A Look Back at the Deadly ‘68 Riots

Fifty years ago this April, Kansas City experienced deadly riots that put the national spotlight on our city. They left six people dead, hundreds arrested and multiple blocks of the city in flames. Frustrated with the slow pace of civil rights reforms and outraged at the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., protesters in Kansas…

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An Exchange of a Lifetime

three former students surround Alvin Brooks in a portrait

By Debbie Coleman-Topi Amid the riots unleashed following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a spark of hope quietly ignited in the center of the country. That flicker was right here, in Kansas City, where Catholic leaders launched an experiment that confronted race head-on by bringing black and white students literally face to…

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Wide Racial Gap Exists Between Teachers and Students in Jackson County Schools

curiousKC a teacher and his student at Center high school

By Lauren Langdon, Humera Lodhi and Tess Vrbil Janely Griffith Gonzalez realized the disconnect when she chaperoned field trips at Meadow Lane Elementary School in Lee’s Summit. Her 8-year-old daughter was in a class of mostly minority students, but the school had very few minority teachers. On one trip, a student started yelling on the…

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What If I Told You That Kansas City Is Not A Racist Community?

Redskin wide receiver Terrell Pryor

What if I told you that Kansas City is not a racist community? Instead, I tell you that Kansas City is a great city, with a lot of great people. It is also inhabited by a miniscule number of racially divisive people that come from all ethnic backgrounds. Terrelle Pryor, Sr., wide receiver for the…

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