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A federal appeals court delivers some good news for certain asylum seekers, Latinx voters have questions for Joe Biden, and it’s time to bridge the gender pay gap once and for all.
But first, here’s your COVID-19 filled week in review in Haiku.
Go wash your hands! Like
you ate a plate of hot wings
and now you need to
take your contacts out.
Go wash your hands! Like you just
got your keys back from
a deep dark sewer.
Go wash your hands! Like you’re the
ambitious wife of
a clueless Scottish
general. Go wash
your hands! Like you are
Doogie Howser with
something to prove. Stay strong, stay
calm, stay clean, stay kind.
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Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen.McGirt@fortune.com
On Point
Can Joe Biden attract the Latinx vote? Health, consumer, and civil rights activist Aracely Panameño does the voter math on this important question, taking care to note that voters of Latinx heritage are not a monolith, nor is immigration their only issue. When it comes to Biden, Obama’s record is a sore point. “Obama promised to deliver a comprehensive immigration reform and instead got the moniker of ‘deporter-in-chief,’” she notes. Latinx homeowners lost 66% of their wealth in the housing market collapse in the Great Recession, and have yet to fully recover. And data show that Latinx Democratic voters want the government to actually provide important services like health care. “These are issues that the Sanders campaign has been speaking to for years while Biden has been focused on speaking about his electability and beating Trump like a drum.”
Latino Rebels
Federal appeals court blocks part of Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” provision The administration’s plan forces asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they await the processing of their claims. On Wednesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said it was “very clear” that the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, may violate the law. "It is equally clear," the court said, "that the MPP is causing extreme and irreversible harm to plaintiffs." The ruling upholds a similar one from a lower court; the 9th Circuit indicated that their ruling would likely apply only to asylum seekers near the Arizona and California borders.
NPR
It’s time to make the gender pay gap a thing of the past Lorraine Hariton, the president and CEO of Catalyst, says if companies want to bridge the gender equity gap, leaders need to address another gap first—between what they say and what they do. “Instead of supporting the concept of equal pay in principle, companies must act decisively to close the pay gap,” she says in this opinion piece. She brings an array of fresh stats on the woeful underrepresentation of women in executive leadership broken down by race and asks white men to do better. “Because (mainly white) men are overrepresented in decision-making roles, it is essential for men to be gender partners to advocate for equality.” She offers some proven strategies for building an equity-driven culture and a more profitable venture. “The businesses that will lead in this new world are the ones that close the gap between talking about inclusion, and making it happen.”
Fortune
The Fortune 500 will soon have another female CEO Sonia Syngal has been named as CEO of Gap Inc., with the change taking effect on March 23rd. Syngal, who started at the company in 2004 and worked her way up, oversaw a $1 billion increase in Old Navy's sales over a three-year period, writes Fortune's Phil Wahba. The brand's e-commerce sales also grew under Syngal's tenure—now a $1.6 billion business.
Fortune
On Background
The barbershop as health care provider and counseling center The barber and their iconic shops have become part of an increasingly popular strategy to deliver important health information to Black men within their own communities, both in real life and popular film. But does it work? This study seeks to determine how comfortable Black men are with getting this information in this setting and how confident the barbers feel in delivering it. There’s a lot to build on: Barbers tend to have to similar rates of education and poverty as their customers, and most frequently serve men 18-39 years old. But when asked, they’re not sure they have much influence; only 33% said they made a difference in the lives of younger men, and say they’re unlikely to influence anyone over age 40. The paper, published by The Journal of Community Health, is from researchers at the University of Chicago and Northwestern. Non-subscribers can download a pdf for $39.95. (Note: Springer Nature is making SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research free.)
Springer
Reclaiming the term “redneck?” The original term was an inclusive one, and it dates back to 1921 when Black and white coal miners in West Virginia rose up against exploitative mine owners and protested brutal and unsafe working conditions. The march, precipitated by a series of strikes, turned into a war, quite literally, becoming one of the bloodiest labor conflicts in U.S. history. Mine operators had long sought to sow racial discord by breaking strikes by importing lower paid Black miners, but the United Mine Workers union fought against segregation and for pay equity. The miners faced a paid army of mercenaries, including private planes who dropped bombs on the workers. Miners wore red bandanas to identify each other while fighting.
The Guardian
Blessed are the seekers, for they shall know happiness What makes for a happy life? Seeking the next thing. Neuroscientist Jaak Panskepp argues that of seven core instincts nestled in the human brain (anger, fear, panic-grief, maternal care, pleasure/lust, play, and seeking), seeking is the most important, and all mammals are similarly wired. The reward is dopamine, a neurotransmitter linked to reward and pleasure, but is also linked to planning activities. This may be the reason why we spend so much of our lives at work, living for the rush of the perfectly executed executive retreat, or the best of all possible product launches.
Quartz
Tamara El-Waylly produces raceAhead and manages the op-ed program.
Quote
“I think I would have made a better president than either one of them, that’s why I was running... I thought it was worth fighting for another approach.”
—Elizabeth Warren, in an interview with the Boston Globe, after dropping out of the presidential race.
