Good To Know: Sarah Palin Believes In Racial Profiling, Glenn Beck

by Latoya Peterson, originally published at Jezebel
Sarah Palin believes that political correctness is for fools and racial profiling is the way to stop violence. Thing is, if (as she tells Sean Hannity) “liberals’ heads explode” over her comments, it’ll be due to exposure to utter stupidity.
The only good I can see coming from Sarah Palin’s [...]

The Growing Asian American Vote

By Guest Contributor Jenn, originally published at Reappropriate

The LA Times has a story out today on a report released by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center detailing the Asian American vote in the 2008 presidential election. Gratifyingly, the report notes that the Asian American voter turnout in Los Angeles County has grown by an astounding 39% in California [...]

President Obama Signs Executive Order on AAPIs

by Guest Contributor Jenn, originally published at Reappropriate
[October 14th] was a very big day for America’s Asian American and Pacific Islander community. In conjunction with a Diwali celebration, President Obama signed an executive order that reestablished an advisory committee and a White House initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders. The advisory committee was first [...]

“Food Politics” Has Lost an Advocate

by Guest Contributor T.F. Summers Sandoval, originally published at Latino Like Me
News came today that Condé Nast–publisher of The New Yorker, Vogue, and Wired among other notable magazine titles–is closing Gourmet magazine.  The powerhouse title has been published since 1940 and is a veritable icon in food magazine publishing.

The loss will affect more than just [...]

New Study Claims That Obama Foes Are Not Motivated by Racism

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 [...]

Connecting a Few More Dots.

by Guest Contributor Jamelle, originally published at PostBourgie
Ta-Nehisi Coates:
There’s a part in The Audacity Of Hope, where writing about race, Obama notes that, rightly or wrongly, a significant swath of white people are exhausted, and repeatedly scolding them (even if you’re right) is unlikely to alter the poverty stats. What we need, Obama argued, is [...]

“Race Mixing Is Communism”

by Guest Contributor Lisa, originally published at Sociological Images
Protesters in Little Rock, Arkansas, (1959) declared that “race mixing” (or school integration) was “communism”:

A reader at Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish argues that accusations of communism then, and socialism now, are not only about the redistribution of wealth.  They are about the redistribution of privilege of [...]

Notes on Brick City: Part 1 and 2

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, [...]

Open Thread: Stephen Harper and Colonialism in Canada

by Special Correspondent Jessica Yee

“We’re so self-effacing as Canadians that we sometimes forget the assets we do have that other people see,” he said, speaking with a rare passion. “We are one of the most stable regimes in history. . . . We are unique in that regard,” he added, noting Canada had enjoyed more [...]

ACORN Pimp Sting, Child Prostitution and Accountability

by Guest Contributor (and frequent commenter) Atlasien

It’s all over the news lately: an elaborate sting operation by conservative activists.  A man and a woman go into an ACORN office, and ask about how to get affordable housing and file taxes properly.  The woman says she’s a sex worker.  The ACORN representatives give a variety of [...]

Open Thread: Obama’s Healthcare Speech

by Latoya Peterson
This one is just for the politicos. Talk amongst yourselves.
Here’s some further reading:
Our collective failure to meet this challenge – year after year, decade after decade – has led us to a breaking point. Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just [...]

The Nine Lives of Marion Barry Illuminates the Role of Race in DC Politics

by Latoya Peterson

Riding back from a family reunion in South Carolina, we were all bored and half-listening to the news when the latest Marion Barry scandal broke. Marion Barry had been accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend. All the adults in the car listened intently to the newscast, then started to laugh uncontrollably.
“That damn Marion Barry,” [...]

Van Jones Pushed Out of the Obama Administration

by Latoya Peterson
Over the weekend, I received the following email from Green For All:
Late last night, Van Jones resigned from his position with the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Many of us are left with pain and anger after seeing a leader of integrity, vision, and commitment targeted by hateful personal attacks. [...]

Open Thread: Why Are People So Fucking Racist?

by Latoya Peterson

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama is indoctrinating children into his cult of personality to push them into socialism. Blah de blah. I cursed and carried on for a bit over at Jezebel this morning, but there is something I just did not mention: the blatantly [...]

Idealize This!: The Ethics of Solidarity

by Guest Contributor Catherine Traywick, originally published at Hyphen

One of the first things a (good) transnational activist learns is the practical meaning of solidarity — which, as the latest issue of New York Times Magazine illustrates, is a concept not easily grasped by even the worldliest and most committed of advocates. This week’s installment of [...]