by Laurie Kellman
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP)—The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee is pressing forward with his public examination of Muslim extremism in America, pointing to his first, tense hearing on the subject as a step toward desensitizing a taboo topic and rooting out terrorists on U.S. soil.

"There's an elephant in the room and nobody wants to talk about it. We talked about it today," Peter King said after the four-hour, emotion-filled session March 10.

CONTROVERSIAL HEARING—Zuleyha Ozonder, Hashi Shafi and Zuhmer Ahmed watch a hearing on the "radicalization" of U.S. Muslims, chaired by Rep. Peter King of the House Homeland Security Committee in Washington, from Minneapolis, March 10.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)—When a bomb was found along the route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane, some law officers suspected a possible white supremacist link. Now, an organization that tracks hate groups says the man charged this week in the failed attack was an avid contributor to a supremacist Internet forum and a reputed member of a neo-Nazi group.

The Southern Poverty Law Center said March 10 that Kevin Harpham, 36, made more than 1,000 postings on the Vanguard News Network site, many under a pseudonym.

Week of March 19-25

March 19

1620—The first Black child born in America, William Tucker, was probably born on this date in Jamestown, Va. However, some controversy surrounds the exact date. What we know for sure is that he was the son of two of the first Africans brought to America as indentured servants in August 1619—Anthony (Antonio) and Isabella. We also know he was baptized on Jan. 3, 1624. Further, there is debate as to whether his last name was actually “Tucker.” It seems that many historians simply assumed that the child was given the last name of the man on whose plantation his parents worked. While this would later become the practice on many plantations, there is no documentation that Anthony and Isabella actually gave their son the last name of Tucker.

NAT KING COLE

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP)—NAACP Worcester has elected an openly gay man as its new president as the group seeks to revive itself following five years of inactivity.

Ravi Perry, a political science professor at Clark University, was elected Saturday with a slated of new officers. The 28-year-old says he hopes that as an openly gay man he can help the storied civil rights group address long-ignored gay and lesbian issues in minority communities.

RAVI PERRY