White Men

Figure skating: more corrupt than ever? In the Olympics, many events depend on subjective scoring from a panel of judges. But confidence in these scoring systems has been undermined by scandals, perhaps most infamously a 2002 pairs skating case in which a French judge "was reportedly pressured by some combination of her national federation and the Russian mafia to vote for a Russian pair in exchange for a Russian vote for a...

Figure skating: more corrupt than ever? In the Olympics, many events depend on subjective scoring from a panel of judges. But confidence in these scoring systems has been undermined by scandals, perhaps most infamously a 2002 pairs skating case in which a French judge "was reportedly pressured by some combination of her national federation and the Russian mafia to vote for a Russian pair in exchange for a Russian vote for a...

Harold Holzer has spent his life studying and writing about Abraham Lincoln. In this year, the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Holzer rightly bemoans a steady erosion of Lincoln's reputation as "The Great Emancipator" - a term now considered politically incorrect - triggered largely by revisionist historians who've questioned Lincoln's motives and commitment to ending slavery. These critics, says Holzer, largely and unfairly have measured Lincoln against the values of today and found him wanting.

Nine men in northwest England were sentenced to jail terms Wednesday for luring girls as young as 13 years old into sexual encounters using alcohol and drugs — a case that has stirred racial tensions and sparked claims that authorities are failing to protect vulnerable children in state care. Judge Gerald Clifton said the men, aged between 22 and 59 and all of Pakistani or Afghan origin, were driven by "lust and greed," and sentenced them for crimes including trafficking and rape.

South Portland police are investigating the robbery of a restaurant near the Maine Mall. Authorities say one robber held an employee at the rear of the On The Border restaurant at about 10:45 p.m. on Monday while a second robber entered the building and ordered the manager to turn over money. Both suspects fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash. One employee suffered minor injuries. The suspects were described as white men in their 20s, both about 6-foot- 1, and wearing all black clothing and what appeared to be ski masks over their faces.

WASHINGTON -- Black and Asian women with bachelor's degrees earn slightly more than similarly educated white women, and white men with four-year degrees make more than anyone else. A white woman with a bachelor's degree typically earned nearly $37,800 in 2003, compared with nearly $43,700 for a college-educated Asian woman and $41,100 for a college-educated black woman, according to data being released today by the Census Bureau. Hispanic women took home slightly less, at $37,600 a year.

Twenty years ago this week, a jury acquitted the Los Angeles policemen who beat motorist Rodney King, and the city exploded in a six-day riot. Before it was over, there were more than 50 deaths, about 2,500 injuries, and half a billion dollars or more in property damage. The riot led to alarming predictions that a new age of urban unrest might be at hand. What happened in the next two decades, though, was very nearly the opposite: Cities in the United States have been relatively riot-free over the last two decades.

LINDEN, Texas -- Citing the crime's seriousness, a judge yesterday added short jail terms to sentences recommended by juries for two of four white men convicted of assaulting a mentally disabled black man and leaving him in a field. Billy Ray Johnson was found unconscious on a fire ant mound and now lives in a nursing home, where he is unable to walk without help or speak clearly. Two men entered plea deals, and two were acquitted of more serious charges. White supporters of the men note they are all from prominent families and had been in no previous legal trouble.

LOS ANGELES - The principal of a South Los Angeles elementary school has apologized after some children carried photos of O.J. Simpson, RuPaul, and Dennis Rodman in a parade celebrating Black History Month. “Unfortunately, questionable decisions were made in the selection of noteworthy African-American role models,’’ Lorraine Abner wrote Thursday in a letter to parents of students at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary. “As the principal, I offer my apology for these errors in judgment,’’ she wrote.

Authorities say two men claiming to be armed made off with prescription painkillers after robbing an Augusta pharmacy. Police say the men entered the Rite Aid pharmacy at about 7:30 p.m. on Monday and passed a note to a pharmacy employee saying they had a weapon and were willing to harm the employee if that person did not cooperate. The thieves were given the drugs they demanded and fled on foot. No one was hurt. Both suspects were described as white men with thin builds, one about 5-foot-11, one about 5-8. State police used dogs to try and track the...

Twenty years ago this week, a jury acquitted the Los Angeles policemen who beat motorist Rodney King, and the city exploded in a six-day riot. Before it was over, there were more than 50 deaths, about 2,500 injuries, and half a billion dollars or more in property damage. The riot led to alarming predictions that a new age of urban unrest might be at hand. What happened in the next two decades, though, was very nearly the opposite: Cities in the United States have been relatively riot-free over the last two decades.

NEW YORK - Lewis Nordan, a Mississippi-born writer whose fiction conjures up a dreamlike world that straddles the whisker-thin margin between a legend and a lie, but whose best-known novel was based on a historical killing of national import, died Friday in Cleveland. He was 72. The cause was complications of pneumonia, said his wife, Alicia. Mr. Nordan, who did not begin writing until he was in his mid-30s and did not publish his first book until he was in his mid-40s, was the author of four novels, three volumes of short stories, and a memoir, "Boy...

TULSA, Okla. - The two white men accused of killing three black people and wounding two others in a shooting spree that terrified this city over Easter weekend confessed to the police shortly after their arrest Sunday morning, the authorities said Monday. The two men - Jacob C. England, 19, and Alvin L. Watts, 32 - were arrested following a series of shootings Friday that city and community leaders believe were racially motivated. England and Watts randomly shot pedestrians and residents as they drove a pickup truck through the predominately black neighborhoods of north...

Harold Holzer has spent his life studying and writing about Abraham Lincoln. In this year, the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Holzer rightly bemoans a steady erosion of Lincoln's reputation as "The Great Emancipator" - a term now considered politically incorrect - triggered largely by revisionist historians who've questioned Lincoln's motives and commitment to ending slavery. These critics, says Holzer, largely and unfairly have measured Lincoln against the values of today and found him wanting.

Authorities say two men claiming to be armed made off with prescription painkillers after robbing an Augusta pharmacy. Police say the men entered the Rite Aid pharmacy at about 7:30 p.m. on Monday and passed a note to a pharmacy employee saying they had a weapon and were willing to harm the employee if that person did not cooperate. The thieves were given the drugs they demanded and fled on foot. No one was hurt. Both suspects were described as white men with thin builds, one about 5-foot-11, one about 5-8. State police used dogs to try and track the...

South Portland police are investigating the robbery of a restaurant near the Maine Mall. Authorities say one robber held an employee at the rear of the On The Border restaurant at about 10:45 p.m. on Monday while a second robber entered the building and ordered the manager to turn over money. Both suspects fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash. One employee suffered minor injuries. The suspects were described as white men in their 20s, both about 6-foot- 1, and wearing all black clothing and what appeared to be ski masks over their faces.

ATLANTA — Years before Rosa Parks fought for justice from her seat on a Montgomery bus, she fought for Recy Taylor. Parks was an NAACP activist crisscrossing Alabama in 1944 when she came across the case of Taylor, a 24-year-old wife and mother who was gang-raped and dumped on the side of a road. Taylor survived only to watch two all-white, all-male grand juries decline to indict the six white men who admitted to authorities that they assaulted her. Taylor was one of many black women attacked by white men during an era in which sexual assault was used to informally enforce Jim Crow...

Q. I am a successful, attractive, African-American female in my mid-20s who appears to have everything going for me. I emphasize "appears" because people who know me believe I'm a young, vibrant, well-educated woman who has many opportunities awaiting her (and they are right). They think I don't stay up at night worried about anything. And here is where they're wrong. I have trouble dating and meeting men for a variety of reasons, but there are two that stick out most: 1. I have only been attracted to tall, attractive, white men. I'm talking about...

Q. I am a successful, attractive, African-American female in my mid-20s who appears to have everything going for me. I emphasize "appears" because people who know me believe I'm a young, vibrant, well-educated woman who has many opportunities awaiting her (and they are right). They think I don't stay up at night worried about anything. And here is where they're wrong. I have trouble dating and meeting men for a variety of reasons, but there are two that stick out most: 1. I have only been attracted to tall, attractive, white men. I'm talking about Tom Brady/Josh Duhamel/Paul...

ATLANTA — Years before Rosa Parks fought for justice from her seat on a Montgomery bus, she fought for Recy Taylor. Parks was an NAACP activist crisscrossing Alabama in 1944 when she came across the case of Taylor, a 24-year-old wife and mother who was gang-raped and dumped on the side of a road. Taylor survived only to watch two all-white, all-male grand juries decline to indict the six white men who admitted to authorities that they assaulted her. Taylor was one of many black women attacked by white men during an era in which sexual assault was used to informally...