Race and Ethnicity

This is the first in a series, based on a report by the Charlotte Urban Institute. Read Part 2 here. The report was compiled with support from Bank of America, ​which partners with the Charlotte Urban Institute and the Charlotte Regional Data Trust on research that provides insight into community initiatives. By James E. Ford,  […]

The new release of a classic book about how Charlotte became so divided sheds light on the city’s enduring inequalities, and why those disparities are far from accidental. Whether you have more time on your hands without a daily commute or you’re looking for something to read that’s not about the novel coronavirus, UNC Press’s […]

Since the coronavirus lockdowns began, Mecklenburg’s resource helpline has seen housing assistance requests jump 219% and food assistance jump 747%. These numbers are an indication of the dramatic impacts we’re seeing unfold on Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s economy. It has been more than one month since Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency to combat the spread […]

Since the highly contentious 2016 election cycle, the growing divide between Americans of different backgrounds on many issues has been well documented. But do those divides show up between residents of a single city? The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute’s most recent Annual Survey of Mecklenburg County provides insight into how such differences show up on […]

[highlightrule]What’s going on in our nation? Why? And what should we do about it?[/highlightrule] What’s going on in our nation? Though most of our systems aspire to fairness, people of color consistently experience disparate outcomes, compared to Whites. Racial disproportionality occurs across all systems – education, child welfare, health care, housing, employment, banking and finance […]

This week’s map shows high school graduation rates at the school level and presents the latest numbers for various demographic groups. Choose a district and demographic group from the menu to the right of the map to see the rates for students of a particular race/ethnicity, sex, socio-economic status, English proficiency, or gifted status. Schools […]

This week’s map continues exploring high school graduation rates across the state and presents the latest numbers for various demographic groups. Choose from the menu below the map to see the rates for students of a particular race/ethnicity, sex, socio-economic status, English ability, or gifted status. Districts in blue are above the state average for […]

In Charlotte, one neighborhood more than any other came to represent the housing crisis. Built between 2002 and 2004, the Windy Ridge neighborhood of 133 small, single-family homes fell victim. By 2008, 60 percent of the neighborhood’s homes were in foreclosure. Crime rates rose, property values plummeted and the homeowners association couldn’t afford to keep […]

On Feb. 27, the Charlotte Mayor’s Immigrant Integration Task Force met for the first time. Around the same time, Charlotte Chamber President Bob Morgan signed a letter by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for a New American Economy to House Speaker John Boehner, urging him to move immigration reform forward this year. […]

The last five years have been among the most challenging in the nearly 250-year history of Charlotte. The Great Recession erased the mythology that our community was invulnerable to the vicissitudes of national economic fortunes. Home construction, property values, business investment, and community philanthropy plunged downward at rates not seen since the Depression. Unemployment rates […]