No one has a problem with interracial marriage anymore, right? Poll after poll shows that public support of these unions is at record highs. The 2010 census revealed not only that interracial marriages are up but also that mixed-race children are the fastest growing group of young people. These days television shows feature interracial couples in storylines where race never causes tension. Altogether that means that interracial marriage is simply a non-issue in post-racial America, doesn't it? Not quite. The online reaction to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg's wedding on Saturday to Priscilla Chan is a clear reminder that the country has a long way to go before interracial marriage becomes widely and genuinely accepted. Read More...

Back in December the U.S. Justice Department accused Sheriff Joe Arpaio of "unconstitutional policing" for the egregious way he and his staff treated Latinos in Maricopa County, Ariz. On Friday, the Justice Department made an official complaint against Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spelling out just how badly they trampled on the civil rights of Latinos, regardless of citizenship status. That's right. Undocumented immigrants, permanent legal residents and U.S. citizens have all been subjected to police brutality, according to the Justice Department. The website Think Progress has listed some of the most shocking behavior exhibited by police in Maricopa County. The behavior supports claims that racism is fueling controversial practices and laws in the state of Arizona rather than concerns about illegal immigration. Read More...

The day after President Barack Obama's groundbreaking announcement Wednesday that he supports gay marriage, I received calls from people eager to weigh in on the issue. One wanted to know if I thought Obama would lose support from black voters for backing same-sex marriage. Another complained that once again the media had made sweeping generalizations about the black community's views on gay marriage in particular and homosexuality in general.

For the record, I don't think that President Obama will lose a significant amount of support from black voters because of his stance on gay marriage. That's largely because I don't think blacks are the ignorant homophobes the media has portrayed them to be. I've made this point before and have been vilified by some who've taken it to mean that I don't think heterosexism is an issue in the black community. I certainly think it is, but it's not a problem exclusive to African Americans. Blacks don't exist in a vacuum and if heterosexism is a problem in the black community, it's because it's an issue in society at large. I can't count the number of times as both a student and an educator, I heard white youths use the word "gay" as a put down or even f----t and then look at me like I've gone batty for objecting. It's even difficult to watch a mindless television show without getting a hearty dose of homophobia. On predominantly white sitcoms such as "The Big Bang Theory," "New Girl," "Friends" or "King of Queens," the running joke is always that the male characters have behaved "gay" in some way and that homoerotic undertones color their male relationships. The message is that being gay is gross and therefore hilarious. Yet, I'm supposed to think of homophobia as just a black thing? Read More...

Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States. Approximately one out of six Americans is Latino, but Father Albert Cutié argues in an opinion piece for CNN that mainstream America fails to recognize the magnitude of the Latino population in the U.S. Why? Because Latinos are so diverse their presence often goes undetected by the majority population.

"I'm often surprised how in the United States, this wonderfully pluralistic nation of ours, we often hear people speak of Latinos and Hispanics as if we were all of the same exact culture, race and ethnicity," Cutié writes. "It bothers me to hear people say, 'but you don't look Hispanic,' as if there is only one appearance in our big umbrella of races and cultures." Read More...