Race

Education

What's Driving Some Asian-Americans To Challenge Affirmative Action?

8:35am October 17, 2018

Steve Inskeep talks to Hua Hsu, of The New Yorker, about how activism in some Asian-American communities helped propel a lawsuit against Harvard University over its affirmative action policies.

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A guard walks past a monument at North Alton Confederate Cemetery in Alton, Ill. The federal government has hired private security firms to guard several Confederate memorials across the U.S in the aftermath of clashes between white nationalists and count

National

In Wake Of Charlottesville, Federal Government Pays To Protect Confederate Cemeteries

9:31pm October 16, 2018

by Vanessa Romo

The Department of Veterans Affairs has spent millions providing round-the-clock protection to guard graves and memorials dedicated to Confederate soldiers.

How The Sears Catalog Was Revolutionary In The Jim Crow Era

5:19pm October 16, 2018

Retail giant Sears has filed for bankruptcy. Historian Louis Hyman of Cornell reflects with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly on the impact the Sears catalog had for African-Americans during the Jim Crow era.

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Extending gloved hands skyward in racial protest, U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos stare downward during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City on Oct. 16, 1968.

Those Raised Fists Still Resonate, 50 Years Later

4:55pm October 16, 2018

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos won gold and bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Their raised-fist salute outraged many viewers — and still resonates today.

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Harvard University Student Discusses Why She Believes The Admissions Process Is Fair

4:30pm October 16, 2018

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Harvard University senior Sally Chen about why she believes the university's admissions process is fair as the university defends its policies in court this week.

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Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight

'Frederick Douglass' Is An Extended Meditation On The Legend's Self-Invention

9:14am October 16, 2018

by Terence Samuel

David W. Blight's opus manages to be both a celebration of a remarkable life and a sober reminder of the many ways in which our terrible times are shaped by those Douglass lived through.

Politics & Government

Determining Who Is A Cherokee Is More Than DNA, Hoskin Says

7:37am October 16, 2018

Steve Inskeep talks to Chuck Hoskin, Cherokee Nation secretary of state, about a DNA test that Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren took that shows she has Native American ancestry.

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The cover of Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.

Books
Arts

Novelist Esi Edugyan On Black Genius And What Comes After Slavery

6:13am October 16, 2018

by Steve Inskeep

The author of Man Booker Prize finalist Washington Black began her new book on a plantation in 1830s Barbados. "I really have no idea where my story is going at the outset of it," she says.

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Human Interest

The Men Who Raised Their Fists: Remembering The Olympic Protests Of 1968

6:00am October 16, 2018

by Sean Bueter

Fifty years ago Tuesday, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos – both young, black athletes – raised their fists in protest as the national anthem played at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

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50 Years Later, Raised Fists During National Anthem Still Resonate

5:55am October 16, 2018

by Karen Grigsby Bates

In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, two Americans won medals for the 200-meter race. And then in a move that still echoes, they raised their fists in the black power salute on the podium.

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