Arsh's Ethnic Studies Blog

Since we always hear about heartbreaking stories in the messed-up world that we live in now, it’s always good to hear some good news. So, here’s some good news for women and especially minorities!  An article by Aljazeera showed that a new record number of the 2018-2019 television episodes were directed by women or ethnic minorities. Isn’t that so wonderful? A report by the Episodic Television Director Inclusion explained that “half of all TV episodes were directed by women or African American, Asian American or Latino directors.”  Plus, in the last five years only 21% of television episodes were directed by women or minorities, but in the last year that percentage has gone up to 42.5%.  We’ve always known how hard it’s been for women and ethnic minorities to move up in the television and movie industries, so hearing something like definitely shows a good sign of progress. Nonetheless, slowly but surely, women and minorities are gaining the respect and ...

Well here’s some ridiculous news. Apparently even though we live in such modern times there’s still some incidents that are unfair.  From an article by the Independent, ethnic minorities in academics are less likely to get funding than white researchers.  This article shows that ethnic minorities are less likely to get funding than white colleagues. Apparently, on average, ethnic minorities receive grants that are lower than £100,000 compared to white colleagues. Isn’t that so ridiculous?! Moreover this research showed that white researchers are 27% more likely to receive research grants compared to their ethnic colleagues. One of the researchers, Dr. Izzy Jayasinghe, talked about how researcher councils that decide the grants look through data based on sex, disability, ethnicity, and age. Plus, researchers in 2019 & 2018 were 79% white and 13% were ethnic minorities.  Here’s one last thing; white researchers were awarded £670,000 while ethnic ...

Here’s something positive to look forward to! It feels nice to hear something so empowering and encouraging when we live in such upsetting times.  As of November 6 th , CBS Boston released the news that Boston City Council has now elected its first female majority! Isn’t that great?! Apparently, this is the first largest female majority and the most racially ethnic diversity lineup that Boston has ever seen.  After the votes on Tuesday, along with the other female candidates, Boston has elected its first Latina City Council woman. So, starting on January 13 th of 2020, the new 13-member council will have eight women and out of the eight, seven women are ethnic minorities.  This is a great achievement for not only ethnic minorities, but it’s a great victory for women. Sometimes small victories like this always make tougher times seem a little easier. Just knowing that we’re taking small steps for a greater change always feels good. For the entire ...