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Racial Justice

Examining Race and Racism in America

388 stories published since 2008

How We Identified the Frat Brothers Holding Guns in Front of an Emmett Till Memorial

by Thalia Beaty and Lucas Waldron,

This Lawyer Fought Housing Segregation. Now Wealthy Suburbanites Want to Fire His Firm.

by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, The Connecticut Mirror,

Chicago City Council Approves Ticket and Debt Collection Reforms to Help Low-Income and Minority Motorists

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

He Spent Years Infiltrating White Supremacist Groups. Here’s What He Has to Say About What’s Going on Now.

by Joe Sexton,

Trump Called Baltimore “Vermin Infested” While the Federal Government Fails to Clean Up Rodents in Subsidized Housing

by Danielle Ohl, The Capital, and Molly Parker, The Southern Illinoisan,

Federal Government Wants to Hear From Heirs’ Property Owners

by Lizzie Presser,

She’s Risked Arrest by Driving With a Suspended License for Seven Years. This Week She Got Some Big News.

by Melissa Sanchez,

We Found Photos of Ole Miss Students Posing With Guns in Front of a Shot-Up Emmett Till Memorial. Now They Face a Possible Civil Rights Investigation.

by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting,

“How in 2019 Do We Not Have Enough Spanish-Speaking Caseworkers?”

by Logan Jaffe,

Illinois Lawmakers Demand Child Welfare Officials Better Serve Spanish-Speaking Families

by Duaa Eldeib and Melissa Sanchez,

Their Family Bought Land One Generation After Slavery. The Reels Brothers Spent Eight Years in Jail for Refusing to Leave It.

by Lizzie Presser,

How to Close Heirs’ Property Loopholes

by Lizzie Presser,

Digital Jail: How Electronic Monitoring Drives Defendants Into Debt

by Ava Kofman,

Inside the Secret Border Patrol Facebook Group Where Agents Joke About Migrant Deaths and Post Sexist Memes

by A.C. Thompson,

How a Top Chicken Company Cut Off Black Farmers, One by One

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

How to Clean Up the “Hot Mess” That Is Chicago’s Ticketing and Debt Collection Practices — According to a City Task Force

by Logan Jaffe,

A Lawsuit Over Ferguson’s “Debtors Prison” Drags On

by Topher Sanders,

“Enough Is Enough”: Native Leaders Ask William Barr to Help Fix Alaska’s Law Enforcement Crisis

by Alex Demarban and Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News,

Separated by Design: How Some of America’s Richest Towns Fight Affordable Housing

by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, The Connecticut Mirror,

New York City’s Early Voting Plan Will Favor White, Affluent Voters, Advocacy Groups Say

by Jessica Huseman,

“I Now Have the Perspective of Both Sides”: 18 Voting Officials Take Civil Rights Tour

by Jessica Huseman,

More Than Me Still Lacks Adequate Systems to Protect Children in Its Care, New Report Says

by Finlay Young for ProPublica,

What Will Come of the More Than Me Rape Scandal?

by Finlay Young for ProPublica,

More Than Me Founder and CEO Katie Meyler Resigns

by Finlay Young for ProPublica,

TSA Agents Say They’re Not Discriminating Against Black Women, But Their Body Scanners Might Be

by Brenda Medina, ProPublica, and Thomas Frank, special to ProPublica,

HUD Sues Facebook Over Housing Discrimination and Says the Company’s Algorithms Have Made the Problem Worse

by Ariana Tobin,

Facebook Won’t Let Employers, Landlords or Lenders Discriminate in Ads Anymore

by Jack Gillum and Ariana Tobin,

The Tragedy of Baltimore

by Alec MacGillis,

The Ticket Trap: Front to Back

by David Eads,

Chicago Public Schools Monitored Social Media for Signs of Violence, Gang Membership

by Aaron Leibowitz for ProPublica Illinois, and Sarah Karp, WBEZ Chicago,

“Get Out”: Black Families Harassed in Their Own Homes

by Rahima Nasa and Rachel Glickhouse,

U.S. to Investigate Discrimination Against Native American Students on Montana Reservation

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, and Erica L. Green, The New York Times,

6 Young Men, Given Adult Sentences for “Minor” Infractions, Are Freed in Illinois

by Duaa Eldeib,

District of Despair: On a Montana Reservation, Schools Favor Whites Over Native Americans

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, and Erica L. Green, The New York Times,

On a Reservation, a Second Chance for Prisoners and Their Warden

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, and Erica L. Green, The New York Times,

He Drew His School Mascot — and ICE Labeled Him a Gang Member

by Hannah Dreier,

Documenting Hate in America: What We Found in 2018

by Rachel Glickhouse,

Chicago Task Force Will Take on Ticket and Debt Collection Reform

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

Chicago Throws Out 23,000 Duplicate Tickets Issued Since 1992 to Motorists Who Didn’t Have Vehicle Stickers

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

“I Don’t Want to Shoot You, Brother”

by Joe Sexton,

Member of White Supremacist Group Pleads Guilty to Assaults at 2017 Rally

by A.C. Thompson,

An Atomwaffen Member Sketched a Map to Take the Neo-Nazis Down. What Path Officials Took Is a Mystery.

by A.C. Thompson,

Brothers Whom Authorities Linked to Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Had Flyer Supporting Neo-Nazi Group, Officials Say

by Catherine Trautwein, FRONTLINE, and A.C. Thompson, ProPublica,

How HUD’s Inspection System Fails Low-Income Tenants Nationwide

by Molly Parker, The Southern Illinoisan,

Nearly All the Officers in Charge of an Indiana Police Department Have Been Disciplined — Including the Chief Who Keeps Promoting Them

by Ken Armstrong, ProPublica, and Christian Sheckler, South Bend Tribune,

Brothers Who Were Online Friends With Pittsburgh Shooting Suspect Had Ties to Violent Neo-Nazis

by A.C. Thompson, ProPublica, and Catherine Trautwein, FRONTLINE,

Chicago City Council Approves Modest First Reforms on Ticketing and Debt

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

Top Chicago Alderman Adds to Growing Momentum for Ticket and Debt Reform

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

Why Jeff Sessions’ Final Act Could Have More Impact Than Expected

by Ian MacDougall,

These Voters Had to Wait for Hours: “It Felt Like a Type of Disenfranchisement”

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

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

    Texas Overhauls Anti-Abortion Program That Spent Tens of Millions of Taxpayer Dollars With Little Oversight

    After a ProPublica and CBS News investigation revealed that Texas’ funding pipeline for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers is riddled with waste, nonprofits in the program must now provide a detailed accounting of their expenses.

    by Cassandra Jaramillo and Jeremy Kohler,

    The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come

    Climate change is making disasters more common, more deadly and far more costly, even as the federal government is running away from the policies that might begin to protect the nation.

    by Abrahm Lustgarten,

    Trump’s FEMA Proposals and Feud With Gavin Newsom Could Devastate California’s Disaster Response

    California frequently suffers some of the costliest disasters in the country. Now state officials fear they’ll be left to face them without federal funding.

    by Jeremy Lindenfeld, Capital & Main,

    Local Reporting Network

    Rx Roulette

    FDA Layoffs Could Compromise Safety of Medications Made at Foreign Factories, Inspectors Say

    Beyond staff cuts, the departures of some longtime investigators in recent months have left less experienced people tasked with rooting out dangerous manufacturing practices.

    by Victoria Malis, Katherine Dailey and Sadie Leite, Medill Investigative Lab, and Debbie Cenziper and Megan Rose, ProPublica,

    “The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention

    One year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism.

    by Hannah Allam,