A PRRI Spotlight Analysis in May examined how Black and Hispanic Americans could be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic “more than eight in ten (82%) white part-time workers, compared to 73% of Black part-time workers and just 53% of Hispanic part-time workers, say they have health insurance coverage,” the authors report. On Sunday, The New York Times released a study that shows that Latino and Black Americans are three times as likely to become infected with the coronavirus, and twice as likely to die from it. “The disparities persist across state lines and regions. They exist in rural towns on the Great Plains, in suburban counties, like Fairfax County, Va., and in many of the country’s biggest cities,” the Times reports.

PRRI data shows that 67% of the country believes that recreational marijuana use should be legal in the U.S. Less than half (46%) of Republicans support this, compared to 71% of independents and 79% of Democrats. One of those Democrats is former Vice President Joe Biden. “All that’s stopping Biden, current and former aides say, is public health,” Edward Isaac-Dovere writes in The Atlantic. “He’s looking for something definitive to assure him that legalizing won’t lead to serious mental or physical problems, in teens or adults.” Some Democrats believe Biden should embrace legalizing marijuana. “If Joe Biden’s account tweeted out ‘Legal. Weed.,’ it would get a million likes in the first two hours. I guarantee it. And no one’s going to accuse Uncle Joe of being a pothead,” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman says.

PRRI data shows that 47% of LGBT Americans do not identify with any religious affiliation. Of those Americans, 39% say they are explicitly non-religious. In a piece for Out In Jersey magazine, Tom Van Denburgh expresses appreciation for the LGBT community embracing his non-religious beliefs. “I hope that queer spaces act as affirming places for atheists like me. While it’s important to remind LGBTQ people that many religions and denominations do not reject queer people, many of us have experienced religious trauma,” Van Denburgh writes.

In a recent piece for The Atlantic, Emma Green tells the story of Black Americans in the evangelical movement who don’t receive the attention of their white counterparts. “While prominent white pastors often get the attention for their statements on racism, their younger, less powerful Black colleagues typically work behind the scenes to facilitate them,” she writes. According to one pastor, he frequently hears from white pastors looking to collaborate after a Black person was murdered. “We may not have talked since the last Black murder,” Philip Pinckney tells Green. Green points to PRRI data shows that “as of 2018, 71 percent of white evangelicals believed that incidents of police officers killing Black men are isolated and not part of a broader pattern.“