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THE MASSACHUSETTS
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DAILY COLLEGIAN
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
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Coates describes racism in the U.S. Jill Stein to speak Coates presented at in Northampton Amherst College By Stuart Foster Collegian Staff
Ta - N e h i s i C o at e s described racism in the United States as a structure specifically designed to advance the economic interests of the country at a talk at Amherst College on Sept. 13. Coates, an Atlantic correspondent and the writer of the non-fiction book “Between the World and Me,” spent much of the talk describing a concept in his book he referred to as the dream. The dream was described as an ideal American society that is ignorant to the impact of racism on black Americans and how racism has benefited white Americans. “I was born in a certain portion of America where fear was a defining reality,” Coates said to the roughly 1,000 people filling LeFrak Gymnasium. “It’s striking to be a young kid in West Baltimore in the ‘80s and
not just be afraid yourself but to understand that your parents are afraid.” Coates read an excerpt from “Between the World and Me,” written in the form of a letter to his son about his experience as a black male in the U.S., which illustrated different experiences he had witnessing fear in black Americans. Coates recalled this fear as present in his father, who “beat [him] as if someone might steal [him] away.” A young boy waving a gun at Coates when he was 11 years old was referred to as the moment when he learned his life “was in constant jeopardy.” “He had affirmed my place in the order of things, that I could be easily selected,” he said. “Death could easily rise up from the nothing of a boring afternoon.” Referring to television shows he watched as a child, such as “Mr. Belvedere” and “Family Ties,” Coates said these shows depicted an ideal white suburban life that he could not connect to
his own life in Baltimore. Coates explained that shows such as these could make him less faithful in his institutions, as the world he lived in was so distant from the portrayals he saw on television. He described the schools in these shows as wildly different from his own, where he felt like he was being “taught how to fit into a box.” “There is a no excuses culture that is put on black and brown kids,” Coates said. “When I got to schools like the one my son goes to now that isn’t the case.” Coates went on to question the way Americans typically think of racism, particularly as a logical and primitive descendent of the concept of race in general. Instead, Coates called it a relatively recent invention, and talked about how blacks in the United States first worked alongside white indentured servants, with little racial separation. Coates said that as the history of the U.S. progressed, “a slow legal separation” began to emerge between blacks and whites.
“All of the liberties America was supposed to have had to be secured by having a definitive working class that could always be relied upon,” Coates said about the eventual enslavement of blacks in the United States. Coates said that while a vast majority of Americans did not own slaves, many were willing to defend the institution of slavery because they believed they could eventually own them. Many political developments commonly viewed by Americans as important to the progress of the country, Coates said, were designed in specifically racist ways. “Much of the policy that progressives today uphold from the New Deal was the same,” Coates said, describing institutions such as Social Security. “The dream depended on keeping black people out.” Coates also talked about the upcoming presidential election, which he said marks a turning point “where we decide whethsee
COATES on page 2
Playing charades
Stein to visit First Churches Sept. 18 By Nujhat Purnata Collegian Staff
nate student debt, which she says will also free those who have already graduated from debt servitude. She will also speak about “A Green New Deal,” a plan to create millions of jobs by transitioning to 100 percent clean renewable energy by 2030, and investing in public transit, sustainable agriculture and conservation. The event, co-sponsored by the Green Rainbow Party, the International Socialist Organization of the University of Massachusetts and the Jill Stein campaign, will also focus on issues of racial, social, economic and environmental justice. “The public is ready to hear a message for the greater good and not settle for the lesser of two evils,” said Guerin.
Jill Stein, the official nominee of the Green Party in the 2016 presidential election, will be visiting Northampton to speak at the First Churches of Northampton on Sunday, Sept. 18 from 7-9 p.m. She will be addressing the students from the Five College area as well as the general public regarding her election platform. “Jill will describe her vision of a future that puts people, planet and peace over profit. A future that is possible and very much within our reach,” said Jamie Guerin, volunteer coordinator for the Green Rainbow Party and Massachusetts Volunteers for Jill Stein on the event Facebook page. Stein will be talking Nujhat Purnata can be reached at about her plan to elimi- npurnata@umass.edu.
Amherst to host fifth annual block party Thursday Students, families invited to attend By Hannah Depin Collegian Staff
ERICA LOWENKRON/COLLEGIAN
Members of the Muslim Students Association played the charades game “Heads Up!” during the first meeting of the semester on Tuesday evening.
attraction at this point,” she said. La Cour added that the block party will include circus characters, trapeze performers and light displays. There will also be three stages along the half-mile route to host live music and a DJ. In years past, attendees have showcased their own musical, dance and artistic talents at the block party as well. “We encourage it to be organic, and that’s always fun,” said la Cour. The event also presents an opportunity to bring together Amherst families, visitors and college students, according to la Cour. “It’s a fun, safe night,” she said. “And the students are a great part of that. That’s part of the fun, and why it’s such a great community event.”
Local restaurants, vendors, musicians, and performers will take over downtown Amherst on Sept. 15 for the fifth annual Celebrate Amherst Block Party. The event, organized by the Amherst Business Improvement District, will close down N. Pleasant St. between 5 and 9 p.m. from the intersection of Amity and Main St. to Kendrick Park. The favorable weather predicted for Thursday night may draw as many as 5,000 people to the event, according to Sarah la Cour, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District. Hannah Depin can be reached at “It’s sort of a regional hdepin@umass.edu.
Report: Median incomes up sharply, poverty rates down By Don Lee Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — Steady job growth and the biggest earnings boost in a decade helped sharply lower the nation’s poverty level last year and finally provided relief to the long-running problem of stagnant wages. In its annual report on income and poverty, the Census Bureau said Tuesday that the share of people in the U.S. living in poverty dropped to 13.5 percent in 2015, marking one of the biggest annual declines
in decades. That was down from 14.7 percent in the prior year, but still considerably higher than the 12.3 percent poverty rate in 2006, the year before the Great Recession began, and the 40-year low of 11.3 percent in the year 2000. The report also provided some encouraging news for a change on average American incomes. The median household income _ the point at which half make more and half less _ was $56,500 last year.
That was up a substantial 5.2 percent from $53,700 in 2014, after adjusting for inflation. American families still have some distance to go to recover fully from more than a decade of declining and stagnant earnings: The median household income was $57,900 in 1999. “The good news is, maybe we’ve turned the corner,” said Sheldon Danziger, president of the Russell Sage Foundation, who like other experts following poverty and income
issues had expected some improvement but nothing this large. “I’m certainly more optimistic than I’ve been in a long time,” he said of the broad-based gains in income and poverty measures. “The prospects look good, at least for 2016 for being an improvement over 2015.” The bureau also reported Tuesday that the number of people in the U.S. without health insurance fell further last year to 9.1 percent from 10.4 per-
cent in 2014. The drop was expected, thanks mostly to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which saw its second full year of impact in 2015. With many more Americans signing up for private insurance through new marketplaces created by Obamacare, the number of people who were uninsured for part or all of last year came down to 29 million, from 33 million without medical coverage in 2014. Some of the health insurance gains likely came
from more people working last year in full-time jobs, which generally provide some form of employmentbased medical coverage. An increase in people with full-time, year-round work last year, and higher minimum wages pushed through in some parts of the country, almost certainly helped boost median household incomes. Still, slow economic and productivity growth have hampered wage gains. And see
INCOME on page 2