Thailand and Cambodia recall ambassadors as border dispute flares
Cambodia responded Thursday that it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand to their lowest level and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok.
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Winnipeg Free Press
16 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
How Americans' views of racial discrimination have shifted since 2021, according to AP-NORC polling
WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly less than half of U.S. adults believe that Black people face 'a great deal' or 'quite a bit' of discrimination in the United States, according to a new poll. That's a decline from the solid majority, 60%, who thought Black Americans faced high levels of discrimination in the spring of 2021, months after racial reckoning protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd. Significant numbers of Americans also think diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, also known as DEI, are backfiring against the groups they're intended to help, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, including many people who belong to those groups. The findings suggest Americans' views on racial discrimination have shifted substantially since four years ago, when many companies launched efforts to promote diversity within their workforces and the products they sold. Since then, many of those companies have reversed themselves and retreated from their diversity practices, a trend that's accelerated this year under pressure from President Donald Trump, a Republican who has sought to withhold federal money from schools and companies that promote DEI. Now, it's clear that views are changing as well as company policies. Claudine Brider, a 48-year-old Black Democrat in Compton, California, says the concept of DEI has made the workplace difficult for Black people and women in new ways. 'Anytime they're in a space that they're not expected to be, like seeing a Black girl in an engineering course … they are seen as only getting there because of those factors,' Brider said. 'It's all negated by someone saying, 'You're only here to meet a quota.'' Reversal in views of racial discrimination The new poll finds 45% of U.S. adults think Black people face high levels of discrimination, down from 60% in the spring of 2021. There was a similar drop in views about the prevalence of serious discrimination against Asian people, which fell from 45% in the 2021 poll — conducted a month after the Atlanta spa shootings, which killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent — to 32% in the current survey. There's no question the country has backtracked from its 'so-called racial reckoning' and the experiences of particular groups such as Black people are being downplayed, said Phillipe Copeland, a professor at Boston University School of Social Work. Americans' views about discrimination haven't shifted when it comes to all groups, though. Just under half of U.S. adults, 44%, now say Hispanic people face at least 'quite a bit of discrimination,' and only 15% say this about white people. Both numbers are similar to when the question was last asked in April 2021. Divisions on the impact of DEI on Black and Hispanic people The poll indicates that less than half of Americans think DEI has a benefit for the people it's intended to help. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say DEI reduces discrimination against Black people, while about one-third say this about Hispanic people, women and Asian people. Many — between 33% and 41% — don't think DEI makes a difference either way. About one-quarter of U.S. adults believe that DEI actually increases discrimination against these groups. Black and Hispanic people are more likely than white people to think DEI efforts end up increasing discrimination against people like them. About 4 in 10 Black adults and about one-third of Hispanic adults say DEI increases discrimination against Black people, compared with about one-quarter of white adults. There is a similar split between white adults and Black and Hispanic adults on assessments of discrimination against Hispanic people. Among white people, it's mostly Democrats who think DEI efforts reduce discrimination against Black and Hispanic people. Only about one-quarter of white independents and Republicans say the same. Pete Parra, a 59-year-old resident of Gilbert, Arizona, thinks that DEI is making things harder for racial minorities now. He worries about how his two adult Hispanic sons will be treated when they apply for work. 'I'm not saying automatically just give it to my sons,' said Parra, who leans toward the Democratic Party. But he's concerned that now factors other than merit may take priority. 'If they get passed over for something,' he said, 'they're not going to know (why).' About 3 in 10 say DEI increases discrimination against white people The new poll shows that Americans aren't any more likely to think white people face discrimination than they were in 2021. And more than half think DEI doesn't make a difference when it comes to white people or men. But a substantial minority — about 3 in 10 U.S. adults — think DEI increases discrimination against white people. Even more white adults, 39%, hold that view, compared with 21% of Hispanic adults and 13% of Black adults. The recent political focus on DEI has included the idea that white people are more often overlooked for career and educational opportunities because of their race. John Bartus, a 66-year-old registered Republican in Twin Falls, Idaho, says that DEI might have been 'a good thing for all races of people, but it seems like it's gone far left.' It's his impression that DEI compels companies to hire people based on their race or if they identify as LGBTQ+. 'The most qualified person ought to get a job based on their merit or based on their educational status,' Bartus said. Brider, the Black California resident, objects to the notion that white people face the same level of discrimination as Black people. But while she thinks the aims of DEI are admirable, she also sees the reality as flawed. 'I do think there needs to be something that ensures that there is a good cross-section of people in the workplace,' Brider said. 'I just don't know what that would look like, to be honest.' ___ The AP-NORC poll of 1,437 adults was conducted July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
How Americans' views of racial discrimination have shifted since 2021, according to AP-NORC polling
WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly less than half of U.S. adults believe that Black people face 'a great deal' or 'quite a bit' of discrimination in the United States, according to a new poll. That's a decline from the solid majority, 60%, who thought Black Americans faced high levels of discrimination in the spring of 2021, months after racial reckoning protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd. Significant numbers of Americans also think diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, also known as DEI, are backfiring against the groups they're intended to help, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, including many people who belong to those groups.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Thailand and Cambodia plan border visits for diplomats as violence eases
BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia separately planned border visits for foreign diplomats to observe damages from the nearly weeklong clash, as violence that continued after a ceasefire appears to have eased. The ceasefire reached in Malaysia was supposed to take effect midnight Monday, but it was quickly tested as Thailand and Cambodia continued to accuse each other of violating the truce agreements. Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday it is organizing a trip to the border for military attachés of foreign missions and the media on Friday to show the impact of the clashes on the ground. Cambodia is also organizing a border visit for foreign diplomats on the same day. It held a similar trip on Wednesday attended by representatives from 13 countries, including the U.S. and China. Thailand's government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said Thursday that there had been no new clashes reported overnight Wednesday. But tensions on other fronts continue to simmer. Officials in Thailand's border province of Surin, one of the critical locations of the conflict, on Thursday cautioned evacuees against returning home as they were surveying affected areas for any ammunition that might still pose a risk. A spokesperson for Cambodia's Defense Ministry Maly Socheata said Thursday that Cambodia has received the body of one of its soldiers from Thailand. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said the military is now in contact with its Thai counterparts to facilitate the return of about 20 other soldiers captured by Thai forces. 'I hope that the Thai Army will return all our soldiers who are currently in the custody of the Thai Army to Cambodia as soon as possible,' he said. Thai foreign minister Maris Sagniampongsa said the Cambodian soldiers were being well taken care of and would be sent back once Thailand is confident they no longer pose a threat. He said security officials would determine when the return would be. Hun Manet and Thailand's acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, agreed Monday to an 'unconditional' halt in the fighting which has killed at least 41 people. The fighting began last week after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. The peace talks were hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He called the ceasefire a 'vital first step towards de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security.' The ceasefire was brokered with U.S. pressure as President Donald Trump said he would not move forward with trade agreements if the conflict continued. But both countries continued to blame at each other and Thailand accused Cambodia of launching new attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday after the agreement took effect. Cambodia's Maj. Gen. Chan Sopheaktra of the Preah Vihear province said Wednesday that the Cambodian military has been strictly adhering to the ceasefire agreement and that there had been two ceasefire violations by Thai forces since the agreement took effect. He did not elaborate on the violations. Cambodia and Thailand have clashed in the past over their 800-kilometer (500-mile) border. Tensions had been growing since May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation that created a diplomatic rift and roiled Thailand's domestic politics. ___ Sopheng Cheang reported from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
