Racial Gap

During the 1935 to 1947 period, foreign-born U.S. residents appeared to have benefited significantly more from these federal lending programs than native-born Black borrowers.

Between 2016 and 2022, the share of Black borrowers with new medical debt collections declined from 15.6 percent to 11.2 percent. Despite this improvement, Black borrowers were still nearly twice as likely as Hispanic and White borrowers and more than nine times as likely as Asian and Pacific Islander borrowers to carry medical debt in 2022.

A new report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies examines how Black-White financial disparities throughout the lifetime contribute to severe economic hardship among Black retirees, who are more than twice as likely as White retirees to live in poverty.

A new study led by scholars at the University of Washington has found communities that have a larger share of residents living within 10 minutes of a pharmacy have lower racial disparities in medication use. This association was strongest among Black residents.

“Providing access to a quality math education for all Black students requires a transformation of our entire math education system, including dismantling the gatekeepers that perpetuate inequity. It must be grounded in the belief that all students are capable of math success when provided with the proper support,” writes Andrea McChristian, national policy director at Just Equations.

In a new study, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have found that Black women have accounted for more than one-fifth of all assault injuries among women in California over the past two decades. Across all ages, assault rates for Black women were 3.82 times higher than those of White women between 2005 and 2022.

According to the report, New York's public school system is the most racially segregated among all U.S. states, followed by Illinois and Pennsylvania. In contrast, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming have the lowest levels of racial segregation in public schools.

After controlling for parents' income, education, and engagement, a new study found African American children's reading scores were comparable to their White peers. However, racial differences in mathematics readiness remained.

Of the 89 English-language streaming original films released in 2025, 16.9 percent featured Black lead actors and/or actresses, 14.3 percent were directed by Black filmmakers, and 8.7 percent were written by Black screenwriters. Overall BIPOC representation among streaming film leads, directors, and writers has declined over the past year.

Of the 37 Senate staff directors in committee offices, only one is African American. Among the 88 other Senate committee top staff positions, only two are held by Black Americans.

According to a new WalletHub analysis of all 50 states' education systems, Wyoming has the overall most racial equality in education, followed by West Virginia and New Mexico, In contrast, racial equality in education is the lowest in Wisconsin, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

In 2025, 79.3 percent of prime age (25 to 54 years old) Black men were employed. This is roughly 8 to 9 percentage points less than the employment rates of similarly aged Hispanic men (87.2 percent), White men (87.4 percent), and Asian men (88.8 percent).

Pulse oximeter devices often give artificially high blood oxygen levels for people with darker skin because the melanin in their skin absorbs light differently than lighter skin. Thus, Black patients who need supplemental oxygen are likely missing out on crucial follow-up care.

Of Greater Boston's $112 billion in total nonprofit revenue in 2023, only $1 billion went to women- and girls-serving organizations. Just $25 million went to groups specifically focused on women and girls of color.

For Black women with a college degree, the maternal mortality rate in 2019 was 26.21 per 100,000 women. This was more than four times the rate for White women with a college degree.

Yvette Pappoe of the University of the District of Columbia is the lead author of a new report that outlines how companies and policymakers can establish transparency and accountability in artificial intelligence algorithms used in housing, lending, and employment.

Compared to other Americans, Black Americans are more likely to live with HIV and experience greater police surveillance. Together, these twin epidemics have placed Black Americans living with HIV at an increase risk of criminal justice system involvement.

Notably, legalization has substantially reduced the volume of cannabis-related arrests in the United States, but it has not changed the relative differences in arrests between Black and White Americans.

“When funding disruptions disproportionately affect researchers who focus on health disparities, the consequences go far beyond individual careers,” said Rebecca Fielding-Miller, associate professor at the University of California, San Diego. “They also shape which scientific questions get asked, and whose health ultimately receives attention.”

A team of scholars at Stanford University asked four AI chatbots to provide feedback on essays by middle school students of different races. Essays by Black students were given more praise, while White students' essays received more constructive criticism to improve their writing skills.