Race, Ethnicity, Gender

When you meet Dr. Melissa Freeman, the first thing you notice is her elegance, both in how she dresses and how she speaks. Then, it is her warmth and charm.  At 94 years of age, Freeman is still as sharp as a pin and works each and every day. When I meet her in... Read more

On June 4, I was returning from early morning Mass for religious sisters across Midtown Manhattan when, on 48th Street, I entered the pedestrian protective tunnel of a construction site. There was an African American construction worker on the other side of the tunnel who, as I approached,... Read more

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that employers cannot fire workers because of their sexual orientation or self-determined gender identity, while dissenting justices opined the Court was legislating from the bench. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion for the Court in a 6-3... Read more

Two black Catholic priests— one ordained six years, the other 42— shared their thoughts with CNA this week on the sin of racism, and the importance of praying, fasting, and advocating for healing. Father Josh Johnson, pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in the... Read more

But if you want money for people with minds that hateAll I can tell is brother you’ll have to wait.— John Lennon (From the lyrics of “Revolution” by the Beatles) The recent racially-charged rioting across the United States has been described as the worst civil unrest in this... Read more

Minnesota's Attorney General’s Office is expected to announce upgraded charges against Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck, and has added new charges against the three other officers at the scene. Chauvin will now be charged... Read more

Our nation is in crisis. What began as horrific images from Minneapolis, where an African American man was killed before our very eyes by a white police officer, has now spread past peaceful protests and into violence and destruction across the country. It begs the question: What can the... Read more

When a black man is just a boy, his parents will likely have two conversations with him.  The first is about life in general — things like being careful crossing the street, how to choose one’s friends and be a responsible young man. The second is about how to act around law... Read more

Pope John Paul II called racism a plague, its manifestation in the United States “one of the most persistent and destructive evils of the nation.” For the millions who experience racism, it can be encouraging to get to know Saints who were also targets of abuse, disdain, and even... Read more

The rest of the country knows George Floyd from several minutes of cell phone footage captured during his final hours. But in Houston’s Third Ward, they know Floyd for how he lived for decades—a mentor to a generation of young men and a “person of peace” ushering ministries into the... Read more