Word: americanization
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While Kumar, like Falcón, applauds the Census Bureau for the 2010 form's prominent Hispanic-origins feature, she feels the feds still fail to understand "how layered the Latino self-identity is" beyond just language. North Americans call Oct. 12 Columbus Day, but Latin Americans call it Dia de la Raza - Day of the Race - a recognition that 1492 began a commingling of primarily Iberian, native American and African blood that in turn produced a new race, sometimes called mestizo. That process was perhaps deepest in Mexico - and because Mexico is the origin country of almost two-thirds...
...this should prod the Census Bureau to simplify things for future counts. The Hispanic-origins and race sections should be combined into one, less confusing section that asks folks what ethnic and/or racial group they belong to: white, black, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander or Hispanic. It should (as it already does for some groups on the form) provide space for designating subgroups - like Arabs, for example. (Many Jamaican- and Bahamian-Americans also feel the Census should list their Caribbean origins as a black subgroup.) And it should make clear that respondents can check more than one group. That matters...
...while the name Hutaree may have a mysterious flavor, the plot its members were reportedly hatching was part of a familiar form of American paranoia. On Monday, federal authorities charged nine alleged Hutaree members with seditious conspiracy and attempted use of weapons of mass destruction. The government believes the group - which apparently espouses an extreme form of fundamentalist Christianity - may have been plotting to kill law-enforcement officers to help spark a broader armed conflict. According to court documents, the Hutaree deemed police "foot soldiers" of the federal government - which in turn was part of the new world order...
Still, the Hutaree are a symptom of the continuing militia phenomenon, one that seems to have gained impetus since the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the U.S. The Southern Poverty Law Center says that last year alone, the number of patriot and militia groups increased 244%, to 512. Though not necessarily racist, such groups fiercely oppose the federal government. In recent weeks, the health care debate seems to have fueled antigovernment sentiment that is far different from the last noticeable rise in extremist-group activity, after the 1992 election of Bill Clinton. "These shifts...
...often to mounting accusations that his rival has a history of using political donations for less-than-transparent purposes. Investigations by the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times have found that while a state legislator and speaker, Rubio made thousands of dollars in personal purchases with a GOP-issued American Express card that was supposed to be used only for election-related costs (he says he has paid it all back). Among other apparent breaches, Rubio also failed to disclose $34,000 in expenses for one of his political-action committees while his wife and relatives got questionable fees from...