• The College Board abandons its plan to provide an adversity score for the SAT following fierce backlash.

• The metric, known as the "environmental context dashboard," was based on 15 factors from a student's social and economic background.

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• New York Police Commissioner James O’Neill announces Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who choked Eric Garner to death in an arrest altercation gone wrong, has been fired from the NYPD. 

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• The Justice Department, head by AG William Barr, will not bring civil rights charges against the NYPD officer accused of killing Eric Garner.

• The decision means that Daniel Pantaleo, the white NYPD officer accused in the 2014 choking death of Garner, will not be prosecuted.

• The NYPD Commissioner will soon decide whether Pantaleo will face punishment or be fired, and firing is likely after a police administrative judge ruled that Pantaleo should be fired.

In a series of tweets, President Trump tells four minority congresswomen to “go back” to the "crime infested places from which they came.” The tweet sparks fierce backlash from both sides of the aisle, with many calling the president’s comments “racist.” Just one of the targeted lawmakers was born in another country. Days later the House votes to condemn Trump's comments. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is initially called "out of order" for calling Trump's comments "racist." The House, along party lines, votes to not strike her words from the record  

Elijah Al-Amin, a black Muslim teenager, is stabbed to death by a white man in Arizona. Michael Paul Adams tells police he felt “unsafe” after hearing Al-Amin’s rap music, leading him to stab the teenager in the back and throat. Al-Amin’s death sparks conversation from many including presidential candidates Cory Booker and Kamala Harris tweeting reactions. 

After Colin Kaepernick spoke with Nike, the brand announces it will not release their 4th of July shoe featuring Betsy Ross’ flag design. Ross’ design, which Kaepernick argued is an offensive symbol due to its connection to the slave era, has recently been used as a symbol of white supremacy, according to the WSJ.  Following Nike’s announcement, Republican Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona threatens to pull state funding from an Arizona-located Nike factory

The House holds a hearing on a slavery reparations bill. It's the first time Congress has  debated reparations in over a decade. The bill, if passed, would establish a federal commission to investigate the impact of slavery and Jim Crow segregation and suggest reparative measures to Congress. Author Ta-Nehisi Coates' testimony on the bill garners significant media attention

Holden Matthews, a 21-year-old son of a sheriff's deputy, is charged with arson and hate crimes for allegedly burning down three black churches in Louisiana. Matthews pleads not guilty

Three separate predominately black churches in Louisiana are burned down in the span of ten days

Lori Lightfoot cruises to a historic victory in Chicago's mayoral race. Lightfoot, deemed an outsider, knocked off the establishment candidate, Toni Preckwinkle, in the runoff. She will replace the embattled Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Chicago prosecutors drop charges against Jussie Smollett. In March, Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts for allegedly lying to police about a hate crime attack. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls the dismissal “a whitewash of justice." President Trump vows the FBI will look into the case. 

Just seven black students are offered admission into Stuyvesant High School out of 895 total slots. Other elite high schools report very low admission rates for black students as well. Lawmakers have considered nixing the entrance exam required to gain acceptance into NYC's elite schools. Asian-American groups have largely pushed back on the proposal (Asian students make up a majority of the schools' student bodies.) 

The Sacramento police officers that fatally shot unarmed 22-year-old Stephon Clark will not face charges. Clark was shot by police last March when the officers mistook his cellphone for a gun

Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid reach settlements with the NFL over allegations league owners colluded to keep them from signing with a team. Kaepernick and Reid ignited controversy for kneeling during the National Anthem before games in protest of the treatment of African Americans in the U.S.  Kaepernick originally filed the grievance in 2017 

A racist medical school yearbook photo of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam emerges showing two people in blackface and one also wearing a KKK robe. Northam flip flops on admitting to being in photo and eventually issues a formal video apology but does not commit to resigning. Shortly thereafter, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax is accused of sexual assault and the Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says that he, too, wore blackface in the 1980s

"Empire" Actor Jussie Smollett tells police he was allegedly attacked by two men yelling “This is MAGA country." Chicago police later say they are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime

A police officer fatally shot 17-year-old McDonald 16 times in 2014, as shown in a dashcam video. The officer who shot McDonald, Jason Van Dyke, is convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison. However, the day before, three Chicago cops are cleared of attempting to cover up the shooting of Laquan McDonald