Nearly 4 out of 5 Black people in America say that economic inequality is a very big problem in the United States. It’s an issue that Capital B has reported on extensively, from how it has stunted health outcomes and access to health care for Black folks, increased rates of incarceration, and led Black communities to be oversaturated […]
Money
Freddie Gray’s Life Ignited a Movement for Black Food Sovereignty
In death, Freddie Gray’s life sparked a movement. After the 25-year-old was killed in the spring of 2015 by Baltimore police, nationwide, Black folks fought for children to receive the support and resources that he lacked while living. In his hometown, it laid bare how environmental factors — toxic contamination and poor access to fresh […]
Can Detroiters Afford More Dollar Stores?
This story was originally published by BridgeDetroit, a nonprofit news site that reports on America’s largest majority Black city. Sign up for their newsletter here. Trash strewn grass and parking lots, overgrown sidewalks, and messy interiors are mainstays at Detroit’s dollar stores. Consistently out of compliance with city blight requirements, dollar stores in Detroit from […]
In Communities of Color, Most Oil and Gas Jobs Still Go to White Workers
This story was produced by Floodlight, a nonprofit investigative newsroom focused on climate accountability. There’s an unspoken promise when an industry moves into any community: We will disrupt your lives, but in exchange we will provide good-paying jobs. Except, according to new research shared exclusively with Floodlight, in Louisiana’s majority-Black communities in the area known as […]
A Call to End Credit Scores to Determine Auto Insurance Rates
Auto insurance companies’ use of credit information to determine rates poses a disproportionate financial burden on Black and low-income communities, but financial experts say there are ways to protect yourself. A recent report from Consumer Federation of America found that Americans with fair or poor credit — regardless of their driving records — pay, on […]
In a Push for Race-Neutral Policies, Black Americans Will Be Left Behind, Experts Fear
As conservative lawmakers attempt to roll back policies aimed at a more equitable America, a new report emphasizes the need for race-conscious policies to improve economic conditions for Black Americans. Released this week, the Economic Policy Institute report says that race-neutral policies won’t adequately provide solutions to eliminate economic disparities. Although Black Americans have seen […]
From Racial Slurs to Lynching Jokes, New Lawsuit Details Alleged Racism in Nursing Home
Courtney Love was a few months into her job as a nursing assistant at Florala Health and Rehabilitation in Alabama when it became clear that the racism and abuse ran deeper here than the other facilities she had worked in. The insults piled on, according to a federal lawsuit filed last week, coming to a […]
These Georgia Communities Are Facing Lawsuits for Stopping Dollar General Stores
Although a judge recently threw out a developer’s case against a Georgia county trying to stop a dollar store from opening in a majority Black area, the county’s commissioner says the fight to protect her community isn’t over. Alana Sanders, Newton County District 3 commissioner, told Capital B that residents often have to travel outside […]
AI automated discrimination. Here’s how to spot it.
This story was produced in partnership with Vox as part of the discrimination issue of The Highlight. Say a computer and a human were pitted against each other in a battle for neutrality. Who do you think would win? Plenty of people would bet on the machine. But this is the wrong question. Humans created computers, and […]
Discrimination Isn’t Just Infuriating. It Steals Black People’s Time.
This story was produced in partnership with Vox as part of the discrimination issue of The Highlight. After a long search, Keisha Orr — a human resources manager working on Wall Street in the early 2000s — believed she had found the perfect candidate for a job at her financial tech company. The applicant had it all: an […]

