links for 2008-05-24

“Season Seven’s young contestants also reflected the new, multi-ethnic face of America: Three of the four finalists – Jason Castro, Syesha Mercado and Archuleta — had at least partly Latino origins[...]“

(tags: via)

“If you plan on using a symbol or an artifact someone treasures to show your displeasure, you’d better have a damned good reason for doing it instead of crouching behind your own socially-constructed set of valuations backed by the barrel of a gun.”

(tags: religion government)

“There seems, as is often the case in colleges, to be a huge gulf between academia and reality. No one is thinking about the larger implications, let alone the morality, of admitting so many students to classes they cannot possibly pass.”

(tags: academia activism class college education)

“Robin Levi, Human Rights Director at Justice Now , is a bi-racial Jewish woman and attorney who has been working to protect and promote the human rights of women worldwide, especially women of color in the United States.”

(tags: politics activism prison)

“Yet what about the other women in this race? What about the “Stepford wifing” of Cindy McCain or the “angry ungratefulness” of Michelle Obama?”

(tags: politics race gender)