Racial Justice | Penn Today

Partially obscured head of Blind Justice statue against a backdrop of algorithmic code.

Amani Carter develops a new study on unmasking coded bias

The Class of 2022 law student works to identify biases and ‘stereotype threat’ in AI and help provide context for the conversation around mitigating those biases.

Asian prisoner in jumpsuit laying on a cot behind bars.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and mass incarceration

Penn Law student Raymond Magsaysay has an article forthcoming in the Michigan Journal of Race & Law about the absence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the conversation about criminal justice reform.

James on left and Kendi on right during virtual BlueJeans lecture

For Juneteenth, a conversation with Ibram X. Kendi

The award-winning author, professor, and antiracist activist joined Wharton Dean Erika James for a virtual lecture for the Penn community to commemorate the day.

Book launch reestablishes economic legacy of Sadie T.M. Alexander

A new book spotlights the speeches and writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander, the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in economics from Penn and in the U.S.

A Juneteenth parade in Philadelphia streets

How businesses have begun to recognize Juneteenth

This Saturday marks Juneteenth, the oldest known holiday honoring the end of slavery in the U.S. Wharton professor Matthew Bidwell looks at how businesses are recognizing the holiday.

Philadelphians react after Congress approves bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday

Eve Higginbotham of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the significance of Juneteenth. "It's a day of reflection as well as an acknowledgment that, going forward, we still have work to do," she said. “We still need people engaged, but we need people to translate their reflections into action.”

The ideas of the first Black economics Ph.D. offer solutions to our problems today

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, the first African American with a doctoral degree in economics, advocated for economic justice after graduating from Penn in 1921.

Q&A

The use and misuse of race in health care

In a Q&A, PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff, the Perelman School of Medicine’s Giorgio Sirugo, and Case Western Reserve University’s Scott Williams shed light on the “quagmire” of race, ethnicity, genetic ancestry, and environmental factors and their contribution to health disparities.

Black, Latinx and female entrepreneurs are still ignored by most venture capitalists

Katherine Klein of the Wharton School spoke about the lack of diversity in venture capital funding. “The disparity in who the venture capitalists are and where their money goes is just phenomenal,” she said.

Black Lives Matter has grown more powerful, and more divided

Daniel Gillion of the School of Arts & Sciences said public disputes within the Black Lives Matter movement may ultimately strengthen it. “It is truly grass roots, involving multiple people chiming in. And that’s what you want,” he said.

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