discrimination

Federal officials say a mortgage company accused of engaging in a pattern of lending discrimination in Alabama has agreed to pay $8 million plus a nearly $2 million civil penalty to resolve the allegations. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges mortgage lender Fairway illegally redlined Black neighborhoods in Birmingham.

A jury says a public Alabama university and an employee should pay millions in penalties in a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by an Iranian-born cancer researcher. The jury reached the decision against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Black and other minority farmers are set to receive more than $2 billion in federal aid in response to decades of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Most payments will go to farmers in Alabama and Mississippi.

Alabama lawmakers have advanced legislation to define who is considered a man or a woman under state law, saying it must be based on reproductive systems and not gender identity. The Alabama House of Representatives voted 77-24 for the legislation.

Alabama lawmakers have advanced legislation that would prohibit teacher-led discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools and also ban Pride flags from being displayed in classrooms. The legislation is part of a wave of laws across the country that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”

The history of slavery in America is the focus of a new sculpture park in Montgomery, Alabama. The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park honors the millions of people who endured slavery's brutality. The park opening March 27 is the third site created by the Equal Justice Initiative, which is dedicated to taking an unflinching look at the nation's history.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has opened a civil rights investigation into a complaint that Alabama discriminated against Black residents when handing out funding for wastewater infrastructure.

Keeping educated and skilled workers from leaving Alabama appears to be an on-going concern. Efforts are underway at the State, regional, and local levels to attract and hold onto workers, including the Alabama Gulf coast. Surveys of those leaving Alabama for other parts of the U.S. cite a range of complaints as reasons for looking elsewhere to work and live. The Alabama Public Radio news team will examine problems and solutions to this issue in an on-going series of reports called “Should I stay, or should I go.” Recently, we talked about inclusion. This time around, the subject is exclusion.

The Supreme Court says it will consider eliminating the government's chief weapon against racial discrimination at polling places since the 1960s. Acting…