It's an understood rule of presidential politics: win over independent voters in November, and the election is yours. But who are the independent voters? Many people think of them as white, educated, socially liberal and fiscally conservative. That may be true of some independents, but the group as a whole is changing and diversifying, and now many Americans who are ethnic minorities are identifying as independents. In 2008, less than 60% of self-identified independent were white, according to American National Election Studies.

“The Last Airbender” is the live-action feature film based on the highly successful animated series on Nickelodeon. It’s also the center of a growing controversy about casting and race. The series features Asian settings, costumes, architecture, and character and location names that incorporate Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian phonemes — such as “Aang,” “Fong” and “Sing.” And yet, when casting the motion picture, the studio chose four white actors to play the leads. When one of the actors dropped out, he was replaced by Dev Patel of “Slumdog Millionaire” fame, but it’s still the case that three of the four leading actors are white.

A new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that medical students who graduate from Historically Black Colleges and Universities are more likely to practice primary care medicine in low-income communities, the exact area of care most needed in the country today. By 2020, six years after health care overhaul kicks in, there will be 35 million newly insured Americans, but a projected shortage of up to 100,000 primary care doctors. HBCUs like Morehouse, Howard and Meharry Medical College – the top ranked schools in the study – may be helping prevent the problem by training students to work in underserved communities upon graduation.

A new study in wealth accumulation reveals a direct link between race and level of wealth, with African American women ranking way below white women. The Insight Center for Community Economic Development shows that the average single white woman has about $4,100 in assets while the average African American woman has saved only $100.

Although the campaign for health care reform may be in its final stretch, even reform supporters are having to plan very carefully for how we would pay for the changes, should they happen. 

Minority communities have been hit hardest by the recession, but they are receiving fewer of the stimulus project contracts doled out by the government.  

An ad from "Health Equity for All," a coalition of African-American and Latino organizations.

As the Senate Finance Committee moves toward a vote on the health care reform bill later in the week, African-American and Latino organizations have joined forces in a new ad campaign to make sure their voices are heard in the debate. We speak to Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping low-income people make an impact on public policy; and Dr. Herbert C. Smitherman Jr., assistant dean of Community and Urban Health at Wayne State University School of Medicine.