In his latest column, Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page writes about the latest Gallup Poll on the state of the nation’s racial optimism.

Page points out that the latest reading, 56 percent expressing optimism (down from 67 percent the day after President…

A Conversation about Race relayed news last month about a  Louisiana justice of the peace who refused to marry an interracial couple. The Associated Press is reporting  today that he has resigned without offering an explanation.

AP reports:

Keith Bardwell, who is white,…

My colleague Steve Giegerich wrote a story that ran Sunday about the difficulty companies are having in maintaining a diverse workforce. Minorities — and particular female minorities — are losing their jobs at a faster pace than the workforce in…

Here’s a piece from the New York Times about South Korea, where foreigners are greeted with racial slurs and face discrimination. For the first time, Parliament is considering legislation defining ethnic and racial discrimination and imposing criminal penalties.

“For most South…

College football announcer Bob Griese has become the latest sports commentator to demonstrate that ethnic or racial humor is out of bounds. ESPN today suspended Griese for a week for an on-air comment he made during the Minnesota-Ohio State game.

During a…

One of the constant questions or speculations we get on story comments throughout stltoday.com is about the race of people in crime stories. Commenters want a photo posted, or they routinely ask that the stories state the race of criminal…

Target is being asked by a Southern California immigration rights group to stop selling an “illegal alien” Halloween costume the group says is offensive to immigrants, according to an Associated Press story on the Chicago Tribune website.

The costume on Target’s website…

McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., noted in a letter to Obama that both houses of Congress this summer passed their resolution urging a pardon. After the vote, the lawmakers wrote to Obama in August asking him to issue the pardon.

“Regrettably, we have not received a response from you or any member of your administration,” they wrote in Friday’s letter, adding they hoped that Obama would be eager to “right this wrong and erase an act of racism that sent an American citizen to prison.”

The White House had no immediate comment.

A justice of the peace in Louisiana refuses to perform marriages of interracial couples because he believes most of society wouldn’t accept their offspring, the Associated Press is reporting.

AP reporter Mary Foster quotes Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in…

A reader made a snarky remark on an earlier post of mine about reparations. As I said, I’m not taking a position on the issue right now. I haven’t made up my mind. But the reader’s comment said “they” should…