The Samuel DuBois Cook Center is a scholarly collaborative that studies the causes and consequences of inequality and develops remedies for these disparities and their adverse effects.
Faculty Affiliate Dr. Henry C. McKoy Jr.’s abridged version of a speech he delivered at Durham’s Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Sermon was published by INDY Week. Dr. McKoy is a former presidential appointee of the Biden administration, a former assistant secretary of the North Carolina Department…
Faculty Affiliate Dr. Henry C. McKoy Jr. was quoted in WTVD-TV article about the rezoning plans of Heritage Square in the historic Hayti District by developers looking to change the platform for multi-story, mixed-use development. Dr. McKoy is a co-founder of Hayti Reborn, which is rallying support from the community against these efforts. He is…
A research team, including Cook Center Faculty Affiliate John Purakal, MD, MS, examines posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among emergency medicine physicians in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to provide a preliminary assessment of this relationship with considerations to other demographic and workplace factors, such as gender, geography, and previous diagnosis….
Founding Director William Darity Jr. co-authored a new literature review in The BMJ that directly addresses one of the most persistent critiques of reparations: the claim that no feasible plan exists. The proposal outlines direct monetary payments as the clearest economic measure of the cumulative and intergenerational effects of white supremacy. The article argues that…
Cook Center Director William A. Darity Jr. will be among the featured speakers at an upcoming public hearing hosted by the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies (NYSCCRR) on Saturday, March 21st, 2026, in Staten Island, New York. The hearing, titled “Economic Development: Quantifying Harms,” is part of the Commission’s statewide effort to…
New research co-authored by Faculty Affiliate Sarah Gaither, Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, explores how something as routine as demographic forms can influence feelings of inclusion and identity among marginalized communities. Published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the study—“Enumeration or Exclusion? Demographic Forms and Latine Identity”—investigates how demographic questions may…
