Facing Race

Facing Race is an audacious series that tackles the deep-rooted subject of racial inequality, racism, racial privilege, and especially the systematic ways that race structures and impacts the public and personal life of residents in Seattle and surrounding communities. The KING5 investigation examines policing and criminal justice, health disparities and environmental racism, and policy histories regarding land and treaties with their ramifications for Native American communities. And the series is attentive as well to the powerful emotional and psychological impact of racism and racial trauma, looking at the complex feelings of belonging and identity among parents, trans-racial adoptees, and multiracial youth. With a generous commitment of time and resources, the reporting team gives us a complex but easily understandable framework, and covers the magnitude and depth of the story sensitively yet critically, structurally yet personally.

Reporters skillfully use local authorities and national experts to help guide the reports, provide perspective, and understand how social dynamics of race and racism, power and inequality play out at the level of public policy, institutions, and culture. The remarkable personal stories show viewers how individuals, families, neighbors, and elected officials respond to the challenges of confronting structural racism and its impact on the community. Most importantly, the series showcases resources and organizations to help address the public and personal issues raised in the report. For its bold and bell-weather reporting, its outstanding service, its seminal insights, and its absorbing storytelling, the Board of Jurors honors Facing Race with a Peabody Award.