links for 2008-04-11

The token Asian is leaving the show! But wait, sounds like they’re just gonna get another random Asian actress to replace her. Who’ll notice anyway?

“on a brief survey item 80 percent of 451 responding college students said that they approved of marriages…However, when a smaller group of comparable students were interviewed in depth this figure dropped to about one-third”

“Are there areas in which we–black progressives and black conservatives–can show some sort of unity? Are there specific things we can agree on? This has to go beyond the angry shout-fests we see on cable news.”

“While Obama has fared well from his relationship with Ms Winfrey, she can’t say the same, according to new research from Fordham University”

“Editor Eugene Hernandez relays an anecdote that this year’s award-winning (but undistributed) documentary Trouble the Water — about the odyssey of African-American survivors of Hurricane Katrina — might be off buyers’ radar because its “too black” “

Another excellent series by the multiplayer blog. I’ll be posting some more analysis next week. – LDP

“The U.S. music industry has cultivated a fixed set of musical genres and built an entrenched assortment of archetypes, marketing concepts and promotional channels around them. And while music execs are quick to deny it, all of them tacitly or overtly incorporate fundamental expectations around race. “Urban” is black and, begrudgingly, Latino; “rock” and “country” are white; “adult contemporary” is, too — unless you call it “smooth jazz,” in which case it’s black (but very, very light skinned). The only genre that “looks Asian” to a typical industry insider is classical, and then, only if you’re talking about instrumental music.”

“After years of tiptoeing around racial issues for fear of invoking stereotypes, California educators are now looking squarely at how ethnicity and culture shape achievement and attitudes toward school.”

Finally – Vixen looking brown. Seriously, was that so hard?

“It has become obvious that Richard Cohen will not be satisfied until Barack Obama joins the Klan. Until then, the fact that some (and perhaps more than “some”) whites won’t vote for him due to his skin color will remain Obama’s own fault.”

“I find it interesting that opinions like these [about homosexuals working in the fashion industry] bandied like the gospel. I don’t recall ever reading it challenged.”

“When you find yourself in the inevitable currents of our society that always flow towards greater privilege, away from the marginalized, the oppressed, be prepared to swim against that tide. Don’t just stand there and let sand pool around your ankles.”