Barack Obama Gets Secret-Service Protection, Racist Death Threats

"It is the sad reality this day and age that Mr. Obama's African-American heritage is a cause for very violent and hated reactions from some people," said Sen. Dick Durbin when explaining why presidential candidate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has been placed under the protection of the U.S. Secret Service. One-time presidential candidate the Rev. Jesse Jackson called it a "wise decision" and had extravagant praise for the federal agents who once protected him. Read more.

Oprah Brings 'The Color Purple' to Chicago

It was a special day for Oprah Winfrey when "The Color Purple" opened on Broadway in 2005--but not as special as having the first leg of the North American tour of the stage hit open in Chicago where she built her empire. "There's an intimacy and obvious connection that I feel here that I couldn't possibly feel in New York," the Chicago-based talk-show host said. "I could never have imagined that when we put it on Broadway, a year later we would be able to take it around the country and, eventually, to the world." reports, The Chicago Tribune.

LeBron, Kobe Say NBA Refs Not Racist

Basketball's two most dynamic players disagree with a study on NBA referee calls that claims white referees make more calls on black players and that black referees do the same with white players but to a lesser degree. "I think I've gotten more techs from black refs than white refs," said Kobe Bryant. LeBron James said, "I don't know that I've ever really felt that there was a racial component to officiating." Read more.

Korean Community Fundraises for Virginia Tech Victims, Families

In an effort to be part of the healing process and reach out to the greater community affected by the Virginia Tech massacre, the Korean-American community in the greater metropolitan D.C. area has established a Virginia Tech Memorial Fund to help the families of the victims of the April 16 shooting. "The Korean American community hopes the memorial fund will help the victims' families recover from this tragedy and begin their healing process. The donations from the memorial fund will go towards helping the victims and their families in whatever way possible," said the D.C.-based Korean American Coalition. Read more.

Hate-Crimes Bill Veto Threatened by White House

The House voted Thursday to add gender and sexual orientation to the categories protected by federal hate-crimes law, and while a similar measure moves through the Senate, the White House threatens a veto. House Majority Leader Steny Hyoer, D-Md., said the vote is a statement that America accepts differences. Meanwhile, a White House statement said state and local criminal laws already cover the new crimes defined under the bill, and there was "no persuasive demonstration of any need to federalize such a potentially large range of violent crime enforcement." Read more.

Edwards Responds to Bush Veto in YouTube Video

Presidential hopeful former Sen. John Edwards turned to YouTube to respond to President Bush's veto of the Iraq supplemental bill. Edwards is asking people to upload their own video responses on YouTube to the Bush veto. Watch the video.

Will Fred Thompson's Racist Role Have Political Repercussions?

"Law & Order" actor and former GOP Sen. Fred Thompson played a white supremacist, spewing anti-Semitic comments and fondling an autographed copy of Mein Kampf, on a television drama 19 years ago. Will that role undo his presidential campaign before it's even launched? While his colleagues say he was just an actor playing a role, in this day and age of YouTube, old clips find new life, and the role could definitely be taken out of context, states Los Angeles Times.

EEOC Plans Move to Control Costs

Naomi Earp, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said a plan to relocate its Washington, D.C., headquarters is part of a broader effort to free up resources to tackle growing backlogs of employment discrimination complaints. The EEOC faced an inventory of nearly 40,000 private-sector charges at the end of fiscal year 2006, a 19 percent increase over the previous year. The inventory may reach 67,000 by the end of fiscal year 2008. Read more.

Queen Elizabeth Praises Virginia Diversity

When Queen Elizabeth II helped Virginia mark the anniversary of its colonial founding, it was an all-white affair in a state whose government was in open defiance of a 1954 Supreme Court order to desegregate public schools. "Over the course of my reign and certainly since I first visited Jamestown in 1957, my country has become a much more diverse society just as the commonwealth of Virginia and the whole United States of America ... The melting pot metaphor captures one of the great strengths of your country," said Queen Elizabeth, reports The Associated Press.

Inaccessibility Impacts People with Disabilities

Imagine if you were not able to step over cracks in the sidewalk and instead had to carefully plan around them to get through your day. While issues of diversity are constantly being discussed, it seems that accessibility related to people with disabilities is often overlooked, since those with disabilities are not traditionally viewed as a type of minority. They should be a part of any diversity conversation, writes Justin Burniske in a column that appeared in the University of Texas at Austin's "The Daily Texan."

James Brown Remembered During Protest

When remembering her father, James Brown, at a memorial held at The Apollo, Deanna Brown Thomas asked rhetorically, "How did we get from 'Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud,' to where we are today?" Earlier Thursday, a rally was held calling on the music industry to own up to racist and sexist language. Protesters marched through Manhattan to the headquarters of major music labels like Sony, Warner, Universal and Time Warner. "We got to start taking care of our own people," said Daryl Brown, son of James Brown according to Access Atlanta.

Mexico Loses More People to U.S. Immigration Than to Death

Mexico's demographics agency found that an average of 577,000 people migrated to the U.S. each year between 2000 and 2005, compared with 495,000 deaths a year in the same period. In 2006, 559,000 migrated and there were 501,000 deaths. The study also showed more and more Mexicans traveling illegally to the United States. Between 1998 and 2001, 68 percent of Mexicans traveling to the United States entered illegally, and that number jumped to 78 percent from 2001 to 2005, states The Houston Chronicle.

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