fraught with obstacles. Will they be allowed to attend the dance? Will they be selected to royalty? Will they be able to dance with their date? Will the event itself reflect their cultural practices?

1. Did you attend prom or another school dance? Describe what it was like. Does it conform to popular portrayals? How? Consider how the dance was stratified based on race and sexual identity. Describe.
2. For other students, religious beliefs may prevent them from attending their school’s prom. Read about an all-girl prom that took place in Michigan in 2012.
3. Due to the expenses related to prom, how is prom stratified by social class?
4. What changes, if any, would you suggest to make prom less stratified and more inclusive of all students? Explain why you believe these changes should be made.

MLK and class

Today offers an appropriate moment to reflect on Martin Luther King within the context of a class analysis, and TheRealNews.com provides just that. The interview with Anthony Monteiro of Temple University holds that King had grown beyond racial politics near the end of his life to embrace a much larger, penetrating critique of America as a capitalist / imperialist nation. In the second interview, Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report argues that the successes sowed by King and the civil rights movement were effectively subverted by the black upper class to their own narrow interests. Both interviews suggest that if still alive, King would not likely be celebrating Obama's inauguration today, but at the forefront of protest against many administration policies.

Rags2Riches

Economic reorganization may go a long way in promoting upward social mobility. This Visual News post features, Rags2Riches, a Philippines project that has purportedly lifted hundreds of poor Manila women out of poverty. According to the post, "Reese Fernandez, a 27-year-old humanitarian woman figured out a way to take women who were used to living in a garbage dump into nice apartments for their entire families and salaries that are comparable to those of nurses... Before Rags2Riches, middle men were exploiting the poor women of Manila, taking the scraps from the factories, then paying the women the equivalent of 2 cents per rug, and taking the rest of the profits. Fernandez cut out the middle men and brought the income back to the women who deserved it, so that they could feel pride from their work and care for their families." The video clip shown above was recently released on YouTube by Journeyman Pictures.

Django won't tell you (nor will Lincoln)

Although two movies centered around American slavery were nominated today for "best picture" Oscars, neither will give you the "big picture" about that system. Imara Jones alludes to what Django Unchained "won't tell you" in her recent Colorlines article, but her observations quoted below equally apply to Lincoln.

1) Slavery laid the foundation for the modern international economic system.

2) Africans’ economic skills were a leading reason for their enslavement.

3) African know-how transformed slave economies into some of the wealthiest on the planet.

4) Until it was destroyed by the Civil War, slavery made the American South the richest and most powerful region in America.

5) Defense of slavery, more than taxes, was pivotal to America’s declaration of independence.

6) The brutalization and psychological torture of slaves was designed to ensure that plantations stayed in the black financially.

7) The economic success of former slaves during Reconstruction led to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. 

8) The desire to maintain economic oppression is why the South was one of the most anti-tax regions of the nation. 

9) Many firms on Wall Street made fortunes from funding the slave trade.

10) The wealth gap between whites and blacks, the result of slavery, has yet to be closed.

you know you're wealthy when...

Talk over the past year or so about the "1%" and increasing taxes on high-income earners has generated considerable public interest in defining who is wealthy. See, hear, and read responses from various Americans to the prompt "You know you're wealthy when..." in this recent article in Marketplace's Wealth & Poverty blog. See also this related piece addressing if the objectively rich perceive themselves as being wealthy.

food stamp nation

Visualize the magnitude of food-stamp program (SNAP) participation and expense through this series of information graphics. See this and other government-policy relevant graphics at http://demonocracy.info/.

the price of inequality

Visualize a cross-national comparison of economic inequality and various social problems (e.g., teen pregnancy, murder, infant mortality) with this information graphic. For discussion about why rich nations with the greatest inequality (such as U.S.) generally fare worse in terms of the general well-being of their citizens, view this interview with Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett as they discuss their book, The Spirit Level.