Combating Discrimination in Education

Steve Adubato speaks with Ginger Gold Schnitzer, Executive Director, Guarini Institute for Government & Leadership, Saint Peter’s University, about initiatives to combat discrimination in education and the importance of mentorship programs.

2/1/2020 #332

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Once again she's back with us Ginger Gould Schnitzer who is executive director of Guarini the institute for government and leadership at St. Peter's university how you doing? I'm doing great thanks for having me back. It's great to have you and St. Peter's university one of our higher ed partners you and I were talking right before we got on the air the Guarini the institute, tell folks what it is and then I’m going to get into this conference you had A couple months back. Sure so the Guarini institute for government and leadership was established by congressman Frank Guarini in 1994 and it is he established it to create a forum for the nonpartisan Discussion of critical issues and public policy issues and to encourage students to, to go into careers in public service And, and most importantly to be a bridge between sort of the academics of the university and real world politics and by the way congressman Frank Guarini represented a jersey city and surrounding areas for many many years in the united states congress the forum you had on ending hair discrimination Yeah. Was happening at we're taping in November that happened in October. Talk about it. So we did a program called the politics of hair can public policy and hair discrimination. Wow. There now you might remember there was a story a little--the wrestler yeah the wrestler, a year ago right a 16 year old wrestler from south jersey goes to his wrestling match he has dreadlocks the ref gives him 90 seconds to either forfeit the match or cut his hair and they cut his dreadlocks one of the coaches cut it. The hair I think? Right well it wasn't the coaches, yeah, right one of the Coaches cut the hair in a crowded gym, the kid wrestles the match. Humiliates that kid he wins but he was he was miserable and so senator Cunningham. Senator sandy Cunningham. Sandy Cunningham right and assemblywoman Angela McKnight along with a whole bunch of other co-sponsors have sponsored a bill called the crown act that would extend the law against discrimination to protect natural and protective hairstyles and the dove corporation that makes the soaps and the shampoos-- yep. Is actually sort of supporting a movement to get all 50 states to adopt similar laws they co-sponsored our event with us actually-- they did. They provided like 13 cases of products for our students and they sent a representative it was it was pretty awesome this is a big deal It is because you know Steve do you know that African-American women are 50% more likely than any other workers to be sent home from work because of their hair. What? Yeah. Sent home? Sent home from work because of their hair . For what? Because they don't conform to..."