My boss, who is Italian American of Sicilian ancestry got married in the early 80's and her husbands family was upset that their son was marrying someone not white. I think they have since gotten over it.

The grad school admissions office I temped at had a whole Underrepresented Minorities program which targeted a weird variety of groups like Polynesian and excluded others like Cuban and Chinese. (mind you, the excludeds got regular chances)

I think that in the first half of the 20th century and earlier - Iranians and Iraqis would have been considered Asian and I'm not sure that Arabians wouldn't also have been considered Asian -- and by "Asian" I mean "Oriental" - which, I suppose is a more generic term than "Asian".

Right, the Middle East was considered part of the "The Exotic Orient." The Arabian Nights are tales of the Orient.

(And, of course, etymologically the word "orient" refers to turning your map to the Holy Land where Jesus was born. Which is how maps were turned until they sorted out the North Pole.)

I saw one of those geneolgical programs with Queen Noor and her Syrian ancestors petitioned the US government to be clasified as white when they immigrated in the 1890s.

And, of course, etymologically the word "orient" refers to turning your map to the Holy Land where Jesus was born.

That makes perfect sense! Why did I not know this?

I have very little to do at work today, other than some filing and other paperwork. I would rather go home and edit. ::sigh::

the white Cubans that came over after Castro's takeoer were the middle and upper middle class pre-revolution

This is my BIL and his family. His dad was a lawyer in Havana, and they got out on one of the last planes to leave Cuba in 1962 before Castro cracked down. His older sister (she was from his dad's first marriage and 20 years older than BIL) happened to live a few doors down from Castro's mistress, and her block would be completely shut down by his security forces when he came by for some nookie. She and her husband got out on the same plane as the rest of the family.

The grad school admissions office I temped at had a whole Underrepresented Minorities program which targeted a weird variety of groups like Polynesian and excluded others like Cuban and Chinese. (mind you, the excludeds got regular chances)

This makes sense to me. They probably looked at national/regional degree attainment rates by ethnic group and decided to provide incentives to underrepresented groups. Although Cuban Americans should probably a targeted group again. Gains made in '70s and '80s are eroding.

Oh, hey -- question for the group. Should my friend tell a potential future employer that she's pregnant? They may or may not be able to tell in an in-person interview.

Not until there's an offer on the table, I'd say.

In case you need a little schadenfreude to get through the day: Sarah Palin snub by Margaret Thatcher aides infuriates US rightwing

A firestorm on the US right has erupted after the Guardian reported that Sarah Palin will be denied a meeting with Lady Thatcher on the grounds that it would be "belittling" for her to meet the darling of the Tea Party movement.

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host, devoted the opening section of his radio show to denouncing the "preposterous" Guardian report, as Palin supporters accused Thatcher's circle of disgracing the former prime minister.

The US conservative right reacted furiously after the Guardian reported that Thatcher's aides had decided it would be inappropriate for her to meet Palin, who is planning to visit London next month en route to Sudan. Palin has been touring US historical sites (an excursion that saw her slip up this week on the subject of Paul Revere, the American patriot who made a famous "midnight ride" to warn of approaching British forces).

One Thatcher ally told the Guardian: "Lady Thatcher will not be seeing Sarah Palin. That would be belittling for Margaret. Sarah Palin is nuts."

Has a great Andrew Sullivan quote at the end. He seems to be the go-to guy when it comes to anti-Palin stuff.

"What he doesn't understand is that Palin's nutsiness is not a partisan matter in Britain, or anywhere else in the world. It is an obvious truth marvelled at by all. Palin's emergence as a serious figure in American politics has made the country a laughing stock across the world. The idea that a stateswoman like Thatcher, in advanced dementia, would be used by such a crackpot is simply unseemly."