NEW YORK — After repeatedly being denied service by high-end salons because her hair was perceived as “too difficult” to style, Kanessa Alexander took an unusual step. She opened a shop of her own in a predominantly white Boston neighborhood with four Black stylists serving all hair textures. “I wanted...
Dems Kick off Iowa Caucuses Amid Worry Over Beating Trump
DES MOINES, Iowa — A Democratic campaign that has cost more than $1 billion, dashed the ambitions of veteran politicians, forced conversations about race, gender and identity and prompted fierce debate over health care and taxes crests Monday in the Iowa caucuses. By day's end, tens of thousands of Democrats...
3 Big Ways That the US Will Change Over the Next Decade
The U.S. has just entered the new decade of the 2020s. What does our country look like today, and what will it look like 10 years from now, on Jan. 1, 2030? Which demographic groups in the U.S. will grow the most, and which groups will not grow as much,...
Report: California Cops More Likely to Stop Black Drivers
SACRAMENTO — Black drivers in California were stopped by police at 2.5 times the per capita rate of whites and searched three times as often, according to the latest report Thursday from a first-in-the-nation attempt to track racial profiling by police. Under a 2015 law, when California police make a...
Trump Blasts 4 Congresswomen; Crowd Roars, 'Send Her Back!'
WASHINGTON — A few Republicans on Thursday criticized the chants of "send her back" by President Donald Trump's rally crowd after he assailed a young Democratic congresswoman who he's suggested should leave the U.S. But so far, no GOP lawmakers are directly taking on Trump, who did nothing to restrain...
Interview: Kamala Harris on Race and Her Electability in 2020
NEW ORLEANS — Kamala Harris can't forget the older black woman she met in Iowa while campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama before the state's 2008 caucus. "I remember her saying to me, 'They're not going to let him win,'" Harris recalled. "She did not want to go to...
Sephora Closes US Stores Briefly for Diversity Training
NEW YORK — Sephora closed all of its U.S. stores for an hour Wednesday to host "inclusion workshops" for its 16,000 employees, just over a month after R&B star SZA said she had security called on her while shopping at a store in California. The beauty retailer said the training...
Arizona Lawmaker Resigns Amid Probe of 1983 Sex Charges
PHOENIX — Arizona Rep. David Stringer resigned Wednesday amid an ethics investigation of 1983 sex charges and his comments on race and immigration. The Prescott Republican lawmaker stepped down as he faced a 5 p.m. deadline to hand over documents demanded by the House Ethics Committee. Earlier in the day...
NASCAR to Disqualify Cars in Move to Squash Cheating
CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR announced Monday that it will disqualify race-winning cars that break the rules this season, confronting its longtime culture of cheating with a stringent new penalty system. "If you are illegal, you don't win the race," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's chief racing development officer. "We cannot allow...
Tony Thurmond Is the New Schools Chief. Now What?
With bucks and boots on the ground from California teachers’ unions, Bay Area Democratic Assemblyman Tony Thurmond declared victory Saturday as California’s new superintendent of public instruction, an outcome that essentially endorses the labor-backed education establishment in the state. Thurmond, who had lagged in early returns, had a margin of...