Black Populations

Prison Reform
blog
Defunding Prisons, Preventing Cyberattacks, Promoting COVID-19 Vaccinations: RAND Weekly Recap
Aug 13, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on defunding prisons, how to deter ransomware attacks, overcoming barriers to COVID-19 vaccination, and more.
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Racial Discrimination
blog
Historic Lynchings and Voter Registration, China in Space, Firefighters' Mental Health: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 30, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on the link between historic lynchings and voter registration, Afghanistan in the era of fentanyl, supporting firefighters’ mental health, and more.
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Racial Equity
essay
How RAND Applies an Equity Lens to Research and Analysis
Jul 7, 2021
RAND recognizes that serving the public good requires tackling the factors that contribute to inequities head-on. Current projects focus on such issues as environmental racism, mass incarceration, and anti-Asian violence.
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Black Populations
commentary
A Black Brother Needs Love, Too
Jhacova Williams @jhacova
Jun 17, 2021
Brookings
Elected and appointed to important roles, Black women may have the clout needed to play a significant role in shaping policy. How will they use it? Will they make more and stronger calls to protect Black women? Or will they use their influence to extend these calls to protect Black men and highlight the similar yet unique barriers Black men face?
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Maternal Health
commentary
Mothers Need a Continuous System of Care Even After Babies Are Born
Lois McCloskey, Ann Celi, Chloe E. Bird @ChloeBirdPhD
May 10, 2021
Newsweek
In the United States, babies are born into a system of well-child care—a series of planned health care visits designed to protect their health from day one through age six. But no such system exists for their mothers. How do we create a system of health care for mothers that mirrors well-child care?
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United States
blog
President Biden's First Address to Congress: Insights from RAND
Apr 29, 2021
President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress, summarizing his administration's early COVID-19 response and outlining plans that aim to loosen the pandemic's year-long grip on a weary nation. The speech reflected the fact that the United States faces policy challenges across a wide range of domains.
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Vaccination
blog
Vaccine Hesitancy, Sexual Misconduct in the U.S. Military, the Iran Nuclear Deal: RAND Weekly Recap
Mar 5, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on Black Americans' vaccine hesitancy, sexual harassment and sexual assault in the U.S. military, rejoining the Iran nuclear deal, and more.
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Impoverished Populations
commentary
Other Voices: Striking Rates of Food Insecurity in the Hill District and Homewood
Wendy M. Troxel @wendytroxel, Tamara Dubowitz @TamaraDubowitz
Feb 9, 2021
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The number of Americans experiencing food insecurity has increased since the pandemic began. And rates are higher among African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaska Natives. Proactive and aggressive policy actions could help reduce the inequities in places like Pittsburgh's Hill District and Homewood neighborhoods.
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Pharmaceutical Drugs
blog
Prescription Drug Prices, Transgender Troops, Space Diplomacy: RAND Weekly Recap
Jan 29, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on America's high prescription drug prices, allowing transgender troops in the military, food insecurity in Black neighborhoods, and more.
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Domestic Terrorism
blog
A Message from Our President, Medical Mistrust, Insulin Prices: RAND Weekly Recap
Jan 8, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on Wednesday’s siege on the U.S. Capitol, Americans' psychological distress, medical mistrust and COVID-19 vaccines, and more.
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Health Disparities
q&a
Medical Mistrust Could Reduce Vaccine Uptake: Q&A with Laura Bogart
Dec 23, 2020
Laura Bogart, a senior behavioral scientist, studies how discrimination feeds medical mistrust and conspiracy beliefs. Her research on how mistrust became a barrier to treatment for Black Americans during the HIV epidemic sheds light on why some might question the safety of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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Information Operations
blog
Election Interference on Twitter, Insulin Prices, Remote Learning: RAND Weekly Recap
Oct 9, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on evidence of interference in the 2020 election on Twitter, U.S. insulin prices compared to those of other countries, how parents can help their kids' education stay on track during the pandemic, and more.
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Employment and Unemployment
commentary
'Holes Just Big Enough': Unemployment's History with Black Workers
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
Oct 5, 2020
Los Angeles Times
There's a long-standing accusation leveled at the U.S. unemployment insurance system: that it's structurally racist, deliberately discriminatory from the outset, and remains so today. That claim has been met with doubt. But why doesn't unemployment insurance treat all workers and all earnings the same?
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Information Operations
blog
How Russia Targets U.S. Elections, Black Workers and COVID-19, TikTok: RAND Weekly Recap
Oct 2, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on how Russia targets U.S. elections, Americans' increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic, Black workers and COVID-19, and more.
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Black Populations
commentary
Laid Off More, Hired Less: Black Workers in the COVID-19 Recession
Jhacova Williams @jhacova
Sep 29, 2020
The RAND Blog
As the U.S. economy tries to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are adding workers to their teams, yet one group is being picked last: Black workers. Getting back into a job later could do lasting harm to millions of Black Americans' incomes and wealth accumulation for years.
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Incarceration
commentary
Elevating Equity in Los Angeles Juvenile and Criminal Justice Reform
Margaret Chamberlin, Stephanie Brooks Holliday
Aug 12, 2020
The RAND Blog
At age 13, Black children are placed in juvenile detention at nearly 3.5 times the rate of white children. By age 17, that ratio increases to 4.5 to 1. And the trend continues into adulthood. Without ongoing attention and deliberate policies and programs, injustices are likely to persist.
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Employment and Unemployment
commentary
L.A. Has the Nation's Highest Unemployment. For Some Groups, It's Even Worse Than That.
Jason M. Ward
Aug 6, 2020
The RAND Blog
Los Angeles and its neighboring counties are among the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 recession. The shockingly high average unemployment rates only tell part of the story, however. For the poor and some racial and ethnic groups, the jobs picture is far worse.
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Racial Discrimination
commentary
Confederate Statues Symbolize Role of Racism in America
Thomas S. Szayna
Jul 16, 2020
United Press International
Monuments are public art and symbols important to those who hold power. The renewed debate about monuments to historical figures associated with the Confederacy is part of the larger debate about the role of racism in the United States and the treatment of African Americans by institutions.
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Racial Discrimination
commentary
The Racial Disparity in Unemployment Benefits
Kathryn A. Edwards @keds_economist
Jul 15, 2020
The RAND Blog
Economic racial inequality in America cannot be solved through unemployment insurance, but it certainly shouldn't be exacerbated by it. And yet, Black workers are less financially supported during unemployment, simply by virtue of where they live.
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Community Resilience
essay
Stress Accumulates in Marginalized Communities, Generation After Generation
Jul 8, 2020
Psychologists and biologists have known for years that prolonged stress is toxic to the human body. A better understanding of how stress builds in communities—and the burden it puts on them—can lead to more effective policies to address it.
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Police-Community Relations
q&a
Protests and Police Reform: Q&A with RAND Experts
Jun 18, 2020
After the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and subsequent nationwide protests, the United States is seeing urgent action to reform policing. Here are insights from four RAND researchers who work on policing and community safety issues.
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Emerging Technologies
commentary
Bans on Facial Recognition Are Naive. Hold Law Enforcement Accountable for Its Abuse
Osonde A. Osoba @OsondeOsoba, Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung
Jun 17, 2020
The Hill
Broader police reform may be difficult to achieve. But in the long run, it will be more effective than any specific technology ban.
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Community Health and Well-Being
essay
How Pittsburgh Is Addressing Social and Economic Disparities
Jul 2, 2019
Pittsburgh has been taking a hard look at race, wealth, and opportunity. In partnership with RAND, the city has run and published its numbers on subjects ranging from police contacts to business ownership to graduation rates as part of a commitment to do better.
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Community-Based Health Care
essay
Faith-Based Organizations Promote Well-Being in Underserved Communities
Jan 4, 2019
Kathryn Derose, a senior policy researcher at RAND and an Episcopal deacon, works with Latino and African-American churches to address health issues in their communities. Her research has shown the power of the pulpit to fight health disparities, counter stigma, and encourage healthy living.
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Bipolar Disorder
commentary
What Mariah Carey's Bipolar Revelation Could Mean for Public Health
Sarah MacCarthy
Apr 30, 2018
KevinMD.com
Five-time Grammy winner Mariah Carey is being widely applauded for recently revealing she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001. By openly talking about her mental health struggles, she is helping lift mental illness out of the shadows and bringing attention to how common mental illness can be.
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commentary
Discipline Disparities and Discrimination in Schools
Nathan Barrett, Andrew McEachin, Jonathan Mills, Jon Valant
Nov 21, 2017
Brookings Institution's Brown Center Chalkboard
In the United States, black and poor students are suspended at much higher rates than their white and non-poor peers. While the existence of these disparities is not controversial, how to interpret the disparities is bitterly disputed.
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Neighborhood Influences on Health
essay
The Surprising Ways That a Supermarket Changed a Food Desert
Feb 24, 2016
The arrival of a new grocery store in a 'food desert' neighborhood delivered some obvious health benefits. But the benefits had nothing to do with whether the residents shopped there.
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Community-Based Health Care
announcement
Community Partners in Care Receives Accolade
Jun 10, 2015
Community Partners in Care, a partnership that uses a unique approach to improve depression care in under-resourced communities, has received the 2015 Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Award.
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Workforce Diversity
blog
Scientific Workforce Diversity: A Conversation with Raynard Kington
Apr 28, 2015
Grinnell College president and RAND alumnus Raynard Kington discusses the need for (and reality of) diversity in the biomedical scientific workforce.
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Police-Community Relations
commentary
Progress After Ferguson? Good Ideas Need Good Implementation
Nelson Lim, Greg Ridgeway
Mar 9, 2015
The RAND Blog
President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing has done a great service by providing dozens of sound recommendations—good ideas that could help avoid another Ferguson. Now we need good implementation to go along with them.
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Police-Community Relations
commentary
Can Big Data Help Build Trust in the Police?
Nelson Lim
Dec 11, 2014
Newsweek
After two controversial grand jury decisions not to indict police in the deaths of unarmed African Americans, a White House task force has 90 days to provide recommendations for promoting accountability among law enforcement agencies to cultivate trust between police and communities. The timeline may seem impossible, but, sadly, these issues are old and the solutions are well known.
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Health Disparities
blog
Understanding the Roots of Dramatic Black-White Cancer Disparities in the Nation's Capital
Rebecca Anhang Price
Oct 22, 2012
The burden of cancer is not experienced equally across the population: Nationwide, black Americans have higher rates of death from cancer than white Americans, and nowhere has this disparity been more apparent than in the nation's capital, writes Rebecca Anhang Price.
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Gulf Coast States
commentary
Gulf States Among Top in New HIV, AIDS Cases
Vivian L. Towe
Jun 27, 2012
The RAND Blog
Improving HIV prevention and medical care delivery to persons living with HIV/AIDS should be a collaborative effort, particularly in the Gulf States region, where resources are limited but the epidemic is expanding, writes Vivian Towe.
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