The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "minority communities" ...
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NYPD: Fighting Crime at All Costs
WABC closely examined the aggressive policing policies of the NY Police Department. A tip from an officer regarding the use of quotas had turned into "a relentless pursuit of arrests and summonses in the city's minority communities that he claimed led to the write up of innocent people."
Tags: police; law enforcement; wrongful arrest; arrest; criminal statistics; crime statistics; crime; New York; NYPD; New York Police Department
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The Purge
"Christians in Iraq are being hunted, murdered, and driven from their homes in a wave of ethnic cleansing perhaps more brutal than any in the community's 2,000-year history. Before the U.S. invasion, Iraq was home to more than a million Christians- a small but thriving minority, which Saddam Hussein protected. Under the American occupation, Iraq's Christian community, one of the oldest in the world, has been driven towards extinction."
Tags: Iraq; ethnic; religion; Christianity; military; Islam; militants; Middle East
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Juvenile Justice: A Secret World
This investigation looks into the juvenile justice system of Kentucky and secrecy laws intended to protect juvenile offenders and help them transition back into society. The series questions whether or not these secrecy laws are protecting the juvenile offenders or injuring the community by not revealing juvenile sex offenders and those convicted of violent acts. The investigation also analyzes whether funds spent on rehabilitating the youth has been worth it.
Tags: juvenile courts; minors; secrecy laws; rehabilitation; juvenile offenders; Department of Juvenile Justice; CAR
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Making Elections Fair to Minorities; Euclid, where blacks have never won an election
Reporters with The Record performed an independent analysis of one community's election process, only to discover "some level of racially polarized voting in four of five elections. The analysis shows that, in a community that is made up of 29% African-Americans and 56.8% whites, making the elections unfair and unbalanced. As a result, the election process made it more difficult for all members of the community to be fairly represented. As a result of this, the community of Teaneck was under investigation of the Justice Department.
Tags: elections; Teaneck; U.S. Department of Justice; regression analysis
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Making elections fair to minorities: Teaneck case shows complex issue
This investigation rooted in an analysis of census block data and voting records revealed the level of racially polarized voting in the community of Teaneck and raised questions of whether minorities received fair representation in politics and government. A Justice Department investigation into whether the town should replace its at-large elections with a ward system to ensure better minority representation prompted the newspaper to pursue its own investigation.
Tags: CAR; computer-assisted reporting; elections; minorities; racially polarized voting; voting rights
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The Poor Pay More
In a two-part study of the Illinois State Lottery by The Chicago Reporter, an analysis of their records since 1977 shows that predominantly African American or Latino, low-income Chicago communities have generated the highest lottery sales in the state. In addition, residents in these communities have spent a higher proportion of their incomes on the lottery than people in more affluent areas.
Tags: lottery; Illinois State Lottery; lottery sales; lottery players; minority communities
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The Drug War Series
The series focused on the execution and impact of the so-called drug war on Chicago's minority communities. Specifically, the stories examined racial disparities in drug sentencing, drug arrests and the number of ex-drug offenders returning to Chicago communities. The Chicago Reporter found that blacks and Latinos were more often sentenced to prison than whites for the same drug crimes, even when they appeared to have similar criminal pasts.
Tags: drugs; drug war; drug crimes; drug sentencing; minority communities; racial disparities; drug arrests; drug cases; drug market; ex-drug offenders; drug activity; drug dealing; crime statistics; Chicago police Department; Illinois Department of Corrections; Cook County
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Car Talk
In These Times reports that "Baltimore community groups fight to break auto insurers' stranglehold on inner cities." The story exposes discriminatory tactics used by many insurance companies, as they set residence according to a driver's place of residence.
Tags: discrimination; minorities; poverty; African Americans; race; legislature
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180 Days In The Hole; Learning To Survive (at) CEP; Letting Go; Backing Off
In this series the Houston Press looks at how the Houston Independent School district has provided at-risk students with a single disciplinary option: 180 days at a Community Education Partners facility. These facilities, run privately and for profit, have a $17.9 contract guaranteeing them a 2,500 student enrollment. Students do their work on computer terminals without instruction by certified teachers and often grade each other's papers. The environment, which is designed for disruptive kids functioning below grade level, is like a millstone for kids who work at or above their grade level, who have perhaps committed a single, minor infraction.
Tags: alternative education; discipline; Community Education Partners
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Sectional Politics
National Journal investigates the impact of domestic migration on American politics. The story reveals that Americans are choosing places that appeal to their cultural preferences, according to census data. Migrants are forming distinctive political entities, especially in the fast growing parts of the country like the Deep South, Rocky Mountain West and Pacific Northwest, the Journal reports. Surveys have shown that natives often denigrate migrants, but in fact newcomers' values are close to those of long-time residents. The article sheds light on the so-called "white flight," a trend that describes the inclination of many whites to leave high-immigration metropolises in search of white suburbia.
Tags: Forsyth County; Republicans; conservative; minorities; immigration; job seekers; blacks; urban development; growth; community; race; ethnicity