Race: Conversations around race and racial justice

The May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody has ignited an urgent push for racial equality across Minnesota and the United States. Here are the latest on the fight against racism, voices calling for racial justice and in-depth stories on communities of color and other racial issues from MPR News.

Voices of Minnesota Calls for change across the state

Protests and pain The killing of George Floyd

Call To Mind Spotlight on black trauma and policing

Amplifying voices Share your experiences and hopes for the future

Disney World

Disney changing Splash Mountain, ride tied to Jim Crow film

June 25, 2020 2:54 PM

By The Associated Press

The Splash Mountain ride at Disney parks in California and Florida is being recast. Disney officials said the ride would no longer be tied to the 1946 movie, “Song of the South," which many view as racist. Instead, the revamped ride will be inspired by the 2009 Disney film, “The Princess and the Frog," which has an African-American female lead.

Two women touching their foreheads together

How interracial couples are navigating conversations about race

June 25, 2020 1:54 PM

By Angela Davis and Katie Moritz

In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and calls for racial equity, how are interracial couples and multiracial families navigating conversations about race and their identity?

Agassiz dropped from Fargo-Moorhead greenway project over racist writings

June 25, 2020 8:20 AM

By The Associated Press

"Unbeknownst to anyone on our project team, Louis Agassiz was a proponent of scientific racism and wrote prolifically on issues of white supremacy in the 1800's," the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments said. It's working on a new name.

Ijeoma Oluo is the author of "So You Want to Talk About Race."

Rebroadcast: Ijeoma Oluo and 'So You Want to Talk About Race'

June 24, 2020 11:00 AM

By Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

We revisit a conversation with Ijeoma Oluo about her book “So You Want to Talk About Race.”

The FBI team investigating the incident concluded the "noose" found in Bubba Wallace's garage was actually a pull rope that had been in the stall long before the driver was assigned.

NASCAR's Bubba Wallace was not the target of a hate crime, FBI says

June 24, 2020 3:22 AM

By Vanessa Romo

"After a thorough review of the facts and evidence surrounding this event, we have concluded that no federal crime was committed," FBI officials said in a statement Tuesday.

Miski Omar, 19, speaks at a rally.

Students of color press St. Paul district to cut ties with Police Department

June 23, 2020 7:08 AM

Some students and recent graduates say a police presence in schools gets in the way of an education for many Black students. The St. Paul school board could vote on a measure to remove police from schools on Tuesday evening.

New York City police officers watch demonstrators in Times Square on June 1 during a Black Lives Matter protest.

Police researcher: Officers have similar biases regardless of race

June 22, 2020 5:35 PM

By James Doubek

Rashawn Ray, who studies the intersection of race and policing, says officers have similar implicit biases, especially about Black people.

Bubba Wallace drives past the #IStandWithBubba stencil on the field prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Talladega Superspeedway on June 22, 2020.

'Together' NASCAR looks to move forward after noose found in driver's garage

June 22, 2020 4:39 PM

The FBI has joined the investigation into who left a noose inside NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace's garage at the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. NASCAR plans to ban the perpetrators from the sport for life.

A man rakes dirt with two little girls.

Waiting for justice for Floyd, north siders work the land as an act of healing

June 22, 2020 5:12 AM

By Melissa Townsend

An urban garden in the Hawthorne neighborhood in north Minneapolis has been in the works for months. But after the police killed George Floyd, it has become a healing space — particularly for Black residents who often feel targeted and criminalized.

Noose left in Black driver's garage stall at NASCAR race track

June 22, 2020 2:21 AM

The symbol of violent white racism was found in Bubba Wallace's stall. The only Black driver in the top stock car racing circuit, he had led the campaign to ban Confederate flags from NASCAR events.