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.
Founding Director William A. Darity Jr. gave a comment in a New York Times article discussing recent development in California’s efforts towards reparations. Earlier this month, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a series of bills that would have given descendants of enslaved Africans preference in college admissions, home loan assistance, and restitution for property seized…
Faculty Affiliate Kisha Daniels, Associate Professor of the Practice in Education at Duke University, and Duke undergraduate Selena Collins were recently featured on the Duke Trinity podcast, Duets, for their collaborative service-learning course, Critical Pedagogy of Hip Hop. The course connects Duke students with middle and high schoolers across Durham Public Schools to explore education,…
Former Postdoctoral Associate and The Pandemic Divide contributor Melissa Scott recently published an op-ed in INDY Week reflecting on Hurricane Helene and its ties to the climate crisis. In the piece, Dr. Scott shares her experience staying in her family’s cabin in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains where she and her young son witnessed the…
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…
