Renwei Diversity

Humans of New York: Obama

“When is the time you felt most broken?”

“I first ran for Congress in 1999, and I got beat. I just got whooped. I had been in the state legislature for a long time, I was in the minority party, I wasn’t getting a lot done, and I was away from my family and putting a lot of strain on Michelle. Then for me to run and lose that bad, I was thinking maybe this isn’t what I was cut out to do. I was forty years old, and I’d invested a lot of time and effort into something that didn’t seem to be working. But the thing that got me through that moment, and any other time that I’ve felt stuck, is to remind myself that it’s about the work. Because if you’re worrying about yourself—if you’re thinking: ‘Am I succeeding? Am I in the right position? Am I being appreciated?’ — then you’re going to end up feeling frustrated and stuck. But if you can keep it about the work, you’ll always have a path. There’s always something to be done.”

“Who has influenced you the most in your life?”

“My mother. She had me when she was 18 years old, and my father left when I was one year old, so I never really knew him. Like a lot of single moms, she had to struggle to work, and eventually she also struggled to go to school. And she’s really the person who instilled in me a sense of confidence and a sense that I could do anything. She eventually went on to get her PhD. It took her ten years, but she did it, and I watched her grind through it. And as I got older, like everyone else, I realized that my mother wasn’t all that different than me. She had her own doubts, and fears, and she wasn’t always sure of the right way of doing things. So to see her overcome tough times was very inspiring. Because that meant I could overcome tough times too.”

Obama’s advice:

“You don’t do things alone. Nobody does things alone. Everybody always needs support. For a young man like you, you should never be too afraid or too shy to look for people who can encourage you or mentor you. There are a lot of people out there who want to provide advice and support to people who are trying to do the right thing. So you’ll have a lot of people helping you. Just always remember to be open to help. Never think that you know everything. And always be ready to listen.”

SOURCE: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/

Renwei Diversity

In my life -John Lennon

Renwei's avatarFOOTNOTE 4

“In My Life”

There are places I’ll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

-John…

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Implicit Bias: The Silent Killer Of Diversity In The Legal Profession

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“It’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success / Hear my words or listen to my signal of distress.” – J. Cole

According to the Sentencing Project, “If current trends continue, one of every three black American males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as can one of every six Latino males — compared to one of every seventeen white males.” Cornell Law School notes, “Race matters in the criminal justice system. Black defendants appear to fare worse than similarly situated white defendants. Why? Implicit bias is one possibility… Judges hold implicit racial biases. These biases can influence their judgment.”

In other words, justice is not blind. Unconscious racial bias can lead to racial inequality. It is important to be conscious of our hidden biases, but as Stanford Law School points out, “The goal of racial justice efforts should be the alleviation ofsubstantive inequalities, not the eradication of unconscious bias.”

Implicit or unconscious bias is a mental shortcut “that fills in gaps in our knowledge with similar data from past experiences and cultural norms.” It is a normal part of how we make decisions. Unconscious racial bias pervades our law, education, and politics. It is not always a bad thing, but it often tends to be negative. National Public Radio notes, “There are big racial differences in how school discipline is meted out: students of color are much more likely to be suspended or expelled than white students, even when the infractions are the same.”

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