Study: Support for Voter ID Laws Linked to Racial Tension
Five diversity items for July 23: Latinos prove to be key to the election--again; poverty rate in the U.S. expected to hit near record highs and more.
Study: Support for Voter ID Laws Linked to Racial Tension
Support for voter ID laws could be linked to racial resentment, according to a study by the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication, which found that the more resentment a respondent felt toward another race, the higher the likelihood that they supported voter ID legislation.
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Latinos Prove to be Key to Election, Again
The 12.1 million unregistered, but eligible, Latino voters across 10 battleground states could potentially turn November’s election, according to new data released by the Center of American Progress. Voting advocates are banking on using hot issues like Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil lawsuit accusing him of discriminating against Latinos to mobilize the voter base, encouraging unregistered Latinos to register and speak up.
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Poverty Rate in the U.S. to Hit Near-Record Highs, Economists Say
Economists say they expect figures for the 2011 U.S. poverty rate to be at their highest peak since 1965, in part because the jobs lost during the Great Recession are being replaced by lower paying ones and states are cutting their welfare programs. The highest poverty rate ever recorded was in 1959 at 22.4 percent; the rates for 2011 to be released in November are expected to hit 15.7 percent.
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Bank of America, Cantor Fitzgerald Nailed by Two Lawsuits Alleging Discrimination
Two former employees, one from Bank of America and one from Cantor Fitzgerald, filed separate lawsuits last week alleging the two banks maintained racially discriminating practices, Reuters reports. Jack Mitchell, who is black and worked for the Bank of America, alleges the Bank of America routinely placed black managers in branches of lower-income communities. Jermaine James, who is also black and worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, filed a lawsuit against the bank saying he suffered racial discrimination and harassment by his managers.
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Study: HIV-Positive Immigrants Present Different Challenges
People with HIV and born outside of the U.S. are more likely to be Hispanic or of Asian descent than their native counterparts, a new study suggests. Researchers found that foreign-born people in the U.S. with HIV more likely contracted it through hetereosexual contact, suggesting that the spread of HIV in foreign countries has a different pattern than the way it is spread in the U.S. Because of this, researchers say dealing with immigrants who are HIV-positive presents a larger challenge than expected.
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