While Max Blumenthal was up in Alaska gathering information on Sarah Palin's background, he managed to sit down and interview two of the African-American community leaders in Anchorage who'd had dealings with Palin as governor: Gwen Alexander, the president of the African-American Historical Society of Alaska, and Bishop Dave Thomas, a distinguished black pastor from Anchorage.

As you can see, Palin made clear to them through her refusal to participate in the state's traditional Juneteenth celebration, as well as her refusal to work on their concerns about minority hiring for the gas-pipeline commission and on her staff, that race relations are pretty low on her priority list.

Much of this was reported a few weeks ago by Earl Ofari Hutchinson, but the impact of Palin's behavior comes home here: It's clear that the African American community in Alaska feels thoroughly disenfranchised.

Then there was the news today that Palin's rural adviser has quit because of the governor's shoddy treatment of Alaska Natives. Among other items: Palin appointed a white woman to a game-board seat traditionally held by a Native.

What exactly is Palin's problem with minorities? She's happy to trot them out for photo ops, but her actions on the ground speak much louder.

UPDATE: (Nicole) Uh oh. Palin Advisor quits, citing race problems...this time with the native Alaskan population.