Race and Civil Rights
April 23, 2015 -
The U.S. Supreme Court sent North Carolina's redistricting challenge back to the state's high court this week, asking it to reconsider whether the legislature relied too heavily on race in drawing voting lines. The decision comes following similar rulings in cases out of Alabama and Virginia, offering hope for an end to racial gerrymandering.
April 7, 2015 -
In a letter to Duke CEO Lynn Good, an African-American minister and an environmental advocate criticize the utility's campaign to block the shift to solar power by trying to convince black community leaders that it hurts the poor -- while at the same time fighting legislation to make solar power more affordable.
April 7, 2015 -
The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation has launched a "Southern Voices" oral history project to capture the stories of Southern leaders working for social and economic justice. This installment focuses on voting rights.
April 1, 2015 -
Last week, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic and several scholars gathered at Duke University to discuss reparations and the moral debt the U.S. owes to African Americans for centuries of oppression. While resistance to reparations is great, the panelists discussed why a serious consideration of them could transform the country.
March 25, 2015 -
The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation has launched a "Southern Voices" oral history project to capture the stories of Southern leaders working for social and economic justice. The first installment focuses on elders of the movement who continue to work for the cause today.
March 20, 2015 -
Passed after the infamous "Bloody Sunday" attack on civil rights protesters in Alabama in 1965, the Voting Rights Act successfully blocked hundreds of potentially discriminatory election changes -- until the Supreme Court struck down a key provision in 2013. There's an effort underway in Congress to fix the hobbled law, but what are its chances of passing?
March 20, 2015 -
The Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities' right to vote, also ensures that limited English proficient voters can fully participate in elections. Enforcing those measures will be critical as the South's language minority population grows.
