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.
Dr. William A. Darity Jr., the Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the Cook Center at Duke University, was recently quoted in an article examining how the legacy of slavery impacts the wealth of US legislators today. Dr. Darity emphasized the country’s history of racist policies and practices ripples into the present…
On August 22, 2024, current and former students who completed the Hank & Billye Suber Aaron Young Scholars Summer Research Institute were honored by Durham Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education. This recognition celebrated the scholars’ dedication and hard work in completing the rigorous four-week summer program and presenting their research to the community at…
Dr. William A. Darity Jr., the Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the Cook Center at Duke University, and Dr. Thomas Cramer were interviewed by Dr. James Peterson on their recent edited publication in Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences special issue on Black Reparations. I think that the negative…
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…
