The preceding issue of this new summary reported that, while Hispanic/Latino admissions to law schools increased between 1993 and 2008, the number of Mexican American admitted to law schools during the same period actually declined.
In this edition, I am including references to news stories reporting that the student bodies of many flagship public universities now resemble those of more expensive, private universities. As a result, fewer qualified and able students from less affluent families are attending these flagship institutions. Also included is a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas which found that Hispanic workers in Texas earn about 64% of what non-Hispanic whites earn.
Opportunity Adrift: Our Flagship Universities Are Straying From Their Public Mission – This report, issued by the Education Trust, found that too many publicly-funded flagship universities are admitting higher numbers of wealthy students and, as a result, fewer highly qualified minority and disadvantaged students who lack the resources to attend these top tier public institutions. The Report notes:
Our highest achieving poor kids now earn college degrees at rates below our lowest achieving rich kids. No American can feel good about those numbers and what they say about us as a country.
To read the entire report, go to:
http://multimedia.onlineathens.com/pdf/2010/011910_opportunity-adrift.pdf
(Note: According to the report, the University of Texas at Austin is doing a much better job than peer institutions in allocating resources to needy students.)
Getting to the Bottom of Texas' Latino Pay Gap – Almost 40% of the Texas workforce is Latino according to this recent report from the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. The same report found that Texas Hispanics earn about 64% of what non-Hispanic whites earn. The report suggests some explanations for the pay gap:
Why do Texas Latinos earn less? For starters, they’re younger than the state’s non-Hispanic whites, which suggests fewer years of work experience. Texas Latinos age 25 and over also have considerably less education. About 40 percent didn’t graduate from high school, compared with just 5 percent of Texas non-Hispanic whites. Eleven percent earned college degrees, well below the 38 percent of non-Hispanic whites.
Texas Latinos are less likely to work. Two-thirds are employed, compared with 74 percent of the state’s non-Hispanic whites. This stems largely from women’s decisions about working outside the home. Texas’ Latino women are about 13 percentage points less likely than non-Hispanic white women to be employed.
Texas’ high income inequality also plays a role. The disparity between high- and low-wage earners exacerbates Texas’ Latino wage gap when compared with states that have more uniform earnings distributions.
These comparisons help explain the in-state earnings differences, but what about the Latino wage gap between Texas and the rest of the nation? The state’s non-Hispanic whites contribute to it because they have higher earnings and more years of education than non-Hispanic whites in the rest of the U.S. At the same time, Texas Latinos differ from Hispanics elsewhere in important ways that depress their relative earnings.
Native-born Latinos earn 17 percent less per hour in Texas than in other states—$12.46 versus $15.10. Foreign-born Latinos in Texas also earn less, but the difference is only 9 percent—$10.28 versus $11.25. Texas tops the nation in share of native born in the Latino population. When combined with the pay disparities, this suggests the native born are largely behind Texas Latinos’ wider wage gap.
If you are interested in reading the entire report, go to:
http://dallasfed.org/research/swe/2009/swe0904b.cfm
As always, I hope you find the referenced news articles informative.
Best Wishes.
Prepared by
John Vasquez
Chair-Elect
Hispanic Issues Section, State Bar of Texas
johnvasq@gmail.com
PS: Good news! If you missed the exhibit American Sabor at the Museo Alameda in San Antonio, you can see the same exhibit in Austin at the Texas State History Museum from February 13 to May 9. From the Texas State History Museum website:
“American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music is the first interpretive museum exhibition to tell the story of the profound influence and impact of Latinos in American popular music.
“It focuses on five major centers of Latino popular music production in the post-WorldWar II United States — New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio and SanFrancisco — which represent the diversity of Latino music. Each city section draws visitors into the broader histories and cultures that shaped these musicians’ contributions through artifacts, hands-on instrument interactives, listening kiosks that allow critical listening and learning, three films created for the exhibition and interpretive text presented in English and Spanish.”
The presentation of American Sabor will be the first time that the Museum has hosted a bilingual exhibition.
To learn more about American Sabor, go to:
http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/the_museum/temporary_exhibit.html
NOTE: This News Summary is a service of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas, Brian Hamner, Chair. If you would like to support HIS, visit
http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Sections and click “MyBarPage” (near the bottom of the page) to join online. For further information, contact the Sections Department at 1-800-204-2222 or (512) 427-1463 ext. 1420.
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Top News
Group: UGA, other flagships catering to elite
The University of Georgia ranks last among America's 50 flagship universities in the percentage of minority and poor high school graduates it enrolls, an advocacy group says.
Nearly 40 percent of Georgia students who graduated high school in 2007 were minorities - blacks, Hispanics or American Indians. But less than 10 percent of UGA's freshman class was minority, according to a new report by The Education Trust, a group that works to increase the numbers of poor and minority students attending college.
That's the lowest ratio among flagship universities, which overall did a poor job of bringing minorities and poor students to college, according to The Education Trust's study, "Opportunity Adrift."
"Too many flagship institutions are literally turning their backs on academically qualified low-income and minority students in favor of the children of the elite," said Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust. "It's almost as if some of America's best public colleges have forgotten that they are, in fact, public."
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/011910/uga_551737313.shtml
To read the report, got to:
http://multimedia.onlineathens.com/pdf/2010/011910_opportunity-adrift.pdf
Study: Race impacts Texans' earnings
HOUSTON --- While wage discrimination is illegal in Texas, race plays a role in how much Texans earn, according to a study conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The median Latino wage in the United States is $12.42, while the median non-Hispanic white wage in the United States is $17.56, the study said. In Texas it is even lower. The median Latino wage is $11.54, while the median non-Hispanic white wage in Texas is $17.90.
The Interfaith Worker Justice Center said it has been fighting to close the wage gap for years. The organization said 90 percent of its clients are Latino.
http://www.kvue.com/news/state/Study-Race-impacts-Texans-earnings-82779447.html
To read the report “Getting to the Bottom of Texas' Latino Pay Gap”, go to:
http://dallasfed.org/research/swe/2009/swe0904b.cfm
Report: Too Few Minority Doctors After Decades of Discrimination
Newswise — Although the number of minorities in the medical profession has risen in recent years, decades of discrimination still leaves them drastically underrepresented in the field, as chronicled in new report appearing in the February issue of the journal Academic Medicine.
The U.S. Surgeon General says mentoring is one solution.
“There is no doubt that much progress has been made in the past 100 years with regard to minorities’ representation in the medical profession,” said report co-author IIana Suez Mittman, Ph.D. “Unlike the turn of the twentieth century, currently there is heightened awareness to issues of injustice and inequity, where discrimination is unlawful and minorities are able to attend any medical school of their choosing.”
http://www.newswise.com/articles/report-too-few-minority-doctors-after-decades-of-discrimination
2 Irving City Council members continue battle against single-member districts
Irving City Council members Tom Spink and Beth Van Duyne, in a court filing this week, again argued against a proposed single-member City Council election system that a majority of their colleagues support.
How much that dissent affects the final outcome of a so-far successful lawsuit now rests with U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Solis. And whether Solis is likely to pay much attention to their informal legal filings depends on whom you ask.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-irvdistricts_27met.ART.State.Edition1.4bd6579.html
Judge orders Irving to use new council election system
U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis on Wednesday ordered Irving to begin using a City Council election system that incorporates a mix of single-member districts and at-large seats.
The new system, which was the crux of a controversial voting rights lawsuit settlement the council agreed to last year, will be used for the May 8 elections. The candidate filing period begins Monday.
Solis found that the city's at-large election system violated the Voting Rights Act because it effectively allows white voters to block candidates backed by Hispanic voters. Irving is more than 40 percent Hispanic, yet all council members are white.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-irvdistricts_04met.ART0.East.Edition1.4bd274d.html
Council election ruling remakes Irving's May 8 races
A federal judge's order last week that Irving immediately start using a system of single-member districts and at-large seats will affect almost every aspect of City Council elections this year.
The sweeping changes dictate new rules for everything from who gets to run and vote in which precincts to how many signatures are needed to get on the ballot.
U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis ruled that Irving's at-large system violated the Voting Rights Act because it effectively suppressed Hispanic votes. The judgment ended a years-long court battle that had divided the City Council.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-irvelex_07met.ART0.Central.Edition1.4bd45bf.html
Editorial: We recommend Lopez in 256th court primary
David Lopez saw a problem with the 256th Family District Court, decided he could help and went about fixing it.
His success in his first term at improving the court's efficiency and the insight he has gained in that time are reason enough for Dallas County Democrats to choose him again in the March 2 primary over challenger Felix Botello. The winner will face Republican John Neuhoff in the general election.
Botello, 57, cites his and his family's long record of community involvement. The Dallas school district named an elementary school for his father, Felix G. Botello, and his aunt is longtime Hispanic activist and lawyer Adelfa Callejo. Botello has a solid background in family law but pointedly declined to criticize Lopez's management of the 256th court.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-family256_0127edi.State.Edition1.263dde2.html
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Texas
UNT to present four days of events to tie into anniversary of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
DENTON (UNT), Texas — The University of North Texas’ Latino Interest Group will present four days of events to tie into the 162nd anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the U.S. war against Mexico.
The events, scheduled for Feb. 2-5 (Tuesday-Friday) include several lectures and a half-day symposium focusing on issues relevant to the Latino population of the North Texas region, followed by a performance of a play about an historic walkout of Mexican-American high school students in Crystal City, Texas.
http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_59653.shtml
Candidate recalls youth in this area
SAN ANTONIO - Linda Chavez Thompson has not exactly gone from rags to riches. But if she is elected lieutenant governor of Texas she could come close to it.
This is how.
Like many if not most West Texas Hispanic youngsters of her time, Chavez Thompson started working in the Lubbock County cotton fields early in life. In her case, at the age of 10 in 1954.
http://lubbockonline.com/stories/012410/loc_553876307.shtml
Tejano statue to help fill gap in historical accounts
When they began their quest to bring the first monument honoring Texas' Tejano roots to the Capitol, supporters encountered a recurring question: Are you trying to rewrite history?
No, they answered; they just wanted Tejanos to rightly be a part of it.
"That's a missing chapter in our history," said Cayetano Barrera, a McAllen physician who led efforts to fill the gaps in the conventional Texas narrative with a Tejano statue.
This month, the State Preservation Board unanimously approved a nearly 33-foot-long bronze monument for installation during the next two years along the Capitol's south grounds, just off the main driveways.
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/tejano-statue-to-help-fill-gap-in-historical-197071.html
Report: Minority-owned firms have tougher time raising capital
The nation's 4 million minority-owned firms face large disparities in accessing capital, making it even more difficult to weather the recession, according to a new report by the U.S. Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency.
The report found that minority-owned businesses outgrew their counterparts in the number of firms, employment and size of payroll from 1997 to 2002, but face significant long-term growth constraints. One of the biggest barriers is that minorities obtain less debt and equity, pay more for capital and are rejected more often for bank loans.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-minoritycapital_01bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cc35ea.html
Business owner alleges bribes, discrimination at DIA
DENVER - Yet another civil rights and discrimination suit is set to be filed against the city of Denver and Denver International Airport. Over the past year or so, civil rights attorney Anne Sulton has successfully sued the city and airport over both civil rights violations and discrimination charges.
"We just think that the city is in violation of people's rights and that is not right," said Sulton.
"In two cases settled, the city paid one business from Atlanta for keeping them from doing the work on a four million dollar contract to do power washing at DIA. In another we were able to prove employment discrimination against a worker. But now, a third suit is alleging that the Skyport awarded a contract for street cleaning to a white woman who owns All State Sweeping. She claims Blacks and Hispanics discriminated against her company and its employees."
http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-dia-allegations-020510,0,3922802.story
Voting-rights lawsuits come down to survey
Both of Manuel Benavidez's voting-rights lawsuits came down to the use of the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey. In both trials, David Ely used the most recent ACS available to estimate the current percentage of eligible Hispanic voters.
In the case against the city, U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Solis found the estimates to meet the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals' standards.
"Unlike data proffered to overcome Census figures in other cases, here the Census Bureau produced the data employed by Plaintiff," he wrote in July.
In the case against the school district, U.S. District Court Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater completely disagreed.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/coppell_vr/stories/DN-wesnotebook_24met.ART.West.Edition1.4c599e0.html
Newcomers Test Schools: In Plano, Texas, Population Shift Prompts Rezoning That Angers Many Parents
PLANO, Texas—This Dallas suburb, a wealthy enclave known for its top-notch schools, is struggling to integrate a flood of poor, minority students.
In a battle mirrored in other districts across the U.S., parents here have been fighting for months over which public high school their kids will attend: one under construction in an affluent corner of the Plano Independent School District, or an older school several miles away in the city's more diverse downtown.
Last month, the district's school board angered many parents when it created a Pac-Man-shaped zone that placed their children in the downtown school for grades nine and 10 instead of in the newer, closer campus.
The downtown school has the highest proportion of poor students of all high schools in the district; many are Hispanic and African-American.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704905604575027320022719844.html
Candidates set for Texas high court primaries
There are two Republican primary races for Texas Supreme Court seats: a six-person race for an open seat and two Hispanic women running for the seat one of them just took by appointment.
In the race for Place 9, recently appointed Houston lawyer Eva Guzman, the first Latina on the bench, is being challenged by another Latina lawyer Rose Vela. The seat formerly was held by Scott Brister who returned to private practice.
• • Guzman, 39, a Houston-based lawyer who served on the 14th Court of Appeals before Perry appointed her in October. She previously was appointed and then won election to a Harris County family district court and to the Houston-based 14th court. Guzman attended South Texas College of Law.
• • Vela, 45, of the South Texas-based 13th Court of Appeals, declared her interest in the seat before Guzman was appointed. A graduate of Saint Mary's Law School, in 2006 Vela was the first Republican elected to her appellate court. Vela practiced appellate law and was a briefing attorney for the 4th Court of Appeals and the 13th Court of Appeals before she was elected a Nueces County district court judge.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6844028.html
San Juan native waits for confirmation to U.S. Ambassador post
A national Hispanic advocacy group is calling on the U.S. Senate to speed up the confirmation process of San Juan native Rául Yzaguirre as the new U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
Yzaguirre, a Hispanic civil rights leader who got his start in the Rio Grande Valley, was nominated to the post by President Barrack Obama in late November.
“There’s a backlog and, of course, politics is involved. That’s the daily bread here in (Washington), D.C.,” said Rafael Fantauzzi, president of the National Puerto Rican Coalition. The coalition also called for the speedy confirmation of Mari Carmen Aponte for the ambassador post to El Salvador.
http://www.themonitor.com/articles/san-35172-juan-native.html
Immigrant law ruling assessed: Federal appeals judges tossed two job provisions but upheld mandated worker status verification.
State officials are mulling their options after a federal appeals court pruned two key provisions of an immigration law aimed to reduce the number of undocumented workers and families across Oklahoma.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld an injunction Tuesday against employer provisions of the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizens Protection Act of 2007, also known as House Bill 1804. However, the court lifted an injunction on a third provision that requires government contractors to verify the legal status of workers on public jobs.
One of the rejected provisions barred employers from firing workers who are legal U.S. residents while retaining workers who entered the country illegally. The three-judge panel also ruled against requiring businesses that hire private contractors to obtain documents showing that the individuals are authorized to work in this country or, if the documents are not provided, to withhold those contractors' taxes at the top rate.
The court's 3-0 decision against the two provisions means that they will not be enforced, pending further legal action.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100208_11_A1_Saeofc628520
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USA
Waste-hauler BFI faces discrimination lawsuit
California - Two Monterey County women have filed suit against waste-hauler BFI, alleging discrimination and claiming that managers punished bilingual staffers for speaking Spanish and ridiculed their heritage.
The claim filed Friday alleges that the women — hired to work in customer service because of their Spanish-language skills — were passed over for promotions and that one was fired, for complaining about the company's English-only rules and alleging they were harassed for being Latino.
According to the suit, problems started in August 2008 when the company instituted a policy forbidding employees to speak Spanish to one another, even during their breaks. The two women, Liliana Jimenez and Elizabeth Castillo, complained.
Their complaints were met with inconsistent enforcement of the rule and derogatory comments about Mexicans, Mexican heritage and Spanish, according to the suit.
"They were faced with comments about Mexicans being lazy," said Jimenez's attorney Michael Marsh, who works with California Rural Legal Assistance.
http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20100123/BUSINESS/1230304/1046/BUSINESS/Waste-hauler-BFI-faces-discrimination-lawsuit
Kellar stands by 'proud racist' remark
VALENCIA - An overflow crowd crammed into Santa Clarita City Hall Tuesday night, most to support a councilman who called himself a "proud racist" and others to condemn his words as hateful rhetoric.
Opposing demonstrators engaged in heated exchanges of name-calling, finger-pointing and American flag-waving prior to the city council meeting.
The demonstrations were sparked by comments from Councilman Bob Kellar, who called himself a "proud racist" during an anti-illegal immigration rally two weeks ago.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_14274556?source=most_viewed&nclick_check=1
San Gabriel hotel operator settles discrimination, harassment suits
The management company that runs a popular Hilton hotel in the heart of San Gabriel's Asian community agreed Wednesday to pay $500,000 to settle two lawsuits filed by former Latino workers alleging racial discrimination and sexual harassment.
When Landwin Management Inc. took over management of the hotel in 2005, some Latino banquet servers were fired and replaced with less qualified Chinese workers, according to attorneys at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which represented about two dozen former Hilton employees in the case.
"If you can show that the job required certain special skills that could only be filled by Chinese speakers, that would be a different matter," said Derek Li, the supervisory trial attorney for the EEOC. "The defendant did not raise language as an issue in the defense for not rehiring the workers."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chinese-hotel4-2010feb04,0,904945.story
Worker: School banned Spanish
Charlotte, North Carolina - A former school secretary has sued Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, saying she lost her job at Devonshire Elementary when a new principal banned her from speaking Spanish to parents who can't speak English.
Ana Ligia Mateo claims she was hired as a bilingual secretary for the east Charlotte school in 2006. But when Suzanne Gimenez took over as principal in 2008, the lawsuit says, Gimenez "announced in a staff meeting that she would no longer allow Spanish to be spoken to parents by any of the faculty or staff." Gimenez is married to a Latino but is not Hispanic herself.
This year 42 percent of Devonshire's 500 students are Hispanic. The school's Web site says that the school theme is "Academy of Cultural and Academic Diversity."
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/1230320.html
Puerto Rican officer claims discrimination by Clermont Police Department: Federal suit says officer was chided for 'Spanglish'
OCALA - Testimony continued today in a discrimination lawsuit filed by a Clermont police officer who contends he was denied a promotion after complaining about a supervisor who ridiculed him because he is Puerto Rican.
Officer Ramon Rodriguez also seeks an unspecified amount of punitive and compensatory damages for "blatant" humiliation he said he endured from a supervisor, Sgt. Jeff Radi, who criticized Rodriguez' English and taunted Rodriguez for using "Spanglish" in written reports, according to federal court documents.
According to the lawsuit, Radi interrupted Rodriguez when Rodriguez spoke Spanish with other Spanish-speaking officers – even during lunch or other work breaks – and told Rodriguez that he was "in America now, so speak English."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-clermont-police-discrimination-tria20100127,0,2929485.story
Federal jury decides against Clermont cop in discrimination case
OCALA – A federal jury decided today against a Clermont police officer who claimed that he was denied a promotion and pay raise after complaining about a supervisor who ridiculed him because he is Puerto Rican.
The verdict followed a day of deliberations in U.S. District Court.
Officer Ramon Rodriguez sued the city of Clermont, the Clermont Police Department and his former supervisor, Sgt. Jeff Radi, whom he accused of belittling, humiliating and insulting him because of his national origin.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-verdict-favors-clermont-police-20100128,0,7378012.story
Settlement Reached On Desegregation Lawsuit
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- It was one of the last remaining fights from the civil rights era and it ended Tuesday night as Orange County school leaders reached a settlement in a desegregation case that's almost 50 years old.
Since 1962 Orange County has been under federal oversight to make sure the school system was not discriminating. The lawsuit was first filed by eight black families. They sued for equal access to the white-dominated school district after one girl was denied the right to attend Boone High School.
http://www.wftv.com/education/22347473/detail.html
President Obama: We're going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws
Women still fall short when it comes to pay equity. So, last night in his first State of the Union Address, President Obama stressed that his administration is "going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws - so that women get equal pay for an equal day's work."
Though he did not give any more details on what he was going to do to enforce equal pay laws, it is clear that whoever thinks companies believe men and women are "created equal" isn't paying attention to the issue of pay discrimination. Today, on average women only earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn, only about 20 cents more than they did at the time when the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963.
In Georgia, the wages fare only a little better at 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) reported 2007 statistics that the wage gap is even more substantial when race and gender are considered together. Black women working full-time, year-round in Georgia earned only 64%, and Hispanic women only 49%, of the wages of White, non-Hispanic men.
http://www.examiner.com/x-23930-Atlanta-Working-Moms-Examiner~y2010m1d28-President-Obama-Were-going-to-crack-down-on-violations-of-equal-pay-laws
New Jersey Man Indicted for Threatening Employees of Latino Civil Rights Organizations
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal grand jury in Trenton, N.J., has charged Vincent Johnson of Brick, N.J., with threatening employees of five civil rights organizations that work to improve opportunities for and challenge discrimination against Latinos in the United States, announced Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
The 14-count indictment, returned by the grand jury on Feb. 4, 2010, alleges that between November 2006 and February 2009, Johnson, using the Internet username "Devilfish579", repeatedly sent threatening e-mail communications to employees of the LatinoJustice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; the National Council of La Raza; the League of United Latin American Citizens; and the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders. The indictment further alleges that Johnson intended to place the victims in fear of bodily injury and that Johnson acted because the victims were aiding and encouraging persons of Latino descent to participate without discrimination in activities provided by the federal and state governments.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-jersey-man-indicted-for-threatening-employees-of-latino-civil-rights-organizations-83811182.html
Restaurant owner won't appeal case against Mt. Kisco
MOUNT KISCO — A local restaurant owner won't appeal a federal judge's ruling that threw out his lawsuit charging the village retaliated against him for criticizing its policies toward Latinos.
Mauricio Arriaga , owner of Main Street's Mango Cafe, said his comments in a May 2007 article in The Journal News attacking the village's landlord registry prompted Mount Kisco to slap him with dozens of building code violations related to a two-family home he once co-owned at 104 Grove St.
Deputy Mayor Peter DiChiara said he finds Arriaga's allegations that village policies single out Latinos insulting. Although Arriaga had said the registry law targets Hispanic renters, DiChiara said the measure was nondiscriminatory because it deals with all apartments no matter who the tenants are.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20100124/NEWS02/1240368/-1/newsfront/Restaurant-owner-won-t-appeal-case-against-Mt.-Kisco
Judge charges that FDNY test is biased
The FDNY may have to hire two black and one Hispanic applicant out of every five new firefighters chosen, after a federal judge ruled that the department had engaged in intentionally discriminatory hiring practices.
Last week U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that written exams administered to FDNY applicants in 1999 and 2002 were biased and ordered that the city create a new test and establish a process for the victims to receive monetary compensation and retroactive seniority.
Approximately 7,400 minority members took the exam, but of those only 293 — the number of applicants the judge says would have passed at the same rate as whites if the test had been fair — will be given priority hiring. Two blacks and one Hispanic from the pool will be chosen as part of every five new individuals hired by the FDNY.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20406324&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574901&rfi=6
Munger man pleads guilty to charges of ethnic intimidation, assault
Michigan - A Munger man accused of letting his supposed racist tendencies spur him into assaulting a man has narrowly avoided trial.
Appearing in Bay County Circuit Court on Thursday, Kevin J. Wellman, 26, pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and ethnic intimidation. In exchange, charges of assault to commit harm less than murder and driving on a suspended license were dismissed, court records show.
On July 20, Wellman allegedly drove his car into a 25-year-old Hispanic man while yelling “white power.” The victim, also of Munger, was walking his dog near Burns and German when the assault took place, troopers from the Michigan State Police Bay City Post previously reported.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2010/02/munger_man_pleads_guilty_to_ch.html
Hispanic farmers allege discrimination by USDA
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Along the Texas border with New Mexico, in the valley his family settled 400 years ago, Lupe Garcia grows pecans and raises a few cows on 60 acres.
"We were farming in this valley before the pilgrims came to the east coast of the United States," he said. "I've been farming with my dad since we were kids."
From the 60 acres he owns, he looks out on 1,000 acres he lost — and he blames it on racial discrimination by the federal government.
The Hispanic farmers took their case all the way to the Supreme Court, but with Obama's Justice Department arguing against them, the high court turned them away.
The Justice Department blames Congress.
"Congress did not create a special statute and a special fund for class-wide resolution of these claims," said agency spokesman Charles Miller in a statement.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/farmers-83520247.html
Immigrant law ruling assessed: Federal appeals judges tossed two job provisions but upheld mandated worker status verification.
State officials are mulling their options after a federal appeals court pruned two key provisions of an immigration law aimed to reduce the number of undocumented workers and families across Oklahoma.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver upheld an injunction Tuesday against employer provisions of the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizens Protection Act of 2007, also known as House Bill 1804. However, the court lifted an injunction on a third provision that requires government contractors to verify the legal status of workers on public jobs.
One of the rejected provisions barred employers from firing workers who are legal U.S. residents while retaining workers who entered the country illegally. The three-judge panel also ruled against requiring businesses that hire private contractors to obtain documents showing that the individuals are authorized to work in this country or, if the documents are not provided, to withhold those contractors' taxes at the top rate.
The court's 3-0 decision against the two provisions means that they will not be enforced, pending further legal action.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100208_11_A1_Saeofc628520
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General Interest
Study: Lumping Ethnic Groups in Mental Health Research Leaves Many Untreated
The conventional practice of lumping ethnic groups together as Latinos, African Americans or Asian/Pacific Islanders makes it nearly impossible for researchers to determine key factors for improving the effectiveness of care among racial or ethnic subgroups, according to a new study of depression care in the United States.
“Most Americans with recent major depression go untreated or undertreated,” say the study authors, led by Hector Gonzalez, PhD, of the Gerontology Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Gonzalez and his colleagues found that the failure of national studies to distinguish ethnic or racial groups “obscures depression care research, especially for the largest and fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, Latino individuals and especially Mexican American individuals.”
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=8f6cccc0fd7c527964bd0decdeaefd08
Commentary: Farmworkers deserve their day in court: Fundamental rights are being denied
In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which codified for the first time the basic rights of American workers, including the right to collectively bargain.
Tragically, however, a political compromise left farmworkers excluded from these fundamental labor protections. Why? Because a group of segregationist senators feared that the equal treatment of agricultural workers, then mostly African-American, would eat into the profits of Southern farmers, which were fortified by a legal regime born of discrimination.
Seventy years later, the legacy of these senators stubbornly endures in New York State - only now the demographics have changed.
The vast majority of farmworkers in our state are now Latino, and for decades they have been deprived of the most basic rights afforded to virtually all other laborers. It's long past time to get creative and close an old loophole that has led to a new civil rights problem.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/01/28/2010-01-28_farmworkers_deserve_their_day_in_court.html
A modern tale of meatpacking and immigrants
Nebraska - When immigration agents came to town in 2006, Latinos comprised up to 11% of Grand Island's 45,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
On the day of the raid, agents detained more than 200 of the plant's 2,500 workers. Another 200 Latinos from the evening shift, apparently fearful of deportation, promptly quit.
In town the raid triggered an eruption of resentment.
When Latinos marched in protest afterward, some townspeople lined the streets with a counter-demonstration, holding signs that read, "Go back to Mexico, wetbacks." The local newspaper was filled with venomous letters to the editor decrying Latino immigration.
"A lot of people don't like the Latinos, they just don't," said Jeff Fulton, a Grand Island native who has worked at the plant for 25 years. Latinos faced more discrimination than previous immigrants because they had put down roots, he said. One only had to drive down 4th Street, past La Solomera Guatemalan import store and El Tazumal Mexican restaurant, to see their influence.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-immigrant-nebraska28-2010jan28,0,6078807.story
Ugly Betty cancelled at season's end
Television comedy Ugly Betty will get the axe from U.S. network ABC after four seasons.
The show starring America Ferrera began as a critical success, but ratings fell in its third and fourth seasons. ABC said the show will conclude its run in April.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2010/01/28/ugly-betty.html
A Day of Action at Cleveland High School
San Fernando, California - Students from Cleveland High School in Reseda participated in a "Day of Action" rally Tuesday in conjunction with the release of the report, "Police in LAUSD Schools: The Need for Accountability and Alternatives." Similar rallies were held on other LAUSD campuses including Manuel Arts and Westchester High Schools.
The report published by the Strategy Center's Community Rights Campaign attributes the increasing presence of police in and around LAUSD school campuses as contributing to student's dropping out and being "pushed out" of school.
Wearing tee shirts that read Hey LAUSD, I'm Pre-Med, Pre-Job NOT Pre-Prison, Cleveland High Students at the Day of Action rally said they agree with the report's findings. "We have to take a stand, we can't sit back and watch bad things happen to our peers," said Carla Duarte, a junior at Cleveland, "We have to make people aware and let them know that these things are happening."
http://www.sanfernandosun.com/sanfernsun/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4825&Itemid=2
Excerpt from "Police in LAUSD Schools: The Need for Accountability and Alternatives":
With 340 sworn officers and 147 School Safety Officers, the LASPD is the largest school police department in the country. Given that 91% of LAUSD students are students of color – it is inevitable that the brunt of any potential misconduct or abuse by LASPD officers are shouldered by students of color. As the LAUSD Board prepares to select a new Chief of Police for LASPD, the Community Rights Campaign and Dignity in Schools urge the LAUSD Board to create new mechanisms and policies that hold the LASPD accountable to the civil/human rights of all LAUSD students—most specifically by creating new LAUSD policies to restrict the role and use of force of LASPD inside our schools and an independent civilian review board to bring greater accountability
http://www.thestrategycenter.org/blog/2010/01/22/crc-launches-new-report-against-problems-police-lausd-schools
Programs to benefit minority execs touted
Ethnic minorities enrolled in college business programs would benefit from classes that teach them how to handle social challenges they might face while working in corporate America, according to a report published in the September 2009 issue of Career Development Quarterly.
Such classes could increase the number of minorities who rise to executive-level positions, wrote the paper's author, Belinda Johnson White, a professor of leadership studies at the all-male, historically Black Morehouse College in Atlanta.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2010/01/31/20100131biz-insider0131zlomek.html
New study assesses potential impact of eliminating affirmative action
A new study published in the Journal of Labor Economics which attempts to estimate the potential impact of eliminating affirmative action has found there could be striking implications for minority enrollment, particularly at the nation’s most selective schools.
The study, published by California State University, Sacramento professor of economics Jessica Howell, found that if race-neutral college admissions were to be implemented nationwide in college admissions (as has already happened in California, Texas, Florida, Michigan and Washington state), black and Hispanic enrollment would decline two to four percent nationwide, and 10 percent at schools ranked as most selective in admissions.
http://dailycollegian.com/2010/02/04/new-study-assesses-potential-impact-of-eliminating-affirmative-action/
Climate could be right for GOP’s Sandoval to capture Hispanic vote
When Republican Party leaders engaged last summer in a vitriolic attack on then-Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, calling her a “racist” and a member of the “Latino KKK” and questioning her credentials despite her elite schooling, it seemed to be a final nail, driven home with gusto, into the coffin of GOP outreach to Hispanic voters.
It was a swift and dramatic alienation from the fastest growing bloc of voters in the entire electorate.
President George W. Bush won at least 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004 with the help of his conservative social policies, his support of immigration reform, and his abiding popularity in the heavily Hispanic Texas and his occasional use of the Spanish language.
But after the charged rhetoric of the immigration reform fight, which the Republican base loudly hated, President Barack Obama won Nevada Hispanic voters by a 3-1 margin in 2008 while also pushing up their turnout considerably — Hispanic voters comprised 15 percent of the Nevada electorate, compared with 10 percent in 2004, according to data compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/feb/07/hispanic-voters-may-feel-alienated/
Racial bullying roils South Philadelphia school
PHILADELPHIA - The blocks surrounding South Philadelphia High School are a melting pot of pizzerias fronted by Italian flags, African hair-braiding salons, and a growing number of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indonesian restaurants.
Inside is a cauldron of cultural discontent that erupted in violence last month - off-campus and lunchroom attacks on about 50 Asian students, injuring 30, primarily at the hands of blacks.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/01/24/racial_bullying_roils_south_philadelphia_school/
Bookstore to review policy for Hispanic workers
NEW HAVEN, Conn. | A popular bookstore and cafe near Yale University wants its many Hispanic employees to speak English only around customers, sparking controversy in immigrant-friendly New Haven, where students fight for immigrant rights.
Atticus Bookstore and Cafe recently issued a policy stating that English should be the only language spoken on the floor and behind the counter.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/25/bookstore-to-review-policy-for-hispanic-workers/
Editorial: English-only bookstore policy is discriminatory
The United States of America is supposed to be a land of opportunity and equality, a place where everyone has a chance to become a citizen and enjoy all of the benefits America has to offer. But a recent policy enacted by Atticus Bookstore in New Haven, Conn., does not reflect this ideal.
The close proximity of the store and café to Yale University means that it often attracts a varied crowd. In November 2009, a memo was posted stating that English was the only language to be used on the floor, though the majority of the staff is Hispanic.
This policy, which is currently under review, has received differing reactions. There are some who claim that this policy is necessary and justified for business purposes, while there are others who say that this is dangerously close to discrimination. A lack of prior complaints also makes the justification of business purposes suspect.
http://www.dailycampus.com/commentary/editorial-english-only-bookstore-policy-is-discriminatory-1.1090055
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez to speak at Freedom Tower
U.S. Sen. Robert ``Bob'' Menendez of New Jersey will visit Miami's historic Freedom Tower Sunday to discuss his book, Growing American Root: Why Our Nation Will Thrive As Our Largest Minority Flourishes.
The Democratic lawmaker's book examines how far the country has come, and, in particular, how much the Hispanic population has achieved. The book also calls for sweeping social and economic legislation, immigration reform, improved healthcare and an end to the discrimination and prejudice that Hispanics face. Menendez was born in New York City of Cuban immigrant parents. He lived in a tenement building in Union City, N.J., and was a product of public schools and the state's universities.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1448376.html
Latest Legal News: Yes, Judges' Race and Gender Matter
The ABA Journal reports on a 2009 law review article and a 2005 law review note that analyze decisions in workplace racial harassment cases and sexual discrimination and sexual harassment cases, and find that the race and gender of the judge dramatically impacts a plaintiff's chance of winning.
Racial harassment cases are hard for plaintiffs to win; in all, the plaintiffs won only 22% of the time. When racial harassment claims are heard by white judge, the plaintiffs' odds dip slightly, and they win only 20.6% of the time. When the judge is African-American, however, the plaintiff wins 45.8% of the time -- more than twice as often.
Interestingly, Latino judges were even more pro-defendant than whites, with plaintiffs winning only 19.0% of cases. Gender, though, had only a minor impact on the outcome of racial discrimination cases: Women ruled for the plaintiff 25.6% of the time, and while men ruled for the plaintiff in 21.3% of cases.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/latest-legal-news-yes-judges-race-and-gender-matter/19348887/
Advocate 'backbone' for Hispanic victims
North Carolina - Just moments after the shocking realization that her 1-month-old boy had been kidnapped from her car, Lidia Juarez, a native of Mexico who speaks no English, heard a calming voice.
Cutting through the chaos -- in clearly delivered Spanish -- North Charleston's newly hired Hispanic victims' advocate told Juarez she could trust local authorities to help find her "Baby Angel."
North Charleston's growing Hispanic population has prompted the city to have a Spanish-speaking victim's advocate ready for a variety of police matters.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jan/25/minna-hosseini-a-backbone-for-hispanic-victims/
Daily Debriefing
The size of the gender gap among American college students is beginning to level out, according to a study conducted by the American Council on Education. For the 2007-2008 academic year, 46 percent of college students below the age of 24 were male, according to Inside Higher Ed. The figure has remained roughly constant since the 1999-2000 school year, when the same figure was reported. The only place the gender gap still appears to be increasing is in the Hispanic population, where a growing percentage of college students are female. Forty-two percent of Latino college students nationwide were male during the 2007-2008 academic year, while 45 percent were male in 1999-2000, Inside Higher Ed reported. Hispanic women are also more likely to receive their bachelor’s degree than their male counterparts, the study found.
http://thedartmouth.com/2010/01/27/news/briefs
To read a summary of the study conducted by the American Council on Education, go to:
http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releases2&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=35338
HNBA Announces Recipients of the 2010 Top Lawyers Under Forty Awards
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) congratulates five (5) accomplished HNBA members under the age of 40 who have distinguished themselves as young lawyers in the upper echelon of the legal profession nationwide. The Association is proud to announce that it has selected the following attorneys to receive its prestigious Top Lawyers Under Forty Award (listed in alphabetical order):
Carlos Cruz, Attorney, Law Office of Carlos Cruz (Alhambra, CA)
Ernestina Cruz, Partner, Narvaez Law Firm, P.A. (Albuquerque, NM)
Niza Motola, Special Counsel, Littler Mendelson, P.C. (Miami, FL)
Monica C. Sanchez, Managing Partner, Cochran Latino-The Sanchez Firm (Metaine, LA)
Luis Felipe Valerin, Senior Counsel, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (Westfield, NJ)
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hnba-announces-recipients-of-the-2010-top-lawyers-under-forty-awards-83457262.html
US colleges court Hispanic families using espanol
PHILADELPHIA -- For some Hispanic students, navigating the college application process can be a double-whammy: Balancing high school coursework with essays and interviews, and then translating the whole system for their parents, who don't speak English.
Some venerable East Coast universities are trying to ease that burden - and tap the booming pool of Hispanic students - by offering Spanish translations of their admissions and financial aid material.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/07/AR2010020701764.html
