2023

'A Housing Group’s Coup: Support From Jeff Bezos’s Amazon and MacKenzie Scott'
By Jim Rendon
September 13, 2023 in The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Excerpt: "In expensive and densely populated areas like Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia, land is far more costly than the buildings that sit on it, says Derek Hyra a professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University, who is also a planning commissioner in Falls Church, Va., a Washington suburb. Taking the land cost out of owning a home opens up homeownership to a new group of people who had been shut out of the market, he says."

'Amazon and other companies invested in afforable housing. Did it work?'
By Amanda Abrams 
September 8, 2023 in The Guardian
Excerpt: “Who can provide a lot of capital at a low rate of return or no rate of return? The government,” said Derek Hyra, an urban policy professor at American University. “If the housing crisis is to be solved, I believe it’ll have to be a public sector intervention.”

The Sneaky Tax Break That Reshaped U.S. Real Estate.
By CNBC
August 27, 2023
CNBC interviewed Derek Hyra to discuss his thoughts on real estate investment trusts (REITS). Click the link to watch the full interview. 

Why So Many Luxury Apartments Are Popping Up In The U.S.
By CNBC
April 2, 2023
Derek Hyra was interviewed by CNBC to discuss the apartment boom that is unfolding in cities across the U.S.  Click the link to watch the full interview.

'Another Home to Me': How the Next Generation of Vietnamese Is Trying to Preserve The Eden Center.
By Héctor Alejandro Arzate
February 20, 2023 in The DCist
Excerpt: "According to Hyra, who is also a researcher in equitable development at American University’s Metropolitan Policy Center, many of these requests could make a tangible difference in fighting displacement. He also says the city can float bonds for tax increment financing to provide funding opportunities for business owners, though it would be a different approach."

White people have flocked back to city centers — and transformed them.
By Tara Bahrampour, Marissa J. Lang, and Ted Mellnik
February 6, 2023 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: “You have minorities who are looking for more affordable housing, so they’re moving out to the suburbs,” said Derek Hyra, a professor of urban policy at American University.

Can this developer bring crowds back to Inner Harbor?
By John-John Williams IV
January 11, 2023 in The Baltimore Banner
Excerpt: "Derek Hyra, who directs the Metropolitan Policy Center at American University’s School of Public Affairs, hopes that the redevelopment project in Baltimore is able to not only be an economic success, but offer equity stakes to small and minority-owned businesses, while also ensuring that affordable housing in surrounding neighborhoods remains."

A Black Greenville neighborhood wanted to fight, blight, drugs. Instead, Greenville pushed them out.
By Fred Clasen-Kelly & Lillia Calum-Penso
January 10, 2023 in The Greenville News
Excerpt: "Derek Hyra, a professor of public administration and policy at American University, said it appears Greenville and other cities have failed to learn lessons from the past."

Metrocentered: Navigating Neighborhood Transition
By Andrew Erickson
January 2023 in The American University Magazine
Excerpt: “Some people who stay in place don’t see the dog parks, upscale housing, and posh restaurants as being for them,” says Derek Hyra, SPA professor, MPC founding director, and author of Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City. “They feel excluded from their own communities.”

2022

Gentrification in Allston
By BU News Service
December 19, 2022 in The Boston University News Service
Excerpt: "Hyra said the COVID-19 pandemic impacted gentrification in two ways. Economically, disparities between low-income and high-income jobs affected people’s ability to sustain households, he said. The other impact was on real estate. Apart from the moratorium on evictions, low-interest rates made developments easier to initiate during the pandemic, according to Hyra."

Falls Church wants a movie theater. It might use tax dollars to pay for one.
By Teo Armus
October 10, 2022 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: “We usually provide tax incentives for public goods. We’d like to have a movie theater, but it’s not a public good,” planning commissioner Derek Hyra said at the Sept. 21 meeting. “It’s not a public high school. You have to pay to go there.”

Urban flooding has everything to with real estate corruption
By Malini Ranganathan
September 9, 2022 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: "The disasters of summer 2022 point out the inequalities of global climate change at the national level. The Bengaluru story sheds light on the uneven nature of climate-related culpability and vulnerability at the local level. It also tells us that efforts at the local and national level to address flood risk will benefit from a better understanding of how climate factors intersect with the history and political economy of real estate capitalism."

D.C. election is referendum on status quo versus liberal shake-up
By Julie Zauzmer Weil and Michael Brice-Saddler 
June 18, 2022 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: "It’s a choice between the status quo, which is a more centrist type of Democratic politics, and the progressive wing,” said Derek Hyra, a professor at American University and the author of “Race, Class and Politics in the Cappuccino City.” The District has flourished economically under Bowser’s watch, Hyra noted, but at the same time, “It keeps growing unevenly.”

Immigrants are only 3.5% of people worldwide - and their negative impact is often exaggerated, in the U.S. and around the world
By Ernesto Castañeda 
June 13, 2022 in The Conversation
Excerpt: "It’s important for everyone to know that most people do not want to leave their hometown. Most people want to stick around because that’s where their loved ones, family members and friends are. It is the place they know, and they have an attachment to the place. It takes a lot – like an invasion, hunger, a great educational or professional opportunity – to want to leave your home."

Kenyan McDuffie is missing as District ballots are determined
By Michael Brice-Saddler
April 29, 2022 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: “If the latest appeal from McDuffie fails, the outreach he did in his bid for attorney general will benefit him if he pursues political office in the future, said Derek Hyra, a professor at American University and the author of “Race, Class and Politics in the Cappuccino City.” This is especially true in a city where political comebacks are not uncommon, he added."

Amazon’s $2B housing push is mostly leaving out D.C. area’s poorest
By Teo Armus
April 11, 2022 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: “Even though the Amazon investments are significant, the number of units we have lost and will continue to lose greatly outweighs the number Amazon contributes to preserving,” said Derek Hyra, an urban policy professor at American University and a Falls Church planning commissioner. “So basically, it’s a drop in the bucket.”

One DC building, three TOPA processes
By Carolyn Gallaher
March 31, 2022 in Greater Greater Washington
Excerpt: "TOPA is an imperfect vehicle for helping tenants in a gentrifying city. The Barclay’s tenants finally got restitution for the initial sale that avoided the TOPA process, but tenants in nine other buildings never did. And, what tenants received — cash — didn’t guarantee affordability or prevent displacement. Cash has its advantages. Lots of groups make money from gentrification — landlords, developers, city government — but tenants aren’t usually among them. In DC, tenants can sometimes see a payout too."

Black-owned coffee shop fights gentrification and aims to reclaim coffee's African roots
By Elizabeth Ruiz
March 24, 2022 on ABC News 
Excerpt: “What we've seen is there's been a real movement in the last ten years of gentrification coming to southern cities," Hyra said. "So it went from D.C. to Durham to Atlanta. We see Nashville has had a huge wave of gentrification, and we see that it's moving further south. So a place like Memphis is likely going to be a place where gentrification occurs.”

For Trayon White Sr., D.C. mayoral campaign is a test of grass-roots outreach
By Michael Brice-Saddler
March 23, 2022 in The Washington Post 
Excerpt: “If you’re going to have someone on the progressive side to challenge Bowser, you’re going to have to consolidate the constituencies that Trayon and Robert have,” Hyra said. “If you split that progressive vote, it makes it even more difficult to go up against Bowser, who has such a good ground game.”

Developers Are Using Constructive Eviction to Make Affordable Housing Unbearable, But These 'Organized' and 'Savvy' D.C. Residents Fought Back and Won
By Kavontae Smalls
January 20, 2022 in The Atlanta Black Star
Excerpt: “Hyra expects high-price developers to target low-income communities of color across the more aggressively as the country emerges from the pandemic due to rising property values. “It’s just scratching the surface of what’s happening on the ground in a lot of low-income communities of color,” Hyra said of the looming problem facing Black and brown communities.”

2021

As COVID-19 Lingers, Wealthy Nations Must Not Abandon Migrants
By Maria De Jesus 
December 21, 2021 in The Globe Post 
Excerpt: “And, finally, we need to address the social determinants of health that disproportionately impact migrants in every aspect of their physical, mental, and social well-being, far beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world enters the third year of this pandemic, we must engineer a global response that includes migrants. In our interdependent world, “no one is safe until everyone is safe.””

At Indian Telephone Industries in Bengaluru, Workers Fight a Battle Seen Across the Public Sector
By Malini Ranganthan 
December 8, 2021 in The Wire
Excerpt: “Despite having worked for the public company for between 10 and 30 years, employees, guised as “contract workers”, have been subject to precarious labour terms. The latest unilateral termination of these sham contracts, in concert with a series of other alleged labour violations over the past year, have prompted workers – now unionised under the All-India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) – to wage a peaceful protest outside ITI’s main gates since December 1.”

Local Maya Immigrants Seek Services In Their Indigenous Languages
By Dominique Maria Bonessi and Tyrone Turner
November 23, 2021 on WAMU 88.5
Excerpt: “Ernesto Castaneda, a sociology professor at American University (American University holds the license to DCist/WAMU), explains that climate change and poverty are also driving factors for Maya emigrating from Central America to the U.S.”

How Occupy Wall Street Changed Us, 10 Years Later 
By James Anderson
November 15, 2021 in TIME Magazine 
Excerpt: “The attraction lay in the fact that Occupy membership was never limited by narrow goals or messaging, says American University marketing professor Sonya Grier. “It was broad enough to capture all the associations the American public could generate at the time,” she says. “Even absent a unifying strategic action plan, Occupy Wall Street had the legs to spread to different societal groups in a way that continues to the present.”

How should Catholics think about gentrification? Pope Francis has some ideas about urban planning 
By John Miller
November 1st, 2021 in America the Jesuit Review Magazine 
Excerpt: “Now the country is changing again. Urban neighborhoods have once again become more attractive in many cities. “There’s traffic in the suburbs, and millennials don’t want to drive to work,” said Derek Hyra, a professor of public administration and policy at American University in Washington, D.C. “We’re starting to look more like European cities, like Lyon and Paris, where poverty is being pushed into the ring of neighborhoods surrounding cities.”

It's Time for a Comprehensive Early Childhood System, Not Another Band-Aid
By Taryn Morrissey and Christina Weiland 
October 26, 2021 in The Globe Post 
Excerpt: “Build Back Better would be a game changer for young kids, families, teachers, and employers. The bill’s price tag represents economic infrastructure investments in child care that would jointly allow parents to get back to work and educate America’s future workforce. Handwringing about the bill’s cost obscures the fact that these funds are a critical investment in the current economy and the future of our nation.”

End performative environmentalism in D.C.’s climate resilience plan
By The Editorial Board 
October 23, 2021 in The Georgetown Voice 
Excerpt: “American University professor Malini Ranganathan, who researches environmental racism, critiques the notion of “resilience” that the plan depends on. She argues that focusing on recovering from disruptive crises ignores the political origins of problems that make certain communities vulnerable in the first place. Instead, Ranganathan asserts that elevating marginalized groups through abolitionist climate justice—which prioritizes “history, intersectional experiences, and forms of care, healing, and solidarity”—is more appropriate.” 

Why upzoning in gentrifying neighborhoods like Langley Park isn’t always a good idea
By Carolyn Gallaher
October 14, 2021 in The Greater Greater Washington 
Excerpt: “There are good reasons not to upzone Langley Park right now. If Langley Park’s tenants lose their homes en-mass and within a short time frame, it will have dangerous knock-on effects for the county, including homelessness, increased poverty, education loss for young people, and increasing domestic violence. There’s also a moral argument to be made. Langley Park’s tenants have been asking the county do something about its slumlords for years.”

Congress Can Boost Economic Growth With Childcare Investments
By Taryn Morrissey
September 23, 2021 in Inside Sources
Excerpt: “Investments in early care and education will support family economic security while boosting U.S. growth and competitiveness. These investments are all the more important in the wake of the pandemic’s devastation. The question now is whether the Senate will send this critical legislation to the president’s desk. As both a researcher and a parent, I certainly hope so.”

Biden's border policies face new test as migrants gather under Texas bridge
By Stephen Loiaconi
September 17,2021 on ABC 7 News: KATV 
Excerpt: ““The number of people feeling the necessity to leave their homes in times of crisis around the world is not something that can be controlled or legislated, not even from the White House,” said Ernesto Castaneda, founding director of the Immigration Lab at American University.” 

US braces for #JusticeforJ6 rallies supporting pro-Trump rioters
By William Roberts 
September 17, 2021 in Aljazeera
Excerpt: “ “This is an attempt to keep ‘The Big Lie’ that the election was stolen, alive,” said Carolyn Gallaher, a dean at American University’s School of International Service.“This is a way to try to gain sympathy by saying ‘Oh look, these poor people are in prison still’ but it’s not really about them,” Gallaher told Al Jazeera. “What they’re trying to do is to keep the fires burning so that they can maybe bring Trump back to run for the presidency in 2024. It’s about keeping the MAGA momentum going.”” 

Junk Food Ads Are Still Targeting Kids of Color
By Elena Gooray
September 16, 2021 in VICE 
Excerpt: “Fast-food ads across mediums reach kids under 18 widely, but kids of color, particularly Black youth, get kind of a “triple dose,” says Sonya A. Grier, a marketing professor at American University. “They see things heavily targeted to them as youth, plus things targeted to them as Black youth, and then things targeted to Black adults in general—since we know [kids] always look aspirationally at what adults are receiving,” she says.” 

Honduran community builds, supports businesses in Monroe-West Monroe
By Sabrina LeBoeuf
September 12, 2021 in Monroe News Star
Excerpt: “"Construction companies and contractors recruited labor from Honduras, Mexico, and El Salvador, among others, to help with the rebuilding efforts," Castañeda said. "Some liked the region and stayed and established roots in the city they helped clean and bring back after the hurricane."”

How The Rise Of Post-9/11 Defense Contracting Helped Reshape Local Neighborhoods
By Jenny Gathright and Matt Blitz
September 10, 2021 on WAMU 88.5
Excerpt: “Many of those private sector technology companies have government contracts — and this spending didn’t just lead to an influx of new, wealthier, residents in Virginia. It also led newcomers, many of them white, to historically Black D.C. neighborhoods, according to American University Professor Derek Hyra.”

Shifting Neighborhoods: Gentrification In Shaw, Washington, D.C.
By Lily Adami
September 3, 2021 in Jetset Times
Excerpt: “Hyra notes that even though Washington, D.C. has affordable housing policies that keep people in place, there is still a sense of loss amongst the community because of new amenities coming in, or because of the political dynamic shifting for the newcomers. In Hyra’s words, “Just because this neighborhood is redeveloping, and people think this is a wonderful thing, long-term residents can’t even utilize the amenities because it is beyond their price points.”

It is over: Afghan mission ends as U.S. sends last flight out of Kabul
By Adrian Morrow
August 30, 2021 in The Globe and Mail
Excerpt: “"The original sin was the megalomania that unravelled in the aftermath of the 2001 invasion, the idea that one could impose proto-capitalist modernity onto a country like Afghanistan. The question since 2005 has been: How much longer do we keep up this dog-and-pony show?" said Daniel Esser, an expert on Afghanistan at American University in Washington. "For over 15 years it has been very clear that this would not be viable."” 

Biden vows to complete Afghanistan evacuation despite deadly Kabul bombing
By Adrian Morrow
August 26, 2021 in The Globe and Mail
Excerpt: "It's the hundredth symptom of a much larger disaster, and the disaster here is not the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, the disaster is the complete breakdown in the chain of command in the American military, diplomatic and aid apparatus," said Daniel Esser, an expert on Afghanistan at American University in Washington.” 

Biden threatens governors opposing school mask mandates with legal action
By Monique El-Faizy
August 20, 2021 in France 24
Excerpt: “At its core, the dispute over masks is a political fight masquerading as a legal fight, said Jocelyn Johnston, a professor in the department of Public Administration and Policy at American University,“Banning the mask mandate, telling people that they shouldn’t have to wear masks, it’s all political. It’s certainly not public health,” Johnston said. “Banning that life-saving measure is so absurd.”” 

Why are the waitlists for child care so long?
By Janet Nguyen
August 19, 2021 on Marketplace
Excerpt: ““If you break it down, one-third or one-quarter of that person’s salary is paid for by an individual family, plus all the other overhead, like rent and supplies,” Morrissey said of the providers looking after three to four infants at a time. “It gets quite expensive quite quickly — and that means that child care providers don’t really have a market incentive to enter.””

Herrin highlights PA childcare needs at public hearing
By PA House Democrats 
August 18, 2021 in PA House Democrats News Release
Excerpt: “Submitted for the record was testimony from Taryn Morrissey, associate professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs, who noted that quality investments can help address inequality in communities of color.”

Are America’s condos having a midlife crisis?
By Carolyn Gallaher
August 10, 2021 in The Greater Greater Washington 
Excerpt: “These trends had knock-on effects that continue today. In 2016, the Washington Post reported on area condominiums still facing financial difficulties because their reserves had been depleted during the recession. These complexes were spread across the metro area, they had two things in common—they were middle-aged and they were located in low and middle-income areas. The pandemic has only worsened the situation for condos like these.”

Wall Street Emerges as GOP’s Villain Amid House Price Pinch
By Mark Niquette
July 30, 2021 in Bloomberg
Excerpt: “Still, the trend of institutional investors buying single-family homes and multifamily units for renting can be expected to increase and become more of a political issue as long as the market remains hot, according to Derek Hyra, a professor and founding director of the Metropolitan Policy Center at American University who’s studying the impact of the pandemic on the real estate market. And there’s no denying it’s one of the factors affecting the market and communities, he said.”

Patriots or paramilitary? Armed groups working with police raising questions
By Eric S. Peterson
July 29, 2021 in Deseret News
Excerpt: “Carolyn Gallaher is a professor at American University in Washington, D.C., who has studied paramilitary organizations in the United States, as well as Colombia and Northern Ireland. She says the domestic variety of these groups aren’t as dangerous as international ones but pose the same problems of self-styled citizen soldiers allied with the state.”

Covid-19 isn’t the reason that US life expectancy is stagnating
By Michael Bader 
July 28, 2021 in VOX
Excerpt: “What Americans should worry about is the longer-term trend. US life expectancy has been stagnant for the past decade, and had actually declined by 0.1 years before the pandemic started, from 2014 to 2019. Though smaller in magnitude, that drift downward says something much more worrying about health in the US. Our national health has not improved for over a decade, despite the trillions that Americans spend on health care every year.” 

Elaine Luria’s pro-Navy, centrist identity may get test over Jan. 6 committee
By Will Weissart
July 24, 2021 in The Associated Press News
Excerpt: ““I think the military is a bureaucratic behemoth, so anything that happens, they’re not going to turn on a dime,” said Carolyn Gallaher, a professor of international service at American University in Washington who studies right-wing paramilitaries. “There are definitely people trying to do something. It’s going to depend on how powerful they are and how well they’re going to be able to get the levers of the military bureaucracy to do what they want to do.”” 

After years of alleged neglect, tenants at a Langley Park apartment building file a class action lawsuit against their landlord
By Carolyn Gallaher
July 20, 2021 in The Greater Greater Washington 
Excerpt: “The suit alleges that these disparate approaches are “unexplainable on grounds other than race.” That is, the tenant plaintiffs argue that Arbor is choosing to purchase and manage harvest properties specifically because they are in poor communities of color whose tenants literally have nowhere else to go given the severe shortage of affordable units in the region. The suit notes that both Bedford and Victoria Stations have 0% white, non-Hispanic residents.” 

College Students and Scholars Concerned with DACA in Limbo, Again
By Rebecca Kelliher and Walter Hudson
July 19, 2021 in Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Excerpt: ““Most of the American public is in favor of the Dreamers. This court case reminds Congress that DACA people are very vulnerable,” said Dr. Ernesto Castañeda, an associate professor of sociology at American University. “That may help convince more lawmakers to push through the pathway to citizenship provisions,” he said, referring to President Biden’s $3.5 trillion economic package.””

Lawmakers examine income eligibility for SNAP as Americans face tough decision
By Basil John 
July 13, 2021 on WREG Memphis News Channel 3
Excerpt: “American University Associate Professor Dr. Bradley Hardy says SNAP provides crucial economic assistance for America’s families.“Providing a buffer against income volatility and job loss,” Hardy said.” 

COVID-19 Pandemic Adds New Employment Challenges For Young Adults
By Allison Kenny
July 8, 2021 in the U.S. News & World Report
Excerpt: “Bradley Hardy, an associate professor at American University in Washington, D.C., who specializes in labor economics and economic instability, says this type of interruption at the early stage of a young person's professional career can be challenging to navigate. Without the requisite resources and support network, Hardy says the disruption caused by the pandemic may dishearten some young workers and push their dreams out of reach.”

As the pandemic winds down, some tenants in Langley Park still struggle to stay in their homes
By Carolyn Gallaher 
July 7, 2021 in The Greater Greater Washington 
Excerpt: “Maryland should start by extending the statewide eviction moratorium well into the fall. The pandemic devasted low-income immigrant communities and they need time to recover. The General Assembly should also consider passing a bill similar to one passed by the New York State Senate. That bill (S1730) would update the real property transfer tax return to require any residential property bought or sold by an LLC to “include information on the ownership of such company.”

Why some say D.C.’s poorest ward needs a dog park: ‘Black people have dogs, too.’
By Paul Schwartzman 
July 1, 2021 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: ““There would be less emotional reaction to dog parks if other amenities, like affordable housing, were coming at the same time,” Hyra said. “When people see a dog park come in, it’s just another signal they’re not wanted in the city.””

Federal rental assistance is finally flowing in Maryland, but it may not be in enough time for some
By Carolyn Gallaher
June 24, 2021 in The Greater Greater Washington
Excerpt: “A key goal of rental assistance is to stabilize families thrown into chaos by the pandemic. Delaying the chaos by a few months isn’t a solution; it’s ‘kicking the can’ down the road. Maryland should extend its eviction moratorium and establish a sunset date that matches the needs of low income tenants who want to get caught up but need time and help to do so. It should also require landlords who accept rental assistance from the state or one of its counties to renew leases for tenants who get caught up on their rent.” 

Global herd immunity remains out of reach because of inequitable vaccine distribution – 99% of people in poor countries are unvaccinated
By Maria De Jesus
June 22, 2021 in The Conversation 
Excerpt: “Overall, countries representing just one-seventh of the world’s population had reserved more than half of all vaccines available by June 2021. That has made it very difficult for the remaining countries to procure doses, either directly or through COVAX, the global initiative created to enable low- to middle-income countries equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.”

Why COVID-19 killed Texas border residents in shocking numbers
By René Kladzyk, Phil Galewitz and Elizabeth Lucas  
June 22, 2021 in El Paso Matters and Kaiser Health News
Excerpt: “Ernesto Castañeda, a sociology professor at American University in Washington, D.C., who is not related to Heide Castañeda, said structural racism is integrally linked to poor health outcomes in border communities. Generations of institutional discrimination — through policing, educational and job opportunities, and health care — worsens the severity of crisis events for people of color, he explained.”

Dems Consider Bold Ways to Create a Path to Citizenship
By Susan Ferriss
June 11, 2021 in The Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog Newsletter 
Excerpt: “However, as Ernesto Castañeda-Tinoco, an American University sociologist in Washington, D.C., points out, even if politicians have changed stances, polling over the years has consistently shown strong support for legalization with conditions. A new NPR/Ipsos poll found especially strong support for legalizing farmworkers and people who’ve fled disasters or been here since childhood.” 

Byron Allen Goes to Court Again for Black-Owned Media
By Christopher Palmeri and Kamaron Leach
May 21, 2021 in Bloomberg 
Excerpt: “"His lawsuit, that puts this in the public domain for people to talk about, is not something that normally happens," said Sonya Grier, a professor of marketing at American University in Washington.” 

Child care at core of women's slow post-pandemic return to work 
By Katie Kindelan
May 18, 2021 on Good Morning America 
Excerpt: “"You basically have to start saving as a high school student for your future child’s child care," said Taryn Morrissey, a former Obama administration official and a co-author of the book "Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality." "The cost of child care is just not feasible for so many families."”
 
Why business school efforts to recruit more diverse faculties are failing
By Sonya A. Grier
May 10, 2021 in The Conversation
Excerpt: “The faculty members in our study described a variety of reasons they believed search committees avoided talking about race. These include different beliefs about fairness and fear of saying something that could lead them to be seen as racist. The silence on race ended up creating a perception among the Black and Hispanic faculty members in our study that the search committees were not concerned with racial justice.” 

Kansas City police made racist challenge coin with image of pimp: ‘It was repugnant’
By Glenn E. Rice
May 9, 2021 in The Kansas City Star
Excerpt: “Law enforcement later took up the practice as a way to build camaraderie and reinforce a shared mission among police, said Carolyn A. Gallaher, a professor in the School of International Service at American University who studies right-wing extremism in the United States. But challenge coins that mock particular groups or indicate political affiliation often undermine a police force’s ability to do its job effectively, Gallaher said.”

Border Patrol chief is mad that he can't use slurs to describe immigrants anymore
By Amy Lieu
April 29, 2021 in The American Independent 
Excerpt: "Noncitizens is a better descriptor that reminds us that they are part of our economy and social circle, but they lack political rights, like the right to vote," Ernesto Castaneda, a professor and founding director of the Immigration Lab at American University, said in an email.”

Why is child care so expensive in the United States?
By Meghan McCarty Carino
April 29, 2021 on MarketPlace
Excerpt: “The difficulty and importance of the work make it all the more troubling that it’s so poorly paid, said Taryn Morrissey, associate professor of public administration and policy at American University.“Child care providers are disproportionately women, disproportionately women of color, and they make near-poverty wages,” she said. “Few have health insurance through their employers, relatively few have other sorts of benefits.”” 

Big Government Is Set for a Rerun With Biden’s Economic Plan
By Christopher Codon and Jennifer Epstein 
April 28, 2021 in Bloomberg
Excerpt: “Biden’s proposals represent “really sound economic policy, and they have important racial equity implications,” said Bradley Hardy, chair of the department of public administration and policy at American University in Washington. “So the selling of the plan can also include talking about those benefits.”” 

Biden's family plan may include paid leave, child care, universal pre-k
By Lois M. Collins
April 27, 2021 in Deseret News
Excerpt: ““Sustained investments in early care and education are necessary for expanding opportunity and narrowing achievement gaps and inequality, and will build on the one-time relief funds that will help ensure that child care is available as the economy and families return to normalcy,” Morrissey said.” 

Biden administration's $39 billion child care strategy: 5 questions answered
By Taryn Morrissey
April 19, 2021 in The Conversation
Excerpt: “In our book “Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality,” my co-authors and I propose a more comprehensive approach. In addition to expanded child care subsidies for low- and moderate-income working families, it includes paid family leave, public school enrollment beginning at age 3 instead of in kindergarten, and compensation for early care and education staff that is commensurate with their education and experience.”

'An ugly peace': Biden's Sept. withdrawal plan leaves Afghanistan's future in doubt
By Stephen Loiaconi
April 13, 2021 on KATV ABC 7 news
Excerpt: “According to Esser, the risk of a violent takeover by the Taliban is high, but it is unlikely the group would turn the country back into a haven for terrorists intent on striking the U.S. While the direct threat to American security may be minimal, a shift toward sharia law and the subjugation of women could be deeply harmful to the people of Afghanistan.“I do think a sustainable peace with the Taliban is possible, but it’s going to be an ugly peace,” he said.”

Ulster loyalists are burning buses and cars in Belfast, thanks to Brexit
By Kimberly Cowell-Meyers and Carolyn Gallaher 
April 7, 2021 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: “The final deal requires customs checks for goods passing between the U.K. and the E.U. There was no way to impose these checks, and the border infrastructure they require, without upsetting one side to the conflict. Either there would be an effective border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland — or an effective border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.” 

Southern Border Crisis: Where Is Kamala Harris?
By Rachel Bucchino
April 1, 2021 in The National Interest 
Excerpt: ““Vice President Harris has been given a hard task to address structural issues in parts of Central America. It will take years to get programs and initiatives running successfully, but it will be a worthwhile wait and investment if implemented appropriately,” Ernesto Castaneda-Tinoco, an associate professor of sociology and the founding director of the Immigration Lab at American University, said.”

Corporations are working with social media influencers to cancel-proof their racial justice initiatives
By Tracy Jan 
March 30, 2021 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: “Sonya Grier, an American University professor whose research focuses on race in the marketplace, said corporations have not traditionally advocated for marginalized groups and instead focused on targeting groups most profitable to them.“They are now trying to support a community so they have sustainability within the marketing systems that they have,” Grier said. “It’s like smoothing the ground in ways to still accomplish the goals they want to accomplish — which is to sell products and make money.””

During pandemic, Buffalo's pre-K enrollment plummets by 45%
By Mary B. Pasciak
March 24, 2021 in The Buffalo News
Excerpt: “Similarly, if a student is not reading at grade level in third grade, they are more likely to drop out of high school, said Taryn Morrissey, an associate professor in American University’s department of public administration and policy.”

People are talking up the prospects of a united Ireland. It’s easier said than done.
By Kimberly Cowell-Meyers and Carolyn Gallaher
March, 17, 2021 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: “The Republic’s government is reportedly interested in Irish unification — but only over the very long term, to reduce the risk of disruption. Even Sinn Fein, which has a hold in both the north and the Republic, might prefer to delay a referendum until it has built more power in the Republic. Currently, a high proportion of young voters there support Sinn Fein; a difficult referendum could result in unpopularity and chaos.” 

Unsafe Drinking Water Is a Wellness Issue
By Seraphina Seow
March 5, 2021 in Well + Good
Excerpt: “In the case of Flint, Michigan, for example, Dr. Ranganathan says that the "white flight" starting in the 1960s (where more affluent white residents left cities and moved to suburbs away from incoming Black residents) contributed to the loss of tax revenue over time—which further affected the city's budget.”

The Third Stimulus Checks May Miss Some Families in Need
By Emily Barone
March 3, 2021 in TIME 
Excerpt: “Moreover, many people’s circumstances have changed so much during the course of the pandemic that families may now be coping with new care-taking burdens, increased medical costs or other expenses that could make it more challenging to make ends meet, even if they haven’t lost income. “I’m more worried about missing a family that needs it than giving it to families who don’t need it,” says Hardy.”

Experts discuss 'horrible' Phoenix police challenge coin
By Dave Biscobing
March 1, 2021 on ABC 15 Arizona 
Excerpt: “A 2018 video recorded by Patriot Movement AZ, which is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, also captured an identified Phoenix sergeant talking with them regarding the coin and bragging about it.GALLAHER: We are talking about overt bias… How can we police a multi-cultural society if the police are favoring one set of people over another?”

History professors reflect on how 2020 may be remembered
By Alisha Chhangani
February 27, 2021 in The Eagle
Excerpt: Kerr said that people do not experience these crises evenly. “During the pandemic, we saw the wealthiest becoming far wealthier while we saw significant levels of unemployment and economic deprivation,” Kerr said. “Therefore, acknowledging this divide is key to understanding how the future will study this period.”

With One Move, Congress Could Lift Millions Of Children Out Of Poverty – WAMU
By Cory Turner and Anya Kamenetz
February 26, 2021 on WAMU 88.5 
Excerpt: ““If you have a child allowance like this, all of a sudden you have more of a buffer, more of a cushion that can address those concerns,” says Bradley Hardy, a professor of economics at American University. “My view is that it’s the right thing to do, but also that it’s sound economic policy.””

Lawmakers Consider 2 Plans For Monthly Payments To Address Child Poverty
By Cory Turner 
February 19, 2021 on NPR News: All Things Considered
Excerpt: “Both plans also embrace the idea of a monthly benefit, says Hardy, to help families with unpredictable incomes but regular costs, like rent, food and child care. HARDY: And so if you have a child allowance like this, all of a sudden, you have more of a buffer, more of a cushion that can address these concerns.” 

The Helix is a distraction. Amazon's new headquarters will change more than just its Arlington neighborhood. 
By Philip Kennicott
February 18, 2021 in The Washington Post
Excerpt: ""The affordable crisis didn’t happen because of Amazon,” Hyra says. But the amount promised, he adds, “is a drop in the bucket of the affordable housing needs of the area.” Those needs will greatly intensify as Amazon’s highly paid workers flood into the area, and they will be felt most acutely by those with the lowest incomes."

Residents say landlord disinvestment is making a bad situation worse at a Langley Park apartment complex
By Carolyn Gallaher
February 17th, 2021 in Greater Greater Washington
Excerpt: "The Bedford and Victoria Station Apartment complex in Langley Park, Maryland is a microcosm of immigrant neighborhoods across the region. Like tenants in Chirilagua, Culmore, Manassas Park, and Montgomery Village, tenants at Bedford and Victoria Station apartments say they are confronting a trifecta of challenges: a global pandemic, severe unemployment, and landlord neglect."

The 51st State? Washington Revisits an Uphill Cause With New Fervor
By Michael Wines
January 10, 2021 in The New York Times
Excerpt: "'It’s not going to be easy,' said Derek Hyra, a professor at American University in Washington who specializes in the city’s development and politics. 'But I never thought you’d have a group of right-wing people storm the Capitol and be able to get in. I think anything is possible.'"