Topic description and stories

Pregnant black woman

Racism and socioeconomic stress may alter pregnancy biology, leaving black women nearly three times more likely to die

28 Apr 2026

A University of Cambridge study has found that stresses such as systemic racism and socioeconomic disadvantage may sensitise key processes in the...

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Nurse using pulse oximeter on hospitalised patient

‘Racism infiltrates every aspect of medicine’: New ‘blueprint’ for anti-racist healthcare in the UK launched

20 Apr 2026

The first medical textbook on anti-racist healthcare, launching in Parliament on Monday, warns that ethnic inequalities still run deep throughout UK...

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A Black chess player about to win against a light-skinned cleric. Chess problem 88 in the Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas (Seville, 1283). Credit: Patrimonio Nacional. Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de El Escorial

Medieval chess promoted racial harmony and respect

19 Mar 2026

Medieval manuscripts, paintings and chess sets reveal that the so-called ‘game of kings’ defied social structures and racial attitudes by celebrating...

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Black woman holding newborn baby in hospital bed

Racial discrimination linked to increased risk of premature babies

05 Aug 2022

Women who experience racial discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity, race or nationality are at increased risk of giving birth prematurely...

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Sophia, Hanson Robotics Ltd. speaking at the AI for GOOD Global Summit, Geneva

Whiteness of AI erases people of colour from our ‘imagined futures’, researchers argue

06 Aug 2020

The overwhelming ‘Whiteness’ of artificial intelligence – from stock images and cinematic robots to the dialects of virtual assistants – removes...

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Opinion: Racism in the US runs far deeper than Trump's white supremacist fanbase

23 Nov 2016

Racism in the US has always run deeper than the electoral cycle, writes Nicholas Guyatt, University Lecturer in American History. Solving it demands...

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Before race mattered: what archives tell us about early encounters in the French colonies

16 Nov 2016

As Europe expanded its overseas colonies, fixed ideas of racial differences took hold. Historian Dr Mélanie Lamotte, whose forebears include a slave...

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Mexican Caste Paintings from the 18th century

When beauty matters: the politics of how we look

25 Aug 2016

Questions of beauty and its politics will be discussed at a summer school and conference next week (30 August to 3 September 2016). Participants will...

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A child's portrait of multiculturalism in the playground

“You need to ignore it, babe”: how mothers prepare young children for the reality of racism

19 Jan 2015

Research among mothers with young children living in multicultural London shows that racism is a reality for children as young as five – and that...

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Skulls in print: scientific racism in the transatlantic world

19 Mar 2014

A PhD student’s research at Cambridge’s Department of History and Philosophy of Science has revealed how racist ideas and images circulated between...

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Woman praying

Female conversion to Islam in Britain examined in unique research project

17 May 2013

A ground-breaking report examining the experiences of nearly 50 British women of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds and faiths (or no faith) – who...

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