By Deputy Editor Thea Lim
Colourface fatigue, I haz it.  Who here is tired of reading about blackface? Because I sure am tired of writing about it. And at this point I don’t know what more there is to say.

Well, come to think of it, there was never much to say in the first place.  Because [...]

By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García

These notes are taken from complimentary screenings courtesy of the San Diego Asian Film Festival, which concluded Thursday night.
For those of us who only remember Jack Soo from watching Barney Miller with our parents, the documentary You Don’t Know Jack is aptly named, as it reveals a pleasant set of [...]

Compiled by Thea Lim, with Andrea Plaid and Wendi Muse
My day job takes me into some pretty non-anti-oppressive environments. Generally I try to steer clear of conversations that deal with any parameter of power in depth (race, class, gender, sexuality, ability…) because in my environment, I find these conversations excruciating. It’s not [...]

By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García

Note: Video contains one instance of NSFW language
This was noted in last week’s thread over Part 2 of CNN’s Latino In America, but it’s worth a bigger mention: it looks like the network is getting the wrong kind of attention for it, as Latino groups seized on the broadcast to [...]

By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
For a review of Part 1, click here
No way around it: Latino In America was a failure.
At the very least, Thursday’s conclusion, “Chasing The Dream,” seemed equal parts melodrama and bait-and-switch, with the broadcast component weakened by a lack of questions that undercut even its’ more compelling segments.
For instance, [...]

by Latoya Peterson

Alongside the tragic mulatto myth, the idea that being mixed is somehow “futuristic” or modern, and the idea that mixed people will be better, faster, and stronger (also called the “hybrid vigor” myth), one of the enduring features about discussions of mixed race individuals is that “hotness” always surfaces.
Allure serves up a [...]

by Latoya Peterson
From the Politico:
Racism is not a factor driving conservative opposition to President Barack Obama, according to the results of focus groups conducted by Democracy Corps, a Democratic organization, released on Friday. [...]
Rather than attributing their dislike of Obama to race, participants in the focus groups, which were a project of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner [...]

by Guest Contributor Kiana, originally posted at ProperTalks and Postourgie

Sundance’s Brick City is the only reality TV show worth watching this week. The street soldiers, sheroes and heroes of Newark New Jersey along with Mayor Cory Booker are all attempting to renew Newark’s urban landscape but they are up against the city’s infamous reputation, [...]

by Guest Contributor Lisa, originally published at Sociological Images

We recently posted about a baby doll pulled from Costco shelves after concerns that it was racist.  Early news stories reported on a black doll called “Lil’ Monkey” and a white doll called “Pretty Panda.”  As the story developed, it became clear that both dolls came in [...]

By Sexual Correspondent Andrea (AJ) Plaid
Here’s a summary of my thoughts on im/migration so far:

Short of 1st Nations people, everyone living in the US emigrated—whether by choice or force, whether the im/migrant is themselves and/or their ancestors or current family members—from somewhere else. And we’re squatting on 1st Nation lands.
For those who want to argue [...]

By Guest Contributor Gordon Gartrelle, originally posted at We are respectable negroes

Based on reports from national media outlets, the only people who ever go missing seem to be:
a. White
b. Female
c. Thin and relatively attractive
d. Upper class (by virtue of income or education)
What, then, do we make of the case of Annie Le, the Asian American [...]

By Special Correspondent Nadra Kareem

Editor’s Note: The episode discussed in this piece aired about a year ago, but as Jon and Kate’s marriage publicly disintegrates while many onlookers wonder what will happen to the children, this issue seems worth a bit of discussion. – LDP
This year has no doubt been a trying one for Jon [...]

by Latoya Peterson
Bringing up Tyler Perry tends to complicate conversations.  He is a polarizing figure, represented by his work, an entrepreneur who provides work for black actors often passed over by the Hollywood machine, yet who trades in what some would call limiting representations of blackness and/or stereotypes.  He is often touted as proof that [...]

By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
Dear Kanye,
What is it with you and MTV?
Even on a West Coast time delay, seeing you make a fool of yourself on live television because of a teenager – and I’m no Taylor Swift fan by any means, but she at least seemed to honestly enjoy winning Best Female Video [...]

 by Guest Contributor Jen, originally published at Disgrasian
British newspaper The Independent reported last week that concubines are making a comecuback in China due to the return of capitalism. This is particularly fascinating to me because my great-great-grandmother was a concubine. She was the only “wife” of my great-great-grandfather able to give him a son–my [...]