Race and Ethnicity

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s work is so powerful and popular that it has never been out of print, selling more than 30 million copies.

Taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test has become a rite of passage for millions of American school kids. The path to the middle class lies through getting a college education. And getting into college—especially at a prestigious school—requires a good score on the SAT.

The n-word holds a unique position in the English language. On one hand, it's so taboo that it is not even whispered in polite company. On the other hand, teenagers use the word so frequently in so many ways that it has taken on new life beyond its origins as an insult. 

One hundred eighty years ago today, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This law set in motion the long, agonizing chain of events that ultimately led to the Trail of Tears. 

The Texas State Board of Education has been ridiculed in recent weeks for its efforts to rewrite the curriculum standards of the state’s K-12 textbooks. Starting today, the conservative majority on the 15-member board is expected to approve a rightward lurch in those standards. 

Pretty much as soon as Europeans landed in the “New World” and encountered American Indians, they began creating stereotypes. 

There’s an old joke among real estate agents that the three most important things to consider in any property are location, location, location.

Take this quiz to see if you're up on one of the biggest trends in U.S. education--the resegregation of public schools.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has declared April Confederate History Month. His original seven-paragraph proclamation was full of paeans to grey-clad heroes but nowhere mentioned the agonies of slavery. This understandably offended African Americans, and McDonnell spent a day or so getting beat up in the media.

“Few civil rights are as central to the cause of human freedom as equal educational opportunity.” Education Secretary Arne Duncan offered that remark earlier this month in announcing his department’s renewed commitment to civil rights in American classrooms. He also put the nation’s schools on notice: The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights was back on the case. It has been missing in action for nearly a decade, creating either uneven law enforcement or willful injustice.