What Are Your Picks for the Top Race Relations Stories of the Decade?

Which race relations stories gripped you most over the past ten years? I recently composed my list of the top race relations stories of the decade. Narrowing it down to ten was no easy feat. I left out some people and trends that undoubtedly left their mark on race relations in the new millennium.

Take the rapper Eminem, for example. The Detroiter's star rose in the early 2000s. Not only did he cut multiple platinum records, he won an Academy Award and starred in the box office hit "8 Mile," a semi-autobiographical portrait of his life. The success of Marshall Mathers showed the world that there were indeed "credible" white rappers in hip-hop. Vanilla Ice and Snow weren't all whites had to contribute to the medium.

So, why did I leave Marshall Mathers off my list? He gets a strong honorable mention from me, but I left him off because he first became famous in 1999 when his Slim Shady LP dropped. That technically makes him a phenomenon of the previous decade.

Who else did I consider putting on the list? Harold and Kumar. That's right, the duo from "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle." Although this film seems like a stoner comedy on the surface, it's actually pretty racially subversive. In other films, most notoriously "Sixteen Candles," Asian men are relegated to playing unappealing, unattractive nerds. In "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," which debuted in 2004, a Korean-American man has the opportunity to be a love interest. Moreover, he's paired up with a Latina, giving the audience a chance to see an unconventional interracial couple. The movie also challenges stereotypes about Asian men being passive and having a fondness for crunching numbers.

So, why did I leave "Harold and Kumar" off my list? Although the film did well enough to produce a sequel, it was basically a cult hit. I don't think it reached a wide enough audience to have truly made a dent in race relations, or at least in the way Asian men are generally presented in popular culture. Hopefully, in the next decade, we'll see more Asian actors playing roles from which they've traditionally been excluded. John Cho, the actor who played Harold, continues to pave the way. He's now playing a government agent with an African-American fiancée in ABC's "Flash Forward."

Eminem and Harold and Kumar are just a few of the phenomenons that didn't make the cut. Also deserving of an honorable mention is the fact that Latinos surpassed African Americans as the largest minority group in the United States during the new millennium. Because Latinos come from a variety of racial groups, however, the rise in the number of Hispanic Americans doesn't necessarily mean that there are fewer blacks in the United States.

Along with the news about the rising number of Latinos in America came a vigorous interest in Latin culture. Latino music artists such as Shakira entered the mainstream. Films and television shows with predominantly Latino casts such as "Nothing Like the Holidays" (2008) and "Resurrection Blvd." (2000) made their debuts. Latinos will surely continue to make a strong impact on popular culture, politics and other realms.

So, readers, I'm curious to learn what you think should have made my Top 10 list. In the meantime, I'll be compiling my picks for the most notable race relations stories of 2009.

Update: My list of the year in review for race relations is complete.