Race

National

Is It Enough To Remove Words With Racist Connotations From Tech Language? Hint: No

4:02pm July 09, 2020

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Web developer Caroline Karanja about how the terms "master" and "slave" are used in the industry and how they reflect a bigger issue in U.S. culture.

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Azia Toussaint helps paint a Black Lives Matter mural on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower on Thursday in New York.

NYC Begins Painting Black Lives Matter Mural In Front Of Trump Tower

2:06pm July 09, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

President Trump derided the mural plan last week, saying it would be "denigrating this luxury Avenue" and antagonize the city's police as "a symbol of hate."

National

Yale Library To Release Large Collection Of Materials From Frederick Douglass

8:55am July 09, 2020

The Beinecke Library of Yale University will make public the largest known collection of material related to Frederick Douglass, including scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and letters.

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Transcripts Of Police Body Cams Show George Floyd Pleading For Life

8:41am July 09, 2020

by Brant Williams

New transcripts from bodycam footage shows George Floyd telling officers that he cannot breathe and they are killing him numerous times before he died. Floyd's death ignited nationwide protests.

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A Scrabble players group finds some words are too offensive for its approved list.

Scrabble Association Bans Racial, Ethnic Slurs From Its Official Word List

9:32pm July 08, 2020

by Scott Neuman

On Wednesday, the North American Scrabble Players Association, which governs tournaments in the U.S. and Canada, said it was removing 236 potentially offensive words from its approved list.

This combination of photos provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office shows (from left) Derek Chauvin,J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao. Lane's attorney on Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss charges against him.

National

Transcripts Of Police Body Cams Show Floyd Pleaded 20 Times That He Couldn't Breathe

7:48pm July 08, 2020

by Scott Neuman

Filed as part of a motion to dismiss charges against one of the officers, the transcripts also appear to show an officer expressing concern about Floyd's well-being in the moments before his death.

"People started screaming and shouting for them to let me go," says Vauhxx Booker, who says he was assaulted by a group of white men on July 4. Booker is seen here speaking at a community gathering against racism, where protesters demanded charges in his

National

'I Didn't Want To Be A Hashtag,' Says Black Man Who Feared Being Lynched In Indiana

7:13pm July 08, 2020

by Bill Chappell

"I hear a woman in the crowd yell out, 'Don't kill him.' And in that second, I realize that she's talking about me," Vauhxx Booker tells NPR.

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Black Students Matter demonstrators march en route to a rally at the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., on June 19.

Effective Anti-Racist Education Requires More Diverse Teachers, More Training

6:41pm July 08, 2020

Travis Bristol, an assistant professor of education at the University of California at Berkeley, explains how teacher training and the presence of Black teachers can help reshape education.

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The civil rights experts Facebook hired to review its policies faulted CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decision to prioritize free speech over other values.

Politics & Government

Report Slams Facebook For 'Vexing And Heartbreaking Decisions' On Free Speech

6:07pm July 08, 2020

by Shannon Bond

A two-year investigation concludes the social network's leaders made decisions that were "significant setbacks for civil rights."

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National

Black Man Speaks On Being Attacked, Threatened With A Noose In Bloomington, Ind.

3:56pm July 08, 2020

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Vauhxx Booker, a Black activist in Bloomington, Ind., about experiencing what he describes as an attempted lynching and authorities' response to the incident.