His most recent books are Racial Profiling: Causes and Consequences (2011, with R. Dunn), Handbook of African American Health (2011, with A. Lemelle and S. Taylor), Blacks in Tennessee: Past and Present (2008). A book on employment discrimination is in the final stages of preparation for publication by Lexington Books. Among his scholarly accomplishments Professor Reed directed the project, “Assessment of the Status of African Americans,” involving some 61 scholars. This project resulted in the production of a four-volume work published by Auburn House Publishers:
- Health and Medical Care of African-Americans (W. Reed, author; 1993)
- African-Americans: Essential Perspectives (W. Reed, ed.; 1993)
- The Education of African-Americans (C. Willie, A. Garibaldi & W. Reed, eds.; 1991)
- Research on the African-American Family (R. Hill, et al.; 1993)
Professor Reed’s honors and awards include two Regional Television Emmys—received in 2000 and 2003—for his work with Public Health Television, Inc., on the Urban Cancer Project, which produced television shows on cancer prevention aimed at African Americans.
As a youth and young man, Reed participated in the civil rights movement under Martin Luther King and other leaders, including the Montgomery bus boycott, the 1963 March on Washington, and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. Currently, he is a member of the board of ACLU-VA and a founder of the Montgomery County, VA, Dialogue on Race, an organization aimed at ending racial injustice in the County.