Bias Busters tools for DEI in race, religion, ethnicity Bias Busters: Cultural competence guides

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Joe Grimm

International Stuttering Awareness Day 2024

Flyer promotes International Stutterng Awareness Day

October in general and Oct. 22 in particular are dedicated to helping people understand disfluency, or stuttering. The International Stuttering Awareness Day people have a catchphrase this year. It is “People Who Stutter Have The Unique Opportunity To Teach The World To Listen.”

This resonated with the Michigan State University School of Journalism’s Bias Busters class. It is creating “100 Questions and Answers About Stuttering: A Listener’s Gude.” Early in our work, we were presented with the idea that maybe the problem is not disfluency, but the way others pay more attention to the way people voice their messages rather than the messages. That feeling led to our subtitle and one of our first chapters. We are just starting now to answer those 100 questions. We will update progress on the guide on this site.

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Muslims, Arabs, Chaldeans: different but share some concerns

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Arab Americans for Trump is calling on communities in several battleground states to seek their votes for Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign.

Columnist Ray Hanania reported that the group held meetings in late July in several Michigan cities and plans to visit Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and possibly other states. Hanania wrote that the group wants to “clarify and strengthen” Trump’s intentions for American Arabs. Muslims and Chaldean in a second term as president.

This group of voters is diverse ethnically and religiously, but shares some political values. A July conference by Chaldean bishops in Baghdad pointed to other common ground.

100 questions and Answers About Chaldean Americans

While most Arabs in the world are Muslim, almost 75% of American Arabs are Christian, although immigration is changing that. While many Muslims in the United States are Arab, fewer than 20% of the world’s Muslims are Arabs. The world’s largest Muslim countries are non-Arab Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. So, Immigration is changing the profile of U.S. Muslims, too.

Chaldeans, while they come from Iraq, an Arab country where the official religion is Islam, are neither Arab nor Muslim. Their language and religion are Chaldean. Chaldeans are affiliated with the Roman Catholic church. At their annual synod in July, however, Chaldean bishops in Baghdad rejected the pope’s call for blessings, though not marriage, for same-sex couples.

Michigan has the highest concentrations of Arab citizens in the country, the largest majority-Muslim city in the country (Hamtramck) and the home of the primary diocese for U.S. Chaldeans.

Arab Americans for Trump must overcome some of Trump’s history with these groups. In his first term, Trump fought for what became known as the Muslim travel ban.

Also, U.S. Chaldeans opposed Trump’s effort to deport members of the group to Iraq, where they are a persecuted minority.

Arab Americans for Trump have a couple of advantages to work from. One is that the momentum has shifted away from Democrats during the war in Gaza. Another is that, despite religious and ethnic differences, members of these groups tend to be politically conservative.

Feelings about Palestine and the war in Gaza run strong among all three constituencies. At the end of the Baghdad synod, Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Raphael Sako called for a two-state solution where Palestine and Israel could live “in peace, security, stability and mutual trust.”

Publisher Osama Siblani organized one of the early conversations at his nationally influential newspaper in Dearborn, Michigan, the Arab American News. Siblani has been critical of the White House‘s response in Gaza and published a guest commentary by local attorney Mark Haidar in April: “Biden’s stance on Israel will cost him Michigan in November.”

Siblani told Hanania, “So far we are still far from reaching a firm convincing position that we can take it to our community for supporting the Trump presidency. …

“We met last night with a group of Arab and other ethnic leaders in my newspaper offices and had a frank and open discussion. But it is to be continued at this time. No conclusion has been reached.”

The experiences of all three groups in the United States are backgrounded with 100 questions and answers from the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Community allies who informed the guides include Siblani. Choose from more than 20 Bias Buster guides on Amazon.

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White House courts Asian American, Pacific Islander votes

Posted on July 12, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Kamala Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to be U.S. vice president, is leading a White House effort to attract Asian American votes at a key moment in the presidential race.

Harris will give the keynote address at 3 p.m. Friday at the APIAVote town hall in Philadelphia. The address will be live-streamed. The nonprofit advocacy group focuses on motivating Asian American and Pacific Islander voters.

President Joe Biden has spoken at similar rallies targeting Black and Hispanic or Latino voters. Members of his campaign team say they are planning events in the swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia.

AAPIVote was founded in 1996 because turnout by Asian American voters was lower than that of other ethnic groups. This population is incredibly diverse, so the reasons for low voter participation were varied. Some AAPI people had language barriers. Others were not citizens and ineligible to vote. Some came from countries where open voting was not a tradition.

A study by the Center for Inclusive Democracy reported that in the 2020 presidential election, Asian-American, Black and Latino people who were old enough to vote made up nearly 30% of all eligible voters but only 22% of the votes cast.

The report is called The New Electorate: The Strength of the Latino, Black and Asian-American Vote.

The picture has changed since 2020 when AAPI voting hit a new high. Today, the number of Asian Americans in the United States is growing faster than any other major ethnic group. Furthermore, they have the fastest-growing percentage of eligible voters in the United States. According to a Pew Research Center study of Asian American voting numbers overall have grown by 15%, or about 2 million eligible voters in four years. That is faster than the 12% for eligible Hispanic voters. The nation’s voting population overall grew by 3%.

Pew reports that Asian Americans are the only major racial or ethnic group where most of its eligible voters are naturalized citizens (56%).

AAPIVote attributes the rise in Asian American voting to sustained population growth, organizing, and work to encourage registration and voting.

AAPI voting is addressed in “100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More.” The book was released this month by Michigan State University. Hmong people came here in large numbers when the United States pulled out of Vietnam in 1975. Hmong people have a higher rate of naturalization and vote at higher levels than most Asian American ethnic groups. This series of more than 20 cultural competence guides is available on Amazon.

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New: “100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More”

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Welcome, and please check out our latest Bias Busters guide, “100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More.” There is something in this guide for you whether you are Hmong or have always had the desire to know more about a fascinating people.

Learn about Hmong people as they near the 50th anniversary of their first major arrival in the United States, as refugees from a secret war they fought in for the United States, even though they had never been here.

The Central Intelligence Agency hired and trained Hmong soldiers to stop the spread of communism in Laos, even though the U.S. had officially agreed not to get involved. Tens of thousands of Hmong people were killed in the fighting and under intense “friendly fire.” Thousands more died fleeing the Viet Cong after the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam.

A secret airlift followed by more rescue efforts relocated Hmong people to U.S. states as widespread as California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and North Carolina. They arrived with little money, education, employment, English or even suitable clothing for their new surroundings. Given their long, nomadic history, Hmong people do no even have a homeland they could return to, if they wanted that.

Yet, they have made a home here. In 50 years, Hmong people have embraced U.S. citizenship and are rising up in many professions. How are they thriving here, succeeding in the education system, various career fields and entrepreneurial pursuits? They have made advances in 50 years that have taken other ethnicities centuries to achieve. Although their role in a secret war was hidden from the American people, their successes should not be. “100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More” launches on Amazon on July 2, 2024.

Their harrowing and inspiring journey is told in words, videos, audio maps, charts and a map of origins.

This guide is produced by students in the Michigan State University School of Journalism with help from many Hmong allies and the generous support of Michigan Humanities.

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Juneteenth: Holiday’s name has a purpose

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Juneteenth, our newest federal holiday, has a name that confuses people. Before we get into the story behind the quirky name, let’s talk a little about what the holiday means.

The Juneteenth flag is seen waving in the wind during a flag raising ceremony in recognition and celebration of Juneteenth, Thursday, June 15, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber) Used under Creative Commons license

Juneteenth refers to June 19th, 1865, when Union Army Major Gordon Granger and 2,000 troops brought word to some 250,000 people held as slaves in Texas that they had been freed. Freedom had come in steps.

The U.S. Congress adopted the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery on Jan 31, 1865. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865. It was ratified by the states on Dec. 6, 1865. In some places, slavery’s demise was denied and delayed by people who wanted to keep it going. Granger’s announcement ended the secrecy in Texas and people began to experience freedom, though not all on that day.

The 13th Amendment was ratified later, on Dec. 6, 1965.

Give the uneven implementation in those days of slow and spotty communication, abolition did not happen at a single moment or day. And for some, freedom came earlier through the courts.

Calling the Texas announcement by the vague “Juneteenth” name made sense. Some might have learned about it on the 13th, the 14th, the 15th and so one. It’s sort of like referring to a vague time as “five-ish” or a day around Christmas as “Christmastime.”

Juneteenth has been marked in local celebrations for more than 100 years and became a federal holiday in 2022.

The guide “100 Questions and Answers Abut African Americans” explains Juneteenth, the Black National Anthem, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other facets of the Black experience. There is also an entire guide, “100 Questions and Answers About the Black Church.”

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Is Spanglish a real language?

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Joe Grimm

The political news site Politico reports that candidates in the 2024 presidential campaign are running some ads using Spanglish.

Cover for 100 Questions and Answers About Hispanics and Latinos

Hispanics and Latinos in the United States

But what is Spanglish?

Is it a dialect, slang? A real language?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Spanglish is a mix of Spanish and English most frequently used in the United States.

Spanglish is helpful to people who are familiar with both languages, especially in cases where one of the languages has a word or expression that the other lacks. So, they borrow.

Some people get irritated by the mix; other people feel connected when they can both “code switch” between terms and communicate with each other.

Learn about language, customs and traditions n “100 Questions and Answers About Hispanics and Latinos,” available in print and digital formats on Amazon.

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Learn about your Orthodox Christian neghbors

Posted on May 27, 2024 by Joe Grimm

By Joe Grimm

I have to share this post by Stephanie Fenton at Read the Spirit. She tells of the ancient and beautiful celebration of Pentecost, as practiced by Orthodox Christians.

I will let her tell the story and sheepishly admit that, although the Bias Busters series has done the work on a guide about Orthodox Chrsitin, we have several others n the queue to publish ahead of it.

So, please be patient with us and see what Stephanie has to say. You won’t have to wait.

Thank you.

Pentecost: Western Christians embrace Holy Spirit’s descent, more, with ancient feast

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Could religiously unaffiliated “nones” swing this election?

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Fresh attention to the large share of U.S. voters who are not religiously affiliated raises a question this election year: Could politicians exploit this voting bloc?

100 Questions and Answers About the Religiously Unaffiliated

As a sociologist who studies politics and religion, Evan Stewart at UMass Boston has been researching this.

He doubted the idea for three reasons: religiously unaffiliated people are a diverse lot, they tend to vote less than the general population and are from younger generations that vote less.

Stewart crunched data from the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 elections gathered for Harvard’s Cooperative Election Study.

He found that some groups under the religiously unaffiliated umbrella vote more than others. Agnostics and atheists were abut 30% more likely to vote than religiously affiliated people. By contrast, people classified as religiously unaffiliated because they say their religion is “nothing in particular” vote less. They are abut two-thirds of the group researchers classify as “nones.”

Taken as a group, however, the religiously unaffiliated voted about as much as U.S. adults in general, Stewart wrote in the journal Sociology of Religion where he is an associate editor.

He points to religious diversity on the right and the left and says politicians cannot take unaffiliated voters’ support for granted. Instead, candidates will need to campaign on issues that motivate people, particularly young voters, to go to the polls.

Stewart wrote that one issue appealing to this group would be the separation of church and state. This position is supported by “secular values voters.” Stewart suggests that Christian nationalism, which seeks to fuse Christian and American identities, could turn off unaffiliated voters.

“100 Questions and Answers About the Religiously Unaffiliated,” published by the Michigan State University School of Journalism, is one of more than 20 Bias Buster guides in print and digital formats on Amazon.

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Do evangelical Christians support Biden or Trump? Yes.

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Joe Grimm

Whether evangelical Christian voters lean left or right depends greatly on the tradition they follow. Evangelicals are not a monolith and have different practices and political beliefs.

Cover of guide: “100 Questions and Answers About American Evangelicals”

A Pew Research Center survey in April of 7,166 registered voters found diverging preferences between Black and White evangelicals.

Pew reported that 81% of White Protestants said they would vote for Trump if the election were held today. Seventy-seven percent of Black Protestants said they would vote for Biden.

About three-quarters of White evangelicals said Trump was a “great” or “good” president and 80% said they do not think his efforts to change the 2020 election broke the law. Just more than half of Black evangelicals said he was a “terrible” president and 70% said he broke the law in an effort to flip the election.

Biden got a “great” or “good” rating from 49% of Black evangelicals.

Among all Christians, those who attend church more often show stronger support for Trump.

The Michigan State University School of Journalism is completing “100 Questions and Answers About American Evangelicals: Beliefs, practices and politics collide.” It will be published in 2024 and is one in a series of more than 20 cultural competence guides available on Amazon.

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Secret War refugee wins high-profile $1.3 billion lottery

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Joe Grimm

What are the odds?

An immigrant in Oregon wins a $1.3 billion Powerball pot and people hear about his little known ethnicity.

Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, came from Southeast Asia part of the refugee exodus that sprang from the U.S. CIA’s “Secret War” against the Vietnamese.

Saephan accepted his super-sized check this month wearing a blue sash that said “Iu-Mien USA,” his ethnicity.

Iu-Mien (you MEE’-en) people are a hill tribe with origins in China. They are one of several groups secretly recruited by the U.S. military and the CIA to keep Vietnam from falling under Communist control.

Saephan, 46, did not fight in that covert operation, which ended in 1975 when the United States left the Vietnam War as flights to safety in the United States and other places began. Saephen was born in Laos and taken to Thailand before coming to the United States.

More widely known for their role in the Secret War are Hmong people. Sometimes, Hmong people are incorrectly referred to as Mien.

The two groups have linguistic similarities, such as a tonal, monosyllabic language, and some similar beliefs. Neither has a true homeland, and they share the experience of having fought on the losing side in a place where the fighting made it impossible for them to stay.

Hmong people who resettled in the United States are concentrated in Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, Michigan and North Carolina.

The latest Michigan State University cultural competence guide, “100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More” will be published soon and become available on Amazon.

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