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Discrimination & Prejudice

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  • short reads

    The black-white and urban-rural divides in perceptions of racial fairness

    A recent Pew Research Center survey asked Americans of all races how black people are treated relative to whites by the police, the court system and other institutions in their community. The results show a large and consistent black-white gap in perceptions, with blacks far more likely than whites to say African Americans are treated […]

  • short reads

    King’s “I have a dream” speech, by the numbers

    Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech 50 years ago today on Washington D.C.’s National Mall and Memorial Parks has become one of the most famous, and quoted, pieces of oratory in U.S. history (though that wasn’t apparent to everyone at the time). But how well have the aspirations King so memorably expressed been realized? We ran […]

  • report

    King’s Dream Remains an Elusive Goal; Many Americans See Racial Disparities

    Five decades after Martin Luther King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., a new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that fewer than half (45%) of all Americans say the country has made substantial progress toward racial equality and about the same share (49%) say that “a lot more” remains to be done.

  • short reads

    Even in white collar crime, female crooks face a glass ceiling

    A study finds that female white-collar crooks face the same glass ceiling as their law-abiding peers in the corporate world: they typically hold inferior positions to men, rarely are in charge and make significantly less money for their dirty deeds than their male accomplices.

  • report

    More Evidence of Preference for Sons

    This posting is an excerpt from a FactTank article about unmarried fatherhood, and which fathers are more likely to acknowledge paternity when asked. Unmarried fathers of sons are slightly more likely to acknowledge paternity than fathers of daughters.

  • report

    Big Racial Divide over Zimmerman Verdict

    Overview The public is divided over the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial and over the conversation about race that has surrounded it. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted July 17-21 among 1,480 adults nationwide finds roughly as many satisfied with the verdict in the case (39%) as dissatisfied […]

  • short reads

    5 facts about ethnic and gender diversity in U.S. newsrooms

    Last week, San Francisco Bay area television station KTVU broadcast fake names for the pilots of the Asiana Airline flight that crashed on July 6. The error involved ethnic stereotyping, leading the Asian American Journalists Association to assert that these kinds of mistakes “underscored the importance of newsroom diversity” at America’s media outlets. A similar […]

  • report

    Modest Public Interest in Close of Zimmerman Trial

    Overview The final days of the trial of George Zimmerman, which concluded July 13 with a verdict of not guilty, attracted relatively modest public interest overall. In a weekend survey, 26% say they were following news about the trial very closely. This is lower than interest in the initial controversy over Trayvon Martin’s shooting when […]

  • short reads

    For African Americans, discrimination is not dead

    America’s struggles with race and racism are never completely out of the news. But it is hard to remember when a series of stories have given this issue such resonance, whether in the rulings of the Supreme Court on affirmative action and voting rights, a tense trial in a Florida courtroom and even the racially insensitive comments of a celebrity chef.

  • short reads

    How important are pride events to the LGBT community?

    June is LGBT pride month and multiple cities—including Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle—will hold annual events this weekend. But at a time when society is becoming more accepting of homosexuality, how important is it for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people today to show their support at these public events (which began as […]