As President Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney court Latino voters, CNN takes an In Depth look at what matters most to this diverse group, and how that will influence elections.
By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) – A Florida judge revoked bond Friday for George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.
Seminole County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. ordered Zimmerman to surrender within 48 hours.
Lester accused Zimmerman of having misrepresented how much money he had when his bond was originally set in April.
The decision came after prosecutors asked Lester to revoke the bond.
Prosecutors argued that Zimmerman "misrepresented, misled and deceived the court" during the April bond hearing not only about his family's financial circumstances but about whether he had a U.S. passport.
By Stephanie Goldberg, CNN
(CNN) - We've heard it all: from the correlation between TV viewing and childhood obesity to the idea that excessive TV viewing can negatively affect children's grades.
But according to a new study, watching TV might actually boost your child's self-esteem - that is, if he's a white male.
Parents of white girls and African-American children, however, might want to limit the amount of time their kids spend in front of the tube. The self-esteem of white girls, black girls and black boys decreases with TV consumption, says the study, published in Communication Research.
Over the course of one year, Kristen Harrison and Nicole Martins surveyed about 400 black and white Illinois students. All of the 7- to 12-year-olds are from lower-middle to upper-middle socioeconomic communities, said Harrison, a professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan. Black children surveyed, on average, spent an extra 10 hours watching TV each week.
With the definition of self-esteem being an overall feeling of self-worth, Harrison told CNN, kids were asked reverse-coded questions such as, "Are there a lot of things about yourself you would like to change?"
While the study focused solely on how the amount of time spent in front of the TV affects a child's self-esteem, the programs likely are what give white boys a confidence boost, said Amy Jordan, director of the Media and the Developing Child sector of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.
Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a CNN.com contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist.
By Ruben Navarrette Jr. , CNN Contributor
San Diego, California (CNN) – For anyone who wants to make a serious play for the Latino vote - and not just go through the motions - here's what you need to know: Latinos are single-issue voters.
The issue is respect. Or, as we say, respeto. Nothing else matters. If you want the votes of Latinos, show some respect. Or we'll show you the door.
I know what you're thinking. What's so special about this constituency?
Three things: Size, geography and unpredictability. In 2008, about 10 million Latinos voted; the 2012 figure could be higher. Latinos are well represented in "battleground" states (i.e. Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico). And, in the case of the Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who make up about 66% of the U.S. Latino population, they're in play because they have shown a willingness to vote for moderate Republicans even though most are registered Democrats.
Polls show that Latinos are just like other voters in that they care about education, jobs, the economy and health care. But their antennae go up when they see politicians using the immigration issue to scare up votes - and, in the process, treating them like piñatas.
Jay Hopson was named head football coach at Alcorn State in Mississippi this week. He is the first white head football coach in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities.
He spoke to CNN's Erin Burnett about the new job.
By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney
Who makes the big bucks in America?
Middle-aged white couples.
We all know that income is concentrated in the United States, but Sentier Research has crunched the data to show just who has the money.
By Joshua Levs, CNN
Editor's note: Josh Levs reports across all platforms for CNN. He lays out keys to achieving dreams in his TEDx Talk, "Breaking the system to achieve the impossible." Find him on Facebook or Twitter.
(CNN) – It's astounding how fast the words of a 22-year-old woman, her life suddenly cut short, have spread across the Internet and into the hearts and minds of people all over the world.
Marina Keegan, a budding writer, was once published by the New York Times and had a job lined up at the New Yorker. Also a playwright, she had a musical slated for a staging in August at the New York International Fringe Festival.
She wrote a moving essay in the Yale Daily News to inspire her fellow seniors as they graduated last week. She died in a car crash a few days later.
That column, in which she strives to remind her peers that "we have so much time," has taken on a tragic, powerful resonance.
Discussing the "immense and indefinable potential energy" many felt as freshmen, she wrote that it's important to remember "we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over. ... We're so young. We can't, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it's all we have."
The loss of Keegan is heartbreaking for many reasons. One of them is that she surely would have been among the too few people in the world who chase their dreams and bring them to fruition.
By Bill Mears, CNN
(CNN) – A key part of the law banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage was struck down as unconstitutional by a U.S. appeals court Thursday.
The Defense of Marriage Act - known as DOMA - defines marriage for federal purposes as unions exclusively between a man and woman.
At issue is whether the federal government can deny tax, health and pension benefits to same-sex couples in states where they can legally marry.
"If we are right in thinking that disparate impact on minority interests and federalism concerns both require somewhat more in this case than almost automatic deference to Congress' will, this statute fails that test," said the three judge panel.
Editor's note: Alberto R. Gonzales is the former U.S. attorney general and counsel to President George W. Bush. He is currently the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law at Belmont University, and counsel at the Nashville law firm of Waller Lansden.
By Alberto R. Gonzales, Special to CNN
The right to vote is a precious privilege.
It provides the opportunity for every citizen to equally affect the future of our government no matter their last name, ZIP code or skin color.
It was my job as attorney general to protect the sanctity of every vote.
Based on my experience, voter identification laws serve as an effective deterrent to fraudulent voting.
I know there are concerns that such laws discourage voting and hurt minorities.
NAACP president: Voter ID requirements are like Jim Crow voter oppression laws
However, we should not abandon our efforts against voter fraud.
Instead, those concerns are best addressed by vigorous enforcement of existing federal regulations and laws, such as the Voting Rights Act, which provide protections against government actions that adversely affect the voting rights of minorities.
I condemn laws that discriminate based on race, and I support reasonable voter identification laws.
At the end of the day, I want to see more Americans voting, and states able to easily facilitate the right to vote.
The Hispanic vote is important in this election and future elections, and from my view, it is not voter ID laws that will prevent them from voting for President Barack Obama but his economic policies.
By Nicole File and Tom Watkins, CNN
(CNN) - The California Senate passed Wednesday a bill that would regulate therapies that purport to be able to change a child's sexual orientation - from gay to straight.
"The entire medical community is opposed to these phony therapies," Sen. Ted W. Lieu, D-Torrance, said after passage of Senate Bill 1172, which he introduced.
SB 1172 would prohibit children younger than 18 from undergoing sexual orientation change efforts.
"Being lesbian or gay or bisexual is not a disease or mental disorder for the same reason that being a heterosexual is not a disease or a mental disorder," Lieu said in a news release. "The medical community is unanimous in stating that homosexuality is not a medical condition."
The bill is expected to go to the Assembly for an initial policy review next month.
By Dave Schechter, CNN Senior National Editor
Editor's note: As President Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney court the Latino vote, CNN takes an in-depth look at this complex and diverse community, what matters most to Latino voters, and how their vote will influence the November elections.
Washington (CNN) - The first Latino president of the United States already has been born.
Henry Cisneros, the former San Antonio mayor who was secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton administration, made the suggestion three years ago in an interview with the Spanish-language news service EFE.
"I don't know if he or she's in elementary school or in law school or is already elected ... to public office, but I believe that that person is already alive, and we're 20 years or less away from having a Latino or Latina president," said Cisneros, whose own path to higher office may have been derailed by personal scandal and who today is executive chairman of CityView, an urban development investment firm.
When the day comes that Cisneros predicted, the man or woman behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office will represent an ever-increasing segment of the population. Latinos (or Hispanics, the official government term) made up 15.5% of the U.S. population in 2010, but by 2050 they're projected to approach 25% of the population.
The American, the online magazine of the American Enterprise Institute, calls the Hispanic electorate a "sleeping giant" yet to wake.
Whether or not Latinos' percentage in the electorate has kept pace with their growth in the population - and the data indicates that at present it has not - it may one day be enough to sway elections from the statehouse to the White House and stops in between.
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
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