EthnicMajority

(CNN) Weeks ahead of the premiere of a CNN documentary focusing on diversity in the tech industry, the charged issue is already generating sparks. A heated debate broke out on Twitter Wednesday night after a preview screening of Black in America 4.

Blogger-turned-investor Michael Arrington ignited a controversy with his comments about the visibility of minority-led companies. In the documentary, which airs November 13, Arrington talked about his difficulties finding African-American entrepreneurs to launch their ventures at his TechCrunch Disrupt conference — and suggested he would accept almost any black entrepreneur, regardless of merit.

"There's a guy, actually, his last company just launched at our event, and he's African-American. When he asked to launch — actually, I think it was the other way around. I think I begged him," Arrington told CNN's Soledad O'Brien.

"His startup's really cool. But he could've launched a clown show on stage, and I would've put him up there, absolutely," Arrington said. "I think it's the first time we've had an African-American [be] the sole founder."

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(BET) Another historic Black-owned newspaper has let some of its own go.

The executive editor, news editor and other staffers of the Chicago Defender were laid off this week as one of the nation’s oldest Black-owned newspaper tries to stay afloat.

The newspaper is months behind on its rent and, in response, was forced to lay off six of its staff. Of those given pink slips were the only two editors left of the diminished staff of 18 and an accounts receivables staffer. Additionally, the paper’s only photographer was moved from full- to part-time.

“We’re facing the same struggles as everyone else,” publisher and president Michael House told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The 106-year-old weekly isn’t the only African-American newspaper trying to stay afloat. The New York Amsterdam News  suffered a drop in circulation of 44 percent in just one year, from 2009 to 2010.

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(Huffington Post) The recent death of New York University law professor Derrick Bell, a tenacious black champion of "critical race theory," and a recent report that the Supreme Court may take up a new challenge to affirmative action on campus both mark the decline of racial "identity politics" and "diversity" strategies that preoccupied America before 9/11 and the current economic and political crisis.

Not even racism's raw eruptions against the first black President or its grinding ubiquity in the lives of countless non-whites (especially young black men) caused the crisis that's gripping this country. And not even the staunchest anti-racist activism, necessary though it surely is, will get us out of it.

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(Eureka Alert press release) It has been well-documented that minorities are subject to discrimination in product pricing and customer service. What is startling is the result of a new study professors at the USC Marshall School of business in conjunction with University of San Diego's School of Business Administration, that shows that sometimes ill-treatment can make African-American consumers voluntarily pay more for goods and services than they would normally, as well as pay more than their Caucasian counterparts.

Aarti S. Ivanic, assistant professor of marketing at the University of San Diego's School of Business Administration; and Jennifer R. Overbeck, assistant professor of management and organization along with Joseph C. Nunes, associate professor of marketing at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, set out to understand inequities in transactions. In their study, "Status, Race and Money: The Impact of Racial Hierarchy on Willingness-to-Pay," forthcoming in Psychological Science, the researchers found that African-Americans who felt their status was threatened by poor service because of their race were willing to pay more for products and services to assert their social standing.

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(Huffington Post) As Congress weighs the Obama administration's jobs package, RLJ Companies CEO Robert Johnson is pushing a proposal that he says marshals the capacity of the nation's biggest companies to significantly reduce black unemployment.

Johnson has dubbed his idea the "RLJ Rule." It calls on Fortune 1000 companies to voluntarily consider a more diverse pool of qualified candidates when filling senior level job openings and hiring contractors. Johnson has described it as the business version of the National Football League's Rooney Rule, a 2003 mandate that required teams to consider diverse candidate pools when filling senior positions.

Johnson, the United States' first black billionaire, has been critical of the way that the Obama administration and Congress have tried to address the nation's stubborn unemployment problem. He believes businesses can create solutions to social problems.

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(Seattle Times) Alabama's strict new immigration law may be backfiring. Intended to force illegal workers out of jobs, it is also driving away many construction workers, roofers and field hands here legally who do backbreaking jobs that Americans generally won't.

The vacancies have created a void that will surely deal a blow to the state's economy and could slow the rebuilding of Tuscaloosa and other tornado-damaged cities.

Employers believe they can carry on because of the dismal economy, but when things do turn around, they worry there won't be anyone around to hire.

Many legal Hispanic workers are fleeing the state because their family and friends don't have the proper papers and they fear they will be jailed.

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(USAToday) We're in the middle of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and I've got a confession to make: Although my books have been translated into more than 30 languages worldwide, I've never had them translated into Spanish for the American Hispanic market.

That may make some readers of my column glad.

"Let 'em learn English," I can imagine you shouting.

The truth is, as a businessperson, I owe it to myself to take a realistic look at the opportunities in the large, vibrant American Hispanic market.

No matter how you feel about the hot-button issue of immigration, as a small-business owner you should not ignore the fact that Hispanics in the United States represent a huge marketing opportunity.

Like me, you need to consider reaching that market. And, like me, you don't necessarily need to learn Spanish or translate your marketing materials into Spanish.

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(Sampan) The first of November will signify the end of a long journey and the beginning of a new one for Vienne Cheung. Exactly one year to the day, Cheung left her position as Executive Director of ASPIRE to embark on the daunting, yet exciting quest to fulfill her passion for fashion. Hence, the birth of VienneMilano – the first luxury hosiery brand and online boutique in the USA devoted exclusively to thigh high stockings that are made in Italy – which officially launches on November 1.

Born in Hong Kong and having immigrated to Brookline, Massachusetts at the age of six, Cheung originally wanted to become a teacher. However, her parents persuaded her to study art at college instead, leading her into a position as the Creative Director for Furniture Fan right out of school. But Cheung wanted to do more and subsequently enrolled in business school.

“No matter where you are in the creative world,” Cheung said, “You need to business know-how in order to succeed.”

After completing business school, her newly-acquired business savvy ignited an affinity toward project management. “I like [the whole process] from marketing to seeing the product out there,” Cheung said.

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(Huffington Post) As the sun rises on tilled soil on the outskirts of Fresno, Calif., Mori Vance bends to pick black eyed peas, then disappears among towering okra bushes. Vance, who is African-American, is harvesting her first crop with several other novice black farmers, all hoping to make it their life's work.

The African American Farmers of California started the 15-acre demonstration farm to teach about growing and eating healthy food and to get African-American kids interested in agriculture.

The project is part of a nationwide effort to revive the pride of black farmers and reverse the decline of black-owned farms. In Milwaukee, Atlanta and Chicago, black-run nonprofit organizations are providing African-Americans with land to farm, conducting workshops in agriculture and training youth in gardening.

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(News Blaze) Fifty-one million strong and with households that spend more than any other population segment on laundry and household cleaning supplies, Latinos have an especially significant impact on the market for household products, according to "The Latino Household Products Shopper" by market research publisher Packaged Facts.

"Latinos, as part of the big spender segment in grocery stores, represent prime targets for marketers of household products, both in the store and before the store," says David Sprinkle, publisher of Packaged Facts.

The report identifies a high correlation between overall spending by U.S. households on groceries and spending on household products. Experian Simmons data reveals that 68% of Latino households spend an average of $80 or more per week on groceries, while 42% of Latino households spend an average of $125 or more. Packaged Facts' proprietary survey data show that grocery shoppers who spent at least $80 on their last grocery shopping trip are 41% more likely than shoppers on average to buy household products such as laundry and household cleaners, paper products and plastic products.

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