In our everyday conversations, many of us use words or phrases that have racist meanings or derivations, even if we don’t intend our speech to be racist. Many of these words or phrases have worked their way into our common vernacular in a covert way and by their use promote inequality. Just a few examples are “master bedroom or master bathroom,” “blacklisting” someone, “uppity,” “black mark,” “sold down the river,” or “black sheep of the family” all have their derivations during slavery or recon...
Nov 03, 2020•51 min
We are in the last seven days of the 2020 Presidential election, but it is a campaign and a race like no other. Traditional campaigning has been turned on its head. With seven days to go, 66 million people have already voted, eclipsing the total early vote count from 2016. Some experts say that by election day 85 million out of a total of 240 million eligible voters will have already submitted their votes. We have had 48 percent of the total vote in 2016 already vote, thereby, altering the dynam...
Oct 27, 2020•52 min
In World War I, President Woodrow Wilson started an agency for governmental propaganda. It became the precursor and template of today’s governmental manipulation of information which often creates fictions and promotes those in power. Author, scholar, and journalist Dr. John Maxwell Hamilton delves into the birth of American government propaganda in his new book “Manipulating the Masses: Woodrow Wilson and the Birth of American Propaganda“ and traces its impact on the American Presidency from Wo...
Oct 13, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Despite protestations from some politicians, most medical experts and scientists are concerned with the rise of COVID-19 cases across the country, even before colder weather and flu season arrives. Numbers are rising in 33 states plus Puerto Rico with approximately 40,000 new cases daily. This is a major concern, says Dr. Kenneth Johnson, Executive Dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and Chief Medical Affairs Director at Ohio University. Overall, we really haven’t made adequate ...
Oct 06, 2020•40 min
With the COVID-19 pandemic plus racial turmoil across the nation, we are facing a Presidential Campaign and election like no other, says Philip Elliott, veteran Washington reporter and TIME’S Washington correspondent. As Public Health issues, the economy and racial inequities take center stage in this Presidential election year, an onslaught of books and media revelations have further complicated and muddled this election cycle, according to Elliott. Just recently there has been the publication ...
Sep 29, 2020•43 min
Although it was found that foreign governments meddled with our 2016 Presidential Elections, the 2020 elections are still being plagued by foreign interference. However, more governmental units are working together to combat a repeat of the 2016 insurgence, according to Philip Ewing, veteran Washington reporter and Elections Security Editor for National Public Radio. The FBI as well as numerous intelligence agencies have targeted interference from Russia, China, Iran and other countries. This ty...
Sep 22, 2020•37 min
There are too few African Americans in the country’s newsrooms and especially in news management positions. In 2020 racism still exists in America’s media companies from the smallest to the largest. Sometimes it is evident in hiring practices, promotions, or just in daily professional life. Traversing this media landscape is often difficult for Black journalists, says Allison Hunter, journalist, educator, activist and mother of two college age sons. Hunter has fought the racial battles within ne...
Sep 15, 2020•58 min
Historically, racism has permeated the American entertainment and music industries including movies, radio, television, and the recording industries. Blacks and black life have not been portrayed accurately and African Americans have been kept out of prime roles. However, there is some hope that the industries are taking seriously the recent claims of systemic racism and are trying, to some degree, to improve. So says Dr. Akil Houston, associate professor of Cultural and Media Studies at Ohio Un...
Sep 08, 2020•1 hr 1 min
There are major concerns about attempts being made around the country to suppress the black vote along with other non-white populations. This is especially true in urban areas and in the South. Polling places have been closed in some areas and voting machines have been limited thereby creating long lines of potential voters. These suppression attempts are teamed with President Donald Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting to raise doubts about the sanctity and security of our Presidential Election. C...
Aug 25, 2020•41 min
Courts must speak out “clearly” against systemic racism in our criminal justice system and make much needed corrections, says Judge Benes Aldana, president of the National Judicial College. The National Judicial College has been in existence since 1963 and has educated thousands of judges from all 50 states and 150 different foreign countries. It is the premier national institution for continuing judicial education. In July, the Judicial College, under the leadership of Judge Aldana issued a sta...
Aug 11, 2020•49 min
It’s not easy for policy makers to determine how to open K-12 schools in the fall. Each school district must weigh multiple variables in determining whether face-to-face instruction is worth the risks or whether some form of remote learning is better. Each school must assess its situation and develop a comprehensive plan if re-opening face-to-face, says Dr. Kenneth Johnson, executive dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine at Ohio University. He says local school authorities have a ...
Aug 04, 2020•37 min
Code-switching is the ability of a person to switch between languages or dialects to meet communication needs. It also is the alteration of clothes, hairstyles and music from one environment to another to be accepted. Code-switching is something that white culture demands of blacks. In short, to be acceptable and not “other”, the white establishment demands that African Americans shed some of their racial being to navigate a white world. Inclusion means becoming like whites in speech and manneri...
Jul 28, 2020•57 min
Are African American female public office holders treated differently than their white counterparts by local media? Two black female judges answer that questions with a resounding: YES. In our continuing in-depth conversations about race and racism, WOUB’s Spectrum Podcast talks with two first-time African American female judges from Northeastern Ohio, who bring to the bench a wealth of legal experience. Both were asked if they perceived any different treatment from local news media than is give...
Jul 21, 2020•1 hr 20 min
Dr. Greg Hall is a primary care physician in Cleveland, Ohio who tailors his practice to specifically helping African Americans who have been short-changed by the traditional medical establishment. He says that racism is a public health crisis that manifests itself in many disparities between treatment of black patients and white patients. He cites the current COVID-19 pandemic as one example. But, Dr. Hall notes that 400 years of bad relationships between the white power structure and blacks ha...
Jul 14, 2020•54 min
African American children are often told by the white establishment that “education” is the way to obtain equality yet, at the same time, black children are not given equal educational opportunities. They are told to get a quality education at the same time their schools are underfunded, have old textbooks, and have overly stretched teachers, says Ray Freeman, vice-president of the Warrensville Heights School Board in Northeastern Ohio. The “achievement gap” is evident, according to Freeman and ...
Jul 07, 2020•1 hr 10 min
An African-American father and a black mother explain how they need to warn children about possible violence against them by police or others. This starts at a very young age and continues through young adulthood in a repetitive manner. It’s called “The Talk” and it happens in every black family with children, says Isaiah Simmons, a father, a minister, and a court bailiff. Simmons has a son and a daughter and also has mentored his teenage nephew and niece. “The Talk” gives practical tips to youn...
Jun 30, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Too often we, as a country, focus only on the incidents of violence perpetrated on African Americans by police officers instead of looking at the total picture of racism that perpetuates the criminal justice system from the streets to the courtrooms, says Judge Gayle Williams Byers, of the South Euclid Ohio Municipal Court. Racism goes well beyond what happens in the streets, she says. It truly is systemic. Judge Byers complains of over-policing in minority neighborhoods. “Overall, the issues re...
Jun 23, 2020•1 hr 9 min
In 2012, Gayle Williams Byers was elected to become the first black judge for the South Euclid Municipal Court in Northeastern Ohio. She came to the job with a wealth of experience after being a Congressional staffer on Capitol Hill and after spending nearly a decade as an Assistant Prosecutor in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland-area). However, despite her election win, her experience and the honor of being the first female black judge in her court, she confronted forms of overt and covert racism from...
Jun 16, 2020•1 hr 5 min
Since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police, demonstrations against police violence have traversed the nation. Yet, during these demonstrations, there have been 383 press freedom incidents including some 173 assaults on journalists 78 physical attacks (50 by police) —49 tear gassings —27 pepper sprayings —89 rubber bullet / projectiles injuries and 48 equipment/newsroom damage cases, according to U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. There also have been 56 arrests of credentialed r...
Jun 09, 2020•38 min
Dr. James R. Gaskell has been a physician for over 50 years specializing in pediatrics. He also is the Health Commission of Athens City and County in Southeastern Ohio. When he took that job 20 years ago, he certainly didn’t expect to be fighting a major pandemic from the bottom up—from the grassroots front lines. He normally does his job in a small Appalachian community and rural county. His major fights concern populations who are impoverished, unemployed, and often opiate addicted. At the oth...
Jun 02, 2020•40 min
Some Memorial Day crowds seemed large and people were not self-distancing. They were jammed in swimming pools, on crowded boardwalks and watching auto racing. Most without masks. It seems that many want to reopen the economy and break out of isolation regardless of the risks. They are tired of lockdowns and restrictions. However, recent polling still shows the large majority of Americans are fearful of re-entering into normal daily activities such as work, shopping, hair care, and being around l...
May 26, 2020•36 min
Colleges and universities and average families are all feeling the financial pinch from the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts are dramatic. Dr. Richard Vedder, emeritus distinguished professor of economics at Ohio University, outlines, for the Spectrum Podcast, how these loses will really be felt. He notes that higher education was already under financial distress before the pandemic arrived. Many universities were facing declining enrollments and rising expenses. Cutbacks were already in the of...
May 19, 2020•37 min
Almost every aspect of government and certainly the legislative and executive branches are addressing multiple aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic from medical protocols and providing medical supplies to economic devastation. Some view the partisan pull about this issue in Washington as a battle between science/medicine and ideologies. However, TIME Washington Correspondent Philip Elliott says that characterization is not quite accurate. Instead, he claims it is more nuanced. He says that members o...
May 12, 2020•53 min
Colleges and universities across the country are trying to anticipate how to handle their students this fall. Will they teach remotely or have students back on campus for in-person instruction? Will there be hybrids of partly remote instruction and partly regular classroom teaching? Several institutions have already made decisions to have students back while others have chosen to teach primarily remotely. Many other universities are waiting until later in June to make their decisions. Before aca...
May 05, 2020•39 min
There are valid arguments for opening the country after the COVID-19 shutdowns. But those actions must be tempered by good medical data and with the safety of people being foremost, says Dr. Todd Fredrick, Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine at Ohio University. These decisions to open our businesses and society should be based on good science that minimizes the risk of a resurgence of the virus, Dr. Fredrick adds. He cautions against having the ...
Apr 28, 2020•40 min
Local news outlets are being used more than ever by people during the Coronavirus pandemic. However, these local outlets are struggling for financial survival and many are losing the battle. For the past month, major news outlets such as The New York Times, Atlantic, The Hill, Fortune and others have been ringing the death knell of local news media. On April 10, the New York Times reported that 33,000 journalists have either lost their jobs, been furloughed or had their pay cut since the virus h...
Apr 22, 2020•48 min
While most of the focus, during this time of crisis, has been on our major metropolitan areas and big-city hospitals, state public health officials and local county health commissioners have been working overtime to make sure we are as safe as possible. State Public Health doctors, like Dr. Amy Acton in Ohio and others have led the way in advising governors and assuring the public of up-to-date information and warnings, says Dr. Kenneth Johnson, executive dean of the Heritage College of Osteopat...
Apr 15, 2020•37 min
In any type of crisis, disaster or peril, trust is the most important element in successful crisis communications to the public. This is according to John Born, who has had more than 30 years of experience in crisis communication. Born served as the director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety for Gov. John Kasich and was on board during the Ebola crisis. He also previously served as colonel and superintendent of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, capping a 26-year career in law enforcement. Alt...
Apr 07, 2020•37 min
While we concentrate on medical pandemic experts and public health officials for prognostications about the Coronavirus pandemic, primary care physicians are often on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19. They frequently go unnoticed by the pundits and the policymakers. They are the “unsung heroes” of this fight, says Dr. Kenneth H. Johnson, the Executive Dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and the chief medical affairs officer at Ohio University. Often, the primary car...
Mar 24, 2020•38 min
When we are in times of crisis, we look to our leaders nationally, statewide and locally to provide us with guidance on how we will make it through the crisis and arrive safely on the other side. At the foundation of what we expect from leadership is honesty and transparency, says Beverly Jones, an author, career consultant and executive coach. Jones has been an attorney, lobbyist, corporate executive, trainer and career specialist as well as authoring the book, “Think Like an Entrepreneur and A...
Mar 17, 2020•35 min
