Race and Civil Rights

February 21, 2013 - U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia tore down many barriers in his rise from sharecroppers' son to civil rights activist to Medal of Freedom recipient. And he's about to break another as the first sitting member of Congress to author a graphic novel telling his inspiring life story.

February 12, 2013 - Last week, the Obama administration formalized the legal standard it has used to enforce fair housing laws and hold banks accountable for discriminating against minorities. Here's an overview of key cases from the foreclosure crisis.

February 11, 2013 - Organized by the state NAACP, the 7th annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street march in Raleigh, N.C. called for economic justice amid a legislative push for austerity.

February 8, 2013 - This month the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a landmark case challenging Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Considered the heart of the law, the section prohibits racially discriminatory election changes in covered jurisdictions, most of which are in the South.

January 31, 2013 - A gathering at historically black Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss. this week to support workers' organizing efforts at a nearby Nissan plant felt like an old-time revival meeting. Was it signaling the revival of the labor movement in the region and beyond?

January 25, 2013 - At the same time North Carolina is dramatically expanding the number of charter schools operating in the state, new research from Duke University finds that charter schools are much more likely than traditional public schools to be racially unbalanced -- and that can have negative educational consequences for students.

January 18, 2013 - As the nation prepares to celebrate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Congressman Al Green, a Texas Democrat, has introduced a bill, for the fourth time, to fund a national program to test for housing discrimination.