The award-winning novelist discusses race, identity, algorithmic thinking and how to envision optimistic futures in dark times.
Tag Archives: Race and Ethnicity
Inflation Reduction Act to Rewrite Embattled Black Farmer Relief Program
To circumvent legal objections, the new law will provide aid to farmers who have faced discrimination, regardless of their race.
I Was Injured by a White Supremacist in Charlottesville. Strangers Lifted Me Up.
Since the attack in Charlottesville, I’ve relied heavily on my community in my journey toward healing.
The Strength of Our Political Loyalties Changes Our Actual Beliefs
We are pulling apart from each other in a way that Is making the problem worse.
The Search for a Meaningful Clue to the Mystery of an Enslaved Ancestor
Old newspaper ads are serving as a window into the hopes and histories of hundreds of individuals who were newly emancipated.
When Community Concerts Brought Don Shirley to Small Towns
Community Concerts aimed for “a Carnegie Hall in every town.” Its adherents, including the author’s mother, were devoted to the cause. For decades, the experiment worked.
Hungary Leader Viktor Orban Addresses CPAC Dallas
The Hungarian prime minister, whose anti-immigrant rhetoric and attacks on democratic norms have been widely rebuked, spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas.
Longtime University President’s Legacy: A Diverse New Generation in STEM
Freeman Hrabowski transformed a onetime commuter school into the country’s strongest pipeline of Black graduates in science, technology, engineering and math.
Among Pro Athletes, Bill Russell Was a Pioneering Activist
Russell marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spoke out against segregation in Boston public schools and backed Muhammad Ali in his opposition to the Vietnam War.
In Rural America, Covid Hits Black and Hispanic People Hardest
At the peak of the Omicron wave, Covid killed Black Americans in rural areas at a rate roughly 34 percent higher than it did white people.
Who Can Play the King? Representation Questions Fuel Casting Debates.
Should Shakespeare’s Richard III be reserved for disabled actors? Does the character have to be played by a white man? By a man at all? Three recent productions took different tacks.
How to Find the One
After swooning at the interracial couple in “Bend It Like Beckham,” she knew how she wanted her romantic life to unfold. But the future had other plans.
Justice Dept. Will Investigate Environmental Racism in Houston
The inquiry, part of an administration-wide racial justice initiative, came amid claims that the city has ignored illegal dumping in Black and Latino areas.
Black Leaders Are Conveying the Far Left’s Unease With Eric Adams
The mayor’s skill in wielding race and biography has energized Black activists with shared experiences to push alternate solutions to New York City’s problems.
There’s a Reason We Can’t Have Nice Things
“Racism has undermined efforts to deliver a social safety net in the U.S. for a very long time,” one scholar says.
Soaring Overdose Rates in the Pandemic Reflected Widening Racial Disparities
A new federal report found that fatal overdoses jumped 44 percent among Black people, twice the increase among white people, from 2019 to the end of 2020.
Shed No Tears for Carolyn Bryant Donham
Emmett Till’s accuser said she “always felt like a victim as well as Emmett.” Don’t feel sorry for her.
A Crop of New Novels About Race and Racism Finds Freedom in Satire
Authors of color have turned in recent books to humor and surreal conceits to explore racism, identity politics and the pain of being “on the other side of whiteness.”
Asian American Student Success Isn’t a Problem
White anxiety about student performance may be driving educational changes.
Sweet & Vicious Bar Owner Will Pay $500,000 for Harassing Workers
The state attorney general says employees at the Manhattan bar were subjected to repeated slurs and sexual harassment.
Poll Shows Tight Race for Control of Congress as Class Divide Widens
Nonwhite and working-class Democrats worry more about the economy, while white college graduates focus more on cultural issues like abortion rights and guns.
A Self-Taught Artist Takes His Roadside Acropolis North
Outside the art establishment for decades, Charles Smith has sculpted his Black heroes in Aurora, Ill., and now in Hammond, La. At 81, he’s getting his first show in New York.
Everyday Violence
We look at where most of America’s gun violence happens.
Ecotherapists Are Working to Make the Outdoors More Inclusive
Amid pandemic stress and racial violence, many communities of color have turned to wilderness areas for healing.
Abortion, Like Prohibition, Has a Clear Racial Dimension
How long before this unpopular repression also loses favor and falls into decline?
Equity in Sports Has Focused on Gender, Not Race. So Gaps Persist.
Title IX, over 50 years, has heavily benefited white women over women of color. That’s partly because race has never been part of the law.
Democrats Are Having a Purity Test Problem at Exactly the Wrong Time
“It has become too easy for people to conflate disagreements about issues with matters of identity,” one nonprofit official says.
Elon Musk and Kraken’s Jesse Powell Shouldn’t Claim to Be Free Speech Advocates
In Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs are lauded as innovators whose vision exceeds that of ordinary mortals. Sometimes they start believing the hype.
Inside the Push to Diversify the Book Business
For generations, America’s major publishers focused almost entirely on white readers. Now a new cadre of executives like Lisa Lucas is trying to open up the industry.
Overlooked No More: William B. Gould, Escaped Slave and Civil War Diarist
He served nearly three years in the U.S. Navy and documented almost all of it, leaving an invaluable record of Black life during the war.
How I Became an Asian American
The killing of a Chinese American, David Chin, 40 years ago changed the way people of Asian descent began to see themselves.
Uterine Cancer Is on the Rise, Especially Among Black Women
The cancer eventually will become the third most common type among women, experts say. The mortality rate is highest among Black Americans.
Decades After Vincent Chin’s Death, Recent Attacks Haunt Asian Americans
Vincent Chin, a Chinese immigrant, was beaten to death after being pursued by two white Detroit autoworkers in 1982. On the 40th anniversary of his death, many hear frightening echoes.
Cannupa Hanska Luger Is Turning the Tables on the Art World
His work playfully critiques what white audiences want — and upends long-held ideas about what Native American art should look like.
Who Can Write About What? A Conversation With Roxane Gay and Jay Caspian Kang.
Two writers debate writing across identity lines — and how to respond when an author gets it really wrong.
Swedengate Shows Sweden Is Not Perfect. No Nation Is.
Social media users around the world fixated on the curious Swedish tradition of not automatically offering food to guests.
Federal Prosecutors Open Criminal Inquiry of Wells Fargo’s Hiring Practices
Authorities are investigating whether the bank violated federal anti-discrimination laws by conducting sham interviews of minority candidates.
The Racist Researcher Cited in the Buffalo Gunman’s Manifesto
The work of Michael Woodley, a Briton who was cited by the teenager who killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, included pseudoscientific theories that have been used to justify racism.
Covid and Race
The death rate for white Americans has recently exceeded the rates for Black, Latino and Asian Americans.
The Meme That Derailed an Executive’s Career
John Demsey made diversity Estée Lauder’s corporate pitch. An Instagram post with a racial epithet cost him his job.
The Long Shadow of Eugenics in America
As young girls, the Relf sisters were sterilized without consent. What does the government owe them — and the thousands of other living victims?
Ilya Shapiro Quits Georgetown’s Law School Amid Free Speech Fight
Ilya Shapiro, who tweeted that a “lesser Black woman” would get a Supreme Court nod, was cleared by a school investigation. He decided to leave anyway.
In Napa Valley, a Commitment to One Another, and to Showcasing Diversity
As an interracial couple, Erika Graves and Brad Cameron felt it was important that their wedding reflect their reality, so they hired a roster of vendors from diverse backgrounds.
Buffalo Massacre Suspect Arraigned on Murder and Hate Crime Charges
The man is also the first to face charges under a new state law against terrorism motivated by hate, prosecutors said.
Racist and Violent Ideas Jump From Web’s Fringes to Mainstream Sites
Despite some efforts by the largest tech companies to limit the spread of hateful content, it often remains only a click or two away.
Asian and Black Communities Have a Long History of Shared Solidarity
Stories of loss, struggle, change and hope are the most powerful tools we have to understand one another and bridge what divides us.
Heat Waves in New York Highlight Climate Inequality
When heat waves hit, everyone suffers. But the pain will not be shared equally throughout New York City. Here, the neighborhoods where climate inequality will hurt the most.
On Race, Herschel Walker’s Offer of Absolution Divides Georgia Voters
Georgia will still have a Black senator next year, but the likely Republican nominee, Herschel Walker, and the incumbent Democrat, Raphael Warnock, offer far different visions on race.
Princeton President Recommends Firing Joshua Katz After Uproar
Joshua Katz says he was targeted because of his criticism of a campus protest group. A university report says the concerns are related to his inappropriate conduct with a female student.
Racists Once Scoured This Georgia County. Now It Proves Racists Wrong.
The slow return of diversity to an area that brutally drove out its Black residents has been accompanied by a boom that gives the lie to “Great Replacement” conspiracy theories.