If Your Teacher Looks Likes You, You May Do Better In School

Think back to grade school for a moment and envision that one teacher who could captivate you more than any other. Did that teacher look a bit like you? One recent study says: probably. There’s mounting evidence that when black students have black teachers, those students are more likely to graduate high school. That new…

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The Fatigue of Discomfort

Cover image for Michelle T Johnson On "Exhaustion"

Unless you often enter a space where you need to do an instinctive assessment of your environment based on race, you may not get why I’m so tired. This past weekend, between errands in another part of town, I spent a couple of hours knitting in a coffee shop. It was a hopping place. But…

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Common Grounds | Flip the Script: A Police Take on the Issues

Kansas City, Kansas police officers around a table

One of the story lines of this election year has been alarm over law and order in cities and police shootings of unarmed black Americans. This week in our Common Grounds coffee conversation series, we head to Kansas City, Kansas, where we get a police take on that polarizing issue. We bring together five KCK…

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Commentary | The Prejudices of Patriotism

Cover art for commentary stating "allegiance"

We have a funny relationship with patriotism in our country. Patriotism is about loyalty to and pride in our country. And, in many respects, nowhere does that get highlighted more than with the Olympics, where we salute gladiator-like battles every four years against other countries. Unfortunately, our competitors are allowed but one identity — American…

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In the Crossfire

graphic rendering of parts of faces

Just this week, the New York Times detailed a study finding that police are more likely to rough up blacks than whites, meaning tactics like cuffs, pepper spray, and forcing the suspect against a wall.  However, it also found no racial bias in lethal force, the deadly shootings we’ve come to rally around. The graphic below doesn’t…

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