Racial Slurs

Fox News host Glenn Beck used his popular show Monday to attack the background of Van Jones, a White House environmental advisor and co-founder of an African American political advocacy group that organized an advertising boycott of his program. Beck did not address the boycott spearheaded by Color of Change to protest the talk show host's remark last month that he believes President Obama is "a racist." Instead, he spent a large share of his program suggesting that Jones, who co-founded Color of Change in 2005, is a radical.

Negrohead Mountain is an unlikely memorial to a former slave who made a name for himself at the western end of Los Angeles County. More than 120 years ago, pioneers in the Santa Monica Mountains named the peak for John Ballard, the first black man to settle in the hills above Malibu. Today, authorities will take the first step toward what they consider a more fitting tribute by renaming the 2,031-foot volcanic peak Ballard Mountain. The name now used by the U.S.

After two days of protests, the New York Post apologized Thursday for a cartoon that some have interpreted as comparing President Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police. The newspaper posted an editorial on its website Thursday evening saying the cartoon was meant to mock the federal economic stimulus bill, but "to those who were offended by the image, we apologize." The piece was posted hours after 200 picketers chanting "Boycott the Post! Shut it down!"

A New York Post cartoon that some have interpreted as comparing President Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police drew outrage Wednesday from civil rights leaders and elected officials who said it echoed racist stereotypes of blacks as monkeys. The cartoon in Wednesday's Post by Sean Delonas shows two police officers, one with a smoking gun, standing over the body of a bullet-riddled chimp. The caption reads: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

In the midst of a bruising final few weeks of the Los Angeles city attorney's race, two groups are calling on candidate Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich to stop running a television commercial that they say unfairly depicts Latino men as gang members. But Trutanich's campaign consultant contended that the complaints were orchestrated by supporters of City Councilman Jack Weiss, who is also running for the job.

An Upland city councilman apologized Friday for making racially insensitive remarks, ending an effort by the mayor and other officials to force his resignation next week. Councilman Ray Musser, 73, said he was sorry for statements he made at Monday's council meeting when describing his experience at the inauguration of President Obama. "There was [sic] a lot of nonwhites in the crowd, well-behaved, and that was so gratifying," he said at the meeting.

John Foley figures he has pretty much maxed out on explaining to African American mothers why it's OK to call a black man the N-word -- as long as it's in a novel that is considered a classic. For years, English teachers have been explaining away the obvious racism in Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

A friend of Prince Charles insisted that the prince is not racist, after a newspaper reported that the heir to the throne refers to him as Sooty. Kolin Dhillon said the nickname used by Charles and other fellow players at the Cirencester Park Polo Club in western England was a term of affection. The wealthy property developer is originally from the Indian subcontinent. The Daily Telegraph asserted that the term was offensive, but Dhillon said in a statement that he enjoys being called Sooty and that he is sure those who say it mean no offense.

Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites. The message seems aimed at convincing Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Ayman Zawahiri said in the message, which appeared on militant websites, that Obama was "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s black Muslim leader.

Vandals spray-painted swastikas and racial slurs on a house and several cars that displayed campaign signs or bumper stickers for President-elect Barack Obama, authorities said Tuesday. The incidents occurred Saturday night in the Hollywood Riviera section of the city, said Sgt. Bernard Anderson. Four separate incidents were reported the next day, he said. No arrests have been made. At one house, the phrase "Go Back to Africa" was spray-painted across the wall, in addition to a racial epithet on the garage door, Anderson said.