OHIO VOTER--Lauren Howie, 27, poses outside the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

EDITOR'S NOTE _ "America at the Tipping Point: The Changing Face of a Nation" is an occasional series examining the cultural mosaic of the U.S. and its historic shift to a majority-minority nation.

by Hope Yen

WASHINGTON (AP) — Black Americans voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the White turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which Blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many Whites stayed home.

NYPD TRAINING--Det. Anthony Mannuzza, left, and Police Officer Robert Martin, right, simulate a street stop during a training session at the New York Police Department's training facility in Rodman's Neck, in the Queens borough of New York, as the NYPD was re-training thousands of officers on how to do street stops amid a wave of criticism about the department’s controversial stop, question and frisk policy. (AP Photo/Colleen Long, File)by

Colleen Long

NEW YORK (AP) — After Officer Pedro Serrano decided to testify in federal court about what he sees as wrongdoing within the New York Police Department, a rat sticker appeared on his locker.

ANTHONY FOXX (Photo/AnthonyFoxx.com)

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama will tap Anthony Foxx, the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday to become his next transportation secretary, a White House official with knowledge of his decision said Sunday.

TAVON WHITE

by Alex Dominguez

BALTIMORE (AP) — Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that 13 female corrections officers, seven inmates and five others with gang ties have been charged with plotting to smuggle drugs, cellphones and other contraband into Baltimore's jail and other correctional facilities.