Marcia Alesan Dawkins

Marcia Alesan Dawkins

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Marcia Alesan Dawkins is an award-winning writer, speaker, educator and visiting scholar at Brown University.

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Miss America: Why Racism Thrives Online

Sep 16, 2013
The danger of online racism is that people seem to get away with it and public disapproval in the form of reports like this one do not appear to have the same effect in lessening racist speech as disapproval does in face-to-face encounters.The danger of online racism is that people seem to get away with it and public disapproval is less effective.

The L.A. Uprising’s 20th Anniversary and the Resurrection of Tupac Shakur

Apr 29, 2012
Sunday, April 29, marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Los Angeles uprising and the two-week anniversary of the resurrection of slain gangsta rapper Tupac Shakur as a hologram at Coachella. The events are not a coincidence. Rather, they are part of a cultural argument that speaks to racial tensions, police misconduct and vigilantism that have plagued the city for decades.The 20th anniversary of the L.A. uprising and the resurrection of slain rapper Tupac are not a coincidence.

Interracial Love Is No Societal Cure-All

Feb 17, 2012
Charting the demise of racism by the rising number of interracial marriages is probably not the most reliable indicator that it’s ending. Wouldn’t the elimination of disparities in income, employment, health care, education, crime, punishment and family structure be more accurate indicators?Charting the demise of racism by the rising number of interracial marriages is probably not the most reliable indicator that it’s ending.

Reassessing the Cainwreck

Dec 1, 2011
Surprisingly, Herman Cain has one thing right. If nothing else, his campaign has shown that race is as much a way of thinking as it is anything else. Because that’s the case, he is taking advantage of the fact that some audiences think about race differently from others.State Sen. Sheila Leslie said that "Herman Cain is a one-man reality show. Entertaining, but hardly presidential."

Giving Loving Day Its Due

Jun 12, 2011
While celebrating this important civil rights milestone, we should remember that increased visibility of interracial couples and offspring does not promise increased racial harmony. If the mere presence of interracial intimacy was enough to bring about racial harmony, it would have happened long ago.