Speaking of race and L.A. *

Press release this morning from the mayor's office, verbatim:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council and Police Chief William Bratton will honor Lionsgate, Paul Haggis, the producers, cast and crew of three-time Academy Award winning Best Picture "Crash" in a City Hall ceremony on April 4, 2006, at 10 AM. This honor coincides with the DVD release of Crash Director's Cut Edition.

During the ceremony the Mayor and Council will designate April 4th as "Crash / FilmL.A. Day" in the City of Los Angeles in recognition of the award winning film, shot almost entirely within the City of Los Angeles.

"Our City is proud of Lionsgate and the cast and crew of Crash for this powerful film, which was shot almost entirely on the streets of Los Angeles," said Mayor Villaraigosa. "In the most diverse City in the world, we live and work side by side with people from different backgrounds, but we seldom talk about -- and learn -- from our differences. Art is meant to provoke, Crash certainly has and will continue to do so for years to come."

Emphasis added.

* LA Voice posts: "Am I the only one whose neck-hair is standing up over this?" Meanwhile, accepting the GLAAD Media Award for Brokeback Mountain, director Ang Lee threw some fuel on a still-smoldering fire by remarking, "Finally, an award that actually means something." Ooohhh. (12:15 pm)