Racial Jokes Target Asian-American Students

Asian-American students are increasingly at the butt of satirical jokes published by college-student newspapers, shedding light on a common misconception that Asian-American students don't suffer racial discrimination, reports Inside Higher Ed. Recently, the Daily Princeton published an article written in broken English that mocked Chinese-American student Jian Li, a Yale student who filed a complaint with the U.S. Education Department for Civil Rights, claiming he was rejected from Princeton because of his ethnicity, reports Inside Higher Ed. Late last year, the UCLA Daily Bruin pointed out that Asian Americans are "the real problem who took away admissions slots from Black and Latino students and proposed a solution to the Asian invasion." Some say the recent rash of articles shows that education administrators need better policies to protect the rights of all students. This appears to be a theme. A Tufts University student-run newspaper got in trouble last year for a satirical carol, "O Come All Ye Black Folk."

Karl Rove Defends Obama

Sen. Barack Obama got a hand last week from Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, after a group of conservatives began using the senator's middle name (Hussein) to try to create an association between the Illinois senator and terrorists. According to an online report by Marc Ambinder, associate editor of The Atlantic, Rove cautioned a private gathering of Republican state executive directors last month that "'Barack Hussein Obama' would sound like a rallying cry for bigots," reports National Public Radio. Rove issued the warning after conservatives Bill Cunningham and Ann Coulter used the senator's name repeatedly in interviews. Coulter, known for her staunchly conservative positions, calls Obama "B. Hussein Obama" because she finds it "funny." Obama has suffered a number of "botched name" incidents. Early last year, CNN linked the presidential candidate with Osama bin Laden. He's also been accused of being a Muslim, which is untrue.

EEOC Rolls Out New Guides for Vets with Disabilities

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released two question-and-answer guides aimed at providing assistance for employers and veterans on workplace issues affecting veterans with service-connected disabilities, reports Workplace Prof Blog (WPB). The first guide, which is for employers, explains how protections for veterans differ under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and describes in particular how the ADA applies to recruiting, hiring and accommodating veterans. The second guide, for veterans, answers questions that veterans with service-connected disabilities may have about protections, reports WPB. Find out how you can help veterans with disabilities and read more about the EEOC on DiversityInc.com.

Is Micro-Credit a Solution to Subprime Mortgages?  

There is an emerging solution to the subprime-mortgage meltdown, and it's not coming from the large banks, despite the fact one city is suing 21 of them for the economic meltdown subprime practices have caused. The potential savior is coming from a Bangladesh-originated bank that hinges on doling out dollars with minimal interest rates. Headed by 2006 Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the now 25-year-old Grameen Bank made its mark by handing out billions of dollars in micro-credit to low-income people, mainly women, for income-generating activities to pull families out of poverty, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). In January, Yunus launched Grameen America, which has loaned $145,000 with an interest rate around 15 percent. The loans require no collateral, credit-history checks, legalities or complicated work--just credit, reports the WSJ. "You look at the mother, that illiterate woman who borrowed money to raise chickens, to buy a cow to send the daughter to school, and now she's a doctor. And I get the question in my mind: the mother could have been a doctor too," Yunus told the WSJ. "The whole thing is about making those opportunities available, so that they can change their lives."

For more information on how micro-credit is helping low-income women improve their lives and the lives of their families, check out the March 2008 issue of DiversityInc magazine.

Can Obama Win Over Jewish Democrats?

With more than 300 delegates on the line in Tuesday's four-state primary and this long battle for the democratic nomination potentially nearing a close, Sen. Barack Obama is facing growing concerns from Jewish Democrats who question a recent endorsement the senator received from the controversial Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan, and a series of e-mails circulating in the Jewish community. "Those concerns have been continually stoked, whether through these e-mails that suggest that I'm a Muslim and attended madrassas and was sworn in with my hand on the Koran and scurrilous e-mails that were untrue," Obama said last Thursday, reports The New York Times. The Jewish community represents 1.5 percent of the adult population and made up 5 percent of the voters when more than 20 states voted on Feb. 5, of which Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed 54 percent. Read Is Obama Really Anti-Israel? Debunking an Urban Legend for more.

 Wal-Mart Beefs Up Arab Products in Local Stores  

Retail giant Wal-Mart is ramping up its multicultural marketing to Arab Americans by stocking Dearborn, Mich., stores with falafel, olives and Islamic greetings cards, reports Newsweek. The one-stop shop, known for dropping "its big-box store in the community with a thud," is taking a softer approach to attracting Arab shoppers by stocking its shelves with items and foods that "fit into a bastion of ethnic tradition."

"There is a fear factor in the business community," Osama Siblani, publisher of Dearborn's Arab American News, told Newsweek. To allay those fears, Wal-Mart is making an extraordinary promise: It will not undercut the prices of the small local merchants (though it will still go after Kroger) and has agreed to be scrutinized by a community-advisory board made up of local Arab-American leaders to ensure it isn't harming the mom-and-pop shops, reports Newsweek. Check out more multicultural-marketing news and best practices on DiversityInc.com.

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