Forum: Examining Discrimination Against Native Americans

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health YouTube

Updated at 5:22 p.m. ET Dec. 14

How do Native Americans experience discrimination in daily life?

A poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is examining the extent of discrimination against five major ethnic and racial groups in America today. It finds that Native Americans experience very high rates of discrimination in everyday life.

More than a third of Native Americans and their family members have experienced slurs and violence, and close to a third have faced discrimination in the workplace and when interacting with the police. Native Americans who live in majority-Native American areas are significantly more likely to experience this kind of discrimination, the poll finds.

The results for Native Americans in the poll were released earlier this fall and will be highlighted in an expert panel discussion to be live-streamed here at 12 p.m. ET Tuesday, Dec. 12, as part of The Forum at the Harvard Chan School.

With unprecedented documentation, the poll provides results from police interaction, job applications, health care, racial slurs and more. The Forum will explore the results and their implications for society.

This poll is examining discrimination among African-Americans, Latinos, whites, Asian-Americans, women, and LGBTQ adults on their experiences with discrimination.

Joe Neel, deputy senior supervising editor on NPR's Science Desk, will moderate the discussion with:

Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School

Stephanie Fryberg, associate professor for American Indian studies and psychology, University of Washington

Michael Painter, senior program officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and former chief of medical staff at the Seattle Indian Health Board

Yvette Roubideaux, director of the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center and former director, Indian Health Service

Our ongoing series "You, Me and Them: Experiencing Discrimination in America" is based in part on a poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. We have released results for African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, whites, Native Americans and women.