5655: Displays Of Independence.

Holiday fireworks in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• On Wednesday, 1,000 new NYPD officers celebrated as one of the most diverse graduating classes ever. Roughly 30 percent of the officers are Latino, 14 percent are Black, 5 percent are Asian and 49 percent are White—with women accounting for 17 percent. Madison Avenue will probably inquire if any of them are interested in joining the ad industry as security guards.

• Jazz singer Rene Marie drew criticism at a mayoral event in Denver, where she was scheduled to sing the national anthem but opted to perform the Black national anthem instead. Attendees expecting to hear The Star Spangled Banner were surprised with Marie’s rendition of Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing. “I am an artist,” explained the singer. “If I wait until I am asked to express myself artistically, or if I must ask permission to do it, it would never get done. I knew that if I asked to do my version of the national anthem, the answer would be ‘no.’” Mayor John Hickenlooper remarked, “We all respect artistic license and support freedom of expression. But in a tradition-laden civic ceremony … making a personal substitution for the national anthem was not an option. We asked for ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and that’s what we expected.” He probably should avoid kicking off the next mayoral event with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

• Kanye West will attend anger management classes, following recommendations from his own management team. The goal is to help the star on a personal level, plus aid him in landing more endorsement opportunities. Hopefully, West won’t enroll in the same school that graduated Naomi Campbell and Foxy Brown.

• Staffers and the distributor of Rachael Ray’s TV show are facing a discrimination lawsuit from an ex-employee. The man charges he faced a hostile work environment because he’s anorexic, with bosses making “vile comments” that included, “Anorexics should not be able to work.” Wonder if they’ll serve Dunkin’ Donuts during pre-trial meetings.

• Mickey D’s is facing a boycott from the American Family Association because the fast feeder recently joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, placed an executive on the group’s board of directors and donated money to the organization. “Hatred has no place in our culture,” said a Mickey D’s spokesman. “That includes McDonald’s, and we stand by and support our people to live and work in a society free of discrimination and harassment.” An AFA official declared, “We’re saying that there are people who support AFA who don’t appreciate their dollars from the hamburgers they bought being put into an organization that’s going to fight against the values they believe in.” Um, if they were really concerned about family welfare, they wouldn’t feed their kids fast food.

5530: Coffee And Keffiyehs Don’t Mix.

Another Dunkin’ Donuts viewpoint—from The Chicago Sun-Times…

Dunkin’ Donuts gives in to racist fears

By DEBORAH DOUGLAS

Right-wing pundits would sooner choke Rachael Ray with a keffiyeh scarf than leave her alone to drown herself in all that extra virgin olive oil she likes to splash on her so-called 30-minute TV meals.

Ray, the affable, pleasantly ordinary-looking TV chef and eponymous magazine maven, was blasted recently when she showed up in a Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee ad wearing what looked like a keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress. Dunkin Donuts yanked the ad Saturday after the likes of blogger/commentator Michelle Malkin wrote that the keffiyeh “has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad. Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not-so-ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities and left-wing icons.”

Too bad Dunkin’ Donuts had to give in to the racists out there who deem anything emanating from Arab culture as evil -- even a scarf. These are the same people who insist Barack Obama is Muslim (yep, they’re still doing it), as if being Muslim, which he clearly is not, is such a horrible thing.

Yes, America is still coming to terms with the horror of 9/11, carried out by Islamic terrorists. But the continued demonizing of everyday people of Arab descent and those who practice Islam in response to that terror is xenophobic.

“It seems like anti-Arab, anti-Muslim bigoted expression is the last frontier of accepted bigotry,” said Ahmed Rehab, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “There is still racism against African Americans, Latinos and other ethnicities, but the average person would think twice about making their racist feelings public. Not so with Muslims and Arabs. We need to move beyond that.”

The reality is that Ray’s scarf featured a paisley pattern, which differs from the diamond pattern of typical keffiyehs. The keffiyeh stands for many things and Palestinian solidarity can be one of them. It also cools the heads of people who live in the desert -- go figure. Finally, it’s a fashion trend. The French, who have strong Arab cultural links, have been wearing them for years. And when I traveled to Barcelona a few years back, colorful scarves were de rigueur. Keffiyeh lovers include Kanye West, Meghan McCain, Lupe Fiasco and Lauren Bush. But its sartorial value in hipster circles is debatable since the trend is so, like, over before it’s gotten started among us regular folks.

I can’t blame Dunkin’ Donuts for quashing this controversy by pulling the ad. People can and do have legitimate reactions to cultural symbols, such as the appropriate use of a cross. On jewschool.com, a blog targeting young Jews, retailer Urban Outfitters was criticized for selling keffiyehs.

“In fashion, you have to understand the codes,” says Jada Russell, a Chicago-based fashion consultant. “If there’s a group of people who say that offends me culturally, it has to be taken seriously. Americans are looked upon as a group of people who don’t really respect cultures outside our own. We have to respond to voices around the word.”

The motivation around Ray’s “keffiyeh kerfuffle,” as it’s being called in the blogosphere, stirs suspicion. After all, Rachael Ray is one of us, which is why she has such a wide appeal. Her haircut is plain, her stomach bulges over her belt, she eats too much while cooking … you get the drift. To jump to the conclusion that she knowingly or unknowingly supports extremism with her fashion choice is reductive thinking. When her stylist handed her the scarf, she likely accepted it because, like many of us, she probably liked the idea of making her humdrum outfit look a little hipper.

Ray’s only crime here is being behind the fashion times.