Which Democrat Is Raising More Money?

Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama is taking the lead as the Democratic frontrunner in terms of fundraising in 2007. According to a report released by his campaign, Obama raised at least $32.5 million for his White House bid, breaking the record for presidential fundraising in the first six months of the year before an election. The first-term Illinois senator has collected more than $58 million this year. His fundraising numbers surpass the $37.3 million collected during the first six months in 1999 by George W. Bush, then governor of Texas. Obama's haul for the past three months also beats out the $27 million accumulated by his main Democratic rival New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the second-quarter fundraising period, according to numbers filed last week by the Clinton campaign. What does this mean for the 2008 election? Read more.

Click here for more Election '08 news from DiversityInc. (See also: Whose Presidential Campaign Is Worst for Diversity?)

Why Hasn't the Immigration-Reform Bill Passed? Opponents Speak Out

The U.S. Senate may have failed in its efforts to issue an immigration-reform bill last Thursday, but that doesn't mean protestors are ready to go down without a fight. Several people in opposition to the bill feel the Senate needs to enforce existing laws instead of changing them, even if it makes life harder for undocumented workers. Opponents of the bill say that by enforcing the laws already in the books, undocumented workers living in the U.S. will become so uncomfortable that workers will leave of their own. The business community also is pushing to resurrect portions of a wide-ranging immigration bill that faded in the Senate last week. Among the priorities for business are provisions that would allow more highly skilled workers into the country each year and expand programs for farmworkers. The people most eager for change are the undocumented workers still seeking work. Many feel their dreams of a normal life have been cut off too early. Read more.

N.M. to Allow Homegrown Medicinal Marijuana

In less than a week, medical marijuana will officially be considered legal in the state of New Mexico, but there's one decision that's making state law-enforcement officials nervous: The Department of Health is giving people who qualify for medicinal pot permission to grow it in their own homes. The law would allow people who have AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and epilepsy to use marijuana for pain relief. The New Mexico Department of Health announced it will allow patients to grow their own marijuana because the state still hasn't figured out how it is supposed to grow and distribute pot. While the health department contests that the measure is necessary, law enforcement was not expecting this outcome. And of course, what federal protections will New Mexico provide for residents with disabilities who use legally use medical marijuana in the state? None. Read more.

Who Gets Blamed for Firms' Lacking Diversity?

Women, people of color and people with disabilities are still less likely to be hired by prestigious corporations and are more likely to be considered "difficult" to recruit. Ken Arroyo Roldan, who works for an executive-recruiting company, disagrees with this notion and says that executive-search firms are partially to blame for the lack in diversity at the senior levels of major companies. Roldan says without women, people of color and people with disabilities working at senior levels, they fail to get hired in lower-tier positions as well. Roldan also admits that recruiters will often ask employers to pay a 40 percent premium to recruit a person of color. Read more.

Clinton Criticizes Thompson's Cuban Remark

During a televised Democratic presidential debate, Sen. Hillary Clinton criticized a previous comment made by Republican rival Fred Thompson for suggesting that Cuban immigrants pose a terrorist threat. Clinton said she was appalled by the remark. "Apparently he doesn't have a lot of experience in Florida or anywhere else and doesn't know a lot of Cuban Americans," said Clinton. Thompson, who has recently polled strongly among Republican primary voters, is expected to join the race soon and made the comment while campaigning last week in South Carolina. The actor and former Tennessee senator was reportedly criticizing the Senate's immigration bill, saying it would make the country more vulnerable to terrorism. Read more.

Muslim Woman Denied Courtroom Access for Headscarf

A 20-year-old Muslim woman has been denied access into a Georgia courtroom because an officer told her she wasn't allowed to wear the traditional Islamic headscarf (hijab). Aniisa Karim, who was trying to contest a speeding ticket, said she was stopped prior to entering a municipal court building and was told she would not be permitted to enter the courtroom wearing her hijab. She was told it was because of "homeland-security reasons," and allowing her to enter the building wearing it would show disrespect to the judge. In a letter to Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, the Council on American-Islamic Relations asked Baker to "take appropriate action to ensure that the legal, religious and civil rights of Georgians of all faiths be maintained." In the meantime, Karim has decided not to challenge the speeding ticket and pay a $168 fine since she was denied access to enter the courtroom. Read more.

Undocumented Workers Not to Blame for Black Ills

Despite the opinions expressed by the Minuteman Project, an anti-immigrant campaign group consisting of white conservatives and a handful of black civil-rights crusaders, undocumented workers say they are not to blame for destroying neighborhoods, draining social services or stealing jobs from black Americans, especially uneducated laborers. However, in trying to propagate their message, the Minuteman Project, a group seeking to deter illegal crossings of undocumented workers—especially from Mexico—is trying to establish more black support by expressing strong concern for the economic prospects of black men. Sen. Chip Rogers blames their plight on undocumented workers. Read more.

To read more on this myth and nine others about immigrants, read DiversityInc's September 2007 issue on immigration, coming soon.

More Free Diversity News >>