In 2025, the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics (REP) section celebrates its 30th anniversary as a formal section of the American Political Science Association.This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the section's journal, Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics (JREP).Looking at these 30 th -and 10 th -year markers provides an opening for celebration, but it also calls for an effort to document how we got to this point of institutional longevity.While there have been major successes, Race, Ethnicity, and Politics as a field of inquiry has not always been welcome in political science (along with many other longstanding disciplines), and so documenting our struggles and challenges is just as important as celebrating our accomplishments.In this special issue article, we feature a collection of essays that feature testimonies of scholars who have been leaders of the REP section and of JREP.To begin, we went through the roster of REP officeholders and editors of JREP and asked these leaders if they were willing to contribute short essays in which they reflect upon both changes of REP as an academic field and how the REP section and/ or JREP has played a role in their career.We selected REP officeholders to represent different generations of scholars who were involved with the section during each decade since the founding in 1995.For JREP, we invited past editors along with international contributors who could provide us with a comparative and global outlook on the state of REP research.By showcasing this diversity of perspectives, we aim to not only help preserve the history of the REP section and journal but also to represent a range of perspectives that can be shared with our youngest and future generations on how REP has changed and grown over time.Reading through these essays, it is plainly clear how REP has survived through many cycles of politics because scholars have continued to fight for recognition and respect both in the discipline and in society at large.REP has expanded over time because of our mindfulness towards the pipeline and mentoring, which carves out new opportunities for younger generations.These essays are particularly timely considering the political context in which we are publishing this collection-a period when the federal government has sought to roll back on civil rights and
Masuoka et al. (2026) studied this question.