Diversity Alliance Library

Here are research and articles that we find relevant and interesting. Click on the title to download as a PDF file.

All Brains Are the Same Color -Richard E. Nisbett 2007

Exerpt: JAMES WATSON, the 1962 Nobel laureate, recently asserted that he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” and its citizens because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really.”

Dr. Watson’s remarks created a huge stir because they implied that blacks were genetically inferior to whites, and the controversy resulted in his resignation as chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. But was he right? Is there a genetic difference between blacks and whites that condemns blacks in perpetuity to be less intelligent?

A New Agenda for a New Michigan- Michigan Future, Inc.

Excerpt: Michigan’s economy is reeling from an unprecedented six consecutive years of declining employment— maybe most worrisome, the past three years during a national economic expansion. There is widespread concern that what comes next will not be as good as what has been lost. The need for a new agenda is clear. At Michigan Future, Inc. we have come to believe that Michigan’s decline is caused, in large part, because Michigan—its citizens, enterprises, and communities—has been slow to adapt to a rapidly changing global economy. Today, leading-edge communities are leaving behind the Industrial Age. They are adapting quicker and better to a more knowledge-driven and entrepreneurial economy: what New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has labeled the “flat world.” This report is designed to answer the question, “What really matters in better positioning Michigan and its regions for success in a knowledge-driven and entrepreneurial economy?”

Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination - Bertrand, M, and S. Mullainathan, 2003

Abstract: We perform a field experiment to measure racial discrimination in the labor market. We respond with fictitious resumes to help-wanted ads in Boston and Chicago newspapers. To manipulate perception of race, each resume is randomly assigned either a very African American sounding name or a very White sounding name. The results show significant discrimination against African-American names: White names receive 50 percent more callbacks for interviews. We also find that race affects the benefits of a better resume. For White names, a higher quality resume elicits 30 percent more callbacks whereas for African Americans, it elicits a far smaller increase. Applicants living in better neighborhoods receive more callbacks but, interestingly, this effect does not differ by race. The amount of discrimination is uniform across occupations and industries. Federal contractors and employers who list “Equal Opportunity Employer” in their ad discriminate as much as other employers. We find little evidence that our results are driven by employers inferring something other than race, such as social class, from the names. These results suggest that racial discrimination is still a prominent feature of the labor market.

Michigan flunks report on minority dropout rates - Putnam, J., 2004

Excerpt: Citing its low Hispanic student graduation rate, the report released Wednesday ranked Michigan as one of the 10 worst states for the "hide-the-minority syndrome." "The dramatic difference of graduation rates by race amounts to a crisis,'' Christopher Edley, co-director of the Civil Rights Project, said at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

Losing Our Future: How Minority Youth are Being Left Behind by the Graduation Rate Crisis - Orfield et al. 2004

Excerpt: In an increasingly competitive, global economy the consequences of dropping out of high school are devastating to individuals, communities and our national economy. At an absolute minimum, adults need a high school diploma if they are to have any reasonable opportunities to earn a living wage. A community where many parents are dropouts is unlikely to have stable families or social structures. Most businesses need workers with technical skills that require at least a high school diploma. Yet, with little notice, the United States is allowing a dangerously high percentage of students to disappear from the educational pipeline before graduating from high school.

IS RECONCILIATION POSSIBLE? - Batts, V., 2002

Excerpt: Reconciliation is, at its core, a process of transformation for both sides in a conflict. The same transformation is also critical to an effective multicultural strategy of change. In our work on anti-racism and multiculturalism at VISIONS, Inc. we define multiculturalism as: the process of recognizing, understanding and appreciating one’s own culture as well as the culture of others. Multiculturalism stresses learning to appreciate the impact of differences in social location based on such variables as race, gender, class, age, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability and language. This learning process is dynamic; as we begin to see the impact of differences, our sense of ourselves, others, and the world shifts. We impact others and others impact us differently. There is an interactive process occurring, potentially at four levels: the personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural.

Rise in Hispanics and Asian-Americans Is Predicted - Reuters, 2004

Excerpt: WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The Hispanic and Asian-American populations in the United States are expected to triple by 2050, when non-Hispanic whites would account for the barest majority, according to a Census Bureau report to be released Thursday.

FBI: Michigan ranks third in number of reported hate crimes - Krisher, T., The Associated Press, 2005

Excerpt: DETROIT (AP) — Michigan ranks third in the nation in the number of reported hate crimes, and officials say those figures appear to be growing. A group of law enforcement and civil rights organizations held a news conference Tuesday in Detroit to try to stem the increase, pointing out their enforcement and education efforts against bias.

Why can't we all just get along? - Dovidio et al., 2002

Abstract: The authors review a series of studies that illustrate how one form of contemporary racial bias of Whites, aversive racism, can shape different perspectives of Blacks and Whites in ways that can undermine race relations. This research demonstrates that contemporary racism among Whites is subtle, often unintentional, and unconscious but that its effects are systematically damaging to race relations by fostering miscommunication and distrust. In particular, the authors examine the effects of aversive racism on outcomes for Blacks (e.g., in selection decisions), on the ways that Whites behave in interracial interactions, in the impressions that Whites and Blacks form of each other in these interactions, and on the task efficiency of interracial dyads.

Public School Graduation Rates in the United States - Greene and Winters, 2002 (Link Only)

Summary: This study uses a straightforward and reliable method to estimate the percentage of public high school students from the class of 2000 in the United States who actually graduated. Building on Dr. Greene’s work in a similar study on the class of 1998, the authors determine that only 69% actually graduated nationwide. While 76% of white public school students and 79% of Asian students graduate, the study finds that only 55% of African-American students, 53% of Hispanic, and 57% of Native American students do so. The study also gives the overall and ethnic group graduation rates of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, finding that for students from each of the three under-performing ethnic groups there were six states with graduation rates under 50%.

E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture - Robert D. Putnam, Scandinavian Political Studies, Volume 30, Issue 2, Page 137, 2007 (Link, Abstract Only)