CRITICAL RACE AND ETHNIC STUDY Summer Newsletter July 2024 Society for the Study of Social Problems Message from Current Co-Chairs Member News Presentations & Publications SSSP News 2024 Meeting Highlights Award Winners Member News Member News Member News Member News Award Winners Paper Award Winner: “Broken Bond or Resilient Threads: Understanding Social Cohesion in Black American Streets,” Abass Muhammed, University of Delaware Kimberlé Crenshaw Article Award Winner: Tillman, Korey. Carceral Liberalism: The Coloniality and Antiblackness of Coercive Benevolence. Social Problems, Volume 70, Issue 3, August 2023, Pages 635–649. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spac003 Kimberlé Crenshaw Article Award Honorable Mention: Smith-Tran, A. (2023). “There’s the Black Woman Thing, and There’s the Age Thing”: Professional Black Women on the Downsides of “Black Don’t Crack” and Strategies for Confronting Ageism at Work. Sociological Perspectives, 66(3), 419-433. https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214221139441 Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Book Award Winner: White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation, Naa Oyo A. Kwate, University of Minnesota Press, 2023 Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Book Award Honorable Mention: Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Bobby J. Smith II, The University of North Carolina Press, 2023 SSSP News INSIDE THIS ISSUE CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # Message from Current Co-Chair University of Southern California Valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, was barred from speaking at the May commencement ceremony. In a statement issued after she was barred from speaking, she writes “As your class Valedictorian, I implore my USC classmates to think outside the box—to work towards a world where cries for equality and human dignity are not manipulated to be expressions of hatred. I challenge us to respond to ideological discomfort with dialogue and learning, not bigotry and censorship. And I urge us to see past our deepest fears and recognize the need to support justice for all people, including the Palestinian people'' (Tabassum 2024). Tabassum was targeted by a hateful campaign due to her support for Palestine. USC administration used the campaign to justify canceling her speech citing “safety concerns” (Caputo 2024). Tabassum is but one example of repression either through censorship or violence. Jairo I. Fuenez-Flores was suspended for posting scholarly analysis of the genocide in Palestine (Vasquez 2024). Like Tabassum, he was not given specific information about what motivated the University’s response. Raz Segal, a holocaust and genocide scholar, lost a job offer from University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies for calling the genocide occuring in Gaza genocide (Hicks 2024). Politicians who have spoken out against genocide have faced primary challenges. Jamal Bowman was one of the first to lose (Wong and Bowman 2024). Over 2,000 students have been arrested for protesting the genocide occuring in Gaza (Rosenszweig-Ziff et. al 2024). The throughline running through each of these instances are claims of order and safety on the part of those in power who demand that resistance be orderly and easily ignored. This prioritization of order continues to harm communities of color. At the time of this writing nearly 40,000 people have been killed in Palestine as Israel continues its offensive into Rafah (OCHA 2024). There is some evidence that when accounting for those who have died from the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, the number is closer to 186,000 (Khatib 2024). In addition, a recent report by the UN states that 500,000 Palestinainas are at risk of famine (Loveluck, Hassan, Dadouch, and DeYoung 2024). This occurs with the support of the Biden Administration despite the UN’s orders to halt the Rafah offensive. The Biden administration also continues to pursue racist immigration policies. A bipartisan bill hailed as a compromise included provisions that enable the President to shutdown the border, institute asylum restrictions, and increase deportation and detention (Desjardins 2024). This is reflective of the view among Democrats that people of color who migrate to the United States are political inconveniences and problems to be solved or exploited during election season. After this bill failed, Joe Biden issued an executive order that restricted asylum by requiring that asylum be suspended when crossings exceed 2500 daily. It also raised the bar for credible fear (Martinez-Beltran 2024). The justification for such measures is again a need for “order”. These are the very Trump policies that Biden campaigned against. Yet many continue to insist that he is the “lesser of two evils.” Despite the negative impacts of his Gaza and border policies on communities of color, Democrats seem more concerned with Joe Biden’s debate performance than the tens of thousands people he has helped to kill or the migrants he is harming with his policies. Him losing his train of thought on a debate stage, not genocide, is causing Democrats to question his fitness for office. Joe Biden is not the only Democrat harming the communities he campaigned to protect. Democrats are once again resorting to get tough on crime and immigration policies that they claim are about order. In a move similar to Kathy Hochul’s attacks on Bail Reform, many communities are beginning to return to broken windows like policing of homelessness and addiction. Some “blue states and cities'' have enacted laws criminalizing homelessness and addiction. Many politicians argue that restrictions on dismantling encampments “tied the hands'' of local officials. The Supreme Court recently upheld Grants Pass’ policies that criminalized sleeping outdoors in City of Grants Pass Oregon v. Johnson et. al (VanSickle 2024). This essentially criminalizes homelessness even when no shelter space is available. This was called a victory by Democratic politicians such as Gavin Newsom (Ayestas 2024). As a result, many unhoused people could face fines and incarceration merely for being homeless. After initiating a measure that removed criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of drugs, Oregon has recriminalized possession (Baker 2024). The state has moved forward with this despite the fact that there are a lack of treatment centers. Those apprehended with small amounts of drugs could face jail time. Similar to the criminalization of homelessness, Democrats support these measures regardless of their impacts on communities of color. Criminal penalties do not reduce overdoses, lead to treatment, or prevent homelessness, yet Democrats are returning to the same failed, racist broken windows policies to win elections. The criminalization of homelessness and drug possession will have disproportionate impacts on people of color. Like the Biden administration’s immigration and Gaza policies, these policies are being framed as necessary political calculations to maintain order. So much for “racial reckonings.” Collectively, bail reform, the criminalization of homelessness and drug use possession, the genocide in Gaza, the implementation of get tough on immigration policies, and the ouster of Bowman point to a party that is far from the lesser of two evils but one that is becoming less clandestine about its indifference to the oppression of marginalized communities they claim to protect. Yet, resistance remains constant and necessary. The ACLU and other immigrants rights groups are challenging the Biden administration’s immigration policies in court. In several states, uncommitted vote campaigns registered several thousand votes. In total more that 500,000 Americans voted uncommitted (Nichols 2024). This has been framed as aid to Donald Trump by Democratic politicians. Many sought to downplay the significance of the vote and suggested that the right course of action was to pursue “Haley voters.” Others reduced the protest vote to strong, passionate feelings and opinions. In addition, to the uncommitted campaign, across the United States, encampments sprung up on college campuses protesting the ongoing genocide in Gaza. These encampments were mostly peaceful but were framed as being violent. A number of encampments were dismantled and many students were arrested and brutalized. Over 2000 arrests were made in total and many students are now facing misdemeanor charges as well as school discipline (Rosenszweig-Ziff et. al 2024). The rationale for dismantling these encampments was that they were disruptive, the very intent of civil disobedience. Again the theme of order became a key justification for the violence visited upon protesters. Policing is once again playing its role in maintaining the status quo through violence. The Heritage Foundation unveiled Project 2025, a racist, classist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, anti-semitic policy blueprint being embraced by the Republican Party. It calls for internment camps, mass deportations and more racist immigration policies, abolishment of civil rights and union protections, and bans on disciplines that teach about inequality. The White Supremacist Group Patriot Front marched through Nashville while engaging in Racist and anti-semitic chants. After almost a decades long battle, a majority white city has been allowed to secede from Baton Rouge Louisiana, a majority black city. These acts are in keeping with some of the most discriminatory and oppressive acts that have happened in this country. Yet, they do not represent a regression or return to some distant past but the culmination of contemporaneous backlashes over the last few decades. These policies and silencing of opposition to Gaza, border, and the criminalization of homelessness and addiction are not two opposing sides with one representing “the lesser of two evils”. They are all part of the same repressive direction the United States is headed in. In an interview after his suspension Jairo I. Fuenez-Flores states “..if we allow these institutions and states to repress the most critical voices then I believe we’re entering this authoritarian and fascist era within the US. And so its a dangerous time.” In an interview after his position was rescinded, Raz Segal states “...this kind of crude political intervention in the hiring process, and its legitimization by the university, is extremely dangerous. It joins this attack that we’re seeing in the academic world, that has intensified since October, of really suppressing academic freedom. And this is a very, very dangerous sign.” Fuenez-Flores and Segal’s comments not only underscore the role the academy can play in oppression but that while many fear the fascism coming in the form of Project 2025 or a Trump presidency, they are ignoring the fascism occurring right now. This will continue regardless of who wins in November. Tassabaum, Fuenez-Flores, and Segal serve as a reminder of not only the cost of resistance but its necessity. To Asna Tassabaum, Jairo I. Fuenez-Flores, Raz Segal, the students who participated in the encampment movement, and all those resisting we issue a heartfelt thanks and call for an end to white supremacy, settler colonialism, and all forms of oppression. Yours in solidarity, Watoii Rabii Bibliography Ayestas, J. (2024). “California Gov. Gavin Newsom cheers Supreme COurt ruling on homeless enforcement.” KCRA Baker, M. (2024). “Oregon is Recriminalizing Drugs. Here’s What Portland Learned.” New York Times. Caputo, T. 2024. “USC bans pro-Palestinian valedictorian from speaking at May commencement, citing safety concerns.” ABC News Desjardins, L. (2024). “What’s in the Senate’s sweeping $118 billion immigration and foreign aid bill?” PBS News Hendrickson, C. 2024. “ Michigan Election: “Uncommitted” vote share surpasses 2012 with votes still trickling in.” Detroit Free Press Hicks, M. 2024. “A Holocaust Scholar Called Israel’s Actions in Gaza ‘Genocide.’ It Cost Him a Job Offer.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Khatib, R., McKee, M., & Yusuf, S. (2024). Counting the dead in Gaza: difficult but essential. The Lancet. Loveluck, L., Jennifer Hassan, Sarah Dadouch, and Karen DeYoung (2024). “Half-million Gazans face ‘catastrophic’ hunger levels, U.N.-backed report says” Washington Post Martinez-Beltran, S. (2024). “Biden’s new executive order denies asylum claims to most migrants crossing the border unlawfully.” NPR News Nichols, J. 2024. “More Than Half a Million Democratic Voters Have Told Biden: Save Gaza!” The Nation Rosenzweig-Ziff, D., Morse, C.E., Svrluga, S., Cornejo, D., Dormido, H., and Ledur, J. 2024. “Riot police and over 2,000 arrests: A look at 2 weeks of campus protests.” Washington Post. Tabassum, A. 2024. Statement by University of Southern California Student Asna Tabassum, Class of 2024 Valedictorian. CAIR-LA United Nations Office For Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2024). Reported Impact Since 7 October 2023. VanSickle, A. (2024). “Sleeping Court Upholds Ban on Sleeping Outdoors in Homelessness Case.” New York Times. Vasquez, M. 2024. “Texas Tech Suspends Professor Over Alleged ‘Hateful, Antisemitic’ Posts”. Chronicle of Higher Education. Wong, S. and Bowman, B. 2024. “Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a vocal Israel critic and ‘squad’ member, loses primary.” NBC News Publications and Presentations  Katie Duarte, Brown University, PhD Candidate, Sociology, Charles V. Willie Minority Graduate Student Award from Eastern Sociological Society (ESS) Matthew Ward The University of Southern Mississippi, Associate Professor, "Seeing Beyond Black and White to Understand Anti-Latino/a/x Crimes of Bias," Annual Meeting of the Southern Sociological Society. Ward, Matthew. 2024. The University of Southern Mississippi. "Slavery's Legacy of White Carceral Advantage in the South," Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 10(2):228-248. https://doi.org/10.1177/23326492231207009 Katherine Jensen, University of Wisconsin-Madison Assistant Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Katherine Jensen. 2023. "The Color of Asylum: The Racial Politics of Safe Haven in Brazil." Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Katherine Jensen receives 2024 Roberto Reis First Book Award Honorable Mention from the Brazilian Studies Association for "The Color of Asylum: The Racial Politics of Safe Haven in Brazil" (University of Chicago Press). Jason A. Smith, George Mason University, Affiliate Researcher, Kristen M. Budd, Heather Dillaway, David C. Lane, Glenn W. Muschert, Manjusha Nair and Jason A. Smith (eds.). 2024. Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions for 2024. Policy Press. Rafia Mallick, Georgia State University, Graduate Research Assistant, "2024 Emeline G Renz, Rafia Mallick, and Deirdre A Oakley. Diversions from Policing as Usual -- A More Caring City with Atlanta’s 311PAD? (Invited Presentation Session) 2024 International Conference on Urban Affairs (UAA). April 2024. New York, NY 2024 Emeline G Renz, Rafia Mallick, and Deirdre A Oakley. Geography and Data Science for the Public Good: Data-Driven Evidence and Solutions to Social and Spatial Inequalities. American Association of Geographers (AAG). April 2024. Honolulu, HI 2023. Deirdre Oakley, Erin Ruel, Tanya Washington, Lucas Cortelloni, and Rafia Mallick. Atlanta's Peoplestown and Summerhill: Gentrification and Predatory Surveillance in the Neighborhood. Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). 2023 Fall Research Conference. November 2023. Atlanta, 2023 Deirdre Oakley, Erin Ruel, Tanya Washington, Lucas Cortelloni, and Rafia Mallick. Community Needs and Challenges: Peoplestown and Summerhill. Center for Neighborhoods and Communities Brownbag. September 2023.Atlanta, GA 2023 Rafia Mallick. Who Is the Culprit? Is It Religion or Patriarchal Traditionalism That Justifies Physical Violence? 2024. SWS Virtual Student and Junior Community Scholar Symposium (SJCSS). October 2023. Eric R. Wright, Day K M Wong, Rafia Mallick, and Waqar Ahmad. Doing Sociology across Borders: Preliminary Findings of the Virtual Exchange Program. 118th American Sociological Association (ASA). August 2023. Philadelphia, PA 2023 Cynthia Baiqing Zhang, and Rafia Mallick. Anti-Asian Racism: Selective Inattention. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 73rd Annual Meeting. August 2023. Philadelphia, PA 2023 Rafia Mallick, and Deirdre Oakley. At the Margins of Intersectionality: The Matrix of Consciousness and South Asian Immigrants’ Conflicting Identities. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 73rd Annual Meeting. August 2023. Philadelphia, PA 2023 Mallick, Rafia, Munirat Sanmori, Ana Thuy, Ben B. Crumbley, Charles A. Spraggins, Danasia J. Battle, Laehlanni M. Benjamin, and Sean Xiao. Unraveling the Complex Surveillance Tapestry of Homelessness in South and Middle Georgia. Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, July 2023. Atlanta, GA 2023 Rafia Mallick. Immigrants Navigating Vegetable Tray within U.S. Cities. Center for Neighborhoods and Communities Brownbag at Georgia State University. February 2023.Atlanta, GA" Wright, Eric R., Day Wong, Waqar Ahmad, and Rafia J. Mallick. 2024. “Doing Sociology across Borders: Student Experiences and Learning with Virtual Exchange in Large Introductory Sociology Classes.” Teaching Sociology 0092055X241230549. doi: 10.1177/0092055X241230549 Deirdre Oakley, Erin Ruel, Tanya Washington, Lucas Cortelloni, and Rafia Mallick. 2023. Community Needs and Challenges: Peoplestown and Summerhill. Parc Credit Union in partnership with Georgia State University. Mallick, Rafia, Munirat Sanmori, Ana Thuy, Ben B. Crumbley, Charles A. Spraggins, Danasia J. Battle, Laehlanni M. Benjamin, and Sean Xiao. 2023. Unraveling the Complex Surveillance Tapestry of Homelessness in South and Middle Georgia. Atlanta, GA. Georgia State University Deirdre Oakley, Erin Ruel, Tanya Washington, Lucas Cortelloni, and Rafia Mallick. 2023. Community Needs and Challenges: Peoplestown and Summerhill. Parc Credit Union in partnership with Georgia State University. Mallick, Rafia, Munirat Sanmori, Ana Thuy, Ben B. Crumbley, Charles A. Spraggins, Danasia J. Battle, Laehlanni M. Benjamin, and Sean Xiao. 2023. Unraveling the Complex Surveillance Tapestry of Homelessness in South and Middle Georgia. Atlanta, GA. Georgia State University." SSSP News 2024 Annual Meeting Information CRES Solo and Co-Sponsored Sessions Note this information is based on the preliminary program and may change between now and the meetings in August. Session 005: Violent Environments: Empire and Colonial Legacies Session 009: Bodies for Sale: Use of Humans and Animals for Entertainment Session 019: Curricular Violence: White Supremacist Silencing in Education Session 048: Critical Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Session 060: Critical Dialogue: Anti-Violence and Violence: Counter-hegemony from Subversive to Revolutionary Session 086: Institutional Inequalities and Violence Session 110: Author Meets Critics: Behind Crimmigration: ICE, Law Enforcement, and Resistance in America by Felicia Arriaga, The University of North Carolina Press, 2023 Member News Member News CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # Congratulations and a Warm Welcome to Marta Maldonado, Incoming CRES Co-Chair (2024 - 2026) CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page # CRES Summer 2024 Newsletter Page #