Candidates compete for 33rd District seat

June 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment


On June 8, voters will decide who will win Congresswoman Diane Watson’s 33rd District seat when she leaves office. On February 17, Watson announced she did not want to seek re-election this year because she wanted to spend time with her 100-year-old mother.

Whoever replaces Watson will work in one of the most diverse districts in California, Watson, who represented the district since 2001, said. There is a large population of South Koreans, the largest outside of South Korea, as well as a large number of Hispanics. The 33rd District is also home to Armenians, Pacific Islanders and African Americans.

Democrats in the upcoming race include Karen Bass, Morris F. Griffin, Nick Juan Mostert and Felton Newell. James L. Andion, David C. Crowley II and Phil Jennerjahn are the republican candidates.

Though Watson highly endorsed Bass, Bass said she will not take any part of this election for granted. The speaker emeritus of the California State Assembly said she has continued to walk neighborhoods, attended house meetings and sought endorsements.

“I feel that it is important for me to work at this level right now in terms of going to Congress,” Bass said, referring to Republican Scott Brown’s January victory over Martha Coakley for the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat. “Also, I think it is a question of respect. Respect for voters.”

For about 30 years, Bass has been involved in foreign and domestic issues. She founded Community Coalition, a community-based social justice organization. She started the organization about 20 years ago to deal with issues like drugs and crack cocaine addiction, which Bass said led directly to the “explosion” in foster care. Other issues Bass has addressed include criminal justice reform, health care and affordable housing. Bass also became the first African-American woman to be elected Speaker of the California State Assembly.

When Bass was first elected to the Assembly, she organized People’s Council, a group of volunteer community leaders who attempted to involve constituents in the public policy process. If she is elected June 8, she said she will possibly use a similar strategy to address issues in the 33rd District.

“I don’t know what I will create this time, but what I plan to do is bring together the leaders who are in the People’s Council and do a half-day retreat and say, ‘Now it is a congressional district. What do you think we should do, how do you think it should be organized?’” Bass said.

One current focus is policy issues, Bass told the Los Angeles Watts Times. Though her main focus is not on campaign promises, health care, jobs and advancement of green technology remain areas of interest for Bass. Her main focus, however, is on June 8.

“From June 8 on, if I am successful, I will have six months” to work on policy matters, Bass said. “I need to learn the federal process. So I could make up stuff, but I do’t want to do that. After June 8, that’s when I want to spend the time learning the federal system and trying to see what is realistic.”

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More U.S. schools below the poverty line, study shows

June 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment


The economic recession didn’t just hurt businesses and workers.

As the AP reports, it also affected students, more of whom now are poor than over the past decade.

The percentage is measured by the number of students accepting free or reduced-price lunches. Schools where 75 percent or more of the students are eligible are considered to be poor.

While Mississippi has the highest rate of such schools, California is also among the states with the highest percentage.

Students attending these schools are likely to face more challenges elsewhere, including less-educated teachers and far lower graduation rates. They’re also 24 percent less like to go to a four-year college – and the disparity has grown even steeper in recent years. This is especially concerning because students at high-poverty schools are far more likely to be minorities.

You can read more about the challenges facing high-poverty schools and other pressing educational issues in The Condition of Education 2000-2010, which was recently released.

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Claims of a “racist” Hallmark greeting card may be a mistake

June 4, 2010 By 1 Comment


A coalition of civil rights groups will ask greeting-card giant Hallmark for a public apology today, after discovering an apparently “racist” card being sold in major pharmacies in Los Angeles. The card, which plays audio when opened, calls its receiver a “Black ho” according to the Los Angeles NAACP. The cards were found at a Los Angeles Walgreen’s and a local CVS, and the NAACP has been informed that the cards are also being sold in the Chicago area. Requests were made to Hallmark, CVS and Walgreen to pull the cards from store shelves, with the Walgreen store complying.

This morning, the RESPECT ME coalition, which includes the NAACP, Mothers In Action, Brotherhood Crusade and the National Council of Negro Women, will demand that Hallmark publicly apologizes to Black women for the greeting card.

However, could the allegations be a case of simple misunderstanding? View the card and listen to its contents here:

Author’s note: In my personal opinion, it would seem that the card says “black hole” rather than “Black ho.” After all, this would make much more sense in context. Here’s my rendition of what the card says:

Voice 1: This graduate is going to run the world, run the universe, and run everything after that, whatever that is.
Voice 2: Yeah, you black hole.
Voice 1: You’re so ominous!
Voice 1 and 2: Congratulations!
Voice 1: …. taking over the world.
Voice 2: Any planets? Watch your back.

What’s your interpretation? Leave your thoughts in the comments box below.

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Karen Bass frontrunner for House seat

June 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment


The upcoming June 8 elections may only be primaries. But in the 33rd District, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 6 to 1, the winner of the Democratic primary is a shoo-in to be elected.

Other primary races throughout the state have gotten heated. But retiring Rep. Diane Watson, 76, seems to have a clear successor in current State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, whom Watson endorsed.

Bass also received endorsements from a host of other politicians, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Maxine Waters, and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas – not to mention Magic Johnson.

Several factors prevented the race from turning into a more contentious campaign, like the one Watson won after the death of Rep. Julian Dixon, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Among them:

-Watson’s last-minute announcement came as a surprise to would-be candidates

-Bass entered quickly, and was a high-profile candidate

-By obtaining the support of both Watson and many other political figures, she scared away potential competitors

“It’s not a race, because [Bass] is pretty much the consensus choice,” Cal State Fullerton political scientist Raphael Sonenshein, told the Times. “And it’s not all that surprising, given her standing.”

But several candidates are still hoping to challenge her.  Her Democratic opponents include management consultant Mervin L. Evans; maintenance technician Morris F. Griffin; Howie Mandel; Nick Juan Mostert, an attorney and legislative analyst; criminal prosecutor Felton Newell. and postal worker Sheldon J. Tobias, the LA Wave reports.

Newell, who studied law under now-President Obama at the University of Chicago, took time off from his job to run.

He criticized Bass’s ties to special interest and said she didn’t do enough to oppose budget cuts, while Bass said she helped to save important programs.

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Research: Latino children lose social skills in middle school

June 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment


The American Psychological Association found that Latino children, even those who grew up in poverty, started kindergarten with strong social and classroom skills.

“The vast majority of Latino homes, especially immigrant households, is headed by two parents, and there are often grandparents around who help raise young children,” Bruce Fuller, professor of Education and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, said. “Kids are taught to respect other family members, [which] gives young kids strong cooperative skills in terms of how they play with siblings and how they contribute to housework.”

Students who have these skills generally become better learners. But the association also found that those good qualities eventually wore off during the children’s middle school years, said Fuller, who co-edited the section highlighting this research in Developmental Psychology, an American Psychological Association journal.

However, Fuller believes steps can be taken to prevent this loss of social skills. Culturally sensitive teachers and strong parental advocacy can help these children, LA Beez reported.

“Enthusiasm helps children learn at a rapid rate,” Fuller said.

Fuller noted this loss of social skills can come from negative peer pressure and teachers who have low expectations for kids of color.

“For those Latino families who cannot afford to leave poor neighborhoods, there are negative peer influences as soon as middle school, such as young gangs emerging and friends whose parents do not value education,” Fuller said. “Secondly, in some poor [neighborhoods], we often have a concentration of uninspiring teachers or teachers who think brown kids are not going to college [anyway].”

It is unclear whether income level makes a difference in children’s classroom skills, but Fuller said it may be a factor.

“Overall, Latino children start school with social skills comparable to white middle-class kids, but we also find Latino kids coming from very poor households,” Fuller said. “Those [living] below the poverty line show weaker social skills and language development.”

Research from the American Psychological Association showed that children of color often looked around the American society and noticed that white children got ahead more than they did.

“[Kids of color] start to make judgments about whether the society is being fair to kids [who] look like them,” Fuller said. “I think we have to provide middle school youth with positive role models to make them feel that they can get ahead.”

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LA County Board of Supervisors votes to join Arizona boycott

June 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment


The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 today to join the city’s economic boycott of Arizona in response to the state’s law targeting illegal immigration. Supervisor Gloria Molina introduced the idea, stating that the SB 1070 law “violates core American civil rights and civil liberties’’ and “goes too far and should be strongly condemned and universally rejected.’’ New contracts with Arizona-based companies will be banned, and a review will be initiated to determine which contracts should be canceled. The county had more than $26 million in contracts this year with Arizona companies, according to county spokeswoman Judy Hammond.

The Los Angeles City Council approved an economic boycott of Arizona three weeks ago. The Los Angeles Unified School District was also scheduled to vote on the boycott today.

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