In the wake of health care reform, one of the key health equity issues that needs to be fully addressed is the collection and reporting of data on demographic variables for electronic health records (EHR), particularly for racial and ethnic minority groups. This is a critical issue because without comprehensive data, we are unable to accurately identify and track the disparities in health status and care among vulnerable populations.

The impact of the mass incarceration of African American men in the U.S. for largely the same group of drug-related crimes are monstrous and devastating on all of society. In the United States, African Americans, who are 12% of the population, are 44+ percent of the prison population.

Every day we are bombarded with facts and figures that point to the poor health of people living in communities of color. We are more obese, our children are less likely to outlive their parents—the first time in history that this has happened. People of color are more likely to suffer from diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease and stroke. Our zipcodes are more likely to predict our health outcomes, and how soon we will die. When I see this information I get mad. And I wonder where is the outrage that will bring about change.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once observed, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” This statement rings especially true for vulnerable populations in the United States—who, as a group, have long suffered from severe and pervasive disparities in health status and outcomes and faced barriers to quality health care.

GlobalPolicy.TV is pleased to bring you the third article in the special report on race in America series, Color Blinded: Do Americans see race too much – or not enough?

GlobalPolicy.TV, is pleased to bring you the second article in the special report on race in America series, Color Blinded: Do Americans see race too much – or not enough? This special report was originally published by The American Prospect and Demos, in their April 2011 issue, and is reprinted here with permission. This special report  was funded in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Polling Prejudice, by Taeku Lee, takes a look at how polling is impacted by race and how those messages can perpetuate racism.

The following collection of essays offers a fresh assessment of the nature of racism in 21st-century America and an examination of opportunities for healing it. The subject could not be more important. In many ways, race is a stain that runs across the entire fabric of American history almost from the beginning of European entry to the New World to the election of Barack Obama as the first African American president.

Charles Ellison has a show on Sirius XM, "The New School" that focuses on the hot political topics of the week. He is also the Washington Correspondent for the Philadelphia Tribune.  He discusses the current power shifts in the house and senate as well as the chances of a Republican takeover of the majority and the rise of the Tea Party in the federal government.

There is a misconception that all young black politicans are exactly postracial. Dr Gillespsie book presents theortical framework to help understand where all the young black politics fit. Three typologies have been defined: Crossover appeal, Connections to black political establishment, and Projective ambition.

Dr. Charles Ogletreee talks about his new book, " Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr" and how the criminal justice system unfairly discriminates not only against African Americans and Latinos, but also Muslims and other people of color.  He also addresses how some current laws are actually promoting racial profiling in law enforcement.