California Collage

CALIFORNIA AS TRENDSETTER FOR THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD

November, 1995 through December, 1996

Click here for most recent Americas articles.

California Runs Out of Jail Space as Voters Worry More About Schools than Crime
By Mary Ellen Leary
Date: 12-11-96
With prisons jammed to capacity after the state's much-ballyhooed crackdown on crime, California voters jarred the pundits by voting down a $700 million bond issue to expand jail capacity last month. Recent polling results and votes on other issues indicate that the vote may reflect a change in priorities. PNS correspondent Mary Ellen Leary, a veteran political observer of California, writes for the London-based Economist.
The Mouse That Squeaked
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 12-02-96
The news that Disney intends to co-produce and distribute a film about the Dalai Lama, despite disapproval from China, was greeted with cheers. But the mouse isn't known for its courage. Had the news about China's displeasure not come into the open, Disney might have complied with Beijing's will. And once the acclaim dies down, Disney might, like the rest of the industry, revert to its traditional self-censorship. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father" (Viking-Penguin), writes regularly for the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion section and is an essayist for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
High Times for Proponents of Legalizing Pot
By Sarah Ferguson
Date: 11-18-96
Passage of initiatives allowing medical use of marijuana has sent predictable waves of anxiety through the law enforcement community -- and waves of exultation through the ranks of those who support legalization. But the campaigns themselves reveal that support for these measures do not necessarily fall along the expected lines. PNS correspondent Sarah Ferguson, a New York-based freelance writer, has written on drug policies for the Village Voice, High Times and Esquire.
Briefings From California's Ethnic Press
Compiled by Andrea Lewis
Date: 11-15-96
What does the world look like to people whose principal source of news is the ethnic media? To explore this, PNS has asked a round table of ethnic media editors to select leading stories and opinion pieces from publications -- in English and a dozen other languages -- that circulate widely in California's diverse minority communities. Most are produced in the state, but others come from far afield -- Taipei, London, Singapore. Their choices will appear in a special biweekly column entitled "Briefings from California's Ethnic Media." This week, stories touch on the trailblazing role of women in South Asia, the right to buy a live duck, pirate radio stations, U.S. inaction in central Africa, the worries of Vietnamese Americans, Latino attitudes toward welfare recipients, and the likelihood of a U.S.-Iran breakthrough.
Why Young Black Men Don't Vote
By Michael Datcher
Date: 11-13-96
Despite an intense nationwide debate over the likely impact of abolishing affirmative action on African Americans, black voter participation in California continued its decline on Nov. 5, and those least likely to vote were young black males. Interviews with over a dozen young men in Los Angeles' inner city neighborhoods reflect a dangerous nihilism, according to PNS contributing editor Michael Datcher. Datcher is a reporter for the Los Angeles Sentinel.
Why One Out of Four Blacks Opposed Affirmative Action
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Date: 11-13-96
Exit polls show that slightly more than one out of four African Americans who voted backed Prop. 209, the state's anti-affirmative action initiative. For opponents who vilified the initiative's black supporters as racial traitors, this level of support should serve as a cautionary reminder: more blacks are joining the conservative sea change in the U.S. PNS commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a Los Angeles-based writer and scholar whose books include "The Mugging of Black America."
Ending Winner-Take-All -- S.F. Initiative Offers Minority Constituencies Real Voting Clout
By Rob Richie and Steven Hill
Date: 10-06-96
A growing number of cities are looking at preference voting (a form of proportional representation) as a way to resolve a crisis of representation among their highly fragmented citizenry. San Francisco's Proposition H, if passed, could mark the death knell of winner-take-all elections in urban America. PNS commentator Rob Richie is executive director of The Center for Voting and Democracy in Washington, D.C. Steven Hill is the Center's West Coast director based in San Francisco.
Who Picks Your Strawberries? Child Labor, California Style
By David Bacon
Date: 08-26-96
Americans object to the idea of child laborers in Third World sweatshops. But how often do we consider who is picking the fruits and vegetables in our own American fields? In California's Central Valley, young migrants work eight to ten hour days for low wages and sleep under the trees. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes about immigration and labor. ( First of a two parts.) For photographs illustrating this story, please call Pacific News Service.
U.C. Chancellor Tien's Resignation -- Response to the Institution's Racism
By Henry Der
Date: 08-23-96
Most Asian-Americans, especially Chinese-Americans, view the resignation of U.C. Berkeley chancellor Chang Lin Tien as a response to six years of humiliating treatment by university and state officials that can only be described as institutional racism. Coming at a time of surging immigrant bashing, his departure dashes hopes that california could finally overcome a century of anti-asian racism. PNS commentator Henry Der, former executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, is a veteran civil rights activist.
How to Profit Off a Killing
By Michael Kroll
Date: 08-21-96
Condemned child murderer Richard Allen Davis gave his first media interview after being sentenced to death to "Hard Copy" -- and promptly got sued by California Attorney General Dan Lungren. The suit cites the "Son of Sam" law that prevents prisoners from profiting from their crimes. But the real profiteers are tabloid journalists and ambitious politicians for whom the death penalty has become a modern-day Roman circus. PNS associate editor Michael Kroll, former director of the Death Penalty Information Center, is a Bay Area writer.
As Prison Budget Buldges -- California Begins to Consider Community-Based Corrections
By Mary Ellen Leary
Date: 06-17-96
California legislators are resisting Gov. Pete Wilson's push to build six new prisons with counter-proposals in favor of community based corrections. The concept has caught on in at least 18 states, primarily for cost-saving reasons. The issue will come to a head this month in California, but could signal eventually a rethink of the state's penal policy. PNS contributing editor Mary Ellen Leary, a veteran political observer of California, writes for the London-based Economist.
De La Hoya Won More Than a Boxing Title -- New Mexican American Archetype
By Gregory Rodriguez
Date: 06-10-96
Far more was at stake in last week's Oscar De La Hoya-Julio Cesar Chavez boxing match than a sports title, let alone a match-up between the U.S. and Mexico. For Latinos the subtext was whether the heart of Latino-American culture is best symbolized by the branches or the roots. The 23-year-old boxer from East L.A., with the Mexican flag embossed on one leg and the U.S. flag on the other, has emerged as the breakthrough hybrid figure. PNS associate editor Gregory Rodriguez is a fellow of the Alto California Research Center and the Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy.
Why We Should Ban the Media From Executions
By Michael Kroll
Date: 05-10-96
The public was riveted by the film Dead Man Walking, the real-life drama of a spiritual adviser counseling a condemned man on the day of his death. Yet when California prison officials sought to ban a spiritual adviser from counseling Keith Daniel Williams during the last six hours of his life, the news media ignored it. They were far more interested in detailing their own role in the drama than in detailing the struggles of the condemned. PNS associate editor Michael Kroll writes widely on issues of criminal justice. He is former director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.
Overweight, on Drugs, Excitable? Videotape Documents How Jail Could be Injurious to Your Health
By Richard Korn, Terry A. Kupers & Corey Weinstein
Date: 05-06-96
Sudden In Custody Death Syndrome is listed as the official cause of death for some 33 prisoners in California who died following the application of standard restraint techniques. After viewing the videotape of one such death, some prison reform advocates are convinced that Sudden In Custody Death Syndrome is simply a quasi- medical term for "Oops, we killed him!" PNS commentator Richard R. Korn is a former corrections administrator and professor of criminology (retired); Terry A. Kupers, M.D., is a forensic psychiatric consultant; and Corey Weinstein is a medical doctor who works with the Pelican Bay Information Project.
Four Years After Watts Truce -- Cease Fires Spread But No Silver Bullet for Gang Bangers' Problems
By Beatriz Johnston Hernandez
Date: 04-09-96
The gang truce movement that grew out of the Los Angeles riots of April 1991 has spread to some 40-50 urban regions across America. While many have curbed gang killing, truce organizers have found it difficult to create positive alternatives to replace gang life. PNS associate editor Beatriz Johnston Hernandez is a West Coast staff writer for Processo and a contributor to the Oakland-based bi-monthly Third Force.
Soil and Water -- Californians Redefine Idea of Who is American
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 04-08-96
Americans have always viewed our soil as special -- just being born on the land entitles you to citizenship. Strangers on the land are entitled to certain civil and human rights. But public reactions to last week's beating by sheriff's deputies of undocumented Mexicans in southern California suggests Americans are tiring of this ideal. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is author of "Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father" (Viking-Penguin) and a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion.
Challenging High-Tech Giant -- California Unions Up in Arms Over Move to Oust Labor Department Official
By David Bacon
Date: 03-26-96
The AFL-CIO has publicly endorsed President Clinton's re-election but California unions are up in arms over a Labor Department decision to suspend -- and possibly oust -- a key official for reportedly siding with the Justice for Janitors campaign. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes on immigration and labor issues.
When Being Your Own Boss Doesn't Pay -- Big Rig Drivers Wage Harbor War in L.A.
By David Bacon
Date: 03-08-96
The dream of "being your own boss" has inspired generations of American workers. But as American business has downsized its workforce, contracting out more and more work to the lowest bidder, thousands of independent contractors are saying "Enough! We want back into the workforce."
Buchanan in California -- The Class Card Versus the Race Card
By Dick Meister
Date: 03-07-96
One thing Pat Buchanan's candidacy in the March 26 California Republican presidential primary is sure to do is measure which card is more appealing -- the race card or the class card. Immigrants make up a quarter of the state's workforce. However much bashing corporations appeals to them, they're unlikely to support a candidate who also blames them for California's economic ills. PNS commentator Dick Meister, a freelance columnist in San Francisco, has covered labor and political issues for more than three decades.
The Danger of a "Kinder and Gentler" Death Penalty
By Mary Ellen Leary
Date: 02-27-96
When California put its first condemned prisoner to death last week by lethal injection, it inaugurated a "kinder and gentler" form of capital punishment. The result may be a lessening of public repugnance and a growing public indifference to an act reporters now describe as "antiseptic". Even advocates of the death penalty now depict it as almost an act of personal revenge rather than state deterrence. PNS analyst Mary Ellen Leary is a West Coast correspondent for The Economist.
A Vietnamese Temple on the Edge of Cyber-Space
By Andrew Lam
Date: 02-09-96
California's Vietnamese diaspora has re-created the Vietnamese village on the grounds of a temple in East Palo Alto, a small inner-city community not far from Silicon Valley. PNS editor Andrew Lam reports on the Thanh Cat temple and the monks and nuns who live there.
An Initiative for the Working Poor -- California May Put Wages on Ballot in November
By David Bacon
Date: 01-29-96
Now at a 40-year low, California's minimum wage hasn't increased for eight years, while efforts to raise it through the legislature have been stymied by Republican control. That could change if backers succeed in getting the Living Wage Initiative on the ballot for November, for the first time offering poor and working families something to vote for rather than against. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigration and labor trends. For photographs illustrating this article please call Pacific News Service. Bacon's e-mail address is <dbacon@igc.apc.org>.
Super-Predators -- Or Super-Alones? -- Why Adults Fear the Pre-Teen in Their Bedroom
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 01-22-96
Criminologists warn that the current drop in violent crime is only a temporary blip. Beware the coming of age of today's pre-teens whom some label as the super-predators. But the better label for them might be the super-alones. Was there ever a generation less prepared to assume the responsibilities of adulthood -- rearing the young -- than ours? PNS editor Richard Rodriguez is author of "Days of Obligation" (Viking-Penguin) and a regular contributor to the L.A. Times Sunday Opinion.
Selecciones Tomadas De Los Nuevos Medios De Comunicación De California
Editado Por Andrea Lewis Y Franz Schurmann
Date: 05-27-97
Mientras que los inmigrantes que no son blancos se suman a las minorías étnicas de los que han nacido en este país para conformar una porción aún mayor dentro de la población de California, la prensa étnica (en inglés y en otros idiomas) juega un papel más importante que nunca para mantener informados a los ciudadanos del estado. ¿Qué ideas y relatos circulan en estos periódicos? Una red de más de 50 editores de los medios de comunicación étnicos de California -- llamada los Nuevos Medios de Comunicación de California (New California Media) -- le ayudan a PNS a compilar una columna mensual de selecciones tomadas de este vital, pero a menudo ignorado, segmento de los medios de comunicación noticiosos.
Parpadea, Por Favor, Abuelita, Parpadea
By Andrew Lam
Date: 04-09-97
Para esta familia de inmigrantes (legales, buenos trabajadores medianamente prósperos, pagan impuestos y son ciudadanos) el futuro depende de un parpadeo o de un movimiento de la cabeza. Este relato pone en evidencia los crueles efectos de los cambios a las leyes migratorias. Dicha crueldad es el resultado inevitable de dar la espalda a nuestra propia historia. El editor de PNS Andrew Lam es un cuentista y reportero que vive en San Francisco.
El Paraíso Perdido
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 03-31-97
Latinos Making Their Mark Through Unions -- Not Ballot Box
By David Bacon
Date: 12-29-95
As California's workers grow younger, poorer and more immigrant, a new generation of Latino union organizers is working to draw them in. They are motivated by a broad vision of union organizing that goes beyond wage and benefit struggles or electoral politics. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on labor and immigration issues.
The Undocumented Virgen
By Ruben Martinez
Date: 12-14-95
The farther one travels from home, the closer one feels to La Virgen de Guadalupe, say those who gather to celebrate her birthday -- December 12 -- in Los Angeles. She transcends borders, as do her faithful. PNS editor Ruben Martinez, author of "The Other Side," is a writer and performance artist who lives in Los Angeles and Mexico City.
Rapist's Release a PR Bonanza for California Prisoncrats
By Dannie Martin
Date: 12-08-95
As if it had been scripted, the release of a serial rapist on parole by California prison authorities has become a PR bonanza for the state's prisoncrats. PNS commentator Dannie Martin, who served time in California prisons and is the author of "The Dish Washer" (W.W. Norton), points out that such cases represent only a minuscule portion of the prison population.
Death of a Filipino Hero -- Inspired by America as an Idea
By David Bacon
Date: 12-05-95
No street in California carries the name Pete Velasco. But for countless Filipinos and labor activists on the Pacific coast, Velasco is remembered as the man who started the grape strike that gave birth to the United Farm Workers. His inspiration, and that of his generation of fellow immigrants, was America -- not the country but the idea. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.
Pathway to Social Reunion -- Redefining the Value of Work
By Sandy Close
Date: 11-07-95
Americans fret over our racial divide, but barely notice that Congress is cutting poor people loose from the body politic. In an era when more and more people are viewed as redundant, we need to redefine the value we attach to work in a way that acknowledges our need for one another. Sandy Close is executive editor of Pacific News Service.
Beyond the Black-and-White Checkboard
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 10-26-95
The resurgent debate over race in America continues to fixate on black and white relations, as if the only way we can understand who we are is by positioning ourselves on a black and white checkerboard. The reality on the street has long been more complex and fluid, and our language needs to encompass it. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father," is an essayist for the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour.
See No Evil, Hear No Evil: Why We Can't Track Police Abuse
By Liz Enochs
Date: 10-24-95
Despite mounting public concern about police abuse, police departments, state agencies and the Department of Justice itself keep few records on police use of force in tracking suspects. What figures do exist suggest California's cops are the most dangerous. PNS correspondent Liz Enochs is a Bay Area investigative reporter.
America's Fault Lines: Hatred of the Alien -- California's Other Prejudice Claims a Life
By Tara Moss
Date: 10-12-95
While media attention focuses on racial divisions between white and black, another prejudice -- against the alien -- is taking its toll among California's undocumented population. A year after Californians passed Proposition 187 to ban public services from illegal aliens, a health care worker counts the human toll. PNS commentator Tara Moss is a physician's assistant working in a community health clinic in rural northern California.
After O.J.: Latinos Written Out of the Script in L.A.'s Latest Racial Drama
By Gregory Rodriguez
Date: 10-06-95
Although Latinos represent the emergent brown majority of Los Angeles, they have been written out of the script of its latest racial drama. Yet bit by bit they are redefining the city's racial and ethnic dynamics from the ground up. PNS associate editor Gregory Rodriguez is a fellow of the Alta California Research Center and is co-authoring a book with David Hayes-Bautista on post-minority culture.
After O.J.: More Than a "Black White Thang" -- Street People View O.J. Through Their Own Racial Prism
By Philippe Bourgois
Date: 10-04-95
As a teenager Roy ran with O.J. Simpson in the Medallion gang. Today, the white, middle-aged heroin addict who proudly defends his racism is celebrating O.J.'s victory. His solidarity throws a curve ball into America's traditional understanding of black-white apartheid. PNS associate editor Philippe Bourgois, author of "In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio" (Cambridge University Press) teaches anthropology at San Francisco State University.
After O.J.: Some Young Blacks Find No Moral Victory in O.J.'s Acquittal
By Sandy Close
Date: 10-03-95
For weeks, the news media feared the outcome of the O.J. Simpson trial would be a repeat of Rodney King. But a group of young black writers expressed greater concern about a repeat of the backlash that occurred after another famous California case: that of kidnap victim Polly Klaas, which led to the Three-Strikes-You're-Out measure. Pacific News Service convened its YO! (Youth Outlook) writers, who have followed the case since its inception, the day before the verdict.
Race Relations -- California Style: The Public/Private Gap
By Sandy Close
Date: 09-14-95
The irony in race relations in California is that the situation is the reverse of what it was in the 1960s. Whereas the public realm once offered the way out for racial and ethnic hostilities in private life, today racial frictions are greatest in the public life. The difference suggests that the deepest faultline of all in the Golden State is not racial or ethnic but public versus private. Sandy Close is executive editor of Pacific News Service. This essay appears in a longer form in the September 18 issue of The Nation.
Race Relations -- California Style: The New Native Americans
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 09-11-95
One out of four of California's residents is now foreign-born. In this new pageant of history, it is the blond who now plays the role of Native American and the Indian who plays the part of the stranger -- the conquistador. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Days of Obligation" (Viking Penguin), writes regularly for the Los Angeles Sunday Times.
Race Relations -- California Style: For "Minority" Read White -- California's Changing Demographics Turn Racial Politics on its Head
By Gregory Rodriguez
Date: 07-28-95
In Los Angeles county, where "minorities" now make up two-thirds of the population, governmental policies that were originally designed to integrate non-whites into mainstream society have now begun to protect the region's newest minority, Anglo Americans. PNS contributing editor Gregory Rodriguez looks at the effort to keep one elementary school's faculty "integrated." Rodriguez is co-author with David Hayes Bautista of a forthcoming book on California's post-minority culture.

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