Social Justice

You are voting for the first time. Your ballot arrives. But you can’t read it. The text is too small. And when you come to the candidates’ names, they look something like this: T *&%$@(“&^, T>>%@)%|\^^. Such was the experience—more or less—of many older residents of the Chinatown International-District (CID) before the Nov. 2023 elections, according to multiple organizations sponsoring a get-out-the vote event. Connie So, teaching professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, is quoted.

Last week, children's book author JK Rowling tweeted some more nonsense about transgender people. In this case, she disputed the fact that Nazis destroyed early research on the community. Laurie Marhoefer, professor of history at the UW, is featured.

A man who died last week at one of the nation’s biggest immigrant detention centers, located in Tacoma, had been held in solitary confinement for more than three years and possibly almost four, according to federal data analyzed by the UW’s Center for Human Rights. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice and of international studies, as well as director of the Center for Human Rights at the UW, is quoted.

Living in a neighborhood with greater poverty in adulthood is tied to lower ovarian reserve, according to a study published online March 5 in Menopause. Anwesha Pan, a doctoral student of anthropology at the UW, is mentioned.

"Interesting, frustrating, and necessary,” is how Sarah Levin-Richardson, professor of Classics, describes her research into the lives of enslaved individuals in the ancient world. 

Many terms in the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) field are frequently used but rarely understood fully. A 10 part video series, entitled “On Our Terms,” was released by the Burke Museum, aiming to reflect on these DEAI terms and offer community-based definitions.

A new study led by researchers at the UW and Northwestern University found about 80% of parents spoke to their children about the Black Lives Matter movement within a year of the murder of George Floyd. Andrew Meltzoff, professor of psychology and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, is quoted.

"Native-led organizations have fought to have the Kansas City team’s name changed for years," writes columnist Naomi Ishisaka. Iisaaksiichaa Ross Braine, teaching faculty in American Indian Studies at the UW, is quoted.

Museums across Washington state may no longer display some Native artifacts without permission under a new federal rule. The UW's Justice McNeeley, repatriation coordinator and assistant registrar at the Burke Museum; and Sara Gonzalez, associate professor of anthropology and curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum, are quoted.

Conditions in the immigrant detention facility have garnered over 300 complaints, but a law to increase state oversight is still tied up in court. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice and of international studies and director of the Center for Human Rights at the UW, is quoted.

The Seattle Art Museum will remove five Native American cultural items from public view, a spokesperson said Thursday. The museum said the items are all of Tlingit origin, a group Indigenous to what is now Southeast Alaska. They include three headdresses, a dagger and a staff. The UW's Justice McNeeley, repatriation coordinator and assistant registrar at the Burke Museum; and Sara Gonzalez, associate professor of anthropology and curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum, are quoted.

For several months between the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023, two or three researchers at the UW headed to the Puget Sound Regional Archives in Bellevue and spent each Friday digging into Kitsap County deed books — specifically, around 300 bound volumes and 520 documents between 1921 and 1948. The purpose was to identify and map neighborhoods marked by racist deed provisions and restrictive covenants across the state before 1968. Sophia Dowling, project coordinator with the UW Racial Restrictive Covenants Project, is quoted, and team members Erin Miller and Samantha Cutts are mentioned.

The Department of Health has received over 300 complaints from detainees about the facility’s conditions. A state law meant to give state agencies more oversight is tied up in court. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice and of international studies and director of the Center for Human Rights at the UW, is quoted.

"In today’s American criminal legal system, courts impose fines and fees as a means to punish people and hold them accountable for legal violations," co-writes Alexes Harris, professor of sociology at the UW.

Over 100 people are refusing meals at the privately-run Northwest Detention Center, which has a history of controversy and similar strikes. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice and of international studies and director of the Center for Human Rights at the UW, is mentioned.