Reading List #25 (Patreon)

1) How Insurance Companies Use Bad Science to Discriminate (Jessie Wright Mendoza) 9/17/`18

Yet another horrific reality of scientific racism.

Read Length: Short

2) Georgia's Separate and Unequal Special Education System (Rachel Aviv) 9/24/18

While reading this I noted some similarities between Georgia and North Carolina. When I was in grade school I always saw black children in special education classes and very rarely did they seem to have developmental disorders. There were no white kids. Of course its not shocking because "children of color are nearly three times more likely than white children to be labeled cognitively impaired." 

Read Length: Long

3)  The White Lies of Craft Culture  (Lauren Michele Jackson) 8/17/17

Foodie historians will love this article on white privilege in the artisan food industry, as the author touches on the history of slaves in artisan positions and even the whitewashing of barbeque. I also learned that shotgun houses have their roots in African and Haitian communities. 

Read Length: Long

4) Politics of the Intimate Pt. 1: The Brahmin Woman in the Brahmin Household (Pallavi) 11/9/17

Brahmins, a class of Hindus (priests, teachers, and protectors) are roughly 5% of India's population. This piece was suggested by patron Aditi, who noticed how patriarchy and gender oppression are similar in America and India even with our other differences. It was interesting to read about how the Brahmin household perpetuates cycles of oppression and ignorance. 

Equally critical in the Brahmin household, is the training and education of each generation of Brahmins of their own role within the caste economy. The Brahmin household is where their men and women are taught their place in reinforcing caste society through a deliberate cultivation of ignorance as a knowledge structure.

Read Length: Long

5) Want To Live Longer? Consider The Ethics (John K. Davis) 8/31/18

As technology advances and the wealthy get wealthier (and therefore thirstier to avoid death) there will be more accurate stabs at prolonging life. What are the ethical implications of that? I loved this piece for also touching on the philosophical aspect of the concept of immortality.

Read Length: Medium

6) Mother's Little Helper: The Crisis of Psychoanalysis and The Milltown Resolution (Jonathan Metzi) August 2003

You may know about the popularity of valium in the 1970s, but what about in the "good ol days" of the 1950s when white housewives were pumped with a different drug? What led to this? The 24 page pdf is attached below! 

Read Length: Long

Related Post: Take Some Pills for Your Hysteria, Lady: America's Long History of Drugging Women Up (Taylor Prewitt) 4/8/15 

Read Length: Medium

7) Who Is Dead? (Sarah Swedberg) 9/26/18

Have you ever wondered about the history of declaring someone dead? Ive always wondered how a vegetative or comatose person would be received in past times when medical knowledge was limited. This fascinating read schooled me. 

Read Length: Medium

8) I watched a rape. For five decades, I did nothing. (Don Palmerine) 10/5/18

I read this story and was immediately angry. If he's telling the truth, he's a piece of shit who did nothing about a rape because he was socialized like scores of other men to place male camaraderie over female safety. But part of me is angry because I'll never know if he's lying- if he raped someone that night and just altered the story to still admit guilt but not be the true villain of the story. Either way, this short piece had me in my feelings. 

Read Length: Short