Following a well-publicized racial profiling scandal in Palo Alto, California, another county in the north of the state is testing out a new program designed to teach police recruits about the inherent biases that exist within all of us.

The project, led by Lorie Fridell, also a leading expert on racial profiling, is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

"Human beings have racial biases and some of these biases are not conscious but, in fact, work below the conscious level," Fridell said, "even in people who are consciously tolerant and non-prejudiced. Our message to the trainees is: This might include you."

Amazingly, people think this whole "education" thing just might work.

East Palo Alto Police Chief Ronald Davis, a black man, is an early supporter of the program. And Lynne Johnson, the Palo Alto Chief who resigned after saying things that many took to be an admission of racial profiling, says the program "would be a great asset to law enforcement." Also sure to love it: young black men in Santa Clara County.

Nate Silver, the power nerd who has of late been making it his job to take bigots to task, spoke to sister site Queerty about Prop 8's passage and the statistics behind it. Here's what he had to say about the controversial African American vote:

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David Mixner, gay rights activist and author, has taken to his blog to try and help calm the rigid tension that's developed between the black and gay communities since Prop 8's success in California.

According to Mixner, not only is it important to remember that the gay movement's "strongest ally" has been the black community, he claims the data being used to chastise California's black voters is inaccurate.

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Using his unique perspective as a half-black, half-Jewish cartoonist from California, Darrin Bell has made his comic strip, Candorville, one of the most interesting places to look for opinions about modern African Americans vis-à-vis the American Government.

As you can see above, Bell sensed hypocrisy in California on Election Day.

Click through for another of his takes.

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In a letter addressed to "Dear Community," a high-powered coalition of gay-rights leaders is calling for an end to the scapegoating of African Americans for the passage of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in California. … Since an election-day exit poll found that 70% of black voters supported Proposition 8, tensions between gays and blacks have exploded on the airwaves, in newspaper columns and on the Internet. The letter, however, notes that blacks make up a small part of the 52% of California voters who supported Proposition 8. Furthermore, it says, a recent analysis of that exit poll determined that it was too small to "draw any conclusions on the African American vote."

Full letter after the jump.

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And she didn't even need the cover of People to do it.

Having never (so?) publicly discussed her sexual orientation — but having made light of it on stage and on The New Adventures of Old Christine — comedian Wanda Sykes surprised Las Vegas Prop 8 protesters by announcing she is gay and married her wife on Oct. 25. Why speak up now? Because of Prop 8's passage. "I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked — our community was attacked. … Now, I gotta get in their face. … I'm proud to be a woman. I'm proud to be a black woman, and I'm proud to be gay. … Instead of having gay marriage in California — no — we're going to get it across the country."

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Unfortunately, you had to know this was coming.

Angered by the news that black voters were a major factor in the success of Prop 8, California's gay marriage ban, some segments of yesterday's anti-Prop 8 protests in LA soon devolved into hateful pits of racism:

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UCLA political science professor Tim Groseclose has resigned from the university's admissions committee after his calls for information about and an investigation into the method with which blacks were being admitted fell on deaf ears. Groseclose believes UCLA is "cheating," admitting blacks based on their race despite a longstanding ban on the practice.

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Conventional wisdom says that blacks will turn out in droves in California — and in every other state — to support Barack Obama come November 4th. Conventional wisdom also says that blacks are a generally homophobic lot who will vote for the anti-gay marriage resolution that will be on the ballot in the Golden State. So we can conclude that on election day, blacks will greatly contribute to the end of gay marriage in California. Right?

Wrong, says Timothy Stewart-Winter in the LA Times. Sure, we all know that blacks will be voting in record numbers this election, he writes, but do we really know that blacks are more against gay marriage than anyone else?

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A new report finds that poor schools, a high cost of living and a lack of cultural experiences are the reasons behind a major black exodus from the city San Francisco.

San Francisco has seen its black population decrease faster than that of all other large US cities – "from 13.4 percent in 1970 to an estimated 6.5 percent in 2005, according to the census" – and the mayor's African American Out-migration Task Force, which put together the aforementioned report, hopes to stem that withdrawal.

But it won't be easy. One shameful statistic stands out as reason enough for African Americans in San Francisco to have disdain for their city: 24 percent of them live in homes that are classified as needing "severe or moderate repairs."

The report recommends improving schools in black areas, adding programs for youth, increasing employment opportunities and promoting business development.

A note to the rest of the world: You should follow that recommendation, also.

Gay Star Trek star George Takei is very close to boldly going where few men have gone before: into a loving marriage with another man.

With the California Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage taking effect yesterday, Takei and his partner, Brad Altman, talked with The Early Show about being in the final stages of wedding planning, a process Takei calls “delicious anguish.” Click through for the adorable video of the lovebirds.

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