The News

Mexican paper mourns dead immigration bill; Putnam study downplays diversity

Sharp Reaction to Immigration Bill’s Defeat. So what happens to citizenship?
In an editorial published Friday, the Mexico City newspaper El Universal said it is “highly hypocritical that the United States admits migrants as peasants, but does not accept them as citizens. A state that sends troops to the Middle East to try to implant democracy and respect for human rights does not practice such supreme values in its own territory.” —Washington Post

Largely Alone, Pioneers Reclaim New Orleans. An easy-going feature. Could be tougher.
All over the city, a giant slow-motion reconstruction project is taking place. It is unplanned, fragmentary and for the isolated individuals carrying it out, often overwhelming. Those with the fortitude to persevere — and only the hardiest even try — must battle the hopelessness brought on by a continuing sense of abandonment.—NYTimes

Washington: Racism Caused My Firing. Trump card?
In a Newsweek article, the embattled former “Grey’s Anatomy” star who was fired after using a homosexual slur says he was let go because of racism, not because of the word he used. —CBS

KU Sponsors National Conference to Increase Minorities in Science. Never too late.
With Hispanics and Native Americans comprising less than 3 percent of all biological science professors and less than 2 percent of physics faculty nationwide, the University of Kansas hopes for a surge in minority doctoral candidates in science.—Kansas City Info Zine

Missing Soldier’s Wife Gets Green Card. A reparation for war.
Jimenez, of Lawrence, Mass., and a comrade, Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich. have been missing since their unit was attacked by insurgents in Iraq on May 12. Jimenez had petitioned for a green card for his wife, whom he married in 2004. Yaderlin illegally entered the United States from the Dominican Republic in June 2001, paying $500 to a smuggler and walking three days from Mexico to California.
—AP

Putnam Study Proves The Existence Of Racism, Not Problems With Diversity. The Supreme Court must have loved this study.
Conservatives are touting this study, done by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, as proof that the benefits of diversity are overstated. The problem with their arguments in favor of the study, which does not disprove or even address the benefits of diversity, is that it actually proves the persistence of racism and social prejudice even when people end up living in proximity to each other.—Too Sense

After Bill’s Fall, G.O.P. May Pay in Latino Votes. Seeing true colors.
he bill’s demise may have greatly damaged the party’s ability to meet its enduring goal of attracting a large percentage of the growing number of Hispanic voters — thousands of whom are ostensibly in line with the party on a host of other issues, said many Republican lawmakers, consultants and Hispanic voters.—NYTimes

Posted at 6:48 AM, Jul 02, 2007 in Permalink | View Comments