racism

L.A. Clippers owner Donald  Sterling will pay $2.7 million to settle claims that he shut out African Americans, Hispanics and families with children from renting apartments on his vast network of Los Angeles area properties.

Had Sterling not struck the deal, The Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press report the trial would have aired expert testimony showing Sterlings' Koreatown rental practices to be racist.

If approved by a federal judge, the deal would amount to the largest apartment housing bias settlement brokered by the Justice Department.

Just last week, InvestigateWest reported that Oregon officials were planning to reevaluate the state's foster care system after some ghastly cases of neglect were made public. Now it seems they've decided to tackle yet another issue: how racism can influence caseworkers' response to abuse reports.

The Oregonian has been closely following this story, with Michelle Cole reporting on this week's announcement. It seems that a new report by Portland State University revealed that racial bias sways the way state child welfare officials  deal with suspected neglect. The study found that African American children and Native American children were much more likely to be pulled from their biological homes than Caucasian children, whereas Hispanic children were removed at much lower rates. African American and Native American children, on average, also spent greater lengths of time in foster care before being returned to their parents.

Multnomah County, right outside Portland, is one of three counties nationwide looking at why these statistics are occurring. But Multnomah County Circuit Judge Nan Waller told The Oregonian she wasn't surprised by the results:

Let's acknowledge it -- sometimes racism occurs.

The most recent case to come into her courtroom involved a child who overdosed on cocaine while with a babysitter. His parent's race -- African American -- and their history had authorities convinced they were drug dealers.

AP writer Nicholas Geranios looks back at the Aryan Nations, the racist colony built by Richard Butler in Hayden Lake, Idaho. The group is long gone, but memories were recently stirred when the man who shot up the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. was found to have spent a few days in the area in 2004. Today, the area is home to tourists, country clubs and a posh homes. But the locals haven't forgotten.

"The stain is so deep," said Tony Stewart, a long time resident who helped evict the Aryan Nations, told Gerionas. "We feel stereotyped in a way that is unjust."