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Human & Civil Rights Agencies

Some Muslims, fearing backlash, worry about intent of census

By Tara Bahrampour

Wednesday, March 10, 2010, Washington Post

The millions of blue forms being mailed this month in the first census count since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, do not ask about religion. But the idea of answering any ...

New census figures that provide a snapshot of America’s foreign-born population are challenging conventional views of immigration, race and ethnicity. What it means to be African-American, for example, may be redefined by the record number of blacks — now nearly 1 in 10 — born abroad, according to the report from American Community Survey data, which was released Wednesday. It found that Africa now accounts for one in three foreign-born blacks in this country, another modern...

Soaring expectations about the effect of the first black president on U.S. race relations have collided with a more mundane reality, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. On the eve of President Obama's inauguration a year ago, nearly six in 10 Americans said his presidency would advance cross-racial ties. Now, about four in 10 say it has done so. The falloff has been highest among African Americans. Last January, three-quarters of blacks said they expected Obama's presidency...

Soaring expectations about the effect of the first black president on U.S. race relations have collided with a more mundane reality, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. On the eve of President Obama's inauguration a year ago, nearly six in 10 Americans said his presidency would advance cross-racial ties. Now, about four in 10 say it has done so. The falloff has been highest among African Americans. Last January, three-quarters of blacks said they expected Obama's presidency...

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and the NAACP consider the 2010 census to be a critical civil rights issue and are working across the nation to achieve a fair and accurate population count. Our primary focus is on reducing the disproportionate undercount of people of color, language minorities, the poor, and young children that has plagued the census for many decades.  As more people become aware of the census and ...

MIAMI — Fearing that millions of illegal immigrants may not be counted in the 2010 census, Latino leaders are mobilizing a nationwide drive to urge Hispanics to participate in the survey, including an intense push this week in evangelical Christian churches. Latino groups contend that there was an undercount of nearly one million Latinos in the 2000 census, affecting the drawing of Congressional districts and the distribution of federal money. Hispanic organizations are far better organ...

The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows a 47 percent approval rating for President Barack Obama. The poll results are the lowest numbers for Obama and his administration to date. In addition, more than half of the Americans polled say the country is on the wrong track. A recent Gallup Poll found that President Obama's approval ratings have sharply declined among whites, while staying above 90 percent among blacks. The Grio went to Harlem to speak with some African-Americans about t...

More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work. Almost half have suffered from depression or anxiety. About 4 in 10 parents have noticed behavioral changes in their children that they attribute to their difficulties in finding work. Joblessness has wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the lives of many of tho...

HOUSTON - A lesbian candidate won Houston's mayoral election Saturday night, a vote that made the city the largest in the U.S. to ever have an openly gay mayor. "This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. Just as it is about transforming the lives of all Houstonians for the better, and that's what my administration will be about," City Controller Annise Parker told supporters after former city attorney Gene Locke conceded defeat. Parker got...