Arsh's Ethnic Studies Blog

Well, here’s something new. Remember, when we thought that we lived in a nation with civil rights? Well, there’s been some civil rights issues with the Vancouver Public School.  According to a news article from a local news source, in Vancouver, Washington, there’s an investigation in is conducted by the Washington Attorney General’s office towards the Vancouver Public School. Apparently, the school practices keeping out higher proportions of students of color and students with disabilities from the school. Instead, the school practices keeping their white and non-disabled peers.  A letter was received by the Attorney General’s office that the school’s discipline causes higher rates of suspension and expulsion of black, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and Native American students. On the other hand, students with disabilities also face more punishments than the other students.  Clearly, this is violation of many state laws and civil rights laws. At ...

So, just when you thought the world couldn’t get crazier hear something new. Looks like history is about to repeat itself again. When will we ever learn?  According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States is imposing visa restrictions on Chinese officials. Apparently these Chinese officials are linked to the abuse of Muslim minority groups in China’s Xinjiang region. There have been statistics that show that as many as one million people are detained in camps in China.  The article, updated on October 8th, explained that the United States has decided for visa restrictions, which will limit the ability of Chinese officials to travel to the US. Moreover, the US imposed export restrictions against more than two dozen Chinese firms for having roll in these government policies against minorities.  According to the state department, the Visa restrictions will only apply to designated Chinese government and Communist party officials, which also includ...

Here’s something interesting to learn about the future. There’s been a new study conducted which predicts that three in four London students will be ethnic minorities. That’s actually really really interesting to hear.  There was an analysis conducted that illustrated a shift in the future of London’s demographics. According to BBC, “demographic changes and university entry rates, shows 27% of student from London will be white.”  Now, this doesn’t mean that white will all of a sudden be the smallest percentage in the London institutions, they’ll still be the largest ethnic group. Plus, the study also showed that students with African backgrounds will be at 21%, which would make them the second largest ethnic group.  But… here’s the interesting part; the study clearly stated that “based on existing evidence, we can expect a significant increase in the number of young students entering higher education by 2030, and an increase in the diversity of these st...

So, here’s some crazy news! We live in some insane times with such a crazy world around us. But let’s take a trip to China where minorities are being killed, and there’s a huge violation of human rights! According to the UN Human Rights Council, they’ve been reported that the Chinese government has been killing ethnic minorities and been harvesting their organs for about twenty years now. Apparently, recent evidence has come to light and shown how the Chinese government has been killing members of the  Falun Gong  group. According to the Independent, “detainees were ‘killed to order…cut open while still alive for their kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, cornea and skin to be removed and turned into commodities for sale.’”  Recently, the UN had been alerted of this horrific situation, and this past Tuesday a NGO hosted a UN event where Sir Geoffery explained that there was an enough amount of evidence collected by the tribunal. Thus, the international organizatio...

As we remember the lives lost of loved ones during the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001, I found it fitting to write about the after attacks on dozens of Sikhs in America and the lives lost due to hate crimes against minorities.  On the 18 th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the United Sikhs Organization released a timeline illustrating all the hate crimes and targeted assaults against the Sikh community. The timeline detailed more than 40 attacks against the minorities, with the latest attack occurring a few weeks ago in Tracy, California.  Around the end of August, 64 year old Paramjit Singh was taking a nighttime stroll when he was brutally stabbed in the park. Unfortunately, Mr. Singh passed away due to the stabbing. Although, the police have not concluded an exact reason for this attack, the people are asking for a hate crime charge to be applied once the killer is caught. There was even a surveillance video received of man running in the park around the tim...

Check out this inerasable mistake in Texas:  As the United States begins to mark the 400 th anniversary of slavery, there have been a few moments that recently made the news and a few lawsuits have been filed due to discrimination.  For instance, a few days ago, Pearland Independent School District was filed with a lawsuit for discriminating a high school student. A 13-year-old African-American student who attends Berry Miller Junior High School came to school one day with an  M shaved on his head. The school authorities saw this as a violation to school dress code, so the school principal used a Sharpie to color in the  M  on the student’s head.  The lawsuit explain that the student felt “extremely degraded” after the incident, and the parents of the child had not been notified about the apparent school violation. Also, the three school officials involved in the act apparently laughed as they used the marker on the student’s head. Furthe...

Britain may be releasing something exciting for ethnic minorities! A new £50 note will be issued in England sometime this year. Recently, the Bank of England has announced that the new note will feature a scientist.  However, here’s the interesting part, every time a new note is issued, the Bank of England appeals for public nominations. Then the final choice is announced by Mark Carney (the Bank of England governor).  Now, more than 200 influential people have signed a letter written to the bank and campaigned for the new note to have a “historic figure from a black and minority ethnic” (Independent). This letter included signatures from people such as Lord Victor Adebowale, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, etc. People have included Noor Inayat Khan, Britain’s first Muslim war heroine, and Mary Seacole, the Crimean War nurse.  If this note gets presented with an ethnic minority, it would be such a wonderful achievement for all minorities around the world,...