Racial Equity and Community-Informed Policies

The Center for American Progress intentionally applies an explicit race and resource equity lens to its policy and research agenda. This means looking at potential impacts on communities who do not identify as white or who have large concentrations of families with low incomes, without conflating the two. We aim to set a standard where equity is not just a trendy concept, but rather one centered in all education policymaking and practice, and where institutional racism is called out and addressed as a barrier to progress.

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Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students
Report Tenth-grade students make programming adjustments to a robot that they are testing in a Computer Science Principles course at a Maryland high school, December 2017. (Getty/Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students

Even in high schools with similar levels of access to advanced coursework, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students are less likely to be enrolled in advanced courses—and even when they are enrolled, they experience less success in these courses than their peers.

Roby Chatterji, Neil Campbell, Abby Quirk

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‘Clean Up To Green Up’: Building a Clean Energy Workforce and a Brighter Future in Detroit Video

‘Clean Up To Green Up’: Building a Clean Energy Workforce and a Brighter Future in Detroit

The Green Door Initiative is using federal investments from President Joe Biden's Justice40 Initiative and the Inflation Reduction Act to ensure that all people—regardless of race, income, or ZIP code—have access to good jobs and live in safe and healthy communities.

Community Violence Intervention: Juan Carter and Giffords Center for Violence Intervention Video

Community Violence Intervention: Juan Carter and Giffords Center for Violence Intervention

Juan Carter, outreach manager for the Giffords Center for Violence Intervention, explains how community violence intervention (CVI) programs take a holistic approach to public safety by investing in the long-term health and well-being of individuals affected by violence.

Increasing Affordable Housing Stock Through Modular Building Report
A crane stacks modular home segments to make a new duplex.

Increasing Affordable Housing Stock Through Modular Building

Modular building, if brought to scale, has the potential to reduce construction costs and make building new homes more affordable, especially in areas experiencing severe affordable housing shortages.

Michela Zonta

Executive Summary: How Federal Investments in Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Are Improving Public Health Fact Sheet
Photo shows a hand holding a clear glass underneath a running faucet

Executive Summary: How Federal Investments in Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Are Improving Public Health

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center for American Progress report highlighting the use of federal investments from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to replace dangerous lead service lines and advance public health among vulnerable communities.

Community Violence Intervention: Susan Lee and Chicago CRED Video

Community Violence Intervention: Susan Lee and Chicago CRED

Susan Lee, chief of strategy and policy at Chicago CRED, explains why gun violence is a modern-day civil rights issue and how community violence intervention (CVI) strategies must be part of any public safety strategy to address racial inequity and structural violence.

Community Violence Intervention: Denise Villamil and Southern California Crossroads Video

Community Violence Intervention: Denise Villamil and Southern California Crossroads

Denise Villamil, executive director of Southern California Crossroads, discusses how her own lived experience in a community with fewer opportunities has informed her holistic approach to community violence intervention.

Dispatching Community Responders to 911 Calls Report

Dispatching Community Responders to 911 Calls

This report compares three principal models that cities are using to dispatch community responder teams, answers frequently asked questions, and shares lessons learned.

Amos Irwin, Rachael Eisenberg

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Related Priorities

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

We pursue climate action that meets the crisis’s urgency, creates good-quality jobs, benefits disadvantaged communities, and restores U.S. credibility on the global stage.

Strengthening Health

Strengthening Health

We work to strengthen public health systems and improve health care coverage, access, and affordability.

Building an Economy for All

Building an Economy for All

Economic growth must be built on the foundation of a strong and secure middle class so that all Americans benefit from growth.

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice

Advancing Racial Equity and Justice

We apply a racial equity lens in developing and advancing policies that aim to root out entrenched systemic racism to ensure everyone has an opportunity to thrive.

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