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Race & Equity

This is where to find WPLN’s coverage of race and ethnicity, and of questions of equity relating to both. We strive to tell stories that reflect the diversity of Middle Tennessee, empower communities of color, and explain the systems that uphold inequitable power dynamics.

We as a newsroom are thinking deeply about what stories we choose to cover, who we talk to and about what, but we know we can always do better. Read more from our news director about the work we're doing and how to get in touch.

Quick links:

  • Sigue a Nashville Noticias, donde periodistas de WPLN comparten las noticias en español dos veces a la semana.
  • Listen to Breaking Points, a special series from summer 2020 that passes the mic to Black Nashvillians.
  • We're sharing our goals and progress with you on our WPLN News transparency page. Read our annual newsroom goals and how we're keeping track of source diversity.
  • Read our latest FCC quarterly report, which includes our source diversity numbers.
  • For coverage specifically on policing and criminal justice, please refer to our Criminal Justice topic page.

Tennessee’s redistricting plan faces legal challenges

By Marianna Bacallao

May 8, 2026

Tennessee’s new congressional maps are now facing multiple legal challenges, as voters, candidates and the NAACP, file to stop new maps from going into effect before the midterms.

Filed Under: Politics, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, congressional maps, Donald Trump, Elections 2026, Gerrymandering, governor, Mark Goins, memphis, NAACP, redistricting, special session, Tennessee Democratic Party, tnleg, tnpol

Tennessee to track transgender patients, put trans women in male prisons

By Marianna Bacallao

May 2, 2026

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed several bills legislating Tennessee’s LGBTQ community — and more on the way to his desk.

Filed Under: Health Care, Politics, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: 114th Tennessee General Assembly, anti-lgbt legislaton, Bill Lee, Dahron Anneliese Johnson, Emily Benedict, gender-affirming care, Jeremy Faison, lgbtq, Nashville Metro Council, Tennessee Attorney General, Tennessee Equality Project, tnleg, tnpol, transgender, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, VUMC

Stuck in limbo: millions of professionals risk losing legal status under Trump pause

By Ximena Bustillo, NPR

April 28, 2026

The U.S. travel ban against 39 countries has thrown thousands of people into legal limbo, as the Trump administration has paused reviewing visa, green card, work permit, and citizenship applications.

Their experiences — of sudden financial insecurity, months of unemployment, and crippling anxiety — come as the administration seeks to restrict legal migration and boost mass deportation.

Filed Under: NPR News, Politics, Race & Equity Tagged With: deferred action for childhood arrivals, Immigration, travel ban, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, visas

Middle Tennessee clergy say they were kept from undocumented patient at Catholic hospital

By Marianna Bacallao

April 15, 2026

clergy press conference Nashville hospital

Immigrant advocates are calling on a Catholic hospital chain to publicly release their policy on treating patients detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Filed Under: Health Care, Politics, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: 287(g), Ascension Saint Thomas, ICE, Immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Rutherford County

The church where MLK gave his final speech is getting a $1.2 million renovation

By Adrian Sainz, AP

April 15, 2026

The church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final speech is getting upgraded with a $1.2 million federal grant.

Filed Under: Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, Mason Temple

NashVillager Podcast: Integration takes continued effort

By Nina Cardona

April 14, 2026

Listen

Are Nashville schools sliding back into racial separation? Plus, a roundup of the news for April 14, 2026.

Filed Under: NashVillager Podcast, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: civil rights, integration

Curious Nashville: What happened to the ancient Mississippian town at the site of the Brentwood Library?

By Cynthia Abrams

April 3, 2026

Listen

Construction of the Brentwood Library in 1997 revealed the history of the site — and led to controversial actions.

Filed Under: Curious Nashville, History, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: Brentwood Library, Curious Nashville, Native American, Phil Hodge, ProPublica, Tennessee Division of Archaeology, The University of Tennessee, Tom Kunesh

Bill to track transgender Tennesseans passes the House

By Marianna Bacallao

March 26, 2026

The state House passed legislation Thursday that would compile data on trans Tennesseans.

Filed Under: Health Care, Politics, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: 114th Tennessee General Assembly, anti-lgbt legislaton, Dahron Anneliese Johnson, gender-affirming care, Jeremy Faison, lgbt, lgbtq, Tennessee Attorney General, Tennessee Equality Project, tnleg, tnpol, transgender, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, VUMC

Nashville journalist released from ICE custody after 16 days

By Marianna Bacallao

March 19, 2026

Nashville journalist Estefany Rodriguez Florez has been released from a Louisiana ICE detention center. Her immigration case is still pending.

Filed Under: Politics, Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: ICE, immigrants, Immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Nashville Noticias

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