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How White is “Rural America”?

by DelilahHummel Posted on April 24, 2017

Mother Jones

Over at Vox, Sean Illing writes about how we think of rural America:

The media often conflates rurality and whiteness in this country. But this is a false — and misleading — narrative.

Roughly one-fifth of rural residents in this country are people of color, and their interests and political views are as diverse as they are. When coverage of rural areas dismisses or otherwise ignores this fact, actual political consequences follow: The specific concerns of certain communities simply fall out of view.

Illing talks about this with Mara Casey Tieken, a professor at Bates College, who says this:

I think policymakers that represent white communities have disproportionately more power than policymakers representing rural communities of color….I think the problem also becomes self-perpetuating because what gets covered is rural white America, so that shapes how people think about rural America, and those are the stories that get told over and over again.

I want to offer up a guess about one reason why “rural” is so associated with whiteness. Here it is:

When the media reports on rural America, the stories are usually about Ohio or Missouri or Indiana or Pennsylvania or Nebraska. “Rural” means the Midwest and the Rust Belt. And as you can see on the map, those places really are mostly white.

As Tieken says, this becomes self-perpetuating. The Midwest and the Rust Belt are politically interesting, so rural areas there get lots of coverage. That means we largely see rural America as white, and that in turn means that news items about non-white areas usually end up getting coded as something else: In the Deep South they become “race and the lingering effects of slavery” stories, and in the Southwest they become “Hispanic immigration and the changing demographics of America” stories.

Does this happen because of implicit bias among reporters and the rest of us? Or because the Midwest and the Rust Belt really are the interesting areas when it comes to politics (big populations, loud voices, plenty of swing voters)? Maybe both.

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How White is “Rural America”?

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These Athletes Have Joined Colin Kaepernick in Protesting Racial Inequality and Police Brutality

by MelindaBaylee Posted on September 12, 2016

Mother Jones

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On Sunday night, before their NFL season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots players Martellus Bennett and Devin McCourty raised their fists after the playing of the national anthem—just as three Tennessee Titans players had earlier in the day. In doing so, they became the latest athletes to join San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in calling attention to racial inequality and police brutality in America.

So far, at least 15 athletes have sat, knelt, or raised fists during or right after the national anthem since Kaepernick sat before a preseason game on August 26. (Sports Illustrated‘s MMQB site reported that more than 70 NFL players had discussed what to do in light of Kaepernick’s protest leading up to opening night.) These athletes include:

Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos (NFL): When Marshall knelt before last Thursday’s matchup against the Carolina Panthers, he said he was prepared for the backlash that might ensue. And it came for his wallet: The Air Academy Federal Credit Union and CenturyLink broke off partnerships with Marshall over the act. Despite this, Marshall says he plans to continue protesting. “I’m not against the police. I’m not against the military. I’m not against America. I’m against social injustice,” Marshall told MMQB on Friday.
Jeremy Lane, Seattle Seahawks (NFL): Lane sat on the bench during the national anthem before a preseason game against the Oakland Raiders on September 1. (On Sunday, his teammates joined him, standing and linking arms together. The team’s “demonstration of unity” didn’t exactly go as far as it could have, though, as Jezebel notes.)
Eric Reid, San Francisco 49ers (NFL): A week after his teammate first opened the door to demonstrations, Reid joined Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem on the San Diego Chargers’ “Salute to the Military” night. It came after the two met with free-agent long snapper and former Army Green Beret Nate Boyer, who recently wrote an open letter in the Army Times about the demonstrations.
Marcus Peters, Kansas City Chiefs (NFL): Before Sunday’s game against San Diego, Peters stood arm in arm with teammates in a sign of solidarity with Kaepernick. He took it one step further, raising his black-gloved right hand in the air during the anthem. “I come from a majority black community from Oakland, California…so the struggle, I seen it,” he told the Associated Press after the Chiefs’ win.
Arian Foster, Miami Dolphins (NFL): Foster knelt beside three teammates along the sideline before Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. “That’s the beautiful thing about this country,” Foster told reporters afterward. “If somebody feels it’s not good enough, they have that right. That’s all we’re doing, exercising that right.”
Kenny Stills, Miami Dolphins (NFL)
Michael Thomas, Miami Dolphins (NFL)
Jelani Jenkins, Miami Dolphins (NFL)
Jurrell Casey, Tennessee Titans (NFL): Casey raised his fist along with two other teammates after the national anthem at Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. “A lot of times, a lot of people don’t want to address the issues, and they want us to sit back and be quiet about it,” Casey told reporters. “And I think to bring fairness and (equality) to all races and everything, I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Jason McCourty, Tennessee Titans (NFL)
Wesley Woodyard, Tennessee Titans (NFL)
Martellus Bennett, New England Patriots (NFL): The Patriots tight end and his teammate waited until the end of the anthem to raise their fists—Bennett wearing a black glove, McCourty a white one.
Devin McCourty, New England Patriots (NFL)
Megan Rapinoe, Seattle Reign (National Women’s Soccer League): On September 4, the national team standout knelt during a match against the Chicago Red Stars as a “nod to Kaepernick.” When the Reign played its next game against the Washington Spirit, Spirit team officials decided to preempt the action, playing the anthem before players trotted out to the field. (Before Sunday’s rematch against the Spirit, Rapinoe stood and linked arms with teammates.)
Michael Oppong, Doherty High School (Worcester, Massachusetts): Oppong, a high school junior, dropped to a knee during the national anthem on Friday. He claimed on Twitter afterward that his coaches and school officials had suspended him for one game. On Monday, school district superintendent Maureen Binienda told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that Oppong’s action did not violate any school rules and that he would not be punished.

Though the 49ers acknowledged Kaepernick’s right to decline to participate in the anthem, the quarterback’s actions were met with outcry from former players, pundits, and celebrities alike. The Santa Clara Police Officers Association threatened to pull officers from working 49ers games if the protests continued. (The union eventually backed off.) NFL commissioner Roger Gooddell told the Associated Press last week that he didn’t “necessarily agree” with Kaepernick’s actions; he added that while he supported players who wanted “to see change in society,” the league believed “very strongly in patriotism in the NFL.”

“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,” Kaepernick told NFL.com on August 27. “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” He continued a week later, kneeling alongside his teammate Eric Reid before “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Following his initial demonstration, Kaepernick’s jersey sales soared; he announced recently that the proceeds will go to charity. (Both Kaepernick and the 49ers organization have pledged to each send $1 million to Bay Area charities toward “the cause of improving racial and economic inequality.”) Kaepernick’s protest is expected to continue Monday night, when the 49ers face the Los Angeles Rams.

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These Athletes Have Joined Colin Kaepernick in Protesting Racial Inequality and Police Brutality

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Watch Mike Huckabee Cover Adele in a Campaign Ad

by OsvaldoSkillen4 Posted on January 27, 2016

Mother Jones

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On Wednesday morning, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign tweeted its latest campaign video—and it’s a cover of pop superstar Adele’s hit song “Hello.”

Instead of talking about strained relationships, Huckabee’s “Hello” focuses on Iowa’s highlights and idiosyncrasies. “Amish chairs, Casey’s jerky, Quad Cities has quite a port,” sings the unnamed, unseen vocalist.

The ad includes dramatizations of text message exchanges with Hillary Clinton and Sen. Ted Cruz—with the latter sending Huckabee a text claiming he is Canadian. There’s really a lot to unpack here. It’s probably best to watch it for yourself.

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Watch Mike Huckabee Cover Adele in a Campaign Ad

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Lice Ladies Reveal Their Itchy Little Secrets

by SandraJohansen Posted on November 16, 2015

Mother Jones

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Comb It Out salon in Concord, California, won’t give you a haircut, a new hairdo, or even a blowout. Comb It Out doesn’t give. It removes. Specifically, lice—from your hair.

Along with their combing staff, salon co-owners Pamela Fakui and Sofia Deleuse (it’s not French for “delouse”—I checked) spend all day every day using lice-repelling rosemary conditioner and fine-toothed metal combs to rid clients of those infernal scalp-dwelling pests.

Radio producer and Mother Jones alum Casey Miner let me tag along with her as she visited Comb It Out for The Specialist, her awesome podcast about “work you don’t think about and the people who do it.” This episode is titled “Lice Ladies.”

During our visit, Casey and I learned many disgusting and amazing facts about lice—and about what it’s like to be a professional nit-picker. Here are a few of my favorites:

  1. That drugstore lice shampoo from when you were a kid might not work so well anymore. In 25 states, lice now show resistance to pyrethroids, the pesticides commonly used in over-the-counter lice shampoos. “From what our clients tell us, they don’t seem to think it works,” says Deleuse. “A lot of people put the stuff on their kids’ heads, and they still end up here.” Some people skip the shampoo for other reasons. “A lot of parents are like, “No, I don’t want to put any pesticides or toxic chemicals on my kid’s head.”
  2. In the lice business, discretion is key. A passerby might assume Comb It Out is closed—the shades are always drawn. That’s because, for obvious reasons, people don’t necessarily want friends and neighbors to know they have lice. Some clients are super sensitive: “We have an occasional person that tells us when they make the appointment, ‘Please don’t mention the word “lice” to my child,'” says Deleuse. They think their kid is “going to overreact and freak out. But usually the parents are overreacting and freaking out.”
  3. Some people firmly believe that mayonnaise is key to getting rid of lice. “They’ll put like a whole jar of mayonnaise on their head and get a plastic bag tied up and go to sleep all night like that,” says Fakui. “They’ll keep their kids out of school for like two weeks trying all these home remedies.” Other popular DIY lice treatments include Raid (yes, the stuff you use to kill ants), gasoline, kerosene, Lysol, Listerine, coconut oil, olive oil, vinegar, and lime juice. When those fail—the lice ladies say they invariably do, although my editor swears Cetaphil lotion and careful combing with a lice pick does the trick—clients call Comb It Out. The service doesn’t come cheap: A treatment costs $85 an hour, and most clients have to come back two or three times before all the lice and nits are completely gone. But “they don’t really mind about the cost,” says comber Alexandra Guzman. “They’re just like, ‘Please, just take care of it.'”
  4. Lice prefer clean hair. If your hair is greasy, the lice ladies explain, it’s harder for the bugs to make it to your scalp. “It’s easier for them to crawl onto a clean head and start laying eggs,” Fakui says. But “once they lay those eggs, you’ve got it and they’re not going to…crawl off because your hair is dirty.”
  5. You can have lice for months without knowing it. For each session, the lice ladies use a single white towel to wipe their combs on. As a general rule, the dirtier the towel at the end of the session, the longer the lice have enjoyed the client’s head. During our visit, the ladies showed us a towel that looked roughly like someone had spilled a whole bunch of pepper on it.
    Photo by Kiera Butler

    That “pepper” is lice, and this towel particular, the ladies told us, represents about three months’ worth. The worst case they’ve ever seen, Deleuse recalls, resulted in “a black, moving towel.” (Ew.)

  6. Sometimes, what you think is lice is actually something else. Some people who come into the salon thinking they have lice actually have fruit flies in their hair—like Pig Pen from Peanuts. Others, say the lice ladies, have tiny green bugs that usually live in grass, or dandruff, or little flakes of chocolate.
  7. Lice ladies rarely get lice themselves. In fact, Deleuse has only found one louse in her hair ever. That’s largely thanks to the lice ladies’ secret weapon: the lint roller. When they get home, they give their clothes a once-over with the roller. It prevents lice from getting a free ride when the ladies pull off their outer layers.
  8. There’s no such thing as “lice season.” It’s true that September is National Lice Prevention Month. That’s because kids “go back to school, and the teachers check,” Deleuse says. “And that’s when they find it.” But lice are no more active in the fall than they are at any other time of year.
  9. Your kid’s school probably won’t send anyone home for lice. Schools used to have policies that banned kids with lice from classrooms, but that’s becoming less common. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages schools and parents from keeping kids with lice home. While lice can itch, the group points out, they “cause no medical harm.” Guzman thinks that’s the right approach. “I really don’t think it’s necessary to take them out of school,” she says. “That’s them missing a day of education and learning.”
  10. Lice-removal salons will not treat your crabs. When someone calls about treating the kind of lice that, um, don’t live on the head “we’re like, ‘No, I actually don’t deal with that,” says Deleuse. “You need to go to the doctor.'”
  11. Some people go a little nuts when trying to rid their homes of lice. Comb It Out recommends that clients vacuum their furniture and wash their clothes and bedding—lice can live for a little while off the scalp. But unlike bedbugs, they don’t set up permanent homes in mattresses or furniture. “I get people who want to throw their mattresses and their pillows out,” says Deleuse. “They’re like, ‘We’re just going to get new couches; we’re going to get new mattresses.’ I’m like, ‘There’s no reason for that.'” And sometimes they listen. Guzman says one of her favorite parts of the job is reassuring stressed out clients. “It’s very nice to calm somebody down,” she says. “Just let them know about the facts of lice.”

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Lice Ladies Reveal Their Itchy Little Secrets

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