Source: AMC-NET

On March 13, 2001, the American Muslim Council reported that "the American Muslim Council hosted a forum Monday, at Georgetown University, geared toward helping formulate a policy position and consensus among the community regarding President Bush’s Faith-based Initiative." A lot of the talk focused on American Muslim involvement "in the selection process when it comes to determining eligibility. The community called on the White House to ensure balanced representation and objectivity in the Office." The AMC Executive Director sees the...

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On March 13, 2001, the Omaha World-Herald reported that, according to the Census 2000, "racial and ethnic minorities now make up about 7 percent of Iowa, compared with about 4.5 percent in 1990." The largest increase in population was among the Hispanic population. "The increase...has forced [Sioux City] to adapt. Interpreters are in demand to assist with the Spanish-speaking population. Schools have adjusted their programs."

Source: The Baltimore Sun

On March 13, 2001, The Baltimore Sun reported that Baltimore's "Mayor Martin O'Malley called on religious leaders yesterday to support his faith-based initiative, Baltimore Rising, which will connect 300 mentors in inner-city churches with 100 youths deemed most likely to kill or be killed by violent crime...Solving the crime, violence and drug addiction in the inner city 'requires a spiritual element...,' O'Malley said."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that, according to the 2000 census, "nearly one in every three Americans is a member of a minority group, reflecting a massive surge in immigration during the 1990s." The Latino and Asian populations are making the most rapid increases. "On initial analysis, the Census Bureau's first attempt at giving respondents the chance to choose more than one race may yield as much befuddlement as enlightenment."

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/11

On March 11, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that, "in the Bay Area, more than a dozen religious groups are considering using" the federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which "requires local government to prove that zoning decisions against religious groups are the least restrictive...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On March 11, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "the American Indian tribe that the state of Kansas gets its name from is slowly working its way back home. The Kanza last year bought 170 acres in eastern Kansas with hopes of turning it into a heritage park" and has plans for another park and a child-care health center in the state. The Kanza were forcibly removed from Kansas 127 years ago. Today there are about 2,300 members nationwide.

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On March 11, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "the White House believes President Bush will pick up significant support for his faith-based initiatives" from "black churches -- despite opposition from some African-American leaders." GOP pollster Frank Luntz calls the faith-based initiatiave "the first successful effort I have seen to penetrate the black mind-set that has worked...They are the most faith-based segment of the population there is." Some African-American leaders and...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On March 11, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "the Bush administration is defending its faith-based initiative against a string of attacks from...the Christian right." Their fears include strings being attached to government funds, and fears that some faiths will be discriminated against.

Source: The New York Times

On March 10, 2001, The New York Times reported that "among the most vivid threads in the New Jersey census figures...are stark figures on the diversification of the suburbs around the state....The blizzard of numbers from the census tell of a new kind of immigrant, the educated, high-achieving striver" who chooses central New Jersey to be in "commuting distance of its electronics, pharmaceutical and medical care industries."

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimes.com/News/031001/NorthPinellas/Teacher_broadens_worl.shtml

On March 10, 2001, the St. Petersburg Times reported on a world religions class taught by Timothy "Coach" Falls at at Palm Harbor University High School in Florida. He decided to teach the course after he found that the students in a social studies class he was teaching "had a deep well of ignorance and prejudice for different cultures...

Source: The New York Times

On March 10, 2001, The New York Times reported that "among the most vivid threads in the New Jersey census figures are stark figures on the diversification of the suburbs around the state and particularly here in the boom belt across the narrow middle of the state, where new names and faces from abroad have moved [in]...The blizzard of numbers from the census tell of a new kind of immigrant, the educated, high-achieving striver who...puts down roots here in Middlesex County, within commuting distance of the electronics,...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 9, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "leading Southern California Muslim scholars...denounced the ruling Taliban's destruction of Buddhist statues in Afghanistan as contrary to their faith's laws and traditions...The Los Angeles meeting...reflected growing efforts by a network of Muslim intellectuals and human rights advocates...to challenge, on the basis of Islamic law, oppression that they believe is being falsely imposed in the name of Islam...In a unanimous statement, eight intellectuals said the Taliban's...

Source: The Boston Globe

On March 9, 2001, The Boston Globe reported on civil-rights lawyer Juliette Kayyem, who is executive director of a project on counterterrorism and domestic preparedness at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. She is waging what seems "like a one-woman war within the Justice Department against the use of secret evidence... Acting on secret evidence, US officials now seize, detain, and deport foreigners suspected of terrorist activities." The National Commission on Terrorism, the congressionally appointed panel she sits on, "...

Source: The Arizona Republic

On March 8, 2001, The Arizona Republic reported on the Rev. Jerry Falwell's remark that "the Moslem faith teaches hate" and should be barred from Bush's faith-based initiatives. "Falwell later told USA Today that he meant any group that is anti-Semitic, racist or in any way bigoted should be disqualified...Islamic, Christian and Jewish leaders, even a spokesman for Middle East terrorist group Hezbollah, denounced Falwell's remarks."

Source: USA TODAY

On March 8, 2001, USA TODAY reported that "the first detailed Census 2000 numbers show...Hispanics [are at] the point of becoming the nation's largest minority group...The 2000 Census shows that the number of Hispanics grew almost 60% since 1990, to 35.3 million." A demographer with the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, Calif. calls this "an important shift in American race relations."