Racial profiling law passes in Connecticut
By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) - A few months after four East Haven police officers were arrested for allegedly targeting and harassing Latinos, Connecticut's state legislature passed a bill Monday to beef up safeguards against racial profiling.
Titled "An Act Concerning Traffic Stop Information," SB 364 mandates that local and state law enforcement agencies adopt their own "written policy that prohibits the stopping, detention or search of any person when such action is solely motivated by considerations of race, color, ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation, and the action would constitute a violation of the civil rights of the person."
In addition, the legislation sets up reporting requirements for police whenever they conduct traffic stop, as well as a system for citizen complaints or for state authorities to collect and assess pertinent data from municipal departments.
Initially passed by the state Senate on April 19, the legislation made it through the House of Representatives on Monday and is now expected to be signed by Gov. Dannel Malloy.
"I will continue to insist that every effort is taken to protect individual rights in every community and that racial profiling is eliminated," Malloy said Monday in a statement. "This is a real problem that deserves a real solution, and my administration is committed to carrying out the spirit and letter of this law."
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Engage with news and opinions from around the web about under-reported stories from undercovered communities.
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Opinion: Ignore racism? Fat chance, Rush
Editor's note: Roland S. Martin is a syndicated columnist and author of "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House." He is a commentator for the TV One cable network and host/managing editor of its Sunday morning news show, "Washington Watch with Roland Martin."
(CNN) - It's always funny to get tweets and e-mails from followers of radio entertainer Rush Limbaugh. None of them ever actually think of checking the facts out before they begin their ignorant, vile and rambling rants. I suppose that's to be expected because all they are doing is following their feckless leader, Limbaugh.
Last week I took to Twitter to express my disgust with the racist tweets sent to Joel Ward, the Washington Capitals forward who scored the game-winning goal against the Boston Bruins in the pivotal Game 7 of their first round matchup.
As a result, I sent out the following tweets:
- "It's no shock that a black hockey player is being called nasty vicious things for a game winning goal. Only folks in denial about racism are.
- "The reality is that weak-minded punks hide behind anonymous comments on message boards AND social media.
Biden says he is 'absolutely comfortable' with same-sex marriage
By Jessica Yellin, CNN Chief White House correspondent
(CNN) – As a ballot initiative to ban same sex-marriage comes to a vote in North Carolina this week, Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday he was "absolutely comfortable" with the idea of same-gender marriage.
"I just think that the good news is that as more and more Americans come to understand what this is all about, it is a simple proposition: Who do you love? Who do you love? And will you be loyal to the person who love?" Biden said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
While he did not touch on the North Carolina initiative, his comments were consistent with his message on the controversial issue in general. He added, however, that it's the president, not he, who sets the administration's policy.
President Barack Obama, who once opposed same-sex marriage, has taken the official position that his views on the issue are "evolving." He says at fundraisers that there is much work do be done, leading many supporters in the LGBT community to believe that he would support same-sex marriage in a second term.
Opinion: Could the term ‘Hispanic-American’ unify America's Latinos?
Editor's note: Fr. Albert Cutié is an Episcopal priest and former Roman Catholic cleric known as Padre Alberto or "Father Oprah." He is the author of the memoir, "Dilemma: A Priest's Struggle with Faith and Love" and hosted the talk show "Father Albert." He's on Twitter @padrealberto.
By Fr. Albert Cutié, Special to CNN
(CNN) – Recently, at the end of a long day at work, I watched a reality TV show with my wife. I was stunned when the host referred to a Hispanic and American actor as someone who “became a celebrity overnight.” William Levy regularly appears on prime-time programming seen by millions of Hispanics and Latinos in the United States and throughout Latin America, but only now that he’s on “Dancing with the Stars,” he is a star.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Did this host have any idea just how many of us there are in this country? How much programming, marketing and advertising is produced daily for Spanish-language networks in the United States? To say that a Hispanic-American television personality “became a celebrity” because he appeared on an English-language program is to ignore the great impact of Hispanic and Latino population.
According to the 2010 Census, the Hispanic population surpasses 50 million people and it accounts for about 1 out of 6 Americans. That’s a lot of people, and we didn’t just get here. As someone who has spent several years working in media, I’m often surprised how in the United States, this wonderfully pluralistic nation of ours, we often hear people speak of Latinos and Hispanics as if we were all of the same exact culture, race and ethnicity. It bothers me to hear people say, “but you don’t look Hispanic,” as if there is only one appearance in our big umbrella of races and cultures.
SI model Jessica Perez: Yes, I'm a white Latina
I sometimes want to say, “We have been around here a long time, how many of us have you met?” Yet, being polite and not wanting to turn a casual conversation into a politically incorrect racial-social conflict, I usually let it go.
So what will unite us, whether we look like Levy, Jessica Perez, Marco Rubio?
Perhaps the insistence of one of my Twitter friends, Jorge Ros Sr., is totally right: We should begin to call ourselves “Hispanic-Americans.”
About In America
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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