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

Inmate/students practice blues harmonica during a classroom session of the Blues Tradition in American Literature course inside Parchman Prison in Mississippi.

The blues returns to Mississippi's Parchman Prison Farm

May 13, 2023 9:59 AM

By John Burnett

Mississippi's Parchman Farm was once one of the country's most notorious prisons. The University of Mississippi has introduced college-level classes to offer inmates education - including the blues.

Immigrants seeking asylum wait to board a bus to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center, after crossing into Arizona from Mexico, on Thursday in Yuma, Ariz.

Fear and confusion, but not chaos, along the southern border after Title 42 ends

May 12, 2023 5:55 PM

By Rachel Treisman , Stephania Corpi , and Emily Olson

The pandemic-era policy nearly halted the processing of asylum applications. As Title 42 was lifted on Thursday, officials braced for an influx of migrants. But the reality was relatively calm.

Group of people working

5 things to know about a major new Pew poll of Asians in the U.S.

May 10, 2023 4:00 AM

By Joe Hernandez

The first-of-its-kind poll of about 7,000 adults sheds new light on how Asians — both immigrants as well as those born in the U.S. — see themselves and others.

A view of the West Broadway area

Building back north: Meet the people working to change the fortunes of north Minneapolis

May 8, 2023 5:57 PM

By Regina Medina

A corps of professionals, many of whom are African Americans with ties to north Minneapolis, plans to invest and build in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods that have long struggled with cycles of economic boom and bust.

A man in a suit addresses a panel of people

U.N. Panel hears Minnesotans' stories of systemic racism in policing and prisons

May 2, 2023 7:16 PM

Two experts from the United Nations Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the context of Law Enforcement (EMLER) were at the Twin Cities Urban League Headquarters in North Minneapolis as part of a fact-gathering tour across the country.

A complicated process of reviewing the federal government's standards for data about race and ethnicity has resurfaced a thorny conversation about how to categorize people's identities.

Changing how U.S. forms ask about race and ethnicity is complicated. Here's why

April 27, 2023 4:01 AM

By Hansi Lo Wang

How your race and ethnicity are reported for the U.S. census, federal surveys and other forms may change. That could affect data used to redraw voting maps, enforce civil rights and guide research.

Descendants of the enslavers and the enslaved unite for a family portrait at the Arlington House, the former plantation once owned by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and his wife, Mary Custis Lee.

They're strangers with a painful shared bond: Robert E. Lee enslaved their ancestors

April 24, 2023 11:36 AM

By Debbie Elliott

The descendants of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and those of the people the Lee family enslaved came together for the first time at Arlington House, the national memorial to Lee in Virginia.

A person poses for a portrait

Difference maker Aisha Abdulwali: ‘Make sure your concerns are heard’

April 19, 2023 4:00 AM

By Elizabeth Shockman

MPR News education reporter Elizabeth Shockman talked to eight Minnesota student activists about their work. In this series, MPR News introduces you to the students, their activism and how they're shaping the state.

A person poses for a portrait

Difference maker Calvin Zimmerman: ‘If we start now we can see big change’

April 19, 2023 4:00 AM

By Elizabeth Shockman

MPR News education reporter Elizabeth Shockman talked to eight Minnesota student activists about their work. In this series, MPR News introduces you to the students, their activism and how they're shaping the state.

A person poses for a portrait

Difference maker Asha Mohamed: ‘I'm never uncomfortable about a conversation with race’

April 19, 2023 4:00 AM

By Elizabeth Shockman

MPR News education reporter Elizabeth Shockman talked to eight Minnesota student activists about their work. In this series, MPR News introduces you to the students, their activism and how they're shaping the state.