NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu

CSUSB’s Claudia Davis among honorees at annual Riverside NAACP Freedom Fund Celebration on May 23 Precinct ReporterMay 16, 2019 Claudia Davis, interim chair, health science/human ecology and associate professor of nursing at Cal State San Bernardino, will be among the honorees at the annual Riverside NAACP Freedom Fund Celebration, set for May 23 at the Riverside Convention Center. Read the complete article at “Riverside NAACP celebrates in spirit of ‘Woodie’ Rucker Hughes.”

Segregated communities, ignorance and bigotry can contribute to hate incidents, CSUSB professor says Los Angeles TimesMay 15, 2019 Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was quoted in an article about an incident involving a photo of a “promposal” at Palos Verdes High School that included a racial slur and wound up on social media. Levin said that while California is rapidly becoming more diverse, there are still communities that are highly segregated. This, he said, along with such factors as ignorance and bigotry can contribute to an increase in hate incidents. “Many of these people who are engaging in hate speech are not hardcore hatemongers,” he said. “We have this middle group of people who think bigotry is funny. In today’s social media world, all kinds of bigotry — whether it’s committed purposefully or recklessly — oftentimes is going to be aired in a way that’s hurtful and divisive in a community irrespective of intent.” Promposals with racist messages have recently made headlines across the country in Ohio, New York, Texas and Arizona, as well as closer to home at East L.A.’s Garfield High. Similar incidents were reported last year in Florida. The LA Times article was also picked up by several newspapers nationwide. Read the complete article at “Racist ‘promposal’ shows disconnect between affluent Palos Verdes, the rest of L.A.”The LA Times’ sister newspaper, The San Diego Union-Tribune, expanded on Levin’s comments to the Times, adding a statistic from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism that  L.A. tallied 289 hate crimes in 2018, compared with 256 in 2017 . Read the complete article at “Racist ‘promposal’ and a troubling social media trend: ‘Bigotry is funny.’”

CSUSB professor interviewed for segments on a Palos Verdes High School ‘promposal’ and a racist slur it included (6:27 a.m. segment)andCSUSB professor interviewed for segments on a Palos Verdes High School ‘promposal’ and a racist slur it included (7 a.m. segment)KNX Radio (Los Angeles)May 16, 2019 Brian Levin, director of CSUSB’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, was interviewed for segments about the “promposal” photo by students at Palos Verdes High School that contained a racial slur and was shared on social media. In the 6:30 a.m. segment, Levin said: “In this day and age of social media, bigotry will have a way of not being contained.” He said some students will definitely be hurt by this. “Can you imagine how some of the relatively small number of African American kids that would go to those schools might feel today in that community.” In the 7 a.m. segment, he said, “This is a lesson to all schools that we have to redouble our efforts with regard to not only civic responsibility, but also with regard to the consequences of bigotry – that it has the power to hurt.” Listen to the segments at “06:27 KNX-AM (Radio)”  and “07:02 KNX-AM (Radio).”

CSUSB professor interviewed about escalating tensions between U.S. and Iran Press TVMay 16, 2019 David Yaghoubian, professor of history at CSUSB, was interviewed for a segment to discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements regarding rising tensions between Iran and the United States, and the potential failure of the multi-national nuclear agreement with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  or JCPOA, due to U.S. actions in pulling out of the deal, and the inaction by United Kingdom, France and Germany to save it. The segment also covered reaction to recent developments by U.S. politicians concerned about recent escalation by the Trump administration. In regards to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, while there may be some in the Trump administration who would push for war, “I do not believe that President Trump himself does. And clearly members of the American political establishment seem to be, as per the clips that you just showed, thinking logically and reasonably about the severe threat that the Trump administration is posing right now to world peace and the global economy.” Watch the complete segment online at  “European allies don’t back U.S.-Iran strategy.” Press TV is a 24-hour English language news and documentary network affiliated with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

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