In the state of California, it is off-limits to administer an IQ test to a child if he or she is Black. That’s because of a little-known case called Larry P v Riles that in the 1970s put the IQ test itself on trial.
There was a lot going on in my head when I started reporting — was I the right person to write the story? I am not African American, and I did not know anyone with sickle cell.
This story was produced as part of a larger project led by Molly Sullivan, a participant in the 2018 California Fellowship.
Other stories in this series include:
Domestic violence resource centers boost efforts in south Sacramento neighborhoods
The San Francisco Unified School District troubled history has plenty to teach us about what is and isn’t working for black students with special needs today.
Some of San Francisco’s African-American families have attended public schools in the city for three generations. Here they share their experiences.
Education reporter Lee Romney set out to explore the systemic inequities that have hampered African-American students in a fast-changing San Francisco.
“A lot of people think that these were poor African Americans moving out, but they were actually middle-class people, because the poor people had nowhere to go," one Georgetown researchers says of the city's rising number of displaced residents.
While many policymakers still think of concentrated poverty as an issue afflicting the nation’s big urban centers, smaller cities are increasingly home to those Americans with the greatest needs and the least resources. Take East St. Louis, for example.
The African American community has been witness to some of the worst health outcomes of any population. Officials at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Watts are trying to remedy that situation by focusing on preventative health.
Looking through health statistics for the United States, there’s an area that almost always shows up in red: Alabama’s Black Belt. A stretch of fertile lands across the southern half of the state, it was one of the most brutal and wealthy parts of the country during the slavery era....
