'Whitewashed and erased': There's a reason Juneteenth isn't taught in schools, educators say

WHY WE NEED CURRICULUM TO RECOGNIZE AND ADAPT RUBRICS FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH, LABOUR HISTORY MONTH, WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH, LGBTQ PRIDE MONTH, SOUTH ASIAN & ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH, DIFFERENTLY ABLED MONTH,  ETC. 
Daniella Silva, NBC News•June 18, 2020



A Connecticut fourth grade social studies textbook falsely claimed that slaves were treated just like “family.” A Texas geography textbook referred to enslaved Africans as “workers.” In Alabama, up until the 1970s, fourth graders learned in a textbook called "Know Alabama" that slave life on a plantation was "one of the happiest ways of life."

In contrast, historians and educators point out, many children in the U.S. education system are not taught about major Black historical events, such as the Tulsa Race Massacre or Juneteenth, the June 19 commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.

As the country grapples with a racial reckoning following the killing of George Floyd in police custody, educators said that what has and what has not been taught in school have been part of erasing the history of systemic racism in America and the contributions of Black people and other minority groups.
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Whitewashed and erased': There's a reason Juneteenth isn't taught in schools, educators say

“There’s a long legacy of institutional racism that is barely covered in the mainstream corporate curriculum,” said Jesse Hagopian, an ethnic studies teacher in Seattle and co-editor of the book “Teaching for Black Lives.”

“It’s really astounding how little the contributions of Black people are included in much of the mainstream curriculum and how much of that institutional racism is disguised,” he said.

Historians said curriculums are about identity and learning about ourselves and others.

“The curriculum was never designed to be anything other than white supremacist," Julian Hayter, a historian and an associate professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said, "and it has been very difficult to convince people that other versions of history are not only worth telling. They’re absolutely essential for us as a country to move closer to something that might reflect reconciliation but even more importantly, the truth."

LaGarrett King, an associate professor of social studies education at the University of Missouri, said the history curriculums in schools are meant to tell a story and, in the U.S., that has been one of a “progressive history of the country.”

“Really the overarching theme is, ‘Yes, we made mistakes, but we overcame because we are the United States of America,'” said King, who is also the founding director of the Carter Center for K-12 Black History Education at the university.

“What that has done is it has erased tons of history that would combat that progressive narrative,” he said.

King said the experiences and oppression of Black people, Latino people, indigenous people, Asian people and other minority groups in the U.S. are largely ignored or sidelined to fit those narratives.

“So, of course you’re not going to have crucial information such as what happened in Tulsa, you’re not going to have information such as the bombing of a Philadelphia black neighborhood,” he said.

In 1921 in Oklahoma, whites looted and destroyed Tulsa's Greenwood District, known for its affluent Black community. Historians believe that as many as 300 Black people were killed.



In May 1985, Philadelphia police dropped a bomb onto the compound of MOVE, a black liberation group, killing six members, five of their children and destroying 65 homes in the neighborhood.

Another often-omitted period of U.S. Black history is the Red Summer, a period of time through 1919 when white mobs incited a wave of anti-Black violence in dozens of cities.

As for the protests against racial inequality and police brutality after the killing of Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police, King emphasized that these movements were not new.

“Black people have been saying this for the past 400 years, this is not a new movement,” he said. “Each generation has had their point in time where they’re trying to say through protest, through rebellion, ‘listen to us, listen to us,’” he said.

Part of the problem is that society has never listened to that history, he said.

“In many ways we wouldn’t have a Black Lives Matter movement if Black lives mattered in the classroom,” he said.

The current moment has also put increased national attention on Juneteenth, which is Friday this year.

President Donald Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that he moved a rally in Tulsa set for Friday to Saturday “out of respect” for two African American friends and supporters.

“I did something good. I made it famous. I made Juneteenth very famous. It’s actually an important event, it’s an important time. But nobody had heard of it,” he said, although his office has previously put out statements marking the occasion.

Historians note that Juneteenth has been celebrated in Black communities across the country for 155 years.

Hayter said that the history of Black people and other minority communities has already “been completely whitewashed and erased" when it is taught in American classrooms.

He pointed to the argument made by some that removing Confederate statues and iconography is tantamount to erasing history.

“So when people say you can’t erase history, it's like, what are you talking about?” he said. “If you crack open a textbook from the mid-20th century, there are no minorities in those textbooks.”



“The contributions they made to the American democratic experience are completely ignored,” he said.

Hayter said those histories have been seen as “a footnote to a larger narrative and not an important and integral portion of the history more largely.”

“As long as we continue to treat these as addendums to a larger American narrative, we’re failing these kids in large part because we’ve reduced these histories to second-class status,” he said.

Hagopian said “Teaching for Black Lives” seeks to uncover some of these really important periods of Black history and give educators access points to teach students about them, including a whole lesson on the Tulsa Race Massacre.

He said another historical period that was glaringly absent from the mainstream curriculum was Reconstruction, the era following the Civil War that sought to address the inequalities of slavery.

“Reconstruction is one of the most fascinating and revolutionary periods in American history,” he said.

Hagopian said it was a remarkable period of time, although short, when the country undertook a conscious effort to tear down institutionally racist structures.

“Black people built the public school system across the South, and there were integrated schools in the 1860s. They were more integrated than today, just incredible examples of Black empowerment,” he said, adding that there were more Black elected officials than at anytime until recently.

“It’s such an important era to examine," Hagopian said. "If we’re going to escape the intense level of racism that we have today, we’re going to need to look at what it looked like when there was a movement toward institutional anti-racism."

It is also important, Hagopian said, to teach students that the civil rights movement went beyond a few famous figures commonly featured in history books or during Black History Month, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.

“I think one of the most important things for students to learn about is the way young people have helped shape American history in profound ways and to help understand the contributions especially of Black youth to this nation,” he said.

“They’re so often erased, but when students learn that it was young people who were the leaders of the civil rights movement, they can then see themselves as potential actors to transform the world today."

For Black Tulsans, Trump's visit evokes painful legacy of 1921 massacre

Ernest Scheyder, Reuters•June 19, 2020

For Black Tulsans, Trump's visit evokes painful legacy of 1921 massacre

By Ernest Scheyder

TULSA, Okla. (Reuters) - Thirteen jars filled with ash and dirt and bone rest in the basement of Tulsa's Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church, an unsettled repose for the victims of a nearly century-old massacre that still haunts the Black residents of Oklahoma's second-largest city.

There are no graves for Eliza Talbot, Ed Adams or 11 others. Their bodies were lost, along with hundreds, when a white mob killed and burned its way through the city's Greenwood neighborhood in 1921, at the time one of the largest and wealthiest Black communities in the United States.

To the dismay of community leaders https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump/in-tulsa-fears-that-trump-rally-may-worsen-racial-unrest-spread-of-coronavirus-idUSKBN23O1GO and residents, and just weeks after a May 31 vigil to mark the massacre's 99th anniversary, President Donald Trump plans his first campaign rally since March mere blocks away from Greenwood on Saturday.

The rally will occur a day after Juneteenth https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-juneteenth-factbox/factbox-what-is-juneteenth-idUSKBN23N3A0, which commemorates when a Union general went to Texas in 1865 and announced the Emancipation Proclamation had freed enslaved people, more than two years after it was issued in 1863.

"Trump's presence will cast a huge shadow over these events," said Rev. Robert Turner of the Vernon A.M.E. church, which was rebuilt after it was burned down during the 1921 attack.

"The president is supported by racists, by neo-Confederates. I fear this rally will attract all those people to our city."

Trump, who has said his supporters "love Black people," moved the rally to June 20 from its original Juneteenth date, tweeting that the change was "out of respect for ... this important occasion and all that it represents."

The rally also coincides with protests against police brutality and racism across the United States and globally, after the May killing of George Floyd https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-protests/george-floyd-hailed-as-cornerstone-of-a-movement-at-funeral-family-calls-for-justice-idUSKBN23G1JQ by a white police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Floyd's death has added to the disquiet among Black residents in Tulsa, which saw its own demonstrations in 2017 after a white police officer was acquitted of manslaughter for shooting a Black man during a routine traffic stop.

"I do look at Trump's visit as a slap in the face, a form of disrespect," said Rev. Mareo Johnson, who runs the Tulsa Black Lives Matter (BLM) chapter.

'SACRED GROUND'

In Greenwood, which was cut in half by a highway in the late 1960s, Black residents say they still struggle with the massacre’s enduring scars.

The district's main thoroughfare, Greenwood Avenue, once boasted the largest Black-owned hotel in the United States as well as Black-owned banks, medical practices, law offices and libraries.

It is now lined with a handful of small retail shops and a restaurant, and abuts a minor league baseball team's field. Tulsa's north side, home to most of its African-American residents, has no traditional grocery stores or much retail shopping, further isolating the residents.

"Greenwood today is confined like a holding zone," said Cleo Harris Jr. who owns Black Wall Street T-shirts and Souvenirs shop on Greenwood Avenue. "The dividing of Greenwood by this highway was white America's way to contain us. Black people are still considered less than."

Greenwood's concentration of wealth in the early 20th century led to the area becoming known as "Black Wall Street." African-Americans made up roughly 12% of Tulsa’s 72,000 population in 1920, as Greenwood’s success and the Oklahoma oil boom attracted other Black Americans.

"Greenwood used to be the mecca of Black opportunity and Black economy. This is sacred ground," said community activist Kristi Williams, whose great aunt survived the massacre.

"This was the place to be for newly-free Africans to re-establish themselves. There are bones in the land that keep us connected to this place."

The massacre began after a local Black youth was arrested for allegedly assaulting a white girl. The allegations were never proven.

White rioters tore through Greenwood, destroying 23 churches, more than 2,000 Black-owned businesses and homes, and 36 square blocks of the neighborhood, according to the Greenwood Cultural Center.

About 300 people died and more than 6,000 survivors and Black Tulsa residents were sent to internment camps and held, according to a Human Rights Watch report in May that called for reparations.

For decades it was not clear where many bodies were buried, but recent archeological work points to a mass grave near the Arkansas River. Dig work at the site was halted this spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tulsa never paid restitution to the victims and insurance companies refused to pay out, citing riot clauses in contracts. No one was charged in the murders. While survivors returned to Greenwood, it never regained its former status.

Some Black Tulsans are hoping to use Trump’s visit to spotlight racial inequity and push for reparations for victims of the 1921 disaster, either through money, scholarships to local colleges or returning land taken from victims.

"I want to channel all this pain and anger into change for our community," said activist Williams.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; editing by Amran Abocar and Grant McCool)

Juneteenth, Decoration Day and the memory of 'these honored dead,' Black and white

Vern E. Smith contributor,Yahoo News•June 19, 2020

African-American band at Emancipation Day celebration on June 19, 1900, in Austin, Texas. (Austin History Center, Austin Public Library)

Growing up in Natchez, Miss., in the ’50s and ’60s, I had never heard of “Juneteenth,” the celebration of the end of slavery in America that took place two states over in Texas. It will be commemorated today with programs, marches and other festivities in communities in the 47 states where June 19 is now an official holiday.

June 19, 1865, which has come to be known as Juneteenth, is the day that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger finally arrived in the Texas port city of Galveston, one of the last Confederate outposts, with a stunning announcement known as General Orders, No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

Texas was the last state to receive the news that President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had, more than two years earlier, abolished the enslavement of nearly 4 million African-Americans, including 250,000 in Texas.

The news set off spontaneous celebration among the freedmen of Galveston, and beginning in 1866, community events, parades, cookouts, prayer gatherings and musical performances inaugurated Juneteenth. The annual event has continued and spread from a largely Texas tradition to a national celebration of African-American freedom and culture, and a way to empower young people with a sense of their own history. Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas on Jan. 1, 1980.

This year, in the wake of the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, an African-American man, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests, Juneteenth is a potent reminder of how America’s past and present are inextricably connected. Acknowledging an awakening, over 20 major corporations announced they will either honor or recognize today as a paid holiday for their employees as a nod to support for the Black community, according to CNBC. They include Google, JP Morgan, JCPenney, Target and Nike. General Motors announced it will hold moments of silence at its plants in American cities. There is also renewed push to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The new mood is a welcome change, but it is also a reminder that African-American history, which is to say American history, has many hidden figures, traditions and customs.

As a youngster, I was never taught about Juneteenth. But in Natchez we had our own annual unique event celebrating the end of slavery, which also commemorated and honored the participation of African-American ancestors in their own liberation. It was known simply as the “30th of May.’” It was and still is that rare ceremony in the South that celebrates the Union cause in the Civil War, and the valor of the soldiers — “these honored dead,” as Lincoln called them in the Gettysburg Address — who fought and died for that side.
Natchez "30th of May" marchers, circa 1950s. (Courtesy NAPAC Museum)

Like Juneteenth, the 30th of May was a daylong celebration of fun, barbecue, snow cones and hot dogs. It kicked off with an early-morning parade across the Mississippi River Bridge from Natchez in Vidalia, La., and snaked through the downtown district. Flag-carrying veterans, church society women in their white uniforms and regular citizens swelled the ranks as the marchers streamed into the National Cemetery. Vendors with food stands lined the street, and inside the grounds, the marchers placed flowers and flags on the headstones under the sound of a brass band and military gun salute.

I was probably 8 the first time I attended a 30th of May event with my parents and siblings, and even then I was aware that for all the fun and food, there was something serious and important that we were celebrating.

As I would learn later, we were honoring a remarkable and little-appreciated aspect of the Civil War, and the role that runaway slaves played in turning the war into a battle for freedom. Fifty years before the war, Natchez, the oldest European settlement on the Mississippi, had been the site of “Forks of the Road,” the second-largest domestic slave trading center in America. Then, after Union troops arrived in the city in July 1863, the Forks became a staging ground for the liberation of thousands of former slaves.

When the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal organization of Civil War Union veterans, both white and Black, began the national tradition of Decoration Day in 1868, Natchez’s Union casualties, nearly all Black, were interred on the site that is now the Natchez National Cemetery.

In his 2001 book “Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory,” Yale historian David Blight traces the first events of what became known as Decoration Day, and what is now known as Memorial Day, to May 1865, after the first Union troops, including the 21st Colored Infantry, entered Charleston, S.C. At a planters’ racetrack that had been converted into an outdoor prison for Union soldiers in the war’s last year, a group of Black workmen descended on what had been an impromptu mass burial ground for hundreds of Union dead. They reburied them properly and built a high fence around the compound with the inscription “Martyrs of the Race Course,” Blight recounts.
A statue in Galveston, Texas, depicts a man holding the state law that made Juneteenth a state holiday. (David J. Phillip/AP)

Thousands of Black schoolchildren, Black women carrying baskets of flowers and wreaths, and regiments of Black and white Union soldiers joined in a march to the former slaveholders’ racecourse on the first Decoration Day.

Most Southern states would not officially recognize Decoration Day because it honored Union soldiers, says Darrell White, director of the Natchez Museum for African American History and Culture, which was established in 1991 by NAPAC, the Natchez Association for the Preservation of African American Culture.

But in Natchez, where the transition of Black people from slavery to freedom and citizenship came with a heavy price of blood, the 30th of May pilgrimage to the National Cemetery became a lasting tradition.

While word of the Emancipation Proclamation was a long time coming to the enslaved people of Texas, they may have taken some satisfaction in the knowledge that their brethren weren’t just waiting to be told they were free. Almost 200,000 “self-emancipated” Black men had enlarged the Union forces elsewhere in the South and helped seal a Union victory.

Vern E. Smith is the former Atlanta bureau chief of Newsweek.

Why Black wealth has stayed 'relatively flat' since Tulsa massacre

Kristin Myers Yahoo Finance June 19, 2020

In the roughly 100 years since the Greenwood massacre and more than 150 years since the official end of slavery on “Juneteenth,” studies show little progress has been made to reduce the racial wealth gap between black and white households. While many economic, legislative, and social proposals have been made to eliminate the gap between white and Black Americans, some say that reparations is the only hope.

By 1921, the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Okla., was a thriving black community. Dubbed the “Black Wall Street,” the district featured restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, grocery stores, two newspapers, and more.

“It was quite extraordinary,” says folklorist and reparations scholar and author Kirsten Mullen. “There were probably few places like it in the southwest. It was held up at the time as a star.”

Though the name lends itself to a comparison with the street and financial center in New York, Mullen says it does not compare to “the volume and capitalization” of New York’s Wall Street.

What’s more, Greenwood wasn’t the only “Black Wall Street” in the United States. Black wealth was being created in neighborhoods around the country, in places like Durham, N.C., and Richmond, Va.

But it wasn’t long before these thriving black neighborhoods were noticed, and eventually destroyed.
The Greenwood Massacre

Just under 100 years ago, the Greenwood district was destroyed in an event that has been called the Greenwood massacre.

After accusations of a sexual assault on a white woman, Greenwood was attacked. Stores and homes were looted, and hundreds died. The neighborhood was set on fire: from the ground, and from planes dropping incendiary devices from overhead.

“In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, over 800 people were treated for injuries and contemporary reports of deaths began at 36. Historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died,” states the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.

A memorial to Tulsa's Black Wall Street sits outside the Greenwood Cultural Center on the outskirts of downtown Tulsa, Okla. A once-prosperous section of Tulsa that became the site of one of the worst race riots in American history is attempting to remake itself again after decades of neglect. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Mullen’s research partner, economist William Darity said there has been a “long American history of denying and destroying” Black wealth.

“There was a wave of these massacres from late 1800 until the 1940’s,” he explained. “Prosperous Black communities were essentially destroyed.”

“In the year 1919 alone, there were upwards of 35 or 36 of these massacres,” he said.
No progress made

But, Darity and Mullen said, the racial wealth gap was already wide prior to the Tulsa massacre, and Black wealth has stayed “relatively flat” since.

“The black curve looks relatively flat, and the white curve skyrockets upwards,” Darity said.

“Historical data reveal that no progress has been made in reducing income and wealth inequalities between black and white households over the past 70 years,” according to a study from Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Examining data from 1949, the Minneapolis Fed found that “income has grown at a comparable rate for black and white households.”

But, they noted, “this means that pre-civil rights era disparities have largely persisted.” Over time, the “typical” black household is “poorer than 80% of white households,” the authors wrote.

This is the result of “the cumulative effect of government policy in terms of action and inaction. The federal government never intervened to address these white massacres,” said Darity.

Simply put, the flatness of black wealth over time “is the result of American public policy,” he said.

Darity noted that reliable data on black wealth only extends as far back as 70 years, but points to the Homestead Act of 1862 as the beginning of economic disparity between Blacks and whites in the country.

At the end of the Civil War, while freed slaves were denied their promised 40 acres and a mule, he said, whites were given hundreds of acres of free land.


Destruction of black wealth

Over the course of the next century and a half, black communities were systematically destroyed through massacres or through the policy of urban renewal, that razed communities to make way for highways or luxury buildings and shops.

In some instances, Mullen said, these public works projects were never even started.

In the late 19th century, “land was a major source of wealth,” Darity said. “Particularly for folks with middle-income status.” By the 20th century that source of wealth changed — to homeownership.

Denied access to land before the turn of the century, Black households were then subject to racist policies of redlining, contract buying, and land devaluation.

While not the sole predatory policies that plagued the black community, these real estate-based discriminatory practices robbed and denied Blacks in the country of billions.

Redlining ensured that Blacks couldn’t purchase homes in white neighborhoods, systematically denying families mortgages, home insurance, or loans. The practice derived its name from the red line drawn on maps demarcating areas where African Americans lived. Banks would then justify the practice, deeming neighborhoods that had redlined at a “higher risk” for default.

Division of opinions in Chicago. White children play ball in street just west of Ashland as an African American family passes. White homeowners to west of Ashland have formed block clubs, designed to keep the neighborhood white. (AP Photo/JLP)

And when black families went to purchase a home, many fell prey to the practice of contract buying. The scam allowed a home seller to deny a buyer ownership of a home until the home was purchased in full. The buyer would first put down a large down payment, and then make high interest monthly payments. But until the home was purchased in full, the seller held the deed and could evict the buyer at any time. The buyer never accumulated equity in their homes, and no laws protected them.

Once a home was purchased, many African Americans have found their assets to be routinely undervalued, despite structural characteristics and neighborhood amenities that are comparable to white-owned homes nearby.

These practices were deemed illegal and discriminatory over 50 years ago with the Fair Housing Act, but the impact remains today.

According to the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), “much less than half (42%) of Black families own their homes, compared to almost three-quarters (73%) of White families.”
Reparations

In total, these policies over the last century and a half since the Civil War’s end have had the cumulative effect of the depletion of Black wealth.

The JEC has noted in their 2020 study that African Americans experience poverty and unemployment rates that are twice that of their white counterparts, lower life expectancies, and have less than one-tenth the median wealth of whites.

But how to undo centuries of racist policies designed to prevent African Americans from accumulating wealth?

Both Darity and Mullen, authors of the book “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century,” say that reparations is the only way.

Without it, Darity paints a fairly bleak picture on the ability of African Americans to achieve equality. “Black Americans cannot eliminate the racial wealth gap with their autonomous actions, and with their existing resources,” he said.

And as President Trump plans to hold his political rally in Tulsa on June 20, the threads of the Greenwood Massacre carry through today.

After Tulsa, “whatever momentum Black Americans were building that might have contributed to some closure of the wealth gap was immediately demolished,” Darity said.

Kristin Myers is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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RAILROADS
Employee Headcount at US Class 1 Operations Tumbles 17% in May

FreightWaves June 19, 2020


Rail employment in the U.S. Class I operations fell below 120,000 workers in May, reaching a new low as the railroads trimmed their workforce levels to match the steep declines in rail volumes.

May's overall headcount among the U.S.operations of the Class I railroads totaled 118,880, a 16.9% drop from May 2019 and a nearly 4.5% decline from April 2020, according to freight rail data submitted to the Surface Transportation Board (STB). The total is the lowest since at least January 2012, which is the earliest date that FreightWaves has data available.

Of May's total, headcount levels within the train and engine crew category, which tends to be more sensitive to demand for freight rail service, totaled 43,660, a whopping 25.7% decrease from 60,256 in May 2019 and a 10.3% decline from April 2020.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also show the precipitous drop in rail headcount. The totals in the SONAR chart below reflect rail headcount for both freight and passenger rail.

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U.S. rail headcount levels for passenger and freight rail over the past year. The data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (SONAR)

The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the headcount declines, with sheltering-in-place mandates in April and May slashing rail volumes as citizens stayed at home. As a result, the Class I railroads sought to scale down operations to match lower demand through actions such as implementing fewer train starts and temporarily shutting down facilities with lower traffic.

Although rail volumes appear to have started to recover in recent weeks, a number of the railroads are mulling over to what degree they resume rail operations, particularly for facilities where traffic might've been historically lighter or where there might be perceived inefficiencies.

Should the railroads decide to keep some aspect of their pared-down operations, it could alter headcount levels even further in 2020. Additionally, the pace of how the Class I railroads call back furloughed employees is also likely to affect headcount totals over the coming year.

The uncertainty of how much further freight rail headcount levels could fall comes as some railroads recently announced plans to reorganize their operations partly because of precision scheduled railroading and also because the drop in rail volumes accelerated plans to curtail operations at some locations.

For instance, CSX CSX 1.93% said last week that it was folding its safety and facilities groups into the operations group later this summer – concurrent with the retirement of the head of those groups.

The reorganization comes as CSX terminated 86 employees, each of whom has been offered a severance package and other support to help with their transition, according to the company.

"Last week CSX announced the realignment of responsibilities to better reflect our business needs and to be more productive and efficient. The changes followed a careful review of our management organization that considered what work we should be focused on and whether that work resides in the right place in the organization," CSX said. "The synergies achieved through these realignments unfortunately resulted in the reduction of some management positions across the company."

Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern NSC 2.47% also said last week it would furlough some employees as a result of idling the Bellevue (Ohio) hump yard and transitioning to flat switching there.

Norfolk Southern (NS) said the idling of the yard and the new focus on flat switching "will allow for greater efficiencies and customer service" as NS rolls out its strategic operations plans. The business disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic also accelerated the need to compensate for lower car volumes, NS said.

(Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Joanna Marsh)

Texas Supreme Court Rules Against Family in 'Overworked' Truck Driver Death

FreightWaves June 19, 2020


Despite testimony that an oilfield carrier pushed truck drivers to work more than 100 hours per week and ignore federal hours-of-service regulations, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that the family of an "overworked" truck driver killed in a rollover crash can't file a wrongful death lawsuit against the carrier because they couldn't prove the company "intended" for him to die in a crash.

Instead, the court ruled that the family of Fabian Escobedo, who worked for Mo-Vac Service Co. in its Dilly, Texas, terminal for 12 years, could only collect workers' compensation in the crash that resulted in his death.

While Texas law allows spouses and children to recover exemplary damages under the state's Workers' Compensation Act, the attorney representing Escobedo's family, Armando P. Duran, said the law doesn't apply because Escobedo didn't have a spouse or children, which he said: "must be changed."

However, Justice Eva Guzman wrote in her opinion that the Texas legislature should align the Workers' Compensation Act with Texas' wrongful death statute to allow parents to sue.

According to Duran, the Texas Supreme Court should be "ashamed of the decision" it reached in this case.

What happened?

On May 30, 2012, Escobedo was driving a 2007 Mack truck, pulling a 1985 Reynolds tank trailer for Mo-Vac, when he veered off the road, rolled, and died of positional asphyxiation.

Urbano Garza, Mo-Vac manager from 2008 to 2012, testified that he was told by management to instruct his 30-plus truck drivers, including Escobedo, to drive past their legal driving limits to "make money" for the company.

"From what I observed, Mr. Escobedo's death was caused by greed," Garza said in his testimony.

Garza also stated that the truck drivers for Mo-Vac were ordered to work at least 100 hours per week and sometimes worked 19-24 hours straight for the oilfield carrier.

However, only a surviving spouse or heir is allowed to file for exemplary damages under Texas law. In a civil trial, exemplary damages are awarded as a way to punish a defendant for gross negligence or severe misconduct, according to Texas law.

"A hardworking Texan died alone on the side of a highway in a foreseeable accident that likely would not have occurred but for his employer's intentional disregard of laws enacted to protect workers and the public," Guzman said. "Though precedent compels me to concur in the court's conclusion that the Texas Workers' Compensation Act provides the exclusive remedy for the Escobedo family's heart-wrenching loss, I write separately to urge the Legislature to align the Act with Texas's wrongful-death statute by extending the Act's exemplary damages exception to parents who have lost a child, like the Escobedo fami

RADIO BLASTS WITH 'REGULAR RHYTHMS' AND UNKNOWN ORIGIN COMING FROM SPACE, SCIENTISTS SAY

New detections represent the 'the most definitive pattern we’ve seen from one of these sources', according to researchers

CHIME Collaboration

Researchers have picked up strange, repeating rhythms in blasts of energy coming from an unknown source in space.

The blasts are known as fast radio bursts, or FRBs, and are coming to Earth in a stable, repeating pattern, according to a new paper detailing the discovery.

Researchers still do not know the source of those bursts. Though they must come from some very extreme, intense part of the universe, there is no way of knowing what process gives rise to them.

The first FRB was picked up in 2007 and scientists have gone on to find more than 100 since. Initially, they were detected only as individual blasts, but in recent times researchers have found repeating sources.

Now astronomers have started to find bursts repeating in a pattern, where they seem to switch off and on in a predictable pattern.
Read more

Scientists find exact location of radio blasts coming from space

The latest discovery sends out random bursts of radio waves over a four-day window, and then goes quiet for 12 days, before beginning again.

Researchers watched the bursts for more than 500 days, noting that the 16-day pattern occurred consistently over that time, making it the most definitive pattern yet seen.

“This FRB we’re reporting now is like clockwork,” says Kiyoshi Masui, assistant professor of physics in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

“It’s the most definitive pattern we’ve seen from one of these sources. And it’s a big clue that we can use to start hunting down the physics of what’s causing these bright flashes, which nobody really understands.”

The discovery is reported in a new article, titled 'Periodic activity from a fast radio burst source', published in Nature today.

The latest FRBs were picked up by CHIME, a radio telescope in British Columbia that began its work in 2017. Since then, it quickly started picking up FRBs, using a technique that allows it to stare at the entire sky rather than moving around if and when any burst is detected.

The repeating nature of the burst could give new insight into where they are coming from.

Possibilities include one single object such as a neutron star that is spinning and wobbling in space. That could explain the pattern to the blasts, since the 16-day period may be the time it takes for the object to spin around, with the four days of activity the ones in which it is pointing towards us.

STATE CAPITALISM AMERICAN STYLE
Austin area may offer $68 million in tax breaks for potential Tesla plant

Austin competing with Tulsa for site of Cybertruck factory

Published: June 18, 2020 By Associated Press

Tesla has not said when it will announce its decision. BLOOMBERG NEWS

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin-area school district is considering offering more than $60 million in tax incentives to attract a proposed Tesla “gigafactory” to Central Texas, Tesla TSLA, -0.60% revealed Thursday.

The Del Valle Independent School District proposal was made public in a Tesla tax application filed Thursday with the Texas comptroller’s office. The proposal would offer Tesla $68 million in property tax breaks over 10 years to put its new plant on a 2,100-acre site off Texas 130 just north of the Colorado River on the southeastern outskirts of Austin. Travis County commissioners are considering a separate tax incentive package.

The comptroller’s documents state the real value of the property would average about $600 million per year. Without the Del Valle district incentives package, Tesla would have to pay almost $8 million in property taxes per year.

Austin is competing with Tulsa, Okla., to become the city that hosts the plant that builds the Cybertruck, Tesla’s planned electric pickup truck, and the Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle. In its application with the Texas comptroller’s officer, Tesla says it is considering the Travis County site and a site or sites in Oklahoma.

The proposed plant would have 4 million to 5 million square feet of space and would be Tesla’s biggest so far. Tesla’s U.S. vehicle assembly factory in Fremont, California, employs 10,000 workers.

In its Thursday filing, Tesla said that if the Del Valle school board approves the incentive package and it proceeds with building on the Travis County site, construction could start in the third quarter of this year and take two to three years to complete.

Tesla has not said when it will announce its decision.

Tesla Asks Texas For Tax Incentives As It Proposes To Start Construction For New Factory By Q3

Neer Varshney , Benzinga Staff Writer June 19, 2020



Tesla Inc. TSLA 0.53% filed an application with an Austin-area school district in Travis County, Texas earlier this month asking for tax incentives to build a new factory, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

What Happened

The automaker said in the application, it has zeroed in on a 2,100 acres site, currently owned by Martin Marietta Materials Inc. Tesla is asking for significant tax incentives for the Texas facility to remain competitive with another site the Palo Alto-based company is considering in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If it goes ahead with the plan to build the factory at the site, Tesla expects to begin construction by the third fiscal quarter this year, investing about $1 billion at the 4 to 5 million square foot assembly facility. The automaker said in the filing that the factory would create 5,000 new jobs.

Why It Matters

Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk in March announced that Tesla was scouting for locations to build a new manufacturing facility for its recently-launched Cybertruck.

Tesla has an option to purchase this land, but has not exercised it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2020

Musk said on Thursday the company hasn't yet purchased the Texas land, and Tesla is "considering several options."
Price Action

Tesla shares closed 1.2% higher at $1,003.96 on Thursday. The shares added another 0.8% in the after-hours session at $1,011.99.

© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

Colin Kaepernick Could Be Returning to the NFL


He hasn't played in the league since 2016.
By Christopher Luu

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick could be back on the grass when the NFL season kicks off later this year. Multiple reports state that Kaepernick is on the Los Angeles Chargers's potential workout list, which doesn't guarantee him a spot on the lineup, but does open doors for his return to the league.

Kaepernick hasn't played in the NFL since 2016, when he was on the San Francisco 49ers and started kneeling during the American national anthem as a way to peacefully protest police brutality and systemic racism. After he opted out of his contract that year — reports state that he would have been cut from the team if he didn't opt out — he sued the NFL for collusion, saying that there were plans to keep him out of the league. The case was settled last year, NBC Sports reports.


MIKE EHRMANN / STAFF


RELATED: People Are Seeking Justice for 19-Year-Old Black Lives Matter Activist Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau


Chargers coach Anthony Lynn told ESPN that although he has not spoken to Kaepernick directly, his style of play would fit in with the team's current system. Currently, the team has Tyrod Taylor, Justin Herbert, and Easton Stick listed as quarterbacks.


"I haven't spoken with Colin, not sure where he's at as far in his career, what he wants to do," Lynn said. "But Colin definitely fits the style of quarterback for the system that we're going to be running. I'm very confident and happy with the three quarterbacks that I have, but you can never have too many people waiting on the runway."



Roger Goodell, the NFL's commissioner, later said the NFL was wrong for "not listening to players earlier" when thy voiced concerns of racial injustice and police brutality. His statement came after some of the NFL's most notable came together and posted a video asking the league to condemn racism and support the Black Lives Matter movement. While Goodell didn't mention Kaepernick specifically in his apology, he did encourage the league's teams to consider signing him.

Just last year, Kaepernick had a workout at the Atlanta Falcons's facility, though nothing came of it after media wasn't allowed into the session and the league insisted on a "liability waiver" to be attached to Kaepernick's contract. Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told ESPN last week that he regrets not signing Kaepernick back in 2017. Statements from coaches may provide the league with some sympathy from fans, but Kaepernick is still waiting for real action.

"I've been ready for three years, and I've been denied for three years," Kaepernick told reporters in November. "We all know why I came out here and showed it today in front of everybody — we have nothing to hide. So we're waiting for the 32 owners, the 32 teams, Roger Goodell, all of them to stop running. Stop running from the truth, stop running from the people."

Kaepernick's protest has been top of mind for many people during the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd. Many players and executives who, at the time, turned their backs on him now seem to understand what he was doing. The message was the same in 2016 as it is now, but as pressure mounts, public statements of support seem to be coming from all over the league.


Other sports players did follow in Kaepernick's footsteps at the time, including USA soccer champion Megan Rapinoe. Just this week, FIFA said that they would allow players to take a knee during the National Anthem without penalty. Donald Trump responded how he always has in the past writing on Twitter saying he "wouldn't be watching," now that it's allowed.


RELATED: An Explicit Guide to Being Anti-Racist


The change of heart around Kaepernick should serve as a reminder that Black people have been fighting to end systemic racism forever and their voices have been silenced. His protest was meaningful and it will forever be looked at as a historical moment. Whether or not he comes back to the NFL, these leagues need to listen to the Black players, period.

More than 300 Red Bull employees signed a letter expressing 'concern' about the company's response to Black Lives Matter and asking for 'internal action.' Read their note to executives.

Patrick Coffee BI 6/19/2020

Hip-hop group Naughty by Nature promoting Red Bull's BC One breakdancing competition in 2017. Dean Treml/Red Bull via Getty Images

A letter sent to Red Bull leadership on June 1 and signed by more than 300 employees criticized the company's "public silence" on the Black Lives Matter movement.

The letter titled "Representation Matters at Red Bull" asked the company to go further in recognizing the Black Lives Matter movement and have a conversation about race.
An internal memo from Red Bull's head of communications said the company "stands directly and actively against racism."

Many companies have made statements of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and are being held accountable for their records of diversity and inclusion.


More than 300 Red Bull employees signed a June 1 letter titled "Representation Matters at Red Bull" asking the company to go further in recognizing the Black Lives Matter movement and have a conversation about race.

The letter from employees was sent to North American CEO Stefan Kozak and president and CMO Amy Taylor. It expressed concern about Red Bull's "public silence" regarding the protests and a May 31 staff email that was reviewed by Business Insider and referred to "tremendous heartbreak, pain, and anger across our country" and announced a pause in company meetings and social media activity but did not include the word "Black" or mention George Floyd.

The employees' letter said that Red Bull has drawn heavily from various aspects of Black culture, including hip-hop, breakdancing, and basketball, to promote its products.

"As we say nothing, we are abandoning the communities we claim to support and foster in their time of greatest need," the letter read. "Absence during a time that demands action, reveals purported support as nothing more than exploitation."

The developments come as many companies have made statements of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and are being held accountable for their records of diversity and inclusion.
The company later mentioned Floyd and said Red Bull stood against racism

On June 2, staff received another email written by Kozak that mentioned "the murder of George Floyd and countless others."

Regarding "the current uprising," Kozak wrote, "I share these views and I applaud those who peacefully and courageously have made their voices heard."

Then on June 14, Red Bull's head of communications, Carly Loder, sent an internal memo saying the company stood against racism but did not state that it would publicly support the movement.

"I'm not American. I'm not Black. I cannot even begin to understand for one moment what the last few weeks has been like for our team," Loder wrote. "I want you to know where I personally stand — Black Lives Matter."

The memo then summarized the company's talking points to use with business partners, writing that Red Bull "stands directly and actively against racism" and "supports the Black community and the movement" and that Red Bull "will reinforce Black representation in everything we do" and "direct resources to the efforts of existing and new partners focused on equality in cities across the US."

It stated that executives understood why staff were frustrated with the delayed response and promised "action in short term solutions for Black representation in our organization and in the stories and content we amplify in the market."

The employee letter and staff memos were provided to Business Insider by a Red Bull employee who is known to Business Insider but requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter.

Loder declined to comment beyond the June 14 memo.

Joel "Teknyc" Martinez, a b-boy and graffiti artist who has participated in Red Bull's BC One breakdancing competition, told Business Insider he was upset by a #BlackoutTuesday post that Red Bull shared June 2. He asked the brand on Instagram why it didn't use the phrase "Black Lives Matter" since breakdancing is central to Black and Latino culture.

"This is a paradigm shift. All people wanting a better world is what the protests are about," he said. "Why would Red Bull not stand behind that?"

Below is the full letter that employees sent leadership:

Dear Stefan and Amy,

As protests spread across our nation demanding justice for George Floyd and equal rights and treatment for Black people, the silence from Red Bull has been distressing and heard profoundly. As we scroll through social media feeds filled with brands making posts in solidarity, donating to worthy causes, and committing to looking inward to tackle racism, we wonder when we will be able to feel proud that our company is taking those same steps.

While the cancellation of meetings on Monday and Tuesday to allow for headspace is appreciated, we would like to express concern regarding the internal email that was sent and our public silence thus far. In the email, the word Black was not mentioned once. This is not a vague issue that we can accept being danced around or alluded to. Black people in this country have been traumatized day in and day out, for their entire lives, and this is nothing that should be obscured.

Furthermore, we hoped to see the organization more urgently expressing steps towards real change now instead of simply allowing for individual space. There are many of us who are active, ready, and willing to participate and make change now, today. Instead of simply canceling our normal meetings, could we replace them with available forums to educate employees, learn about allyship, and discuss how we, as a company, can be better when it comes to issues of race? It is crucial now that we ask the right questions and look to our community here, at Red Bull, for the best ways to support each other - rather than retreat into silence, leaving us two days to think alone about these things that profoundly affect our Black neighbors. We believe that as a company we need to do better to our Black counterparts and community, through investing in internal action to catalyze change from the inside out. Unlearning must be part of the process and contributes to ending racism by investing in educational tools and creating new spaces for everyone to be seen and heard.

It is undeniable that many of the spaces Red Bull exists in and prioritizes, like hip-hop, dance, basketball, and electronic music, are born out of Black communities and Black culture. We absolutely cannot continue in these spaces, or continue to profess celebration of Black culture, if we have no intention of supporting the Black community while they are being treated unjustly and murdered in our streets. As we say nothing, we are abandoning the communities we claim to support and foster in their time of greatest need. Absence during a time that demands action, reveals purported support as nothing more than exploitation.

We believe that Red Bull is a company based on values and fulfilled promises, with a legacy of giving wings and supporting niche and underrepresented communities over many years. Hosting incredible music festivals and dropping athletes from space is part of our aspirational brand, but so should be doing the right thing: Standing up for Black employees, Black communities, and all Black people when they need it most. This is not an unexpected position, in fact, it is what our consumers, our partners, and the people we have built our reputation on, demand. We are watching in real-time as people everywhere notice, track, and share which brands are standing up for what is right, while exposing those who abstain. If we truly aim to be the most aspirational brand, perhaps we should aspire to something greater than silence.

We want to hear from you regarding possible next steps. Taking action, openly and loudly, is a signal to employees of the company's commitment - with accountability, beyond lip service – to upholding their safety at work and their right to exist in the world, free of racism. We want to know what will be done internally, and what Red Bull's public stance and action will be on the issue. This is not something that can wait. We believe in the values that Red Bull represents. We are available to participate in any discourse necessary to ensure we take meaningful action in the fight to end racial injustice.

Liberal group cancels event with Hong Kong activist following internal 'concerns' and external criticism from pro-China pundits

Charles Davis Business Insider•June 18, 2020

A protester (C) holds a photo of George Floyd while pro-democracy activist Leung Kwok-hung (R), also known as Long Hair, holds a Black Lives Matter sign outside the US consulate during a demonstration against racism and police brutality in Hong Kong on June 7, 2020, following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images

The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led activist group that pushes for action on climate change, canceled an event on police brutality after some criticized the involvement of a progressive Hong Kong activist.

"People inside and outside of the movement raised concerns about this call," Stevie O'Hanlon, a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, told Business Insider.

On social media, critics of the event accused the Sunrise Movement of pushing anti-China propaganda, with many confusing the activist with others in Hong Kong who have met with US politicians.

"The cancellation of the event suggests to Hong Kong activists that, regardless of how hard they work to educate potential allies abroad about the movement, their effort can easily be erased by a distraction generated by white conspiracy theorists," Shui-yin Sharon Yam, a professor at the University of Kentucky, told Business Insider.

A liberal activist group in the United States canceled an event with a progressive Hong Kong activist, following "concerns" raised by its members and social media backlash from pro-China critics over their participation in a call about police brutality and international solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

On Tuesday, the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led activist group that pushes for aggressive action on climate change, announced it would be hosting a call with someone well-versed in dealing with aggressive law enforcement.

"Lessons From Hong Kong: Taking Action in the Uprisings for Black Lives," the event was called, featuring testimony from progressive Hong Kong activist Johnson Yeung on "tactics for taking action."

By Wednesday, the event was canceled, and the post advertising it deleted, following a firestorm of criticism from self-styled communists on Twitter.

"People inside and outside of the movement raised concerns about this call," Stevie O'Hanlon, a spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement, told Business Insider. "This is a complex issue and we're just days away from what could be the largest mobilization for racial justice ever, so we canceled the call to allow our movement to stay 100% focused on showing up this weekend for Black lives."

O'Hanlon said the event could ultimately be rescheduled. But the group would not identify the concerns that led to its cancellation in the first place.

The ostensible concerns, as stated by critics on Twitter, were not subtle: the Sunrise Movement was promoting a US policy of "regime change," and activists in Hong Kong were portrayed as a politically monolithic pawn of Washington in their efforts to preserve the Chinese territory's last vestiges of self-government.

While many Americans, including US lawmakers, oppose China's efforts to consolidate control over Hong Kong, its most visibly capitalist asset, a tiny but vocal on social media fringe of the US left has adopted the sloganeering of Beijing, casting Hong Kong's protests as little more than the destabilizing antics of US-backed reactionaries, even as US-made tear gas is deployed against those in the streets in Hong Kong just as in Minneapolis.

China, which earlier this month was caught operating a major influence operation on Twitter, is an active participant.

When Sunrise Movement announced its event, a writer for China Daily, an English-language periodical owned by the Communist Party, eagerly jumped into the pile on, arguing that Hong Kong protesters "have shut down a BLM event" and "proudly accept and encourage support form the same politicians now egging on US police."

Many appeared to confuse the activist in question with others from Hong Kong who have met with US politicians. "Regime change operative cockroaches," said one user, responding to a tweet from the Sunrise Movement by sharing a photo of two activists from Hong Kong, neither of whom were Johnson Yeung.
—Johnson Yeung 楊政賢😷 (@hkjohnsonyeung) June 17, 2020

Some right-wing US politicians have indeed lent support to the protests in Hong Kong, and met with some activists from the city of 7.5 million, despite defending police tactics at home. Such is international politics, where hypocrisy — condemning state repression in Hong Kong or the US, but not both — is the norm.

China, home to the largest share of the globe's wealthiest people, also faces a good deal of criticism from the left, at home, and elsewhere, over its efforts to pair authoritarianism with free markets in the international financial hub of Hong Kong.

But despite the concerns expressed by some of Sunrise Movement's members and critics, many see a connection between police brutality at home and abroad.

Shui-yin Sharon Yam, a professor at the University of Kentucky, has written about the street battles in Hong Kong and Minneapolis as like-minded struggles against capitalist authoritarianism, arguing that those involved in Black Lives Matter can learn from progressives abroad.

"While these two social movements stem from distinct cultural and historical contexts and unique circumstances of oppression," she previously wrote, "they coalesce through their shared resistance against police brutality and unchecked authority to yield force as sanctioned by the state."

Yam told Business Insider she's dismayed at the cancellation of the Sunrise Movement event, arguing that it points to the strength of "disinformation and smearing campaigns" led by blogs such as the Grayzone, a website that traffics in state-sponsored character assassination and is oft-cited by critics of social movements outside the US.

Protesters hold Black Lives Matter signs outside the US consulate during a demonstration against racism and police brutality in Hong Kong on June 7, 2020, following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota.ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images

"The cancellation of the event suggests to Hong Kong activists that, regardless of how hard they work to educate potential allies abroad about the movement, their effort can easily be erased by a distraction generated by white conspiracy theorists," Yam said. Despite the differences, "both movements are combatting state violence and advocate for true inclusion and democracy," she added, and the canceled event "is a great example of how activists from two movements can share tactics and insights with each other."

That's a sentiment shared by writers for Lausan, an activist collective that aims to build "transnational left solidarity" by holding "multiple imperialisms to account."

"The need to center Black lives is important," one writer, Promise Li, told Business Insider.

"But Sunrise needs to understand that by explicitly canceling the event in response to far-right tankie trolls, they are actively legitimizing their demands," he said.

"Tankie" is a term that used to refer to left-wing advocates of Soviet militarism; today it typically refers to active social media users who defend the actions of any state that is nominally opposed to Washington. Li fears it's a tendency that, if catered to, will only damn future attempts at cross-border solidarity.

Solidarity, also, is a two-way street. Writing for Lausan, Li has encouraged activists in Hong Kong not to make the same mistakes as so-called "tankies" in the US.

"Hongkongers must stand with Black Lives Matter: not just because our struggles appear similar," he argued, "but because our liberation as working people in this system of global capitalism is impossible without the liberation of Black people."

#SCOTUS #LGBTQ
What to celebrate about the Supreme Court's big ruling on LGBTQ discrimination — and the unresolved office problems that continue to hurt queer and trans workers

Weng Cheong and Allana Akhtar 6/19/2020

L.G.B.T. activists and their supporters rally in support of transgender people on the steps of New York City Hall, October 24, 2018 in New York City. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The US Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision on June 15 that Title VII of the 1963 Civil Rights Act applies to LGBTQ individuals. 

But more work may still need to be done to make workplaces inclusive for LGBTQ employees. 

Business Insider spoke to labor attorneys and HR experts and reviewed research to find out how the Supreme Court decision will impact the office. 

Company leaders must rework their anti-harassment policies, expand benefit plans that cater to LGBTQ needs, and educate workers on the impact of microaggressions.

When Sophie Debs heard this week's Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ discrimination at work, she felt conflicted.

Debs is an incoming employee at the tech company Lob, where she worked as an intern in March 2019. She's also a transgender woman. Debs isn't afraid of getting fired from her job or being discriminated against because of her gender identity, but she does have friends who have lost their jobs because they were transgender.

"I have two friends who have been fired from jobs for being trans," she said. "They came out and were fired a day later. While it does make me feel better — and I'm glad that employers know it's illegal — I don't think it provides a lot of safety for people."

On June 15, the US Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that Title VII of the 1963 Civil Rights Act applies to LGBTQ individuals. Title VII protects employees from facing discrimination from their employer on the basis of their race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

"An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids," Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the decision.

The landmark decision is a blow to the Trump administration, which has rolled back or rescinded at least 31 measures put in place by the Obama administration to protect Americans from discrimination, according to a 2019 ProPublica analysis.

While the decision is a step in the right direction, companies still need to be vigilant to ensure they are providing an inclusive environment for LGBTQ workers, experts told Business Insider.

For example, the law does not address bathrooms for transgender people, and it's still unclear if employers can fire an LGBTQ person for religious reasons, the Associated Press reported.

The "decision was a watershed," Kasey Suffredini, CEO of Freedom for All Americans, told The Associated Press. "But at the same time it's so basic and entry level. Now we actually get into the details into how that discrimination plays out in everyday lives."

Business Insider spoke with labor attorneys and HR experts, and reviewed research to better understand how this decision will impact the day-to-day lives of employees across the US, and what employers can do to make their offices more inclusive.
Employers should complete a comprehensive review of all policies to ensure they are not discriminatory

The first step all employers should take is to review their HR policies and handbooks to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court's decision, said Jon Nadler, a labor attorney at Eckert Seamans.

The Supreme Court decision protects job applicants and existing employees, and it covers hiring, firing, and similar actions by an employer, he said. Employers could potentially face retaliation claims and discrimination lawsuits if their anti-harassment and discrimination's policies don't include protection for LGBTQ employees, he added.

Nadler recommended that companies first read through their Equal Employment Opportunity policy (EEO), which refers to unbiased and non-discriminatory treatment of employees based on their race, ethnicity, religion, age, medical history, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

"If you want to ensure compliance, the starting point and the bare minimum is to make sure that the terms 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' are now included as the protected classes in those anti-harassment policies," he said.

Employers should also look through their benefits policies, especially the ones regarding parental leave and anything that has a reference to someone's sex, the attorney added.

Hiring managers need to be well-informed of the Supreme Court's decision and how that will impact recruitment processes, Nadler said. Recruiters shouldn't ask candidates about their gender identity or sexual orientation during hiring and promoting because it is not relevant to hiring decisions — just like it is prohibited to judge candidates based on their race or marital status.

Train employees to recognize discrimination at work

One in two LGBTQ employees in a survey of 515 by job site Glassdoor said they have experienced or witnessed discrimination in the office.

Managers should be well informed on how to handle discrimination, Nadler said. They should also be well-versed in the prejudice LGBTQ employees face.

Transgender employees, for example, may be misgendered. During Debs' first few weeks interning at Lob, she proposed that the company let employees use self-identified pronouns.

"I was misgendered occasionally," she said. "I wanted to educate people at the company on why this is important, and how we can respect people by letting them choose their own pronouns."

Misgendering means using the wrong pronouns to refer to someone's gender, and it's more prevalent for trans and nonbinary workers.

For example, if someone comes out as nonbinary and uses "they" and "them" pronouns, it is incorrect to use the pronouns "she" or "he."

It took Lob a month to roll out this plan. Within that time, the company put a personal pronoun field in job applications, encouraged employees to note their he, she, or gender-neutral pronouns in email signatures and other communication platforms, and reached out to stakeholders about this plan. 

Offer employee benefits specific to LGBTQ health needs

Part of making workplaces inclusive to LGBTQ people is offering paid benefits many of them may need.

Healthcare benefits are another key element employers must assess to make policies that are supportive of LGBTQ workers, who often have difficulty accessing medical care.

Employers should check if their health plans cover gender reassignment surgery and fertility services. They can also offer adoption assistance benefits. Many health plans still exclude "services related to sex change" or "sex reassignment surgery" and coverage typically varies by state, according to US Department of Health and Human Services.

Companies could also consider offering care coordinators and social workers to help LGBTQ employees navigate the health system. For example, startup Included Health works with employers to provide these services to LGBTQ workers.

Even if employers do offer these benefits, they are typically only provided to full-time employees. Companies should consider offering these benefits to their growing contract workforces as well. 

Educate employees on microaggressions

Microaggressions, or the actions and remarks that perpetuate stereotypes towards marginalized groups, is another form of discrimination.

Bringing up your queer uncle every time you're around an LGBTQ colleague, or telling someone you "would have never known you were transgender" may be well-intentioned, but these comments can be hurtful or insensitive.

Listen to and read LGBTQ leaders on what comments are hurtful toward them to educate yourself on how to be a better ally.

If managers, or employees, hear another coworker make an insensitive comment, they should speak out and address it in a calm, helpful manner.

It's also key to provide employees with safe spaces to discuss how they're feeling. Debs stressed that it's crucial for companies to have employee resource groups where everyone can be open and honest about the issues in the workplace.

"A company's managers can read a million different articles about what to do, but they won't be able to build a fully welcoming and supportive environment without actively creating a space that welcomes the input of marginalized people in the office," she said.

RIP 

When Dame Vera Lynn said 'we'll meet again' to me – the incredible enduring appeal of a British wartime legend

British singer Dame Vera Lynn popularised the song We’ll Meet Again during the second world war. ANDY RAIN/EPA

Kate McLoughlin, University of Oxford
“We will meet again,” the Queen declared in an April 5 Coronavirus address the UK. Suddenly, a line the British people indelibly associate with the second world war was in the news again. The monarch’s reassurance to people separated from loved ones by lockdown struck a chord.
The phrase will reverberate again in the UK on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, when the country marks the end of the conflict. After the Queen makes another address at 9pm, Britons will be invited to sing We’ll Meet Again, the song made famous by the original “Forces’ Sweetheart”, Dame Vera Lynn, who is now 103 years old.
In August 2005, I interviewed Dame Vera. As a university lecturer specialising in war literature, I was fascinated by the way that she was relentlessly dragged back to the past (the second world war) and under equally relentless demand to sing a song about the future. A courteous handwritten reply came back to my request for an interview, inviting me to her home in Ditchling, East Sussex. As I drove, the weather was bright and I smiled to myself at the thought that I was going to meet Dame Vera on a “sunny day”.
Born in 1917, Vera Lynn began singing at the age of seven in the clubs of east London. She grew from child star to professional crooner, featuring on records with dance-band leaders Joe Loss and Charlie Kunz and making her first radio broadcast in 1935. In 1937 she became a vocalist with British bandleader Bert Ambrose and his orchestra. By 1939, Lynn was a well-known stage and radio performer on the verge of a solo career. It was then that she came across the song that was to make her a national icon.

Forging the connection

Lynn discovered We’ll Meet Again in the autumn of 1939. It was the work of the well-established London-based songwriters Ross Parker and Hugh Charles, with Charles providing the lyrics for Parker’s melody. Lynn first sang it (along with You Can’t Black Out The Moon) that autumn on tour with the Ambrose Orchestra.

Though today We’ll Meet Again is inseparable from the second world war in most people’s minds in the UK, it was actually Lynn who forged the connection, turning a song about absence in any situation into a classic expression of wartime optimism. Lynn was broadcast singing the song throughout the war and its message of hope and resilience lifted national morale.
As she wrote later in her 1975 memoir, Vocal Refrain: “Ordinary English people don’t, on the whole, find it easy to expose their feelings even to those closest to them.” We’ll Meet Again would go “at least a little way towards doing it for them”.
In later years, the song, with its reminders of home and exhortations of courage, has become an indispensable part of national commemorations. And, with its swooping and strangely haunting melody, it has entered into popular culture. It forms an ironic accompaniment to the explosion of atom bombs in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964); it is deployed with alienating effect in the Pink Floyd song Vera (The Wall, 1982); and it provides the eerie aural backdrop to the Tower of Terror ride in Walt Disney World, California.
But when Lynn began singing it at the age of 22, she had little idea that she would be singing it for the rest of her life.

Memories of war

On that August day in 2005 it was an 88-year-old Dame Vera Lynn who opened the door to me: elegant, striking, perfectly made up. She welcomed me warmly and went off to make tea. I sat in her large sitting-room. There were photographs everywhere, family intermingled with the great and the good. There was Dame Vera at Buckingham Palace and there she was with … was it really Bing Crosby?
Dame Vera came back with the tea and we began to talk. Knowing myself what it was like to become immersed in the second world war, I asked if she ever got tired of talking about it. Never, she replied – how could she when so many young men had given their lives in it?

Vera Lynn visiting a munitions factory in 1941. Wikimedia/Imperial War Museum

I was itching to hear her sing it, but I knew that she had stopped performing publicly and was too shy to suggest it to her. But what if I sang it to her? No singer, I launched myself into it and to my joyous amazement, she joined in.
I finished my list of questions and put my notebook away. Dame Vera sighed with relief. “Shall we have another cup of tea and now have a proper chat?” she asked. And so it was that we began to talk freely. I have no notes of this part of the conversation but details stand out in my memory.
How she felt like a personal family representative when she visited British servicemen in hospital in what was then Burma. How the heat made her lipstick run. How she spent her clothes coupons on a tight-fitting pink chiffon dress. How important it was to look attractive to wounded soldiers who hadn’t seen their womenfolk for months, even years.
It was over all too quickly. We said goodbye on the doorstep. “Perhaps…” I began, tentatively, “… we’ll meet again some sunny day”, sang Dame Vera, quick as a flash.
Most likely, I won’t meet her again. But, as the Queen understood, what keeps us going in times of war and pandemic is the thought that we will be reunited with our loved ones, when the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away.

Kate McLoughlin, Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.