For Ethnic Communities, a Year of Stimulus Not Enough

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Saturday February 20, 2010 · 9:00 AM PST

2010/02/20 · 09:00

It's been a year since President Barack Obama signed the $787 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus package. The largest public investment in America's infrastructure since the Great Depression, Obama called it "the most sweeping economic recovery bill in our history."

But a year later, many Americans are still hurting. And while the Labor Department reports the unemployment rate for whites has begun to fall (to 8.4 percent in January), it continues to rise for ethnic minorities. For African Americans, it is 16.5 percent and for Latinos unemployment is 12.6 percent.

And the reasons for these disparities lie at least in part in the unfair and unjust way the stimulus package has been implemented.

War Comes Home

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Thursday December 17, 2009 · 8:58 AM PST

2009/12/17 · 08:58

Loans handed out to struggling small businesses as part of President Barack Obama's stimulus package have largely shut out minority businesses -- especially those owned by Blacks and Latinos -- according to data provided by the federal government's Small Business Administration (SBA) to New America Media (NAM).

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Wednesday December 09, 2009 · 9:03 AM PST

2009/12/09 · 09:03

War Comes Home

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Thursday December 03, 2009 · 9:26 AM PST

2009/12/03 · 09:26

This article originally appeared in New America Media.

On the eve of President Barack Obama's White House Summit on Jobs, labor leaders yesterday issued a dire warning: Unless Congress and Obama create a "bold jobs program," state and local governments could shed almost a million jobs next year, further worsening our national unemployment rate.

The nation's unemployment rate already stands at 10.2 percent, it's highest rate in 26 years.

Unemployment is even higher for blacks (15.7 percent) and Hispanics (13.1 percent). The Labor Department says more than one in four teenagers is unemployed.

War Comes Home

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Wednesday November 25, 2009 · 7:29 AM PST

2009/11/25 · 07:29

The video and article below originally appeared on New America Media's website. The video is co-produced with Cliff Parker.

Vets Battle Unemployment and War Injuries from New America Media on Vimeo.

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Monday November 09, 2009 · 8:54 AM PST

2009/11/09 · 08:54

The following is an interview I originally published on New America Media's website. The horrific shooting Thursday at Fort Hood that claimed 13 lives and hospitalized another 30 people has set off a great deal of speculation as to why the alleged shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, did what he did.

NAM Editor Aaron Glantz spoke to former Marine Corps Cpl. Dave Hassan, who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006. Hassan, an Egyptian American, said that while he was in Iraq, racist language was so pervasive that he began to use it himself.

When you heard that the shooter was an Arab-American major what was your reaction?

This is not going to end well. That was essentialy my first reaction. I don't know if the guy did it or not but assuming that this guy did do it, somebody who shoots a whole bunch of people ought to get punished for it, but in a broader sense, it's just going to fuel more of the anti-Arab racism that's grown up in the past decade or so. It's going to be fun for the rest of us. [laughs]

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Monday October 26, 2009 · 7:58 AM PDT

2009/10/26 · 07:58

Rather than resulting in hiring a generation of new teachers, President Obama's stimulus means California has laid off 10,000 teachers-- instead of 70,000...

Education cuts continue and unemployment in the state is now at 12.2 percent

Much better than the alternative, but hardly "change your can believe in."

War Comes Home

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Friday October 16, 2009 · 3:56 PM PDT

2009/10/16 · 15:56

Idaho has received nearly four times as much money in federal stimulus contracts than hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. And Louisiana has three times as many residents.

According to Recovery.gov, only four of the 30,383 jobs created by stimulus contracts nationwide have gone to residents of New Orleans. Louisiana has benefited from a total of 563 jobs.

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Thursday October 15, 2009 · 7:28 AM PDT

2009/10/15 · 07:28

More than 30,000 single mothers have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army, the most heavily deployed branch of the military, gives women just four months to stay stateside with their newborns before deploying to the war zone, leaving them little time to bond with or nurse their infants.

The divorce rate for female soldiers is nearly triple that of the men who wear the same uniform.

Find out more in my report from New America Media.

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Monday March 30, 2009 · 10:54 AM PDT

2009/03/30 · 10:54

It may seem counter-intuitive but by September of this year dovish Democrat Barack Obama will have actually sent more troops into combat than his hawkish predecessor George W. Bush.

How can this be?

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Saturday March 28, 2009 · 8:22 PM PDT

2009/03/28 · 20:22

President Barack Obama has decided to escalate the war in Afghanistan.

That’s the take home message from the President’s major policy speech on the topic this morning. Calling the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan "increasingly perilous", Obama pledged to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future.’’

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Friday March 20, 2009 · 10:54 AM PDT

2009/03/20 · 10:54

Winter Soldier, and the Winter Soldier book, is featured prominently in this week's episode of MTV's "Real World Brooklyn."

Watch from about 11 minutes in as Ryan attends the Winter Soldier book launch party in NYC.

They have video of the book cover and Anthony Swofford (the author of Jarhead) reads from the Foreward...

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For Ethnic Communities, a Year of Stimulus Not Enough

NAM Investigation: Minority Businesses Shut Out of Stimulus Loans

Afghanistan's 'Bravest Woman' Pins Hopes on USA, not Obama

States May Shed Another Million Jobs

On Thanksgiving: Vets Battle Unemployment and War Injuries

Fort Hood Shootings: Soldiers Often 'Racialize' to Cope

Obama's Stimulus: 60,000 California Teacher Jobs Saved, But 10,000 Still Got Laid Off

Idaho Gets Nearly Four Times More Stimulus Money Than Louisiana

30,000 Single Mothers Deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan

The Troops Aren’t Coming Home

Obama’s Afghan Plan Has No Exit Strategy

MTV's "Real World" Features Winter Soldiers