Diversity in the news, February 2012

We hope everyone had a great President’s Day! The month of February has been filled with some fascinating diversity-related stories. Here are just a few that we’ve Jeremy Linbeen following; if you’ve got more February news stories, feel free to share them in the comments below!

In a matter of weeks, Knicks player Jeremy Lin has gone from bench-warmer to star athlete. His incredible success on the court has prompted questions about whether his ethnicity had anything to do with his slow rise to the top as well as some interesting race-related memes. Ultimately, though, the most important aspect of this story may be that tons of people now have a great new role model.

New statistics show that interracial marriages in the US have hit an all-time high of 1 in 12 marriages. Experts attribute the riseFrom The Loving Story to growing pools of Asian and Hispanic immigrants, and say the increase could lead to better racial relations long-term. “Mixed-race children have blurred America’s color line,” said Daniel Lichter, a sociology professor at Cornell University. Meanwhile, HBO gives a look at one interracial couple who fought for the right to marry.

Arizona legislators continue to push for a prohibition of “partisan doctrine” from Tuscon schools. Tuscon’s award-winning Mexican American Studies Program was recently shut down and several books used in the curriculum were removed from classrooms. Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children’s Literature has a comprehensive timeline of how things have played out here.

And of course it’s Black History Month! If you haven’t entered our giveaway yet, what are you waiting for?