NPR

A number of Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced the CROWN Act, legislation that would ban discrimination based on one's hairstyle or hair texture. Here, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs Crown Act legislation on June 15, 2023 in Lansing, Mich. that will outlaw race-based hairstyle discrimination in workplaces and schools. Joey Cappelletti/AP A host of Black Democratic lawmakers reintroduced legislation Wednesday that would ban discrimination against a person's hairstyle or hair texture. […]

Menthol cigarettes are popular among Black and Latino smokers, and a Biden administration official cited civil rights as a reason the ban is being dropped. Mario Tama/Getty Images The Biden administration indefinitely delayed implementing a long-awaited ban on menthol tobacco products, outraging anti-smoking advocates who say the White House is prioritizing politics over public health. Controversy, especially within the Black community, is one reason Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier […]

Riders pass a baton during a Pony Express relay race in Okmulgee, Okla. Ivan McClellan As a child growing up in Kansas City, Ivan McClellan would sing the national anthem at the American Royal rodeo with a youth choir. Those performances are some of his fondest memories, but they're also bittersweet. That's because just about everybody else around him was white. "It wasn't a place that we felt like we […]

108 Death Masks by Nikesha Breeze is part of the new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery Alabama. Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, says in the United States the story of enslaved people is not told with real honesty. That's part of the reason he and EJI created and opened the 17-acre Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama. The new park is […]

Artist Faith Ringgold sits before her quilt "Tar Beach" in 1993. The artwork also inspired a children's book of the same name.Kathy Willens/AP Artist Faith Ringgold, well known for her story quilts depicting African American experiences, has died. She was 93. Her death was confirmed by her assistant Grace Matthews, who said Ringgold died at her home Saturday in Englewood, N.J. Ringgold also created paintings, sculptures, performance art and children's books. […]

A sign seeking job applicants is seen in the window of a restaurant in Miami, Florida, on May 5, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Twenty years ago, two economists responded to a slew of help-wanted ads in Boston and Chicago newspapers using a set of fictitious names to test for racial bias in the job market. The watershed study found that applicants with names suggesting they were white got 50% more […]