"It would be more efficient from a fundraising standpoint to auction off education slots on EBay than to create a legacy preference," scoffed Michael Dannenberg, director of education policy at the nonpartisan New America Foundation. ...
What does a Mexican-hating right-wing radio shock jock named Jay Severin have in common with President Obama's yet-to-be-named Supreme Court nominee? The former already is, and the latter will likely turn out to be, a signifier of a new political calculus that is lowering the profile of the burgeoning Latino electorate, two-thirds of which is Mexican American.
When tragedy strikes, people are supposed to band together and find strength in numbers, right? When the well-being of your community is threatened, it's important to look out for your neighbors and lend a hand to those in need, no?
Well, that's what many of us may have thought before all the hysteria about the looming swine flu pandemic.
I wonder what the late historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. would have made of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's pandering to Lone Star secessionists on April 15. I'd love to hear what he'd say about Sarah Palin's flirtation with the Alaskan Independence Party and its disdain for the rest of the United States.
Has California seen its last honest ballot measure?
Perhaps. One unintended consequence of next month's special election may be the demise of ballot initiatives that are "self-funding" -- that is, initiatives that include new taxes to pay for the programs they mandate.
Writing From New Orleans -- Four years after New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin tried to endear himself to black voters by playing to their fears that they were about to be "overrun by Mexican workers," things have and haven't changed.
Mexican and other Latin American migrants who came to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Katrina didn't overwhelm the city. But, at roughly 15% of the population -- up from 3% pre-Katrina -- they aren't going away either, and New Orleans… more
How much is your ethnicity worth? In hard cash. Dollars and cents. How much do you think you can get for it?
When we talk about race in America, we speak in terms of power and strife. When we bring up ethnicity, we focus on the gushy stuff -- pride and the sense of belonging that strong cultural identities create. Think of those quaint, exotics-on-display "isn't diversity great?" stories on National Public Radio.
"Anyone who loves LA struggles with it, has been obliged to reconcile the disparity between what LA is supposed to be and what it actually is," says Gregory Rodriguez, executive director of Zócalo Public Square and a Times op-ed columnist. ...
Mexico's drug war is bound to have a profound effect on the lives of Mexican immigrants in the United States. On the one hand, the image of Mexico's chaos as a spreading contagion most likely will strengthen the hand of anti-immigrant forces. On the other, as Mexican newcomers look back at their increasingly dangerous homeland, they will -- consciously or unconsciously -- set down deeper roots in the United States.
I have finally let the cat out of the bag and publicly
confessed that I'm nostalgic for the first years of Antonio Villaraigosa's
mayoralty, when His Honor seemed to be everywhere all at once.
