Showing posts with label Black women asked to leave train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black women asked to leave train. Show all posts

Saturday, October 13, 2018

Black women candidates poised for major victories in November

Some of the most notable gains for women in this year’s election will come from black women. All three non-incumbent black women candidates favored to win on Election Day—Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.)—will be not only the first black women, but the first women of color, to represent their states in Congress. Omar will break another barrier in joining Rashida Tlaib as the first Muslim congresswomen, and Pressley’s win against a 10-term incumbent reflects how political success is not constrained to those who wait their turn.

Pressley’s victory, and the anticipated wins of Hayes and Omar, demonstrate another thing: the electoral viability of black women in political contexts where they are too often counted out. For Pressley, the doubts among political and party insiders have been great, meaning the investment in her primary candidacy was minimal to zero among those typically perceived as key influencers in U.S. elections. Jahana Hayes won the Democratic primary in Connecticut despite running without her party’s endorsement. Hayes and Omar also won nominations in majority-white districts, an important counter to those who have doubted the ability of black women to be successful outside of majority-minority districts or states.

But Black women’s political success did not just begin this year. Six of the seven Black women currently serving as mayors of the top 100 most populous cities in the United States have been sworn in since Election Day 2016. And while women’s and black men’s state legislative representation has plateaued in recent decades, black women have seen a steady—albeit slow—increase in representation in state legislatures nationwide. In Congress, while gains for women have been slow and incremental, the racial and ethnic diversity among women, particularly Democratic women, has grown in the past decade. In fact, nine of the 14 new women elected to the 115th Congress (2017-2019) were women of color.

Political scientist Wendy Smooth puts these successes for black women into context, writing, “African-American women appear to be overrepresented in elective office while simultaneously holding the characteristics that would make them least likely to be politically engaged,” such as lower levels of income and educational access. This “paradox of participation,” as she terms it, is also notable when the under-investment in black women as candidates is taken into account. What’s more, research from the Center for American Women and Politics survey of state legislators found that black women officeholders were more likely than their white counterparts to report being discouraged from running for office in the first place.

Read more: SOURCE: THE HILL

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Napa Valley wine train ‘100 percent wrong’ in ejecting black women, says CEO

The chief executive of the Napa Valley wine train has apologized for his staff's 'insensitive' actions after their decision to eject 11 African American women for laughing too loud spurred a wave of criticism on social media.

‘The Napa Valley wine train was 100 percent wrong in its handling of this issue,’ said wine train chief executive Anthony ‘Tony’ Giaccio. The organisation hired crisis management pr consultant Sam Singer to handle the situation
‘We accept full responsibility for our failures and for the chain of events that led to this regrettable treatment of our guests,’ said Giacco, who said he apologised in person to Lisa Johnson, leader of the book club.
The wine train did not comment specifically on accusations of racism. But, Giacco promised that staff would receive diversity training.
Giacco said in a letter to book club members, ‘We were insensitive when we asked you to depart our train by marching you down the aisle past all the other passengers.
‘While that was the safest route for disembarking, it showed a lack of sensitivity on our part that I did not fully conceive of until you explained the humiliation of the experience.’
Read more at Napa Valley wine train ‘100 percent wrong’, says CEO