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Racial Justice

Examining Race and Racism in America

388 stories published since 2008

People Over 75 Are First in Line to Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19. The Average Black Person Here Doesn’t Live That Long.

by Wendi C. Thomas and Hannah Grabenstein, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism,

Global Right-Wing Extremism Networks Are Growing. The U.S. Is Just Now Catching Up.

by Sebastian Rotella,

Rotoscoped ink on paper drawing of a Black man boarding a bus.

How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men

by Akilah Johnson and Nina Martin,

Black Men Have the Shortest Lifespans of Any Americans. This Theory Helps Explain Why.

by Joseph Singer, Nadia Sussman, Nina Martin and Akilah Johnson,

New York Lawmakers Demand NYPD Halt Undercover Sex Trade Stings

by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan,

For Years, JaMarcus Crews Tried to Get a New Kidney, but Corporate Healthcare Stood in the Way

by Lizzie Presser,

A black-and-white illustration of two police officers watching a woman lean against a car door, talking to the driver.

NYPD Cops Cash In on Sex Trade Arrests With Little Evidence, While Black and Brown New Yorkers Pay the Price

by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien,

It Wasn’t the First Time the NYPD Killed Someone in Crisis. For Kawaski Trawick, It Only Took 112 Seconds.

by Eric Umansky,

The NYPD Said the Killing of Kawaski Trawick “Appears to Be Justified.” Video Shows Officers Escalated the Situation.

by Lucas Waldron and Eric Umansky,

A Deputy Prosecutor Was Fired for Speaking Out Against Jail Time for People Who Fall Behind on Rent

by Maya Miller and Ellis Simani,

Black Workers Are More Likely to Be Unemployed but Less Likely to Get Unemployment Benefits

by Ava Kofman and Hannah Fresques,

Grace, Black Teen Jailed for Not Doing Her Online Coursework, Is Released

by Jodi S. Cohen,

El COVID-19 golpea Texas y los hispanos son quienes más mueren

por Perla Trevizo, ProPublica y The Texas Tribune y Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News,

Prosecutors Say They Support Releasing Girl Who Was Detained for Not Doing Her Schoolwork

by Jodi S. Cohen,

“It Cost Me Everything”: In Texas, COVID-19 Takes a Devastating Toll on Hispanic Residents

by Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News,

What People Who Live in Mostly White Towns Need to Know About History

by Logan Jaffe,

Judge Won’t Free Michigan Teenager Sent to Juvenile Detention After Not Doing Online Schoolwork

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Trump Financial Regulator Quietly Shelved Discrimination Probes Into Bank of America and Other Lenders

by Patrick Rucker, The Capitol Forum,

How a Key Federal Civil Rights Agency Was Sidelined as Historic Protests Erupted

by A.C. Thompson and Robert Faturechi,

A Hospital Was Accused of Racially Profiling Native American Women. Staff Said Administrators Impeded an Investigation.

by Bryant Furlow, New Mexico In Depth,

Slavery Existed in Illinois, but Schools Don’t Always Teach That History

by Logan Jaffe,

State Investigating Hospital With Coronavirus Policy That Profiled Pregnant Native American Mothers and Separated Them From Newborns

by Bryant Furlow, New Mexico In Depth,

A Hospital’s Secret Coronavirus Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns

by Bryant Furlow, New Mexico In Depth,

A Sundown Town Sees Its First Black Lives Matter Protest

by Logan Jaffe,

The Police Have Been Spying on Black Reporters and Activists for Years. I Know Because I’m One of Them.

by Wendi C. Thomas, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism,

On the Minds of Black Lives Matter Protesters: A Racist Health System

by Akilah Johnson,

Police Brutality, COVID-19 and Overdoses in Chicago Follow the Same Deadly Pattern

by Duaa Eldeib and Melissa Sanchez,

What Experts Say About Narrowing COVID-19 Racial Disparities

by ProPublica,

The Black American Amputation Epidemic

by Lizzie Presser,

COVID-19 Took Black Lives First. It Didn’t Have To.

by Duaa Eldeib, Adriana Gallardo, Akilah Johnson, Annie Waldman, Nina Martin, Talia Buford and Tony Briscoe,

Early Data Shows Black People Are Being Disproportionally Arrested for Social Distancing Violations

by Joshua Kaplan and Benjamin Hardy,

“Similar to Times of War”: The Staggering Toll of COVID-19 on Filipino Health Care Workers

by Nina Martin and Bernice Yeung,

These Workers Packed Lip Gloss and Pandora Charm Bracelets. They Were Labeled “Essential” but Didn’t Feel Safe.

by Wendi C. Thomas, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism,

Los New Yorkers: Essential and Underprotected in the Pandemic’s Epicenter

by Adriana Gallardo, ProPublica, and Ariel Goodman for ProPublica,

In Chicago, Urban Density May Not Be to Blame for the Spread of the Coronavirus

by Haru Coryne, ProPublica Illinois,

Early Data Shows African Americans Have Contracted and Died of Coronavirus at an Alarming Rate

by Akilah Johnson and Talia Buford,

It’s Time for Sundown Towns to Become a More Visible Part of Illinois History. But How?

by Logan Jaffe,

After Our Reporting, Connecticut Officials Are Taking On Housing Segregation

by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Jenna Carlesso, The Connecticut Mirror,

Tens of Thousands of People Lost Driver’s Licenses Over Unpaid Parking Tickets. Now, They’re Getting Them Back.

by Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica, and Elliott Ramos, WBEZ Chicago,

How Wealthy Towns Keep People With Housing Vouchers Out

by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, The Connecticut Mirror,

What We Found in Three Years of Documenting Hate: A Letter to Our Partners

by Rachel Glickhouse,

Health Officials in “Cancer Alley” Will Study if Living Near a Controversial Chemical Plant Causes Cancer

by Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

Separated by Design: Why Affordable Housing Is Built in Areas With High Crime, Few Jobs and Struggling Schools

by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, The Connecticut Mirror,

What Could Happen if a $9.4 Billion Chemical Plant Comes to “Cancer Alley”

by Lylla Younes,

What Readers Told Us About Our Story, “The Legend of A-N-N-A”

by Logan Jaffe,

New EPA Rules Aim to Reduce Toxic Emissions. But Many “Cancer Alley” Chemical Plants Won’t Have to Change.

by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

They Are Racist; Some of Them Have Guns. Inside the White Supremacist Group Hiding in Plain Sight.

by Carol Schaeffer and Fritz Zimmermann, special to ProPublica,

Black Farmers Say a Top Chicken Company Turned Them Away

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

The Legend of A-N-N-A: Revisiting an American Town Where Black People Weren’t Welcome After Dark

by Logan Jaffe,

Welcome to “Cancer Alley,” Where Toxic Air Is About to Get Worse

by Tristan Baurick, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate, Lylla Younes, ProPublica, and Joan Meiners, The Times-Picayune | The Advocate,

What We’re Watching

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.

Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

Photo of Sharon Lerner
Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

Photo of Andy Kroll
Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

Photo of Melissa Sanchez
Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

Photo of Jesse Coburn
Jesse Coburn

I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.

If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

Most Read

    The USDA Wouldn’t Let Her Give Up Her House When She Couldn’t Pay Her Mortgage. Instead, It Crushed Her With Debt.

    The USDA failed to follow its own guidance for a rural mortgage program, taking years to foreclose on delinquent loans. As a result, 55 Maine borrowers racked up, on average, $110,000 in additional debt before the agency moved to take the homes.

    by Sawyer Loftus, Bangor Daily News,

    Local Reporting Network

    He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared.

    Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them.

    by Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica; Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune; Mica Rosenberg and Jeff Ernsthausen, ProPublica; Ronna Rísquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga; and Adrián González, Cazadores de Fake News,

    Trump Administration Prepares to Drop Seven Major Housing Discrimination Cases

    Federal housing officials spent years investigating cities from Chicago to Memphis to Corpus Christi for putting industrial plants and unwanted facilities in poor, nonwhite neighborhoods. Now, under Trump, the agency plans to drop the cases.

    by Jesse Coburn,

    The Most Interesting Email I Ever Received: Remembering the Incredible Life of DIY Geneticist Jill Viles

    In 2013, ProPublica reporter David Epstein was contacted by a woman with a wild story and a batch of photos she believed were clues to the mystery of her condition. Turns out, she was right.

    by David Epstein,

    RFK Jr. Wants to Change a Program That Stopped Vaccine Makers From Leaving the U.S. Market. They Could Flee Again.

    The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program stabilizes the nation’s childhood immunization system while paying those harmed by rare side effects. If the program topples, it could threaten access to vaccines.

    by Patricia Callahan,