Tuesday, June 11, 2024
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A View From the Ground
News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from the URL Media network.
A man walks by a sign welcoming people to the city of Evanston, Illinois, on March 16, 2021. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images from Prism)
A reparations plan for Black residents faces its first legal test in Chicago suburb: To right the wrongs of decades of discriminatory housing practices, the city of Evanston, Illinois, became the first city in the country to enact a reparations plan for its Black residents in 2019, when a city council voted to distribute $25,000 to more than a dozen Black households. The program targets Black residents who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969, and their direct descendants.
Since the program’s rollout, the city has distributed more than $1 million in home improvement benefits and mortgage assistance, with plans to distribute more funds, according to city documents referenced in this story by Prism. However, six non-Black residents of Evanston are alleging that the program is unconstitutional and racially discriminatory. They have filed a class-action lawsuit advocating that the program be open to all Evanston residents. According to the lawsuit, “Plaintiffs remain able and ready to apply for payments under the program and intend to apply if the race-based eligibility requirement is declared unconstitutional and enjoined.”
Supporters of the program say the lawsuit seeks to undermine an essential component of the city’s reparations plan: addressing past discrimination against Black people.
In one of the most dangerous workplaces in W.Va., a poultry giant has profited from immigrant labor for decades: For over three decades, immigrant workers at the only industrial poultry plant in West Virginia have faced severe danger while on the job, reveals Mountain State Spotlight in an enterprise story republished by the Haitian Times and other immigrant-serving news outlets. Every day, laborers can expect to clean animal grime and operate heavy machinery like sharp metal hooks and conveyor belts. In the story, one worker recalled a gruesome injury where a conveyor belt accidentally turned on, latching onto a co-worker's jacket, which caused the co-worker to lose a lot of blood and nearly his entire arm. The injury also cost Pilgrim’s Pride Moorefield chicken factory, the plant’s official name, about $52,000 in fines.
The report reveals that a dozen factory employees had workplace injuries that led to amputations or overnight hospitalizations due to the unsafe working conditions, between 2015 and 2023, according to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The investigation also reveals that local paramedics responded to calls from the factory 138 times in 2022 and 2023 — about once every five days. “Once in a while, you will see people passing out or cutting themselves,” says María, a woman from Peru who worked at the plant for a decade and retired after injuring her leg. “They would come with wheelchairs and take them to the health clinic.”Now, Pilgrim’s is staffing the Moorefield plant with workers from Caribbean countries who are seeking or have received asylum status. In February, John Tenerus, a Haitian immigrant, estimated that between 300 and 400 people from his country now work at the factory.
Read more about the longstanding workplace dangers facing a largely immigrant workforce in West Virginia's only industrial poultry plant, as well as the town’s history of poultry processors →
A GLAAD survey predicts how LGBTQ voters will show up in November: In the latest episode of The Electorette podcast, host Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, the largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization in the country. They discuss LGBTQ voter engagement and advocacy, focusing on GLAAD's latest poll of LGBTQ American and other registered voters. The poll aims to gauge their motivation for the upcoming presidential election, the key issues candidates should address and their sense of personal safety in today's political environment.
While recent Gallup data indicates that LGBTQ Americans make up 7% of the U.S. population — a figure Ellis believes is "wildly underreported" — GLAAD's survey reveals a striking finding: Nearly 94% of respondents plan to vote in the upcoming presidential election. “Most LGBTQ folks vote pro-democracy, pro-equality, and they vote that up and down the ballot,” says Ellis, adding that LGBTQ voters are a decisive voter bloc in swing states as shown in the last presidential election.
The conversation also delves into the generational dynamics of political awareness, namely focusing on the increasing political engagement of younger generations like Gen Z. “Our kids are political now,” says Ellis.
What old-school immigrants are getting wrong about new waves of immigration: Following last week's headline news of President Biden's executive order tightening migration flows at the U.S. border, URL Media and Epicenter-NYC publisher Mitra Kalita delves into the misconceptions surrounding this current wave of immigration among old-school immigrants, alongside the underlying politics, in her latest piece for Epicenter-NYC. Kalita sheds light on the tensions between long-time immigrants and recent arrivals, with the former often arguing they entered the U.S. the "right way." The issue is complex, she writes, and has been shaped by various presidencies from former President Bill Clinton’s to a series of policies from the Trump administration, including family separation and the Title 42 expulsion policy.
Kalita adds that migrants have been unfairly scapegoated, and reminds readers that seeking asylum in the U.S. was perfectly legal before Biden's order. Read her full piece here →
Plus: Biden curbs asylum + more on Elections 2024 (URL Media)
🗞️ More headlines
What will motivate Indian American women to vote this November? (India Currents)
Twice as Good podcast
In the latest episode of URL Media's Twice as Good podcast, hosts Sara and Mitra are joined by guests Madiba Dennie, author of the new book "The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution And How We The People Can Take It Back," and Brandon Tensley, national politics reporter at Capital B News, to delve into the Supreme Court's alarming rollback of civil rights. Together, they explore what we’re calling the "great retrenchment" — the ongoing assault on Black political power — and spotlight the states that are fighting back. Drawing on the wisdom of Frederick Douglass, they affirm the critical importance of persevering in the struggle for equity and justice for all. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here →
Introducing URL Media's Currency of Impact
Check out our Currency of Impact dashboard, a new tool designed to revolutionize media buying conversations and put community impact on the foreground. Dive into our impact tracker and case studies highlighting demonstrated impact across the URL Media network. This project was co-produced with the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Visit it here.
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