The nearly 14 million people of color who live in rural America face unique challenges that run the gamut — from navigating racism in real estate, environmental regulation and the justice system to gaining access to healthcare and broadband.
This six-part series from the Rural News Network, made possible with support from the Walton Family Foundation, explores the issues these communities are facing and what some are doing to change their fates.
For nearly three months, 17 journalists at six news organizations delved into news stories about the unique challenges that some Black, Hispanic and Indigenous communities face in rural America.
New Mexico has a severe shortage of healthcare workers, particularly in the state’s rural and frontier areas, where a third of the state’s 2.1 million people live.
The historically dismissive treatment of Black families who have lost loved ones to violence has long been rampant in Mississippi and beyond, seeding fear, distrust of law enforcement, and even rumors about coverups.
On Puerto Rico’s south coast, toxic coal ash used to build roads has seeped into groundwater. Advocates blame it for high rates of cancer and other diseases.
A mining project in Nevada is hoping to provide the lithium needed to fuel the green energy transition. Regional tribes say they weren’t properly consulted by the government.
Black clergy and faith leaders in the rural South have been working for years to bridge the digital divide in their communities and congregations.
Three Native tribes are rebuying back land that was once theirs, before the U.S. government took some and then desperation stole more. Getting it back isn’t cheap.
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