NEWSETHNIC STEREOTYPES

It’s been called the “most offensive political ad of all time.”  That’s because it takes aim at Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s support of gang intervention programs by portraying her as a booty-shaking stripper performing for black thugs who demand (or rap, rather) that she “give us your cash, b---h!”

The ad reduces both women and African Americans to stereotypes. It’s been denounced by the likes of the National Organization for Women, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and some Republicans, even though the third-party political group which launched the ad - Turn Right USA - is backing Hahn’s Republican challenger for California’s 36^th Congressional District seat, Craig Huey.

Despite going through multiple security screenings and being cleared to fly, two Imams were kicked off a Delta flight last week because the pilot said he was not comfortable flying with them aboard.

These Muslim religious leaders, ironically on their way to a conference on fear of Islam, were two of seven Imams who were denied boarding on their way to the conference.

Over 1,200 activists on Change.org have already stood with the Imams, demanding that Delta publicly apologize, institute new non-discrimination and sensitivity training for all pilots and flight crew about religious tolerance, and create a set of public guidelines and consequences for any employee who violates the code of conduct. You can join the campaign and sign the petition here, calling on Delta to do the right thing.

When a few passengers on an Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight, a carrier run by Delta, noticed two imams dressed in Islamic garb on their flight on Friday, they asked that the passengers be removed.

So what did the pilot do? He went right ahead and kicked the Muslim passengers off the flight!

Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul, who hold high religious positions in the Muslim community, were heading from Tennessee to North Carolina when the incident occurred. According to Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the civil rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations, the men "went through security, even went through secondary security, and got on the plane."

The plane was taxiing out when the passengers complained that they were uncomfortable with the men being on their flight.

In an ironic twist of fate, the men were headed to North Carolina for a conference on prejudice against Muslims, or Islamaphobia.

First things first: who’s Marilyn Davenport?

Marilyn Davenport is the elected member of the Orange County Republican Party's Central Committee, who on April 15 emailed out a photo of President Obama and his parents as chimps with the caption: “Now you know why – No birth certificate.”

From the get-go, Davenport behaved as if the racist Photoshopped image of the president was no big deal. She initially tried to pass off the email as a joke, but when neither the public nor her colleagues in the O.C. Republican Party bought that excuse, Davenport read a statement of apology at an April 20 press conference. But instead of staying focused on the apology and the people she’d hurt with the email, Davenport continued to deny that the Obama-as-chimp photo was racist and challenged whether the President is an American by birth - the gist of her racially charged email.

It's time to step things up. Join us in asking donors of the Orange County Republican Party to publicly refuse to donate one more penny to the group until Marilyn Davenport steps down.

Late last year, a Boston nightclub ended an event for black Harvard and Yale alumni for fear that the long line of African Americans outside the club would attract 'gangbangers'. Now, after months of legal wrangling, the club owner has agreed to apologize!

It all began just before Thanksgiving, when a black Ivy League alumni group claimed that Cure Lounge in Boston prematurely ended an alumni party held at the club on November 20 for fear that a line of African Americans outside of the nightclub would attract “local gangbangers,” according to Michael Beal, a Harvard alum who helped organize the event. Some alumni had traveled across the country to attend the event, and the incident made international headlines after the alumni group accused club management of racial discrimination.

Looks like California's celebration of Martin Luther King Day took a turn for the... Arizonian. This month students and faculties from two California campuses are fighting the demolition of their ethnic studies programs: Asian American Studies and Cal State Los Angeles and American Studies at the University of California Santa Cruz.

Late last year Dean James Henderson at CSULA offered students and faculty a grim holiday gift – notification that he had decided to suspend Asian American Studies, indefinitely. To date, the only explanation Henderson has offered is lack of faculty, student, and community support – which he announced at a November 29 meeting to a roomful of concerned faculty, students, and community members. Since then, a grassroots movement in support of retaining the program has been swelling both on and off campus (check out Immigrant Rights blogger Gabriel Garcia's post on it).

CSULA is located in the San Gabriel Valley, which holds one of the largest Chinese populations in the country. Asian American Studies – which was just established in 2005 – failed in the Dean's eyes to meet enrollment numbers. However, the decision of a Dean to dismantle the program without prior discussion with students and faculty is a threat to more than just one department on one campus.

"Cutting AAAS is an attack on the university’s diversity and threatens the already tenuous support of the campus’ Chicano, Latin American, and Pan African Studies programs as well," explains a grassroots website launched in opposition to the suspension. In light of Arizona's recent ethnic studies ban, CSULA's decision is another threat toward the demolition of valuable ethnic studies programs throughout the country – and this isn't just a theory.

The visages of African Americans have been used to hawk products for dozens and dozens of years.

Take Aunt Jemima’s pancake mixes, which have been popular since the late 1800s, or Uncle Ben’s Rice, which has been going strong since the 1940s. But one such product you’ve likely never heard of is Darlie toothpaste.

Formerly known as Darkie toothpaste, the dental product features the image of a smiling black man wearing a top hat - reminiscent of the days when minstrel shows flourished in the U.S. Although the product is virtually unknown stateside, it’s long been a staple in China, where it’s known as - get this - Black People Toothpaste.

Clearly, Chinese people unaware of American racial politics may not understand why blacks in the U.S. would find the product offensive, but American corporation Colgate-Palmolive - which co-owns the Hong Kong company that hawks Black People Toothpaste - should know better. Using stereotypical imagery of African Americans that harkens back to the days of blackface is no way to sell any product—domestically or abroad.

While the international community focuses on the ongoing tension between the two Koreas, for many on this small peninsula, border tensions are the least of their worries - what truly concerns them is their next required health check and the HIV test that comes with it.

What happens to someone who tests positive? Does such a result lead to counseling and medication? Nope, it leads to immediate deportation to your native country.

Suffice it to say, South Korea is not the place to test positive.

Whoever said that getting an education insulates minorities from racism might want to think again.

A Boston nightclub called Cure Lounge reportedly ended a November 20 event for black Harvard and Yale alumni early for fear that the long line of African Americans outside of the club would attract 'gangbangers'. The club denies any wrongdoing, with spokesman George K. Regan alleging that “some people in line were known to police as ‘bad people’ and probably couldn’t spell Harvard.”

There are a few problems with Regan’s statement. To begin, Michael Beal, one of the event organizers, says that tickets to the affair were presold exclusively to Harvard and Yale alumni. This casts doubt on the club’s claim that the event somehow captured the attention of thugs. Moreover, the Boston Globe reports that police were never called to the club during the event. So, how can club management argue that criminals were in line if police never even reported to the scene? Were there really “bad people” in line, or did a group of African Americans hanging out together simply look like “bad people” due to pervasive negative stereotypes about blacks?

City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, who’s asked a city agency to investigate the complaints of racial bias against the club, raises another good point. She argued that even if a few bad apples happened to be standing in line, why didn’t Cure Lounge just toss those people out instead of end the entire event?

Driving along South Carolina's Interstate 26 at this time of year, one is introduced to a number of wondrous scenes: trees slightly tinged with orange; a vast blue sky; generous 70-something degree weather.  Oh yeah, and hate propaganda that could make a Chairman blush.

A billboard donning the words "Islam Rising" in bold red letters – with the tagline "Be Warned" – is a beacon for fearmongerers promoting a documentary of the same name produced by the ultra-conservative Christian Action Network for those who can only swallow information in two-word doses about the 'threats' of Islamic culture.

Well, here's another two-worder for you: That's racist.

The "Islam Rising" headline is accompanied by the angry eyes of someone who looks like a cross between Scorpion from Mortal Combat and the chain belonging to Plies the rapper. The caricature peering at you through a ski mask is, supposedly, an Islamic terrorist.  Silly racists forgot that everyone knows it doesn't snow in Muslim Town.

Making my first roadtrip through the State of Smiling Faces and Beautiful Places, my first reaction to it was of course to immediately u-turn and snap photos (my parents love when I post travel pix). My next was to 'tap the Googles' and see what outrage has erupted around it. But coverage of the display is overwhelmingly in support of the billboard and its message, with only a couple of local networks acknowledging that some people might possibly kinda sorta have a problem with it.