Core Library Guide to Racism in Modern America

Americans are fighting back against police violence, calling for police departments to be reformed and, in some cases, abolished. Politicians at local, state, and national levels have responded in a variety of ways to these calls to action. Politics and Civil Unrest in Modern America explores the government's response to protests and policies introduced by legislators to combat police violence.

Racial bias, both implicit and explicit, is easy to see in American news media. Race and the Media in Modern America explores differences in reporting about people of different races, as well as why representation in all levels of media are important to combat systemic racism.

From the Civil Rights Movement to the present day, Americans have protested against police brutality. Protesting Police Violence in Modern America explores the history of police violence, in the United States and how Americans are calling for change.

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd died while in the custody of four officers of Minnesota's Minneapolis Police Department. One of the officers had knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly ten minutes. Floyd's death caused a wave of protests across the United States and around the world calling for an end to police violence. Justice for George Floyd explores whom George Floyd was, what happened the day he died, and the protests that followed.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and there is great racial inequality in the criminal justice system. Race and Policing in Modern America explores how the US criminal justice system perpetuates inequality, from the police's origins as slave patrols to the school-to-prison pipeline.

From slavery to Jim Crow segregation, racism has a long, deeply rooted history in the United States. The History of Racism in America explores this history and how these inequalities are still visible today.