I had the good fortune to participate in a conversation about how policies can create positive outcomes for racial integration. The American University Center for Latin American and Latino Studies hosted the event that included nationally renowned scholars and policymakers from the District. I was invited to talk and took the opportunity to provide a context for the DC area.

I emphasized three major points in my talk. First, race and class are not synonymous in the DC area. A higher percentage of blacks in the DC area have college degrees than any other metropolitan ...

On Twitter, Phil Cohen asked how he might make a plot showing overlapping distributions:

Hey, here's a question. Does this work for showing the inequality between two distributions? Also, the data, if you have a better idea: pic.twitter.com/ViXuMfw1Qt

— Philip N Cohen (@familyunequal) May 7, 2018

I think that he was on the right track using transparency, but I am not sure that the color was exactly right. The plot reminded me of what Mike Bostock (my generation's Edward Tufte) did to make a population pyramid.

Phil was also working with another disadvantage: he's using Microsoft Excel. Excel (all Microsoft Office products actually), renders the alpha channel terribly ...