The appearance of Chinese actors and filmmakers in Hollywood film and television has been problematic since the first films appeared in the early 1900s. Arthur Dong’s “Hollywood Chinese” documentary, screening as part of the 11th annual Hawaii International Film Festival Spring Showcase, retraces the struggle that has gone on for 100 years, with no sign of abating anytime soon.

For those new to the controversies, Dong’s work neatly captures the “progress” of Asian-Americans on screen through the decades, depicting the ways that each baby step forward is often accompanied by a leap backward.

The dilemma of the Chinese in film closely mirrors that of the Chinese-American and Asian-American experience in daily life as a minority presence, marked by one stereotype after another.

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Xerox Corp. and representatives of current and former black sales representatives have settled a class-action lawsuit accusing the office-equipment manufacturer of racial discrimination.

The settlement would require Xerox to pay $12 million to 1,100 former and current employees and includes legal fees, said Diane Bradley, a lawyer who represented the employees.

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For decades, critics of affirmative action on both sides of the aisle have argued that the policy calls into question the talents and qualifications of the minorities who benefit from it. They insisted that it generates a cloud of suspicion around the successful black or Latino student or professional. It makes whites wonder whether their minority colleagues really “earned” their positions.

It turns out those critics are right about the suspicion part. And evidently you don’t even have to be an actual beneficiary of affirmative action to be accused of having an unfair advantage. Geraldine Ferraro’s remark that “if [Barack] Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position” was not racist per se; it did not presume racial inferiority on the part of any person or group. But it was remarkably arrogant, ignorant and, unfortunately, reflective of an all too common and growing sentiment in the post-Civil Rights era.

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The Vanguard Group Inc. has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC said Friday.

The Malvern, Pa., mutual fund giant did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, EEOC said.

EEOC said Vanguard was accused of race discrimination by Raymond Ross of Maple Glen, Pa. According to the EEOC, Ross’ information technology career at Vanguard began in 1993 and was going well until he switched to a new department and managers in 2002. After complaining “that he was being treated less favorably and discriminated against based on his race,” the EEOC said, “Ross began to experience acts of retaliation, including unfavorable changes in his work conditions and assignments, from the managers he accused of race discrimination.” He was fired in 2003, the EEOC said. An EEOC official said Ross now runs a computer consulting company.

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At a time when Americans are congratulating themselves for having a diverse field of political candidates, their business leadership still doesn’t equally value diverse employees and managers. In fact, progress for women and minorities in terms of both pay and power has stalled or regressed at many of the nation’s biggest companies. This inequality shapes perceptions about who can or should be a leader.

More than 40 years after job discrimination was outlawed, the wage gap between white men and just about everyone else persists. The one exception is for Asian-American men, whose median wages were just 1% less than those of white men who worked full time, year round, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ survey in 2005, the latest year for which data are available.

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Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama notwithstanding, the world still seems to be ruled by white men. Is this the result of racial and sexual discrimination in the workplace? Or are other factors more important—for instance, that too few black kids attend good schools, or that women usually interrupt their careers to have children? The answer is far from academic, because if we want to change a situation, it’s a good idea to work out what might be behind it.

Economists have been leading this investigation for longer than one might think. Contrary to popular belief, “the dismal science” did not acquire its name because of Thomas Malthus’ gloomy predictions. The title was bestowed upon us in 1849 by Thomas Carlyle, who attacked John Stuart Mill and his fellow political economists for their “dismal” support for emancipation, and their insistence that former slaves, women, even the Irish, were all equal.

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When Courtney Gibson moved to St. Louis two years ago, she relied on a newcomer’s program with the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative to smooth the transition: she made friends, learned how a highway project might affect her commute, asked around about where to get her hair cut.Last year, the Macy’s divisional vice president became part of the initiative’s first class of 22 fellows, made up of mid-career, minority professionals sponsored by their companies to sharpen their workplace skills as they train for greater responsibilities.”I definitely think the experience through the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative allowed me to be connected and engaged in the St. Louis region,” said Gibson. And what she learned proved invaluable on the job. “I really saw the return on my company’s investment.”

The initiative launched in 2001 when several organizations in the region were concerned that talent was leaving for places like Atlanta or Chicago. They sought to do more to keep minority professionals in town and rising into leadership positions.

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Many of us are marveling at how seemingly far our society has come given a man with an African American heritage is being considered a serious candidate for president. But in the workplace, attitudes toward many black workers are anything but inspiring.

Racial harassment is up to record levels in offices and factories across the country, and we’re not talking just the use of the “N” word. Racist graffiti, Klu Klux Klan propaganda and even physical threats including the display of hangman’s nooses are included among the intimidation tools.

“It is shocking that such egregious and unlawful conduct toward African American employees is still occurring, even increasing, in the 21st century workplace, more than 40 years after enactment of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964,” says David Grinberg, spokesman for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also known as the EEOC.

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Lockheed Martin has agreed to pay $2.5 million to end a racial discrimination suit brought by an electrician who says he was subject to harassment and threats to his life during the two years he worked for the giant military contractor.The settlement, announced Wednesday, January 2, is the biggest award ever obtained by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of an individual in a racial discrimination case. The consent decree reached with Lockheed has been filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Hawaii and is subject to the court’s approval.

In addition to the payment to Charles Daniels, an African-American avionics electrician who worked for the company from September 1999 to August 2001, Lockheed fired or barred from rehiring the team leader and four co-workers who verbally abused him. The company also agreed to establish a special anti-discrimination training program at its aircraft logistics centers.

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WASHINGTON — The first-of-its-kind poll on race relations between blacks, Latinos and Asians, released yesterday in Washington, D.C., revealed that while ugly stereotypes still hold strong between groups, a majority of those in each group said they should put aside their differences to work toward building better communities.

All groups polled said overwhelmingly that racial tensions in the nation are a very important problem.

The poll shows that high levels of segregation still exist which underlie and support negative stereotypes. More than 75 percent of blacks and Latinos attend religious services with their own kind. More than 65 percent of blacks and Latinos went to school with those of the same ethnicity or race. More than 50 percent of all three groups say most of their friends are of the same race.

Latinos (44 percent) and Asians (47 percent) said they are generally “afraid of blacks because they are responsible for most of the crime.” Blacks (51 percent) and Asians (34 percent) said Latino immigrants are taking away jobs, housing and political power from the black community. Latinos (46 percent) and blacks (53 percent) said Asian business owners do not treat them with respect.

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