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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Safe Streets for All: An Opportunity To Rethink Traffic Enforcement Article
A police officer directs traffic in Highland Park, Illinois.

Safe Streets for All: An Opportunity To Rethink Traffic Enforcement

The Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets for All program can be leveraged to support community-level innovation in roadway safety efforts, including by rethinking traffic enforcement strategies to improve the physical and psychological safety of Black drivers and others on the road.

Allie Preston

8 Ways To Reduce Gun Violence in Minnesota Report
A collection of confiscated guns is stored in the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office crime lab.

8 Ways To Reduce Gun Violence in Minnesota

In Minnesota, violent crime is increasingly fueled by firearms, as the state lacks foundational gun control laws that would improve public safety and save lives.

Allison Jordan

How Federal Agencies Can Advance Equity Through Biden’s Second Executive Order Report
Vice President Kamala Harris looks on as U.S. President Joe Biden signs executives orders related to his racial equity agenda.

How Federal Agencies Can Advance Equity Through Biden’s Second Executive Order

The Biden administration’s recent executive order makes clear its intent to swiftly advance racial equity and support underserved communities by directing federal agencies to deliver equitable outcomes and foster an inclusive and prosperous America for all.

Justin Dorazio

Opinion: Three Black leaders offer one practical solution to reduce police assaults on Black motorists In the News

Opinion: Three Black leaders offer one practical solution to reduce police assaults on Black motorists

Patrick Gaspard partners with Color of Change's Rashad Robinson and the Vera Institute of Justice's Nicholas Turner to discuss the dangers of traffic stops for Black motorists and to urge leaders at the federal, state, and local levels to seek solutions.

CNN

Patrick Gaspard, Rashad Robinson , Nicholas Turner

For Native Americans, Tribal Colleges Tackle the ‘Present-Day Work of Our Ancestors’ Article
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona  delivers the commencement address at Salish Kootenai College.

For Native Americans, Tribal Colleges Tackle the ‘Present-Day Work of Our Ancestors’

In the first installment in a series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress and American Indian College Fund explore the essential role TCUs play in their communities and why investing in them should be a priority for policymakers.

Marcella Bombardieri, Dina M. Horwedel

ARPA Funds Continue To Support Community Safety Efforts Through Community Responder Programs Article
A dispatcher speaks to a caller while viewing various computer screens.

ARPA Funds Continue To Support Community Safety Efforts Through Community Responder Programs

With the help of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, governments are expanding their public safety strategies to invest in community responder programs that reduce reliance on law enforcement and provide communities with meaningful emergency management support.

Akua Amaning

Community-Based Violence Interruption Programs Can Reduce Gun Violence Article
Photo shows a group of five people hugging.

Community-Based Violence Interruption Programs Can Reduce Gun Violence

Violence interruption is a community-based intervention strategy that can reduce gun violence and improve public safety in neighborhoods around the country.

Jahdziah St. Julien

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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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