ACC Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center: Archived Articles

Economists are grappling with how much to blame bias or a changing economy for the widening wage gap over the last 40 years.
New York Times June 29, 2021

A $4 billion federal fund meant to confront how racial injustice has shaped American farming has angered white farmers who say they are being unfairly excluded.
By Jack Healy New York Times Published May 22, 2021 Updated June 24, 2021

Police officers at the University of Washington in Seattle, regarded as one of the nation’s most progressive cities, said they were the target of racist insults and harassment.
The New York Times June 22, 2021

The Virginia Theological Seminary is giving cash to descendants of Black Americans who were forced to work there. The program is among the first of its kind.
Will Wright NYT May 31, 2021

Policies like forgiving debt for all student loans and giving baby bonds to the whole population won’t be nearly enough to achieve racial wealth parity, an economist says.
William Darity Jr. NYT April 30, 2021

A new racial justice commission will make policy recommendations that could include baby bonds, a jobs guarantee or reparations for Black residents.
NYT Emma G. Fitzsimmons
Published March 23, 2021 Updated March 24, 2021

$5 billion would go to farmers of color, who have lost 90 percent of their land over the past century because of systemic discrimination and a cycle of debt.
Laura Reiley The Washington Post March 8, 2021

Illinois has become the first state to completely eliminate cash bail, a result of a push by state legislators to end a practice they say keeps poor people in jail for months awaiting trial and disproportionately affects Black and Latino defendants.
Maria Cramer Feb. 23, 2021

The administration has pledged to make agriculture a cornerstone of its plan to fight warming, but also to tackle a legacy of discrimination that has pushed Black farmers off the land.
Hiroko Tabuchi and Nadja Popovich Jan. 31, 2021

When Ms. Gorman, 22, recited her poem at Wednesday’s inauguration, she became the youngest inaugural poet ever in the United States. Ms. Gorman joined a small group of poets who have been recruited to help mark a presidential inauguration, among them Robert Frost, Maya Angelou and Miller Williams.
Alexandra Alter Jan. 20, 2021

A Pentagon spokeswoman said the Defense Department was nearing completion of its report on the fiscal year 2017 survey data and would provide it to Congress in the coming weeks. The spokeswoman did not explain the years-long delay.
Dec. 18, 2020, 10:30 AM CST
By Reuters

Rep. John Lewis, who devoted his life to racial justice and equality, died Friday night at 80. He revealed late last year that he was undergoing treatment for Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Lewis, D-Ga., had served in the House of Representatives since 1987, after decades of work as an organizer and activist – serving as a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, organizing the March on Washington in lockstep with Martin Luther King Jr. and serving in the Atlanta City Council.
Joshua Bote USA TODAY July 19.2020

Nashville changed U.S. Rep. John Lewis when he arrived at 17 to study at American Baptist College, and then Lewis changed Nashville forever. His activism is embedded in the DNA of the city where he came of age, learned the language of protest and joined forces with an army of civil rights luminaries who harnessed their potential in local churches and at downtown lunch counters. "Nashville prepared me," Lewis said in Washington in 2013. "If it hadn't been for Nashville, I would not be the person I am now."
Adam Tamburin and Holly Meyer
Nashville Tennessean July 18, 2020

City council members in Asheville, North Carolina, unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday that paves the way for reparations to the city’s Black residents, local news outlets reported.
Sara Boboltz Huffington Post 07/15/2020

Protests unleashed by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans have re-centered racial inequality in the public consciousness, and renewed debate around what to do about it — including reparations.
Kim Hjelmgaard USA TODAY July 11, 2020

Black emigres who, feeling cornered and powerless in the face of persistent racism, police brutality and economic struggles in the USA, have chosen to settle and pursue their American-born dreams abroad.
Kim Hjelmgaard
USA TODAY
June 28, 2020

A black man says he asked a white woman in Central Park to put her dog on a leash.
Then, video shows, she called the police and told emergency operators that the man was threatening her and her dog. The woman, who has been identified as Amy Cooper, has apologized. But by Tuesday afternoon, she was fired from her job at an investment management firm, the employer said.

Two boys with learning disabilities grew up just blocks apart in New York City. Public schools couldn't teach them. So their parents battled to place them in private schools, on the taxpayers' dime.
Mike Elsen-Rooney, The Teacher Project
Updated 12:37 p.m. CST Feb. 10, 2020

Universities have taken the lead on what they call reparative justice. Georgetown University apologized to descendants of slaves who were sold to pay school debts and recently pledged to raise $400,000 a year for programs to help those descendants. In October, Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey announced a nearly $28 million plan, including scholarships to descendants of enslaved Africans.
But the model for these programs is Brown University, which issued a groundbreaking report in 2006 about its founders’ connection to slavery and created a center to research slavery and injustice.
Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY
Updated 10:35 a.m. CST Dec. 18, 2019

Kelly Goodlett, the former detective, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. She is the first officer to be convicted in the fatal police operation.
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs The New York Times Aug. 23, 2022

The country both struggled to confront its history of racial division and continued to succumb to it. Americans saw new police killings greeted by fresh rounds of protests. Presidential candidates traded barbs over race, policing, law and order, and bias. And a former police officer’s trial left many across the country nervously glued to their television sets. Here is a look back at what has transpired in the year since Mr. Floyd’s death.
Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, John Eligon and Adeel Hassan New York Times May 25, 2021

Calls for racial justice touched nearly every aspect of American life on a scale that historians say has not happened since the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Audra D. S. Burch, Amy Harmon, Sabrina Tavernise and Emily Badger NYT Published April 20, 2021
Updated April 22, 2021

Several recent attacks have not been charged as hate crimes, fueling protests and outrage among many Asian-Americans.
Nicole Hong and Jonah E. Bromwich The New York Times March 18, 2021

Black Lives Matter activists said the tepid response from law enforcement officers to mostly white protesters stood in stark contrast to the aggressive tactics they have endured for years.
By John Eligon The New York Times Jan. 11, 2021

Floyd's death, captured in excruciating detail on video, as well as simmering tensions from other similar incidents over the years, propelled the discussion about race and policing into the national spotlight in a new way that crossed racial barriers and received broad support.
By Bill Hutchinson ABC News December 29, 2020

Philadelphia protests over the killing of Walter Wallace Jr. represent only the latest in a year of nationwide demonstrations against racism and police violence. The ongoing movement has captured attention and provided political fodder -- but it also reflects a long American history of organizing against injustice. Amna Nawaz talks to author Peniel Joseph of the University of Texas at Austin. October 28, 2020 .

About 93% of racial justice protests in the US since the death of George Floyd have been peaceful and nondestructive, according to a new report. The findings, released Thursday, contradict assumptions and claims by some that protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement are spawning violence and destruction of property. Harmeet Kaur, CNN, September 4, 2020

Declaring racism a public health crisis in Louisville, Mayor Greg Fischer offered a sweeping plan Tuesday to improve the lives and livelihoods of the city's roughly 155,000 Black residents.
Darcy Costello Louisville Courier Journal Dec. 1, 2020

Communities of color, which have borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, have also received a smaller share of available vaccines. The vaccination rate for Black Americans is half that of white people, and the gap for Hispanic people is even larger, according to a New York Times analysis of state-reported race and ethnicity information.
Amy Schoenfeld Walker, Anjali Singhvi, Josh Holder, Robert Gebeloff and Yuriria Avila March 5, 2021

Whether it's unconscious, explicit, institutional or research bias, discrimination in the health care system contributes to the stark disparities seen in how COVID-19 sickens and kills patients of color, health care experts agree.
Jayne O'Donnell and Ken Alltucker
USA TODAY June 15, 2020

As states wrestle with whether to prioritize essential workers or the elderly, Tennessee is setting aside shots for especially vulnerable areas
Isaac Stanley-Becker and Lena H. Sun
Dec. 18, 2020

As they build their ranks of contact tracers, many states and localities are trying hard to hire from racial and ethnic minority communities hit hardest by the virus.
US News and World Report June 1, 2020

The coronavirus outbreak is pummeling LGBTQ Americans, especially those of color, leaving a population already vulnerable to health care and employment discrimination suffering from high job losses and a growing rate of positive cases, according to preliminary data collected from multiple LGBTQ advocacy groups.
Petruce Jean-Charles USA TODAY
Updated May 10, 2020

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to take its toll on black and Latino communities, black and Latino churches, advocacy groups and civil rights activists have ramped up efforts to help their own, filling in gaps where they say the federal government and even some local governments have fallen short.
Deborah Barfield Berry USA TODAY
Updated May 10, 2020

CHICAGO — Train tracks run above the intersection of Kinzie Street and Ashland Avenue, two major streets that meet on Chicago's West Side. On one corner of the intersection, there's a trampoline park and new brewery. On the opposite corner, empty buildings for lease.
In one direction, a ZIP code relatively unscathed by the coronavirus outbreak. In the other, a community decimated by the disease. One mostly white, with six-figure incomes the norm. One mostly minority and earning much slimmer paychecks.
Darnell Shields, executive director of the Chicago community group Austin Coming Together, said COVID-19's disparate impacts arise from food and housing instability, shaky neighborhood economies and limited access to quality education and health care.
Grace Hauck, Mark Nichols, Miriam Marini and Andrew Pantazi, USA TODAY Network
Updated 2:15 p.m. CDT May 3, 2020

Hajjar Ahmed’s lofty goals this Ramadan include reading the Qur’an multiple times, joining virtual Iftar meals to break the fast, and engaging in online discussions with people from around the world. She also will volunteer with the Department of Family Services in her county.
At a time of uncertainty and when many are sheltered in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ahmed, a project manager who lives in Northern Virginia, is choosing to be optimistic during Ramadan, a month-long celebration traditionally met with anticipation and excitement by the Muslim community. This year many Muslims like Ahmed are finding a sense of community through technology.
By Fatima-Tul Farha, USA TODAY
Posted Apr 24, 2020 at 4:31 PM
Updated Apr 24, 2020 at 4:31 PM

The man who raised Keith Gambrell, who loved him like a son and married his mother, died in a blue recliner of novel coronavirus in his Grosse Pointe Woods home.
Gary Fowler, 56, went to the emergency rooms of three metro Detroit hospitals in the weeks leading up to his death, begging for a coronavirus test, begging for help because he was having difficulty breathing, but was repeatedly turned away, Keith said.
"My dad passed at home, and no one tried to help him," Keith, 33, of northwest Detroit said through tears. "He asked for help, and they sent him away. They turned him away."
Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 a.m. ET April 19, 2020

People of color and minority groups are particularly at risk during the pandemic. Here's what should be done to better address these communities.
Just the Facts, USA TODAY April 7, 2020

WASHINGTON – Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans have many underlying health conditions, including asthma and heart disease, that could make them more vulnerable to complications from the coronavirus, leaving advocates, lawmakers and public health experts worried these long marginalized communities won't get equal access to tests and treatment as the outbreak spreads.
Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY March 31, 2020

Decades of unequal treatment and poorer health outcomes threaten to undermine the black community during the current coronavirus pandemic. The documented health disparities between racial groups in the U.S. – including higher rates of chronic diseases and lower access to health care among blacks compared with whites – make some African Americans more vulnerable to COVID-19, experts warn.
By Joseph P. Williams, Senior Editor, U.S. News and World Report March 25, 2020, at 1:31 p.m.

The coronavirus is infecting and killing black people in the United States at disproportionately high rates, according to data released by several states and big cities, highlighting what public health researchers say are entrenched inequalities in resources, health and access to care. The statistics are preliminary and much remains unknown because most cities and states are not reporting race as they provide numbers of confirmed cases and fatalities. Initial indications from a number of places, though, are alarming enough that policymakers say they must act immediately to stem potential devastation in black communities. The worrying trend is playing out across the country, among people born in different decades and working far different jobs.
John Eligon, Audra D. S. Burch, Dionne Searcey and Richard A. Oppel Jr. New York Times April 7, 2020.

Latinos across the U.S. are ill-prepared for their battle against the coronavirus, a crisis that threatens to leave many in this already vulnerable population sick and destitute, according to a new report. Because of a combination of factors – including working in low-paying front-line jobs and a lack of savings and health insurance – Latinos are shouldering a disproportionate burden of the pandemic.
Marco della Cava USA TODAY April 18, 2020

Members of Native American tribes across the country are relying on Washington to offer a financial lifeline as they battle the economic and human tolls of the coronavirus pandemic. But despite billions earmarked for tribes, members of Indian Country have been met with red tape, roadblocks and new hurdles that have led to delays and deep-rooted feelings of uncertainty.
Christal Hayes,Nora Mabie, Jeanine Santucci
USA TODAY Published Apr. 24, 2020; updated Apr. 26,2020

Native American tribes badly hit by coronavirus have received an unlikely boost after donations poured in from Ireland to repay a favour from 173 years ago.
Sky News Tuesday 5 May 2020 09:21, UK

Mr. Floyd died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by an officer’s knee in an episode that was captured on video, touching off nationwide protests.
By The New York Times
Nov. 5, 2020

The death of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in March during a botched raid on her apartment, led to wide-scale demonstrations in the spring and summer as the case drew more attention.
By Richard A. Oppel Jr., Derrick Bryson Taylor and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Oct. 30, 2020

Captured in a widely shared video, the shooting death of yet another Black man by the police touched off a weekend of angry demonstrations in Atlanta that resulted in the burning of the restaurant, the resignation of the city’s police chief and a murder charge in Mr. Brooks’s death.
By Aimee Ortiz
Sept. 10, 2020

The Times has reconstructed the death of George Floyd on May 25. Security footage, witness videos and official documents show how a series of actions by officers turned fatal.
By Evan Hill, Ainara Tiefenthäler, Christiaan Triebert, Drew Jordan, Haley Willis and Robin Stein
Published May 31, 2020
Updated Nov. 5, 2020

Tens of thousands turned out in Australia, Britain, France, Germany and other nations in support of U.S. protests against the death of George Floyd, while denouncing racism in their own countries.
By Damien Cave, Livia Albeck-Ripka and Iliana Magra
Published June 6, 2020
Updated June 9, 2020

A week after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, daytime demonstrations focused on racism and police brutality are increasingly giving way to violence and chaos by night, fueling tensions over the direction of a protest movement that has unfurled in sprawling fashion in dozens of cities across the United States.
Several people have been killed or wounded in shootings linked to the unrest, and looters have raided neighborhood shops and upscale commercial districts from Santa Monica, Calif., to Boston, as a sixth day of largely peaceful protests descended into lawlessness.

Many descended upon Austin over the weekend to protest police brutality and social injustice, highlighting George Floyd and Michael Ramos as the most recent examples.
George Floyd was a Houston native who died while in police custody in Minnesota and Michael Ramos was shot and killed by an Austin police officer in April.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler joined KVUE Daybreak to discuss the protests.

"It's a huge moment. Two months ago, three months ago, four months ago, when we were talking about reform, we were dealing with piecemeal issues," she says. "Little did we know that the activists in the streets would take some of (the) things we've been saying for years and go much further, be much bolder."
Trevor Hughes USA TODAY July 18, 2020