Latinos want more gun control
So there I was, blasting away at the bull’s-eye with a .22 rifle. When I was done, I handed the gun back to its owner and wondered if I should feel exhilarated or manly or something. But I just felt...
View ArticleHas Arizona’s ban on ethnic studies backfired?
As we all know, the quickest way to convince people to do something is to tell them they are forbidden from doing it. Currently, legislators in everybody’s favorite state — Arizona — are learning this...
View ArticleIs a military pathway to citizenship just exploitation?
My cousin came to America from El Salvador when he was a toddler. But he didn’t become a citizen until his second tour of duty in Iraq. At one point in his naturalization process, he was told to report...
View ArticleAre rich Latinos getting richer, while poor Latinos get poorer?
Here’s a cheery statistic that you may have missed: The wealthiest 1 percent now control 39 percent of the world’s wealth, and their share is likely to grow in the coming years. What this means is that...
View ArticleWhat does it mean to be a proud Latino?
Decades after James Brown first exhorted his brethren to say it loud (“I’m black and I’m proud), another group of oppressed Americans — gay people — adopted the idea and found resounding success in...
View ArticleIs racial prejudice hardwired in the brain?
Blame it on the amygdala. This region of the brain, which plays a central role in processing fear and aggression, may be the source of one of the most insidious concepts to bedevil humankind: racism. A...
View ArticleWhat is the line between funny and offensive?
Let’s be clear. Nothing is funnier than Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The combination of the surreal, the obtuse, and the plain vulgar is still hilarious decades later. The Python comedy troupe was...
View ArticleThe Latina, you’ve never heard of, who changed world history
Another Hispanic Heritage Month has ended. Yes, there were lots of mentions of Cesar Chavez, as well as a few other well-known Latinos. But I’m always amazed that the name of one influential Latina is...
View ArticleThe real difference between Conservatives and Liberals
Well, Obamacare has rolled out, and the results thus far aren’t exactly spectacular. This fiasco has illustrated the vast gap between liberals and conservatives. Now, I’m not talking about ideology, or...
View ArticleIs calling something “White” an insult?
I was at a wedding reception when I saw her — a blonde woman trying in vain to get down with Kool & the Gang’s Jungle Boogie. A man seated near me gestured to the woman and pronounced her, “the...
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