Race + Equity
Arkansas organizations aim to engage growing Hispanic electorate
Ahead of the 2024 election, Arkansans like Josh Sol are working to engage Hispanic voters, one of the country’s fastest-growing electorates. A native of Springdale, Sol wants to establish a Washington County chapter of the Democratic Party of Arkansas’ statewide Hispanic Caucus. “It is where I live, it’s also one of the largest Hispanic and […]
Federal appeals court dismisses Arkansas redistricting lawsuit
A federal appeals panel on Monday affirmed a lower court’s ruling and dismissed a case challenging Arkansas’ state redistricting map, asserting that only the United States attorney general can enforce the Voting Rights Act. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that private individuals can’t sue under Section 2 of […]
States grapple with racist language in real estate deeds
Lisa Boccetti is horrified by the restrictive covenant that is in the deed to her 1950s ranch house in Raleigh, North Carolina: It states that the land cannot be sold or occupied by Black people. The property “shall not be sold to negroes or to any person or persons of negro blood, and said premises shall […]
National museum of LGBTQI+ history and culture proposed by Wisconsin congressman
WASHINGTON — Proposed federal legislation could add LGBTQI+ history and culture to the Smithsonian Institution’s museum tapestry. U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, introduced two bills in late October that would begin the process of creating a National Museum of American LGBTQI+ History and Culture. Both bills would need to be signed into law […]
U.S. House GOP in spending bills takes aim at federal LGBTQ, racial equity policies
U.S. House Republicans are continuing to use government spending bills to engage in culture war battles, with legislation debated during the past week that would ban pride flags on some federal buildings, strip funding from a new museum for Latino history and target certain LGBTQ and racial equity policies and programs. The hot-button provisions in […]
National group recommends Arkansas lawmakers defund DEI programs
A representative from a Virginia-based conservative organization told Arkansas lawmakers Tuesday that defunding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs is the best way to address racial discrimination. Jon Schweppe, director of Policy and Government Affairs for the American Principles Project — a group that calls itself the “top defender of the family” — told the […]
States urged by Biden administration to rectify underfunding of land-grant HBCUs
States engaged in decades of underfunding of land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities […]
Federal court blocks Alabama’s congressional map, orders new lines drawn
A three-judge federal panel Tuesday ruled that a new Alabama congressional map failed to address Voting Rights Act violations and ordered a third party to draw new lines. In a 217-page opinion in the case, known as Allen v. Milligan, U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. District Judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer sharply […]
Anti-abortion ‘abolitionists’ take slavery rhetoric to the next level
The first time Tina Marshall heard anti-abortion protesters call themselves “abolitionists,’” she said she burst out laughing. Marshall, a Black woman who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, was counter protesting at an abortion clinic when a mostly white group — save one Black woman — surrounded her and told her they were abolitionists. “I rolled […]
Arkansas’ Griffin joins four AGs in warning law firms to end race-based hiring practices
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined a group of GOP attorneys general in warning 100 of the nation’s largest law firms against using race-based hiring practices for employment and contract workers. The nine-page letter sent on Tuesday to executives of American Lawyer 100 Firms calls for the firms to “refrain from discriminating on the basis […]
Arkansas lawmakers will file ethics complaint against Central Arkansas Water
The Arkansas Legislature’s investigative committee will file an ethics complaint against Central Arkansas’ public water utility over a staff email advocating against controversial affirmative action legislation earlier this year. The email in question was sent by Central Arkansas Water’s “justice, equity, diversity and inclusion” team in March, urging utility employees to ask their state representatives […]
Dangers and deaths around black pregnancies seen as a ‘completely preventable’ health crisis
HOUSTON — Tonjanic Hill was overjoyed in 2017 when she learned she was 14 weeks pregnant. Despite a history of uterine fibroids, she never lost faith that she would someday have a child. But, just five weeks after confirming her pregnancy, and the day after a gender-reveal party where she announced she was having a […]