- Georgia Man Shoots And Kills Young Latino Who Accidentally Pulled Into His Driveway, Police Say (NBC Latino)
“Basically, what happened is they were looking for one of my brother’s girlfriend’s friends,” says his brother David E. Diaz-Valencia, 23. “The guy came outside and my brother’s girlfriend said he was screaming, ‘Get off my property!’ and he shot into the air. My brother was backing out fast because he was scared and he rolled down the window to say he was sorry and he was not doing anything wrong. Then the guy shot him in his head.”
When officers arrived, Angie Rebolledo, Diaz’s girlfriend, had blood on her jeans, both arms and both hands as she was attempting to get a response from him and screamed frantically that her boyfriend had been shot, according to police.
Police arrested Sailors, of Lilburn, Georgia, who was booked into the Gwinnett County jail Sunday afternoon and charged with murder, according to the police report.“At this point we have established probable cause to charge Mr. Sailors and when the investigation is complete, we will turn over the case file to the Gwinnett County District Attorneys Officer for processing,” Lilburn police Chief Bruce Hedley told NBC Latino. “To preserve the integrity of the case, I will not be releasing further information concerning this incident.”
- The ‘Acting White Theory’ Doesn’t Add Up (The Root)
The Acting White Theory is difficult to assess through research. Many scholars who claim to find evidence of this theory loosely interpret their data and exploit the “expert gap” to sell their findings. One of the best examples of this is Roland G. Fryer’s research paper (pdf) “Acting White: The Social Price Paid by the Best and Brightest Minority Students.”
Here Fryer uses the Add Health data to demonstrate, in a nutshell, that the highest-achieving black students had fewer friends than high-achieving black students. In his study, black students with a 3.5 GPA had the most friends of all academic levels, those with a 4.0 had about as many friends as those with about a 3.0 and those with less than a 2.5 had the fewest friends of all.
Overall, contrary to the study title, Fryer’s research clearly demonstrates that the “social price” paid by the lowest-achieving black students is far greater than the so-called price paid by the highest-achieving black students. Moreover, methodologically, the study has to make the ostensible leap that the number of friends a black student has is a direct measure and a consequence of acting white. Interestingly, Fryer used the same mammoth dataset that Satoshi Kanazawa used to pseudoscientifically “prove” that black women (actually teenage girls) are less attractive (actually rated less attractive by adult raters of an unknown racial background) — but I digress.
Beyond the confirmation bias and social anecdotes, many studies, including a recent study by Tina Wildhagen in the Journal of Negro Education, disprove the Acting White Theory. In my own research (pdf), I have noticed a “nerd bend” among all races, whereby high — but not the highest — achievers receive the most social rewards. For instance, the lowest achievers get bullied the most, and bullying continues to decrease as grades increase; however, when grades go from good to great, bullying starts to increase again slightly. Thus, the highest achievers get bullied more than high achievers, but significantly less than the lowest achievers.
- Altidore Shrugs Off Racist Chants, Says He’ll Pray For Abusive Fans (Sports Illustrated)
In the end, AZ won the game 5-0, but not before Wiedemeijer did suspend the match briefly as Den Bosch fans threw bottles and snowballs at the officials. (Den Bosch club administrators apologized to Altidore on Wednesday and pledged to identify and punish the participating fans.) Altidore would go on to convert a penalty for his 20th goal in all competitions this season, a career high, and while he didn’t mock the abusive fans afterward he did feel like it was one of the best responses he could have given to them.
“Of course, of course,” Altidore says. “They weren’t happy to see us win by that margin. I don’t think anybody expected that.”
Yet Altidore earned even more global respect for the way he responded after the game, striking a stance well beyond his 23 years and saying he’d be praying for the offending fans.
“That’s the first thing I was thinking about,” says Altidore, who grew up in Boca Raton, Fla., as the son of parents, Gisele and Joseph, who were born in Haiti. “The way I was raised, we never looked at black and white. My family has always stressed to me, yes, you will come against things that are different for a young black kid growing up. Let’s be honest about that, we’re still not over that. But at the same time, they always told me you can’t judge anybody by their color. You have to respect everybody for who they are and what they stand for.”
Everything is moving in the right direction, and in record speed, giving a case of whiplash to even the most veteran and cynical of immigration advocates. It seems that congressional leaders are holding on to what was once a third rail in American politics. In an interview with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, John McCain, a crucial and, at times, unreliable ally, said he now backs not only the DREAM Act, but also a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. (As early as three years ago, the Arizona senator called such a pathway “amnesty.”) The following day, a group of senators (the “Gang of Eight,” as they have been coined) offered an imperfect and enforcement-heavy but (here’s the key word)bipartisan blueprint, laying out its principles for a workable immigration bill. Not to be left out, a group of House Republicans said on the same day that they too have a bill in the works.
If there were any doubts that the president viewed immigration as the top legislative priority of his second term, those were laid to rest when he said yesterday: “And if Congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, I will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away.”
Obama, as only a lame-duck president can, is staking his claim and going for the history books. And just as important as putting pressure on a bitterly polarized and often paralyzed Congress, Obama is framing the issue economically and culturally. He reminded us that, in recent years, one in four technology startups in America were created by immigrants, as were one in four new small businesses. He implored Americans to honor our country’s rich history of immigration and to remember that our country is in constant evolution, from the Pilgrims, the Irish, and Eastern Europeans, to the Asians and Latinos.
In the speech’s single most memorable line, this president who is still considered by some as “the other,” viewed as a foreigner in a country that twice elected him to the White House, eloquently said: “Before they were ‘us,’ they were ‘them.’”
- Girl Who Performed At Obama Inaugural Events Slain On South Side (The Chicago Tribune)
At Comer this evening, a group of young people sat and stood inside the entrance to the hospital’s emergency room, along with the principal of King high school.
Many hugged as they brushed tears from their eyes and consoled each other and Pendleton’s parents.
“She was awesome,” one girl said of Pendleton outside the hospital’s ER.
Friends of the slain girl said King was dismissed early today because of exams, and students went to the park on Oakenwald–something they don’t usually do.
Friends said the girl was a majorette and a volleyball player, a friendly and sweet presence at King, one of the top 10 CPS selective enrollment schools. Pendleton performed with other King College students at President Barack Obama’s inaugural events.
Neighbors said students from King do hang out at Harsh Park, 4458-70 S. Oakenwald Ave., and that students were there this afternoon before the shooting took place. A group of 10 to 12 teens at the park had taken shelter under a canopy there during a rainstorm when a boy or man jumped a fence in the park, ran toward the group and opened fire, police said in a statement this evening.
