Discriminatory Practices

commentary

To Help African Americans Gain Generational Wealth, Look to the Housing Market

African American families have significantly less wealth than White families, even after reaching the middle class. Home ownership is, for the vast majority of Americans, the primary vehicle for accruing wealth, and passing it down through generations. This is a crucial time for policymakers to consider policies that focus on improving home ownership rates for African Americans.

Jessica Welburn Paige

commentary

Reforming Policing: A Neighborhood-by-Neighborhood Perspective

Disparities in policing outcomes, so often associated with race and ethnicity, have led to divisive discourse on the necessity of police reform in America. So how might we make progress on police reform? Ultimately, the community, in collaboration with local public officials, should determine what it means to serve and protect.

Elicia M. John

q&a

Reducing Police Violence: Q&A with Melissa Labriola

A succession of high-profile police killings has prompted some departments and communities to seek change. But data is sparse, and research is thin. Melissa Labriola helped lead a study of police violence and developed a road map for future research that could move the field forward.

commentary

Tele-Palliative Care Among Underserved Patients: Considerations for Future Research to Ensure Equity for All Patients

Underserved patients have been historically marginalized in health care and may experience extensive barriers to palliative care. Telehealth may be a particularly promising mode of palliative care by engaging patients across long distances and facilitating access to existing palliative care resources.

Julia Bandini, Natalie Ernecoff, et al.

commentary

Segregation and Racism—Buffalo's Ignored History

To move policy forward, public policy research will need to take a joint, nonpartisan look at diverse perspectives while, at the same time, giving space to voices that have been historically underrepresented. Changing or challenging fundamental assumptions in racial equity discourse requires a better understanding of the importance of cultural data, the longstanding impacts of systemic -isms on lived experiences, and a push for real-time policy solutions.

Rhianna C. Rogers, Stephen Tucker

blog

Gun Storage, the Dangers of Replacement Theory, War in Ukraine: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how Americans store their guns, why ‘replacement theory' is a danger to us all, the war in Ukraine, and more.

commentary

'Replacement Theory' Is a Danger to Us All

“Replacement theory” is woven into the very fabric of American society—and made all the more visible by the precipitous rise in hate crimes today. What can be done to reject and fight back against this zero-sum thinking?

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung

commentary

The Marriage Plot

For more than a quarter century, the U.S. government has been sending an unmistakable message to poor, single mothers: Get married. If America genuinely wants to address poverty and achieve gender equality, this has to change.

Kathryn A. Edwards

commentary

Algorithms Teach Us Why Equity Is Hard

If all the shortcomings of humanity were stripped away, equity would still be an elusive goal for algorithms for reasons that have more to do with mathematical impossibilities than backward ideologies. But even if attaining equity is fundamentally difficult, seeking it is not futile.

Irineo Cabreros @cabrerosic

commentary

What the Media Might Have Missed About South Korea's Elections

The toxicity of the anti-feminist discourse in South Korea does not accurately reflect the gender-related tensions and problems that most Koreans currently face. The obstacles to improving gender equity are more mundane and more ubiquitous than the hyperbole of anti-feminism suggests.

Erik Mobrand

blog

RAND Video Highlights of 2021

The best RAND videos from the past year brought our research to life in new ways. From the sidewalks of Pittsburgh to preschools in the Middle East, see how people around the world are using RAND research to make their communities safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous.

commentary

The Health of Asian Americans Depends on Not Grouping Communities Under the Catch-All Term

Health data have historically lumped all Asian American people together, obscuring distinct health disparities and leaving vulnerable communities neglected by researchers and policymakers. What would be needed to construct a fuller representation of Asian American communities and their well-being?

Douglas Yeung @DouglasCYeung, Lu Dong @LuDongPhD

blog

Addressing Anti-Asian Racism, Stabilizing U.S. Rivalries, the Debt-Ceiling Fight: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on countering anti-Asian racism, the instability of U.S. rivalries with Russia and China, the rise in extremist online activity, and more.

blog

North Korea, Sexual Violence in the U.S. Military, America's Labor Shortage: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how to deal with a nuclear North Korea, preventing sexual violence in the military, supporting immigrant children in U.S. schools, and more.

essay

Preventing Sexual Violence in the Military

The military has worked hard in recent years to raise awareness about the problem of sexual violence. But it needs to take a big step forward to make investments and change the culture in ways that will deter sexual assault and sexual harassment by holding perpetrators and leaders accountable.