The Respect Rundown is a companion blog for the Foundation’s diversity newsletter, Respect. All articles published in Respect, (complete with discussion questions) are posted to the blog so they may be used as individual handouts.
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The Respect Rundown
America’s Complicated Relationship with Immigration
by Jodi L. Miller In 1958, when former President John F. Kennedy was a U.S. senator, he wrote an essay titled, A Nation of Immigrants, which would later become a book after his death. The title...
Courts Block DEI Ban in Schools
by Emily Pecot Imagine being a teacher afraid to discuss the 1960s Civil Rights Movement with your class because your school could lose federal funding. That fear became real for educators across...
Legal Implications of Facial Recognition Technology
by Sylvia Mendoza Facial recognition technology (FRT) can be helpful and make life easier, providing security control measures for accessing phones, computers, or smart homes. A broader picture...
Opting Out of Lessons with LGBTQ+ Themed Books
by Maria Wood In June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of Maryland parents who asked the Court to allow them to remove their young children from lessons with LGBTQ+ themed...
Historical Look at Native American Treaties
by Robin Roenker In the early days of America’s Westward expansion, the U.S. federal government officially viewed Native American Tribes as sovereign, independent nations. As a result, for a period...
Right to Protest Protected by the First Amendment
by Sylvia Mendoza The United States was born out of protest. Remember the Boston Tea Party? That was a protest. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law...
U.S. Supreme Court Decides Reverse Discrimination Case
by Michael Barbella In June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with an Ohio woman, sending her case back to a lower court and giving her another chance to prove she was a victim of...
Rulings Address Needs of Students with Disabilities
by Sylvia Mendoza According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2022-23 school year, approximately 7.5 million students, ages 3 to 21, were receiving special education services...
Abortion Rights Three Years After Dobbs
by Robin Roenker The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization stripped away constitutional protections for abortion, a medical procedure to...
School Segregation in the Garden State?
by Robin Roenker School segregation—the separation of students using certain characteristics such as race or ethnicity—has been illegal in public schools in the United States for more than 70 years...
Getting Fashion Fast and Cheap Has Consequences
by Jodi L. Miller Check out the label in the clothes you’re wearing. Chances are good that it was made outside the United States—probably at a very cheap price. The fast fashion industry makes...
From Convict Leasing to Today’s Prison Labor System
by Sylvia Mendoza In January 2025, wildfires devasted the city of Los Angeles. After nearly a month, working in dangerous conditions, firefighters contained the fires. Working side by side with...