Multiculturalism

In the neighborhood where four Oakland police officers were killed last weekend, a large makeshift memorial still adorns a sidewalk with flowers, notes and photographs of the slain police. Across the street lies another, smaller sidewalk memorial -- this one for the parolee who killed the officers. A cluster of African American women in front of the police memorial argued last week about a candlelight vigil planned for the felon, whom police had just linked by DNA to the rape of a 12-year-old.

Prompted by the fatal classroom shooting of an Oxnard student that prosecutors allege was a hate crime, a state legislator Monday announced plans to introduce a bill to expand diversity education in California schools. Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes, said his bill would supplement existing criminal statutes regarding crimes against victims based on their race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

In Mexico, the story of the country's black population has been largely ignored in favor of an ideology that declares that all Mexicans are "mixed race." But it's the mixture of indigenous and European heritage that most Mexicans embrace; the African legacy is overlooked.

When Dada Ngo opened a Cajun-style crayfish restaurant in the heart of Orange County's Vietnamese enclave, she worried whether it would survive. Crayfish was popular fare along the Gulf Coast where she had lived, but the red-clawed crustaceans were alien to most West Coast Vietnamese diners. Some thought crayfish were fish. They were intimidated when what looked like tiny lobsters were brought from the kitchen in steaming plastic bags and dumped on the table.

During each of the four funerals she attended in 1999, Julie La Belle had a recurring thought: "I can't believe I'm sitting at a service for a teenager." La Belle was a youth minister brought to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., to counsel students in the aftermath of the shootings there. Initially, there was shock and disbelief that hate and violence could occur at such a nice school in such a nice suburb. It is years later, but La Belle hasn't forgotten the lesson.

Tahiya, a student at an Islamic school converted from a Victorian grammar school, is discussing a photograph she took of a friend with her head covered by a \o7hijab\f7 and a scarf pulled up to her eyes. "I didn't really think of a meaning behind it, although when I look at it now it looks like there are several," she told Reuters, giggling. "My photo makes me think 'terrorist' because of all the influences of the outside world, but that wasn't my intention.

THIS year's Golden Globes went far beyond the traditional Hollywood mainstays of Jack, Clint and Warren. A cavalcade of nonwhite winners signaled a rousing embrace of multiculturalism in every aspect of filmmaking. The international drama "Babel" and the Motown-inspired "Dreamgirls" were the night's big winners for motion pictures, scoring wins for best films in their respective drama and musical or comedy categories. Both featured largely foreign or minority casts.

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.

Two out of three isn't bad. And five is even better. From the days of Sidney Poitier breaking new ground in 1964 to the 2007 Oscars in which a record five black actors were nominated for their performances in three categories, many would say progress has certainly been made. Many, but not all.

Asian American churches are going through a "crisis of leadership" because seminaries are not preparing a new generation of pastors to work in multi-generational and multicultural settings, Asian American Christian leaders say. The problem, the leaders say, affects churches throughout the country but is particularly pronounced in California.