racism – When The Abuser Goes To Work…

Unions Say ‘Breeze Airways’ Blows An Ill Wind

The nation’s cadre of mostly female flight attendants is facing a new threat – the idea that their job can be performed by college students at a fraction of the cost

Breeze Airways, a new airline operating out of Salt Lake City, Utah, is partnering with Utah Valley University to hire full-time college students to work as flight attendants while they pursue their degree through on-line classes. The airline offers “tuition reimbursement” and provides housing through the program, which is called Flight Academy.

Breeze was started by David Neeleman, who also founded JetBlue. It began operating with a fleet of 60 planes last month.

Ageist? Racist?

Breeze’s hiring plan is opposed by the Association of Flight Attendants – CWA, which notes that 70% of the student population at UVU is under the age of 30 and approximately 78% are Caucasian. CWA alleges Breeze’s hiring plan has a discriminatory impact on minorities and older workers.

‘No Bail’ Imperils Domestic Violence Victims

Robin Little’s 8-month old baby grew up without his mother.

She was a teenager in a small town outside Pittsburgh, PA, whose nude body was found in a vacant lot near her apartment. The nineteen year old was raped and fatally stabbed by her husband, Wayne Mitchell, Jr.

This was about 20 years ago. I wrote an op-ed article for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in which I decried her senseless death as the lack of “real protection for abused women.”

I noted that Little was killed a few hours after Mitchell was released from jail, where he was sent after being arrested for raping and assaulting Little. He was released the next morning on his own recognizance, a precursor of “no bail.” He went back and killed her.

When I read that Illinois became the first state this week to completely eliminate cash bail, I thought of Little for the first time in years. I also thought of her devastated mother and her son.

Little, who was African-American, died because of a different kind of plague.

Society did not begin to make serious efforts to protect women who were victims of domestic violence until the 1970s. Historically, it was legal because it was deemed a husband’s right. A private matter.The first domestic violence shelter was opened in Great Britain in 1971. Police routinely told abusers to take a walk around the block and cool off.

Frank Talk To Prospective Job Applicants or Discrimination?

When I was in law school, a petite young woman asked a professor a question in class in a voice that can be accurately described as a “tiny.”

“If you want to be an attorney, ” the professor bellowed, “You need to speak with power and authority. You may want to rethink whether the law is right for you.”

One can imagine Sonya Forte Duhé offering advice in a similar vein as the chair of Loyola University’s School of Communication and Design.

Duhé was set to take over July 1 as the dean of the Arizona State University (ASU) journalism school and as chief executive officer of Arizona’s PBS station. But ASU recently retracted its job offer. She had already left Loyola in anticipation of the new job and is now unemployed. Continue reading “Frank Talk To Prospective Job Applicants or Discrimination?”