Racism

The Town of Normal is in the middle of its first annual Daring Diversity: A Racial Equity Summit. Day 1 of the conference included speakers who defined and traced the roots of racism.

An Illinois study of racial profiling in police stops is set to expire in July. State lawmakers are considering whether to keep collecting data.

Research shows African-Americans are less likely to access treatment for mental illness.

Cultural norms and the stigma associated with having a mental illness are partly to blame, according to Shardé Smith, assistant professor of human development and family studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The patriarch of the family behind the Chicago Cubs has apologized after an online media outlet published emails in which he took part in racist comments and conspiracy theories.

The revival of a decades dormant campaign to pass the Equal Rights Amendment is drawing an opposition campaign from what some call a hate group.

Both U.S. senators from Illinois are criticizing remarks by McLean County Republican Party Chairman Chuck Erickson.

A Facebook group called "Bloomington Deserves Better Than Kevin Lower" is attacking the mayoral candidate for a 3-year-old response to an alleged racist post on a page titled the Marcus Garvey Society.

On the page was a comment suggesting that "if African Americans really wanted to escape racism, it might be time for them to move to the land of the ancestors."

Monthly vigils for social justice are returning to the twin cities.

After a several year break, organizer Linda Unterman is bringing back gatherings the second Tuesday of the month, outside the Bloomington Center for Performing Arts. Unterman helped organize similar events in the aftermath of the Iraq war, in conjunction with moveon.org

Three crimes, which could be labeled as hate crimes, have been reported near Illinois State University since the Presidential election.

ISU Police Chief Aaron Woodruff says his department is investigating a report of threats to beat up a transgendered person who was on the quad on Sunday.

A major conference on cultural diversity in an education setting is coming to Bloomington-Normal next week.

Illinois State University's Culturally Responsive Campus Community organization is hosting more than 500 people October 24th and 25th to discuss ways to bridge gaps both on campus and in the community. In a Sound Ideas interview, conference organizer Stacey Hardin said the group surfaced at the urging of students in the aftermath of high profile police shootings of African-American males.