racial justice

Center for Racial Justice

Racial justice is the systematic fair treatment of people, regardless of racial background, that results in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone.We seek a world in which people are able to achieve their full potential in life,...

News

Lewis announces Inclusive History Project campus research directors

Nov 7, 2023

Faculty members Camron Michael Amin, James W. Cook, and Lisa M. Lapeyrouse will lead the Inclusive History Project’s research activities spanning the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses. IHP is the yearslong project to study, document and...

News

Center for Racial Justice welcomes 2023-24 visiting fellows cohort!

Sep 18, 2023

The Ford School’s Center for Racial Justice proudly welcomes Dr. Moya Z. Bailey, Dr. Angela S. García, Dr. Clarence Wardell III, and Diane J. Wright as Visiting Fellows for the 2023-24 academic year. The Visiting Fellows Program, the signature...

Portraits of (top left to right) Clarence Wardell, Moya Bailey, (bottom left to right) Diane Wright and Angela Garcia

News

Meet our new faculty: Mo Torres

Aug 25, 2023

Mo Torres returns to the Ford School (he graduated with his MPP in 2015) as one of six University of Michigan Society of Fellows for a three-year appointment. He will work closely with the Center for Racial Justice. Torres is a historical...

News

PPIA students reflect on their summer of study and social life

Aug 2, 2023

What are the dynamics of inequity in labor markets? How do we determine appropriate categories for people in a multicultural society? How is the U.S. approach to ethnicity and nationality different from what they are doing in Europe? These were...

Group of PPIA students posing in front of Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy courtyard

News

Next steps for U-M’s Inclusive History Project

Jul 12, 2023

Six foundational values and commitments — independence, collaboration, broad engagement, community relationships, inclusion of all three University of Michigan campuses and Michigan Medicine and material change — will guide the future work of the...

News

Engaged Learning Student Projects Catalog: Preparing Ford School students for leadership

Jun 29, 2023

During the Winter Term 2023, Ford School students were involved in projects with federal, state, county, city, and township governments, school districts, non-profit organizations, and commissions. They worked with the school’s numerous research...

Weill Hall entrance with "Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy" etched into the glass

News

Beatty Blunt honored by Columbus YWCA

May 14, 2023

Ohio Court of Appeals Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt, who will be returning to the Ford School as a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, was saluted by her hometown YWCA as a 2023 Woman of Achievement. Beatty Blunt, the first Black woman to serve...

In the Media

Young: The list of things to warn Black children about keeps getting longer

May 11, 2023

Alford Young Jr., The New York Times: Black parents contacted by NBC News said they are infused with heightened fear and rage that safe spaces outside the home are shrinking. “This young man was trying to find his siblings,” said Alford Young Jr.,...

News

Racial justice practitioners help policy students apply new skills

May 5, 2023

How do policy professionals apply racial justice in practice? This semester, the Ford School’s Center of Racial Justice hosted a series of workshops to explore different dimensions of justice, from antiracism and global development to community...

News

U-M expert: Change won’t happen overnight to improve race relations

May 4, 2023

It has been a topic that many Black parents in the United States have discussed with their children in recent decades—staying safe from harm or being killed by law enforcement. But in recent months, the conversation now extends to Black youths...

News

U-M report on Detroiters’ opinions of reparations gains traction in media

Apr 18, 2023

The Center for Racial Justice, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, and Poverty Solutions released a new report detailing Detroiters’ opinions on reparations and racial inequity in March 2023. Since its release, multiple news outlets picked up...

News

Detroiters' views on reparations connected to perception of racial wealth gap, other inequality

Mar 29, 2023

Detroiters' perceptions of the racial wealth gap, the legacy of slavery and other forms of racial inequity are strongly connected to their support for reparations and policies that address racial inequity. Overall, 63% of Detroit residents...

Detroiters Reparations Racial Inequality March 2023 policy brief image

News

U-M’s Earl Lewis to receive National Humanities Medal

Mar 20, 2023

University of Michigan professor Earl Lewis, founding director of the Center for Social Solutions and Ford School faculty, will be awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden during a White House ceremony March 21. The National...

News

We must change hearts to achieve equality - Alemu

Mar 19, 2023

What is the best way to combat racism -- change policies or change hearts? That is the question Matthew Alemu (MPP '09, PhD) contends with in an essay for Bridge Detroit. "Racism resides where society and policy have yet to tackle it directly,...

News

Poverty Solutions marks impact of action-based research in 2022

Mar 15, 2023

From informing how the U.S. Census estimates populations to reimagining land contracts as a path to homeownership and inspiring state legislation that would aid homeless youths, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan continued to tackle the...

News

Advancing Health Policy Research and Reducing Social Disparities in Health

Mar 13, 2023

Paula Lantz, PhD, joins Michigan Minds to discuss the social determinants of declining birth rates, the role of public policy in improving population health and reducing social disparities in health, and the particular importance of recognizing...

News

Ford School welcomes local and state elected officials to boost collaborative work

Feb 16, 2023

Elected officials from local, county, and state government came to the Ford School to hear about the potential for collaborations with their offices and the School’s faculty, research centers, and students. Fifteen members of the Michigan State...

Local Public Officials at the Ford School

News

Lewis addresses scholars on Inclusive History Project

Feb 13, 2023

A growing number of universities are working to critically engage with the uncomfortable truths of their institutions’ histories, including entanglements with slavery and racial discrimination. At the University of Michigan, historians, scholars...

News

Poverty Solutions report on police reform widely referenced in wake of recent alleged police abuse

Jan 31, 2023

Following the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the Memphis police, national attention is once again focused on the use of force by police. The Detroit Free Press, among other outlets, turned to a report written by Trevor Bechtel, Mara C....

News

Research centers give U-M students hands-on, practical policy experiences

Jan 27, 2023

With the guidance and support of the Ford School’s research centers, graduate and undergraduate students are creating a real-life impact in a range of areas by working with external partners. The Ford School is deeply integrated with a wide range of...

News

Gun control measures associated with reduced police use of force

Jan 24, 2023

As police departments and activists look for strategies to reduce excessive use of force by police, new research from the University of Michigan shows limited data, lack of transparency and irregular implementation of reforms make it difficult to...

News

Collins fights for ‘an economy that works for all’ at Boston Federal Reserve

Jan 16, 2023

A recent Bloomberg article confirmed what the University of Michigan and the Ford School already knew—Susan Collins, former provost and dean, is thriving as the president of the Boston Federal Reserve. As the first Black woman to lead a regional...

News

Puerto Rican Opinion Lab: Understanding how U.S. policies affect islanders

Jan 5, 2023

Mara Ostfeld, PhD, associate faculty director at Poverty Solutions, assistant research scientist at the Ford School of Public Policy, research director at the Center for Racial Justice, and faculty lead for the Detroit Metro Area Community Study,...

State & Hill

Diversity, equity, and inclusion highlights

Dec 19, 2022

The University of Michigan is currently in an interim period between its strategic plans for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), with the next plan set to launch in early fall 2023. The Ford School community did not pause, however, and is hard...

Photo of DeAndré Calvert addressing a room of attendees at the Ford School reunion in 2019

News

Students find inspiration from racial justice changemakers

Dec 7, 2022

In October 2022, students from the Ford School and members of the greater University of Michigan community gathered together to hear “Racial Justice Changemakers”—social justice leaders, artists, and advocates—share their diverse journeys into...

Masterclass in Activism panelists' Brar, Bass, and Wyatt conversing together

News

Ostfeld appointed research director of the Center for Racial Justice

Dec 5, 2022

Political scientist Dr. Mara Celicia Ostfeld has been named the inaugural research director of the Center for Racial Justice (CRJ) at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. In this role, Ostfeld will lead the development of the...

Mara Ostfeld speaking at a Poverty Solutions event.

In the Media

Lowande on impact of diverse Democratic leadership in Congress

Nov 30, 2022 Time

Kenny Lowande, Time: "I’d say that really what this is, is the groundwork for something...

In the Media

El-Sayed shares story of America's first paramedics

Nov 29, 2022 America Dissected

Abdul El-Sayed, America Dissected: "Today’s episode is about exactly that kind of a set of heroes, a group of Black heroes that revolutionized emergency medical services. Everything from modern CPR to the ways ambulances look and operate. They had...

Photo of Abdul El-Sayed in front of a classroom of Ford School PPIA fellows

News

Ford School professors begin to chart the course of the Inclusive History Project

Nov 17, 2022

Two Ford School professors have joined the Framing and Design Committee of the Inclusive History Project, a project centered on documenting the university’s history with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion. Earl Lewis, the Thomas C. Holt...

Headshots of Earl Lewis and Morela Hernandez