Latest Race and ethnicity News
Mississippi lawmakers move toward restoring voting rights to 32 felons as broader suffrage bill dies
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators advanced bills Monday to give voting rights back to 32 people convicted of felonies, weeks after a Senate leader killed a broader bill that would have restored suffrage to many more people with criminal records. The move is necessary...
Minnesota and other Democratic-led states lead pushback on censorship. They're banning the book ban
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — As a queer and out youth, Shae Ross was alarmed when she heard that conservative groups were organizing in her community to ban books dealing with sexuality, gender and race. So she and her friends got organized themselves, and helped persuade their school board to make it...
William Strickland, a longtime civil rights activist, scholar and friend of Malcom X, has died
BOSTON (AP) — William Strickland, a longtime civil rights activist and supporter of the Black Power movement who worked with Malcom X and other prominent leaders in the 1960s, has died. He was 87. Strickland, whose death April 10 was confirmed by a relative, first became active in...
Storm relief and funding for programs related to Maine's deadliest-ever shooting included in budget
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Monday signed a $127.4 million budget adjustment that includes funding for recovery from storm damage and for several programs sought by the governor after the deadliest shooting in state history. Mills said she signed the...
Foundation to convene 3rd annual summit on anti-Asian hate, building AAPI coalitions
NEW YORK (AP) — A foundation launched in the wake of anti-Asian hate will hold a wide-ranging conference bringing together Asian American and Pacific Islander notable figures for a third year. The Asian American Foundation will hold a Heritage Month Summit next month in New York...
Iowa lawmakers address immigration, religious freedom and taxes in 2024 session
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After a marathon day that stretched into Saturday's early hours, Iowa lawmakers wrapped up a four-month legislative session that focused on reforming the way special education is managed and speeding up tax cuts. The Republican-led General Assembly also waded into issues...
The drug war devastated Black and other minority communities. Is marijuana legalization helping?
ARLINGTON, Wash. (AP) — When Washington state opened some of the nation's first legal marijuana stores in 2014, Sam Ward Jr. was on electronic home detention in Spokane, where he had been indicted on federal drug charges. He would soon be off to prison to serve the lion's share of a four-year...
USC cancels graduation keynote by filmmaker amid controversy over decision to drop student's speech
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California further shook up its commencement plans Friday, announcing the cancelation of a keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu just days after making the controversial choice to disallow the student valedictorian from speaking. The...
Kansas has a new anti-DEI law, but the governor has vetoed bills on abortion and even police dogs
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' Democratic governor on Friday vetoed proposed tax breaks for anti-abortion counseling centers while allowing restrictions on college diversity initiatives approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature to become law without her signature. Gov. Laura...
Attorneys argue that Florida law discriminates against Chinese nationals trying to buy homes
An attorney asked a federal appeals court on Friday to block a controversial Florida law signed last year that restricts Chinese citizens from buying real estate in much of the state, calling it discriminatory and a violation of the federal government's supremacy in deciding foreign affairs. ...
