4-19-12 Links Roundup

• The Case Of The White Cubans (Discover Magazine)

In a follow up to a post below, a new paper in PLoS Genetics has some data on American Hispanics. Specifically, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans, and Cubans, as well as assorted Central and South Americans. I am not too interested in the cases except Cubans; no one doubts the mixed heritage of the other groups, though the African ancestry of Mexicans, and some Central and South Americans may surprise (again, I have to note that this not surprising in light of history, and has been robustly confirmed in the genomic literature).

But Cuban Americans are somewhat a special case. The vast majority, specifically, 85 percent, identify as white. This is a higher proportion than the number of self-identified whites in Cuba, and a function of the skewed nature of the migration out of Cuba socially and economically. By and large the white elite of the island fled Castro’s revolution to a far greater extent than the black lower classes. And contrary to American stereotypes of Latin American ease and openness about race, Cuba was a relatively stratified society, albeit not characterized by hypodescent.

• ABC’s ‘The Bachelor’ To Be Sued For Racial Discrimination (The Hollywood Reporter)

Attorneys for the prospective plaintiffs put out a news release saying they will be filing a complaint in federal court on Wednesday morning against ABC, production companies Warner Horizon Television, Next Entertainment, NZK Productions and Bachelor executive producer Mike Fleiss, and they have scheduled a news conference to speak about the topic.

Claybrooks and Johnson, both African Americans, are being represented by three law firms: Barrett Johnston, Mehri & Skalet and Perkins-Law. Claybrooks is listed as a linebacker on the roster of the Nashville Storm, a minor-league team, while Johnson (not the star running back for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans) played wide receiver at Tennessee State and is preparing to try out for NFL teams.

The lack of minority faces on the show has been a curiosity of some analysts even before this lawsuit, and some outlets have even made suggestions. Groups representing African Americans and Hispanics have long complained about the shortage of lead minority actors on scripted shows, but the emergence of reality television was hoped to solve issues of diversity. As Nina Tasser, president of CBS Entertainment told the Los Angeles Times in 2009, “When you’re casting for an unscripted show, it’s a much bigger universe and a whole different talent base.”

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