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 explores the issues these communities are facing and what some are doing to change their fates.
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.
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.
This reporting is part of a collaboration between Flatwater Free Press, Religion News Service, Sierra Nevada Valley, Energy News Network, Mississippi Free Press and New Mexico In Depth. Support from the Walton Family Foundation made this project possible.
