links for 2011-08-04

"Moreover, flash robs could sharpen racial stereotypes in troublesome ways. 'The first time a group of young kids of color walk into a store, the clerk assumes it’s a flash rob, and now you’ve got racial profiling that emerges,' adds Mr. Varano. 'It’s not unreasonable to assume that this is a very slippery slope.'"

"NJ Gov. Chris Christie (R) is a brusque guy who clearly has a temper about as big as the man himself. But watch this video from a week ago of Christie defending his appointment of 47-year old Muslim lawyer Sohail Mohammed to the state bench. He just won't brook the nonsense and bigotry."

"Here's what happened: Students during the 2008 and 2009 homecoming celebrations wore 'oversized sports jerseys, low-slung pants, baseball bats cocked to the side and 'doo rags' on their heads,' according to the suit. About 60 or 70 students took what was supposed to be 'tropical day' and turned it into 'wigger day,' the suit claims. To the unfamiliar, and as the case points out, the term 'wigger' is a derogatory term for a white person who emulates African-American culture.

"'Wigger Day' is the same thing as 'nigger day,' " Pruitt's lawyer, Joshua Williams, told TPM. 'That's what my client feels, and that's what I feel.'"

"Yesterday, L.A. Banks, author of fantasy, romance and YA novels, passed away. Her writer friends and fans on Facebook and Twitter were devastated. Two of them Lutishia Lovely and Victoria Christopher Murray came up with an idea for people to honor her: on Friday, August 5th, buy her latest book Surrender the Dark on Amazon."

"An all-girl Korean pop act set to make its debut later this month will be the first K-pop group to be comprised mostly of biracial Korean Americans.

"The quintet known as Chocolat has three Korean American members who are half-Caucasian with an average age of 18, although one member is as young as 14 years old."