The Shocking Ways the Media Portrays Immigrants


Immigrant march protest Latino media

California media portray immigrants with derogatory descriptions with regularity, while immigrant voices and healthcare are rarely covered, according to a new report by Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG). The BMSG report examined over 2,500 immigration articles in 2017-2018 in California: Monterey (58.8% Latino), Sacramento (23.3% Latino), Kern (53.4% Latino), and San Diego (39.1% Latino). Researchers found neutral descriptors of immigrants—“undocumented” or “unauthorized”—in most media coverage. But they also found potentially dehumanizing terms—“illegal immigrants,” “illegal aliens,” or “illegals”—in nearly every news outlet, and 13% of all articles examined. No coverage focused on the health and well-being of immigrants, either. "The hostile ...

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Social and Emotional Learning Leads to 64% Drop in Expulsions


A teacher at work with a class at Fall-Hamilton Elementary Source Edutopia

How can school leaders address early-life trauma among their students, improve academic and behavioral outcomes, and reduce harsh disciplinary action? Check out Nashville’s trauma-sensitive revolution. Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) (23% Latino) has spent the past six years integrating trauma-informed practices, such as social and emotional learning and restorative discipline, to help students feel supported and understood, Edutopia reports. They even hired a full-time trauma-informed coordinator. “Our ability to accelerate achievement in the future is dependent on meeting the social and emotional learning needs of our students,” MNPS Director of Schools Shawn Joseph told The Tennessean. “We expect it, and the students deserve it.” The Need to Address Trauma ...

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Latinos Power the U.S. Economy to a Better Future


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Don't think Latinos add much to the U.S. economy? Think again. If U.S. Latinos were their own nation, they would have the world's seventh-largest gross domestic product (GDP), at $2.13 trillion, according to a report by the Latino Donor Collaborative. That is a higher GDP than India, Brazil, and Italy. This means American Latinos are driving growth of the U.S. workforce and economy. This is contrary to political and popular rhetoric about Latinos, which hurts Latinos. The Latino GDP is growing 70% faster than the U.S. GDP. "If these rates are sustained, Latinos will contribute nearly one quarter of all U.S. GDP growth between 2019 and 2020," according to NGL Collective on the Latino Donor Collaborative report. How Latinos Impact the Economy By 2020, U.S. Latino purchasing ...

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Game Changer: San Antonio Police to Notify Schools if Kids Exposed to Trauma



Diana Centeno knows kids exposed to traumatic events don’t get the support they need at school. Doug Greene knows police come across kids at crime scenes but feel unable to help them cope. So, they teamed up to start a project where patrol officers send a notification to the district if a child was present at a traumatic incident, enabling monitoring and support for the child. Centeno, a student support leader at San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), is passionate about providing wrap-around, social-emotional services, particularly for children facing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Kids exposed to ACEs often act out in class, miss school, and fall behind, increasing their risk of dropping out, getting into criminal activities, and suffering from poor ...

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Latinos and Blacks Still Face Hiring Bias



The appalling bias against Latinos and Blacks hasn’t changed much in the last 25 years, according to a recent study by researchers at Northwestern University, Harvard University, and the Institute of Social Research in Norway. This study is evidence for one of the many reasons Latinos and Blacks suffer a wealth divide. Additionally, hiring bias also contributes to the enormous Latina pay gap, in which Latinas who have bachelor’s degrees earn 35% less compared to white men with the same degree. "The truth, based on lots of data over years, is that if you're Black or Latino in the U.S., you get far from an equal shake. Your efforts have to be longer, stronger, and chances are you still will be treated worse. The deck gets stacked against you even as you try mightily and then ...

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Superintendent’s State Crusade to Help Schools Help Students of Trauma



Bob Stewart knew that some students were frequently missing class or dropping out of the Gladstone School District in Gladstone, Ore (14.6% Latino). But he didn’t know why. Stewart came to realize his students face trauma─neglect, mental illness, poverty, foster care, divorced or jailed parents, and other adverse childhood experiences─that affect their school attendance and long-term social, emotional, mental, and physical health. He wanted to help. He started mental health services in his district. Stewart wanted to go bigger. Could he achieve his goal of starting a statewide learning collaborative to educate other school districts how to support students who have adverse childhood experiences? Absenteeism: A Symptom of a Larger Problem Stewart, who started as ...

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The Scary Reason Latino Men Don’t Get the Best Prostate Cancer Treatment


latino man and nurse doctor pensive chart implicit bias

All of us have unconscious or involuntary stereotypes that affect our feelings and actions about other people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance. This is called "implicit bias." Implicit bias can harm relationships, policies, and even health. In fact, implicit bias is a big reason why Latino men are much less likely to receive optimal treatment for high-risk prostate cancer than White men, according to a new study in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. This is bad news for Latinos. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men of all races, including Latinos. The Prostate Cancer Disparity Between 2010-2014, researchers from UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Stanford Cancer ...

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Report: Immigrants Boost U.S. Economy


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The U.S. has more immigrants than any other country in the world, Pew Center Research reports. That's a good thing because immigrants boost the U.S. economy, according to a data report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. That finding contradicts stereotypes that immigrants take more from the government than they contribute, or steal jobs. These stereotypes are simply myths. How Immigrants Benefit the U.S. Economy When it comes to government benefits, immigrants contribute more in tax revenue than they take, according to the report. First-generation immigrants cost the government around $1,600 per person annually. That is more than native-born Americans. Second-generation immigrants, however, are the strongest economic and fiscal ...

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No More Us vs. Them: Trauma Training is Rebuilding Police-Community Trust



Police came to four-year-old Fatimah Muhammad’s house in Newark, N.J. (34% Latino), after an altercation between her parents. They came in with force. They had guns. They aggressively grabbed and body-slammed her father before taking him away, Muhammad said. “I was completely terrified,” she said. “Instead of feeling grateful.” As a kid, Muhammad didn’t have a name for some of the traumas that she and her neighborhood were experiencing, like police aggression, domestic violence, and mass incarceration. But she felt an “us vs. them” sense when it came to police. Years later, amid a wave of unlawful policing in Newark, Muhammad helped seize an opportunity to unite police and community to explore trauma and rebuild trust. Update 6/2/20: Muhammad is ...

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