Steven Greenhut on California's Divisive Ethnic Political Battles
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Republican legislators in California had often been criticized for being divisive, yet the fading of Republican power has not led to an era of Kumbaya. In fact, the state Capitol recently has been plagued by some of the ugliest and most divisive political battles in years as Democrats fight one another over ethnic-related issues. A new bill that recently passed a Senate committee is likely to keep the hostilities boiling. Steven Greenhut details "racially tinged" squabbling, including allegations that one Asian-American assemblyman's bill was killed by Latino and African-American legislators purely as retribution.