President-elect Biden will on Wednesday launch a "whole-of-government" initiative aimed at advancing racial equity in federal policymaking and rooting out systemic racism from programs and institutions.

Why it matters: Biden’s win relied heavily on voters of color — especially Black Americans.

Firearms background checks in the U.S. hit a record high in 2020.

The big picture: This past year took our collective arsenal to new heights, with millions of Americans buying guns for the first time. That trend coincides with a moment of peak political and social tension.

School segregation between Black and white students has returned to 1968 levels, even as the nation grows more diverse.

Why it matters: Black and white school segregation has deepened toward pre-Civil Rights Movement-era numbers despite decades of strides.

The Rev. Rob Lee, a descendant of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, says the presence of the Confederate flag inside the U.S. Capitol this week was an "attack on democracy."

Why it matters: Historians say the flag — a symbol of white supremacy and racial segregation — never entered the Capitol with such fanfare during the Civil War. It was seen many times Wednesday in possession of white rioters who waved it without interference from police.

President-elect Joe Biden joined Black Lives Matter activists and others in decrying what they said was a double standard in law enforcement's response to the mostly white mob that violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, compared to peaceful protesters calling for racial justice.

What he's saying: "If it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday ... they would have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that's true, and it is unacceptable."

Police officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake will not face criminal charges, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Gravely announced Tuesday.

The big picture: Kenosha was the center of protests, some violent, after officer Rusten Sheskey shot and wounded Blake, a Black man, on Aug. 23. The U.S. saw mass protests over police brutality and racism throughout the summer, set off by George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis.

The leader of the far-right Proud Boys was arrested in Washington, D.C., on Monday and charged with destruction of property, police said, ahead of planned protests against the congressional certification of the 2020 election results, scheduled for Wednesday.

Driving the news: Enrique Tarrio, chairman of the Proud Boys, told the Washington Post in December that he participated in the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner that had been taken from a historic Black church during protests last month in the nation's capital.

The Louisville Metro Police Department on Tuesday notified two detectives connected to the police shooting of Breonna Taylor that they would be fired, the Courier-Journal reports.

Why it matters: If fired, they would be the latest officers held accountable in the shooting that set off weeks of protests in the city and inspired nationwide demonstrations.

The Department of Justice said on Tuesday it would not bring charges against two officers in 2014 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and that it was closing its federal investigation into the shooting.

Why it matters: The killing of Rice triggered large protests against police brutality and galvanized support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Reacting to Tuesday's announcement, Rice's family lawyer said the Justice Department’s “process was tainted," per AP.

The police officer who shot and killed Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, in Columbus, Ohio, last week has been fired, the city's police chief said Monday.

Driving the news: Adam Coy, a 19-year veteran with the police force, did not attempt to deescalate the situation before shooting Hill, according to Public Safety Director Ned Pettus Jr., who said Monday that the "known facts do not establish that this use of deadly force was objectively reasonable," per ABC News.