The boundaries between ‘us' and ‘them': Kendrick Lamar, Black History Month and a racialized world
However, at this very moment, America finds itself embroiled in yet another battle over race, history and identity. And so, the one month the country reluctantly set aside to honor Black historical contributions and achievements is now overshadowed by aggressive rollbacks of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs, book bans and political rhetoric designed to expunge uncomfortable truths.
The erasure of Black history is no longer subtle — it is policy. And I fear from now on, these annual articles might be in memory of Black History Month instead of in observance of it, if MAGA has any say in it. And sadly, they do.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Mothers Are Leaving the Workforce, Erasing Pandemic Gains
Working mothers, who helped drive much of the job market's post-pandemic comeback, are leaving the workforce in large numbers this year. The share of working mothers age 25 to 44 with young children has fallen nearly every month this year, dropping by nearly 3 percentage points between January and June, to the lowest level in more than three years, according to an analysis of federal data by Misty Heggeness, a professor at the University of Kansas and former principal economist at the Census Bureau. The drop has been enough to wipe out many of the gains made by working mothers after the pandemic, when remote work arrangements and flexible schedules lured many back to the labor force. But the reversal of many of those policies – with major corporations and government agencies now requiring employees to be back in the office five days a week – has had the opposite effect, Heggeness said. Sweeping federal layoffs have also been a setback for women and other caregivers, who have long relied on the government for stable and flexible employment. 'It's become harder for women, particularly those with caregiving responsibilities, to thrive in this job market,' she said, likening the moment to the 'Barbie' movie when Ken takes over the feminist land of Barbie with masculine ideals. 'It's clear that we're backsliding in the Ken-ergy economy, that the return-to-office chest pounding is having a real ripple effect.' In some cases, mothers say they are giving up jobs happily, in line with MAGA culture and the rise of the 'traditional wife' (#tradwife on social media), which celebrates women choosing conventional gender roles by focusing on children instead of careers. The Trump administration has doubled down on its message that Americans should be having more babies, with Vice President JD Vance promoting the benefits of having a parent at home, saying 'young children are clearly happier and healthier' in such arrangements. This year's pullback among mothers is part of a broader shift: Some 212,000 women over 20 have stopped working or applying for jobs since January, with particularly pronounced drops for Black women and those ages 25 to 34, Labor Department data shows. And while the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, remains low, the share of women in the workforce has fallen since January. In interviews with more than a dozen women who've recently left the workforce, many cited a confluence of factors – from layoffs to waning work-from-home flexibility while caring for children or aging parents. Many also noted a discernible shift in workplace attitudes, including return-to-office mandates and discarded diversity policies, that made it feel like they were less valued at work. Several said they struggled to find new work after losing their jobs and decided to go back to school instead, or stay home with their children. Almost all of the women said the decision to stop working felt uncharacteristic for them, and wasn't something they would've considered a year ago. 'Work was a big, big part of my identity, but all of these little things added up,' said Isabelle Beulaygue, 37, a sociologist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who left her job as a university professor earlier this year to stay home with her infant. 'I was always super career-focused, but it started feeling like women were expendable at work, like they weren't really respected anymore.' There wasn't any one thing that led her to quit, she said, but rather a culmination of small changes – including a move for her husband's job, growing pressure to be in the office for long hours and worsening morale because of federal budget cuts. When she had to leave work early a few times to care for her sick baby, it was difficult to coordinate. 'Flexibility feels like a thing of the past,' she said. The pullback comes at a time when the broader labor market is cooling after years of hefty post-pandemic growth. U.S. employers added 106,000 jobs between April and July – less than one-third of jobs added in the same period last year, according to the latest Labor Department data. 'The U.S. is the only advanced economy that's had declining female labor force participation in the last 20 years, and a lot of that is because of lack of social safety net and caregiving supports,' said Kate Bahn, chief economist at the Institute for Women's Policy Research. 'It's a long-term trend that appears to be getting worse.' Although Black women are more likely to be in the workforce than White or Hispanic women, Bahn said they have been disproportionately hit by recent overhauls, including federal government cuts and the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The labor market has slowed down considerably for all workers, but the unemployment rate for Black women over 20 has risen by nearly an entire percentage point so far this year, to 6.3 percent in July, its highest level in almost four years. After six months of job-searching, Jovanna, who was laid off from her health care copywriting job in early February, is changing course entirely. The mother of two, who is Black and lives in the Midwest, recently enrolled in a 15-week project management certification program in hopes of switching careers. 'I sent out at least 500 applications, worked with three different career coaches, and networked as much as I could,' said Jovanna, who asked to be identified by her middle name only, because she worries about jeopardizing future employment. 'I am depleting my savings and ended up having to borrow against my 401(k), so it got to the point where I had to make a bigger change.' Economists say they worry that the latest labor force departures could indicate a longer term setback for women, especially if they decide to return to work. Historically, breaks in work history have coincided with lower pay and fewer opportunities for advancement, said Heggeness of the University of Kansas. 'There are huge implications for the women themselves,' she said. 'Their lifetime earnings will be lower, they will most likely come back to a job that does not pay the salary they were making when they left. It'll be harder for them to get back in, harder to move up the ladder to senior management positions because they've had this gap in employment.' Emily Santoni left her position as a chief marketing officer at an energy consulting firm in Houston to stay home with her children, ages 1 and 3, this year. It wasn't a decision she made lightly – she and her husband spent months lining up their finances and preparing for the transition. Last year, the couple spent more than $140,000 on a full-time nanny and other child care. It was financially doable, Santoni said, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing out. 'I worked hard, I had a great career, we were both making great money,' the 39-year-old said. 'But I was working so much, there were weeks when I saw my kids for maybe 30 minutes a day. Finally it was like, 'Let's slow this down so I can be a present mother.'' Plus, her workplace was doing away with a policy that allowed parents to work from home two days a week. That wasn't a 'major deciding factor,' Santoni said, 'but it was one more thing that was like, 'Blargh, this sucks.'' Major corporations around the country, including J.P. Morgan, AT&T and Amazon, as well as large swaths of the federal government, have begun mandating that employees clock in to the office five days a week. Although enforcement has been uneven, labor economists say those requirements have added extra strain for many workers, particularly those with young children. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Santoni says leaving the workforce has been a refreshing change. She's spending a lot more time with her children, and is also going to more workout classes and happy hours with friends. Although it took a few months to find her rhythm, she's now encouraging other women in her circle to consider stepping back from the labor force. 'My decision to leave my corporate role had nothing to do with politics or a movement telling women to stay home. It had everything to do with what success looks like for me right now,' Santoni said. 'I've worked relentlessly since I was young, and now I choose to give my best energy to my kids while they're little. For moms choosing to leave the workforce for this same reason, it's not weakness or submission – it's power.'
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Trump takes over DC police in extraordinary move, deploying National Guard in capital
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press about deploying federal law enforcement agents in Washington to bolster the local police presence, as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House, in Washington D.C., U.S., August 11, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city's police department, an extraordinary assertion of presidential power in the nation's capital. Trump's move, which bypassed the city's elected leaders, was emblematic of his second-term approach, which has seen him wield executive authority in ways with little precedent in modern U.S. history and in defiance of political norms. The president cast his actions as necessary to "rescue" Washington from a purported wave of lawlessness. Statistics show that violent crime shot up in 2023 but has been rapidly declining since. "Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals," Trump told a news conference at the White House. It is the second time this summer that the Republican president has deployed troops to a Democratically governed city. A federal trial began on Monday in San Francisco on whether Trump violated U.S. law by deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June without the approval of California Governor Gavin Newsom. And Trump signaled that other major U.S. cities with Democratic leadership could be next, including Chicago, a city that has long been beset by violent crime, although it was down significantly in the first half of the year. "If we need to, we're going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster," Trump said at the White House, adding, "Hopefully L.A. is watching." During Trump's election campaign his law and order platform often had racial undertones. He singled out majority Democratic cities like Baltimore, Chicago and Washington - all cities with large Black populations - when he spoke about rampant crime in urban areas. Hundreds of officers and agents from more than a dozen federal agencies have fanned out across Washington in recent days. Attorney General Pam Bondi will oversee the police force, Trump said. The U.S. Army said the National Guard troops would carry out a number of tasks, including "administrative, logistics and physical presence in support of law enforcement." Between 100 and 200 of the troops would be supporting law enforcement at any given time. The Democratic mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, has pushed back on Trump's claims of unchecked violence, noting that violent crime hit its lowest level in more than three decades last year. Violent crime, including murders, soared in 2023, turning Washington into one of the nation's deadliest cities. However, violent crime dropped 35% in 2024, according to federal data, and it has fallen an additional 26% in the first seven months of 2025, according to city police. Bowser struck a diplomatic tone at a news conference, saying she and other members of her administration would work with the federal government, even as she again rejected Trump's claim of widespread crime. While Bowser said the law appeared to give the president broad power to take temporary control of the police force, the city's attorney general, Brian Schwalb, earlier called Trump's actions "unlawful" and said his office was "considering all of our options." TRUMP RAMPS UP RHETORIC Over the past week, Trump has intensified his messaging, suggesting he might attempt to strip the city of its local autonomy and implement a full federal takeover. The District of Columbia operates under the Home Rule Act, which gives Congress ultimate authority but allows residents to elect a mayor and city council. Trump on Monday invoked a section of the act that allows the president to take over the police force for 30 days when "emergency" conditions exist. Trump said he was declaring a "public safety emergency" in the city. Trump's own Federal Emergency Management Agency is cutting security funding for the National Capital Region, an area that includes D.C. and parts of Maryland and Virginia. The region will receive $20 million less this year from the federal urban security fund, amounting to a 44% year-on-year cut. Trump also vowed to remove homeless encampments, without providing details on how or where homeless people would be moved. The federal government owns much of Washington's parkland, so the Trump administration has legal authority to clear homeless encampments in those areas, as President Joe Biden did while in office. But the federal government cannot force people to move out of the city because they lack shelter, advocates for the homeless said. The president has broad authority over the 2,700 members of the D.C. National Guard, unlike in states where governors typically hold the power to activate troops. Guard troops have been dispatched to Washington many times, including in response to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, and during 2020 protests over police brutality. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Asahi Shimbun
04-08-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
EDITORIAL: Trump must not be allowed to insert ideology into AI responses
U.S. President Donald Trump at this year's Group of Seven summit (Asahi Shimbun file photo) U.S. President Donald Trump has announced an AI Action Plan with the goal of making the United States the world leader in development of artificial intelligence. It is a major change of direction from the Biden administration, which emphasized control of the risks associated with AI. The Trump administration wants to accelerate technology and infrastructure development through deregulation and increased investment. The action plan will encourage the export of AI technology to friendly nations in a bid for supremacy in competition with an emerging China. A surprising aspect of the plan is the level of intervention it envisages into the output from generative AI technology such as ChatGPT. National guidelines for AI risk control were revised to eliminate from answers references to diversity, equity and inclusion, widely known as DEI, and climate change. The federal government is supposed to sign contracts only with companies whose AI technology is objective and does not contain ideological bias. While the Trump administration says such measures are needed to protect freedom of speech and American values, the action plan conversely carries the risk of gagging free speech. To begin with, it is very difficult to establish neutral standards to help determine ideological bias. The bias could be defined according to the intent of the administration in power. DEI initially sought to counter discrimination based on gender, race, nationality or disability and to ensure fair opportunity for those who had been treated unfavorably in the past. Trump has long been negative about measures related to DEI and global warming. Since the start of his second term, he has implemented various steps reflecting that thinking. We cannot ignore the attempt to interfere with generative AI, which is spreading rapidly in society and people's daily lives. It is possible that the federal government's procurement conditions will become the standards regarding generative AI. That would have a major impact on Japan as it depends on the United States for much of its generative AI technology. Citing an example of bias in generative AI, Trump pointed to white male figures from American history who were transformed in AI answers into women or members of other races. Generative AI undertakes deep learning using a massive amount of data and subsequently goes through repeated tuning to produce answers. If there is bias in the data used for deep learning, the answers will reflect such bias and the tuning process could generate the wrong answer. Put another way, if the learning data is selected arbitrarily and certain algorithms are intentionally chosen during the tuning process, it would be possible to produce answers that reflected a certain bias. This is one characteristic of generative AI that we must always keep in mind. It could be used by iron-fisted regimes to gag free speech. It was pointed out that the generative AI technology released this year by the Chinese startup DeepSeek avoided or rejected answers that were inconvenient to Beijing, such as regarding the Tiananmen Square incident. Trump's version of intervention that seeks to delete certain references is fundamentally no different. --The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 4
