Race

Shirley Sherrod is co-founder of the New Communities Land Trust founded 50 years ago as a safe haven for African-American farmers thrown off their land during the civil rights movement.

5 Decades Later, New Communities Land Trust Still Helps Black Farmers

2:11pm October 03, 2019

by Debbie Elliott

October marks the 50th anniversary of a pioneering effort to provide a safe haven for black farmers evicted from their land as punishment for participating in the civil rights movement.

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The plaintiff said Harvard uses "racial balancing" — which is illegal — to curate its student body and holds Asian American students to a higher standard than others in the admissions process.

Education

Federal Judge Upholds Harvard's Race-Conscious Admissions Process

7:36pm October 01, 2019

The advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions says it will appeal the decision, which means the fate of race-conscious admissions could once again end up in the hands of the Supreme Court.

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Jeromy Brown, 46, poses for a photo with Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Brown, like many progressive voters, thinks 2020 presidential candidates should "not equivocate" in calling Trump a white supremacist.

Politics & Government

How White Liberals Became Woke, Radically Changing Their Outlook On Race

11:32am October 01, 2019

by Asma Khalid

White Democrats are more likely today than in decades past to support more liberal immigration policies, embrace racial diversity, and uphold affirmative action.

Marking The Centennial Of Arkansas' Elaine Massacre

4:47pm September 29, 2019

by Jacqueline Froelich

The centennial of the "Elaine Massacre" is this month. Descendants, scholars, and activists are gathering for the first time to discuss what was one of the bloodiest racial conflicts in U.S. history.

Kelly Lytle Hernández is a historian and professor at UCLA and newly named MacArthur Fellow. Her work focuses on the U.S. history of mass incarceration and immigrant detention.

National

Rebel Historian Who Reframes History Receives MacArthur 'Genius' Grant

7:13pm September 25, 2019

by Audie Cornish

Kelly Lytle Hernández's work challenges the historical narratives surrounding mass incarceration and immigrant detention. The UCLA professor was named one of this year's 26 MacArthur Fellows.

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Police tape frames a sign at one of the entrances to the municipal government complex where a dozen people were shot to death earlier this year in Virginia Beach, Va.

National

Hostile Environment For Black Workers Probed In Virginia Beach Shooting Investigation

9:59pm September 24, 2019

by Sarah McCammon

An independent investigator said he's heard several such reports. The shooter, a public utilities engineer, was African American, and both black and white colleagues were among his victims.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., says that under current election procedure, there's "no way" he could win statewide office in Mississippi. Several African-Americans are now challenging those procedures.

Black Voters Sue Over Mississippi's Jim Crow-Era Election Law

7:39pm September 24, 2019

by Debbie Elliott

Four African Americans are suing over a Jim Crow-era election rule that requires statewide officeholders to win a majority of the popular vote and at least 62 of 122 Mississippi state house districts.

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Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in his own home told a 911 dispatcher, "I thought it was my apartment" several times as she waited for emergency responders to arrive. Guyger is charged in the September,

National

Trial Begins For Former Dallas Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Neighbor

1:44pm September 22, 2019

by Aubri Juhasz

Amber Guyger, who is white, said she entered the wrong apartment thinking it was her own, and shot Botham Shem Jean, 26, because she thought he was a burglar. Her trial begins on Monday.

The playwright Jeremy O. Harris, 30, began writing Slave Play at Yale School of Drama. It is set to open in October on Broadway.

Arts

With 'Slave Play,' A Young Playwright Provokes His Way To Broadway

4:44pm September 20, 2019

Jeremy O. Harris, 30, started writing a sexually explicit, transgressive and comic work as a graduate student at Yale. It proved a surprising smash hit, and will soon open on a much bigger stage.

Cows graze in a field in the Podunk section of East Brookfield, Mass.

Arts

Some 'Podunk' Town In The Middle Of Nowhere

11:09am September 20, 2019

by Leah Donnella

"Podunk" is supposed to be bleak and isolated. But there are a few things that people who use the term might not know. For one, it really exists. For another, its history predates the United States.