Welcome!
The 2008 presidential election has brought to the fore once again the contradictory role of race in the USA. Race is no longer an issue in the USA, is trumpeted by a media bent on creating reality rather than reporting it. We are beyond race, proclaims a candidacy. We may be ready for a black candidate but not for a race agenda, others contend. Black/brown capitalism will gain people of color the respect that is necessary to overcome their condition, many followers of Booker Washington proclaim. Race, however, continues to be a major factor in distributing advantage and opportunity in the USA. Race matters. Policy should be scrutinized for its redistributive impact especially on the disadvantaged and underrepresented. The Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy examines such issues with an eye to their proper understanding and to the production of knowledge that guides sound policy and seeks to end race- and ethnic-based disparities. We welcome respectful and transformative dialogues that bring all races and ethnicities together in a common search for fairness and the ability of all citizens to develop to their potential. We welcome you and all those who seek positive difference and the end of unequal diversity.
The Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) seeks to promote, coordinate, and conduct innovative research at the intersection of race, ethnicity and public policy. IRRPP represents a major commitment on the part of UIC to better address racial and ethnic diversity in Chicago, the nation and the world. It realizes that cities and nations need to better understand diversity to forge strategic public policies that promote viable multiracial and multiethnic democracies. One of our central aims is to increase the quantity, quality and relevance of research on racial and ethnic groups facing persistent inequalities and inequities. We focus on historically underrepresented people of color as we are effected by, and as they are affected by public policy. The Institute pursues a comprehensive multiracial, multiethnic and multicultural agenda that includes African Americans, Latinos, American Indians, Asian Americans and other groups confronted with systematic racial, ethnic and class barriers. A primary goal is to improve both the understanding and conditions of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups that continue to experience major difficulties within contemporary urban settings.
IRRPP seeks to bridge innovative, interdisciplinary research with engaged teaching and service activities. This engaged research agenda combines basic scholarship on race and ethnicity with policy-relevant studies and actions along with partnerships at all levels to address pressing urban problems in areas such as health, education, workforce diversity, family poverty, law enforcement, racial justice and community development. Through ongoing work organized around a set of core initiatives, IRRPP strives to be a central locus for a range of policy-relevant research, teaching and service activities.
News & Events
June 7th, 2008
Institute on Social Exclusion
Social Justice in Urban Regeneration Processes: From Rhetoric to Reality
