Interesting

1. "A three-year undercover investigation by the National Fair Housing Alliance found that real estate agents steered whites away from integrated neighborhoods and steered blacks toward predominantly black neighborhoods."

2. "Candidates named Emily O'Brien or Neil McCarthy were much more likely to get calls back from potential employers than applicants named Tamika Williams and Jamal Jackson, even though they had the same credentials, according to a study by the University of Chicago."

Both from CNN.

3. "Lionel Richie remembers when the Commodores "decided to give ourselves Mercedes for Christmas. I walked into a Montgomery, Ala., dealership in blue jeans and T-shirt and said, 'I'd like to buy seven Mercedes.' Looking at me, the guy asked, 'Son, can you get me some proof?' So I had him call the president of Bank of America in Los Angeles. He hung up, and I went from 'Son' to "Mr. Richie, right this way, please.' "

[What stood out to me was the "son."] From the always reliable Page Six.

4. "... also a sign of our times among 20 and 30 somethings is the testimonial of the Border Patrol agent who said she and her family crossed over illegally. She considers herself and her siblings all model citizens contributing productively to this country. She believes by working to capture would-be immigrants at the Border she may be saving a life. Or at least that is how she justifies her chosen job. She does not say what she would have felt to be caught, uh, excuse me, 'rescued' and returned to Mexico, instead of successfully dodging the Border Patrol to one day being able to apply for residency and I imagine now, citizenship. The Theatre of the Absurd, like I said."

The December 12 entry on Ana Castillo's blog.

Not much to add to any of these items. I found them all interesting, especially in combination with odd comments I've overhead in public places recently. Just seems like a lot of racial confusion going on lately.