Where Asian Americans Need Affirmative Action

Our Focus on University Admissions Obscures the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’ in the Workplace

Zócalo is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of our most read and most impactful stories. Columbia University sociologist Jennifer Lee continues to explore race and achievement in America—as in her 2014 essay “Are Mexicans the Most Successful Immigrant Group in the U.S.?“

The Supreme Court struck down race-based affirmative action in university admissions early this summer thanks in large part to the charge that Harvard’s practice of race-conscious admissions …

Why Mexico City’s Tepito ‘Exists Because It Resists’

For Over 100 Years, This Neighborhood and Its Black Market Have Thrived by Straddling the Underground and Official Worlds

In 2016, the leaders of several street vendor organizations from the Mexico City neighborhood of Tepito met with local officials with a request: They wanted the capital city’s new constitution …

Patrick Soon-Shiong

What the 10 Richest Angelenos Tell Us About L.A. and Its Economy

From Aerospace to Apparel—These Billionaires’ Businesses Reflect the Entrepreneurship and Variety of the County

If you were trying to understand the economy of Los Angeles County during the first half of the 20th century—the period in which L.A. emerged as a modern metropolis—you’d do …

Why Did Tougher COVID Restrictions Help State Economies? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Why Did Tougher COVID Restrictions Help State Economies?

An Economist Unravels the False Choice Between Business and Public Health

In April 2020, with the pandemic in full swing, the Economist published: “A Grim Calculus: COVID-19 presents stark choices between life, death and the economy.” Soon Americans were blaming the …

Can Restaurants Become Drivers of Opportunity—Not Inequality? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Can Restaurants Become Drivers of Opportunity—Not Inequality?

To Prosper in a New Era, Eateries Will Have to Reckon With Issues Left to Simmer on the Back Burner

Thousands of restaurants have closed for good across America since WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic last March. Many others remain temporarily shuttered; the remainder limp by with sales a fraction …