Minorities

There ARE telltale moments when Lin-Manuel Miranda, the star and creator of "In the Heights," knows who's in the audience to see his new musical about Latinos in Upper Manhattan: Whenever he mentions the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico in a rap song, or watches cast members unfurl the Mexican flag, ecstatic cheers ring out. Similar moments occur for Stew, who wrote and performs in "Passing Strange," the new musical about an African American kid...

Although the overall U.S. abortion rate is at its lowest level since 1974, the drop has been far more dramatic for whites than for African Americans, who in 2004 had abortions at five times the rate of white women, according to a report released Monday. The abortion rate for Latinas was about three times that of whites.

In a small classroom inside an industrial park in Torrance, veteran TV engineer Jaime Hernandez is dispensing some practical advice to his eager students. Look at the subject. Frame the shot. Check the focus. Above all, be consistent. "I had a student who was always going after the spectacular shot," Hernandez said. "I told him, 'Just give me something I can use. Just give me a base hit, not a home run every time.'

The integration of Southern California's suburban communities continued apace into the second half of the decade, driven by steadily growing numbers of Latinos and Asians moving into middle-class neighborhoods, according to detailed census data released Monday. Overall, the white population in the five-county region appears to have leveled off after a notable decline in the 1990s. Other groups continued to expand across the region, with the Asian population seeing the greatest increase.

Religious and civil rights leaders in Los Angeles and other big cities said Monday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stood in the way of Martin Luther King Jr.'s goals of civil and economic equality. The group of 100 activists from 10 cities demanded that the world's largest retailer increase pay and offer better health benefits -- a rallying cry for critics of the company. "Too often, we hear that for our communities, any job is a good job," the Rev.

When it was time for Woodrow Curry to decide where to go to university, he had several choices. An African American with good high school grades and test scores, he was accepted by UC Berkeley, among other schools. But Berkeley is not where he ended up. Spurning one of the nation's premier public universities, he picked UC Riverside. Although Riverside is sometimes scorned as the lowliest of UC campuses, it offered Curry something that Berkeley did not: a place where he felt welcome.

Although the percentage of Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans serving as judges in Los Angeles County dramatically exceeds their number in the legal community as a whole, true diversity on the bench remains a long way off, local bar leaders said at a downtown conference Saturday.

Re "Film on an India pogrom boycotted," Feb. 25 Having lived in India for several years as an expatriate, I have to say I am shocked by The Times' India coverage. Believe me, I have been to several countries in the Middle East and in the neighborhood of India. Indians -- who are majority Hindu -- are the most tolerant people on this planet when it comes to religion. The Times tries to paint the picture otherwise. Just note that the president of India is a Muslim (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam)

Decked out in a sleek, black jumpsuit, black helmet and white wraparound sunglasses, Ramon Baguio looks every inch the hotshot skier. And yet, in a sport where the participants are typically as white as the powder they carve, Baguio has always stood out. His was the only brown face on the Vermont mountain where he learned to ski as a boy. He can't recall ever meeting another Filipino ski patrolman. Today, the 42-year-old ski area manager is an anomaly in a business run largely by white men.

Far fewer Asian Americans, African Americans and Latinos than whites use hospice care for terminal illnesses, according to a study released Thursday on how end-of-life care in California differs by race and ethnicity. And a disproportionate number of African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans die suddenly and unexpectedly of accidents or assaults, often in hospital emergency rooms that lack family support programs or bereavement counseling.