Special Report

Race in America

To mark the Smithsonian's multi-year initiative, Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past, which will confront the history and legacy of race and racism through live and virtual events, pop-up exhibitions, digital resources, and other offerings, Smithsonian magazine has compiled this collection of relevant coverage.

The Smithsonian's Race and Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past initiative centers on six pillars.

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Featured Stories

Simone Biles (pictured) and Naomi Osaka, both Black athletes at the top of their sports, have been vocal about their struggles with mental health.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

The Relationship Between Race and Wellness Has Never Been More Pressing

Protestors march through the streets of D.C. during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody.

158 Resources for Understanding Systemic Racism in America

An interactive lunch counter at the African American History Museum lets visitors grapple with moral dilemmas of the civil rights movement.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on Why the Smithsonian Is Talking About Race

Race and Wellness

Smith, the first black American to earn a medical degree, was also a leading abolitionist and prolific writer. His alma maters included the African Free School #2 (bottom right) and the University of Glasgow (top right).

America's First Black Physician Sought to Heal a Nation's Persistent Illness

In April, people queued at a testing tent in East New York in Brooklyn. COVID-19 rates are highest among black New Yorkers in Kings County.

What 'Racism Is a Public Health Issue' Means

No photos of Cole survive. Shown here is an anatomy lecture taught by pioneering female physician Elizabeth Blackwell at the Woman's Medical College of New York Infirmary, which she founded. Cole was the resident physician at the infirmary and later a sanitary visitor at Blackwell's Tenement House Service. Blackwell described Cole as “an intelligent young coloured physician [who] carried on this work with tact and care.”

The Woman Who Challenged the Idea that Black Communities Were Destined for Disease

Postcard of the Napa State Hospital in Napa, Calif., circa 1905. Over 1,900 Californians were recommended for sterilization while patients here.

California Once Targeted Latinas for Forced Sterilization

Nicole L. Novak and Natalie Lira, The Conversation

Race and Wealth

Smoke billows over Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921.

Lawsuit Seeks Reparations for Victims of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Suburban single-family homes in Fresno, California.

The Racial Segregation of American Cities Was Anything but Accidental

Katie Nodjimbadem

An African-American family leaves Florida for the North during the Great Depression.

The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration

Isabel Wilkerson